Search results for "interactions"

Altered host behaviour and brain serotonergic activity caused by acanthocephalans: evidence for specificity

2006

Manipulative parasites can alter the phenotype of intermediate hosts in various ways. However, it is unclear whether such changes are just by-products of infection or adaptive and enhance transmission to the final host. Here, we show that the alteration of serotonergic activity is functionally linked to the alteration of specific behaviour in the amphipodGammarus pulexinfected with acanthocephalan parasites.Pomphorhynchus laevisand, to a lesser extent,Pomphorhynchus tereticollisaltered phototactism, but not geotactism, inG. pulex, whereas the reverse was true forPolymorphus minutus. Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) injected to uninfectedG. pulexmimicked the altered phototactism, but ha…

Integrating natural enemies and semiochemicals in cultural control for an effective IPM

2012

Since their discovery, many semiochemicals (behavior modifying chemicals) have been identified and synthetized, and a number of techniques have been developed to use them in integrated pest management (IPM) programs against insect pests. In particular, the uses of semiochemicals in IPM to monitor insect pest populations and to interfere with their behavior preventing agricultural damage are widely adopted by the growers. In the same time, evidences that semiochemicals can also modify the behavior of insect natural enemies inspired researchers to explore the possibility to use semiochemicals to conserve and/or enhance the efficacy of natural enemies in cropping systems. However the use of se…

Climate change impact on extrinsic and intrinsic competition between egg parasitoids

2012

Climate changing is a real phenomenon and the last decade was the warmest decade ever. The impact of climate change on animal communities is complex, affecting species interactions in all trophic levels, in different ways and in different bio-geographic zones. Here we will discuss about the possible effects of climate changes in shaping the competition between egg parasitoid species to consume the same hosts. Egg parasitoids are important biological control agents due to their ability to kill the pest before the crop-feeding stages emerge. Competitive effects can be divided in “extrinsic competition”, the indirect interactions between adult females searching for hosts, and “intrinsic compet…

Evolution and functional differentiation of recently diverged phytochelatin synthase genes from Arundo donax L.

2019

Plant phytochelatin synthases undergo evolutionarily rapid functional differentiation after duplication, allowing fast and precise adjustment of metal detoxification capacity by modulation of both transcription and enzymatic activity.

Cattle seed dispersal services and perspectives for management in a high biodiversity Mediterranean silvopastoral system

2019

In Mediterranean traditional silvopastoral systems are composed mostly with oaks, with an overall lack of fleshy-fruited species, key elements in Mediterranean flora. A mixed composition may enhance biodiversity and diversify fodder for livestock, and at the same time guarantee higher resistance, resilience and a richer network of ecological interactions. Here we investigated the interactions of cattle and native fleshy-fruited species in a high biodiversity silvopastoral system inside the last large forest remnant in western Sicily, Italy. Along two fruiting seasons we used sampling transects covering the gradient from the forest to the pastureland and analyzed 132 cattle dungs, of which 4…

Role of interspecific interactions in biological invasions: new evidence from the Mediterranean Sea

Despite the field of invasion ecology has rapidly grown, the mechanisms behind the invasion success of alien species and the biotic resistance to invasions still need a thorough understanding. Comprehending the response of resident assemblages to biological invasions and the possible impacts produced by alien species introduction is, therefore, crucial to expand the current knowledge of the invasion process in the recipient systems. In this thesis different aspects of biological invasion process have been critically examined emphasizing the importance and complexity of the interactions between alien species and native biota, in the Mediterranean marine coastal ecosystems. Here, five differe…

Organic Salts as Tectons for Self-assembly Processes in Solution

2022

The literature, covering the last decade, about the self-assembly processes of organic salts in conventional solvents was analyzed. In particular, data reported about imidazolium and ammonium salts have been considered. The analysis shows that these processes are highly determined by structural features of the salts. Indeed, besides the nature of the cationic head, features of the alkyl chain borne on the cation structure and its possible functionalization, as well as the nature of the anion play a pivotal role. These factors determine not only the nature of the solvent in which the process occurs but also the nature of the self-assembly mechanism. Consequently, the structure tunability of …

Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger-state Generation in Qubit-Chains via a Single Landau-Majorana-Stückelberg-Zener π/2-pulse

2022

A protocol for generating Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states in a system of (Formula presented.) coupled qubits is proposed. The Hamiltonian model assumes (Formula presented.) -wise interactions between the (Formula presented.) qubits and the presence of a controllable time-dependent field acting upon one spin only. The dynamical problem is exactly solved thanks to the symmetries of the Hamiltonian model. The possibility of generating GHZ states simulating our physical scenario under both adiabatic and non-adiabatic conditions is within the reach of the experimentalists. This aspect is discussed in detail.

XPL, a Presentation Language based on User Interface Design Pattern

2007

The great diversity of presentations in software applications deals with fulfillment of various type of graphic interface constructions related to different programming Languages. Moreover, in the Internet era html pages play a main role because of the increasing complexity of Web applications. In Software Engineering, the use of design patterns is proven remarkable for the design and reuse of software components. Visual Design. Patterns (ViDP) are useful to define interaction schemas between. user and computer. By the some token, visual design. patterns are useful to incorporate common interfaces of interaction, schemas between user and computer. This paper describes the eXtensible Present…

Enabling Multimodal Interaction in XPL – the eXtensible Presentation Language

2007

This paper introduces the multimodal extension of the eXtensible Presentation architecture and Language (XPL), a framework aimed at streamlining multi-channel interface design process and enabling full component reuse. XPL incorporates a presentation language based on design pattern paradigm, which supplies a clear distinction between the presentation layer and the corresponding programming logic, promoting contents aggregation and a variety of event handlers described without relying on a (procedural) scripting language. In this paper, the design pattern concept is extended to voice-based interaction, and two verbal design pattern (VeDP) are introduced along to their visual counterparts. T…