BACKGROUND In Turkey, vector control programs are mainly based on indoor residual spraying with pyrethroids against mosquitoes. No special control program is available for sand flies. Most insecticide susceptibility tests were done for mosquitoes but not for sand flies. We therefore aimed to determine the insecticide susceptibility against two commonly used insecticides; deltamethrin and permet...

[1] Measurements of sand flux and water flow in the Mississippi River are presented for a portion of the system 35–50 km upstream from the head of its subaerial delta. These data are used to provide insight into how nonuniform flow conditions, present in the lower reaches of large alluvial rivers, affect the timing and magnitude of sand transport near the river outlet. Field surveys during both...

Substrate-borne vibration for locating mates, predators and prey is widespread in the animal kingdown. Antlion larvae dig funnel-shaped traps to catch ants and they are totally immersed in dry sand. We used a playback setup reproducing an ant walking on sand to clearly demonstrate that antlions use sand-borne vibrations to locate their prey. Half the tested animals moved towards the stimulus so...

A laboratory-based methodology to launch cylindrical sand slugs at high velocities is developed. The methodology generates well-characterised soil ejecta without the need for detonation of an explosive; this laboratory-based tool thereby allows for the experimental investigation of the soil-structure events. The experimental set-up comprises a launcher with a cylindrical cavity and a piston to ...

Within areas of the Chihuahuan Desert dominated by honey mesquite bushes (Prosopis glandulosa), soil erosion causes open eroded patches and the formation of large coppice dunes. The airflow patterns around the dunes and through the open areas are correlated with sand flux and erosion. This study uses wind velocity simulations from the Quick Urban and Industrial Complex (QUIC) model in combinati...

Phlebotomine sand flies transmit Leishmania, phlebo-viruses and Bartonella to humans. A prominent gap in our knowledge of sand fly biology remains the ecology of their immature stages. Sand flies, unlike mosquitoes do not breed in water and only small numbers of larvae have been recovered from diverse habitats that provide stable temperatures, high humidity and decaying organic matter. We descr...

In this paper, we summarize the recent advances on the electrification of wind-blown sand. Some of the outstanding questions, such as the interpretation of the electrification of wind-blown sand, measurements on and models of the features of the wind-blown sand E-fields, as well as their effect on the wind-blown sand flux and electromagnetic wave propagation, are reviewed. We end by highlightin...

The behavior of sand crushing will appear when the confining pressure is up to a certain value, which results in disappearing of the positive dilatancy of sand. Adopting a new hardening parameter with the crushing stress, an elastoplastic constitutive model considering sand crushing is proposed. Comparing the conventional triaxial compression test results with the model prediction, it shows tha...

The health consequences of sand particle inhalation are incompletely understood. This project evaluated the respiratory toxicity of sand particles collected at military bases near Fort Irwin USA, in Iraq (Camp Victory, Taji and Talil), and Khost Afghanistan. Our primary focus was on assessing the role of soluble metals in the respiratory toxicity of the sand particles using in vitro and in vivo...

CDCminiature light traps were used to evaluate the general biology of phlebotomine sand ßies from April 2003 to November 2004 at Tallil Air Base, Iraq. Factors evaluated include species diversity and temporal (daily and seasonal) and geographic distribution of the sand ßies. In addition, the abundance of sand ßies inside and outside tents and buildings was observed. In total, 61,630 sand ßies w...