To enhance biological control of insect pests in greenhouses, facilities and procedures for mass production of the parasitoids, Eretmocerus sp., Encarsia formosa, and Trichogramma brassicae, and the predator, Aphidoletes aphidimyza were successfully developed in Hengshui, Hebei province, China. Mass production of the aphelinid wasps was achieved by using different plant varieties and host insec...

A 2-year field study was conducted in the southern High Plains region of Texas to evaluate the effect of tillage system and cotton planting date window on seasonal abundance and activity patterns of predacious ground beetles. The experiment was deployed in a split-plot randomized block design with tillage as the main-plot factor and planting date as the subplot factor. There were two levels for...

Chemical investigation of the roots of Cratoxylum formosum has resulted in the isolation and characterization of xanthones: three new, named formoxanthone A-C and three known together with three known anthraquinones. Their structures were established on the basis of analysis of spectroscopic evidence. In addition, antibacterial and cytotoxic activities of the isolates were also evaluated.

The mating system of the sexual–asexual complex of sailfin mollies, Poecilia latipinna, and Amazon mollies, P. formosa, depends on the close proximity of individuals in aggregations or shoals because P. formosa is gynogenetic (that is, sperm only initiate embryogenesis but do not contribute genetic material) and must be inseminated by male P. latipinna. Furthermore, female P. latipinna copy the...

The all-female Amazon molly (Poecilia formosa) is the result of a hybridization of the Atlantic molly (P. mexicana) and the sailfin molly (P. latipinna) approximately 120,000 years ago. As a gynogenetic species, P. formosa needs to copulate with heterospecific males including males from one of its bisexual ancestral species. However, the sperm only triggers embryogenesis of the diploid eggs. Th...

The catadromous Platyeriocheir formosa is a crab endemic in Taiwan. To conserve P. formosa population diversity and ensure the sustainable use of this natural resource, we have developed new genetic markers, 17 polymorphic microsatellite loci, to promote the study of its population genetics in the future. In this study, more than 70 microsatellite sequences were found. Among these, 18 loci were...

This chapter presents ForMoSA (FORmal MOdels and Safety Analysis), an integrated approach for the safety assessment of safety-critical embedded systems. The approach brings together the best of engineering practice, formal methods, and mathematics: traditional safety analysis, temporal logics and verification, as well as statistics and optimization. These three orthogonal techniques cover three...