For >1,000 years, Chinese officials have recorded the annual abundance of the oriental migratory locust Locusta migratoria manilensis, with the ultimate aim of predicting locust outbreaks. Linking these records with temperature and precipitation reconstructions for the period 957-1956, we show that decadal mean locust abundance is highest during cold and wet periods. These periods coincide with...

We introduce LocUsT, a tool to statically check whether a given resource usage complies with a local policy. LocUsT takes as input an abstraction of the behaviour of a program, called a usage. Usages are expressed in a simple process calculus, and over-approximate all the resource accesses of the program itself. As additional input, LocUsT takes a policy that defines the allowed resource access...

Medical Department, Rotes Kreuz Krankenhaus Kassel, 34121 Kassel, Germany Medical Department, AKH Wels, 4600 Wels, Austria GI Nutrition, Archet 2 Hospital, 06202 Nice, France Department of Gastroenterology, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Department of Clinical Medicine, University ‘La Sapienza’, Rome, Italy Department of Gastroenterology, Rabin Medical Center,...

In earlier studies insects were proposed as suitable models for vertebrate blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability prediction and useful in early drug discovery. Here we provide transcriptome and functional data demonstrating the presence of a P-glycoprotein (Pgp) efflux transporter in the brain barrier of the desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria). In an in vivo study on the locust, we found an ...

Reed (Phragmites australis) stands of the Amudarya River delta south of the Aral Sea in Uzbekistan serve as permanent breeding areas of the Asian migratory locust (Locusta migratoria migratoria). Locust swarms threaten agricultural fields adjacent to the delta. Every year, specialists from the Uzbekistan Plant Protection Service attempt to survey this vast delta to assess growth of reed which p...

Previous studies investigated the effect of vegetation on density thresholds of adult Desert Locust gregarization from historical data in Mauritania. We examine here the prediction of locust phase based on adult density and vegetation conditions using the statistical model from Cisse et al. compared with actual behavior of Desert Locust adults observed in the field in Mauritania. From the 130 s...

The desert locust upsurge in the Horn of Africa over 2019–2021 led to a total 1.6 million ha being treated with broad-spectrum organophosphate and pyrethroid insecticides Ethiopia Kenya, while insect growth regulators entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium acridum were applied Somalia. Environmental monitoring was largely absent, limited surveys conducted Kenya Ethiopia. Overdosing fenitrothion 96...

Globally, Maruca vitrata (Geyer) is a serious yield constraint on food legumes including Yard-long bean (Vigna unguiculata subspecies sesquipedalis). However, there is a dearth of information on its damage potential, distribution and population dynamics in Yard-long beans. In the present study, the level of M. vitrata larval infestation on flowers and pods of Yard-long beans in Sri Lanka was de...

BACKGROUND Metarhizium is an important class of entomopathogenic fungi in the biocontrol of insects, but its virulence is affected by insect immunity. To clarify the mechanism in virulence of Metarhizium, we compared the immunological differences in Locusta migratoria L. when exposed to two strains of Metarhizium anisopliae (Ma). RESULTS The virulence of Ma IMI330189 was significantly higher ...

Coupled human and natural systems (CHANS) are systems of feedback linking people and ecosystems. A feature of CHANS is that this ecological feedback connects people across time and space. Failing to account for these dynamic links results in intertemporal and spatial externalities, reaping benefits in the present but imposing costs on future and distant people, such as occurs with overgrazing. ...