Local pesticide use intensity conditions landscape effects on biological pest control.

Complex landscapes including semi-natural habitats are expected to favour natural enemies thereby enhancing natural pest biocontrol in crops. However, when considering a large number of situations, the response of natural biocontrol to landscape properties is globally inconsistent, a possible explanation being that local agricultural practices counteract landscape effects. In this study, along a crossed gradient of pesticide use intensity and landscape simplification, we analysed the interactive effects of landscape characteristics and local pesticide use intensity on natural biocontrol.

The influence of spatial and temporal discontinuities of forest habitats on the current presence of flightless saproxylic beetles.

Flightless saproxylic beetles were selected in order to study the impact of temporal and spatial discontinuity of forests. They were chosen because: (1) they are unable to fly, making them dispersal-limited species, (2) they have a saproxylic diet, which means they are closely linked to the forest, and (3), they have rarely been studied. Forest temporal continuity was expected to be the main factor explaining the presence of these species, modulated by the past and present amount of forest in the surrounding landscape.

Large pore size and controlled mesh elongation are relevant predictors for mesh integration quality and low shrinkage--Systematic analysis of key parameters of meshes in a novel minipig hernia model.

Background: Prosthetic mesh implants in hernia repair are frequently used based on the fact that lower recurrence rates are detected. However, an undesirable side effect is persistent foreign body reaction that drives adhesions and shrinkage among other things in the course of time. Thereby a variety of meshes have been created in an attempt to alleviate these side effects, and particular relating to shrinkage, the ideal mesh has not been developed.