**14.8 Biting midges**

and when the larval stage pupates, adults develop in about a week. Although small in size, the adults are good flyers and may go several kilometers in search

by the parasitic nematode *Onchocerca volvulus*. Warning signs comprise intense itching, bumps below the skin and loss of sight. The parasite worm is transported by the bites of a *Simulium* type black fly. Only adult females are blood feeders, wherein the best significant species are *Simulium neavei* Roubaud and members of *Simulium damnosum* Theobald complex. Additionally, black flies are of severe annoyance in numerous regions of the world for the reason that of their painful bites and from time to time huge numbers involved in invasions. Black fly bites can create localized inflammation and swelling, and extreme irritation of skin lasting for days or weeks. Usually, black flies do not come into houses, but bite in the daytime and outdoors, especially along riverbanks. Certain species show a strong preference for biting specific parts of the body, for example, *S. damnosum* in West Africa mainly attacks the legs. Most species feed predominantly on birds or mammals, while several feed

Onchocerciasis, too known as river blindness, is a sickness initiated by infection

Sand flies (Psychodidae) are about 1.5–4 mm long, have a hairy exterior, visible black eyes and lengthy stilt-like legs. They have a typical jumping flight with several short flights and landings. Contrary to all other biting Diptera, when at rest, their wings are held upright above the body. Sand flies are minute blood sucking flies that are key as vectors of leishmaniasis and can cause a severe biting nuisance, but limited to a small area. Species that take place in the Mediterranean area can spread sand fly fever that is a viral disease likewise recognized as pappataci fever or 3-day fever. The breeding places for this genus appear to be mainly non-aquatic situations. The life cycle may last from 1 to 4 months, depending on species and temperature, although it usually lasts less than 45 days. Sand flies feed on plant juices, but mostly the females need a blood meal in order to develop eggs. The cattle provide an abundant source of blood, while the stables and houses provide suitable resting places. Blood is taken from humans and animals such as dogs, farm live-

The sand fly *Phlebotomus papatasi* (Scopoli) (**Figure 20**), is the main vector of the Old World cutaneous leishmaniasis. It is distributed from Morocco to the Indian

subcontinent and from southern Europe to central and eastern Africa [88].

of food [85].

**Figure 19.** Simulium *black fly.*

*Life Cycle and Development of Diptera*

on humans [86].

**34**

**14.7 Phlebotomine sandflies**

stock, wild rodents, snakes, lizards and birds [87].

Biting midges (no-seeums, punkies) are blood sucking flies and about 1.5 mm in length. The most important genus *Culicoides*, is distributed worldwide and can cause a serious biting problem, as can the genus *Leptoconops.* These insects are vectors of the human filariae parasites *Mansonella ozzardi* and *Mansonella perstans* (Nematoda: Onchocercidae) that are mostly deliberated to be not hurtful to humans. These insects are termed as sand flies in certain regions of the world, however these may be differentiated from phlebotomine sand flies using the point that while midges are at relaxation wings are bent uniform on body; moreover, these frequently fly in crowds nearby head or other uncovered parts of body and do not flutter in a hopping mode by several landings and short flights, as is done by phlebotomine sand flies.

The lifecycle of this genus involves aquatic breeding places, elevated surface of mud or wet soil primarily temporary pools, decaying leaf litter and objects near or partially in water. The larvae feed on decaying organic matter and the time taken for development from egg to adult may be 2–4 weeks. It is an important vector for blue-tongue virus in many animal species as well as being a pest. Individual midges can cause a painful bite, but they are considered to be an especially severe pest because of their habit of attacking in swarms of hundreds or thousands. Ceratopogonidae is an example of family that includes serious blood-sucking *Culicoides sonorensis* Wirth & Jones (**Figure 21**) feeding both on humans and

**Figure 20.** Phlebotomus papatasi*.*

**Figure 21.** Culicoides sonorensis*.*

Many of the flies that cause furuncular myiasis are commonly known as bot flies including *Dermatobia hominis*, *Cordylobia anthropophaga* (Blanchard & Berenger-Feraud), *Wohlfahrtia vigil* (Walker) and *Cuterebra* species. Many of the flies do not lay eggs on humans. Instead, the flies lay their eggs on other insects (such as mosquitoes) or on objects (such as drying laundry) that may come into contact with people's skin. Characteristic signs of furuncular myiasis comprise irritation, an impression of movement and on occasion a sharp piercing aching. In the beginning, people have a minor red bump, which can look like a common insect bite or creation of a furuncle (pimple). Later on, bump expands, and a slight opening may be evident in the center, opening may drain a clear yellowish fluid and on occasion a small portion of larva end is evident. Open wounds (traumatic), typically in homeless people, alcoholics and others in poor social circumstances, may become infested with fly larvae. The tissues that line the mouth, nose or eyes (mucosa) may also become infested [92]. The most common flies are screwworm flies such as *Cochliomyia hominivorax* and *Chrysomya bezziana* and *Wohlfahrtia magnifica*

The most common sources of migratory (creeping) myiasis are flies that typically infest horses and cattle (Gasterophilus and Hypoderma flies). People can become infested if they have contact with infected animals. Less often, the flies lay eggs directly on people. Larvae do not stay in one spot and they burrow under the skin, causing itchy lesions. Diagnosis of fly larvae can be made on the size of larvae, location and host from which it is recovered, and characteristics of the spiracle

Warble flies of cattle are perhaps one of the most significant myiasis-producing problems of the cattle industry. There are two important species of the cattle grub, *Hypoderma lineatum* De Villiers Southern cattle grub and *Hypoderma bovis* (Linnaeus) Northern cattle grub. In broad-spectrum, life sequence of species contains adult flies that deposit eggs on body of host by sticking to furs, within some days eggs hatch and larvae enter into skin. Afterward, larvae transfer through host tissue and gather at esophagus wall. These from here, move to dermal tissue of host back, persist on cattle back for quite a few months and after that time these drop out to land for pupation. There are a number of indirect and direct reasons of hurt and fiscal loss which may be ascribed to invasions by these larvae. Mortalities may take place for the period of larval movement and at what time these are assembled in an area of esophagus. Indirect injuries are described as condensed milk making, weight loss otherwise low weight increases and less price of hide or carcass owing to presence of larvae. Common warble of rodents and rabbits *Cuterebra* sp., although common in wild rodents, infestations with this larvae are also occasionally seen on

(Schiner) (**Figure 23**).

**Figure 23.**

**37**

Wohlfahrtia magnifica*.*

openings located on the posterior of the larvae [93].

*Typical Flies: Natural History, Lifestyle and Diversity of Diptera*

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.91391*

**Figure 22.** Melophagus ovinus*.*

other mammals, and spread the livestock diseases blue tongue and African horse sickness [89].


*2.1. Transgenic Plants Expressing Biocide Polypeptides and Plant Defense*

Hunger continues to afflict mainly the poorer countries around the world. In 2016, 10.7% of the world population were chronically undernourished (www.worldhunger.org). According to data provided by the World Bank (www.databank.worldbank.org), over the last 15 years, the word population has increased with an annual growth rate of ~1% (1.075 in 2019), from 6.59 (2006) to 7.67 (2019) billions inhabitants. With the increase in life expectancy, from 69.2 (2006) to 72.5 (2018) years, particularly in the richer countries, even considering a decrease of growth rate, estimates are that the world population could reach 9.7 billion (www.population.un.org) in 2050. By then, food demand will be 60% higher (www.webforum.org). As agricultural land is finite (it increased only from 47.18 in 2006 to 48.43 in 2016 millions square kilometers according to the World Bank), and is expected to shrink due to urbanization, climate change and soil degradation, increases in food production will require an even more efficient agriculture. The output of agriculture is hampered, however, by losses in the field or after harvesting, by a variety of insect pests, nematodes, fungi and diseases induced by bacteria or viruses [13,14]. Herbivores alone feeding on foliage, sap and root can decrease more than 20% of net plant productivity and food losses to insects are expected to even grow in a scenario of global warming [15].

To efficiently control insect pests in agriculture, combining different strategies is frequently required, including the use of resistant crop varieties. When there is no natural plant genotypes genetically resistant to insect pests, development of genetically modified (GM) resistant plants is an option. A milestone in the development of insect-resistant crops was established in the late 1980′ s, by genetically engineering a tobacco plant to express an entomotoxic protein from the bacterium *Bacillus thuringiensis*(Bt) [16,17]. In 2018, the list of genetically modified plants that were commercialized had 26 species, either tolerant to herbicides or with increased resistance to insects (most expressing *Bt* toxins), grown or imported in 75 countries (www.gmoanswers.com). *Bt* toxins (or Cry proteins) have some restrictions, such as the low toxicity against sap-sucking insects [18,19]. Moreover, an increasing level of resistance of insects against Cry insecticidal proteins has been reported [20]. Fortunately, there is a number of plant entomotoxic proteins that can be used instead or in synergy with the *Bt* technology to control insect pests in new generations of transgenic plants yet to be developed [21].


**Salicylic Acid: An All-Rounder in Regulating Abiotic Stress Responses in Plants**

[12] Malikova J, Swaczynova J, Kolar Z, Strnad M. Anticancer and antiproliferative activity of

[13] Steigerova J, Rarova L, Oklest'kova J, Krizova K, Levkova M, Svachova M, et al. Mechanisms of natural brassinosteroid-induced apoptosis of prostate cancer cells. Food

[14] Marek A, Patil MR, Elbert T. The labeling of brassinosteroids by tritium. RSC Advances.

[15] Seto H, Fujioka S, Koshino H, Yoshida S, Watanabe T, Takatsuto S. A general approach to synthesis of labeled brassinosteroids: Preparation of 25,26,27-H-2(7) brassinolide with 60% isotopic purity from the parent brassinolide. Tetrahedron Letters. 1998;**39**(41):

[16] Seto H, Fujioka S, Koshino H, Yoshida S, Tsubuki M, Honda T. Synthesis and biological evaluation of extra-hydroxylated brassinolide analogs. Tetrahedron. 1999;**55**(28):8341-8352

[17] Marek A, Klepetarova B, Elbert T. A facile method for steroid labeling by heavy isotopes

[18] Marek A, Patil MR, Klepetarova B, Kohout L, Elbert T. A stereospecific pathway for the introduction of deuterium on the brassinosteroid skeleton by reductive dechlorination

[19] Elbert T, Patil MR, Marek A. Enantiospecific tritium labeling of 28-homocastasterone. J

[20] Marek A, Klepetarova B, Elbert T. The introduction of a double bond on the steroid skeleton—The preparation of enol silyl ether derivatives from vicinal diols. Collection of

[21] Marek A, Klepetarova B, Elbert T. A study of the reactivity of polyhydroxylated sterol

[22] Yokota T, Watanabe S, Ogino Y, Yamaguchi I, Takahashi N. Radioimmunoassay for brassinosteroids and its use for comparative analysis of brassinosteroids in stems and seeds of Phaseolus-Vulgaris. Journal of Plant Growth Regulation. 1990;**9**(3):151-159 [23] Kolbe A, Marquardt V, Adam G. Synthesis of tritium labeled 24-epibrassinolide. Journal

[24] Kolbe A, Schneider B, Voigt B, Adam G. Labelling of biogenetic brassinosteroid precursors. Journal of Labelled Compounds and Radiopharmaceuticals. 1998;**41**(2):131-137 [25] Seo S, Nagasaki T, Katsuyama Y, Matsubara F, Sakata T, Yoshioka M, et al. Synthesis of (22R,23R) and (22S,23S)-4-C-14-24-epibrassinolide. Journal of Labelled Compounds and

natural brassino steroids. Phytochemistry. 2008;**69**(2):418-426

30 Phytohormones - Signaling Mechanisms and Crosstalk in Plant Development and Stress Responses

and Chemical Toxicology. 2012;**50**(11):4068-4076

of hydrogen. Tetrahedron. 2015;**71**(29):4874-4882

Radiopharmaceuticals. 1989;**27**(12):1383-1393

of chlorocarbonates. Tetrahedron Letters. 2012;**53**(16):2048-2050

Czechoslovak Chemical Communications. 2011;**76**(5):443-456

derivatives. Asian Journal of Organic Chemistry. 2015;**4**(8):808-817

of Labelled Compounds and Radiopharmaceuticals. 1992;**31**(10):801-805

Label Compd Radiopharm. 2017;**60**(3):176-82. DOI:10.1002/jlcr.3488

2015;**5**(80):65214-65220

7525-7528

Mirza Hasanuzzaman, Kamrun Nahar, Tasnim Farha Bhuiyan, Taufika Islam Anee, Masashi Inafuku, Hirosuke Oku and Masayuki Fujita

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.68213

#### Abstract

Salicylic acid (SA) is an endogenous growth regulator of phenolic nature and also a signaling molecule, which participates in the regulation of physiological processes in plants such as growth, photosynthesis, and other metabolic processes. Several studies support a major role of SA in modulating the plant response to various abiotic stresses. It is a well-founded fact that SA potentially generates a wide array of metabolic responses in plants and also affects plant-water relations. This molecule also found to be very active in mitigating oxidative stress under adverse environmental conditions. Since abiotic stress remained the greatest constraints for crop production worldwide, finding effective approaches is an important task for plant biologists. Hence, understanding the physiological role of SA would help in developing abiotic stress tolerance in plants. In this chapter, we will shed light on the recent progress on the regulatory role of SA in mitigating abiotic stress.

Keywords: abiotic stress, antioxidant defense, oxidative stress, phytohormones, ROS signaling


*3.2. Mechanical Properties*

Table 4 shows the mechanical properties of specimens processed with different conditions. The S1 specimen has high strength, hardness and relative density, relatively low ductility and toughness [15]. The strength and ductility of the S2 samples decrease rapidly due to the precipitation of the σ phases. In the temperature range of 1100–1200 ◦C, the strength and hardness decreased gradually while the elongation and section shrinkage increased gradually due to recrystallization and grain growth with the increase of solution annealing temperature. Lastly, the table also shows that the sample solution treated at 1150◦C for one hour had better comprehensive mechanical properties compared to the others. Figure 5 is the tensile fracture and impact fracture morphology of the S4 specimen, which is characterized by ductile fracture. There are some pores in the parts prepared by SLM with relative density of 98.2%. The laser energy density, laser scanning strategy, and powder properties will affect relative density. In order to obtain fully compact parts, further densification by hot isostatic pressing can further improve the mechanical properties. Therefore, it is understandable that the mechanical properties prepared by SLM are lower than that of welded and seamless pipe required in ASTM A790 standard.

**Table 4.** The mechanical properties of specimens processed under different conditions.

**Figure 5.** The fracture morphology of the S4 specimen (**a**) tensile fracture; (**b**) impact fracture.


**Abstract**

Gravity survey and interpretations play a very vital role more especially in petroleum prospecting. Spectral analysis of gravity anomaly has been successful in the estimation of sedimentary basement. Spectral analysis technique can be used in designing filter for the residual and region separation of complete Bouguer anomaly. The residual gravity anomaly which is of prime importance for applied geophysicists interested in the subsurface features is considered most useful for the interpretation of sedimentary basin. In this chapter, interpretation of the complete Bouguer gravity anomaly, the importance of the separation of the Bouguer gravity anomaly into its residual and regional component is presented. The residual component is considered for the application of the spectral analysis approach.

**Keywords:** gravity anomaly, regional/residual anomaly, spectral analysis, sedimentary basement, basement estimation


**Author details**

Adrian C. Williams1 \* and Lisa J. Hill2

1 Department of Neurology, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, United Kingdom

2 School of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Clinical Sciences, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom

\*Address all correspondence to<EMAIL_ADDRESS>
© 2021 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.


**6. The butterfly effect**

Interesting metaphors may be adopted from science fiction works. Thus, a time machine metaphor and a butterfly effect metaphor were used in a project of an environment for adjusting parallel programs dealing with software visualization systems [31].

One may consider time as an axis that is analogous to traditional spatial axes. And the event stream may be depicted along this axis. Any change in this stream may break the whole chain of cause-and-effect relations. In this case, the idea of traveling in time in both directions seems to be natural. One may consider a set of parallel processes as consistent streams of events flowing and changing along this time axis. In this case, effects of an event in the process cause a reaction, affecting both the process in which it has occurred and other processes. It is possible to correct errors by going back in time along the axis and interfering with the sequence of events at the moment. This approach can be described as the "time machine"

*Sources of Computer Metaphors for Visualization and Human-Computer Interaction DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.89973*

metaphor. Note that the use of the time machine metaphor does not require any knowledge of the source (science fiction novels). We have developed a prototype of a visualization component for a parallel process control and representation system. This system can be used for debugging parallel programs. We use 3D imagery to visualize processes. Processes are represented by color cylinders connected with each other by thin "threads" (similarly to visual representations in the VisuaLinda system [32]). Globules representing data move along these threads. The states of processes are depicted by colors. A user may navigate along the time axis and change the processes'states. The time machine metaphor may be considered similar to a traditional record player metaphor. However, in the case of a time machine, there is a possibility of event changes described by the well-known butterfly effect metaphor, which is connected with the situation when a small change of initial conditions causes significant and often unpredictable effects.

A time machine metaphor seemed promising for software visualization of parallel computing. However, after analyzing its implementation, this impression may change. In this case further development of fully fledged debugging and visualization facilities for parallel programs is needed, for example, trapping events, online visualization, and other tools similar to those implemented in the debuggers of the 1990s, such as [33, 34]. These metaphors may also be applied in the systems of software visualization based on virtual reality [31].


**4.3.3 Choice of matrix**

348 Gel Electrophoresis – Advanced Techniques

analyzed with MALDI-TOF MS with the same settings and with the laser induced collection of spectra in an automatic mode. The spectra were then used for NCBI database search with MS-fit using the same settings for all samples. All 17 proteins were identified with peptide mass fingerprinting in both ziptip cleaned and untreated samples. As shown in Table 2, ziptip cleaning significantly improved the peak intensities, signal to noise ratio and the mass accuracy. This illustrates that removal of salts and other contaminants that will compete with the peptides in the spectra increases the intensities of the peptide peaks and thereby increases the accuracy of the mass determinations and, as a consequence, also increases the reliability of the identifications. On the other hand, the number of peptides and sequence coverage found in ziptip cleaned samples were about the same as in the untreated samples (Table 2). In general, there was a clear tendency that in ziptip cleaned samples more peptides were detected in the lower mass region (<1000 m/z) while fewer peptides were detected in the higher mass region (>2000 m/z). This suggests that the removal of salt ions and low molecular chemicals with subsequent improved signal to noise increases the possibility to detect low molecular mass peptides but that this beneficial effect is counteracted by adsorption of larger peptides to the solid phase of the ziptip. To test this, 10 protein samples were sequential eluted from the ziptip with increasing ACN concentration, up to 90 %. Indeed, this procedure increased the number of peptides found and the sequence coverage increased from 52 +/- 16 % in the untreated samples to 58 +/- 16 in the ziptip cleaned samples (p<0.05). The effect varied among the different proteins but was in some samples quite profound, almost 2 times higher sequence coverage. It can be concluded from these experiments that purification of peptide samples with ziptip improves the results with MALDI-TOF MS. However, when it comes to the identification of proteins with peptide mass fingerprinting the beneficial effect of the cleaning procedure is quite limited as the number of peptides found, using the standard protocol, is not increased. Therefore, considering the work-load needed for the ziptip procedure, it is doubtful if it is practical to routinely clean samples with ziptip before MALDI-TOF analyses. However, for selected, low abundant, samples it can most likely make a significant difference for the identification. In these cases, sequential elution of the peptides from the ziptip with increasing acetonitrile

concentrations is recommended.

by Wilcoxons signed rank sum test.

**Without Ziptip**

**Statistical**

**Average error (ppm)**

fingerprinting data obtained with MALDI-TOF MS.

**Sequence coverage (%)**

Table 2. Influence of sample cleanup of in-gel digested proteins on peptide mass

**Number of peptides**

**(n=17)** 11.2 +/- 3.6 24.9 +/- 12.0 8 +/- 4 100 +/- 130 3500 +/- 2000 **Ziptip (n=17)** 7.9 +/- 4.4 24.1 +/- 11.4 8 +/- 3 200 +/- 480 6300 +/- 4000

**significance** 0.01 No No <0.001 <0.001

Proteins were separated by 2-DE and in-gel digested by trypsin. The same peptide samples were then purified by ZipTip, mixed with the matrix and spotted on the MALDI plate or directly mixed with the matrix and spotted on the plate. Statistical interpretations were done

**Signal/noise**

**ratio Peak Intensity**

To enhance the quality of the MALDI-TOF mass spectra and the number of desorbed peptides there are several matrices that could be considered to use. Different matrix compounds, both acidic and basic, have proved to work in sample preparation for MALDI mass analyzers. The far most commonly used matrix for peptide mass fingerprinting is CHCA, which is recommended for peptides with mass ions below 2500 Da (Beavis et al., 1992). Alternative matrices also used are sinapinic acid, mostly for masses higher than 25 kDa (Lewis et al., 2000) and DHB, originally suggested for glyco- or phosphopepides that are difficult to ionize (Strupat et al., 1991), but later also proven useful for silver stained proteins (Ghafouri et al., 2007). As illustrated in figure 11, CHCA and DHB have very different crystal structures on the target plate. Whereas CHCA usually has a homogeneously distributed spot appearance, making it ideal for automatic laser induced peptide desorption, the DHB crystals are needle shaped and often aggregated into fan-like structures directed from the outside towards the centre of the sample spot. Interestingly, we have found that peptides appear to be enriched in the base of the DHB structures (figure 11), significantly increasing the signal to noise ratio in spectra obtained from these areas. This is illustrated by the identification of transthyretin, one of the proteins that interact with silica nanoparticles and carbon nanotubes (figure 5). With DHB, the improved signal to noise in the spectrum displayed twice the number of peptides than with CHCA (figure 12). This dramatically increased the sequence coverage from 39 % obtained with CHCA to 72 % obtained with DHB. Thus, the use of DHB for low-abundant silver stained proteins from 2- DE is recommended.

Fig. 11. Crystals of α-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid (CHCA) and 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid (DHB).

A; CHCA and B; DHB as matrix on a MALDI plate. The marked area indicates the position of the laser where the best signal to noise was obtained with DHB.