Most natural odors are mixtures and often elicit percepts distinct from those elicited by their constituents. This emergence of a unique odor quality has long been attributed to central processing. Here we show that sophisticated integration of olfactory information begins in olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) in Drosophila. Odor mixtures are encoded in the temporal dynamics as well as in the ma...

The roots of most land plants are colonised by mycorrhizal fungi that provide mineral nutrients in exchange for carbon. Here, we show that mycorrhizal mycelia can also act as a conduit for signalling between plants, acting as an early warning system for herbivore attack. Insect herbivory causes systemic changes in the production of plant volatiles, particularly methyl salicylate, making bean pl...

Reducing the risk of mosquito bites is currently the only way to reduce the risk of West Nile virus infection. Methods for avoiding mosquito bites include limiting the time spent outdoors at dawn and dusk, wearing protective clothing and using an insect repellent. Repellents containing DEET (N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide, also known as N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide) are the most effective and most wi...

To safely and efficiently guide search and rescue operations in disaster areas, gathering of relevant information such as the locations of victims, must occur swiftly. Using the concept of “repellent virtual pheromones” inspired by insect colony coordination behaviors, miniature robots can be quickly dispersed to survey a disaster site. Assisted by visual servoing, dispersion of the miniature r...

Cinnamic acid derivatives (CADs) are naturally occurring substances found in fruits, vegetables, flowers and are consumed as dietary phenolic compounds. These play a vital role in the formation of commercially important intermediate molecules which are necessary for the production of different pharmaceutical ingradients. In the present review, cinnamic acid and its derivatives are studied for i...

Essential oils of Eulcalyptus globulus, Lavender officinalis, Rosemarinus officinalis, and Thymus vulgaris were examined for their repellent activities against Culex pipiens pallens. All 4 essential oils effectively repelled adult mosquitoes on hairless mice. Essential oil of T. vulgaris (thyme) had potent repellent activity within the tested materials, with a protection rate of 91% at a concen...

BACKGROUND While community distribution of topical repellents has been proposed as an additional malaria control intervention, the safety of this intervention at the population level remains poorly evaluated. We describe the safety of mass distribution of the picaridin repellent during a cluster-randomised trial in rural Cambodia in 2012-2013. METHODS The repellent was distributed among 57 in...

Vespid wasps are ecologically beneficial, but they can be a nuisance and dangerous to people due to their tendency to sting. Here, the aim was to screen samples of volatiles (i.e., essential oils and pure chemicals) for their repellency against wasps. The number of wasps (mainly Vespula vulgaris) present in a glass box with attractant and 5 µL sample was compared to the number of wasps in a sim...

Field bioassays were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of different treatment combinations of permethrin-impregnated clothing and a new extended duration repellent formulation of deet against natural populations of mosquitoes in Islamabad, Pakistan. Tests were initiated 2-2 1/2 hours prior to sunset and volunteers who wore the topical repellent applied it 8 hours earlier. The most effecti...

Oil repellent surface have lots of practical applications in many fields. Current oil repellent coating may suffer from limited liquid repellency to oils or environmental risks. In this work, we report an eco-friendly 'green' processes for preparing oil-repellent surface using a renewable and environmentally benign bioresource alginate. The oil-repellent coating was prepared by a two-step surfa...