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This study was carried out to investigate the efficacy of the non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma produced with dielectric barrier discharge (APPD) using air as a processing gas and microwave energy to control Tribolium castaneum and Trogoderma granarium adults and larvae in wheat grains. Insects' mortality was found to be power and time-dependent. The results indicated that non-thermal APPD and the microwave have enough insecticidal effect on the target pests. From the bioassay, LT50's and LT90's levels were estimated, T. granarium larvae appeared more tolerant to non-thermal APPD and the microwave energy than adults 7 days post-exposure. The germination percentage of wheat grains increased as the time of exposure to the non-thermal APPD increased. On the contrary, the germination percentage of wheat grains decreased as the time of exposure to the microwave increased. In addition, changes in antioxidant enzyme activities, catalase (CAT), glutathione S-transferase (GST) and peroxidase, in adults and larvae were examined after 24 h post-treatment to non-thermal APPD at 15.9 W power level, which caused 50% mortality. The activity of CAT, GST and lipid peroxide in the treated larvae showed a significant increase post-exposure to the non-thermal APPD at 15.9 W power level. On the other hand, no significant change in GSH-Px activity was observed. Reductions in the level of glutathione (GSH) and protein content occurred in treated larvae in comparison with the control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper a method is described that allows mapping of the forces acting on dust particles in a GEC reference cell. Monodisperse particles are dropped into the plasma environment and their trajectories are tracked using a high-speed camera system to determine local accelerations and respective forces. Collecting data from a large number of particle drops allows the identification of three-dimensional vector fields for the acting forces. The procedure is described and multiple examples in which the method has been applied are given. These examples include a simple plasma sheath, plasmas perturbed by a horizontal and vertical dipole magnet, an array of multiple magnets mimicking the fields found at a lunar swirl, and the fields inside a glass box used for particle confinement. Further applicability in other plasma environments will be discussed shortly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]