The agricultural use of silica (SiO2) nanoparticles (NPs) has the potential to control insect pests while the safety and tritrophic effects on plants and beneficial natural enemies remains unknown. Here, we evaluate the effects of silica NPs on insect pests with different feeding niches, natural enemies, and a plant. Silica NPs were applied at different concentrations (75–425 mg/L) on field-cultivated faba bean and soybean for two growing seasons. The faba bean pests, the cowpea aphid Aphis craccivora and the American serpentine leafminer Liriomyza trifolii, and the soybean pest, the cotton leafworm Spodoptera littoralis, were monitored along with their associated predators. Additional laboratory experiments were performed to test the effects of silica NPs on the growth of faba bean seedlings and to determine whether the rove beetle Paederus fuscipes is attracted to cotton leafworm-infested soybean treated with silica NPs. In the field experiments, silica NPs reduced the populations of all three insect pests and their associated predators, including rove beetles, as the concentration of silica NPs increased. In soybean fields, however, the total number of predators initially increased after applying the lowest concentration. An olfactometer-based choice test found that rove beetles were more likely to move towards an herbivore-infested plant treated with silica NPs than to a water-treated control, suggesting that silica NPs enhance the attraction of natural enemies via herbivore-induced plant volatiles. In the laboratory, while silica NPs inhibited the development of faba bean roots at 400 mg/L, they did not affect germination percentage, germination time, shoot length, or vigor index compared to the control.

The systemic expressions of certain defense-related genes in cucumber plants induced by culture filtrate (CF) of the plant growth-promoting fungus (PGPF), Penicillium simplicissimum GP17-2, and challenging with Sio 2 nanoparticles against Papaya ring spot virus (PRSV) and its vector the green peach aphid Myzus persicae were investigated. CF and Sio 2 were topically applied to cucumber plants by soil drench method. Results showed that the severity of PRSV and its accumulation in cucumber leaves were significantly reduced in all treated cucumber plants compared with the control. The expression of pathogenesis-related genes showed strong activations of peroxidases (POX) and phenylalanineammonia lyase (PAL) genes and moderate expression of PR-1 one day after inoculation, while, six days after inoculation a high activation of PAL and PR-1 genes and moderate activation of POX gene were detected. No expression was detected in plants infected with PRSV alone without any treatments. These results suggested that CF and Sio 2 treatments mediated the expression of the majority of various pathogen-related genes, which may contribute to the increased defense mechanism against PRSV infection in cucumber.

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The optimum asphalt content is one of the most important parameters as it has a great influence on the asphalt-mix performance. This paper provides a set of simple and multiple linear regression models for estimating the optimum asphalt content (OAC) from the aggregate gradation of the asphalt mix. The process of estimating the OAC is called the asphalt-mix design. The method used for the mix design in Egypt is the Marshall design method; however, the results are subject to variation and it is time consuming as it involves preparation and testing of 15 specimens. This research study provides a new approach for using the Marshall test; this approach is time saving and reduces the effort and resources used in the test as the developed models can be used to estimate the OAC and then three Marshall specimens are prepared to estimate the other design parameters.