scholarly journals Effects of High-Level Acylsugar-Producing Tomato Lines on the Development of Tomato Psyllids (Hemiptera: Triozidae)

2019 ◽  
Vol 112 (4) ◽  
pp. 1926-1931
Author(s):  
Zhenyu Li ◽  
Gregory Kund ◽  
Darlene M De Jong ◽  
Xia Feng ◽  
Martha A Mutschler ◽  
...  

Abstract Acylsugars have been shown to provide activity against numerous insect pests of tomatoes. Comparison of acylsugar levels in four tomato plant lines, FA7/AS, FA2/AS, CU071026, and ‘Yellow Pear’, found that the acylsugar contents in the elevated acylsugar lines were significantly higher than the commercial Yellow Pear (control) tomato plant line. Adult choice tests indicated that the tomato psyllid, Bactericera cockerelli, preferred to settle on the Yellow Pear and FA2/AS lines over the line with the highest content of acylsugars, FA7/AS, and the parental line, CU071026. The no-choice test demonstrated that adults laid fewer eggs on the high acylsugar tomato lines than on the control tomato line, Yellow Pear. For all high acylsugar lines, the relative growth index of the psyllid was significantly lower compared with the commercial line, indicating a reduced potential for population growth. Although some tomato psyllids completed their life cycle on the high acylsugar tomato plant lines, the percent survival of psyllids to the adult stage when developing on the high acylsugar lines was significantly less (range = 43.7–57.1%) than on the commercial tomato line (83.8%). All mortality occurred during the early stages of development (egg stage to third instar), which has implications for acquisition and transmission of Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum, the causal agent of tomato vein greening disease. Therefore, with reduced attractiveness for tomato psyllids and significantly reduced survival, the high-acylsugar tomato plant lines have the potential to be part of an integrated pest management program for this pest.

1990 ◽  
Vol 68 (3) ◽  
pp. 482-492 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. A. McLennan ◽  
J. D. McPhail

Cladistic analysis of behavioural interactions during a series of female choice trials revealed three groups of reproductively unsuccessful males in a population of anadromous Gasterosteus aculeatus: inactive losers (losing male did not participate in choice test), active losers (losing male active during choice test), and fighting losers (subgroup of active losers defined by the observation that the female did not immediately follow the first male to approach her). The inactive losers group represents a "no choice" situation. In the remaining two groups, females responded preferentially to the most intensely coloured member of the competing male pair. This preferential response was strongest during the prechoice, captive presentation where the majority of females oriented head-up to, and tracked, the brighter red male. Once released, the female's initial response to the brighter courtship signal was overridden by the behavioural actions of the duller intensity male in 4 out of 12 trials. Although two of these males eventually lost the female to their rival, the remaining two individuals succeeded in spawning. Overall, 10 of 12 females spawned with the brighter red male. Given the brief breeding season and the advantage enjoyed by the most brightly coloured males in mate attraction, a high level of territorial intrusion is one way for an individual to attract a mate if he is surrounded by more intensely coloured neighbours.


Author(s):  
Richard P. Dutton

This chapter provides an overview of how to create a quality improvement (QI) program. It is intended as a high-level reference guide for a department, division or practice quality improvement officer. It covers the topics of recruiting allies; finding, aggregating and creating data; basic analytic techniques; mechanisms for feedback of QI data to healthcare providers; implementing cyclical QI activities; managing individual adverse events and complications; and benchmarking to outside data sources. A template quality capture form for an anesthesia practice is included, and examples of reporting graphics and strategies are included. Woven throughout the chapter are specific thoughts on how the QI officer can create a “culture of safety” within the group, such that practitioners feel safe in reporting adverse outcomes and expect to see continuous improvement efforts within their systems.


Biological control is an important method of dealing with plant and insect pests. The control of rabbits by myxomatosis and the eradication of smallpox by vaccination are unusual examples of biological control, in that they involve a vertebrate and a viral pest respectively. Myxomatosis is a benign disease in Sylvilagus rabbits in South America which is transmitted mechanically by mosquitoes. In the European rabbit, Oryctolagus , which is a pest in Australia and England, the virus from Sylvilagus produces a generalized disease that is almost always lethal. Myxomatosis was deliberately introduced into Australia in 1950 and into Europe in 1952. It was at first spectacularly successful in controlling the rabbit pest, but biological adjustments occurred in the virulence of the virus and the genetic resistances of rabbits. After 30 years of interaction, natural selection has resulted in a balance at a fairly high level of viral virulence. Smallpox has been a major scourge of mankind for over 1500 years. It spread from Asia to Europe in the Middle ages and from Europe to Africa and the Americas in the 15th and 16th centuries. Jenner’s cowpox vaccine provided a method of control that reduced the severity of the disease during the 19th century but failed to eliminate the disease from many countries before the 1930s. Thereafter it was eradicated from Europe and North America, but remained endemic in South America, Africa and Asia. In 1967 it was still endemic in 33 countries and W. H. O. established a programme for global eradication within 10 years. The goal was achieved in 1977. Problems of the eradication programme and reasons for its success will be described.


2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Dimaano

In 2007, Maynilad Water Services, Inc. (Maynilad), the private water and wastewater service provider of the West Zone of Metro-Manila (Philippines), had an enormous challenge ahead: to achieve 100% service coverage in the coming few years with basically no additional water resources; to connect an additional 3 million people still without access to piped water; and to improve the service level to the existing customers. The only way to meet this demand is to reduce water losses from its deteriorated pipe network. Water balance made in that year showed significant total non-revenue water of 1,500 million liters per day which is equivalent to 66% of the total system input volume. Maynilad recognized that to be financially viable, it needs to address the non-revenue water problem. Thus, the Central NRW team was immediately created in 2008 and was tasked to lead Maynilad's ambitious NRW reduction and management program, which is considered one of the largest NRW projects in the world in terms of amount of water losses and the scope and magnitude of works involved to bring down the high level of NRW. Maynilad's NRW program involves breaking up the whole network into hydraulically isolated and measurable district metered areas (DMA); monitoring and diagnosing each DMA; developing well-trained and fully equipped leak detection teams to find surfacing and non-surfacing leaks; active leakage control; pressure management; selective pipe replacement/rehabilitation; closing of illegal connections and decommissioning of old distribution pipes; integrated meter management; and a sustained capacity building of NRW teams. By the end of 2013, 6 years after implementing the NRW program, Maynilad was able to recover more than 700 MLD and managed to bring down the NRW level to 39%. The water that was saved in turn was used to supply additional 400,000 new customers in the expansion areas and generally improved the level of service of the existing customers by providing higher water pressure and longer water availability. These translated to an increase in billed volume by 56 and 107% increase in total revenues for the company.


PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e5138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhuo Li ◽  
Megha N. Parajulee ◽  
Fajun Chen

Background Bt crops will face a new ecological risk of reduced effectiveness against target-insect pests owing to the general decrease in exogenous-toxin content in Bt crops grown under elevated carbon dioxide (CO2). The method chosen to deal with this issue may affect the sustainability of transgenic crops as an effective pest management tool, especially under future atmospheric CO2 level raising. Methods In this study, rhizobacterias, as being one potential biological regulator to enhance nitrogen utilization efficiency of crops, was selected and the effects of Bt maize (Line IE09S034 with Cry1Ie vs. its parental line of non-Bt maize Xianyu 335) infected by Azospirillum brasilense (AB) and Azotobacter chroococcum (AC) on the development and food utilization of the target Mythimna separate under ambient and double-ambient CO2 in open-top chambers from 2016 to 2017. Results The results indicated that rhizobacteria infection significantly increased the larval life-span, pupal duration, relative consumption rate and approximate digestibility of M. separata, and significantly decreased the pupation rate, pupal weight, adult longevity, fecundity, relative growth rate, efficiency of conversion of digested food and efficiency of conversion of ingested food of M. separata fed on Bt maize, while here were opposite trends in development and food utilization of M. separata fed on non-Bt maize infected with AB and AC compared with the control buffer in 2016 and 2017 regardless of CO2 level. Discussion Simultaneously, elevated CO2 and Bt maize both had negative influence on the development and food utilization of M. separata. Presumably, CO2 concentration arising in future significantly can increase their intake of food and harm to maize crop; however, Bt maize infected with rhizobacterias can reduce the field hazards from M. separata and the application of rhizobacteria infection can enhance the resistance of Bt maize against target lepidoptera pests especially under elevated CO2.


2000 ◽  
Vol 663 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroyuki Umeki

ABSTRACTIn Japan, as outlined in the overall high-level radioactive waste (HLW) management program defined by the Japanese Atomic Energy Commission (AEC, 1994), HLW from reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel will be immobilized in a glass matrix and stored for a period of 30 to 50 years to allow cooling. It will then be disposed of in a deep geological formation. Pursuant to the overall HLW management program, an organization with responsibility for implementing HLW disposal will be established around the year 2000. This will be followed by site selection and characterization, demonstration of disposal technology, establishment of the necessary legal infrastructure, relevant licensing applications and repository construction, with the objective of starting repository operation by the 2030s and no later than the mid 2040s.The HLW disposal program is currently in the research and development (R&D) phase and the Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute (JNC) has been assigned as the leading organization responsible for R&D activities. The aim of the R&D activities at the current stage is to provide a scientific and technical basis for the geological disposal of HLW in Japan and to promote understanding of the safety concept not only in the scientific and technical community but also by the general public. One of the features of the R&D program is that its progress is documented at appropriate intervals, with a view to clearly determining the level of achievement of the program and to promote understanding and acceptance of the geological disposal strategy by the general public. As a major milestone, the Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation (PNC, now JNC) submitted a first progress report, referred to as H3 (PNC, 1992), in September 1992.


2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (11) ◽  
pp. 2223-2231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jillian P. Eyles ◽  
Barbara R. Lucas ◽  
Jillian A. Patterson ◽  
Matthew J. Williams ◽  
Kate Weeks ◽  
...  

Objective.To identify baseline characteristics of participants who will respond favorably following 6 months of participation in a chronic disease management program for hip and knee osteoarthritis (OA).Methods.This prospective cohort study assessed 559 participants at baseline and following 6 months of participation in the Osteoarthritis Chronic Care Program. Response was defined as the minimal clinically important difference of an 18% and 9-point absolute improvement in the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index global score. Multivariate logistic regression modeling was used to identify predictors of response.Results.Complete data were available for 308 participants. Those who withdrew within the study period were imputed as nonresponders. Three variables were independently associated with response: signal joint (knee vs hip), sex, and high level of comorbidity. Index joint and sex were significant in the multivariate model, but the model was not a sensitive predictor of response.Conclusion.Strong predictors of response to a chronic disease management program for hip and knee OA were not identified. The significant predictors that were found should be considered in future studies.


1997 ◽  
Vol 506 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.F. McGinnes ◽  
J. W. Schneider

ABSTRACTThe direct disposal of spent fuel is one of the options considered in the Swiss high level waste management program. One of the important questions, within this program, is the heat generation from high-burnup UO2and MOX spent fuels. Depending on the repository boundary conditions (e.g. ambient temperatures at depth, thermal properties of the host rock etc.), on the maximum temperatures allowed in the near field and on the heat output of the fuel, it may not always be possible to completely fill the conceptual waste canister. The aim of this paper is to address the potential loading of spent fuel into canisters for different possible repository heat loading restrictions


Author(s):  
Len LeBlanc ◽  
Walter Kresic ◽  
Sean Keane ◽  
John Munro

This paper describes the integrity management framework utilized within the Enbridge Liquids Pipelines Integrity Management Program. The role of the framework is to provide the high-level structure used by the company to prepare and demonstrate integrity safety decisions relative to mainline pipelines, and facility piping segments where applicable. The scope is directed to corrosion, cracking, and deformation threats and all variants within those broad categories. The basis for the framework centers on the use of a safety case to provide evidence that the risks affecting the system have been effectively mitigated. A ‘safety case’, for the purposes of this methodology is defined as a structured argument demonstrating that the evidence is sufficient to show that the system is safe.[1] The decision model brings together the aspects of data integration and determination of maintenance timing; execution of prevention, monitoring, and mitigation; confirmation that the execution has met reliability targets; application of additional steps if targets are not met; and then the collation of the results into an engineering assessment of the program effectiveness (safety case). Once the program is complete, continuous improvement is built into the next program through the incorporation of research and development solutions, lessons learned, and improvements to processes. On the basis of a wide range of experiences, investigations and research, it was concluded that there are combinations of monitoring and mitigation methods required in an integrity program to effectively manage integrity threats. A safety case approach ultimately provides the structure for measuring the effectiveness of integrity monitoring and mitigation efforts, and the methodology to assess whether a pipeline is sufficiently safe with targets for continuous improvement. Hence, the need for the safety case is to provide transparent, quantitative integrity program performance results which are continually improved upon through ongoing revalidations and improvement to the methods utilized. This enables risk reduction, better stakeholder awareness, focused innovation, opportunities for industry information sharing along with other benefits.


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