Revealing historic insect damage of P.sylvestris L. in the northeast lowlands of Germany by means of the Needle Trace Method (NTM)

Informationen zu historischen Fraßschäden durch Forstinsekten konnten in der Vergangenheit allein über die Anlage von Langzeituntersuchungsflächen erhoben oder mit Hilfe von Jahrringanalysen abgeschätzt werden. Ein Langzeitmonitoring, wie es auch seit 1984 auf Level II - Flächen in Bundesforsten durchgeführt wird, ist allerdings mit hohem zeitlichen und finanziellem Aufwand verbunden und deckt zudem nur einen kurzen Zeitraum ab. Mittels Jahrringanalysen erhält man zwar weiter zurückreichende Informationen, diese sind jedoch mit einer gewissen Unsicherheit behaftet, da nur über ein Ausschlußverfahren klimatische bzw. abiotische Ursachen für Zuwachsstörungen ausgeschlossen werden. Eine Methode, mit der man direkt dort ansetzen kann, wo der Schaden passiert – an der Belaubung eines Baumes – war in der Vergangenheit nicht gegeben. Seit Anfang der 1990er Jahre ist dies jedoch mit dem sog. Nadelspurverfahren (KURKELA & JALKANEN 1990) möglich. Mit Hilfe dieser Technik kann die Benadelung von Koniferen retrospektiv entlang von Hauptachsen (Stamm, Äste) über das gesamte Lebensalter eines Baumes aufgedeckt werden, wobei die erhobenen Benadelungsparameter eine direkte Auskunft über Auffälligkeiten im enadelungsmuster geben (JALKANEN 1995, SANDER 1997) können.Until recently, information on historic insect damage to forest trees could not be obtained unless exact documentations, e.g. by the forest service existed. The needle trace method, NTM, reveals the past needle retention of conifers over a trees lifetime (KURKELA & JALKANEN 1990). These needle parameters can be used for dendro-ecological research as well as for the detection of insect outbreaks in forest stands (INSINNA et.al. 2004). In 2004, a Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stand in north eastern Germany near Müllrose was investigated. We demonstrate that the long-term needle age and needle loss patterns can be correlated with recorded historical outbreaks of Bupalus piniarius L., Lymantria monacha L. (Lepidoptera) and Diprion pini L. (Hymenoptera). A differentiation between biotic (insect) and abiotic (e.g. drought) damage is possible with NTM, but not by use of the previously applied tree ring analysis. The average needle age correlates well with the outbreak situation of a defoliator as documented in the records of the local forest service. Years of insect damage can also be identified by calculating the percentage of needle loss. We conclude from our results that NTM is a suitable tool for the detection of insect damage for example in areas where no records are available. An identification of specific insect species responsible for the damage is possible

Non-isotropy in the CMB power spectrum in single field inflation

Contaldi et al. [1] have suggested that an initial period of kinetic energy domination in single field inflation may explain the lack of CMB power at large angular scales. We note that in this situation it is natural that there also be a spatial gradient in the initial value of the inflaton field, and that this can provide a spatial asymmetry in the observed CMB power spectrum, manifest at low multipoles. We investigate the nature of this asymmetry and comment on its relation to possible anomalies at low multipoles.Comment: 25 pages, 12 figures. In this revised version, we include the Integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect, which was missing from the original. This modifies some results in the low multipoles. The comparison with experiment is slightly better but the change is not statistically significan

Vitalnost spora mikrosporidija izoliranih iz gusjenica gubara (Lymantria dispar) nakon dugotrajne pohrane u tekućem dušiku

Data on the viability of microsporidian isolates from Lymantria dispar after long-term storage in liquid nitrogen are presented. Eight microsporidian isolates from L. dispar were tested for their infectivity against L. dispar larvae: ­Vairimorpha disparis, Nosema lymantriae, Nosema portugal, Nosema sp. (Poland), Nosema sp. (Ebergassing), Nosema sp. (Germany), Nosema sp. (Schweinfurt) and Nosema sp. (Veslec). The survival of spores in liquid nitrogen was ­studied in detail for N. portugal and Nosema sp. (Ebergassing) which had been stored in liquid nitrogen almost 19 years and used for individual per oral infections while the other six isolates were used only in surface contamination per oral experiments. Our study confirms that storage in liquid nitrogen is a suitable option for long-term storage of Nosema and Vairimorpha species from lepidopteran hosts. Spores survived for up to 19 years; however, the experiments show that there is a significant loss of viability. In some cases, spores had lost viability already after 7 years in liquid nitrogen. We recommend producing fresh material every 5 years to maintain collections in liquid nitrogen. No material that had been stored in liquid nitrogen for extended periods should be used for infection experiments.U radu se prikazuju rezultati preživljenja mikrosporidija izoliranih iz gubara (Lymantria dispar) nakon dugotrajne pohrane u tekućem dušiku. Infektivnost osam mikrosporidijskih L. dispar izolata testirano je na ličinkama gubara: Vairimorpha disparis, Nosema lymantriae, Nosema portugal, Nosema sp. (Poljska), Nosema sp. (Ebergassing), Nosema sp. (Njemačka), Nosema sp. (Schweinfurt) and Nosema sp. (Veslec). Preživljenje spora u tekućem dušiku detaljno je praćeno kod N. portugal i Nosema sp. (Ebergassing) koje su tako čuvane skoro 19 godina i aplicirane oralnom infekcijom i ponaosob na svaku pojedinu ličinku gubara. Ostalih 6 izolata aplicirano je površinskom kontaminacijom hranjivog supstrata, također oralnim infekcijskim putem. Od 8 mikrosporidijskih izolata apliciranih površinskom kontaminacijom samo kod 4 izolata, Vairimorpha disparis, Nosema lymantriae, Nosema sp. (Ebergassing) i Nosema sp. (Poljska), došlo je do uspješne infekcije ličinki gubara. Dok je kod svih testiranih ličinki (100%) uspješno realizirana infekcija sporama prve tri mikrosporidije, tek 21,1% tretiranih ličinki uspješno je inficirano sporama Nosema sp. (Poljska). Na kraju inkubacijskog razdoblja, kod svih ličinki inficiranih sa sva 4 izolata disekcijom je utvrđen visok stupanj zaraze; tkiva su bila ispunjena sporama. Mikroskopska pretraga ličinki L. dispar individualno tretiranih sporama Nosema portugal uz tri različite doze (100, 1000 i 10000 spora) pokazala je da su spore N. portugal izgubile infektivnost nakon 19 godina pohrane u tekućem dušiku; niti jedna od testiranih ličinka nije bila zaražena. Naprotiv, spore Nosema sp. (Ebergassing) zadržale su infektivnost nakon istog razdoblja pohrane u tekućem dušiku od 18,75 godina. Niti jedna od testiranih ličinki nije zaražena nakon oralnog unosa od 100 spora. Oralna aplikacija od 1000 spora po ličniki rezultirala je ukupnom uspješnom infekcijom 4,1% ličinki, a aplikacija od 10000 spora s 68,8% inficiranih ličinki. U svim uspješnim slučajevima uspješno zaraženih ličinki, na kraju inkubacijskog razdoblja infekcija je bila dobro razvijena, a masno tijelo prepuno spora. Istraživanje je potvrdilo da je pohrana mikrosporidija Nosema i Vairimorpha vrsta i domaćina iz reda leptira prikladna opcija za dugotrajno čuvanje izolata. Spore su preživjele i do 18 i pola godina, iako je tijekom eksperimenta zamijećen i značajan pad njihove infektivnosti. U pojedinim slučajevima spore su odumrle već nakon 7 godina pohrane u tekućem dušiku. Preporuka je da prilikom skladištenja i pohrane mikrosporidijskih izolata u tekućem dušiku svakih 5 godina repozitorij obnavlja svježim izolatima. Materijal koji se dulje vrijeme skladišti u tekućem dušiku nije prikladan i ne bi se smio koristiti u infektološkim testovima

Development and Validation of an External GPS Time Synchronization for Robotic Total Station Control

Robotic total stations (RTS) offer great potential for use in the context of diverse kinematic measurement processes. However, a central challenge is the accurate and reliable combination of the polar measuring elements of the RTS with a higher-level global time reference. Global positioning system (GPS) time or coordinated universal time (UTC) are available for this purpose, but cannot be directly linked to the instrument. This paper presents a flexible concept for external synchronization of an RTS by means of an additional microcontroller. The developed synchronization box relies on extended communication commands of the instrument manufacturer's Measure & Stream application and is supposed to account for all significant offsets and latencies without additional laboratory calibrations. Using an independent validation procedure, absolute temporal offsets to a UTC-triggered laser tracker-based reference solution with superior accuracy are examined. This revealed a significant offset of 55 ms of the developed synchronization solution compared to the high accuracy reference, which is comparable to the determined latencies of related work in the context of laboratory calibrations. It is shown that further long-term investigations of the synchronization box are required and in particular the reliable and precise operability of the Measure & Stream application should be further investigated with a dedicated experimental setup

Nosema pieriae sp. n. (Microsporida, Nosematidae): A New Microsporidian Pathogen of the Cabbage Butterfly Pieris brassicae L. (Lepidoptera: Pieridae)

A new microsporidian pathogen of the cabbage butterfly, Pieris brassicae is described based on light microscopy, ultrastructural characteristics and comparative small subunit rDNA analysis. The pathogen infects the gut of P. brassicae. All development stages are in direct contact with the host cell cytoplasm. Meronts are spherical or ovoid. Spherical meronts measure 3.68 ± 0.73 × 3.32 ± 1.09 µm and ovoid meronts 4.04 ± 0.74 × 2.63 ± 0.49 µm. Sporonts are spherical to elongate (4.52 ± 0.48 × 2.16 ± 0.27 µm). Sporoblasts are elongated and measure 4.67 ± 0.60 × 2.30 ± 0.30 µm in length. Fresh spores with nuclei arranged in a diplokaryon are oval and measure 5.29 ± 0.55 µm in length and 2.31 ± 0.29 µm in width. Spores stained with Giemsa’s stain measure 4.21 ± 0.50 µm in length and 1.91 ± 0.24 µm in width. Spores have an isofilar polar filament with six coils. All morphological, ultrastructural and molecular features indicate that the described microsporidium belongs to the genus Nosema and confirm that it has different taxonomic characters than other microsporidia infecting Pieris spp

PODLOŽNOST Lymantria monacha I L. dispar NA ENTOMOPATOGENU GLJIVU Isaria fumorosea WIZE

Isaria fumosorosea is a cosmopolitan fungal species with a large host range including insects which are economically important pests in agriculture and forestry. In the current study the susceptibility of two forest pests Lymantria monacha and L. dispar to an isolate of the fungus Isaria fumosorosea obtained from Hyphantria cunea and re-isolates from L. dispar, L. monacha and Dendrolimus pini was investigated under laboratory conditions. Newly molted third instar larvae of L. monacha and newly molted second, third and fourth instar larvae of L. dispar were inoculated with fungal conidia by various methods: Larvae of L. dispar were either dipped directly into the conidia suspension (1×108 conidia/ml), or indirect methods were applied – by surface contact of larvae with conidial suspensions (1×108, 1×109, 3×107, 3×108, or 4×108 conidia/ml) placed on filter paper discs in Petri dishes or by contact with oak leaves or larch needles dipped in conidia suspension. Larvae in control variants were treated with water. Mortality of larvae was checked daily for 20 days and the efficacy of the fungus was corrected with mortality in the control treatments. It was found that larvae of both Lymantria – species can be infected experimentally with Isaria fumosorosea. Similar corrected efficacy of Isaria fumosorosea for the third instars larvae of L. dispar (12.37 %) and for L. monacha (12.66 %) was found when 1x108 conidia/ml of the isolate from H. cunea was applied on filter paper. The highest corrected efficacy of Isaria fumosorosea for L. dispar larvae was 60.0 % when 1x109 conidia/ml of the isolate from H. cunea was applied on filter paper. A corrected efficacy of 27.85 % was recorded for L. monacha when 4x108 conidia/ml of re-isolate from L. dispar were applied on larch needles. Our results show that L. dispar and L. monacha larvae are within the psihological host range of the used Isaria fumosorosea isolate from H. cunea and re-isolates obtained from infected larvae of D. pini, L. monacha and L. dispar, however their susceptibility is low. Indirect treatment by surface contact of host larvae with fungal conidia caused higher efficacy of mycosis than dipping into the suspension.Isaria fumosorosea je kozmopolitska vrsta gljive s velikim brojem domaćina, a među njima se nalaze insekti koji imaju veliko ekonomsko značenje kao važni štetnici za poljoprivredu i šumarstvo. U ovome istraživanju podložnost prema izolatima gljive Isaria fumosorosea istraživana je pod laboratorijskim uvjetima na dvije vrste šumskih štetnika, Lymantria monacha i L. dispar, a izolati su dobiveni iz vrste Hyphantria cunea te iz reizolata od L. dispar, L. monacha i Dendrolimus pini. Zaraza je obavljena na tek presvučenom III. larvalnom stadiju vrste L. monacha i na tek presvučenim II., III., i IV. larvalnom stadiju vrste L. dispar. Inokulacija s konidijama gljive odrađena je različitim metodama: larve vrste L. dispar su izravno umočene u suspenziju konidija (1×108 konidija/ml) ili su korištene neizravne metode – površinski kontakt larvi sa suspenzijom konidija (1×108, 1×109, 3×107, 3×108 ili 4×108 konidija/ml) stavljenih na filter papir u Petrijeve posude, ili kontakt s lišćem hrasta ili iglica ariša umočenih u suspenziju konidija. Larve u kontrolnom tretmanu tretirane su s običnom vodom. Mortalitet larvi je svaki dan provjeravan u razdoblju od 20 dana, a uspješnost gljive korigirana je s mortalitetom u kontrolnom tretmanu. Pokusi zaraze vrstom Isaria fumosorosea na obje vrste iz roda Lymantria, utvrdili su da postoji mogućnost zaraze ovom gljivom. Slična korigirana uspješnost vrste Isaria fumosorosea pronađena je kada su III. larvalni stadiji vrsta L. dispar (12,37 %) i L. monacha (12,66 %) bili stavljeni na filter papir sa suspenzijom vrijednosti 1×108 konidija/ml iz vrste H. cunea. Najveća korigirana uspješnost (60 %) bila je kada je izolat iz H. cunea na filter papiru bio korišten za larve L. dispar u suspenziji od 1×109 konidija/ml. Za vrstu L. monacha korigirana uspješnost od 27,85 % zabilježena je kada je korištena iglica ariša umočena u suspenziju od 4×108 konidija/ml iz reizolata L. dispar. Rezultati ovoga istraživanja pokazuju da larve vrsti L. dispar i L. monacha pripadaju među moguće domaćine izolata gljive Isaria fumosorosea dobivenih iz H. cunea i reizolata dobivenih iz zaraženih larvi vrsta D. pini, L. monacha i L. dispar, iako je njihova podložnost vrlo niska. Neizravni tretmani površinskim kontaktom larvi s konidijama gljive, uzrokovoli su veću uspješnost razvoja mikoze, za razliku od umakanja u suspenziju

Delivery Room ST Segment Analysis to Predict Short Term Outcomes in Near-Term and Term Newborns

Background: ST-segment changes to the fetal electrocardiogram (ECG) may indicate fetal acidosis. No large-scale characterization of ECG morphology immediately after birth has been performed, but ECG is used for heart rate (HR) assessment. We aimed to investigate ECG morphology immediately after birth in asphyxiated infants, using one-lead dry-electrode ECG developed for HR measurement. Methods: Observational study in Tanzania, between 2013–2018. Near-term and term infants that received bag-mask ventilation (BMV), and healthy controls, were monitored with one-lead dry-electrode ECG with a non-diagnostic bandwidth. ECGs were classified as normal, with ST-elevations or other ST-segment abnormalities including a biphasic ST-segment. We analyzed ECG morphology in relation to perinatal variables or short-term outcomes. Results: A total of 494 resuscitated and 25 healthy infants were included. ST-elevations were commonly seen both in healthy infants (7/25; 28%) and resuscitated (320/494; 65%) infants. The apparent ST-elevations were not associated with perinatal variables or short-term outcomes. Among the 32 (6.4%) resuscitated infants with “other ST-segment abnormalities”, duration of BMV was longer, 1-min Apgar score lower and normal outcomes less frequent than in the resuscitated infants with normal ECG or ST-elevations. Conclusions: ST-segment elevation was commonly seen and not associated with negative outcomes when using one-lead dry-electrode ECG. Other ST-segment abnormalities were associated with prolonged BMV and worse outcome. ECG with appropriate bandwidth and automated analysis may potentially in the future aid in the identification of severely asphyxiated infants.publishedVersio

A time varying speed of light as a solution to cosmological puzzles

We consider the cosmological implications of light travelling faster in the early Universe. We propose a prescription for deriving corrections to the cosmological evolution equations while the speed of light $c$ is changing. We then show how the horizon, flatness, and cosmological constant problems may be solved. We also study cosmological perturbations in this scenario and show how one may solve the homogeneity and isotropy problems. As it stands, our scenario appears to most easily produce extreme homogeneity, requiring structure to be produced in the Standard Big Bang epoch. Producing significant perturbations during the earlier epoch would require a rather careful design of the function $c(t)$. The large entropy inside the horizon nowadays can also be accounted for in this scenario.Comment: To be published in Physical Review D. Note added referring to John Moffat's early work on VSL theorie

Fecal microbiota transplantation in the treatment of chronic pouchitis:A systematic review

The objective was to evaluate available literature on treatment of chronic pouchitis with fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) focusing on clinical outcomes, safety, and different approaches to FMT preparation and delivery. A systematic review of electronic databases was conducted using Medline, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials Library from inception through April 2020. Human studies of all study types reporting results of FMT to treat chronic pouchitis were included. Nine studies, reporting FMT treatment of 69 patients with chronic pouchitis were found eligible for the review. Most studies were case series and cohort studies rated as having fair to poor quality due to high risk of bias and small sample size. Only one randomized controlled trial was included, finding no beneficial effect of FMT. In total clinical response after FMT was reported in 14 (31.8%) out of 44 evaluated patients at various timepoints after FMT, and clinical remission in ten (22.7%) patients. Only minor self-limiting adverse events were reported. FMT varied greatly regarding preparation, length of treatment, and route of delivery. The effects of FMT on symptoms of chronic pouchitis are not established, though some studies show promising results. Future controlled well-designed studies are warranted