Aanvullend advies op actualisatie maatregelen duurzame gewasbescherming 2009 : een selectie aan maatregelen waarmee op korte termijn het meest bereikt kan worden in de praktijk

PPO Wageningen UR, heeft in opdracht van het Ministerie van LNV in het kader van het convenant gewasbescherming maatregelen gecatalogiseerd die bijdragen aan het verlagen van de milieubelasting en aan het stimuleren van geïntegreerde gewasbescherming. Dit traject startte in 2004 en actualisatie vond plaats in 2006, 2007 en 2009. Na drie jaar actualisatie is een ontwikkeling in maatregelen zichtbaar. Deze publicatie bevat adviezen over maatregelen waarmee het meest bereikt wordt in de maatschappij

Can volatiles emitted by compost during spawn run be used to detect green mould infection early?

In recent years green mould (Trichoderma aggressivum) has presented big problems to the Dutch mushroom industry. T. aggressivum infects compost at a very early stage and in the Dutch situation infection most likely takes place at the compost yard. Even though compost producers in the Netherlands are very keen to prevent green mould problems, occasionally still a number of crops get infected. Therefore there is a need for a reliable method that allows early detection of Trichoderma green mould. Although qPCR methods have been developed for quantitation of T. aggressivum, these cannot be used for detection in compost. In the Netherlands spawn run is performed in bulk at the compost yards and is referred to as phase 3 composting. During this process, spawned compost is incubated in tunnels and ventilated with large volumes of air to control compost temperature. During this process the compost is inaccessible for sampling. Literature data showed that Agaricus bisporus and T. aggressivum use volatiles to affect each other’s growth rate. We tested the possibility to detect Trichoderma green mould using the volatiles that are emitted during spawn run. This eventually could lead to a sophisticated non-invasive detection method of T. aggressivum in the process air of the tunnels, without the need to sample inside the tunnel during spawn run. For this we compared volatiles that are produced in non-infected compost with volatiles that are produced in infected compost. In our experimental model, 300 g of phase 2 compost, is spawned and inserted in aerated glass vessels. Compost is colonised at an air temperature of 24°C. After 7, 10 and 14 days of spawn run, process air is sampled both in infected and non-infected cultures and analysed by coupled gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). During this 14-day period white mushroom mycelium develops in the non-infected compost. In the infected compost the compost turns black with occasional tufts of white mycelium and green spores. Volatile blends that are produced during normal compost colonisation (when Agaricus bisporus interacts with Scytalidium thermophilum and other micro flora present in compost) differ from those produced during colonisation of T. aggressivum infected compost. Some of the volatiles appear to be specific for T. aggressivum infected compost. Next to this also consistent differences in the overall pattern of volatile production are seen. Infections with T. harzianum, T. atroviride, an Aspergillus species, or Smokey mould (Penicillium citreonigrum) produce different volatile patterns. Significant differences between the volatile blends of infected and non-infected compost are visible after 7 days of compost colonisation. In commercial practice of phase 3 composting, tunnels are likely to be partially infected. On-going research is directed at studying larger amounts of compost that is only partially infected

Spirituality is associated with Covid-19 vaccination scepticism

Vaccine scepticism poses a significant global health risk, which has again become clear during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Previous research has identified spirituality as an important contributor to general vaccine scepticism. In the present manuscript, we assessed whether self-identified spirituality similarly contributes to scepticism towards Covid-19 vaccines, vaccine uptake, and indecisiveness in intention to be vaccinated. We conducted three studies online in the UK in late 2020, early 2021, and the summer 2021. In Studies 1 and 2 (N = 585), as expected, individuals who strongly identified as spiritual were more sceptical about Covid-19 vaccines. This association was explained by low faith in science, but not by conspiracy beliefs. Importantly, among the vaccinated participants, those who were more spiritual were more indecisive to get a Covid-19 vaccine. Using structural equation modelling (SEM), we further found that spirituality directly predicted lower likelihood of being vaccinated against Covid-19 (Study 3, N = 456). We also identified low science literacy as an additional predictor of Covid-19 scepticism, but not self-reported vaccine uptake. To conclude, spiritual beliefs are an important factor to consider when aiming to increase understanding of vaccine-related science scepticism and vaccination rejection.</p

Who Is Skeptical About Scientific Innovation? Examining Worldview Predictors of Artificial Intelligence, Nanotechnology, and Human Gene Editing Attitudes

This work examines worldview predictors of attitudes toward nanotechnology, human gene editing (HGE), and artificial intelligence. By simultaneously assessing the relative predictive value of various worldview variables in two Dutch samples (total N = 614), we obtained evidence for spirituality as a key predictor of skepticism across domains. Religiosity consistently predicted HGE skepticism only. Lower faith in science contributed to these relationships. Aversion to tampering with nature predicted skepticism across domains. These results speak to the importance of religiosity and spirituality for scientific innovation attitudes and emphasize the need for a detailed consideration of worldviews that shape these attitudes

Psychological Distance to Science as a Predictor of Science Skepticism Across Domains

This article presents and tests psychological distance to science (PSYDISC) as a domain-general predictor of science skepticism. Drawing on the concept of psychological distance, PSYDISC reflects the extent to which individuals perceive science as a tangible undertaking conducted by people similar to oneself (social), with effects in the here (spatial) and now (temporal), and as useful and applicable in the real world (hypothetical distance). In six studies (two preregistered; total N = 1,630) and two countries, we developed and established the factor structure and validity of a scale measuring PSYDISC. Crucially, higher PSYDISC predicted skepticism beyond established predictors, across science domains. A final study showed that PSYDISC shapes real-world behavior (COVID-19 vaccination uptake). This work thus provides a novel tool to predict science skepticism, as well as a construct that can help to further develop a unifying framework to understand science skepticism across domains.</p

Registered Replication Report: Dijksterhuis and van Knippenberg (1998)

Dijksterhuis and van Knippenberg (1998) reported that participants primed with a category associated with intelligence ("professor") subsequently performed 13% better on a trivia test than participants primed with a category associated with a lack of intelligence ("soccer hooligans"). In two unpublished replications of this study designed to verify the appropriate testing procedures, Dijksterhuis, van Knippenberg, and Holland observed a smaller difference between conditions (2%-3%) as well as a gender difference: Men showed the effect (9.3% and 7.6%), but women did not (0.3% and -0.3%). The procedure used in those replications served as the basis for this multilab Registered Replication Report. A total of 40 laboratories collected data for this project, and 23 of these laboratories met all inclusion criteria. Here we report the meta-analytic results for those 23 direct replications (total N = 4,493), which tested whether performance on a 30-item general-knowledge trivia task differed between these two priming conditions (results of supplementary analyses of the data from all 40 labs, N = 6,454, are also reported). We observed no overall difference in trivia performance between participants primed with the "professor" category and those primed with the "hooligan" category (0.14%) and no moderation by gender