Phylloplane Sterilization With Bleach Does Not Reduce Btk Toxicity for \u3ci\u3ePapilio Glaucus\u3c/i\u3e Larvae (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae)

Neonate tiger swallowtail larvae (Papilio glaucus) were used to bioassay the effects of Btk (Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki) at 4 doses (0.268, 0.034, 0.008, and 0.004 BIU per cm leaf surface) with an untreated control. Larvae, obtained from females captured in Georgia and North Carolina, were fed leaves of either tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipfera) or black cherry (Prunus serotina) in experiments that either included a pre-treatment dip and rinse in 5% chlorox bleach or not, before the application of Btk (dipping leaves in serially diluted solutions of Foray 48B). The results show no difference between North Carolina and Georgia P. glaucus larval dosage sensitivities, but do illustrate a clear dosage effect for all 4 treatments (cherry with and without bleach pre-treatment; tulip tree with and without bleach pre-treatment). The larvae on the bleached leaves do not do better (for cherry or tulip tree host plant) as would be expected if microbial symbionts on the phylloplane synergize the Btk toxicity. These results show that Btk (at doses several thousand-fold less than aerial sprays across forests for gypsy moth control) will kill P. glaucus, with or without microbial synergism on leaf phylloplanes

Integrated Management of European Cherry Fruit Fly Rhagoletis cerasi (L.): Situation in Switzerland and Europe

Abstract: The European cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis cerasi (L.) (Diptera: Tephritidae), is a highly destructive pest. The low tolerance for damaged fruit requires preventive insecticide treatments for a marketable crop. The phase-out of old insecticides threatens cherry production throughout the European Union (EU). Consequently, new management techniques and tools are needed. With the increasing number of dwarf tree orchards covered against rain to avoid fruit splitting, crop netting has become a viable, cost-effective method of cherry fruit fly control. Recently, a biocontrol method using the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana has been developed for organic agriculture. However, for most situations, there is still a lack of efficient and environmentally sound insecticides to control this pest. This review summarizes the literature from over one hundred years of research on R. cerasi with focus on the biology and history of cherry fruit fly control as well as on antagonists and potential biocontrol organisms. We will present the situation of cherry fruit fly regulation in different European countries, give recommendations for cherry fruit fly control, show gaps in knowledge and identify future research opportunities

A computational model for path loss in wireless sensor networks in orchard environments.

A computational model for radio wave propagation through tree orchards is presented. Trees are modeled as collections of branches, geometrically approximated by cylinders, whose dimensions are determined on the basis of measurements in a cherry orchard. Tree canopies are modeled as dielectric spheres of appropriate size. A single row of trees was modeled by creating copies of a representative tree model positioned on top of a rectangular, lossy dielectric slab that simulated the ground. The complete scattering model, including soil and trees, enhanced by periodicity conditions corresponding to the array, was characterized via a commercial computational software tool for simulating the wave propagation by means of the Finite Element Method. The attenuation of the simulated signal was compared to measurements taken in the cherry orchard, using two ZigBee receiver-transmitter modules. Near the top of the tree canopies (at 3 m), the predicted attenuation was close to the measured one-just slightly underestimated. However, at 1.5 m the solver underestimated the measured attenuation significantly, especially when leaves were present and, as distances grew longer. This suggests that the effects of scattering from neighboring tree rows need to be incorporated into the model. However, complex geometries result in ill conditioned linear systems that affect the solver's convergence

Discovering a junction tree behind a Markov network by a greedy algorithm

In an earlier paper we introduced a special kind of k-width junction tree, called k-th order t-cherry junction tree in order to approximate a joint probability distribution. The approximation is the best if the Kullback-Leibler divergence between the true joint probability distribution and the approximating one is minimal. Finding the best approximating k-width junction tree is NP-complete if k>2. In our earlier paper we also proved that the best approximating k-width junction tree can be embedded into a k-th order t-cherry junction tree. We introduce a greedy algorithm resulting very good approximations in reasonable computing time. In this paper we prove that if the Markov network underlying fullfills some requirements then our greedy algorithm is able to find the true probability distribution or its best approximation in the family of the k-th order t-cherry tree probability distributions. Our algorithm uses just the k-th order marginal probability distributions as input. We compare the results of the greedy algorithm proposed in this paper with the greedy algorithm proposed by Malvestuto in 1991.Comment: The paper was presented at VOCAL 2010 in Veszprem, Hungar

Determination of feed value of cherry, apricot and almond tree leaves in ruminant using in situ method

In the present study, chemical composition and in situ rumen dry matter degradability (DMD) of some tree species (cherry, apricot and almond tree leaves) were determined. Crude protein (CP) concentration varied from 6.76% for almond tree to 2.76% for cherry tree, neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF), from 29.2, 20.8% for apricot tree to 20.8 and 15.8% for almond tree leaves respectively. Polyphenol and tannin composition measured from 3.49, 1.2% for almond tree to 1.51 and 0.61% for apricot tree, respectively. In situ rumen degradability was carried out in three fistulaed Taleshi native male cattle which were incubated at times of 0, 4, 8, 16, 24, 48, 72 and 96-hour. Almond leaves had higher potential degradation (a+b) for dry matter (92.37%) and cherry leaves showed lower potential degradation (84.12%), respectively. Effective rumen degradable dry matter at rate of 0.05/h varied from 69.86% for almond tree to 52.20% for cherry leaves. Results showed that the almond leaves were higher in nutritive value than cherry and apricot leaves. Therefore, almond tree leaves could be used with forage in ruminant diets to reduce cost of animals feed requirements. Overall, it seemed that the tree leaves used in this study, had a higher nutritive value in ruminant’s nutrition, however more experiments are needed for an accurate determination of nutritional values of these resources

Bait sprays against the European cherry fruit fly Rhagoletis cerasi: Status Quo & Perspectives

Bait spray experiments against Rhagoletis cerasi were carried out in 2005 to 2007. The main principle of this method is to use food (e.g. sugar and proteins) as baits for the flies with small amounts of insecticides, which is applied on parts of the cherry tree. Main focus was aimed at laboratory and field cage experiments using the commercial GF-120 Naturalyte Fruit Fly BaitTM with the insecticide spinosad, which is registered against North American cherry fruit fly species in the US and Canada. Furthermore, additional bait spray formulations as alternatives to GF-120 were used to define the right food bait quality for a high attractiveness and low reproduction ability. Beyond, the negative effect on reproduction of flies for azadirachtin (neem) was shown. During this project, promising results, e.g. efficacies up to 99 % with infestation rates below the infestation threshold were obtained. From 2008 on, other insecticides, like azadirachtin (neem) and pyrethrine in an appropriate food bait mixture will be used. Questions like efficacy, adequate concentrations, persistence, rainfastness and practicability in commercial cherry orchards will be answered

OMNIBUS, October 20, 1987

This is the concert program of the OMNIBUS performance on Tuesday, October 20, 1987 at 8:00 p.m., at the Concert Hall, 855 Commonwealth Avenue. Works performed were After the Sea by Robert Stern, Klänge by Joyce Mekeel, Paraphrases for ten instruments by Milton Babbitt, and Parson Weems and the Cherry Tree by Virgil Thomson. Digitization for Boston University Concert Programs was supported by the Boston University Humanities Library Endowed Fund