Regulation, competition, and liberalization

In many countries throughout the world, regulators are struggling to determine whether and how to introduce competition into regulated industries. This essay examines the complexities involved in the liberalization process. While stressing the importance of case-specific analyses, this essay distinguishes liberalization policies that generally are pro-competitive from corresponding anti-competitive liberalization policies

Boll Weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) Feeding and Reproduction as Functions of Cotton Square Availability

The influence of food item availability on boll weevil, Anthonomus grandis grandis Boheman, feeding and reproduction was determined by providing different numbers of cotton squares (flower buds) to individual weevils. Squares were replaced daily after a 5-d feeding and mating conditioning period. The number of lifetime punctures produced by boll weevil females and males increased with square availability. The total number of punctures caused by boll weevil females was 2.7-fold higher than that caused by males. Fecundity was significantly higher in the 10:1, 15:1, and 20:1 (squares:female) treatments than in the 1:1 treatment. The relationship between eggs laid per day and the square to female ratio significantly changed over the life of the female, with the largest differences among treatments occurring in the first 3 wk of adulthood. Survival of weevil progeny to adulthood was about two-fold higher in the 10:1, 15:1, and 20:1 treatments than in the 1:1 and 5:1 treatments. When each boll weevil female was provided 10, 15, or 20 cotton squares per day, estimates of a population growth index (percent of immatures surviving to adulthood divided by immature development time) and the exponential rate of increase (rm) were significantly higher than for those provided only one or five squares per day. Boll weevil populations maintained at a square:weevil ratio of 10:1 or above will increase \u3e60-fold each generation (Ro), a rate significantly higher than that exhibited under 5:1 or 1:1 square:female regimens. These data show that daily provision of 10 squares per female provides sufficient resources to elicit a maximal oviposition response in the laboratory. Our results also will be useful in predicting changes in boll weevil populations relative to crop phenology and starting population density

Apollo Spacecraft Systems Analysis Program. Task E-34E - LM Landing Radar Performance over Rough Terrain

Performance prediction for LM landing radar over rough terrai

Coordinated \u3ci\u3eDiabrotica\u3c/i\u3e Genetics Research: Accelerating Progress on an Urgent Insect Pest Problem

Diabrotica spp. (western, northern, and Mexican corn rootworms) represent the main pest complex of continuous field corn, Zea mays (L.), in North America. The western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte, also has become the main pest of continuous corn in Central and Southeastern Europe since its introduction near Belgrade 15–20 years ago, and it represents a major risk to Western Europe. It has already caused economic losses in Eastern Europe, and Western countries such as France have committed large expenditures for containment and/or eradication. Rootworm larvae feed on corn roots, and damaged plants are more susceptible to drought and disease, have decreased yield, and are prone to lodging. A recent economic analysis estimates that costs of control and yield loss are about $1.17 billion a year in the United States. Crop rotation and chemical control have been the primary management strategies, but the western corn rootworm is becoming increasingly difficult to control because of its sequential ability to evolve resistance to almost all management strategies that have been used. The recent deployment of transgenic Bt corn in the United States for controlling Diabrotica pests has raised concerns that rootworms will develop resistance to this technology as well, unless appropriate resistance management strategies are developed and practiced

Coordinated \u3ci\u3eDiabrotica\u3c/i\u3e Genetics Research: Accelerating Progress on an Urgent Insect Pest Problem

Diabrotica spp. (western, northern, and Mexican corn rootworms) represent the main pest complex of continuous field corn, Zea mays (L.), in North America. The western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte, also has become the main pest of continuous corn in Central and Southeastern Europe since its introduction near Belgrade 15–20 years ago, and it represents a major risk to Western Europe. It has already caused economic losses in Eastern Europe, and Western countries such as France have committed large expenditures for containment and/or eradication. Rootworm larvae feed on corn roots, and damaged plants are more susceptible to drought and disease, have decreased yield, and are prone to lodging. A recent economic analysis estimates that costs of control and yield loss are about $1.17 billion a year in the United States. Crop rotation and chemical control have been the primary management strategies, but the western corn rootworm is becoming increasingly difficult to control because of its sequential ability to evolve resistance to almost all management strategies that have been used. The recent deployment of transgenic Bt corn in the United States for controlling Diabrotica pests has raised concerns that rootworms will develop resistance to this technology as well, unless appropriate resistance management strategies are developed and practiced

Coordinated \u3ci\u3eDiabrotica\u3c/i\u3e Genetics Research: Accelerating Progress on an Urgent Insect Pest Problem

Diabrotica spp. (western, northern, and Mexican corn rootworms) represent the main pest complex of continuous field corn, Zea mays (L.), in North America. The western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte, also has become the main pest of continuous corn in Central and Southeastern Europe since its introduction near Belgrade 15–20 years ago, and it represents a major risk to Western Europe. It has already caused economic losses in Eastern Europe, and Western countries such as France have committed large expenditures for containment and/or eradication. Rootworm larvae feed on corn roots, and damaged plants are more susceptible to drought and disease, have decreased yield, and are prone to lodging. A recent economic analysis estimates that costs of control and yield loss are about $1.17 billion a year in the United States. Crop rotation and chemical control have been the primary management strategies, but the western corn rootworm is becoming increasingly difficult to control because of its sequential ability to evolve resistance to almost all management strategies that have been used. The recent deployment of transgenic Bt corn in the United States for controlling Diabrotica pests has raised concerns that rootworms will develop resistance to this technology as well, unless appropriate resistance management strategies are developed and practiced