Defining Hierarchical Decision Trees for Encarsia Formosa Strategies from Greenhouse Tomato Consultants' Perspectives

Market pressure is forcing New Zealand greenhouse tomato growers to shift from conventional to more environmentally-friendly pest control methods such as IPM (Integrated Pest Management). Growers can access IPM manuals, but these tend to provide generalized advice, which they find difficult to apply to their own situations. Alternatively, growers can use consultants to tailor IPM strategies to their own situations. One method of providing growers with better advice is to capture the knowledge of "expert" consultants and translate this into a form that can be used by growers. To this end, two consultants with expertise in IPM strategy were studied and their knowledge documented. This paper focuses on the strategies the expert consultants used to tailor Encarsia formosa, a natural enemy of greenhouse whitefly, to individual greenhouse's specific needs. Both consultants used an IPM template and seven to eight decision criteria to tailor their advice to individual grower's situations. These decisions were represented as hierarchical decision trees. One consultant started with low Encarsia rates for a short time before increasing them while the other consultant started with high Encarsia rates for a longer period before decreasing them later. Growers' risk perceptions and acceptance of the consultants' pest threshold levels influenced the success of the IPM strategy.decision trees, consultants, Encarsia, greenhouse tomato, Farm Management,

Querying Proofs (Work in Progress)

We motivate and introduce the basis for a query language designed for inspecting electronic representations of proofs. We argue that there is much to learn from large proofs beyond their validity, and that a dedicated query language can provide a principled way of implementing a family of useful operations

A Semantic Basis for Proof Queries and Transformations

We extend the query language PrQL, designed for inspecting machine representations of proofs, to also allow transformation of proofs. PrQL natively supports hiproofs which express proof structure using hierarchically nested labelled trees, which we claim is a natural way of taming the complexity of huge proofs. Query-driven transformations enable manipulation of this structure, in particular, to transform proofs produced by interactive theorem provers into forms that assist their understanding, or that could be consumed by other tools. In this paper we motivate and define basic transformation operations, using an abstract denotational semantics of hiproofs and queries. This extends our previous semantics for queries based on syntactic tree representations.We define update operations that add and remove sub-proofs, and manipulate the hierarchy to group and ungroup nodes. We show tha

Insights into the transcriptomic response of the plant engineering bacterium Ensifer adhaerens OV14 during transformation

peer-reviewedThe ability to engineer plant genomes has been primarily driven by the soil bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens but recently the potential of alternative rhizobia such as Rhizobium etli and Ensifer adhaerens OV14, the latter of which supports Ensifer Mediated Transformation (EMT) has been reported. Surprisingly, a knowledge deficit exists in regards to understanding the whole genome processes underway in plant transforming bacteria, irrespective of the species. To begin to address the issue, we undertook a temporal RNAseq-based profiling study of E. adhaerens OV14 in the presence/absence of Arabidopsis thaliana tissues. Following co-cultivation with root tissues, 2333 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were noted. Meta-analysis of the RNAseq data sets identified a clear shift from plasmid-derived gene expression to chromosomal-based transcription within the early stages of bacterium-plant co-cultivation. During this time, the number of differentially expressed prokaryotic genes increased steadily out to 7 days co-cultivation, a time at which optimum rates of transformation were observed. Gene ontology evaluations indicated a role for both chromosomal and plasmid-based gene families linked specifically with quorum sensing, flagellin production and biofilm formation in the process of EMT. Transcriptional evaluation of vir genes, housed on the pCAMBIA 5105 plasmid in E. adhaerens OV14 confirmed the ability of E. adhaerens OV14 to perceive and activate its transcriptome in response to the presence of 200 µM of acetosyringone. Significantly, this is the first study to characterise the whole transcriptomic response of a plant engineering bacterium in the presence of plant tissues and provides a novel insight into prokaryotic genetic processes that support T-DNA transfer

TOTAL REPLACEMENT OF FISHMEAL WITH AN ORGANICALLY CERTIFIED YEAST–BASED PROTEIN IN PACIFIC WHITE SHRIMP (Litopenaeus Vannamei) DIETS: LABORATORY AND FIELD TRIALS

The feasibility of totally replacing the fishmeal component of marine shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) diets was examined both in the laboratory setting and during a full–scale commercial trial. Animals were fed either a traditional fishmeal–based diet or one in which complete replacement of fishmeal, on a per protein basis, was manufactured using a yeast–based product, NuPro®. Laboratory studies determined that irrespective of diet fed, no difference in shrimp performance (weight gain, survival and SGR) occurred. A field trial was thus activated to determine whether lab–scale studies were transferable to the commercial setting. Trials were conducted in earthen ponds from mid–June to early November 2005. Ponds were initially stocked with PL12–16 shrimp at a rate of 100,000 per hectare. At trial end, ponds receiving the NuPro®–based feed had equivalent growth to that of shrimp fed the traditional, fishmeal–based diet. Percent increase in weight from initial values and survival for the NuPro® ponds was 296, 269 and 275%, and 78, 76 and 85% respectively, whereas that for the fishmeal–based diet was 305% and 80% respectively. Noteworthy was that within pond size variation of L. vannamei was lower in NuPro® fed animals (±2.3 g) when compared against animals receiving the traditional feed (±4.1 g). Overall observations from the field trial indicate the importance of the »bioreactor« pond with respect to the supply of energy to sustain shrimp growth potential

An idiographic single-case study examining the use of rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) with three amateur golfers to alleviate social anxiety

Performance anxiety has been studied in relation to golf performance, but one phenomenon that has received scant attention is social anxiety. One potential intervention that could reduce social anxiety in golfers is rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT), a cognitive-behavioral approach for which research interest is growing. The current study used an idiographic single-case study design to assess the effects of REBT on the social anxiety of 3 male amateur golfers. REBT was employed both on and off the golf course to ensure integration of REBT into the golfers’ performance, offering a methodological advancement of past research. Data were collected prior to, during, and after the REBT intervention. Visual analysis following single-case guidelines revealed substantial reductions in irrational beliefs and social anxiety in all three golfers. Social validation data indicated the positive receipt of REBT by the golfers and supported the visual analysis findings. This current study supports the effectiveness of REBT and extends the research by applying REBT in a “real-world” performance setting, offering methodological advances and providing clear implications for future research and practice

Taxonomic studies of micrococci and staphylococci

In the course of 3 years, 274 strains of micrococci and staphylococci were isolated from a variety of habitats, and 132 strains were obtained as pure cultures, mainly from culture collections; this gave a total of 406 strains for taxonomic studies. All 406 strains were examined for a total of 49 morphological and physiological characters, and the strains were compared for characters in common. It would found that strains with practically all combinations of characters existed, from the coagulase positive, biochemically active staphylococci, through many intermediate groupings to the biochemically weak yellow and red micrococci; a classification scheme based on a few arbitrarily ohosen main characters, as is the tradition in this group of bacteria, would be entirely artificial. After discussing some of these main characters, and finding practically all of them unsuitable as important criteria for classifying the 406 strains of micrococci and staphylococci, I decided to adopt the Adansonian approach to classification, and treated 49 morphological and physiological character as being equal. As I expected, the results of this Adansonian classification demonstrated that there was no clear division of the 406 strains into 2 main groups, equivalent to the genera Microcccus and Staphylococous, but there was a division into very many small groupings, the majority of which contained only one strain. The most important conclusion drawn from this scheme was that all micrococcus and staphylococci should be placed into one genus - Micrococcus, and it seemed unlikely that further division of this genus into natural groupings by morphological and physiological characters was possible. Consequently, other characters, in particular those demonstrated by electrophoretic methods, were examined for their suitability in classification. I studied the isozyme bands, detected by specific colour reactions in acrylamide gol slices, which contained electrophoresed cell contents of the 406 micrococcal and staphylococcal bacterial strains, and I found that only 3 types of isozymes - esterase isozymes, used in classifications of other bacteria, and 2 previously unreported isozyme systems, blood band isozymes and starch hydrolysing isozymes - were of use in classifying' my strains. These strains showed great variety in the number and mobility of the isozyme bands; the strains produced between 0 and 6 of 87 esterase bands between 0 and 7 of 40 blood bands, and between 0 and 3 of 12 starch hydrolysing isozyme bands. With the 139 electrophoretic characters of these 3 isozyme systems, the 406 strains were classified by Adansonian means, and it was found that all but 2 of the strains fell into a large group, the genus Micrococcus and within this genus it was possible to detect natural groupings - 28 Micrococcus Groups. In addition, there were 2 other Electrophoretic Groups (25 and 30), which possessed electrophoretic characters, completely unrelated to the other Electrophoretic Groups, and these were excluded from the genus Micrococcus. The electrophoretic grouping does not compare well with my own Scheme 1, and published morphological and physiological classifications, but it does fit in closely with DAN base ratio analysis groupings. The classification scheme of micrococci and staphylococci, based on eleotrophoretic characters, seems to have certain advantages over schemes based on morphological and physiological characters, since electrophoretic analysis clearly shows the existence of natural groupings within one large group. Taxonomists have not been previously aware of the existence of Groups like Micrococcus Group 3, which, apart from a unique electrophoretic pattern of characters, contains strains which oxidise and ferment mannitol, and yet are coagulase negative. An important contribution to the taxonomy of micrococci and staphylococci has been made by the creation of the electrophoretic classification scheme since 1) coagulaso positive staphylococci have been shown to be closely related to certain coagulase negative strains (strains of Micrococcus Group 1). In addition, strains of Micrococci and staphylococci, other than those producing coagulase, have been shown to cause disease. The character of coagulase production, therefore, can no longer be regarded as the sole criterion for classifying, a unique group of pathogenic staphylococci, although it is a useful identification character. 2) the yellow and red pigmented biochemically weak micrococci - Electrophoretic Micrococcus Groups 24 and 27 respectively - have been classified on positive characters i.e. on electrophoretic characters which the strains possess, instead of the almost complete lack of physiological characters, except pigmentation, which have been previously used to classify these organisms. An identification scheme, based on the electrophoretic classification scheme, is proposed which would identify any unknown micrococcus or staphylococcus

Preliminary Recommendations for the Collection, Storage, and Analysis of UAS Safety Data

Although the use of UASs in military and public service operations is proliferating, civilian use of UASs remains limited in the United States today. With efforts underway to accommodate and integrate UASs into the NAS, a proactive understanding of safety issues, i.e., the unique hazards and the corresponding risks that UASs pose not only through their operations for commercial purposes, but also to existing operations in the NAS, is especially important so as to (a) support the development of a sound regulatory basis, (b) regulate, design and properly equip UASs, and (c) effectively mitigate the risks posed. Data, especially about system and component failures, incidents, and accidents, provides valuable insight into how performance and operational capabilities/limitations contribute to hazards. Since the majority of UAS operations today take place in a context that is significantly different from the norm in civil aviation, i.e., with different operational goals and standards, identifying that which constitutes useful and sufficient data on UASs and their operations is a substantial research challenge

When a patient\u27s ethnicity is declared, medical students\u27 decision-making processes are affected

Background: Disparity in health status and healthcare outcomes is widespread and well known. This holds true for Indigenous peoples in many settings including Australia and Hawaii. While multi-factorial, there is increasing evidence of health practitioner contribution to this disparity. This research explored senior medical students’ clinical decision-making processes. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted in 2014 with 30 final year medical students from The University of Melbourne, Australia, and The John Burns Medical School, Hawaii, USA. Each student responded to questions about a paper-based case, first in writing and elaborated further in an interview. Half the students were given a case of a patient whose ethnicity was not declared; the other half considered the patient who was Native Hawaiian or Australian Aboriginal. A systematic thematic analysis of the interview transcripts was conducted. Results: The study detected subtle biases in students’ ways of talking about the Indigenous person and their anticipation of interacting with her as a patient. Four main themes emerged from the interview transcripts: the patient as a person; constructions of the person as patient; patient–student/doctor interactions; and the value of various education settings. There was a strong commitment to the patient’s agenda and to the element of trust in the doctor–patient interaction. Conclusion: These findings will help to advance medical curricula so that institutions graduate physicians who are increasingly able to contribute to equitable outcomes for all patients in their care. The study also draws attention to subtle biases based on ethnicity that may be currently at play in physicians’ practices