Severe flea infestation in dairy calves

In June 1991, an investigation was conducted of a severe flea infestation in 23 Holstein dairy calves in South Central Kansas. Inspection of the dairy revealed massive numbers of fleas on calves and in the barn where they were housed. Analysis of blood samples from 10 calves revealed that nine of them had mild to severe anemia. A management program was initiated consisting of treatments of calves and premises with insecticide and insect growth regulator and removal of straw bedding from the barn. Inspection of the dairy 9 wk after this complete control program was initiated revealed that fleas were not evident on calves or on the premises

Efficacy of imidacloprid + moxidectin and selamectin topical solutions against the KS1 Ctenocephalides felis flea strain infesting cats

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Two studies were conducted to evaluate and compare the efficacy of imidacloprid + moxidectin and selamectin topical solutions against the KS1 flea strain infesting cats. In both studies the treatment groups were comprised of non-treated controls, 6% w/v selamectin (Revolution^®; Pfizer Animal Health) topical solution and 10% w/v imidacloprid + 1% w/v moxidectin (Advantage <it>Multi</it>^®for Cats, Bayer Animal Health) topical solution. All cats were infested with 100 fleas on Days -2, 7, 14, 21, and 28. The difference in the studies was that in study #1 efficacy evaluations were conducted at 24 and 48 hours post-treatment or post-infestation, and in study #2 evaluations were conducted at 12 and 24 hours.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In study #1 imidacloprid + moxidectin and the selamectin formulation provided 99.8% and 99.0% efficacy at 24 hours post-treatment. On day 28, the 24 hour efficacy of the selamectin formulation dropped to 87.1%, whereas the imidacloprid + moxidectin formulation provided 98.9% efficacy. At the 48 hour assessments following the 28 day infestations, efficacy of the imidacloprid + moxidectin and selamectin formulations was 96.8% and 98.3% respectively. In study # 2 the efficacy of the imidacloprid + moxidectin and selamectin formulations 12 hours after treatment was 100% and 69.4%, respectively. On day 28, efficacy of the imidacloprid + moxidectin and selamectin formulations 12 hours after infestation was 90.2% and 57.3%, respectively. In study #2 both formulations provided high levels of efficacy at the 24 hour post-infestation assessments, with selamectin and imidacloprid + moxidectin providing 95.3% and 97.5% efficacy, following infestations on day 28.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>At the 24 and 48 hour residual efficacy assessments, the imidacloprid + moxidectin and selamectin formulations were similarly highly efficacious. However, the imidacloprid + moxidectin formulation provided a significantly higher rate of flea kill against the KS1 flea strain infesting cats at every 12 hour post-infestation residual efficacy assessment. Both formulations should provide excellent flea control for an entire month on cats.</p

Improved Apparatus for the Measurement of Fluctuations of Air Speed in Turbulent Flow

This report describes recent improvements in the design of the equipment associated with the hot-wire anemometer for the measurement of fluctuating air speeds in turbulent air flow, and presents the results of some experimental investigations dealing with the response of the hot wire to speed fluctuations of various frequencies. Attempts at measuring the frequency of the fluctuations encountered in the Bureau of Standards' 54-inch wind tunnel are also reported. In addition, the difficulties encountered in the use of such apparatus and the precautions found helpful in avoiding them are discussed

Hearing Delzant polytopes from the equivariant spectrum

Author's final manuscript June 18, 2012Let M[superscript 2n] be a symplectic toric manifold with a fixed T[superscript n]-action and with a toric Kähler metric g. Abreu (2003) asked whether the spectrum of the Laplace operator Δ[subscript g] on C∞ (M) determines the moment polytope of M, and hence by Delzant's theorem determines M up to symplectomorphism. We report on some progress made on an equivariant version of this conjecture. If the moment polygon of M[superscript 4] is generic and does not have too many pairs of parallel sides, the so-called equivariant spectrum of M and the spectrum of its associated real manifold M[subscript R] determine its polygon, up to translation and a small number of choices. For M of arbitrary even dimension and with integer cohomology class, the equivariant spectrum of the Laplacian acting on sections of a naturally associated line bundle determines the moment polytope of M

Evaluation and comparison of a flumethrin-imidacloprid collar and repeated monthly treatments of fipronil/(s)-methoprene to control flea, Ctenocephalides f. felis, infestations on cats for eight months

Citation: Dryden, M. W., Smith, V., Davis, W. L., Settje, T., & Hostetler, J. (2016). Evaluation and comparison of a flumethrin-imidacloprid collar and repeated monthly treatments of fipronil/(s)-methoprene to control flea, Ctenocephalides f. felis, infestations on cats for eight months. Parasites & Vectors, 9, 6. doi:10.1186/s13071-016-1575-5Background: This controlled laboratory study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of the 10 % imidacloprid/4.5 % flumethrin collar (Seresto (R), Bayer Animal Health) against fleas (Ctenocephalides f. felis) on cats, when compared to fipronil (9.8 % w/w)/(s)-methoprene (11.8 % w/w) topical spot-on formulation (Frontline (R) Plus for Cats and Kittens, Merial). Methods: Thirty cats were randomized into three groups of ten animals based on pre-treatment flea counts: Group 1: imidacloprid/flumethrin collar; Group 2: fipronil/(s)-methoprene topical spot-on and Group 3: non-treated controls. The imidacloprid/flumethrin collars were applied one time on Day 0, while the fipronil/(s)-methoprene spot-on was administered every 30 days from Day 0 through Day 210. Cats were infested with 100 fleas on study days 0, 7, 14, 29, 59, 89, 119, 149, 179, 209 and 239. All flea counts were conducted by combing to remove fleas on post-treatment days 2, 8, 15, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180, 210 and 240. Results: The efficacy of the imidacloprid/flumethrin collar ranged from 98.2 to 100 % for eight months. The efficacy of fipronil/(s)-methoprene spot-on ranged from 68.2 to 99.9 %. Efficacy was 98.2 %) efficacy against fleas on cats for the entire 8 month study. Monthly applications of fipronil/(s)-methoprene (Frontline (R) Plus for Cats and Kittens, Merial) generally had high, but variable (68.2 to 99.9 %) efficacy over the course of the eight month study. Based on the very high residual efficacy achieved by the imidacloprid/flumethrin collar in this study, veterinarians should expect that this collar will control and eliminate existing flea infestations on cats and in their in-home premises as long as every flea infested host is treated

Emergence, Survival, and Fecundity of Adult Cat Fleas (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae) Exposed as Pupae to Juvenile Hormone Mimics

Cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis felis (Bouche), adults exposed to sprays of methoprene, pyriproxyfen, or fenoxycarb as cocooned pupae emerged\u271 d earlier than adults from water-treated control pupae. Mortality of adult fleas, after exposure to juvenile hormone mimics as pupae, was increased over that of controls. Females had higher mortality than males within the first 48 h of feeding. Fecundity of females exposed as pupae to juvenile hormone mimics was not different from that of controls. Early emergence of preemerged adults from treated cocoons is discussed along with reasons for higher female susceptibility to juvenile hormone mimics

Crater lake cichlids individually specialize along the benthic-limnetic axis

A common pattern of adaptive diversification in freshwater fishes is the repeated evolution of elongated open water (limnetic) species and high-bodied shore (benthic) species from generalist ancestors. Studies on phenotype-diet correlations have suggested that population-wide individual specialization occurs at an early evolutionary and ecological stage of divergence and niche partitioning. This variable restricted niche use across individuals can provide the raw material for earliest stages of sympatric divergence. We investigated variation in morphology and diet as well as their correlations along the benthic-limnetic axis in an extremely young Midas cichlid species, Amphilophus tolteca, endemic to the Nicaraguan crater lake Asososca Managua. We found that A. tolteca varied continuously in ecologically relevant traits such as body shape and lower pharyngeal jaw morphology. The correlation of these phenotypes with niche suggested that individuals are specialized along the benthic-limnetic axis. No genetic differentiation within the crater lake was detected based on genotypes from 13 microsatellite loci. Overall, we found that individual specialization in this young crater lake species encompasses the limnetic- as well as the benthic macro-habitat. Yet there is no evidence for any diversification within the species, making this a candidate system for studying what might be the early stages preceding sympatric divergence

Measurements of Intensity and Scale of Wind-Tunnel Turbulence and Their Relation to the Critical Reynolds Number of Spheres

The investigation of wind-tunnel turbulence, conducted at the National Bureau of Standards with the cooperation of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, has been extended to include a new variable, namely, the scale of the turbulence. This report presents the results of a study of this new variable together with the intensity of the turbulence, and the effect of both on the critical Reynolds number of spheres