Dynamics of Bee and Wasp Populations in Maine Lowbush Blueberry (\u3cem\u3eVaccinium angustifolium\u3c/em\u3e)

Conservation of natural enemies can be an effective form of pest management. If beneficial Hymenoptera, native to the area, can be protected and encouraged to multiply, the benefits of natural insect pest control might be realized. Hymenoptera as natural enemies as well as pollinators have been studied intensively in many agroecosystems worldwide. However, lowbush blueberry is not an ecosystem where ecology of Hymenoptera has been well studied. This thesis discusses two studies conducted in lowbush blueberry fields in Washington County, Maine in 1997 and 1998. In the first study, I investigated towers as a method for deploying insect traps along both a horizontal and vertical gradient. The objective was to define the spatial distribution of native bees and wasps, and interpret where these insects tend to be most abundant in and around lowbush blueberry fields. A single tower was erected near the center, along the edge, and within the surrounding forest of each blueberry field. Flight intercept traps were suspended from towers at 1, 7 and 14 m above the ground. Bees exhibited differences in both vertical and horizontal distribution. More than 85% of all bees captured were from traps 1 m above the ground, and a majority was captured at the edge of blueberry fields. Most wasps captured in this study were tiny parasitica less than 3 mm in length. Unlike bees, no height effect was detected with wasps. However, using towers allowed me to see temporal changes in the vertical distribution of wasps from June to July. Wasps showed no difference in their overall horizontal distribution. However, categorizing them by size and antenna length (i.e. 4 categories) revealed an interaction between wasp category and tower position. Relatively large wasps were more abundant in the surrounding forests, while small wasps showed no association with any trap position. In the second study, I investigated various field variables that might explain the abundance of wasps captured across 33 blueberry fields. A single malaise traps was placed at the field interior, along the field edge and within the surrounding forest of each field. Thirteen morphospecies were identified from wasp samples. In addition, flowering weeds were sampled at various intervals across all fields. The overall wasp population and most morphospecies were positively associated with a common flowering weed, sheep laurel {Kalmia angustifolia). Multiple groups of morphospecies appeared to be responding to the same flowering plants and were treated as foraging guilds. In addition, multiple morphospecies were found distributed within blueberry fields in a similar spatial pattern and were treated as communities. No two morphospecies identified in the same foraging guild were also found in the same community. This suggests wasps could belong to stable communities and maintained by different species utilizing different floral resources. Based on the results of these studies, blueberry growers should consider integrating efforts to conserve populations of native Hymenoptera into their management practices. In doing this, growers may also want to research methods of pesticide use that will minimize lethal effects on these beneficial bees and wasps

TB196: Temperature, Soil Moisture, and Streamflow at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine (BBWM)

The Bear Brook Watershed in Maine is a whole-ecosystem chemical manipulation initiated in 1987 to study the effects of acid deposition on forests and surface waters. The focus of this research was to understand the biogeochemical response of watersheds with emphasis on chemistry and hydrology. In 2001 a program was initiated to provide more detailed measurements of temperature and moisture to examine critical linkages amongst chemical, biological, and physical processes that ultimately work together to define ecosystem function. The purpose of this publication is to provide data from the initial phase of soil temperature, air temperature, and soil moisture measurements at the site. In addition, the authors have incorporated aspects of relevant precipitation and streamflow characteristics available for the full project period.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/aes_techbulletin/1001/thumbnail.jp

Coupling of surface temperatures and atmospheric CO_2 concentrations during the Palaeozoic era

Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations seem to have been several times modern levels during much of the Palaeozoic era (543–248 million years ago), but decreased during the Carboniferous period to concentrations similar to that of today. Given that carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, it has been proposed that surface temperatures were significantly higher during the earlier portions of the Palaeozoic era. A reconstruction of tropical sea surface temperatures based on the δ^(18)O of carbonate fossils indicates, however, that the magnitude of temperature variability throughout this period was small, suggesting that global climate may be independent of variations in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration. Here we present estimates of sea surface temperatures that were obtained from fossil brachiopod and mollusc shells using the 'carbonate clumped isotope' method—an approach that, unlike the δ^(18)O method, does not require independent estimates of the isotopic composition of the Palaeozoic ocean. Our results indicate that tropical sea surface temperatures were significantly higher than today during the Early Silurian period (443–423 Myr ago), when carbon dioxide concentrations are thought to have been relatively high, and were broadly similar to today during the Late Carboniferous period (314–300 Myr ago), when carbon dioxide concentrations are thought to have been similar to the present-day value. Our results are consistent with the proposal that increased atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations drive or amplify increased global temperatures

Retrospective Analysis of Monkeypox Infection

Tests have been developed and optimized for serologic differentiation between monkeypox- and vaccinia-induced immunity

Ocular Vaccinia Infection in Laboratory Worker, Philadelphia, 2004

We report a case of ocular vaccinia infection in an unvaccinated laboratory worker. The patient was infected by a unique strain used in an experiment performed partly outside a biosafety cabinet. Vaccination should continue to be recommended, but laboratories with unvaccinated workers should also implement more stringent biosafety practices

Lower body weight in rats under hypobaric hypoxia exposure would lead to reduced right ventricular hypertrophy and Increased AMPK activation

Background: Both chronic hypoxia (CH) and long-term chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH) exposure lead to right ventricular hypertrophy (RVH). Weight loss is an effective intervention to improve cardiac function and energy metabolism in cardiac hypertrophy. Likewise, caloric restriction (CR) also plays an important role in this cardioprotection through AMPK activation. We aimed to determine the influence of body weight (BW) on RVH, AMPK and related variables by comparing rats exposed to both hypoxic conditions. Methods: Sixty male adult rats were separated into two groups (n = 30 per group) according to their previous diet: a caloric restriction (CR) group and an ad libitum (AL) group. Rats in both groups were randomly assigned to 3 groups: a normoxic group (NX, n = 10), a CIH group (2 days hypoxia/2 days normoxia; n = 10) and a CH group (n = 10). The CR group was previously fed 10 g daily, and the other was fed ad libitum. Rats were exposed to simulated hypobaric hypoxia in a hypobaric chamber set to 428 Torr (the equivalent pressure to that at an altitude of 4,600 m above sea level) for 30 days. Measurements included body weight; hematocrit; serum insulin; glycemia; the degree of RVH (Fulton’s index and histology); and AMPK, mTOR, and PP2C expression levels in the right ventricle determined by western blotting. Results: A lower degree of RVH, higher AMPK activation, and no activation of mTOR were found in the CR groups exposed to hypobaric hypoxia compared to the AL groups (p < 0.05). Additionally, decreased glycemia and serum insulin levels were observed. Interestingly, PP2C expression showed an increase in the AL groups but not in the CR groups (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Maintaining a low weight before and during exposure to high-altitude hypoxia, during either CH or CIH, could prevent a major degree of RVH. This cardioprotection would likely be due to the activation of AMPK. Thus, body weight is a factor that might contribute to RVH at high altitudes.This study was supported by grants from projects GORE FIC Tarapacá BIP30477541-0 and Internal Project VRIIP0098

Serologic evidence of human orthopoxvirus infections in Sierra Leone

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Orthopoxviruses, including variola virus, vaccinia virus, and monkeypox virus, have previously been documented in humans in West Africa, however, no cases of human orthopoxvirus infection have been reported in the region since 1986. We conducted a serosurvey to determine whether human exposure to orthopoxviruses continues to occur in eastern Sierra Leone.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>To examine evidence of exposure to orthopoxviruses in the Kenema District of Sierra Leone, we collected and tested sera from 1596 persons by IgG ELISA and a subset of 313 by IgM capture ELISA. Eleven persons born after the cessation of smallpox vaccination had high orthopoxvirus-specific IgG values, and an additional 6 persons had positive IgM responses. No geographic clustering was noted.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These data suggest that orthopoxviruses continue to circulate in Sierra Leone. Studies aimed at obtaining orthopoxvirus isolates and/or genetic sequences from rodents and symptomatic humans in the area are indicated.</p

Mapping Monkeypox Transmission Risk through Time and Space in the Congo Basin

Monkeypox is a major public health concern in the Congo Basin area, with changing patterns of human case occurrences reported in recent years. Whether this trend results from better surveillance and detection methods, reduced proportions of vaccinated vs. non-vaccinated human populations, or changing environmental conditions remains unclear. Our objective is to examine potential correlations between environment and transmission of monkeypox events in the Congo Basin. We created ecological niche models based on human cases reported in the Congo Basin by the World Health Organization at the end of the smallpox eradication campaign, in relation to remotely-sensed Normalized Difference Vegetation Index datasets from the same time period. These models predicted independent spatial subsets of monkeypox occurrences with high confidence; models were then projected onto parallel environmental datasets for the 2000s to create present-day monkeypox suitability maps. Recent trends in human monkeypox infection are associated with broad environmental changes across the Congo Basin. Our results demonstrate that ecological niche models provide useful tools for identification of areas suitable for transmission, even for poorly-known diseases like monkeypox.This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health grant 1R01TW008859-01 ("Sylvatic Reservoirs of Human Monkeypox"). Use of trade, product, or firm names does not imply endorsement by the United States Government. The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Detecting Volunteer Cotton Plants in a Corn Field with Deep Learning on UAV Remote-Sensing Imagery

The cotton boll weevil, Anthonomus grandis Boheman is a serious pest to the U.S. cotton industry that has cost more than 16 billion USD in damages since it entered the United States from Mexico in the late 1800s. This pest has been nearly eradicated; however, southern part of Texas still faces this issue and is always prone to the pest reinfestation each year due to its sub-tropical climate where cotton plants can grow year-round. Volunteer cotton (VC) plants growing in the fields of inter-seasonal crops, like corn, can serve as hosts to these pests once they reach pin-head square stage (5-6 leaf stage) and therefore need to be detected, located, and destroyed or sprayed . In this paper, we present a study to detect VC plants in a corn field using YOLOv3 on three band aerial images collected by unmanned aircraft system (UAS). The two-fold objectives of this paper were : (i) to determine whether YOLOv3 can be used for VC detection in a corn field using RGB (red, green, and blue) aerial images collected by UAS and (ii) to investigate the behavior of YOLOv3 on images at three different scales (320 x 320, S1; 416 x 416, S2; and 512 x 512, S3 pixels) based on average precision (AP), mean average precision (mAP) and F1-score at 95% confidence level. No significant differences existed for mAP among the three scales, while a significant difference was found for AP between S1 and S3 (p = 0.04) and S2 and S3 (p = 0.02). A significant difference was also found for F1-score between S2 and S3 (p = 0.02). The lack of significant differences of mAP at all the three scales indicated that the trained YOLOv3 model can be used on a computer vision-based remotely piloted aerial application system (RPAAS) for VC detection and spray application in near real-time.Comment: 38 Page