Reduced aphid infestation in straw mulched organic potatoes

Blattläuse gelten in vielen landwirtschaftlichen Kulturen als bedeutende Schädlinge. In Kartoffeln (Solanum tuberosum) spielen sie vor allem wegen ihrer Fähigkeit zur Virusübertragung eine wichtige Rolle (RADCLIFFE & RAGSDALE 2002). Aus zahlreichen Untersuchungen ist die blattlausreduzierende Wirkung von Strohmulch bekannt, z.B. in Raps (HEIMBACH et al. 2002), Weizen (SCHMIDT et al. 2004), oder Leguminosen (EGGERS & HEIMBACH 2001). Über die Wirkung von Strohmulch in Kartoffeln auf Blattlausbefall und Befall mit dem Kartoffelvirus Y (PVY) in Kleinparzellenversuchen wurde bereits an anderer Stelle berichtet (SAUCKE & DÖRING 2004). In diesem Beitrag werden weitere Ergebnisse aus Praxisversuchen auf ökologisch wirtschaftenden Höfen präsentiert. Ein Schwerpunkt liegt dabei auf der Fragestellung, wie sich die Relation zwischen Dosis (d.h. Mulchmenge) und Wirkung (auf Blattlausbesatz und Virusbefall) gestaltet.Aphids are important pests in potatoes, mainly due to their ability to transmit virus diseases. 17 field experiments were conducted over 4 years at 4 sites on organically managed farms to investigate the effect of straw mulch, applied at various amounts (2–8 t ha-1) shortly after crop emergence, on aphid infestation of potato leaves. The percentage of leaves infested with aphids was repeatedly determined during the growing period in 10 experiments. It was significantly reduced in the mulched treatments at the time around 2 weeks after mulching in 4 experiments, and later, at peak infestation, in 8 experiments. The aphid population size was regularly determined in 11 experiments and was significantly reduced by mulching in 4 of them. In a small scale experiment, the response of aphids landing in green water traps to varied amounts of straw (0–800 g m-2) was investigated. Straw applied as a mulch patch of 60 × 83 cm under green water traps resulted in a general reduction of aphids landing in the traps compared to traps placed on bare soil. This effect was significant at application rates of 200 g m-2, 400 g m-2, or more, with differences among rates between 200 and 800 g m-2 not being significant. One of the possible mechanisms for straw mulch effects on aphids is seen in the interference with host finding behaviour

Globalisierung und der Arbeitsmarkt: Die Anwendung Schumpeterscher Wachstumsmodelle

This dissertation examines the impact of international trade and FDI on the skill premium and on welfare of different skill groups. Four related North-North Schumpeterian growth models capturing different aspects of the issue are employed. Among these aspects are unemployment, horizontal FDI, and the impact of a non-tradables sector. CGE simulations test the models’ performance for European data

Ueber Gliome der Retina

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The effects of foreign language programmes in early childhood education and care: a systematic review

This systematic review investigates the effects of foreign language programmes in early childhood education and care (ECEC), which are increasingly popular. Foreign language ECEC centres familiarise very young children with a foreign language, and in general also expose them to the majority language. This review synthesises research on the effects of foreign language ECEC on children’s development of the foreign language, majority language, first language, and wellbeing, as well as programme-related and child-related factors that influence language development and wellbeing. The reviewed studies indicate that foreign language ECEC fosters foreign language development, without negatively impacting the majority and first language. Children can experience positive wellbeing in these programmes, but only if programmes are play-based and if the language policy is not too strict. Some studies report that programme characteristics, such as input quantity, language policy, and teacher strategies, modulate the effects of foreign language ECEC on language development and wellbeing. Few of the reviewed studies examined child characteristics, but the available findings indicate that children’s age, as well as their temperament and in-class behaviour, are related to foreign language learning. However, these findings need to be interpreted with caution, because research into foreign language ECEC is still in its infancy

Assessing the impacts of various street-level characteristics on the burden of urban burglary in Kaduna, Nigeria

Evidence suggests that crimes committed in urban environments are geographically concentrated across a range of scales, and that the variation in rates of crime within an urban space is significantly dependent on the physical environment as well as the situation in which the crime takes place. However, these assertions are typically drawn from environmental criminological studies that have focussed on Euro-American cities and western intellectual perspectives. We seek to move beyond these by focussing on a second-tier city in sub-Saharan Africa (Kaduna, Nigeria), a context for which very little literature exists. This paper therefore examines the association between a range of street characteristics and the risk of residential burglary in Kaduna for the first time. It describes a methodology for conducting a household crime victimisation survey in Nigeria, and then aggregating the information to a street-level to perform a population-based ecological study. It integrates street network analysis and statistical modelling techniques in order to provide novel estimates for factors that may increase the risk of burglary such as street accessibility metrics (e.g. connectivity, betweenness and closeness centrality), segment length, socioeconomic status and business activities. Finally, the article provides a discussion on the plausibility and implication of findings within the sub-Saharan African context

Oral administration of the selective GPR120/FFA4 agonist compound A is not effective in alleviating tissue inflammation in mouse models of prototypical autoimmune diseases

ω3-polyunsaturated free fatty acids (ω3-PUFAs), particularly docosahexaenoic (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), are thought to exert health promoting effects in metabolic and in inflammatory diseases. The molecular mechanisms of these beneficial effects are only partially understood. DHA and EPA activate Free Fatty Acid receptor 4 (GPR120/FFA4). Recently, the first orally available, synthetic ligand of FFA4, 3-[2-chloro-5-(trifluoromethoxy)phenyl]-3-azaspiro[5.5]undecane-9-acetic acid ("compound A"; cpd A) has been developed. Cpd A exhibits distinctly higher potency, efficiency, and selectivity at FFA4 than ω3-PUFAs and ameliorates insulin resistance and adipose tissue inflammation in the mouse. With GPR120/FFA4 activation believed to also attenuate tissue inflammation in autoimmune diseases, cpd A may also have a beneficial effect in these diseases. We have therefore addressed the therapeutic potential of cpd A in mouse models of three prototypical autoimmune diseases, specifically psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and bullous pemphigoid. The effect of cpd A on the course of Aldara™-induced psoriasis-like dermatitis, K/BxN serum transfer arthritis, and antibody transfer pemphigoid disease-like dermatitis was scrutinized. Cpd A did not alter the course of Aldara-induced psoriasis-like dermatitis, K/BxN serum transfer arthritis, or antibody transfer pemphigoid disease-like dermatitis. Our results suggest that therapeutic regimens solely relying on FFA4 activation do not bear the potential to treat inflammatory diseases. With cpd A distinctly more potent in activating GPR120/FFA4 than ω3-PUFAs, this also suggests that GPR120/FFA4 activation by ω3-PUFAs does not significantly contribute to the health-promoting effects of ω3-PUFAs in autoimmune diseases