CHEMICAL CONTROL OF THE REDBAY AMBROSIA BEETLE, XYLEBORUS GLABRATUS, AND OTHER SCOLYTINAE (COLEOPTERA: CURCULIONIDAE)

A BSTRACT The redbay ambrosia beetle (RAB), Xyleborus glabratus Eichhoff (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae), is an adventive pest of Lauraceae in the southeastern U.S. This wood-boring insect vectors a lethal fungus, Raffaelea lauricola T. C. Harr., Fraedrich & Aghayeva , the causal agent of laurel wilt (LW) disease. The vector-pathogen complex is responsible for extensive mortality of native Persea trees in South Carolina, Georgia, and northern Florida, and now poses an imminent threat to the avocado ( Persea americana Mill.) industry in south Florida. While chemical control of the vector is not viewed as the primary solution, control tactics should be made available to Florida avocado growers. Field and laboratory tests were conducted using avocado bolts, potted avocado trees, and field grown swampbay trees ( Persea palustris (Raf.) Sarg.) treated with contact and systemic insecticides. Zeta-cypermethrin + bifenthrin and lambda-cyhalothrin + thiamethoxam provided the most consistent control of Scolytinae as contact insecticides, while methomyl, malathion, bifenthrin, and endosulfan were more variable in effectiveness. Avocado trees treated with fenpropathrin, cryolite Na Al fluoride, and lambda-cyhalothrin+thiametoxam had similar numbers of beetle entrance holes on treated trees as on the untreated control trees. No statistical differences were observed in disease severity on treated versus non-treated avocados or swampbay. Linear regressions between the number of RAB entrance holes per tree ( x) and LW disease severity ( y a ) and between RAB entrance holes per tree ( x) and recovery of R. lauricola ( y b ) were both significant. Key Words: Redbay ambrosia beetle, avocado, Persea , Xyleborus , Xylosandrus , Hypothenemus , chemical control R ESUMEN El cucarroncito de ambrosia del laurel, Xyleborus glabratus Eichhoff (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), es una plaga exótica de la familia Lauraceae que ha invadido el suroriente de los Estados Unidos. Este insecto barrenador es el vector del hongo, Raffaelea lauricola T.C. Harr., Fraedrich & Aghayeva, agente causal de la enfermedad del secamiento del laurel. El complejo vector-patógeno es responsable de una extensa mortalidad de arboles nativos del genero Persea en Carolina del Sur, Georgia y en el norte de Florida y representa una amenaza inminente para la industria del aguacate ( Persea americana Mill.) de Florida. Aunque el control químico no es la única solución a este problema, se estima que este tipo de opción de tác-ticas se debe ofrecer a los productores de aguacate. Se condujeron experimentos tanto en campo como en laboratorio utilizando troncos de aguacate, arboles de aguacate y arboles del laurel de la ciénaga ( P. palustris (Raf.) Sarg.), los cuales se trataron con insecticidas de contacto y sistémicos. En general, zetaciypermetrina + bifenthrina y lambda-cyalotrina + tiametoxam dieron un control consistente de los Scolytinae como insecticidas de contacto, mientras que metomíl, malatión y bifentrina y endosulfan dieron resultados variables. No hubo diferencias significativas en los orificios de entrada de los cucarroncitos cuando se trataron los arboles de aguacate con fenpropatrina, floruro de cryolita NA Al y lambda-cyalotrina-tiametoxam comparado con los arboles testigo. No se observaron diferencias estadísticas en cuanto a la severidad de la enfermedad entre árboles tratados y aquellos no tratados. Sin embargo, modelos de regresión lineal entre el número de orificios por árbol ( x

Identification of regulatory variants associated with genetic susceptibility to meningococcal disease.

Non-coding genetic variants play an important role in driving susceptibility to complex diseases but their characterization remains challenging. Here, we employed a novel approach to interrogate the genetic risk of such polymorphisms in a more systematic way by targeting specific regulatory regions relevant for the phenotype studied. We applied this method to meningococcal disease susceptibility, using the DNA binding pattern of RELA - a NF-kB subunit, master regulator of the response to infection - under bacterial stimuli in nasopharyngeal epithelial cells. We designed a custom panel to cover these RELA binding sites and used it for targeted sequencing in cases and controls. Variant calling and association analysis were performed followed by validation of candidate polymorphisms by genotyping in three independent cohorts. We identified two new polymorphisms, rs4823231 and rs11913168, showing signs of association with meningococcal disease susceptibility. In addition, using our genomic data as well as publicly available resources, we found evidences for these SNPs to have potential regulatory effects on ATXN10 and LIF genes respectively. The variants and related candidate genes are relevant for infectious diseases and may have important contribution for meningococcal disease pathology. Finally, we described a novel genetic association approach that could be applied to other phenotypes

Dynamic cost-benefit analysis of drug substitution programs

Caulkins JP, Feichtinger G, Gavrila C, et al. Dynamic cost-benefit analysis of drug substitution programs. JOURNAL OF OPTIMIZATION THEORY AND APPLICATIONS. 2006;128(2):279-294.This paper studies optimal spending for drug substitution programs in the context of a dynamic epidemic model of both drug use and drug use-related infections. Two types of costs are considered in addition to control costs: social costs resulting from individuals being dependent on drugs; additional costs due to drug users being vulnerable to infections like hepatitis C or HIV. Analysis of the model demonstrates that the long-run equilibrium is not necessarily unique. Instead, there may be multiple equilibria. Which of these equilibria is optimal depends on the initial conditions for the number of drug addicts and the number of those who are infected. So, for a given set of epidemic parameters, it may be optimal to spend a lot on substitution programs that reduce the number of drug addicts or to spend little and to accept a high level of drug use

Identification of a promoter element within the zebrafish Collagen X¿1 gene responsive to Runx2 isoforms Osf2/Cbfa1 and til-1 but not to pebp2aA2

Type X collagen is a short chain collagen specifically expressed by hypertrophic chondrocytes during endochondral ossification. We report here the functional analysis of the zebrafish (Danio rerio) collagen Xa1 gene (colXa1) promoter with the identification of a region responsive to two isoforms of the runt domain transcription factor runx2

Antecedents of employee involvement with the comparative model

Emotional labor, Intimacy relationship, Employee involvement,