Insecticidal gel bait for the decimation of Ctenolepisma longicaudatum (Zygentoma: Lepismatidae) populations in libraries, museums, and archives

The problem of bristletail Ctenolepisma longicaudatum (Zygentoma: Lepismatidae) in libraries, archives, and museums is increasing. It can cause damage to valuable and irreplaceable objects. We describe the effect of the use of insecticidal gel bait (active ingredient: indoxacarb) against C. longicaudatum populations in three libraries, seven archives, and seven museums in Norway and Austria. Pest activity was monitored with sticky traps to evaluate the effect of bait application. Significant declines in pest populations were observed at all locations when small bait droplets were applied either systematically throughout the buildings or strategically close to suspected aggregations. In addition, bait was successfully used to prevent infestation in a new museum building. The cost of treatment, measured by the amount of bait and work hours spent, was low, and bait application was conducted by either the professional pest control technicians or the local integrated pest management (IPM) manager. The use of insecticidal gel bait and its secondary effects is a cost-efficient alternative for population decimation; moreover, the method has a low probability of negative health issues for employees at the treated localities or damage to the objects. The application of bait is discussed in relation to its alignment with other IPM methods in libraries, archives, and museums

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

Silicon Nitride Waveguide Mach-Zehnder Interferometer Biosensor - Processing of a Biosensor and Investigation of Biofunctionalization

The main part of the project is devoted to processing of a MZI waveguide structure using silicon on insulator technology which is carried out at the NTNU NanoLab. MZI is a common interferometry technique that suits bio-sensing applications due to its robustness and rigid sensing mechanism. The processing is based on previous simulations performed in the project thesis, and calculations using the effective index method in order to determine waveguide geometries yielding single-mode propagation. This work includes silicon dioxide and silicon nitride deposition by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), characterized using refractometry and atomic force microscopy (AFM). A surface roughness of \SIlist{3.2;0.4}{\nano\meter} was achieved for the silicon dioxide and silicon nitride, respectively. Electron beam lithography (EBL) with a newly installed Elionix EBL was used to pattern the waveguide structures on photoresist. Only a minor adjustment of the exposure dose was necessary in order to achieve satisfying results. However, tuning of the beam current and dot size could provide smoother structures and need to be addressed in order to optimize the waveguide profile. Dry etching methods by inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etch (ICP-RIE) were used to process shallow rib waveguides in the silicon nitride. The RIE etch tested had a lower etch rate compared to the combined ICP-RIE etch, giving better etch control. The resulting wall roughness was however larger for the RIE etch, but optical transmission measurements are needed to investigate the influence of roughness on light propagation. The sensor functionality depends strongly upon the biofunctionalization processes needed for the capture of analytes. Bio-sensing is very much limited by the biofunctionalization chemistry due to its critical function of analyte capture. The sensor surface is coated with antibodies which act as capture agents. The antibodies need to be selective to, and have high affinity towards, the analyte. These requirements are challenging to obtain and is one of the major limitations in the work towards high sensitivity biosensors. Due to this limitation, the issue is addressed with the goal of achieving increased understanding and experience in this field. Amino-silane was used to generate a surface with primary amines on silicon nitride. Both vapor phase (VP) and liquid phase (LP) silanization were researched, and the methods was characterized using contact angle measurements and AFM. The VP method resulted in more uniformly silanized surface. Carbodiimide crosslinker chemistry was further used to conjugate and immobilize capture antibodies to the amines and fluorescence microscopy was used to characterize secondary antibody fluorescence conjugate that had bound to the primary antibodies. Low crosslinker concentration was found to yield the most uniform fluorescence with less aggregate formation

Development of a Poisoned Bait Strategy against the Silverfish Ctenolepisma longicaudata (Escherich, 1905)

Pest management strives to be an efficient, yet healthy and environmentally safe control method, and the use of poisoned bait often fulfils these criteria. In the present study, we show that bait with indoxacarb as the active ingredient is highly efficient for controlling Ctenolepisma longicaudata (Escherich, 1905) and two of its relatives, Lepisma saccharina (Linnaeus, 1758) and Ctenolepisma calva (Ritter, 1910). Applying small bait droplets (size ~10 mg) along the walls of several types of buildings, at no more than 0.5 to 1.0 g bait per 100 m2, was a cost-efficient and safe strategy for the knockdown and eradication of C. longicaudata. During field experiments, the demography changed from an initial mixture of diffierent stages to total dominance of early instars preceding the population collapse. Poisonous bait outcompeted mass-trapping with sticky-traps and conventional insect spray treatment for the efficient control of C. longicaudata in apartments. Different droplet densities (1 vs. 0.5/m2) and active ingredients (indoxacarb vs. clothianidin) did not have different effects in field experiments. These results show that poisoned bait is a highly relevant tool for managing C. longicaudata and potentially against other silverfish infestations