MANAGING EUROPEAN CORN BORER RESISTANCE TO BT CORN WITH DYNAMIC REFUGES

We develop a dynamic bioeconomic model of temporally optimal dynamic refuge recommendations for resistance management when a backstop technology arrives at a known date. The impact of the characteristics of the backstop on the use of the current technology, and the difference between static and dynamic refuges are examined.Crop Production/Industries,

Analysing I/O bottlenecks in LHC data analysis on grid storage resources

We describe recent I/O testing frameworks that we have developed and applied within the UK GridPP Collaboration, the ATLAS experiment and the DPM team, for a variety of distinct purposes. These include benchmarking vendor supplied storage products, discovering scaling limits of SRM solutions, tuning of storage systems for experiment data analysis, evaluating file access protocols, and exploring I/O read patterns of experiment software and their underlying event data models. With multiple grid sites now dealing with petabytes of data, such studies are becoming essential. We describe how the tests build, and improve, on previous work and contrast how the use-cases differ. We also detail the results obtained and the implications for storage hardware, middleware and experiment software

MANAGING THE RISK OF EUROPEAN CORN BORER RESISTANCE TO TRANSGENIC CORN: AN ASSESSMENT OF CONTROVERSIAL REFUGE RECOMMENDATIONS

A bioeconomic model is developed to evaluate the tradeoff between the risk of resistance and increased productivity when refuge is planted in conjunction with transgenic pesticidal corn. The model is used to evaluate controversial refuge recommendations when producers are allowed to treat refuge in years of high pest pressure.Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Risk and Uncertainty,

Bone marrow senescence and the microenvironment of hematological malignancies

Senescence is the irreversible arrest of cell proliferation that has now been shown to play an important role in both health and disease. With increasing age senescent cells accumulate throughout the body, including the bone marrow and this has been associated with a number of age-related pathologies including malignancies. It has been shown that the senescence associated secretory phenotype (SASP) creates a pro-tumoural environment that supports proliferation and survival of malignant cells. Understanding the role of senescent cells in tumor development better may help us to identify new treatment targets to impair tumor survival and reduce treatment resistance. In this review, we will specifically discuss the role of senescence in the aging bone marrow (BM) microenvironment. Many BM disorders are age-related diseases and highly dependent on the BM microenvironment. Despite advances in drug development the prognosis particularly for older patients remains poor and new treatment approaches are needed to improve outcomes for patients. In this review, we will focus on the relationship of senescence and hematological malignancies, how senescence promotes cancer development and how malignant cells induce senescence

BIOTECHNOLOGY AND PEST RESISTANCE: AN ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT OF REFUGES

Transgenic crops offer farmers a new and effective pest control option. However, the wide spread adoption of these crops could lead to a resistant pest population. This paper demonstrates how a pest refuge can be used to maximise the value of farm income in a dynamic model with genetic foundations.Crop Production/Industries, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

BT CORN AND INSECT RESISTANCE: AN ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT OF REFUGES

Genetically engineered crops offer farmers a new option for controlling pests. The high efficacy of these pesticidal crops, combined with the potential for widespread adoption, has raised concerns that pest resistance may prematurely diminish their value. In response to these concerns, the Environmental Protection Agency requires resistance management plans. Current resistance management plans rely on a high-dose refuge strategy. This analysis extends the current framework for evaluating high-dose refuge strategies to include a measure of agricultural productivity and conventional pesticide use. The economic tradeoff relative to agricultural productivity, conventional pesticide use, and pest resistance is assessed when Bt corn is planted to control the European corn borer.Crop Production/Industries,

Managing European Corn Borer Resistance to Bt Corn with Dynamic Refuges

Genetically engineered Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) corn provides farmers with a new tool for controlling the European corn borer (ECB). The high efficacy and potential rapid adoption of Bt corn has raised concerns that the ECB will develop resistance to Bt. The Environmental Protection Agency has responded to these concerns by requiring farmers to plant refuge corn. Current refuge requirements are based on models that do not consider the value of dynamically varying refuge in response to increased scarcity and diminished control over time or the importance of backstop technologies currently being developed. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate dynamically optimal refuge requirements with the arrival of alternative backstop technologies and to compare the results to an optimal static refuge policy. The results show that a dynamically optimal refuge requirement only provides modest benefits above a static optimum. The results also show how the type of backstop technology and characteristics of ECB population dynamics affect the optimal refuge requirement

Bacillus thuringiensis plants expressing Cry1Ac, Cry2Ab and Cry1F are not toxic to the assassin bug, Zelus renardii

Cotton‐ and maize‐producing insecticidal crystal (Cry) proteins from the bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), have been commercialized since 1996. Bt plants are subjected to environmental risk assessments for non‐target organisms, including natural enemies that suppress pest populations. Here, we used Cry1F‐resistant Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) and Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab‐resistant Trichoplusia ni (Hübner) as prey for the assassin bug, Zelus renardii (Kolenati), a common predator in maize and cotton fields. In tritrophic studies, we assessed several fitness parameters of Z. renardii when it fed on resistant S. frugiperda that had fed on Bt maize expressing Cry1F or on resistant T. ni that had fed on Bt cotton expressing Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab. Survival, nymphal duration, adult weight, adult longevity and female fecundity of Z. renardii were not different when they were fed resistant‐prey larvae (S. frugiperda or T. ni) reared on either a Bt crop or respective non‐Bt crops. ELISA tests demonstrated that the Cry proteins were present in the plant at the highest levels, at lower levels in the prey and at the lowest levels in the predator. While Z. renardii was exposed to Cry1F and Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab when it fed on hosts that consumed Bt‐transgenic plants, the proteins did not affect important fitness parameters in this common and important predator