Long-term Benefits of GM crops: Potential for Diabrotica Suppression in Europe using Bt Maize

Transgenic crops producing insecticidal proteins from _Bacillus thuringiensis_ (Bt) have been widely adopted since 1996 in the United States of America to combat important pests of maize and cotton. There is growing evidence that several target pest populations have been dramatically reduced in areas where the Bt crops have been most intensively adopted over multiple years. The evidence is most dramatic for nonmigratory monophagous and oligophagous species that show high mortality on Bt crops, such as European corn borer (_Ostrinia nubilalis_), and tobacco budworm (_Heliothis virescens_). Bt cotton is currently being used in the southwestern USA as part of an area-wide eradication program for pink bollworm (_Pectinophora gossypiella_). Single, stacked, and pyramided Bt maize lines producing coleopteran-active insecticidal proteins have been shown in some cases to cause >99% mortality of western corn rootworm (_Diabrotica virgifera virgifera_) larvae every year. Simulation models suggest that long-term area-wide cultivation of these Bt corn lines can lead to dramatic population reduction, and even local extinction, of corn rootworms. An eradication program for this economically important pest, based around Bt maize and incorporating a combination of other tools, would benefit European agriculture and the environment. Post-commercial monitoring programs should be designed to investigate long-term benefits to agricultural production systems that can be reasonably expected from the widespread cultivation of Bt crops in Europe

Another Corn Rootworm Management Tool Fails: Assessing the Status of Western Corn Rootworms Laying Eggs in Soybeans

A variant of western com rootworm that lays eggs in crops other than com was recognized in east-central Illinois as early as 1987 (Steffey et al. 1992), although at the time we believed we were witnessing the phenomenon of extended diapause. Thereafter, the problem with com rootworm larvae damaging com planted after soybean in east-central Illinois and northwestern Indiana increased in frequency and severity during the early 1990s and emerged as a full-blown crisis in 1995. Since then, entomologists throughout the Com Belt have watched warily as the problem spread throughout northern Indiana and into southern Michigan and western Ohio. The spread of the problem westward and northward in Illinois has occurred relatively slowly. However, we annually add counties to the list of counties threatened by the new variant of western corn rootworm

Initial clinical experience with frameless optically guided stereotactic radiosurgery/radiotherapy in pediatric patients

The objective of this study is to report our initial experience treating pediatric patients with central nervous system tumors using a frameless, optically guided linear accelerator. Pediatric patients were selected for treatment after evaluation by a multidisciplinary neuro-oncology team including neurosurgery, neurology, pathology, oncology, and radiation oncology. Prior to treatment, all patients underwent treatment planning using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and treatment simulation on a standard computed tomography scanner (CT). For CT simulation, patients were fitted with a customized plastic face mask with a bite block attached to an optical array with four reflective markers. After ensuring adequate reproducibility, these markers were tracked during treatment by an infra-red camera. All treatments were delivered on a Varian Trilogy linear accelerator. The follow-up period ranges from 1–18 months, with a median follow-up of 6 months. Nine patients, ages ranging from 12 to 19 years old (median age 15 years old), with a variety of tumors have been treated. Patients were treated for juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma (JPA; n = 2), pontine low-grade astrocytoma (n = 1), pituitary adenoma (n = 3), metastatic medulloblastoma (n = 1), acoustic neuroma (n = 1), and pineocytoma (n = 1). We followed patients for a median of 12 months (range 3–18 months) with no in-field failures and were able to obtain encouraging toxicity profiles. Frameless stereotactic optically guided radiosurgery and radiotherapy provides a feasible and accurate tool to treat a number of benign and malignant tumors in children with minimal treatment-related morbidity

On Target: 2006 Annual Summary of Field Crop Insect Management Trials

Since its inception in 1984, the University of Illinois Insect Management and Insecticide Evaluation Program has provided the producers of Illinois complete and informative evaluations of registered insecticides and new chemical and transgenic tools for the management of insect pests in Illinois. It is our intention to provide scientifically sound efficacy data to aid the producers of Illinois in their insect pest management decision making.University of Illinois Extension and Department of Crop Science

On Target: 2005 Annual Summary of Field Crop Insect Management Trials

Since its inception in 1984, the University of Illinois Insect Management and Insecticide Evaluation Program has provided the producers of Illinois complete and informative evaluations of registered insecticides and new chemical and transgenic tools for the management of insect pests in Illinois. It is our intention to provide scientifically sound efficacy data to aid the producers of Illinois in their insect pest management decision making.University of Illinois Extension and Department of Crop Science

On Target: 2007 Annual Summary of Field Crop Insect Management Trials

Since its inception in 1984, the University of Illinois Insect Management and Insecticide Evaluation Program has provided the producers of Illinois complete and informative evaluations of registered insecticides and new chemical and transgenic tools for the management of insect pests in Illinois. It is our intention to provide scientifically sound efficacy data to aid the producers of Illinois in their insect pest management decision making.University of Illinois Extension and Department of Crop Science

Comparison of experimental and commercially available granular insecticides to control corn rootworm larvae (Diabrotica spp.) in Illinois, 2008

Annual summary of field crop insect management trials, Department of Crop Services, University of Illinois. Providing accurate and unbiased evaluations of insect control products and management strategies to assist growers in Illinois.University of Illinois Extension and Department of Crop Science

Evaluation of Force 2.25CS to control corn rootworm larvae (Diabrotica spp.) in Illinois, 2008

Annual summary of field crop insect management trials, Department of Crop Services, University of Illinois. Providing accurate and unbiased evaluations of insect control products and management strategies to assist growers in Illinois.University of Illinois Extension and Department of Crop Science

Evaluation of products to control corn rootworm larvae (Diabrotica spp.) in Illinois, 2008

Annual summary of field crop insect management trials, Department of Crop Services, University of Illinois. Providing accurate and unbiased evaluations of insect control products and management strategies to assist growers in Illinois.University of Illinois Extension and Department of Crop Science