159 research outputs found
Optimality and Plausibility in Language Design
The Minimalist Program in generative syntax has been the subject of much rancour, a good proportion of it stoked by Noam Chomsky’s suggestion that language may represent “a ‘perfect solution’ to minimal design specifications.” A particular flash point has been the application of Minimalist principles to speculations about how language evolved in the human species. This paper argues that Minimalism is well supported as a plausible approach to language evolution. It is claimed that an assumption of minimal design specifications like that employed in MP syntax satisfies three key desiderata of evolutionary and general scientific plausibility: Physical Optimism, Rational Optimism, and Darwin’s Problem. In support of this claim, the methodologies employed in MP to maximise parsimony are characterised through an analysis of recent theories in Minimalist syntax, and those methodologies are defended with reference to practices and arguments from evolutionary biology and other natural sciences
An acetone extract of Clausena anisata may be a potential control agent for flies encountered in cutaneous myiasis
Clausena anisata is a medicinal plant used traditionally to treat myiasis and as an insect repellent
by various communities. We have previously demonstrated the effects of C. anisata extracts on
blowfly feeding and development in our laboratory. The impact of C. anisata leaf extracts on
populations of different fly species on farms in Mpumalanga, South Africa was investigated in
this study under field conditions. Flies were exposed to liver baits treated with acetone leaf
extracts of C. anisata (150 mg/mL). Fly numbers and composition on two farms, with and
without C. anisata treated liver, were compared during a period of 12 weeks when fly
populations were expected to be high. Observations were made on fly behaviour and
development, adult sizes and numbers. The flies exposed to liver treated with the leaf extract
of C. anisata had a decreased rate of development, prolonged larval period, smaller body sizes
and more sluggish behaviour compared to those subjected to the control treatment. No
significant differences were, however, found between the numbers and sizes of flies on the
treated and on the control farm, which was most likely due to the limited nature of the baiting
programme we followed. The effects of C. anisata extracts on blowfly behaviour and
development observed in previous laboratory studies were confirmed in this field evaluation.
Although the extracts did not have a significant effect on the overall population size in this
experiment, we believe that the C. anisata leaf extract could be useful in integrated pest
management based on its effect on larval development. In addition, species such as Lucilia
cuprina and Chrysomya marginalis seemed to have been repelled by the C. anisata treated liver;
as a result, further work should explore this aspect and how it can be used for the protection
of animals.http://www.ojvr.orgam2016Paraclinical Science
Chrysomya bezziana (Diptera: Calliphoridae) infestation: case report of three dogs in Malaysia treated with spinosad/milbemycin
BACKGROUND:Infestation of wounds with the larvae of Callophorid flies is relatively common in countries where these parasites are found. The most common species associated with infections in Southeast Asia is Chrysomya bezziana (Ch. bezziana), the Old World screw worm. Treatment consists of either subcutaneous injection of ivermectin or oral administration of nitenpyram combined with aggressive tissue debridement under general anaesthesia. OBJECTIVES: To describe the treatment of cutaneous myiasis in three dogs caused by the larvae of Ch. bezziana in Malaysia and their treatment with spinosad plus milbemycin. RESULTS: In all dogs, a single oral dose of spinosad plus milbemycin at the recommended dosage of 31-62 mg/kg and 0.5-1.0 mg/kg, respectively, was able to kill all larvae within 8 h. Most dead larvae fell off the host and those remaining on the host were dead and easily removed with simple saline flushing and gentle debridement. Neither general anaesthesia nor aggressive mechanical debridement were needed in any patient. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Oral spinosad plus milbemycin is a safe, licensed and effective treatment at the recommended dose for the rapid elimination of Ch. bezziana myiasis, with no need for sedation or anaesthesia
Response of Triatoma infestans to pour-on cypermethrin applied to chickens under laboratory conditions
Larval dispersal and predation in experimental populations of Chrysomya albiceps and Cochliomyia macellaria (Diptera: Calliphoridae)
Artemisia spp. essential oils against the disease-carrying blowfly Calliphora vomitoria
Susceptibility of the sheep body louse [Bovicola ovis (Schrank), Phthiraptera: Trichodectidae] to temephos and concentration stability during sheep dipping with a commercial temephos product
Response to laboratory selection with cyromazine and susceptibility to alternative insecticides in sheep blowfly larvae from the New South Wales Monaro
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