Harmonia axyridis: an environmental risk assessment for Northwest Europe

In this paper, we summarize the international situation with respect to environmental risk assessment for biological control agents. Next, we apply a recently designed, comprehensive risk evaluation method consisting of a stepwise procedure to evaluate the environmental risks of Harmonia axyridis in Northwest Europe. This resulted in the very clear conclusion that H. axyridis is a potentially risky species for Northwest Europe, because it is able to establish, it has a very wide host range including species from other insect orders and even beyond the class of Insecta, it may feed on plant materials, it can cover large distances (>50 km per year), it does move into non-target areas, it may attack many non-target species including beneficial insects and insects of conservation concern, its activities have resulted in the reduction of populations of native predators in North America, it is known as a nuisance in North America and recently also in Northwest Europe, and it may develop as a pest of fruit in North America. Considering the H. axyridis case, current knowledge would lead to the conclusion that, although the predator is capable to effectively control several pest species, its risks are manifold and it should, thus, not have been released in Northwest Europe. At the time of the first releases in Nortwest Europe in 1995, the available scientific literature made clear that H. axyridis is a large sized polyphagous predator and has a great reproductive capacity in comparison with other ladybird beetles, and that there was a need to study non-target effects because of its polyphagous behaviour. In retrospect, this information should have been sufficient to reject import and release of this species, but it was apparently ignored by those who considered release of this predator in Northwest Europe. The case of Harmonia releases in Northwest Europe underlines that there is an urgent need for harmonized, world-wide regulation of biological control agents, including an information system on risky natural enemy species

Evaluation of direct restorations using the revised FDI criteria

Objectives The purpose of this in vitro reliability study was to determine the intra- and inter-examiner agreement of the revised FDI criteria including the categories "fracture of material and retention" (F1) and "caries at restoration margin" (B1). Materials and methods Forty-nine photographs of direct tooth-coloured posterior (n = 25) and anterior (n = 24) restorations with common deficiencies were included. Ten dental experts repeated the assessment in three blinded rounds. Later, the experts re-evaluated together all photographs and agreed on a reference standard. Statistical analysis included the calculation of Cohen's (C kappa), Fleiss' (F kappa), and weighted Kappa (w kappa), the development of a logistic regression with a backward elimination model and Bland/Altman plots.Results Intra- and inter-examiner reliability exhibited mostly moderate to substantial C kappa, F kappa, and w kappa values for posterior restorations (e.g. Intra: F1 C kappa = 0.57, w kappa = 0.74; B1 C kappa = 0.57, w kappa = 0.73/Inter F1 F kappa = 0.32, w kappa = 0.53; B1 F kappa = 0.41, w kappa = 0.64) and anterior restorations (e.g. Intra F1 C kappa = 0.63, w kappa = 0.76; B1 C kappa = 0.48, w kappa = 0.68/Inter F1 F kappa = 0.42, w kappa = 0.57; B1 F kappa = 0.40, w kappa = 0.51). Logistic regression analyses revealed significant differences between the evaluation rounds, examiners, categories, and tooth type. Both the intra- and inter-examiner reliability increased along with the evaluation rounds. The overall agreement was higher for anterior restorations compared to posterior restorations.Conclusions The overall reliability of the revised FDI criteria set was found to be moderate to substantial