Compatibility between the endoparasitoid Hyposoter didymator and the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium brunneum: A laboratory simulation for the simultaneous use to control Spodoptera littoralis

BACKGROUND The cotton leafworm, Spodoptera littoralis, is one of the most destructive pests in the Mediterranean basin, being predominantly controlled using synthetic chemical pesticides. Strain EAMa 01/58‐Su of the fungus Metarhizium brunneum and the parasitoid Hyposoter didymator are promising biological control agents for this pest. In this study, we assessed the compatibility between these two agents to control S. littoralis under joint attack scenarios. RESULTS Firstly, the direct and indirect effects of the fungus towards parasitoid adults were studied. The fungus significantly decreased life expectancy of the parasitoid (mortality=62.5%; mean lethal concentration=1.85×106 conidia ml‐1; average survival time=92.2h) when applied at high concentrations (108 conidia ml‐1), whereas it did not affect the reproductive potential of the parasitoid females during the three days after treatment. Secondly, the combinations between the two agents to control S. littoralis under different simultaneous use scenarios (inoculation of S. littoralis larvae with the fungus before being exposed to parasitoid females and vice versa) were investigated, with additive effect in all cases. A significant effect on fitness (preimaginal development time and reproductive potential) of the F1 parasitoid generation were detected. Moreover, parasitization significantly reduced the total haemocytes in S. littoralis haemolymph compared with the control, promoting fungal infection. Finally, parasitoids showed a significant preference for non‐inoculated S. littoralis larvae. CONCLUSIONS We demonstrated compatibility (additive effect) between fungus and parasitoid under different joint attack scenarios to control S. littoralis in laboratory conditions. However, this will be supported by our ongoing greenhouse and field studies

Health-related quality of life as measured with EQ-5D among populations with and without specific chronic conditions: A population-based survey in Shaanxi province, China

© 2013 Tan et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Introduction: The aim of this study was to examine health-related quality of life (HRQoL) as measured by EQ-5D and to investigate the influence of chronic conditions and other risk factors on HRQoL based on a distributed sample located in Shaanxi Province, China. Methods: A multi-stage stratified cluster sampling method was performed to select subjects. EQ-5D was employed to measure the HRQoL. The likelihood that individuals with selected chronic diseases would report any problem in the EQ-5D dimensions was calculated and tested relative to that of each of the two reference groups. Multivariable linear regression models were used to investigate factors associated with EQ VAS. Results: The most frequently reported problems involved pain/discomfort (8.8%) and anxiety/depression (7.6%). Nearly half of the respondents who reported problems in any of the five dimensions were chronic patients. Higher EQ VAS scores were associated with the male gender, higher level of education, employment, younger age, an urban area of residence, access to free medical service and higher levels of physical activity. Except for anemia, all the selected chronic diseases were indicative of a negative EQ VAS score. The three leading risk factors were cerebrovascular disease, cancer and mental disease. Increases in age, number of chronic conditions and frequency of physical activity were found to have a gradient effect. Conclusion: The results of the present work add to the volume of knowledge regarding population health status in this area, apart from the known health status using mortality and morbidity data. Medical, policy, social and individual attention should be given to the management of chronic diseases and improvement of HRQoL. Longitudinal studies must be performed to monitor changes in HRQoL and to permit evaluation of the outcomes of chronic disease intervention programs. © 2013 Tan et al.National Nature Science Foundation (No. 8107239

The plight of the sense-making ape

This is a selective review of the published literature on object-choice tasks, where participants use directional cues to find hidden objects. This literature comprises the efforts of researchers to make sense of the sense-making capacities of our nearest living relatives. This chapter is written to highlight some nonsensical conclusions that frequently emerge from this research. The data suggest that when apes are given approximately the same sense-making opportunities as we provide our children, then they will easily make sense of our social signals. The ubiquity of nonsensical contemporary scientific claims to the effect that humans are essentially--or inherently--more capable than other great apes in the understanding of simple directional cues is, itself, a testament to the power of preconceived ideas on human perception

Climate and southern Africa's water-energy-food nexus

In southern Africa, the connections between climate and the water-energy-food nexus are strong. Physical and socioeconomic exposure to climate is high in many areas and in crucial economic sectors. Spatial interdependence is also high, driven for example, by the regional extent of many climate anomalies and river basins and aquifers that span national boundaries. There is now strong evidence of the effects of individual climate anomalies, but associations between national rainfall and Gross Domestic Product and crop production remain relatively weak. The majority of climate models project decreases in annual precipitation for southern Africa, typically by as much as 20% by the 2080s. Impact models suggest these changes would propagate into reduced water availability and crop yields. Recognition of spatial and sectoral interdependencies should inform policies, institutions and investments for enhancing water, energy and food security. Three key political and economic instruments could be strengthened for this purpose; the Southern African Development Community, the Southern African Power Pool, and trade of agricultural products amounting to significant transfers of embedded water

NKp46+ natural killer cells develop an activated/memory-like phenotype and contribute to innate immunity against experimental filarial infection

Lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis are major neglected tropical diseases affecting over 90 million people worldwide with painful and profoundly disfiguring pathologies (such as lymphoedema or blindness). Type 2 inflammation is a hallmark of filarial nematode tissue infection and is implicated both in eosinophil dependent immunity and lymphatic or ocular immunopathologies. Type-2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2) are known to play an important role in the initiation of type 2 inflammation in helminth infection. We therefore tracked comparative IL-12Rβ2+ ILC1, ST2+ ILC2 and NKp46+ natural killer (NK) innate lymphoid cell population expansions during Brugia malayi experimental peritoneal filarial infections using either immunocompetent or immunodeficient mice. In immunocompetent BALB/c animals, NKp46+ NK cells rapidly expanded representing over 90% of the ILC population in the first week of infection, whereas, surprisingly, ST2+ ILC2 failed to expand. NKp46+ NK cell expansions were confirmed in RAG2 deficient mice lacking adaptive immunity. Ablation of the NKp46+ NK cell compartment in RAG2 common gamma chain (gc) mice led to increased susceptibility to chronic adult B. malayi infection. This data was recapitulated using an Onchocerca ochengi male worm peritoneal implant model. When NKp46+ NK cells were depleted in RAG2 deficient mice using anti-NKp46 or asialo GM1 antibody injections over the first five weeks of B. malayi infection, susceptibility to adult B. malayi infection was significantly increased by 2-3 fold with concomitant impairment in eosinophil or neutrophil recruitments. Finally, we demonstrate that in RAG2 deficient mice, drug clearance of a primary adult B. malayi infection followed by challenge infection leads to resistance against early larval B. malayi establishment. This innate resistance is associated with bolstered NK and eosinophils whereby NKp46+ NK cells express markers of memory-like/enhanced activation (increased expression of interferon gamma and Ly6C). Our data promotes a novel functional role for NKp46+ NK cells in immunoprotection against experimental primary and secondary filarial infection which can proceed in the absence of adaptive immune regulation

Imperfection works: Survival, transmission and persistence in the system of Heliothis virescens ascovirus 3h (HvAV-3h), Microplitis similis and Spodoptera exigua

Ascoviruses are insect-specific large DNA viruses that mainly infect noctuid larvae, and are transmitted by parasitoids in the fields. Heliothis virescens ascovirus 3h (HvAV-3h) has been recently isolated from Spodoptera exigua, without parasitoid vector identified previously. Here we report that Microplitis similis, a solitary endoparasitoid wasp, could transmit HvAV-3h between S. exigua larvae in the laboratory. When the female parasitoid wasp acquired the virus and served as a vector, the period of virion viability on the ovipositor was 4.1 ± 1.4 days. Infected host larvae were still acceptable for egg laying by parasitoids, and the parasitoids thereafter transmitted virus to healthy hosts. Virus acquisition occurred only from donor hosts between 3 and 9 days post infection. The peak of virus acquisition (80.9 ± 6.3%) was found when M. similis wasps oviposited in larvae that had been inoculated with the virus 7 days previously. When virus infection of the host took place during the life cycle of the parasitoid wasp, it caused 1- to 4-day-old immature parasitoids death in the host, whilst a small proportion of 5- to 6-day-old and the majority of 7-day-old parasitoids larvae survived from the virus-infected hosts. Viral contamination did not reduce the life span or fecundity of female M. similis

Understanding the implementation and effectiveness of a group-based early parenting intervention : a process evaluation protocol

BACKGROUND: Group-based early parenting interventions delivered through community-based services may be a potentially effective means of promoting infant and family health and wellbeing. Process evaluations of these complex interventions provide vital information on how they work, as well as the conditions which shape and influence outcomes. This information is critical to decision makers and service providers who wish to embed prevention and early interventions in usual care settings. In this paper, a process evaluation protocol for an early years parenting intervention, the Parent and Infant (PIN) program, is described. This program combines a range of developmentally-appropriate supports, delivered in a single intervention process, for parents and infants (0–2 years) and aimed at enhancing parental competence, strengthening parent-infant relationships and improving infant wellbeing and adjustment. METHODS: The process evaluation is embedded within a controlled trial and accompanying cost-effectiveness evaluation. Building from extant frameworks and evaluation methods, this paper presents a systematic approach to the process evaluation of the PIN program and its underlying change principles, the implementation of the program, the context of implementation and the change mechanisms which influence and shape parent and infant outcomes. We will use a multi-method strategy, including semi-structured interviews and group discussions with key stakeholders, documentary analysis and survey methodology. DISCUSSION: The integration of innovations into existing early years systems and services is a challenging multifaceted undertaking. This process evaluation will make an important contribution to knowledge about the implementation of such programs, while also providing an example of how theory-based research can be embedded within the evaluation of community-based interventions. We discuss the strengths of the research, such as the adoption of a collaborative approach to data collection, while we also identify potential challenges, including capturing and assessing complex aspects of the intervention. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN17488830 (Date of registration: 27/11/15). This trial was retrospectively registered. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12913-016-1737-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Measuring and Valuing Health-Related Quality of Life among Children and Adolescents in Mainland China - A Pilot Study

Background: The Child Health Utility 9D (CHU9D), a new generic preference-based health-related quality of life (HRQoL) instrument, has been validated for use in young people in both the UK and Australia. The main objectives of this study were to examine the feasibility of using a Chinese version of the CHU9D (CHU9D-CHN) to assess HRQoL and to investigate the association of physical activity, homework hours and sleep duration with HRQoL in children and adolescents in Mainland China. Methods: Data were collected using a multi-stage sampling method from grades 4–12 students in May 2013 in Nanjing, China. Consenting participants (N = 815) completed a self-administered questionnaire including the CHU9D-CHN instrument and information on physical activity, homework and sleep duration, self-reported health status, and socio-demographic characteristics. Descriptive and multivariate linear regression analyses were undertaken. CHU9D-CHN utility scores were generated by employing two scoring algorithms currently available for the instrument, the first derived from UK adults utilising the standard gamble (SG) valuation method and the second derived from Australian adolescents utilising the bestworst scaling (BWS) method. Results: It was found that CHU9D utility scores discriminated well in relation to self-reported health status and that better health status was significantly associated with higher utility scores regardless of which scoring algorithm was employed (both p,0.001). The adjusted mean utilities were significantly higher for physically active than inactive students (0.023 by SG, 0.029 by BWS scoring methods, p,0.05). An additional hour of doing homework and sleep duration were, separately, associated with mean utilities of 20.019 and 0.032 based on SG, and 20.021 and 0.040 according to BWS scoring algorithms (p,0.01). Conclusion: The CHU9D-CHN shows promise for measuring and valuing the HRQoL of children and adolescents in China. Levels of self-reported physical activity, homework and sleep time were important influencers of utility scores

Quality of life in patients with various Barrett's esophagus associated health states

BACKGROUND: The management of Barrett's esophagus (BE), particularly high grade dysplasia (HGD), is an area of much debate and controversy. Surgical esophagectomy, intensive endoscopic surveillance and mucosal ablative techniques, especially photodynamic therapy (PDT), have been proposed as possible management strategies. The purpose of this study was to determine the health related quality of life associated with Barrett's esophagus and many of the pivotal health states associated with Barrett's HGD management. METHODS: 20 patients with Barrett's esophagus were enrolled in a pilot survey study at a large urban hospital. The utility of Barrett's esophagus without dysplasia (current health state) as well as various health states associated with HGD management (hypothetical states as the subject did not have HGD) were measured using a validated health utility instrument (Paper Standard Gamble). These specific health states were chosen for the study because they are considered pivotal in Barrett's HGD decision making. Information regarding Barrett's HGD was presented to the subject in a standardized format that was designed to be easily comprehendible. RESULTS: The average utility scores (0–1 with 0 = death and 1 = perfect health) for the various Barrett's esophagus associated states were: BE without dysplasia-0.95; Post-esophagectomy for HGD with dysphagia-0.92; Post-PDT for HGD with recurrence uncertainty-0.93; Post-PDT for HGD with recurrence uncertainty and dysphagia-0.91; Intensive endoscopic surveillance for HGD-0.90. CONCLUSION: We present the scores for utilities associated with Barrett's esophagus as well as various states associated with the management of HGD. The results of our study may be useful in advising patients and providers regarding expected outcomes of the various HGD management strategies as well as providing utility scores for future cost-effectiveness analyses