Incidence and Location of Eastern Pineshoot Borer Damage in Some Scotch Pine Christmas Tree Plantations in Michigan (Lepidoptera: Olethreutidae)

A survey of Christmas tree farms in Michigan revealed that 26% of the Scotch pine Christmas trees have one or more shoots injured by the eastern pineshoot borer, Eucosma gloriola Heinrich. Most attacks occurred on lateral branches in the top half of the tree. Only 2% of the observed trees had pineshoot borer injury on the terminal leader. Control except for normal shearing, was not recommended for most plantations

Visualizing Multiple Quantile Plots

Multiple quantile plots provide a powerful graphical method for comparing the distributions of two or more populations. This paper develops a method of visualizing triple quantile plots and their associated confidence tubes, thus extending the notion of a QQ plot to three dimensions. More specifically, we consider three independent one-dimensional random samples with corresponding quantile functions Q1, Q2 and Q3, respectively. The triple quantile (QQQ) plot is then defined as the three-dimensional curve Q(p) = (Q1(p);Q2(p);Q3(p)); where 0Confidence region;empirical likelihood;quantile plot;three-sample com- parison

Use of soil water measurements to assist crop management in low rainfall areas.

Trial 90M9 Trial summary. Location: Merredin Research Station. 90M9 was established as part of the long term monitoring system to obtain base information on water use from several different soils. A simple rotation experiment was established in T3 on the Merredin Research Station. Trial 89ME32 Rowspacing summary. Location: Merredin Research Station. 89ME32 was monitored as part of the long term monitoring system. Previous to 1990 two years of continued measurements had been done on the same soil type. Located on the CSIRO lease block above the Merredin Research Station on Crook\u27s property. Trial 87M71 Heavyload rowspacing summary. Location: Merredin Research Station. The changes in the soil moisture down the profile were monitored in 87M71 as part of the long term monitoring network. Trial 88ME83 Trial summary. As part of the baseline monitoring system access tubes were inserted in 88ME83 on existing trial on sandy clay loam on Robartson\u27s farm, Merredin. 82M47 Trial summary Location: Merredin Research Station. Tubes were inserted in 82M47 an existing clover:wheat rotation to monitor the changes in the soil water balance. 82M47 is one of the trials in the long turn monitoring system. Trial 86M79 Trial summary. The long term moisture monitoring network was established in 1990. 86M79 was monitored as part of this network

An Evaluation of Two Candidate Functional Biomarkers for Age-Related Macular Degeneration

PURPOSE: To evaluate the inter-session repeatability of the Colour Assessment and Diagnosis (CAD) test and a novel 14-Hz flicker test in a population of healthy participants in order to provide benchmark data for their use as functional biomarkers for age-related macular degeneration (AMD). METHODS: Visual function was assessed using both techniques in 30 healthy adults (mean age 36.3 ± 14.1 years) on 2 separate days. Inter-session repeatability of RG and YB CAD thresholds and 14-Hz flicker thresholds was assessed by determining their coefficient of repeatability (CoR). RESULTS: The CoR was calculated to be 0.39 CAD units (17.0%) for RG thresholds, 0.43 CAD units (31.1%) for YB thresholds and 0.015 (53.4%) for 14-Hz flicker contrast thresholds. On average, thresholds improved by 4.72% (RG), 6.33% (YB) and 13.3% (14-Hz flicker) between visits 1 and 2, suggesting a small but consistent learning effect. The CoR for all parameters was relatively small compared to the mean thresholds obtained (RG: mean 2.27 ± 4.58, CoR 0.39; YB: mean 1.37 ± 0.55, CoR 0.43; 14-Hz flicker: mean 0.028 ± 0.01, CoR 0.015). CONCLUSIONS: This study has described the repeatability of the CAD and 14-Hz flicker tests. The data can help clinicians decide if the results from repeated measures are of clinical significance. Despite pre-test training, there was some evidence of a learning effect. Therefore, clinical trials using these techniques should ensure training is sufficient to minimize these effects

Low-level night-time light therapy for age-related macular degeneration (ALight): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness among older adults in the developed world. The only treatments currently available, such as ranibizumab injections, are for neovascular AMD, which accounts for only 10 to 15% of people with the condition. Hypoxia has been implicated as one of the primary causes of AMD, and is most acute at night when the retina is most metabolically active. By increasing light levels at night, the metabolic requirements of the retina and hence the hypoxia will be considerably reduced. This trial seeks to determine whether wearing a light mask that emits a dim, green light during the night can prevent the progression of early AMD. Methods: ALight is a Phase I/IIa, multicentre, randomized controlled trial. Sixty participants (55 to 88 years old) with early AMD in one eye and neovascular AMD (nAMD) in the fellow eye will be recruited from nAMD clinics. They will be randomized (in the ratio 1:1), either to receive the intervention or to be in the untreated control group, stratified according to risk of disease progression. An additional 40 participants with healthy retinal appearance, or early AMD only, will be recruited for a baseline cross-sectional analysis. The intervention is an eye mask that emits a dim green light to illuminate the retina through closed eyelids at night. This is designed to reduce the metabolic activity of the retina, thereby reducing the potential risk of hypoxia. Participants will wear the mask every night for 12 months. Ophthalmologists carrying out monthly assessments will be masked to the treatment group, but participants will be aware of their treatment group. The primary outcome measure is the proportion of people who show disease progression during the trial period in the eye with early AMD. A co-primary outcome measure is the rate of retinal adaptation. As this is a trial of a CE-marked device for an off-label indication, a further main aim of this trial is to assess safety of the mask in the cohort of participants with AMD

Generalized Boundary Interactions for Powder Lubricated Couette Flows,’’

Introduction There has been much recent interest in the use of powders for hydrodynamic lubrication. With the demands of high temperature applications, conventional liquid lubricants experience viscosity breakdown and lose their ability to support a load. A fine powder lubricant can be a viable solution to this problem. The feasibility of powder lubrication has been experimentally proven by several researchers. Heshmat (1992) directly measured the pressure across a slider bearing's length, and found that powder lubricants produce pressure profiles similar to those of oils; hence, he refers to the powder flow condition as quasihydrodynamic. Noted in that paper were marked differences in powder slip velocities at the boundaries and a pressure curve with a peak skewed towards the bearing's trailing edge. More recently, A number of authors have analytically investigated granular Couette flows by considering the kinetics of granular particle collisions. The grain velocities are separated into steady flow velocity and random fluctuation velocity (commonly referred to as "granular temperature") components. The flow is then treated as a continuum by adapting the theory of dense gases to the granular collisions (se

Challenges and opportunities for small molecule aptamer development

Aptamers are single-stranded oligonucleotides that bind to targets with high affinity and selectivity. Their use as molecular recognition elements has emerged as a viable approach for biosensing, diagnostics, and therapeutics. Despite this potential, relatively few aptamers exist that bind to small molecules. Small molecules are important targets for investigation due to their diverse biological functions as well as their clinical and commercial uses. Novel, effective molecular recognition probes for these compounds are therefore of great interest. This paper will highlight the technical challenges of aptamer development for small molecule targets, as well as the opportunities that exist for their application in biosensing and chemical biology

Severity and persistence of asthma and mental health: a birth cohort study

Background. The goal of the current study was to investigate asthma and mental health among youth in the community, and to consider the role of asthma severity and persistence in this link