Insecticide Efficacy Against Trimen’s False Tiger Moth, Agoma trimenii (Lepidoptera: Agaristidae)

Trimen’s false tiger moth, Agoma trimenii (Lepidoptera: Agaristidae), has developed pest status in vineyardsin the Northern Cape and Groblersdal areas of South Africa, and an integrated pest management system isrequired. The objective of this study was to test the susceptibility of A. trimenii larvae to three commercialproducts (Delegate®WG, Steward®150 EC and three doses of DiPel® DF). Bioassay tests using all threeproducts, and semi-field trials to test the potential of DiPel® DF against A. trimenii larvae, applied at differentwater volumes (50 g/1 000 L/ha and 50 g/1 430 L/ha) were performed. The residual activity of DiPel® DF,when applied at different water volumes, was investigated daily. Delegate® WG, Steward®150 EC and therecommended dose of DiPel® DF showed 100% larval mortality within seven days. Delegate® WG and therecommended dose of DiPel® DF proved to be the fastest acting products. The product label recommendeddose of DiPel® DF (0.25 g/500 mL distilled water) proved the most effective dose (in comparison to halvedand doubled dosages) and showed 100% mortality five days after application. Increasing the water volumeper ha of a spray application of DiPel® DF for the same application area, showed no significant increasein larval mortality. A reduction in insecticidal activity for DiPel® DF applied at both water volumes wasseen between leaves picked four days after spraying and leaves picked five days after spraying, and nomortality was observed after day 6. To help improve efficacy, attention should be given to increasing spraycoverage and residual activity of DiPel® DF, as well as using all tested products within an integrated pestmanagement system

A Review of Trimen’s False Tiger Moth, Agoma trimenii (Lepidoptera: Agaristidae): Seasonal Biology, Potential Monitoring and Control Techniques

Trimen’s false tiger moth, Agoma trimenii (Lepidoptera: Agaristidae), has recently been found to occur in vineyards in the Northern Cape and Limpopo (Groblersdal area) provinces of South Africa. As little is known about the biology and behaviour of the moth, no official monitoring methods or economic thresholds relating to it, exist. Consequently, management and registered control options still require development. The first aim in the current review, was to gather and critically discuss all the available information on A. trimenii in the context of the information gained from field observations conducted in the Northern Cape, South Africa, during the 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 seasons. The paper also includes reporting on field observations made with regard to various aspects of the seasonal life cycle and ecology of A. trimenii, with a view to investigate, in future research, the potential biological control options available. Potential monitoring strategies of A. trimenii in the field were investigated. Various life stages of A. trimenii were identified, peak flight times were established, overlapping generations were determined, and the behavioural traits of all life stages were documented. Ultraviolet blue light traps proved to be the most promising potential monitoring strategy, with the prospect for an A. trimenii pheromone lure holding potential as an alternative monitoring strategy in future. With summarising all current information on A. trimenii, recommendations for growers to monitor and control A. trimenii are presented, towards the development of an integrated pest management system for the moth

Isolation and characterization of acetylated LM-pectins extracted from okra pods

Pectin was isolated by aqueous extraction at pH 6.0 or 2.0 from okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.) pods. An isolation protocol was designed to extract pectin and to study the influence of the extraction pH on their composition and physicochemical properties. The extracted pectin was assessed using sugar compositional analysis (neutral sugars, galacturonic acid, acetyl and methyl contents). FT-IR and NMR spectroscopy, size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and dilute solution viscometry were also used to determine the macromolecular characteristics of isolated pectin. The extraction protocols resulted in the isolation of pectin of high purity as evidenced by their high total carbohydrate (70.0–81.8%) and low protein (4.3–6.3%) contents. Samples contained between 46 and 56% galacturonic acid, had broad molecular weight distributions, a low degree of methylation (40.0 and 24.6%) and high degree of acetylation (52.2 and 37.6%). Neutral sugar analysis showed that the pectin extracted at pH 6.0 contained more neutral sugars, particularly, galactose (21.7–25.7 mol%), rhamnose (10.1–13.2 mol%) and arabinose (7.1–7.3 mol%) than that extracted at pH 2.0 indicating variations in fine structure. In addition, molecular parameters of the isolated pectins, such as intrinsic viscosity (2.8–4.4 dL g−1), critical concentration (0.15–0.45 dL g−1) and coil overlap parameter (0.66–1.51), showed that extraction conditions resulted in pectin with different chain morphology. The yield and physico-chemical characteristics of the extracted pectin from okra pods were influenced by the extraction conditions

A Compact Beam Stop for a Rare Kaon Decay Experiment

We describe the development and testing of a novel beam stop for use in a rare kaon decay experiment at the Brookhaven AGS. The beam stop is located inside a dipole spectrometer magnet in close proximity to straw drift chambers and intercepts a high-intensity neutral hadron beam. The design process, involving both Monte Carlo simulations and beam tests of alternative beam-stop shielding arrangements, had the goal of minimizing the leakage of particles from the beam stop and the resulting hit rates in detectors, while preserving maximum acceptance for events of interest. The beam tests consisted of measurements of rates in drift chambers, scintilation counter hodoscopes, a gas threshold Cherenkov counter, and a lead glass array. Measurements were also made with a set of specialized detectors which were sensitive to low-energy neutrons, photons, and charged particles. Comparisons are made between these measurements and a detailed Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: 39 pages, 14 figures, submitted to Nuclear Instruments and Method

Analysis of human performance as a measure of mental fatigue

In our day to day, we often experience a sense of being tired due to mental or physical workload. Along with that, there is also a feeling of degrading performance, even after the completion of simple tasks. These mental states however, are often not felt consciously or are ignored. This is an attitude that may result in human error, failure, and may lead to potential health problems together with a decrease in quality of life. States of acute mental fatigue may be detected with the close monitoring of certain indicators, such as productivity, performance and health indicators. In this paper, a model and prototype are proposed to detect and monitor acute acute fatigue, based on non-invasive Humancomputer Interaction (HCI). This approach will enable the development of better working environments, with an impact on the quality of life and the work produced.This work was developed in the context of the project CAMCoF - Contextaware Multimodal Communication Framework funded by ERDF - European Regional Development Fund through the COMPETE Programme (operational programme for competitiveness) and by National Funds through the FCT - Funda ção para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) within project FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-028980

Genome-wide enrichment analysis between endometriosis and obesity-related traits reveals novel susceptibility loci

Endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory condition in women that results in pelvic pain and subfertility, and has been associated with decreased body mass index (BMI). Genetic variants contributing to the heritable component have started to emerge from genome-wide association studies (GWAS), although the majority remain unknown. Unexpectedly, we observed an intergenic locus on 7p15.2 that was genome-wide significantly associated with both endometriosis and fat distribution (waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI; WHRadjBMI) in an independent meta-GWAS of European ancestry individuals. This led us to investigate the potential overlap in genetic variants underlying the aetiology of endometriosis, WHRadjBMI and BMI using GWAS data. Our analyses demonstrated significant enrichment of common variants between fat distribution and endometriosis (P = 3.7 × 10(-3)), which was stronger when we restricted the investigation to more severe (Stage B) cases (P = 4.5 × 10(-4)). However, no genetic enrichment was observed between endometriosis and BMI (P = 0.79). In addition to 7p15.2, we identify four more variants with statistically significant evidence of involvement in both endometriosis and WHRadjBMI (in/near KIFAP3, CAB39L, WNT4, GRB14); two of these, KIFAP3 and CAB39L, are novel associations for both traits. KIFAP3, WNT4 and 7p15.2 are associated with the WNT signalling pathway; formal pathway analysis confirmed a statistically significant (P = 6.41 × 10(-4)) overrepresentation of shared associations in developmental processes/WNT signalling between the two traits. Our results demonstrate an example of potential biological pleiotropy that was hitherto unknown, and represent an opportunity for functional follow-up of loci and further cross-phenotype comparisons to assess how fat distribution and endometriosis pathogenesis research fields can inform each other

Treatment Outcomes of Anti-Neutrophil Cytoplasmic Autoantibody-Associated Vasculitis in Patients Over Age 75 Years: A Meta-Analysis

Background: The benefits of treating anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody-associated vasculitis (AAV) in advancing age remains unclear with most published studies defining elderly as ≥65 years. This study aims to determine outcomes of induction immunosuppression in patients aged ≥75 years. Methods: A cohort of patients aged ≥75 years with a diagnosis of AAV between 2006 and 2018 was constructed from 2 centres. Follow-up was to 2 years or death. Analysis included multivariable Cox regression to compare mortality and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) based on receipt of induction immunosuppression therapy with either cyclophosphamide or rituximab. A systematic review of outcome studies was subsequently undertaken amongst this patient group through Pubmed, Cochrane and Embase databases from inception until October 16, 2019. Results: Sixty-seven patients were identified. Mean age was 79 ± 2.9 years and 82% (n = 55) received induction immunosuppression. Following systematic review, 4 studies were eligible for inclusion, yielding a combined total of 290 patients inclusive of our cohort. The aggregated 1-year mortality irrespective of treatment was 31% (95% CI 25–36%). Within our cohort, induction immunosuppression therapy was associated with a significantly lower 2-year mortality risk (hazard ratio [HR] 0.29 [95% CI 0.09–0.93]). The pooled HR by meta-analysis confirmed this with a significant risk reduction for death (HR 0.31 [95% CI 0.16–0.57], I2 = 0%). Treated patients had a lower pooled rate of ESRD, but was not statistically significant (HR 0.71 [95% CI 0.15–3.35]). Conclusion: This meta-analysis suggests that patients ≥75 years with AAV do benefit from induction immunosuppression with a significant survival benefit. Age alone should not be a limiting factor when considering treatment

Anti-androgens act jointly in suppressing spiggin concentrations in androgen-primed female three-spined sticklebacks - Prediction of combined effects by concentration addition

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in Aquatic Toxicology. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2013 Elsevier B.V.Increasing attention is being directed at the role played by anti-androgenic chemicals in endocrine disruption of wildlife within the aquatic environment. The co-occurrence of multiple contaminants with anti-androgenic activity highlights a need for the predictive assessment of combined effects, but information about anti-androgen mixture effects on wildlife is lacking. This study evaluated the suitability of the androgenised female stickleback screen (AFSS), in which inhibition of androgen-induced spiggin production provides a quantitative assessment of anti-androgenic activity, for predicting the effect of a four component mixture of anti-androgens. The anti-androgenic activity of four known anti-androgens (vinclozolin, fenitrothion, flutamide, linuron) was evaluated from individual concentration-response data and used to design a mixture containing each chemical at equipotent concentrations. Across a 100-fold concentration range, a concentration addition approach was used to predict the response of fish to the mixture. Two studies were conducted independently at each of two laboratories. By using a novel method to adjust for differences between nominal and measured concentrations, good agreement was obtained between the actual outcome of the mixture exposure and the predicted outcome. This demonstrated for the first time that androgen receptor antagonists act in concert in an additive fashion in fish and that existing mixture methodology is effective in predicting the outcome, based on concentration-response data for individual chemicals. The sensitivity range of the AFSS assay lies within the range of anti-androgenicity reported in rivers across many locations internationally. The approach taken in our study lays the foundations for understanding how androgen receptor antagonists work together in fish and is essential in informing risk assessment methods for complex anti-androgenic mixtures in the aquatic environment.European Commission and Natural Environment Research Council

Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics with particle splitting, applied to self-gravitating collapse

We describe and demonstrate a method for increasing the resolution locally in a Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamic (SPH) simulation, by splitting particles. We show that in simulations of self-gravitating collapse (of the sort which are presumed to occur in star formation) the method is stable, and affords great savings in computer time and memory. When applied to the standard Boss & Bodenheimer test -- which has been shown to depend critically on fulfilment of the Jeans Condition -- the results are comparable both with those obtained using Adaptive Mesh Refinement, and with those obtained using a standard high-resolution SPH simulation, but they are achieved with considerably less computational resource. Further development and testing is required before the method can safely be applied to more general flows.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure