Comparison of Leafhopper Species Complexes in the Ground Cover of Sprayed and Unsprayed Peach Orchards in Michigan (Homoptera: Cicadellldae)

Two Michigan peach orchards were sampled for leafhoppers using a fixed-area ground sampling device attached to a D-vac®. Absolute abundance estimates indicated that routine tree insecticide applications greatly depressed leafhopper populations. This, and the fact that no resident, known vectors of the X-disease pathogen were detected, suggests that increasing insecticide applications to check the spread of the disease through vector control would be ineffective

A Comparison of the Moral Judgements of Negro and Caucasian Children

This study was designed to investigate two areas: (1) What similarities or differences exist between Negro and Caucasian children in their moral judgments; and (2) What similarities or differences exist between the moral judgments of American children and the Swiss children used by Piaget in his research

Distinguishing the parasitic wasp, Peristenus howardi, from some of its congeners using polymerase chain reaction and restriction endonuclease digestion

A molecular procedure incorporating polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of the COI gene and restriction endonuclease digestion of PCR products was used to distinguish Peristenus howardi (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) from four other Peristenus species. Non-solvent extraction of parasite DNA using a commercially available kit proved to be very effective in producing amplifiable template. Use of SfcI endonuclease produced restriction fragments with banding patterns in agarose gel electrophoresis that readily separated P. howardi, P. digoneutis, P. conradi, P. pallipes, and P. pseudopallipes. However, while the restriction fragment banding patterns of both P. pallipes and P. pseudopallipes were easily distinguishable from the other Peristenus species, they could not be reliably separated from one another. This molecular procedure can be used in applied and ecological research to better understand the role of P. howardi in the Peristenus-Lygus parasite-host system within the Pacific Northwest. Consensus sequences of our amplimers for all five Peristenus spp. are deposited in GenBank under accession numbers AY626370, AY626371, AY626372, AY626373, and AY626374

Extracorporeal Treatment in Phenytoin Poisoning: Systematic Review and Recommendations from the EXTRIP Workgroup

The Extracorporeal Treatments in Poisoning (EXTRIP) Workgroup conducted a systematic literature review using a standardized process to develop evidence-based recommendations on the use of extracorporeal treatment (ECTR) in patients with phenytoin poisoning. The authors reviewed all articles, extracted data, summarized findings, and proposed structured voting statements following a predetermined format. A 2-round modified Delphi method was used to reach a consensus on voting statements, and the RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method was used to quantify disagreement. 51 articles met the inclusion criteria. Only case reports, case series, and pharmacokinetic studies were identified, yielding a very low quality of evidence. Clinical data from 31 patients and toxicokinetic grading from 46 patients were abstracted. The workgroup concluded that phenytoin is moderately dialyzable (level of evidence = C) despite its high protein binding and made the following recommendations. ECTR would be reasonable in select cases of severe phenytoin poisoning (neutral recommendation, 3D). ECTR is suggested if prolonged coma is present or expected (graded 2D) and it would be reasonable if prolonged incapacitating ataxia is present or expected (graded 3D). If ECTR is used, it should be discontinued when clinical improvement is apparent (graded 1D). The preferred ECTR modality in phenytoin poisoning is intermittent hemodialysis (graded 1D), but hemoperfusion is an acceptable alternative if hemodialysis is not available (graded 1D). In summary, phenytoin appears to be amenable to extracorporeal removal. However, because of the low incidence of irreversible tissue injury or death related to phenytoin poisoning and the relatively limited effect of ECTR on phenytoin removal, the workgroup proposed the use of ECTR only in very select patients with severe phenytoin poisoning