Bean Leaf Beetle Biology and Management

In the past few years, Iowa bean leaf beetle densities have reached record levels. Bean leaf beetles are present in Iowa soybean fields every year, but recently many producers have had to apply insecticides to manage this pest

Site-specific soybean insect management: benefits and barriers

Insect pest management involves monitoring pests and treating with an insecticide when economic thresholds are exceeded. Site-specific insect management offers the opportunity to treat only those areas where pest populations are highest. For 3 years, entomologists at Iowa State University have been involved in a site-specific farming project, funded by the Iowa Soybean Promotion Board, to study the potential of this technology for soybean insect management. Some potential benefits and current barriers to implementing site-specific soybean insect management have been identified

Novel ex vivo models of epithelial ovarian cancer: the future of biomarker and therapeutic research

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is a heterogenous disease associated with variations in presentation, pathology and prognosis. Advanced EOC is typified by frequent relapse and a historical 5-year survival of less than 30% despite improvements in surgical and systemic treatment. The advent of next generation sequencing has led to notable advances in the field of personalised medicine for many cancer types. Success in achieving cure in advanced EOC has however been limited, although significant prolongation of survival has been demonstrated. Development of novel research platforms is therefore necessary to address the rapidly advancing field of early diagnostics and therapeutics, whilst also acknowledging the significant tumour heterogeneity associated with EOC. Within available tumour models, patient-derived organoids (PDO) and explant tumour slices have demonstrated particular promise as novel ex vivo systems to model different cancer types including ovarian cancer. PDOs are organ specific 3D tumour cultures that can accurately represent the histology and genomics of their native tumour, as well as offer the possibility as models for pharmaceutical drug testing platforms, offering timing advantages and potential use as prospective personalised models to guide clinical decision-making. Such applications could maximise the benefit of drug treatments to patients on an individual level whilst minimising use of less effective, yet toxic, therapies. PDOs are likely to play a greater role in both academic research and drug development in the future and have the potential to revolutionise future patient treatment and clinical trial pathways. Similarly, ex vivo tumour slices or explants have also shown recent renewed promise in their ability to provide a fast, specific, platform for drug testing that accurately represents in vivo tumour response. Tumour explants retain tissue architecture, and thus incorporate the majority of tumour microenvironment making them an attractive method to re-capitulate in vivo conditions, again with significant timing and personalisation of treatment advantages for patients. This review will discuss the current treatment landscape and research models for EOC, their development and new advances towards the discovery of novel biomarkers or combinational therapeutic strategies to increase treatment options for women with ovarian cancer

Investigating the benefits of molecular profiling of advanced non-small cell lung cancer tumors to guide treatments.

In this study we utilized data on patient responses to guided treatments, and we evaluated their benefit for a non-small cell lung cancer cohort. The recommended therapies used were predicted using tumor molecular profiles that involved a range of biomarkers but primarily used immunohistochemistry markers. A dataset describing 91 lung non-small cell lung cancer patients was retrospectively split into two. The first group's drugs were consistent with a treatment plan whereby all drugs received agreed with their tumor's molecular profile. The second group each received one or more drug that was expected to lack benefit. We found that there was no significant difference in overall survival or mortality between the two groups. Patients whose treatments were predicted to be of benefit survived for an average of 402 days, compared to 382 days for those that did not (P = 0.7934). In the matched treatment group, 48% of patients were deceased by the time monitoring had finished compared to 53% in the unmatched group (P = 0.6094). The immunohistochemistry biomarker for the ERCC1 receptor was found to be a marker that could be used to predict future survival; ERCC1 loss was found to be predictive of poor survival

Early-season bean leaf beetles rarely equal economic damage

Don\u27t be surprised to see more bean leaf beetles this season than in typical years. Last year, a large bean leaf beetle population was present in most of Iowa. The mild winter apparently allowed at least 50 percent winter survival of overwintering beetles. This is in contrast to the 25 percent survival recorded last year. The bean leaf beetle completes two generations each year in Iowa. Adults overwinter and emerge in late April or May depending on the temperature. Adults have been reported in 1998 since the third week of April

Early-season management of bean leaf beetle and bean pod mottle virus

During the past three summers, bean leaf beetles have reached historically high populations. At the same time, we learned that the insects are transmitting a disease called bean pod mottle virus. The occurrence of both of these pests in Iowa soybean has dramatically affected yields. Because the beetles are spreading the virus in soybean, we must rethink how we are going to manage these two pests

New Thresholds and Strategies for Management of Bean Leaf Beetles in Iowa Soybean

The bean leaf beetle is an annual pest of soybean in midwestern states. Adult beetles feed on any aboveground plant part and are especially fond of soybean pods late in the growing season. Larvae, which are similar in appearance to com rootworm larvae, feed below the soil surface on soybean nodules, but their impact on yield or plant health is not known. In addition to the physical injury that bean leaf beetle adults cause to soybean plants, this insect also transmits bean pod mottle virus-a potentially yield-robbing plant disease that makes proper management of this insect even more critical. This report focuses on a new concept for managing second-generation bean leaf beetle adults, the performance of insecticides in controlling this pest, and the problems related to bean pod mottle virus and transmission by adult beetles

Identifying Audiences of E-Infrastructures - Tools for Measuring Impact

Research evaluation should take into account the intended scholarly and non-scholarly audiences of the research output. This holds too for research infrastructures, which often aim at serving a large variety of audiences. With research and research infrastructures moving to the web, new possibilities are emerging for evaluation metrics. This paper proposes a feasible indicator for measuring the scope of audiences who use web-based e-infrastructures, as well as the frequency of use. In order to apply this indicator, a method is needed for classifying visitors to e-infrastructures into relevant user categories. The paper proposes such a method, based on an inductive logic program and a Bayesian classifier. The method is tested, showing that the visitors are efficiently classified with 90% accuracy into the selected categories. Consequently, the method can be used to evaluate the use of the e-infrastructure within and outside academia

Management of Bean Leaf Beetles and Bean Pod Mottle Virus: A Summary of Current and Future Research

In 2002, the bean leaf beetle, Cerotoma trifurcata (Forster), population reached the highest level recorded in 14 years (Fig. 1). The bean leaf beetle is now considered the most frequent insect pest of Iowa soybean, and concern over this pest is greater because it transmits a soybean virus, Bean pod mottle virus (BPMV). Bean leaf beetle management recently has become more complicated because of this insect\u27s association with BPMV, therefore, it is important to understand the life cycle of the beetle and its relation to BPMV before management decisions are made

Correction: The benefit of tumor molecular profiling on predicting treatments for colorectal adenocarcinomas

Corrections for article DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.24257.]