Matching methods to produce maps for pest risk analysis to resources

Decision support systems (DSSs) for pest risk mapping are invaluable for guiding pest risk analysts seeking to add maps to pest risk analyses (PRAs). Maps can help identify the area of potential establishment, the area at highest risk and the endangered area for alien plant pests. However, the production of detailed pest risk maps may require considerable time and resources and it is important to match the methods employed to the priority, time and detail required. In this paper, we apply PRATIQUE DSSs to Phytophthora austrocedrae, a pathogen of the Cupressaceae, Thaumetopoea pityocampa, the pine processionary moth, Drosophila suzukii, spotted wing Drosophila, and Thaumatotibia leucotreta, the false codling moth. We demonstrate that complex pest risk maps are not always a high priority and suggest that simple methods may be used to determine the geographic variation in relative risks posed by invasive alien species within an area of concern

The measurement of patient satisfaction in general practice

The problems addressed in this study were the lack of valid, reliable measures of patient satisfaction for use in British general practice, the lack of information about the characteristics of practices, general practitioners and patients that influence patient satisfaction and the lack of a theory or model of patient satisfaction. Methods (i) Development of two questionnaires, the surgery satisfaction questionnaire (SSQ) and the consultation satisfaction questionnaire (CSQ) following the identification of appropriate questions and pilot tests to identify the components of satisfaction and assess internal consistency. A test-retest measure of reliability was undertaken. The criterion validity of SSQ was assessed and the construct validity of both CSQ and SSQ evaluated. (ii) Administration of SSQ to patients in 99 practices and CSQ to patients consulting 190 general practitioners, and the collection of information about the practices, general practitioners and patients. (iii) Development and assessment of a pragmatic model of patient satisfaction. Results (i) SSQ included 26 questions concerned with general satisfaction with the practice, accessibility, availability, continuity, medical care and premises. CSQ included 18 questions concerned with general satisfaction with the consultation, professional care, depth of relationship and perceived length of the consultation. Evidence was obtained to indicate that SSQ and CSQ were reliable and valid. (ii) 17,799 patients completed SSQ and 11,447 completed CSQ. Levels of satisfaction varied and were not uniformly high. Patients are more satisfied if they receive care from smaller practices that have personal list systems. (iii) The pragmatic model should be revised to take into account the importance to patients of a personal service. Conclusions Valid and reliable measures of satisfaction can be developed and in future the use of unevaluated measures should be avoided. General practitioners need to consider how they could organise their practices to provide a personal service to their patients

Multilevel Surgery Improves Gait in Spastic Hemiplegia But Does Not Resolve Hip Dysplasia

Background: Multilevel orthopaedic surgery may improve gait in Type IV hemiplegia, but it is not known if proximal femoral osteotomy combined with adductor release as part of multilevel surgery in patients with hip dysplasia improves hip development. Questions/purposes: We asked whether varus derotational osteotomy of the proximal femur, combined with adductor release, influenced hip development in patients with Type IV hemiplegia having multilevel surgery. Patients and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 11 children and adolescents with Type IV hemiplegia who had a proximal femoral osteotomy due to unilateral hip displacement to correct gait dysfunction between 1999 and 2006. The mean age at the time of surgery was 11.1years (range, 7 to 16 years). We obtained the Movement Analysis Profile and Gait Profile Score before and after surgery. We also measured the Migration Percentage of Reimers and applied the Melbourne Cerebral Palsy Hip Classification System (MCPHCS). The minimum followup was 2years 3months (mean, 6years 6months; range, 2years 3months to 10years 8months). Results: The majority of gait parameters improved but hip development was not normalized. According to the MCPHCS at last followup, no hips were classified as Grade I, two hips were classified as Grade II, and the remainder were Grade III and IV. Conclusions: Unilateral surgery including a proximal femoral osteotomy improved gait and walking ability in individuals with spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy. However, hip dysplasia persists. Level of Evidence: Level IV, therapeutic study. See Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidenc

Invasive alien species in the food chain : advancing risk assessment models to address climate change, economics and uncertainty

Economic globalization depends on the movement of people and goods between countries. As these exchanges increase, so does the potential for translocation of harmful pests, weeds, and pathogens capable of impacting our crops, livestock and natural resources (Hulme 2009), with concomitant impacts on global food security (Cook et al. 2011)

May 1963

Massachusetts Turf and Lawn Grass Council Better Turf Through Research and Educatio

Radiation content of Conformally flat initial data

We study the radiation of energy and linear momentum emitted to infinity by the headon collision of binary black holes, starting from rest at a finite initial separation, in the extreme mass ratio limit. For these configurations we identify the radiation produced by the initially conformally flat choice of the three geometry. This identification suggests that the radiated energy and momentum of headon collisions will not be dominated by the details of the initial data for evolution of holes from initial proper separations $L_0\geq7M$. For non-headon orbits, where the amount of radiation is orders of magnitude larger, the conformally flat initial data may provide a relative even better approximation.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Commensurate lattice distortion in the layered titanium oxypnictides Na2_{2}Ti2Pn2_{2}Pn_{2}O (Pn=Pn = As, Sb) determined by X-ray diffraction

We report single crystal X-ray diffraction measurements on Na$_2$Ti$_{2}Pn_{2}$O ($Pn$ = As, Sb) which reveal a charge superstructure that appears below the density wave transitions previously observed in bulk data. From symmetry-constrained structure refinements we establish that the associated distortion mode can be described by two propagation vectors, ${\bf q}_{1} = (1/2, 0, l)$ and ${\bf q}_{2} = (0, 1/2, l)$, with $l=0$ (Sb) or $l = 1/2$ (As), and primarily involves in-plane displacements of the Ti atoms perpendicular to the Ti--O bonds. The results provide direct evidence for phonon-assisted charge density wave order in Na$_2$Ti$_{2}Pn_{2}$O and identify a proximate ordered phase that could compete with superconductivity in doped BaTi$_{2}$Sb$_{2}$O

Nonexistence of conformally flat slices of the Kerr spacetime

Initial data for black hole collisions are commonly generated using the Bowen-York approach based on conformally flat 3-geometries. The standard (constant Boyer-Lindquist time) spatial slices of the Kerr spacetime are not conformally flat, so that use of the Bowen-York approach is limited in dealing with rotating holes. We investigate here whether there exist foliations of the Kerr spacetime that are conformally flat. We limit our considerations to foliations that are axisymmetric and that smoothly reduce in the Schwarzschild limit to slices of constant Schwarzschild time. With these restrictions, we show that no conformally flat slices can exist.Comment: 5 LaTeX pages; no figures; to be submitted to Phys. Rev.

Sparse spectral-tau method for the three-dimensional helically reduced wave equation on two-center domains

We describe a multidomain spectral-tau method for solving the three-dimensional helically reduced wave equation on the type of two-center domain that arises when modeling compact binary objects in astrophysical applications. A global two-center domain may arise as the union of Cartesian blocks, cylindrical shells, and inner and outer spherical shells. For each such subdomain, our key objective is to realize certain (differential and multiplication) physical-space operators as matrices acting on the corresponding set of modal coefficients. We achieve sparse banded realizations through the integration "preconditioning" of Coutsias, Hagstrom, Hesthaven, and Torres. Since ours is the first three-dimensional multidomain implementation of the technique, we focus on the issue of convergence for the global solver, here the alternating Schwarz method accelerated by GMRES. Our methods may prove relevant for numerical solution of other mixed-type or elliptic problems, and in particular for the generation of initial data in general relativity.Comment: 37 pages, 3 figures, 12 table

Length polymorphism and head shape association among genes with polyglutamine repeats in the stalk-eyed fly, Teleopsis dalmanni

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Polymorphisms of single amino acid repeats (SARPs) are a potential source of genetic variation for rapidly evolving morphological traits. Here, we characterize variation in and test for an association between SARPs and head shape, a trait under strong sexual selection, in the stalk-eyed fly, <it>Teleopsis dalmanni</it>. Using an annotated expressed sequence tag database developed from eye-antennal imaginal disc tissues in <it>T. dalmanni </it>we identified 98 genes containing nine or more consecutive copies of a single amino acid. We then quantify variation in length and allelic diversity for 32 codon and 15 noncodon repeat regions in a large outbred population. We also assessed the frequency with which amino acid repeats are either gained or lost by identifying sequence similarities between <it>T. dalmanni </it>SARP loci and their orthologs in <it>Drosophila melanogaster</it>. Finally, to identify SARP containing genes that may influence head development we conducted a two-generation association study after assortatively mating for extreme relative eyespan.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found that glutamine repeats occur more often than expected by amino acid abundance among 3,400 head development genes in <it>T. dalmanni </it>and <it>D. melanogaster</it>. Furthermore, glutamine repeats occur disproportionately in transcription factors. Loci with glutamine repeats exhibit heterozygosities and allelic diversities that do not differ from noncoding dinucleotide microsatellites, including greater variation among X-linked than autosomal regions. In the majority of cases, repeat tracts did not overlap between <it>T. dalmanni </it>and <it>D. melanogaster </it>indicating that large glutamine repeats are gained or lost frequently during Dipteran evolution. Analysis of covariance reveals a significant effect of parental genotype on mean progeny eyespan, with body length as a covariate, at six SARP loci [CG33692, <it>ptip</it>, <it>band4.1 inhibitor LRP interactor</it>, <it>corto</it>, 3531953:1, and <it>ecdysone-induced protein 75B </it>(<it>Eip75B</it>)]. Mixed model analysis of covariance using the eyespan of siblings segregating for repeat length variation confirms that significant genotype-phenotype associations exist for at least one sex at five of these loci and for one gene, CG33692, longer repeats were associated with longer relative eyespan in both sexes.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Among genes expressed during head development in stalk-eyed flies, long codon repeats typically contain glutamine, occur in transcription factors and exhibit high levels of heterozygosity. Furthermore, the presence of significant associations within families between repeat length and head shape indicates that six genes, or genes linked to them, contribute genetic variation to the development of this extremely sexually dimorphic trait.</p