Yield loase" in barley caused by mildew attack.

A yield trial with five replicates was carried out with 2 cv. of spring barley, one suceptible and the other resistant to mildew. Both were treated with two specific mildew-controlling fungicides, one (BASF F 2201) applied as a leaf spray, the other (ICI PP 149) as a seed dressing. From the seedling stage onwards, the susceptible cv. was heavily attacked by mildew; a 20% reduction in yield was found compared with the potential yield. F.s.-A.G.G.H. (Abstract retrieved from CAB Abstracts by CABI’s permission

Valuing the absence of feral swine in the United States: A partial equilibrium approach

Feral swine (also called wild pigs; Sus scrofa Linnaeus) are known to cause damage to crops among other types of property damage. This research addresses the lack of economic welfare estimates of wild pig imposed crop damages in the literature by estimating the value of wild pig removal with respect to five crops in nine southern U.S. states. An equilibrium displacement model was used to assess the changes in price and quantity that would result from eliminating damage to corn, soybeans, wheat, rice, and peanuts in these nine states. Changes in price and quantity were used to calculate the changes in producer and consumer welfare in both the short- and longrun. The total producer and consumer surplus gains were found to be $142 million in the short-run and$89 million in the long-run

Valuing the absence of feral swine in the United States: A partial equilibrium approach

Feral swine (also called wild pigs; Sus scrofa Linnaeus) are known to cause damage to crops among other types of property damage. This research addresses the lack of economic welfare estimates of wild pig imposed crop damages in the literature by estimating the value of wild pig removal with respect to five crops in nine southern U.S. states. An equilibrium displacement model was used to assess the changes in price and quantity that would result from eliminating damage to corn, soybeans, wheat, rice, and peanuts in these nine states. Changes in price and quantity were used to calculate the changes in producer and consumer welfare in both the short- and longrun. The total producer and consumer surplus gains were found to be $142 million in the short-run and$89 million in the long-run

Cross-species transmission potential between wild pigs, livestock, poultry, wildlife, and humans: implications for disease risk management in North America

Cross-species disease transmission between wildlife, domestic animals and humans is an increasing threat to public and veterinary health. Wild pigs are increasingly a potential veterinary and public health threat. Here we investigate 84 pathogens and the host species most at risk for transmission with wild pigs using a network approach. We assess the risk to agricultural and human health by evaluating the status of these pathogens and the co-occurrence of wild pigs, agriculture and humans. We identified 34 (87%) OIE listed swine pathogens that cause clinical disease in livestock, poultry, wildlife, and humans. On average 73% of bacterial, 39% of viral, and 63% of parasitic pathogens caused clinical disease in other species. Non-porcine livestock in the family Bovidae shared the most pathogens with swine (82%). Only 49% of currently listed OIE domestic swine diseases had published wild pig surveillance studies. The co-occurrence of wild pigs and farms increased annually at a rate of 1.2% with as much as 57% of all farms and 77% of all agricultural animals co-occurring with wild pigs. The increasing co-occurrence of wild pigs with livestock and humans along with the large number of pathogens shared is a growing risk for cross-species transmission

Promoting physical activity using an activity monitor and a tailored web-based advice: design of a randomized controlled trial [ISRCTN93896459]

BACKGROUND: Ageing is associated with a decrease in physical activity. This decrease particularly occurs during specific transitional life stages. Especially during adolescence and young adulthood a steep decrease in physical activity is observed. Inactive people are often not aware of their inactivity. Providing feedback on the actual physical activity level by an activity monitor can increase awareness and may in combination with an individually tailored physical activity advice stimulate a physically active lifestyle. METHODS: In a randomized controlled trial the effectiveness of providing an activity monitor in combination with a personal physical activity advice through the Internet will be examined. Outcome measures are level of physical activity, determinants of physical activity, quality of life, empowerment, aerobic fitness and body composition. Participants are relatively inactive adolescents and young adults who are measured at baseline, after 3 months intervention and 5 months after the end of the intervention. In addition, facilitating and hindering factors for implementation of the intervention will be investigated. DISCUSSION: The use of a personal activity monitor in combination with web-based assisted individually tailored health promotion offers a good opportunity to work interactively with large groups of adolescents and young adults and provide them with advice based on their actual activity level. It has great potential to motivate people to change their behaviour and to our knowledge has not been evaluated before

A bioeconomic model for the optimization of local canine rabies control

We present a new modeling tool that can be used to maximize the impact of canine rabies management resources that are available at the local level. The model is accessible through a web-based interface that allows for flexibility in the management strategies that can be investigated. Rabies vaccination, sterilization, chemo-contraception, and euthanasia can be specified and limited to specific demographic groups. Additionally, we allowed for considerable complexity in the specification of management costs. In many areas, the costs of contacting additional dogs increases as management effort increases, and this can have important strategic implications. We illustrated the application of the model by examining several alternative management strategies in an area of Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. Our results based on this dog population suggested that puppies should be vaccinated and sterilization would not be optimal if the spatial extent of management is not large (and perhaps not even then). Furthermore, given a sufficient budget, it was evident that vaccination campaigns should be repeated annually

A bioeconomic model for the optimization of local canine rabies control

We present a new modeling tool that can be used to maximize the impact of canine rabies management resources that are available at the local level. The model is accessible through a web-based interface that allows for flexibility in the management strategies that can be investigated. Rabies vaccination, sterilization, chemo-contraception, and euthanasia can be specified and limited to specific demographic groups. Additionally, we allowed for considerable complexity in the specification of management costs. In many areas, the costs of contacting additional dogs increases as management effort increases, and this can have important strategic implications. We illustrated the application of the model by examining several alternative management strategies in an area of Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. Our results based on this dog population suggested that puppies should be vaccinated and sterilization would not be optimal if the spatial extent of management is not large (and perhaps not even then). Furthermore, given a sufficient budget, it was evident that vaccination campaigns should be repeated annually

A comparison of cost and quality of three methods for estimating density for wild pig (\u3ci\u3eSus scrofa\u3c/i\u3e)

A critical element in effective wildlife management is monitoring the status of wildlife populations; however, resources to monitor wildlife populations are typically limited. We compared cost effectiveness of three common population estimation methods (i.e. non-invasive DNA sampling, camera sampling, and sampling from trapping) by applying them to wild pigs (Sus scrofa) across three habitats in South Carolina, U.S.A where they are invasive. We used mark-recapture analyses for fecal DNA sampling data, spatially-explicit capture-recapture analyses for camera sampling data, and a removal analysis for removal sampling from trap data. Density estimates were similar across methods. Camera sampling was the least expensive, but had large variances. Fecal DNA sampling was the most expensive, although this technique generally performed well. We examined how reductions in effort by method related to increases in relative bias or imprecision. For removal sampling, the largest cost savings while maintaining unbiased density estimates was from reducing the number of traps. For fecal DNA sampling, a reduction in effort only minimally reduced costs due to the need for increased lab replicates while maintaining high quality estimates. For camera sampling, effort could only be marginally reduced before inducing bias. We provide a decision tree for researchers to help make monitoring decisions