From Asian curiosity to eruptive American pest: Megacopta cribraria (Hemiptera: Plataspidae) and prospects for its biological control

Citation: Ruberson, J. R., Takasu, K., Buntin, G. D., Eger, J. E., Gardner, W. A., Greene, J. K., ... Toews, M. D. (2013). From Asian curiosity to eruptive American pest: Megacopta cribraria (Hemiptera: Plataspidae) and prospects for its biological control. Retrieved from http://krex/ksu/eduThe kudzu bug or bean plataspid, Megacopta cribraria (Fabricius), is native to Asia where it appears to be widely distributed (although the taxonomy is not entirely clear), but is infrequently a pest of legumes. This bug appeared in 2009 in the southeastern United States, where it is closely associated with kudzu, Pueraria montana Lour. [Merr.] variety lobata [Willd.] Maesen & S. Almeida. However, the insect has become a consistent economic pest of soybeans, Glycine max (L.) Merr., and some other leguminous crops in areas where large numbers can build in kudzu, in addition to being a considerable nuisance in urban landscapes where kudzu occurs. The insect has remarkable capacity for movement, and has spread rapidly from nine Georgia counties in 2009 to seven states in 2012. Despite being a nuisance in urban areas and a crop pest, high populations of the bug also reduce the biomass of kudzu, which is itself a seriously problematic invasive weed, complicating the status of M. cribraria in its expanded range. Extant predators and a pathogen in the US have been observed attacking kudzu bugs in the laboratory and field, but no parasitism of eggs or nymphs has been observed to date. A single record of parasitism of an adult kudzu bug by a tachinid fly is known from the US, but no other adult parasitism has been observed in the US or elsewhere. Extant enemies may eventually significantly reduce the bug’s populations, but at present native enemies appear to be insufficient for the task, and exotic enemies from the kudzu bug’s native range may offer the best possibility for effective biological control in the US. Based on the available literature, the best option for an importation biological control program appears to be the platygastrid egg parasitoid Paratelenomus saccharalis (Dodd) because of its apparent host specificity, intimate biological linkages with M. cribraria, and wide geographic distribution in the Eastern Hemisphere. Other natural enemies may eventually emerge as good candidates for importation, but at present P. saccharalis appears to be most promising

Translating Dysphagia Evidence into Practice While Avoiding Pitfalls: Assessing Bias Risk in Tracheostomy Literature.

Critically ill patients who require a tracheostomy often have dysphagia. Widespread practice guidelines have yet to be developed regarding the acute assessment and management of dysphagia in patients with tracheostomy. In order for clinicians to base their practice on the best available evidence, they must first assess the applicable literature and determine its quality. To inform guideline development, our objective was to assess literature quality concerning swallowing following tracheostomy in acute stages of critical illness in adults. Our systematic literature search (published previously) included eight databases, nine gray literature repositories and citation chasing. Using inclusion criteria determined a priori, two reviewers, blinded to each other, conducted an eligibility review of identified citations. Patients with chronic tracheostomy and etiologies including head and/or neck cancer diagnoses were excluded. Four teams of two reviewers each, blinded to each other, assessed quality of included studies using a modified Cochrane Risk of Bias tool (RoB). Disagreements were resolved by consensus. Data were summarized descriptively according to study design and RoB domain. Of 6,396 identified citations, 74 studies met our inclusion criteria. Of those, 71 were observational and three were randomized controlled trials. Across all studies, the majority (> 75%) had low bias risk with: participant blinding, outcome reporting, and operationally defined outcomes. Areas requiring improvement included assessor and study personnel blinding. Prior to translating the literature into practice guidelines, we recommend attention to study quality limitations and its potential impact on study outcomes. For future work, we suggest an iterative approach to knowledge translation

Financial Capability in Children: Effects of Participation in a School-Based Financial Education and Savings Program

Financial capability, Financial education, Financial services, Young children, Saving, College savings,