Comparison of some biological aspects of Empoasca decipiens (Hom.: Cicadellidae) on four bean species

Some biological aspects of Emposaca decipiens Paoli were investigated on different bean species (Phaseolus vulgaris L., P. lunatus L., P. calcaratus Roxb. and Vigna sinensis L.) under field and laboratory conditions (26 ± 1ºC, RH: 70 ± 5% and a photoperiod of 16L: 8D h.). The species of the host plant had no significant effect on incubation period, but the nymphal instars, development time, adult longevity and life span were affected by host plant species significantly. The shortest and longest development time in the field condition were occurred on V. sinensis (22.58 ± 0.50) and P. calcaratus (27.17 ± 0.67), respectively. But in laboratory conditions these parameters were observed on V. sinensis (20.71 ± 0.57) and P. vulgaris (29.29 ± 1.00), respectively. Adult longevity on V. sinensis had the longest duration. In contrast, the shortest adult longevity was observed on P. vulgaris. Surface of the leaves inV. sinensis is smooth and without trichomes, but presence of the hoocked trichomes on three other host plants especially in P. vulgaris assumed as the most important reason of their unsuitability for the leafhopper

A phenomenological study of the process of ICT-competence of Iranian teachers with the purpose of presenting a native model

Background and Objectives: Research findings about the application of information and communication technologies in classroom has shown that despite the efforts had been done and the large amount of costs spent for empowering teachers' computer skills, but these activities have not been able to create desired changes in the role and activity of teachers in schools. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to study the phenomenological process of Iranian teachers' ICT competence in order to present a native model. Methods: This was a qualitative phenomenological research, because the lived experiences of teachers in achieving technological competence in the classroom have been used to explore the objectives of the study. The statistical population of this qualitative study were all teachers in Urmia city. 22 teachers (13 females and 9 males) were selected by non-probability purposeful sampling method with considering the desired characteristics and theoretical saturation based-rule. Participants who engaged in 17 different schools including public, board of trustees, smart, nonprofit, and rural schools, were selected. The data collection tool was semi-structured interview. Voice recording and note-taking (with emphasis on voice recording), as Two techniques for gathering data, were used. George's (1970) four-step coding approach were used to analyze the data. The coding process was performed in MAXQDA10 software. Findings:The findings of the qualitative analysis indicated that the process of teachers ICT-competence can be organized into five components, including; 1) motivation/ tendency/ interest in teachers including the following sub-components: “Changing in teacher’s salary”, “Changing teachers’ position”, “Create need”, “Classification of teachers based on the prior knowledge”, “Pay attention to the timing of the courses” , “Changing the look to the teaching profession” and “Choosing the right professor”; 2) planning, including the following sub-components: “Teachers Rating (Needs Assessment)” , “Determining curriculum (educational topics)”, “Choosing the right professor”, “Locate the right place” and “Determine the right time”; 3) beginning of the learning process including the following components: “Hardware training”, “Software training”, “Problem-solving training”, “Information literacy training”, “Facilitate access to educational resources” and “Support”; 4) implementation of the learning process including the following sub-components:  “In-service preparation courses”, “In-service training courses”, “Specialized school courses”, and “Out-of-school courses” and 5) " institutionalization of technology competence " including the following sub-components:  “Problem-solving training’, “Formalize collaboration between teachers” and ‘Formalize follow-up courses for teaching and learning”. Conclusion: This model is presented by looking at the needs of teachers, the conditions and Organizational structure of education, the facilities of schools, the status of courses, the cooperation between teachers, and so on. In this model, all the influential factors in the process of acquiring information and technology competence by teachers have been included and based on the content of the interviews, each of them has been considered in the relevant step. Although it could be organized these components or steps in hierarchical or step-by-step structure, but in many places it is possible to go back and start from the previous step. It is hoped that this model will be a step towards developing an appropriate model in the field of staff technology competence for the Education Organization and other organizations.   ===================================================================================== COPYRIGHTS  ©2020 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, as long as the original authors and source are cited. No permission is required from the authors or the publishers.  ====================================================================================

Fire resistance of a damaged building employing buckling restrained braced system

This study investigates the influence of buckling restrained brace systems (BRBs) on the overall structural stability against fire following a severe incident, which caused the failure of a column on the first storey of a steel building. A four-storey moment frame fitted with the inverted-V arrangement of braces is modelled, considering a multi-hazard approach. This technique concentrates on a structural plane frame that is designed to meet the progressive collapse criteria according to the U.S. Department of Defense guidelines and assumes that an extreme event damaged a first-storey centre column, before the exposure to an ensuing fire. The performance of BRBs in preventing the global collapse of the structure due to a post-event fire is compared with that of ordinary concentric brace systems (OCBs). The results indicate that BRBs offer a higher global collapse time to the building owing to the greater stiffness they provide to the structural frame. The fire resistance provided by BRBs is restricted to the participation of bracing elements and framing girders afterwards. In the case of OCBs, columns contribute to the structural resistance prior to the full capacity of braces used. To conclude, it is found that BRBs are more capable in maintaining the stability of a damaged building against fire resulting from an extreme event than OCBs. © 2018, Hong Kong Institute of Steel Construction

Survival analysis in gastric cancer: A multi-center study among Iranian patients

Background: Gastric cancer (GC) has been considered as the 5th most common type of cancer and the third leading cause of cancer-associated death worldwide. The aim of this historical cohort study was to evaluate the survival predictors for all patients with GC using the Cox proportional hazards, extended Cox, and gamma-frailty models. Methods: This historical cohort study was performed according to documents of 1695 individuals having GC referred to three medical centers in Iran from 2001 to 2018. First, most significant prognostic risk factors on survival were selected, Cox proportional hazards, extended Cox, gamma-frailty models were applied to evaluate the effects of the risk factors, and then these models were compared with the Akaike information criterion. Results: The age of patients, body mass index (BMI), tumor size, type of treatment and grade of the tumor increased the hazard rate (HR) of GC patients in both the Cox and frailty models (P < 0.05). Also, the size of the tumor and BMI were considered as time-varying variables in the extended Cox model. Moreover, the frailty model showed that there is at least an unknown factor, genetic or environmental factors, in the model that is not measured (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Some prognostic factors, including age, tumor size, the grade of the tumor, type of treatment and BMI, were regarded as indispensable predictors in patients of GC. Frailty model revealed that there are unknown or latent factors, genetic and environmental factors, resulting in the biased estimates of the regression coefficients. © 2020 The Author(s)

Toxicity of Three Insecticides to Lysiphlebus fabarum, a Parasitoid of the Black Bean Aphid, Aphis fabae

The toxicity of three insecticides to Lysiphlebus fabarum (Marshall) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae), a parasitoid of Aphis fabae Scopoli (Hemiptera: Aphididae), was investigated using IOBC/wprs protocols. Abamectin 1.8 EC, imidacloprid 350 SC, and pymetrozine 25 WP were tested under laboratory conditions at recommended field rates. Immature stages of the parasitoid were exposed to materials by briefly dipping mummified aphids into insecticide solutions/suspensions or water (controls). Abamectin, imidacloprid, and pymetrozine caused 44.8, 58.5, and 14.5% mortality of mummies, respectively. Insecticides were also applied to broad bean foliage until run-off using a hand sprayer and the contact toxicity of residues was investigated after 1, 5, 16 and 30 day periods of outdoor weathering by caging adult wasps on treated plants for 24 h. One day-old residues of abamectin, imidacloprid, and pymetrozine produced 52.5, 90.0 and 57.0% mortality, respectively, and 5 day-old residues produced 28.1, 77.0 and 18.6% mortality. Sixteen day-old residues produced 8.8, 22.4 and 13.6% mortality, whereas 30 day-old residues produced 0.0, 3.2 and 1.1% mortality, respectively. On the basis of these results, abamectin and pymetrozine were classified as short-lived compounds (Class A) and imidacloprid as a slightly persistent compound (Class B)

Primates in peril: the significance of Brazil, Madagascar, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo for global primate conservation

Primates occur in 90 countries, but four—Brazil, Madagascar, Indonesia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)—harbor 65% of the world’s primate species (439) and 60% of these primates are Vulnerable, Endangered, or Critically Endangered (IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017-3). Considering their importance for global primate conservation, we examine the anthropogenic pressures each country is facing that place their primate populations at risk. Habitat loss and fragmentation are main threats to primates in Brazil, Madagascar and Indonesia. However, in DRC hunting for the commercial bushmeat trade is the primary threat. Encroachment on primate habitats driven by local and global market demands for food and non-food commodities hunting, illegal trade, the proliferation of invasive species, and human and domestic-animal borne infectious diseases cause habitat loss, population declines, and extirpation. Modeling agricultural expansion in the 21st century for the four countries under a worst-case-scenario, showed a primate range contraction of 78% for Brazil, 72% for Indonesia 62% for Madagascar and 32% for DRC. These pressures unfold in the context of expanding human populations with low levels of development. Weak governance across these four countries may limit effective primate conservation planning. We examine landscape and local approaches to effective primate conservation policies and assess the distribution of protected areas and primates in each country. P rimates in Brazil and Madagascar have 38% of their range inside protected areas, 17% in Indonesia and 14% in DRC, suggesting that the great majority of primate populations remain vulnerable. We list the key challenges faced by the four countries to avert primate extinctions now and in the future. In the short term, effective law enforcement to stop illegal hunting and illegal forest destruction is absolutely key. Long-term success can only be achieved by focusing local and global public awareness, actively engaging with international organizations, multinational businesses and consumer nations to reduce unsustainable demands on the environment. Finally, the four primate range states need to ensure that integrated, sustainable land-use planning for economic development includes the maintenance of biodiversity and intact, functional natural ecosystems

Effect of ochratoxin A on the intestinal mucosa and mucosa-associated lymphoid tissues in broiler chickens

The immunotoxic effect of ochratoxin A (OTA) on the intestinal mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue and its cytotoxic action on the intestinal epithelium were studied in broiler chickens experimentally treated with the toxin. From the 7th day of life, 80 male broiler chickens (Ross 308) were randomly divided into four groups of 20 birds each. The three experimental groups (E1-3) were treated with OTA for 28 days (E1: 50 μg/kg body weight [bw]/day; E2: 20 μg/kg bw/day; E3: 1 μg/kg bw/day) and the fourth group served as control. Histological examination of the intestinal mucosa and immunohistochemical staining for identification of CD4+, CD8+, TCR1 and TCR2 lymphocytes in the duodenum, jejunum and ileocaecal junction were performed, and CD4+/CD8+ and TCR1/TCR2 ratios were calculated. OTA toxicity resulted in decreased body weight gain, poorer feed conversion ratio, lower leukocyte and lymphocyte count, and altered intestinal mucosa architecture. After 14 days of exposure to OTA, immunohistochemistry showed a significant reduction of the lymphocyte population in the intestinal epithelium and the lamina propria. After 28 days of exposure, an increase in the CD4+ and CD8+ values in both the duodenum and jejunum of chickens in Groups E1 and E2 was observed, but the TCR1 and TCR2 lymphocyte counts showed a significant reduction. No significant changes were observed in Group E3. The results indicate that OTA induced a decrease in leukocyte and lymphocyte counts and was cytotoxic to the intestinal epithelium and the mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue, altering the intestinal barrier and increasing susceptibility to various associated diseases