The Effect of Pyrethrum and Bacillus thuringiensis Biopesticides on Diprion pini L. and Neodiprion sertifer (Geoffr.) (Hymenoptera: Diprionidae) Larvae

The larvae of the common pine sawfly (Diprion pini L.) and the European pine sawfly (Neodiprion sertifer) can cause epidemic, around the globe. Recently, an outbreak has been reported in young Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) forest in Artvin -Borcka, Turkey. In order to propose effective control measures, this study was conducted to estimate the effectiveness of two biopesticides against D. pini ile N. sertifer larvae. Different doses of Pyrethrum and Bacillus thuringiensis biopesticides (Spruzit (R) Neu from 150ml to 600ml/100 l, and DiPel (R) DF BT 100 to 500 g/100 l) were applied against the larvae of D. pini and N. sertifer their impact was monitored under laboratory conditions. The finding of the study revealed that the most effective dosages for larvae of D. pini was Dipel 300 g/100 l and Dipel 500 g/100 l of B. thuringiensis. The efficiency ratio of Pyrethrum doses ranged from 59.5%-78.5% for Spunizet Neu and 85.5%-95.5% for Dipel DF against D. pini larvae. It was observed that the dosage of both pesticides was directly propositional to the death in larvae. Intriguingly, Dipel at the dose rate of 500 g/100 l was the most effective applications for larvae of N. sertifer. While variable impacts were noticed against larvae, both biopesticides were effective against larvae of D. pini and N. sertifer. Taken together, finding of this study propose the use of Pyrethrum and Bacillus thuringiensis biopesticides to control common pine sawfly and the European pine sawfly in the event of an epidemics in Turkey

Eco-friendly control method against invasive pest box tree moth, (Cydalima perspectalis (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae))

Background: Buxus sempervirens (Boxwood) is a type of plant that has economic and cultural significance, danger of extinction due to various factors. Cydalima perspectalis (Walker, 1859) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), an invasive species, has an important role as a boxwood pest. The inadequacy of the pheromone trap methods recommended to control the pest or the negative effects of chemical insecticides on the environment have led to seeking alternative approaches in this regard. In this study, it was conducted to determine whether entomopathogens can be applied in pest control, the insecticidal effects of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kenyae (FDP-8), Bacillus cereus (FD-63), Brevibacillus brevis (FD-1) and Vibrio hollisae (FD-70) bacterial strains at the concentration of 1 × 108 CFU/ml and Beauveria bassiana (Bals.-Criv.) Vuill. (Cordycipitaceae) (ET 10) fungal isolate at the concentrations of 1 × 106, 1 × 107 and 1 × 108 conidia/ml were tested under controlled conditions. Results: As compared the results of the bacterial strains and fungal tested, it was determined that the best results were obtained from in the fungal isolate at the concentration of 1 × 108 conidia/ml. After 192 and 216 h. of observation, the 1 × 108 CFU/ml of bacterial strains: B. cereus FD-63, B. brevis FD-1 and V. hollisae FD-70; also, 1 × 108 conidia/ml concentration of ET 10 fungal isolate of B. bassiana control C. perspectalis caused mortality rate of 100% under laboratory conditions. Conclusion: Future studies of these microorganisms against this pest in the field, may be an important alternative method to control this pest

Consistency measurement using the artificial neural network of the results obtained with fuzzy topsis method for the diagnosis of prostate cancer

In recent years great attention has been paid to studies on artificial intelligence since it can be applied easily to several areas like medical diagnosis, engineering and economics, among others. In this paper we present an example in medicine which aims to diagnose the patients with high prostate cancer risk using a multi-criteria decision making method.Our datas set is prostate specific antigen (PSA), free prostate specific antigen (fPSA), prostate volume (PV) and age factors of 78 patients from Necmettin Erbakan University Meram Medicine Faculty. An artificial neural network related to the consistency of convergence coefficients calculated by the Fuzzy TOPSIS method [32] is established.Thus, we understand the accuracy of the results from the Fuzzy TOPSIS method.Publisher's Versio

Prospects of entomopathogenic bacteria and fungi for biological control of ricania simulans (walker 1851) (hemiptera: ricaniidae)

Ricania simulans causes harm in almost all plants that grow along the Eastern Black Sea coast. The chemicals used to control this pest are prohibited in this region due to tea cultivation. For this reason, new strategies are needed to control this pest. With the awareness on the negative effects of the chemicals used in the control against pests and with the increasing awareness on environmental issues, alternative methods were sought in the past; and in this context, studies were conducted to find new methods in which fungi and bacteria were used in the biological control against pests. Totally 10 bacterial strains including 2 strains of Brevibacillus brevis (CP-1, FD-1), 1 strain of Bacillus thuringiensis (FDP-1), 2 strains of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kenyae (FDP-8, FDP-42), 2 strains of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstakii (FDP-41, BAB-410), 1 strain of Bacillus subtilis (EK-7), 1 strain of Pseudomonas chlororaphis (NEM-28) and 1 strain of Bacillus sphaericus GC sub-group D (FD-49) and additionally 1 Beauveria bassiana (ET 10) fungus isolate were examined for their insecticidal activities in this study. The studied bio agents were tested by spraying on R. simulans nymphs and adults. B. thuringiensis subsp. kenyae, B. brevis and B. sphaericus GC subgroup D were the most effective on nymphs, whereas B. thuringiensis subsp. kurstakii, P. chlororaphi, and B. brevis were the most effective on adults. Under controlled conditions, mortality rate varied between 19.58%-42.08% in nymph applications, and between 6%-18% in adult applications

Modeling and analysis of a home care routing problem

This thesis proposes the Home Care Routing Problem with Time Windows (HCRPTW) which is an extension to the well-known Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows (VRPTW). Different than VRPTW, we solve the routing problem of the health care personnel of a Home Health Care (HHC) service provider when the patients require different types of services. In this problem, the patients may request different types of care which can be provided by two types of personnel: nurses and health care aides. Each patient must be visited exactly once even if her servicing requires both personnel and is associated with a strict time window during which the service must be provided. In order to solve this problem, we present the 0-1 mixed integer programming formulation of the problem. The problem can be modeled with three different objective functions which are to minimize the total distance travelled, to minimize the total number of personnel and to minimize the total number of vehicles. We randomly generate a set of instances based on Solomon’s benchmark problems for the VRPTW and solve them using IBM ILOG CPLEX. We also study Crew Constrained Home Care Routing Problem with Time Windows (CC-HCRPTW) which is another extension of HCRPTW where the number of each type of personnel is limited

DESCRIPTION OF SURFACE STRUCTURE OF EGGS AND FIRST INSTAR LARVAE OF AGAPANTHIA OSMANLIS REICHE & SULCY (COLEOPTERA: CERAMBYCIDAE): BASED ON SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY

Morphology of eggs and first instar larvae of Agapanthia osmanlis Reiche & Saulcy, 1858 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) are described for the first time, with illustrations of the structural features obtained using light and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). A. osmanlis feeds only on hosts in the Dipsacaceae family and collected on Cephalaria procera Fish & Lall. (Dipsacaceae) from Bayburt (Kop Mountain Pass, Turkey). The female lays single eggs inside the stalks of C. procera, where the larva feeds internally. The egg is cylindrical, white, dorsally wide, narrower toward the front and back, and rounded anteriorly and posteriorly. The egg is 3.10-3.80 (3.35) mm long and 0.45-0.85 (0.58) mm wide. Under the dissection microscope, the chorion appears to be smooth, but in scanning electron microscope (SEM) magnifications, the chorion is covered with chorionic spines except for the anterior micropylar region. Each egg possesses a knob-like micropylar process at one end. Newly emerged larvae of A. osmanlis are cylindrical, C-shaped after leaving their galleries, whitish-grey, and legless

Soft Covering Based Rough Sets and Their Application

Soft rough sets which are a hybrid model combining rough sets with soft sets are defined by using soft rough approximation operators. Soft rough sets can be seen as a generalized rough set model based on soft sets. The present paper aims to combine the covering soft set with rough set, which gives rise to the new kind of soft rough sets. Based on the covering soft sets, we establish soft covering approximation space and soft covering rough approximation operators and present their basic properties. We show that a new type of the soft covering upper approximation operator is smaller than soft upper approximation operator. Also we present an example in medicine which aims to find the patients with high prostate cancer risk. Our data are 78 patients from Selçuk University Meram Medicine Faculty