Insecticide Efficacy Against Trimen’s False Tiger Moth, Agoma trimenii (Lepidoptera: Agaristidae)

Trimen’s false tiger moth, Agoma trimenii (Lepidoptera: Agaristidae), has developed pest status in vineyardsin the Northern Cape and Groblersdal areas of South Africa, and an integrated pest management system isrequired. The objective of this study was to test the susceptibility of A. trimenii larvae to three commercialproducts (Delegate®WG, Steward®150 EC and three doses of DiPel® DF). Bioassay tests using all threeproducts, and semi-field trials to test the potential of DiPel® DF against A. trimenii larvae, applied at differentwater volumes (50 g/1 000 L/ha and 50 g/1 430 L/ha) were performed. The residual activity of DiPel® DF,when applied at different water volumes, was investigated daily. Delegate® WG, Steward®150 EC and therecommended dose of DiPel® DF showed 100% larval mortality within seven days. Delegate® WG and therecommended dose of DiPel® DF proved to be the fastest acting products. The product label recommendeddose of DiPel® DF (0.25 g/500 mL distilled water) proved the most effective dose (in comparison to halvedand doubled dosages) and showed 100% mortality five days after application. Increasing the water volumeper ha of a spray application of DiPel® DF for the same application area, showed no significant increasein larval mortality. A reduction in insecticidal activity for DiPel® DF applied at both water volumes wasseen between leaves picked four days after spraying and leaves picked five days after spraying, and nomortality was observed after day 6. To help improve efficacy, attention should be given to increasing spraycoverage and residual activity of DiPel® DF, as well as using all tested products within an integrated pestmanagement system

Social attention biases in juvenile wild vervet monkeys: implications for socialisation and social learning processes.

The concept of directed social learning predicts that social learning opportunities for an individual will depend on social dynamics, context and demonstrator identity. However, few empirical studies have examined social attention biases in animal groups. Sex-based and kinship-based biases in social learning and social attention towards females have been shown in a despotic and female philopatric primate: the vervet monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus). The present study examined social attention during the juvenile period. Social attention was recorded through 5-min focal observations during periods of natural foraging. Kin emerged as the most important focus of social attention in juveniles, intensified by biased spatial proximity towards matrilineal related members. The highest-ranking conspecifics were more frequently observed by juveniles than low-ranking ones. Additionally, younger and orphaned juveniles showed higher levels of social attention overall, compared to other age categories. No effect of the juvenile's hierarchical rank was detected, suggesting that the variation in social attention recorded reflects different biases and stages of social learning and socialisation, rather than social anxiety. Juvenile females tended to exhibit a dominance-based bias more strongly than did males. This might be explained by a greater emphasis on attaining social knowledge during juvenile socialisation in the philopatric sex. Moreover, despite a preferred association between juveniles, social attention was more often directed to adults, suggesting that adults may still be more often chosen as a target of attention independent of their dominance rank

Anthelmintic resistance among gastrointestinal nematodes of cattle on dairy calf to beef farms in Ireland

peer-reviewedBackground The control of gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) of cattle in pasture-based production systems such as Ireland is highly dependent on the availability of efficacious anthelmintics. There is very little information available on the efficacy of the broad-spectrum anthelmintics against GIN of cattle in Ireland and the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of anthelmintic resistance on dairy calf to beef farms. Results GIN burden was monitored on thirty-six recruited farms by performing herd level faecal egg counts (FEC) every 2 weeks. Of these, nine farms were lost from the study as calves were treated with an anthelmintic for Dictyocaulus viviparus, two were lost as they treated for GIN, one dropped out of the study and on one the herd FEC did not reach the threshold for carrying out the Faecal Egg Count Reduction Test (FECRT). On the remaining 23 farms, once the herd FEC reached 100 eggs per gram, a FECRT was carried out. Pre and post-treatment larval cultures were also performed to identify the GIN to genus level. The efficacy of fenbendazole, levamisole, ivermectin and moxidectin was evaluated on 15, 11, 16 and 11 farms respectively. Resistance to fenbendazole was identified on 9 farms (60%) with resistance suspected on a further farm. Resistance to levamisole, ivermectin and moxidectin was detected on 2 (18%), 16 (100%) and 8 (73%) farms respectively. The predominant genera detected pre and post-treatment were Cooperia and Ostertagia with both genera detected post-treatment with fenbendazole and ivermectin. Due to the low proportion of Ostertagia spp. pre-treatment, the efficacy of levamisole or moxidectin against this genus could not be reliably established. Conclusions Anthelmintic resistance was widespread on the sampled dairy calf to beef farms in Ireland with resistance to benzimidazole, levamisole, ivermectin and moxidectin detected

Научно-технический прогресс или безопасность человечества

Постепенное развитие общественного производства, его постоянное совершенствование являются фундаментальными закономерностями экономической жизни человечества. Они основываются на прогрессе науки и техники. Научно-технический прогресс за тысячелетия человеческой цивилизации прошел сложный и противоречивый путь развития. Это было вызвано тем, что именно технический прогресс, который осуществлялся на первых этапах развития общества, осуществлялся отдельно от научного прогресса до конца XVIII - начала XIX в. И только в период промышленной революции началось быстрое сближение научного и технического прогресса и возник целостный научно-технический прогресс.Gradual development of social production, its constant improvement of the fundamental laws of the economic life of mankind. They are based on the progress of science and technology. Scientific and technological progress for the millennium of human civilization has passed a complex and contradictory path of development. This was due to the fact that it was the technical progress that was carried out at the first stages of the development of society that was carried out separately from scientific progress until the end of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. And only in the period of the industrial revolution did the rapid rapprochement of scientific and technological progress and the emergence of integral scientific and technological progress began

Toshisada Nishida (1941–2011): Chimpanzee Rapport

Frans de Waal pays tribute to pioneering primatologist Toshisada Nishida, who transformed our understanding of chimpanzee behavior and culture and galvanized efforts to ensure their conservation

Systemic antibiotic therapy as an adjunct to non-surgical peri-implantitis treatment:A single-blind RCT

Aim The aim of this single-blind RCT was to evaluate the adjunctive clinical and microbiological effect of systemic amoxicillin (AMX) plus metronidazole (MTZ) to non-surgical treatment of peri-implantitis. Material and methods Patients (N = 62) with peri-implantitis were randomly assigned to receive full-mouth mechanical debridement and decontamination and use of chlorhexidine (control group) or combined with antibiotic therapy of AMX/MTZ (test group). Primary outcome was change in bleeding score from baseline (T-0) to 3-month follow-up (T-3). Secondary parameters were plaque, suppuration, PPD, CAL, bone level, microbiology, adverse events and need for additional surgery. Data were analysed with linear multiple regression analysis. Results 57 patients with 122 implants completed 3-month follow-up. Both groups showed major clinical improvements at T-3 in both peri-implant and periodontal parameters. However, no significant differences were observed between both groups for any of the primary or secondary parameters. Conclusions Systemic antibiotic therapy of AMX/MTZ does not improve clinical and microbiological outcomes of non-surgical peri-implantitis treatment and should not be routinely recommended. Although complete disease resolution may be difficult to achieve, meticulously performed full-mouth non-surgical treatment, achieving a high level of daily oral hygiene and healthy periodontal tissues, can significantly improve the starting position of the subsequent (surgical) peri-implantitis treatment phase

Acclimatisation and adaptive capacity of sea urchins in a changing ocean: Effects of ocean warming and acidification on early development and the potential to persist

Anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide are causing the oceans to simultaneously increase in temperature and acidification. As the life cycle of many marine invertebrates involves broadcast spawning, understanding the sensitivity of gametes, fertilisation and developmental stages is essential to determining species vulnerability to ocean change stressors. This thesis uses free spawning echinoids as model species to address this issue with an aim to identify effects of ocean acidification on the extracellular jelly coat of the egg with a focus on four sea urchin species; Centrostephanus rodgersii, Heliocidaris erythrogramma, Heliocidaris tuberculata, Echinometra mathaei. As sea urchins provide a tractable system for study of gamete and fertilisation responses to stressors, as well as investigation of genetic variation, the genetic basis of resistance to climate change stressors is also investigated in polar, tropical and temperate sea urchins: Sterechinus neumayeri, Pseudoboletia indiana and Heliocidaris erythrogramma. Data from the experiments across the all species show inherent differences in the response of gametes to ocean stressors, as well as differences in gamete compatibility which can drive differing responses to ocean change. Across polar, tropical and temperate sea urchins, the mechanisms that may facilitate persistence in a changing ocean differ, revealing the potential winners and losers

Role of immigrant males and muzzle contacts in the uptake of a novel food by wild vervet monkeys.

The entry into and uptake of information in social groups is critical for behavioral adaptation by long-lived species in rapidly changing environments. We exposed five groups of wild vervet monkeys to a novel food to investigate the innovation of processing and consuming it. We report that immigrant males innovated in two groups, and an infant innovated in one group. In two other groups, immigrant males imported the innovation from their previous groups. We compared uptake between groups with respect to the initial innovator to examine the extent to which dispersing males could introduce an innovation into groups. Uptake of the novel food was faster in groups where immigrant males ate first rather than the infants. Younger individuals were more likely overall, and faster, to subsequently acquire the novel food. We also investigated the role of muzzle contact behavior in information seeking around the novel food. Muzzle contacts decreased in frequency over repeated exposures to the novel food. Muzzle contacts were initiated the most by naïve individuals, high rankers, and juveniles; and were targeted most towards knowledgeable individuals and high rankers, and the least towards infants. We highlight the potential importance of dispersers in rapidly exploiting novel resources among populations

Refractive and visual outcomes of femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery

Objective: To compare refractive and visual acuity outcomes of femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery (FLACS) to manual surgery. Participants: Consecutive series of patients in a private ophthalmic practice in Sydney, with 337 eyes undergoing FLACS on the LenSx platform and 230 eyes manual cataract surgery. Main Outcome Measures: Astigmatism, surgically-induced corneal astigmatism, achievement of target refraction and corrected and uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA). Results: The FLACS group had statistically less mean residual post-operative astigmatism by 0.18D (p<0.001) than the manual group. The femtosecond laser produced equivalent mean magnitude and variability of surgically-induced corneal astigmatism compared to manual cataract surgery. Both surgical methods had equivalent achievement of target spherical equivalent (69% within 0.5 D of target refraction, p=0.911). In eyes with good visual potential and an emmetropic target, post-operative UDVA was statistically better in the femtosecond group with an average improvement of 2.4 logMAR letters (p=0.020). Conclusions: Femtosecond cataract surgery produced less residual post-operative refractive astigmatism and better unaided distance visual acuity compared to manual cataract surgery. However there was no improvement in the achievement of target post-operative refraction