Controlling an Invasive Forest Pest, the Asiatic Oak Weevil (cyrtepistomus castaneus), Using Prescribed Fire

Invasive species are non-native species whose presence is already or is likely to cause harm to the local ecosystem or economy, or human, animal, and plant health (Beck et al, 2006, p.415). The invasive Asiatic oak weevil is the primary leaf-feeding insect on oak trees in the Missouri Ozarks with larvae feeding on the roots of trees and the adults on the leaves (Marquis and Bhatti-Catano, 2017). The goal of this study was to determine if prescribed burns lower the abundance of adult and larval weevils. Eight pairs of 200 m x 200 m plots in the oak-hickory forest at the Tyson Research Station near Eureka, MO were used for the experimental environment. One of each plot pairs were surface-burned in early Spring 2018. In June 2018, mesh emergence traps with jars secured on top were placed under four white and four black oak trees on each plot. From late June-August 2018 the weevils were counted as they emerged and analyzed to determine effects of the sampling date, tree species, aspect, slope, weight, and ultimately weevil density in burned versus unburned plots. Notable differences in the density of weevils on burned vs. unburned plots were observed in favor of the hypothesis. These findings support the need for prescribed fire in the management of Missouri’s forests. References Beck, G. K. Zimmerman, J.D. Schardt, J. Stone, R.R. Lukens, S. Reichard, J. Randall, A.A. Cangelosi, D. Cooper, and J.P. Thompson. 2006. Invasive Species Defined in a Policy Context: Recommendations from the Federal Invasive Species Advisory Committee. Invasive Plant Science and Management 1(4):414-421. Marquis, R. J., & Bhatti-Catano, L. (2017). Impacts of the Asiatic oak weevil (Cyrtepistomus castaneus) on the growth and survivorship of black oak (Quercus velutina) seedlings. Retrieved February 10, 2019, from https://tyson.wustl.edu/allprojects/2017/10/4/impacts of-the-asiatic-oak-weevil-icyrtepistomus-castaneusi-on-the-growth-and-survivorship-of black-oak-iquercus-velutinai-seedling

Bilder von Armut und Reichtum im Umsonstladen Hamburg

So unterschiedlich die Menschen sind, die einen Umsonstladen besuchen oder dort arbeiten, so unterschiedlich sind auch ihre persönlichen Definitionen von Armut und Reichtum. Welche Bilder von Armut und Reichtum lassen sich an einem Ort generieren, an dem gleichzeitig Konsumkritik und (eine andere Art von) Konsum stattfindet?

Bilder von Armut und Reichtum im Umsonstladen Hamburg

So unterschiedlich die Menschen sind, die einen Umsonstladen besuchen oder dort arbeiten, so unterschiedlich sind auch ihre persönlichen Definitionen von Armut und Reichtum. Welche Bilder von Armut und Reichtum lassen sich an einem Ort generieren, an dem gleichzeitig Konsumkritik und (eine andere Art von) Konsum stattfindet?

Identifying predictive features of autism spectrum disorders in a clinical sample of adolescents and adults using machine learning

Diagnosing autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is a complicated, time-consuming process which is particularly challenging in older individuals. One of the most widely used behavioral diagnostic tools is the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS). Previous work using machine learning techniques suggested that ASD detection in children can be achieved with substantially fewer items than the original ADOS. Here, we expand on this work with a specific focus on adolescents and adults as assessed with the ADOS Module 4. We used a machine learning algorithm (support vector machine) to examine whether ASD detection can be improved by identifying a subset of behavioral features from the ADOS Module 4 in a routine clinical sample of N = 673 high-functioning adolescents and adults with ASD (n = 385) and individuals with suspected ASD but other best-estimate or no psychiatric diagnoses (n = 288). We identified reduced subsets of 5 behavioral features for the whole sample as well as age subgroups (adolescents vs. adults) that showed good specificity and sensitivity and reached performance close to that of the existing ADOS algorithm and the full ADOS, with no significant differences in overall performance. These results may help to improve the complicated diagnostic process of ASD by encouraging future efforts to develop novel diagnostic instruments for ASD detection based on the identified constructs as well as aiding clinicians in the difficult question of differential diagnosis

Reduced pain perception in children and adolescents with ADHD is normalized by methylphenidate

Background: The present study examined pain perception in children and adolescents with ADHD and the interaction between pain perception and the administration of methylphenidate (MPH) in order to generate hypotheses for further research that will help to clarify the association between ADHD diagnosis, MPH treatment and pain perception. Methods: We included 260 children and adolescents of the “German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents” (KiGGS) and analyzed parent’s assessments of children’s pain distribution and pain perception, as well as the influence of MPH administration on pain perception in affected children and adolescents. Results: Pain perception was associated with ADHD and MPH administration, indicating that children and adolescents suffering from ADHD without MPH treatment were reported to have lower pain perception compared to both, healthy controls (HC) and ADHD patients medicated with MPH. Conclusion: We suggest that reduced pain perception in children and adolescents with ADHD not medicated with MPH may lead to higher risk tolerance by misjudgments of dangerous situations, expanding the importance of MPH administration in affected children and adolescents

8-vinyl-deoxyadenosine, an alternative fluorescent nucleoside analog to 2′-deoxyribosyl-2-aminopurine with improved properties

We report here the synthesis and the spectroscopic characterization of 8-vinyl-deoxyadenosine (8vdA), a new fluorescent analog of deoxyadenosine. 8vdA was found to absorb and emit in the same wavelength range as 2′-deoxyribosyl-2-aminopurine (2AP), the most frequently used fluorescent nucleoside analog. Though the quantum yield of 8vdA is similar to that of 2AP, its molar absorption coefficient is about twice, enabling a more sensitive detection. Moreover, the fluorescence of 8vdA was found to be sensitive to temperature and solvent but not to pH (around neutrality) or coupling to phosphate groups. Though 8vdA is base sensitive and susceptible to depurination, the corresponding phosphoramidite was successfully prepared and incorporated in oligonucleotides of the type d(CGT TTT XNX TTT TGC) where N = 8vdA and X = A, T or C. The 8vdA-labeled oligonucleotides gave more stable duplexes than the corresponding 2AP-labeled sequences when X = A or T, indicating that 8vdA is less perturbing than 2AP and probably adopts an anti conformation to preserve the Watson–Crick H-bonding. In addition, the quantum yield of 8vdA is significantly higher than 2AP in all tested oligonucleotides in both their single strand and duplex states. The steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence parameters of 8vdA and 2AP were found to depend similarly on the nature of their flanking residues and on base pairing, suggesting that their photophysics are governed by similar mechanisms. Taken together, our data suggest that 8vdA is a non perturbing nucleoside analog that may be used with improved sensitivity for the same applications as 2AP

Chlamydia trachomatis prevalence in undocumented migrants undergoing voluntary termination of pregnancy: a prospective cohort study

BACKGROUND: Chlamydia trachomatis infection (CTI) is the most frequent sexual transmitted disease (STI) in Switzerland but its prevalence in undocumented migrants is unknown. We aimed to compare CTI prevalence among undocumented migrants undergoing termination of pregnancy (ToP) to the prevalence among women with residency permit. METHODS: This prospective cohort study included all pregnant, undocumented women presenting from March 2005 to October 2006 to the University hospital for ToP. The control group consisted of a systematic sample of pregnant women with legal residency permit coming to the same hospital during the same time period for ToP. RESULTS: One hundred seventy five undocumented women and 208 women with residency permit (controls) were included in the study. Mean ages were 28.0 y (SD 5.5) and 28.2 y (SD 7.5), respectively (p = 0.77). Undocumented women came primarily from Latin-America (78%). Frequently, they lacked contraception (23%, controls 15%, OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.04;2.9). Thirteen percent of undocumented migrants were found to have CTI (compared to 4.4% of controls; OR 3.2, 95% CI 1.4;7.3). CONCLUSION: This population of undocumented, pregnant migrants consisted primarily of young, Latino-American women. Compared to control women, undocumented migrants showed higher prevalence rates of genital CTI, which indicates that health professionals should consider systematic screening for STI in this population. There is a need to design programs providing better access to treatment and education and to increase migrants' awareness of the importance of contraception and transmission of STI

Spatial Optimization Methods for Malaria Risk Mapping in Sub-Saharan African Cities Using Demographic and Health Surveys

Vector-borne diseases, such as malaria, are affected by the rapid urban growth and climate change in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In this context, intra-urban malaria risk maps act as a key decision-making tool for targeting malaria control interventions, especially in resource-limited settings. The Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) provide a consistent malaria data source for mapping malaria risk at the national scale, but their use is limited at the intra-urban scale because survey cluster coordinates are randomly displaced for ethical reasons. In this research, we focus on predicting intra-urban malaria risk in SSA cities-Dakar, Dar es Salaam, Kampala and Ouagadougou-and investigate the use of spatial optimization methods to overcome the effect of DHS spatial displacement. We modeled malaria risk using a random forest regressor and remotely sensed covariates depicting the urban climate, the land cover and the land use, and we tested several spatial optimization approaches. The use of spatial optimization mitigated the effects of DHS spatial displacement on predictive performance. However, this comes at a higher computational cost, and the percentage of variance explained in our models remained low (around 30%-40%), which suggests that these methods cannot entirely overcome the limited quality of epidemiological data. Building on our results, we highlight potential adaptations to the DHS sampling strategy that would make them more reliable for predicting malaria risk at the intra-urban scale