Chemical control of Aedes aegypti: A review on effects on the environment and human health

Aedes mosquitoes are known to be infected by arboviruses causing disease such as dengue, zika fever, and chikunguya fever, and subsequently transmit them, to humans through the bite of infected females. Chemical control is a measure adopted as part of sustainable management and integrated vector control for public health. There are four principal classes of insecticides used for controlling mosquitoes, all being neurotoxic: organochlorides, organophosphates, carbamates, and pyrethroids. The objective of this work was to review reports on the environmental effects of the insecticides most commonly used for controlling Ae. aegypti. This bibliographic study was conducted using articles and books available in the literature with no time restriction. The databases accessed were: Google Scholar, Pubmed, SciELO, and ScienceDirect. These insecticides exhibit toxicity to the environment, and may accumulate in food and water and in the body of vertebrates. Resistance to different insecticides is a problem when the mode of control is chemical, because insects survive insecticide application and higher doses are necessary for controlling the vectors. Considering these results, the ideal method would be the newly proposed means of mosquito control using technology related to modern biotechnology

Morfo-histologia do corpo gorduroso perivisceral em adultos de Hedypathes betulinus (Klug, 1825) (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae)Fat body perviceral morphology in adults of Hedypathes betulinus (Klug, 1825) (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae)

Nos insetos, o corpo gorduroso pode ser considerado um centro de metabolismo intermediário e também o local de síntese de alguns componentes da hemolinfa. Com objetivo de obter maiores informações sobre essa estrutura, foi realizado um estudo para a sua caracterização morfológica em adultos de Hedypathes betulinus Klug. Os resultados mostram que a estrutura ocorre em duas porções, a primeira, aderida ao trato digestivo e a segunda, associada ao tegumento, denominando-se, corpo gorduroso perivisceral e parietal, respectivamente. Histologicamente o corpo gorduroso apresenta dois tipos celulares, os trofócitos e os enócitos. Os trofócitos apresentam na área citoplasmática, vacúolos, núcleos esféricos, cromatina granular com variações na condensação, e em alguns casos, foram observados núcleos deslocados para a periferia celular. A presença de nucléolos múltiplos em algumas células sugere alta atividade nuclear. Os enócitos foram observados associados aos trofócitos, com núcleos centrais de formato esférico e cromatina de aspecto granular dispersa; os nucléolos apresentaram-se proeminentes em número variável e diferem dos trofócitos pela ausência de vacúolos, citoplasma granular, formato e tamanho das células.AbstractIn insects, the fat body may be considered a center of intermediary metabolism and also the site of synthesis of some components of the hemolymph. Aiming to obtain more knowledge about this structure, a study for characterization of morphological Hedypathes betulinus Klug was carried out. The results show that it takes place in two parts: the first one is adhered to the digestive tract, and the second one, associated with the coat, called the fat body and parietal perivisceral, respectively. Histologically the fat body is composed of two cell types, the trophocytes and the oenocites. The trophocytes present, in its cytoplasmic, vacuoles, spherical nuclei, granular chromatin with variations in condensation, and in some cases, it was observed nuclei displaced to periphery cells. The presence of multiple nucleoli in some cells suggests high nuclear activity. The oenocites were observed associated with trophocytes with central nuclei of spherical shape and granular appearance, dispersed chromatin, the nucleoli were prominent in variable number and differ from trophocytes by the absence of vacuoles, cytoplasm granular, shape and size of cells

Controle Biológico em Sistema Orgânico de Produção por Agricultores da cidade de Maringá-PR

The continuous growth of world population and the increased use of pesticides became obvious environmental problems, leading to agricultural production to develop alternative practices that promote environmental sustainability. The use of biological control techniques to reduce agricultural pests have been increasing, enabling the substitution of conventional insecticides by diversified natural enemies such as insects, viruses, fungi, bacteria, plant extracts, and others. A quantitative-descriptive analysis was carried using a questionnaire as mean to personal interview of organic growers in the city of Maringa, state of Paraná, Brazil was held. The aim was quantify about the knowledge of biological controllers by this growers, the use, and economic viability of these, aiming to promote the expansion of the practice and development of new controllers to replace or reduce the use of chemicals. The results show that all growers have the knowledge and have used alternative methods of biocontrol, some of them consider the practice of  great environmental importance, but is still required further studies of the regional entomofauna to better effectiveness of the biocontrol.O aumento contínuo da população mundial e o uso intensificado de agrotóxicos na agricultura tornaram os problemas ambientais evidentes, levando a produção agrícola a desenvolver práticas alternativas que favoreçam a sustentabilidade ambiental. O uso de técnicas de controle biológico para redução de pragas agrícolas têm sido crescente, permitindo a substituição de inseticidas convencionais por inimigos naturais diversificados como insetos, vírus, fungos, bactérias, extratos vegetais, dentre outros. Foi realizada uma análise quantitativa-descritiva, utilizando-se um questionário como forma de entrevista pessoal em amostras aleatórias com agricultores do sistema orgânico de produção da cidade de Maringá-PR. O objetivo foi quantificar o conhecimento, utilização e viabilidade econômica do uso de controladores biológicos, promovendo a ampliação da prática e desenvolvimento de novos controladores que substituam ou reduzam o uso de defensivos químicos. Os dados mostraram que todos os produtores entrevistados possuem o conhecimento e já utilizaram métodos alternativos de controle de pragas, parte considera a prática de grande importância ambiental, porém ainda são necessários maiores estudos sobre a entomofauna regional para consolidação e melhor eficácia do biocontrole

Screening test of Diatomaceous Earth as an alternative control method for Diatraea saccharalis (Fabricius, 1794) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) eggs

The sugarcane borer Diatraea saccharalis is a pest that causes damage to sugarcane fields. The female lays imbricated egg masses on the leave. They cause the greatest damage as larvae, and thus, control before egg hatching is desired to prevent the development of this pest and avoid damage to the plant. Diatomaceous Earth, or diatomite, is inert dust with insecticidal properties. In this work, we aimed to test the activity of Diatomaceous Earth on viable eggs of D. saccharalis as a potential alternative control method for sugarcane borer. D. saccharalis eggs 1 day after oviposition were immersed in a Diatomaceous Earth solution (10% - w/v) for 5, 10, or 15 min and observed every 24 h for 216 h of analysis. During the first 72 h, there were no changes observed in egg morphology, which maintained an oval shape, pale yellow in color. After 96 h, chorion striations were observed in the treatments with 10 and 15 min of exposure and were not present in the chorion controls eggs. Differences between embryo's number it was observed after 96h in the 15 min treatment when compared with the untreated eggs control. Besides that, control larvae completely hatched in 192 h and the treatment with 10 min and 15 min not shown completely hatching suggesting a delay in the embryonic development of the D. saccharalis larvae. Overall, our study is the first report of the application of D. saccharalis eggs, and we believe that Diatomaceous Earth could be a potential tool for the control of Diatraea eggs, however, thorough investigations are required to elucidate the action of this powder on Diatraea and would be an alternative method to interrupt the biological cycle of the pest

Screening test of Diatomaceous Earth as an alternative control method for Diatraea saccharalis (Fabricius, 1794) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) eggs

The sugarcane borer Diatraea saccharalis is a pest that causes damage to sugarcane fields. The female lays imbricated egg masses on the leave. They cause the greatest damage as larvae, and thus, control before egg hatching is desired to prevent the development of this pest and avoid damage to the plant. Diatomaceous Earth, or diatomite, is inert dust with insecticidal properties. In this work, we aimed to test the activity of Diatomaceous Earth on viable eggs of D. saccharalis as a potential alternative control method for sugarcane borer. D. saccharalis eggs 1 day after oviposition were immersed in a Diatomaceous Earth solution (10% - w/v) for 5, 10, or 15 min and observed every 24 h for 216 h of analysis. During the first 72 h, there were no changes observed in egg morphology, which maintained an oval shape, pale yellow in color. After 96 h, chorion striations were observed in the treatments with 10 and 15 min of exposure and were not present in the chorion controls eggs. Differences between embryo’s number it was observed after 96h in the 15 min treatment when compared with the untreated eggs control. Besides that, control larvae completely hatched in 192 h and the treatment with 10 min and 15 min not shown completely hatching suggesting a delay in the embryonic development of the D. saccharalis larvae. Overall, our study is the first report of the application of D. saccharalis eggs, and we believe that Diatomaceous Earth could be a potential tool for the control of Diatraea eggs, however, thorough investigations are required to elucidate the action of this powder on Diatraea and would be an alternative method to interrupt the biological cycle of the pest

Differential cross section measurements for the production of a W boson in association with jets in proton–proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV

Measurements are reported of differential cross sections for the production of a W boson, which decays into a muon and a neutrino, in association with jets, as a function of several variables, including the transverse momenta (pT) and pseudorapidities of the four leading jets, the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta (HT), and the difference in azimuthal angle between the directions of each jet and the muon. The data sample of pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV was collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb[superscript −1]. The measured cross sections are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo generators, MadGraph + pythia and sherpa, and to next-to-leading-order calculations from BlackHat + sherpa. The differential cross sections are found to be in agreement with the predictions, apart from the pT distributions of the leading jets at high pT values, the distributions of the HT at high-HT and low jet multiplicity, and the distribution of the difference in azimuthal angle between the leading jet and the muon at low values.United States. Dept. of EnergyNational Science Foundation (U.S.)Alfred P. Sloan Foundatio

Optimasi Portofolio Resiko Menggunakan Model Markowitz MVO Dikaitkan dengan Keterbatasan Manusia dalam Memprediksi Masa Depan dalam Perspektif Al-Qur`an

Risk portfolio on modern finance has become increasingly technical, requiring the use of sophisticated mathematical tools in both research and practice. Since companies cannot insure themselves completely against risk, as human incompetence in predicting the future precisely that written in Al-Quran surah Luqman verse 34, they have to manage it to yield an optimal portfolio. The objective here is to minimize the variance among all portfolios, or alternatively, to maximize expected return among all portfolios that has at least a certain expected return. Furthermore, this study focuses on optimizing risk portfolio so called Markowitz MVO (Mean-Variance Optimization). Some theoretical frameworks for analysis are arithmetic mean, geometric mean, variance, covariance, linear programming, and quadratic programming. Moreover, finding a minimum variance portfolio produces a convex quadratic programming, that is minimizing the objective function ðð¥with constraintsð ð 𥠥 ðandð´ð¥ = ð. The outcome of this research is the solution of optimal risk portofolio in some investments that could be finished smoothly using MATLAB R2007b software together with its graphic analysis

Juxtaposing BTE and ATE – on the role of the European insurance industry in funding civil litigation

One of the ways in which legal services are financed, and indeed shaped, is through private insurance arrangement. Two contrasting types of legal expenses insurance contracts (LEI) seem to dominate in Europe: before the event (BTE) and after the event (ATE) legal expenses insurance. Notwithstanding institutional differences between different legal systems, BTE and ATE insurance arrangements may be instrumental if government policy is geared towards strengthening a market-oriented system of financing access to justice for individuals and business. At the same time, emphasizing the role of a private industry as a keeper of the gates to justice raises issues of accountability and transparency, not readily reconcilable with demands of competition. Moreover, multiple actors (clients, lawyers, courts, insurers) are involved, causing behavioural dynamics which are not easily predicted or influenced. Against this background, this paper looks into BTE and ATE arrangements by analysing the particularities of BTE and ATE arrangements currently available in some European jurisdictions and by painting a picture of their respective markets and legal contexts. This allows for some reflection on the performance of BTE and ATE providers as both financiers and keepers. Two issues emerge from the analysis that are worthy of some further reflection. Firstly, there is the problematic long-term sustainability of some ATE products. Secondly, the challenges faced by policymakers that would like to nudge consumers into voluntarily taking out BTE LEI

Penilaian Kinerja Keuangan Koperasi di Kabupaten Pelalawan

This paper describe development and financial performance of cooperative in District Pelalawan among 2007 - 2008. Studies on primary and secondary cooperative in 12 sub-districts. Method in this stady use performance measuring of productivity, efficiency, growth, liquidity, and solvability of cooperative. Productivity of cooperative in Pelalawan was highly but efficiency still low. Profit and income were highly, even liquidity of cooperative very high, and solvability was good

Search for stop and higgsino production using diphoton Higgs boson decays

Results are presented of a search for a "natural" supersymmetry scenario with gauge mediated symmetry breaking. It is assumed that only the supersymmetric partners of the top-quark (stop) and the Higgs boson (higgsino) are accessible. Events are examined in which there are two photons forming a Higgs boson candidate, and at least two b-quark jets. In 19.7 inverse femtobarns of proton-proton collision data at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV, recorded in the CMS experiment, no evidence of a signal is found and lower limits at the 95% confidence level are set, excluding the stop mass below 360 to 410 GeV, depending on the higgsino mass