The goal was to determine the efficacy of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) on
small hive beetle (SHB) in Alabama soils. The objectives were to (i) determine the pupation success of SHB wandering ...larvae; (ii) determine the efficacy of EPNs on SHB wandering larvae in natural and autoclaved soil; and (iii) determine the efficacy of EPNs on SHB wandering larvae in three Alabama soil types at typical low moisture levels. The Alabama soils were Kalmia loamy sand (KLS), Benndale fine sandy loam (BFSL), and Decatur silt loam (DSL).
,
, S.
, and
were tested at population densities of 5, 10, 20, 40, and 80 third-stage infective EPN juveniles (IJ3) per 130 cm
soil. Pupation success in SHB population densities of 5, 10, and 20 wandering larvae per Petri dish were similar. Of the six EPN species,
achieved the highest efficacy across all EPN population densities in both natural and autoclaved soil.
and
achieved the next highest efficacies; however, they were significantly less effective than
parasitized 87% SHB wandering larvae across all population densities tested.
achieved the best efficacy colonizing 94% of the SHB in the KLS soil, 80% in the BFSL soil, and 47% in the DSL soil. In conclusions,
is be a promising biological control EPN to implement into a management system on SHB.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Globally, urban expansion and climate change interact to threaten stream ecosystems and are accelerating the loss of aquatic biodiversity. Waterway managers urgently need tools to understand the ...potential combined impacts of urbanization and climate change and to identify effective mitigating management interventions for protecting freshwater biota. We address this challenge using the semi‐aquatic mammal the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) as a focal species. We developed high‐resolution environmental spatial data for stream networks and spatially explicit habitat suitability models (HSMs) to explore the impact of threats and to identify the combination of management actions most likely to maintain or improve habitat suitability over the next 50 years in greater Melbourne, Australia. We developed and evaluated platypus HSMs (males‐and‐females and females‐only) including validation using an independent environmental DNA data set. Platypus occurred more commonly in larger, cooler streams with greater catchment‐weighted discharge, following periods of greater stream flow. They were positively associated with near‐stream forest cover and negatively associated with annual air temperature and urban stormwater runoff. Extensive reductions in suitable platypus habitat are predicted to occur under urbanization and climate change scenarios, with the greatest threat expected from reduced streamflows. This emphasizes the importance of maintaining flow regimes as part of conserving platypus in the region; however, substantial additional benefit is predicted by concurrent riparian revegetation and urban stormwater management efforts (that also have the potential to contribute to the streamflow objectives). Provision of adequate streamflows in a future with increasing water demands and water security requirements will likely require creative integrated water management solutions. Our high‐resolution stream network and HSMs have allowed predictions of potential range‐shifts due to urban expansion and climate change impacts at management‐relevant scales and at the whole‐of‐landscape scale. This has enabled systematic strategic planning, priority action planning and target setting in strategic policy development.
Using habitat suitability models, we explored the potential impact of urban growth and climate change on the distribution of threatened platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) in Greater Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. We then identified the combination of management actions most likely to maintain or improve habitat suitability. Compared with the current distribution (1), we predict extensive reductions in suitable platypus habitat from our business‐as‐usual future scenario (2). The protection of natural flow regimes was identified as the most important action to protect platypus habitat, although, substantial additional benefit is predicted by concurrent riparian revegetation and urban stormwater management.
Multiple cardiac ion channels are prone to block by pharmaceutical compounds, and this can have large implications for cardiac safety. The effect of a compound on individual ion currents can now be ...measured in automated patch clamp screening assays. In-silico action potential models are proposed as one way of predicting the integrated compound effects on whole-cell electrophysiology, to provide an improved indication of pro-arrhythmic risk.
We have developed open source software to run cardiac electrophysiology simulations to predict the overall effect of compounds that block IKr, ICaL, INa, IKs, IK1 and Ito to varying degrees, using a choice of mathematical electrophysiology models. To enable safety pharmacology teams to run and evaluate these simulations easily, we have also developed an open source web portal interface to this simulator.
The web portal can be found at https://chaste.cs.ox.ac.uk/ActionPotential. Users can enter details of compound affinities for ion channels in the form of IC50 or pIC50 values, run simulations, store the results for later retrieval, view summary graphs of the results, and export data to a spreadsheet format.
This web portal provides a simple interface to reference versions of mathematical models, and well-tested state-of-the-art equation solvers. It provides safety teams easy access to the emerging technology of cardiac electrophysiology simulations for use in the drug-discovery process.
This paper presents the outcomes from a joint research project that aims to develop a smartphone application/online platform to model the most thermally comfortable active transport route to a ...planned destination using heat information and tree shading (Shadeway). Here, we provide a summary of our systematic review of academic literature and applications from the Google Play and Apple App Store, to identify current knowledge about personal adaptation strategies when navigating travel in cities during high temperatures. The review identifies that there is a lack of attention regarding the use of smartphone applications to address urban thermal comfort for active transport by government and private industry. We then present the initial results of original research from three community focus groups and an online survey that elicited participants’ opinions about Shadeways in the City of Greater Bendigo (CoGB), Australia. The results clearly show the need for better management of Shadeways in CoGB. For example, 52.3% of the routes traveled by participants suffer from either no or poor levels of shading, and 53 of the shaded areas were located along routes that also experience heavy traffic, which can have an adverse effect on perceptions and actual safety. It is expected that this study will contribute to improve understanding of the methods used to identify adaptation strategies to increasingly extreme temperatures.
Despite advances in systemic care, diabetic disease of the eye (DDE) remains the leading cause of blindness worldwide. There is a critical gap of up-to-date, evidence-based guidance for ...ophthalmologists in Canada that includes evidence from recent randomized controlled trials. Previous guidance has not always given special consideration to applying treatments and managing DDE in the context of the healthcare system. This consensus statement aims to assist practitioners in the field by providing a spectrum of acceptable opinions on DDE treatment and management from recognized experts in the field. In compiling evidence and generating consensus, a working group of retinal specialists in Canada addressed clinical questions surrounding the four themes of disease, patient, management, and collaboration. The working group reviewed literature representing the highest level of evidence on DDE and shared their opinions on topics surrounding the epidemiology and pathophysiology of diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular edema; diagnosis and monitoring; considerations around diabetes medication use; strategic considerations for management given systemic comorbidities, ocular comorbidities, and pregnancy; treatment goals and modalities for diabetic macular edema, non-proliferative and proliferative diabetic retinopathy, and retinal detachment; and interdisciplinary collaboration. Ultimately, this work highlighted that the retinal examination in DDE not only informs the treating ophthalmologist but can serve as a global index for disease progression across many tissues of the body. It highlighted further that DDE can be treated regardless of diabetic control, that a systemic approach to patient care will result in the best health outcomes, and prevention of visual complications requires a multidisciplinary management approach. Ophthalmologists must tailor their clinical approach to the needs and circumstances of individual patients and work within the realities of their healthcare setting.
Current methods of treating the avascular retina with laser photocoagulation for severe retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) are not completely effective in the reduction of visual morbidity. We report a ...case series in which additional laser treatment, called 'posterior laser', was delivered posterior to the neovascular ridge, for eyes with severe stage 3 ROP in zone II with avascular retina posterior to the ridge.
Retrospective chart review.
Infants who underwent laser treatment, posterior to the neovascular ridge for severe ROP at the Alberta Children's Hospital, between January 2005 and October 2008.
Charts were reviewed for 18 eyes of 11 patients and collected information included demographic data, clinical examination results, and digital retinal images.
Structural and functional outcomes of treatment.
Four (22%) of 18 eyes received 'posterior laser' as primary treatment and the remainder of eyes (78%) received 'posterior laser' following previous laser photocoagulation anterior to the neovascular ridge. Mean birthweight was 688 g (552-930) and mean gestational age was 24 weeks (23-28). There were no complications because of the posterior laser treatment. In all, 16 of 18 eyes experienced rapid regression of the ridge and subsequent decrease in vascular dilation and tortuosity within 1 week. Two eyes required vitrectomy for 4A retinal detachment; however, no eyes developed stage 4B ROP.
Posterior to the ridge laser in the setting of the morphological criteria described had no increased safety concerns and resulted in rapid regression of ROP with good outcomes.
The distribution of Australian Water-rats in Victoria was examined by analysing 1022 records obtained from 2000-2017 and data collected incidentally in Platypus live-trapping studies. Water-rats were ...sighted in all Victorian river basins apart from the Lake Corangamite basin (which is dominated by saline lakes) and the very dry Mallee and Millicent basins in far western Victoria. Sightings occurred in a wide variety of habitats, including rivers (26% of records), creeks (25%), coastal habitats and estuaries (19%), natural and man-made lakes and reservoirs (18.5%), wetlands and morasses (7%), irrigation channels (4%) and sites lacking substantial surface water in the immediate vicinity (0.5%). The mean (or average) frequency of Water-rat captures in the western half of Victoria was significantly greater than the corresponding combined values for Melbourne and eastern Victoria. Mean Water-rat capture frequency in and near Melbourne was also significantly greater than that in south-eastern Victoria.
The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is one of the world's most evolutionarily distinct mammals, one of five extant species of egg-laying mammals, and the only living species within the family ...Ornithorhynchidae. Modern platypuses are endemic to eastern mainland Australia, Tasmania, and adjacent King Island, with a small introduced population on Kangaroo Island, South Australia, and are widely distributed in permanent river systems from tropical to alpine environments. Accumulating knowledge and technological advancements have provided insights into many aspects of its evolutionary history and biology but have also raised concern about significant knowledge gaps surrounding distribution, population sizes, and trends. The platypus' distribution coincides with many of Australia's major threatening processes, including highly regulated and disrupted rivers, intensive habitat destruction, and fragmentation, and they were extensively hunted for their fur until the early 20th century. Emerging evidence of local population declines and extinctions identifies that ecological thresholds have been crossed in some populations and, if threats are not addressed, the species will continue to decline. In 2016, the IUCN Red Listing for the platypus was elevated to “Near Threatened,” but the platypus remains unlisted on threatened species schedules of any Australian state, apart from South Australia, or nationally. In this synthesis, we review the evolutionary history, genetics, biology, and ecology of this extraordinary mammal and highlight prevailing threats. We also outline future research directions and challenges that need to be met to help conserve the species.
Drugs that prolong the QT interval on the electrocardiogram present a major safety concern for pharmaceutical companies and regulatory agencies. Despite a range of assays performed to assess compound ...effects on the QT interval, QT prolongation remains a major cause of attrition during compound development. In silico assays could alleviate such problems. In this study we evaluated an in silico method of predicting the results of a rabbit left-ventricular wedge assay.
Concentration–effect data were acquired from either: the high-throughput IonWorks/FLIPR; the medium-throughput PatchXpress ion channel assays; or QSAR, a statistical IC50 value prediction model, for hERG, fast sodium, L-type calcium and KCNQ1/minK channels. Drug block of channels was incorporated into a mathematical differential equation model of rabbit ventricular myocyte electrophysiology through modification of the maximal conductance of each channel by a factor dependent on the IC50 value, Hill coefficient and concentration of each compound tested. Simulations were performed and agreement with experimental results, based upon input data from the different assays, was evaluated.
The assay was found to be 78% accurate, 72% sensitive and 81% specific when predicting QT prolongation (>10%) using PatchXpress assay data (77 compounds). Similar levels of predictivity were demonstrated using IonWorks/FLIPR data (121 compounds) with 78% accuracy, 73% sensitivity and 80% specificity. QT shortening (<−10%) was predicted with 77% accuracy, 33% sensitivity and 90% specificity using PatchXpress data and 71% accuracy, 42% sensitivity and 81% specificity using IonWorks/FLIPR data. Strong quantitative agreement between simulation and experimental results was also evident.
The in silico action potential assay demonstrates good predictive ability, and is suitable for very high-throughput use in early drug development. Adoption of such an assay into cardiovascular safety assessment, integrating ion channel data from routine screens to infer results of animal-based tests, could provide a cost- and time-effective cardiac safety screen.
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