There have been notable and significant advances in elucidating the chemical ecology of the invasive
Halyomorpha halys
(Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), brown marmorated stink bug. This highly destructive ...and polyphagous pest is originally from Korea, China, and Japan, but was accidentally introduced into North America and Europe. Prior to its invasion into these regions, little was known about its chemical ecology. However, since then, researchers have identified and synthesized its aggregation pheromone, documented its synergism with the pheromone of another Asian stink bug,
Plautia stali
, developed monitoring traps of various designs, and lures with reliable attractants have become commercially available. Furthermore, plant volatiles have been shown to have attractive, neutral, and repellent effects on attraction and retention of
H. halys
, and
H. halys
-derived volatiles have been shown to play a role in recruiting natural enemies. Finally, management strategies based on pheromone-based technology have been evaluated, including insecticide applications based on a cumulative threshold of adult captures in pheromone-baited traps, and the use of intensively baited trees in an attract-and-kill strategy to manage this pest. This review summarizes the available literature on the chemical ecology of
H. halys
and concludes with several research areas that should be explored in future research.
The mass distribution index of the Geminid, Quadrantid, Arietid, Eta Aquariid, Orionid and South Delta Aquariid meteor showers have been measured using data from 2007 to 2010 from the Canadian Meteor ...Orbit Radar (CMOR). Single-station data from the 29.85-MHz system were used to find mass index as a function of solar longitude, and to compare separate years of showers. The variation in mass index with solar longitude can provide information on the structure of the stream and how the structure changes with time. The Geminids and Quadrantids were the most prominent showers seen by CMOR, and had peak mass indices of 1.65 and 1.55, respectively. They had clear, strong peaks and little year-to-year variation. The other showers had slightly higher peak mass indices and a greater variability, even though a more sporadic contamination, which might have affected the results.
We present our method to calculate the meteor limiting magnitude. The limiting meteor magnitude defines the faintest magnitude at which all meteors are still detected by a given system. An accurate ...measurement of the limiting magnitude is important in order to calculate the meteoroid flux from a meteor shower or sporadic source. Since meteor brightness is linked to meteor mass, the limiting magnitude is needed to calculate the limiting mass of the meteor flux measurement. The mass distribution of meteoroids is thought to follow a power law, thus being slightly off in the limiting magnitude can have a significant effect on the measured flux. Sky conditions can change on fairly short timescales; therefore one must monitor the meteor limiting magnitude at regular intervals throughout the night, rather than just measuring it once. We use the stellar limiting magnitude as a proxy of the meteor limiting magnitude. Our method for determining the stellar limiting magnitude and how we transform it into the meteor limiting magnitude is presented. These methods are currently applied to NASA's wide-field meteor camera network to determine nightly fluxes, but are applicable to other camera networks.
•Method for calculating the limiting meteor magnitude.•Stellar limiting magnitude is determined by a statistical fit to the signal to noise ratio of the stars in calibration images.•Meteor limiting magnitude is found by adding corrections to the stellar limiting magnitude.
The mass distribution index of sporadic meteors and the indices of specific sporadic sources have been measured using data from 2007 to 2010 from the Canadian Meteor Orbit Radar. Single-station data ...from the 29.85-MHz system were used and the trends throughout the year are examined. We find that the average values for the sources are approximately equal, but the annual variation of each source is unique. We find that the overall average sporadic mass index is 2.17 ± 0.07, less than the frequently cited 2.34. The variation in the mass index throughout the year can provide information about the meteoroid populations that the Earth is encountering at different parts of its orbit.
In this study we focus on the invasive brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), which has a strong dispersal capacity and has had a significant impact on ...several cropping systems, including peach (Prunus persica (L.)). Management of H. halys has relied on intensive insecticide use, and thus a better understanding of its dispersal behavior may assist in developing improved management strategies. In order to investigate H. halys movement and distribution patterns within a peach orchard we applied ecologically safe, food protein markers to the trees along the orchard border (chicken egg albumin in the form of liquid egg whites) and to the trees within the orchard interior (bovine casein in the form of cow's milk). We used enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) to assess whether collected H. halys were "marked" with either of the two protein markers, revealing where in the orchard the bugs had visited. From the density data we determined that H. halys is a perimeter-driven pest in peaches, with a significantly higher density of bugs collected along the orchard border. Interestingly, this trend is primarily driven by the distribution of male bugs. The protein marking data revealed that a small proportion of male H. halys move equally between the orchard border and interior, while a small proportion of females move predominately to the border after visiting the interior. The verification of a strong edge-effect, although potentially sex-specific, implies that H. halys displays a dispersal behavior that may also be exploited for management, which may help growers more efficiently and more effectively manage H. halys.
•Optical observations of the 2014 Camelopardalid meteor shower outburst are presented.•The shower is found to be unusually rich in small meteoroids.•Large shower meteors were found to be more fragile ...than average.•Small shower meteors were found to be stronger than average.
Observations of the Camelopardalid meteor shower in May 2014 were obtained with six different sets of cameras, with limiting meteor magnitudes varying from −2M to +7M. Shower fluxes were calculated for each of the systems, from which the mass index of the shower was found to be 2.17 ± 0.04. Faint meteors in the shower were found to be stronger than average, ablating at lower altitudes than meteors at the same speed recorded with the same system, while the brightest meteors had higher ablation heights and were therefore weaker than typical meteors. These findings can be explained if large Camelopardalids are weak agglomerations of more refractory grains, which are easily disrupted in space and keep the shower supplied with small material and depleted in large material.
Vitamin D deficiency is common in intensive care unit (ICU) patients (50 - 82%) and is associated with multi-organ dysfunction. Vitamin D deficiency alters pathways of glutamine metabolism in ...critical illness, but the impact of vitamin D status on glutamine levels is poorly characterised.
To assess the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and its association with organ dysfunction and glutamine levels in a South African (SA) ICU.
Records of 103 adult patients admitted to the Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre ICU, Johannesburg, SA were retrospectively reviewed. 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and glutamine levels were measured on admission. The association between admission vitamin D levels and glutamine levels, illness severity scores, organ support and outcomes was examined.
On ICU admission, 66% (68/103) of patients were vitamin D deficient (<20 ng/mL) (95% confidence interval (CI) 56 - 75). Vitamin D deficiency was significantly associated with mechanical ventilation (40% v. 14%) (p=0.013) and a higher median sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score on admission (6 (interquartile range (IQR) 3 - 8) v. 4 (IQR 2 - 6)) (p=0.047) and on day 7 (5 (IQR 2 - 10) v. 2 (IQR 1 - 4)) (p=0.017). Median admission serum glutamine levels were 481 μmol/L, with 38% deficient (<420 μmol/L) (95% CI 28 - 48). Vitamin D deficiency status on admission was not significantly associated with median admission glutamine levels (p=0.66).
Vitamin D deficiency is common in ICU patients in SA. Deficient patients were more severely ill and required more respiratory support. No significant relationship between deficiency and median glutamine levels was noted.
Data in critically ill patients on the effect of intravenous lipid emulsions (LEs), containing omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), in parenteral nutrition (PN) are scarce and conflicting. ...This study compared the effects of a four-oil LE (30% soybean oil, 30% medium-chain triglycerides, 25% olive oil and 15% fish oil (FO)) (SMOFlipid®) to those of a 100% soybean oil-based LE in critically ill adult intensive care unit (ICU) patients.
In this double-blind, randomised study, patients (n = 75) predicted to need PN for more than 5 days were randomised to receive either a four-oil LE (Study Group (SG)) or a 100% soybean oil LE (Control Group (CG)). Isocaloric, isonitrogenous PN was administered continuously for 5 days. FO was provided at a dose of 0.09–0.22 g/kg body weight. Measurements included biochemical parameters and sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score daily and plasma total phospholipid fatty acids (FAs) and cytokine levels on days 1, 3, 6. Days on mechanical ventilation, length of stay and mortality were also recorded. ANOVA was used to compare response variables between the two groups over the time and Pearson correlation was used to measure relationships between continuous variables.
68 patients completed the study (n = 35 SG, n = 33 CG), with male predominance (66% SG, 56% CG). Average age was 60.8 ± 13.9 years (SG) versus 55.7 ± 14.8 (CG) (p = 0.143). The majority were surgical admissions (85% SG versus 91% CG) followed by medical. Plasma phospholipid oleic acid (p = 0.022) and alpha-linolenic acid (p<0.0005) increased in both groups. In the SG, plasma phospholipid EPA and DHA increased (both p<0.001), whereas the omega-6:omega-3 PUFA (n-6:n-3 PUFA) ratio decreased (p < 0.001). Aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and bilirubin decreased in both treatment groups. Considering only the change from day 1 to day 6 there was a bigger decrease in AST, ALT and bilirubin levels in the SG. Concentrations of TNF-α decreased from day 1 to day 6 in the SG, whereas they increased in the CG, but the change was not statistically significant (p = 0.112). A significant negative correlation was found between EPA provision on day 3 and the SOFA score (r = −0.4047, p = 0.018). Days on mechanical ventilation (1.24 ± 0.83 days in SG versus 0.88 ± 1.63 days in CG, p = 0.385) and ICU LOS (9.5 ± 7.09 days in SG versus 10.7 ± 7.6 days in CG, p = 0.490) were not different between groups.
PN containing a four-oil LE increased plasma EPA and DHA, decreased n-6:n-3 PUFA ratio, and was safe and well tolerated. The negative relationship between day 3 EPA and SOFA score seems promising, but EPA intake and effects may have been diluted by enteral nutrition which was started in more than half of patients on day 4. There was no significant difference in terms of other biochemical measurements, SOFA score, length of ICU stay and mortality. More research is needed in this patient population, particularly regarding dose, duration and timing of FO and the effects on clinical outcomes.
Native wildflower plantings can be used to provide nutritional resources to support pollinating insects, yet the effects of planting size and bloom richness on the density, diversity, and function of ...these insects are not well understood. We established stands of twelve native flowering perennial plant species in replicated plots ranging in size from 1 to 100m2. These plots were sampled for insect pollinators, bloom richness, and seed production by three wildflower species. Honeybees, wild bees, and hoverflies all responded positively to increasing flower richness, whereas particular insect pollinator groups responded differently to the size of the flowering plant area. The density of honeybees and hoverflies was not affected by increasing flowering patch size, whereas in general, wild bees were observed at higher density and diversity in the 30 and 100m2 patches. Increasing wildflower patch size, and thus wild bee density, resulted in greater seed set in the sampled wildflowers. These results indicate that wild bees are sensitive to the area and richness of floral resources in patches, even at relatively small scales. Therefore, larger wildflower plantings with more diverse flower species mixes are more suitable for the conservation of wild pollinators and reproduction of sown species.
Mit dem Anpflanzen von einheimischen Wildkräutern können Nahrungsressourcen bereitgestellt werden, um bestäubende Insekten zu unterstützen, aber die Effekte von Größe der Anpflanzung und Vielfalt der Blüten auf Dichte, Diversität und Funktion dieser Insekten sind wenig bekannt. Wir bepflanzten replizierte Plots unterschiedlicher Größe (1 – 100m2) mit zwölf einheimischen ausdauernden Blütenpflanzenarten. Auf diesen Plots wurden Beobachtungen zu den blütenbesuchenden Insekten und zur Vielfalt der blühenden Arten gemacht und die Samenproduktion von drei Arten bestimmt. Honigbienen, Wildbienen und Schwebfliegen reagierten positiv auf zunehmende Blütenvielfalt, während die einzelnen Bestäubergruppen unterschiedlich auf die Größe der Plots reagierten. Die Dichte der Honigbienen und Schwebfliegen wurde nicht von der Größe der Plots beeinflusst, während die Wildbienen im Allgemeinen auf den 30- und 100m2-Plots höhere Dichte und Diversität erreichten. Zunehmende Plot-Größe und damit Wildbienendiversität ergaben höheren Samenansatz bei den untersuchten Pflanzenarten. Diese Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Wildbienen empfindlich auf das Areal und die Vielfalt der Blütenressourcen reagieren, sogar auf relativ kleinen Skalen. Deshalb sind größere Wildblumenanpflanzungen mit diverseren Artenmischungen besser für den Schutz von wilden Bestäubern und die Reproduktion der ausgesäten Arten geeignet.
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