Abstract A breeding population of the tree-killing European spruce bark beetle Ips typographus was detected in England for the first time in 2018 and was initially assumed to have arrived with ...infested timber. To test the hypothesis that the beetles are dispersing naturally across the English channel, extensive trap networks were deployed in 2021 and 2022 to track the flight activity of the beetles from an outbreak hotspot in France and Belgium to southern England, including parallel ‘coastal’ traps on either side of the channel. Beetles were caught all along the transect, decreasing in abundance with distance from the outbreak area. Linear modelling indicates that beetles dispersed into England during 2021 and 2022, and that during a large-scale dispersal event in June 2021, beetles could have penetrated more than 160 km inland. The 2021 dispersal event initiated new incursions of the beetle in southeast England and demonstrates the extraordinary distance I. typographus may move under outbreak conditions. Our findings support the hypothesis of a damaging forest pest aerially dispersing across the barrier of the English channel and suggest that future incursions of this and other plant-associated pests may move via the same pathway.
Background
Inflammation has a key role in the process of atherosclerosis. Production of leukotrienes by 5‐lipoxygenase has been linked to atherosclerotic plaques and cardiovascular events.
Hypothesis
...In this study, a selective 5‐LO inhibitor will slow plaque progression using serial cardiac computed tomographic angiography (CCTA).
Methods
Patients with recent acute coronary syndrome (ACS) were prospectively assigned to one of 3 VIA‐2291 doses (25 mg, 50 mg, 100 mg) or placebo by oral administration. All groups underwent CCTA at baseline and at 6 months’ follow‐up. Plaque types such as low‐attenuation plaque (LAP), fibro‐fatty tissue (FF), fibro‐calcified plaque (FC), and dense calcium plaque (DC) were measured based upon predefined density threshold, and changes from baseline CCTA were analyzed.
Results
The final analysis included 54 patients (age, 56 ± 9 years; 85.1% male) with CCTA at baseline and 24 weeks. Evaluating on treatment VIA‐2291 (all 3 doses, n = 37) demonstrated significant reductions in plaque progression compared with placebo (n = 17). VIA‐2291 significantly reduced LAP (5.9 ± 20.7 mm3 vs −9.7 ± 33.3 mm3), FF (11.1 mm3 ± 13.3 mm3 vs −0.9 ± 2.7 mm3), and FC (−0.1 ± 6.22 mm3 vs −14.3 ± 6.2 mm3; all P < 0.05) and retarded the progression of DC (3.9 ± 3.2 mm3 vs 0.2 ± 0.4 mm3) compared with placebo.
Conclusions
VIA‐2291 resulted in slowed plaque progression compared with placebo across different plaque subtypes in patients with recent ACS (http://ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00358826).
Following a request from the European Commission, the EFSA Plant Health Panel updated its pest categorisation of Xylella fastidiosa, previously delivered as part of the pest risk assessment published ...in 2015. X. fastidiosa is a Gram‐negative bacterium, responsible for various plant diseases, including Pierce's disease, phony peach disease, citrus variegated chlorosis, olive quick decline syndrome, almond leaf scorch and various other leaf scorch diseases. The pathogen is endemic in the Americas and is present in Iran. In the EU, it is reported in southern Apulia in Italy, on the island of Corsica and in the Provence‐Alpes‐Côte d'Azur region in France, as well as in the Autonomous region of Madrid, the province of Alicante and the Balearic Islands in Spain. The reported status is ‘transient, under eradication’, except for the Balearic Islands, Corsica and southern of Apulia, where the status is ‘present with a restricted distribution, under containment’. The pathogen is regulated under Council Directive 2000/29/EC and through emergency measures under Decision (EU) 2015/789 (as amended Decision (EU) 2017/2352). The pest could enter the EU via host plants for planting and via infectious insect vectors. The host range includes hundreds of host species listed in the EFSA host plant database. In the EU, host plants are widely distributed and climatic conditions are favourable for its establishment. X. fastidiosa can spread by movement of host plants for planting and infectious insect vectors. X. fastidiosa is known to cause severe direct damage to major crops including almonds, citrus, grapevines, olives, stone fruits and also forest trees, landscape and ornamental trees, with high impacts. The criteria assessed by the Panel for consideration as a potential Union quarantine pest are met (the pathogen is present in the EU, but it has a restricted distribution and is under official control). X. fastidiosa is not considered as a regulated non‐quarantine pest (RNQP) as the pathogen may spread also via insect vector transmission.
The international trade in plants for planting (P4Ps) is a major pathway for the introduction of plant pests. The global trade in P4Ps is both voluminous and highly diverse, but there is little ...detailed knowledge about its diversity and dynamics. This makes it difficult to assess the risks associated with this trade and to prioritise high-risk commodities (genus-origin combinations) for detailed inspection or regulation. Using the ISEFOR database, this paper describes the diversity and dynamics of P4P imports into the EU, based on genus-level data for lots imported into fourteen Member States that provided this data for different periods between 2005 and 2014, totalling over 30Bn plants and over 7500 commodities. There was great variety, as well as complementarity, in terms of the imported genera, origins and commodities among the countries. Two-thirds of the imported commodities changed every year. Based on the 10-year data from the Netherlands, the greatest importer of live plants in the dataset, we developed a risk categorisation approach for prioritising the highest risk commodities, based on risk associated information concerning the imported genus and the history of trade with respect to the exporting countries, genera and type of plant material traded. Application of this risk categorisation led to the identification of a modest number of commodities that represent elevated risk, to which more inspection resources can be allocated while lower-risk commodities could be subject to less-intensive phytosanitary inspections.
Modeling the potential spread of
Xylella fastidiosa
can document contingency plans in northern Europe, so far uncolonized by the bacterium. Through mark–release–recapture (MRR) and flight-mill ...experiments, the flight capacity of two potential vectors for temperate Europe was studied:
Philaenus spumarius
, the reported southern European vector, and
Aphrophora salicina
, a xylem-specialist feeding on potential host plants of
X. fastidiosa
.
Aphrophora salicina
displayed significantly better flight performances than
P. spumarius
. In flight-mills, the average distance flown was, respectively, 623 m
vs.
102 m and the maximal distance flown was 6.16 km
vs.
1.54 km in 2.5 h. In MRRs,
A. salicina
travelled more than 30 m in a single flight, with a maximal interception distance of 80 m after two days, highlighting that dispersal is driven by connectivity and host plant quality.
Philaenus spumarius
mainly jumped, with 1 m movements in length and a maximal interception distance of 32 m in 27 days. Models estimated
P. spumarius'
daily mean dispersal at 1.5 m and
A. salicina
's at 3.5 m. Although only a small part of the population moves over very long distances, this pool of efficient insects could already be sufficient to effectively spread an epidemic. As Salicaceae have been reported as host plants of the bacterium, the association of Aphrophoridae and Salicaceae in riparian areas could create bacterium reservoirs in corridors allowing for transportation over medium to long distances.
Sentinel plants, plants in exporting countries that are inspected at regular intervals for signs and symptoms of invertebrate pests and microbial pathogens, are a promising tool for detecting and ...identifying harmful organisms of woody plants prior to their introduction into importing countries. Monitoring of sentinel plants reveals crucial information for pest risk analyses and the development of mitigation measures. The establishment of sentinel plants requires the import and plantation of non-native plants, which may be affected by the laws, regulations and administrative procedures in the individual countries. To evaluate the feasibility of sentinel plants as a global approach, this study aimed to summarise regulations and administrative procedures that affect the establishment of sentinel plants using non-native plants in countries worldwide. Information about national regulations of import and planting of non-native plant species was collected through a questionnaire survey, conducted among national representatives to the International Plant Protection Convention. Over 40 countries responded. The results show that legislations and regulations should not be major obstacles for a global use of the sentinel plants approach. However, the few existing experiences show that it can be complicated in practice. Here we describe the current state of art of the procedures that should be adopted to establish sentinel plants and we propose a strategy to circumvent the shortcomings resulting from the lack of a specific regulation.
Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is an age-related small vessel disease, characterised pathologically by progressive deposition of amyloid β in the cerebrovascular wall. The Boston criteria are used ...worldwide for the in-vivo diagnosis of CAA but have not been updated since 2010, before the emergence of additional MRI markers. We report an international collaborative study aiming to update and externally validate the Boston diagnostic criteria across the full spectrum of clinical CAA presentations.
In this multicentre, hospital-based, retrospective, MRI and neuropathology diagnostic accuracy study, we did a retrospective analysis of clinical, radiological, and histopathological data available to sites participating in the International CAA Association to formulate updated Boston criteria and establish their diagnostic accuracy across different populations and clinical presentations. Ten North American and European academic medical centres identified patients aged 50 years and older with potential CAA-related clinical presentations (ie, spontaneous intracerebral haemorrhage, cognitive impairment, or transient focal neurological episodes), available brain MRI, and histopathological assessment for CAA diagnosis. MRI scans were centrally rated at Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston, MA, USA) for haemorrhagic and non-haemorrhagic CAA markers, and brain tissue samples were rated by neuropathologists at the contributing sites. We derived the Boston criteria version 2.0 (v2.0) by selecting MRI features to optimise diagnostic specificity and sensitivity in a prespecified derivation cohort (Boston cases 1994–2012, n=159), then externally validated the criteria in a prespecified temporal validation cohort (Boston cases 2012–18, n=59) and a geographical validation cohort (non-Boston cases 2004–18; n=123), comparing accuracy of the new criteria to the currently used modified Boston criteria with histopathological assessment of CAA as the diagnostic standard. We also assessed performance of the v2.0 criteria in patients across all cohorts who had the diagnostic gold standard of brain autopsy.
The study protocol was finalised on Jan 15, 2017, patient identification was completed on Dec 31, 2018, and imaging analyses were completed on Sept 30, 2019. Of 401 potentially eligible patients presenting to Massachusetts General Hospital, 218 were eligible to be included in the analysis; of 160 patient datasets from other centres, 123 were included. Using the derivation cohort, we derived provisional criteria for probable CAA requiring the presence of at least two strictly lobar haemorrhagic lesions (ie, intracerebral haemorrhages, cerebral microbleeds, or foci of cortical superficial siderosis) or at least one strictly lobar haemorrhagic lesion and at least one white matter characteristic (ie, severe visible perivascular spaces in centrum semiovale or white matter hyperintensities in a multispot pattern). The sensitivity and specificity of these criteria were 74·8% (95% CI 65·4–82·7) and 84·6% (71·9–93·1) in the derivation cohort, 92·5% (79·6–98·4) and 89·5% (66·9–98·7) in the temporal validation cohort, 80·2% (70·8–87·6) and 81·5% (61·9–93·7) in the geographical validation cohort, and 74·5% (65·4–82·4) and 95·0% (83·1–99·4) in all patients who had autopsy as the diagnostic standard. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was 0·797 (0·732–0·861) in the derivation cohort, 0·910 (0·828–0·992) in the temporal validation cohort, 0·808 (0·724–0·893) in the geographical validation cohort, and 0·848 (0·794–0·901) in patients who had autopsy as the diagnostic standard. The v2.0 Boston criteria for probable CAA had superior accuracy to the current Boston criteria (sensitivity 64·5% 54·9–73·4; specificity 95·0% 83·1–99·4; AUC 0·798 0·741–0854; p=0·0005 for comparison of AUC) across all individuals who had autopsy as the diagnostic standard.
The Boston criteria v2.0 incorporate emerging MRI markers of CAA to enhance sensitivity without compromising their specificity in our cohorts of patients aged 50 years and older presenting with spontaneous intracerebral haemorrhage, cognitive impairment, or transient focal neurological episodes. Future studies will be needed to determine generalisability of the v.2.0 criteria across the full range of patients and clinical presentations.
US National Institutes of Health (R01 AG26484).
Phytosanitary import inspections are important to avoid entry of harmful pests on live plants. In the European Union (EU), all consignments of live plants must be inspected at the first point of ...entry, and plants allowed entry can be moved without further inspection among the 28 Member States and Switzerland. It is important that inspections in EU countries adhere to the same standard to avoid introduction of harmful organisms through countries with weaker methods. We tested whether sampling intensity and confidence in the inspection results were the same across these countries. Questionnaires were sent to inspectors in all countries, asking about inspections of individual consignments of woody plants for planting. Data about 102 lots, inspected at 13 points of entry in six countries, were analyzed. We used hypergeometric and binomial statistics for small and large consignments, respectively, to calculate the probability that <1 % of the plants were infested. The duration of the inspection increased with lot size, but the probability that the infestation level was below 1 % of the plants was lower for small than for large lots. Moreover, large international differences in inspection intensity and the probability that the inspections could detect a level of infestation below 1 % were found: the probability was consistently above 0.95 in one country, while the average probability was below 0.6 in the other countries. We suggest that the EU Member States adopt common maximum acceptable infestation levels and harmonized, statistics-based sampling protocols for plants for planting.
Abstract
Nonnative insects and pathogens pose major threats to forest ecosystems worldwide, greatly diminishing the ecosystem services trees provide. Given the high global diversity of arthropod and ...microbial species, their often unknown biological features or even identities, and their ease of accidental transport, there is an urgent need to better forecast the most likely species to cause damage. Several risk assessment approaches have been proposed or implemented to guide preventative measures. However, the underlying assumptions of each approach have rarely been explicitly identified or critically evaluated. We propose that evaluating the implicit assumptions, optimal usages, and advantages and limitations of each approach could help improve their combined utility. We consider four general categories: using prior pest status in native and previously invaded regions; evaluating statistical patterns of traits and gene sequences associated with a high impact; sentinel and other plantings to expose trees to insects and pathogens in native, nonnative, or experimental settings; and laboratory assays using detached plant parts or seedlings under controlled conditions. We evaluate how and under what conditions the assumptions of each approach are best met and propose methods for integrating multiple approaches to improve our forecasting ability and prevent losses from invasive pests.
Background
Diagnosing probable cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) after lobar intra-cerebral hemorrhage (l-ICH) currently relies on the MR-based modified Boston criteria (mBC). However, MRI has ...limited availability and the mBC have moderate sensitivity, with isolated l-ICH being classified as “possible CAA”. A recent autopsy-based study reported potential value of finger-like projections (FLP) and subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) on acute CT. Here we assessed these markers’ performance in a cohort most of whom survived the index episode.
Methods
We included all patients from a prospective pathology database with non-traumatic l-ICH, admission CT and available tissue sample showing no alternative cause. CT was assessed by two blinded independent neuroradiologists. Interobserver reproducibility was almost perfect for SAH and substantial for FLP.
Results
Sixteen patients were eligible age 65.8 ± 7.2 yrs; hematoma volume: 39(26, 71)mls; hematoma evacuation sample 15 patients; autopsy one patient. MRI was available in 11 patients. ICH-related death affected six patients. Aβ
40–42
immunohistochemistry revealed CAA in seven patients (44%). SAH and FLP were present in 12/16 (75%) and 10/16 (62%) patients, respectively. SAH had 100% sensitivity for CAA but low specificity; FLP had lower performance. Using either pathology or MRI as reference standard yielded essentially similar results. All patients with possible CAA on MRI but CAA on pathology had SAH.
Conclusions
In patients with moderate-size l-ICH who mostly survived the index event, SAH had perfect sensitivity and better performance than FLP. In addition, SAH appeared to add onto MRI in possible CAA, the clinically most relevant scenario. Studies in larger samples are however warranted.
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