The population dynamics of the white peach scale and its parasitoids in a mulberry orchard in Campania, Italy

1995 ◽  
Vol 85 (4) ◽  
pp. 531-539 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.A. Pedata ◽  
M.S. Hunter ◽  
H.C.J. Godfray ◽  
G. Viggiani

AbstractWhite peach scale, Pseudaulacaspis pentagona (Targioni-Tozzetti) (Homiptera: Diaspididae), was a serious pest of mulberry until it was the subject of a successful biological control programme in Italy at the turn of the century. Since the 1950s it has returned as a sporadic pest of commercial peach and, more recently, kiwi fruit orchards. We sampled white peach scale in an unmanaged mulberry orchard in coastal Campania over a 17 month period to measure the impact, relative abundance, and interactions of the parasitoids in the absence of pesticides. Sampled scales were dissected, and the immature stages of the parasitoids identified. Mean densities of white peach scale varied with month from 3–15/9 cm2 on primary (interior) branches and 15–100/1.5–2 m secondary (exterior) branch. The generalist ectoparasitoid Aphytis proclia (Walker) was most abundant, followed by two specialist endoparasitoids, Encarsia berlesei (Howard) and Pteroptrix orientalis (Silvestri) (all Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae). Primary parasitism also varied with month from 25–85% on primary branches and 20–90% on secondary branches. Parasitism on primary branches was inversely density-dependent, but was densityindependent on secondary branches. Low levels of superparasitism were generally observed in E. berlesei and P. orientalis (0–6%), but were higher in A. proclia (0–21%). Multiple parasitism of hosts by E. berlesei and A. proclia was fairly common (up to 24% of E. berlesei immatures were found sharing a host with A. proclia), and A. proclia was the probable winner of within-host competitions. The hyperparasitoid Azotus perspeciosus (Girault) (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) parasitized late pre-imaginal instars of all three primary parasitoid species. There was no significant difference in hyperparasitism of the three primary parasitoid species, but the rate of hyperparasitism was inversely related to the total density of primary parasitoids.

2011 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Hassan Bayoumy ◽  
Mehmet Bora Kydan ◽  
Ferenc Kozár

Abundance of White Peach scale (WPS), <em>Pseudaulacaspis pentagona </em>(Targioni-Tozzetti) and San Jos&eacute; scale (SJS), <em>Diaspidiotus perniciosus </em>(Comstock) (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) adult males and their attracted parasitoids were monitored using pheromone and sticky tape traps in an orchard of Budapest, Hungary, during 2010. In this study, we tried answer on the question raised whether synthetic commercial pheromones of WSP or SJS could work as a kairomonal stimulant and positively attract higher numbers of the specialized parasitoids. Although pheromone traps attracted a wide range of parasitoid species, most of them were accidentally. However, the parasitoid <em>Thomsonisca amathus</em> (Walker) (Hymenoptera: E ncyrtidae) and the parasitoid <em>Encarsia perniciosi </em>(Tower) (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) significantly respond to the sex pheromones of WPS and SJS, respectively, suggesting that they may play an important role in host location.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.H. Toorani ◽  
H. Abbasipour ◽  
L. Dehghan-Dehnavi

Summary The white peach scale, Pseudaulacaspis pentagona Targioni-Tozzetti (Hemiptera: Diaspididae), is one of the most important and destructive polyphagous pests of the Rosaceae family trees. Population fluctuations and biodiversity of the hymenopteran parasitoid species associated with the pest were studied in six kiwi orchards in Iran, during one-year period. Parasitoid species abundance, species diversity indices and evenness indices were calculated. Most of the parasitoid species were dominant or eudominant. Based on the alpha diversity indices, the Najarkola region had high diversity and the Kharatkola region had low diversity. The Paeendasteh region (based on Simpson’s Diversity on Camargo evenness indices) and the Samnakola region (based on the modified Nee, and on Smith and Wilson evenness indices) were less uniform. Among the recorded parasitoids, Encarsia berlesei Howard (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae), followed by Aphytis proclia Walker (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae), had the highest population in all orchards.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. e0009117
Author(s):  
Achille S. Nikièma ◽  
Lassane Koala ◽  
Apoline K. Sondo ◽  
Rory J. Post ◽  
Alain B. Paré ◽  
...  

In Burkina Faso, onchocerciasis was no longer a public health problem when the WHO Onchocerciasis Control Programme in West Africa closed at the end in 2002. However, epidemiological surveillance carried out from November 2010 to February of 2011, showed a recrudescence of infection in the Cascades Region. This finding was made at a time when ivermectin, a drug recommended for the treatment of both onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis, had been distributed in this area since 2004 for the elimination of lymphatic filariasis. It was surprising that ivermectin distributed for treating lymphatic filariasis had not prevented the recrudescence of onchocerciasis. Faced with this situation, the aim of our study was to evaluate the effectiveness of ivermectin on the onchocerciasis parasite. The percentage reduction in microfilarial load after treatment with ivermectin was used as a proxy measure for assessing possible resistance. A cohort study was carried out with 130 individuals who had tested positive for microfilariae of Onchocerca volvulus in 2010 using microscopic examination of skin-snip biopsies from five endemic villages. Subjects were followed from July 2011 to June 2012. The microfilarial load of each individual was enumerated by skin-snip biopsy in 2010, prior to the first ivermectin treatment against onchocerciasis under community guidelines. All individuals received two ivermectin treatments six months apart. In 2012, the microfilarial loads were determined again, six months after the second round of ivermectin and the reductions in parasite loads were calculated to measure the impact of the drug. The percentage reduction of the microfilarial loads ranged from 87% to 98% in the villages. In all villages, there was a statistically significant difference between the average microfilarial loads in 2010 and 2012. The level of reduction of microfilarial loads suggests that ivermectin is effective against the recrudescent population of O. volvulus in Cascades Region of Burkina Faso. Further investigations would be necessary to determine the causes of the recrudescence of onchocerciasis. (For French language abstract, see S1 Alternative Language Abstract—Translation of the Abstract into French by the authors.)


2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 17
Author(s):  
M. H. Bayoumy ◽  
K. Fetyko ◽  
I. Tobias ◽  
Z. Konczné Benedicty ◽  
É. Szita ◽  
...  

A study has been conducted to monitor geographical spread of the white peach scale Pseudaulacaspis pentagona (Targioni Tozzetti) (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) (WPS) and its parasitoid populations in 32 stops of the Hungarian highways (M0. M1, M3, M5 and M7) using pheromone traps during 2009 and 2010. In addition to the data collected in the current study, previous data were used to investigate the population trend of this pest from 2007 to 2010. The number of males recorded in traps placed on highways was much lower than in the sites close to urban areas (M0). Our data support results of previous studies which suggest the spreading of white peach scale by vehicles (“transport vector”). The significant decrease in the WPS male catches from 2007 to 2010 might indicate the lowering of the population levels of this pest in the area of the study. Eight hymenopterous parasitoid species were captured in pheromone traps. Coccophagus sp. was the predominate species in pheromone traps of WPS in M7, how-ever they may be associated with another coccid species. The identity of scale males and some parasitoids was proved by molecular markers.


GeroPsych ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 171-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurence M. Solberg ◽  
Lauren B. Solberg ◽  
Emily N. Peterson

Stress in caregivers may affect the healthcare recipients receive. We examined the impact of stress experienced by 45 adult caregivers of their elderly demented parents. The participants completed a 32-item questionnaire about the impact of experienced stress. The questionnaire also asked about interventions that might help to reduce the impact of stress. After exploratory factor analysis, we reduced the 32-item questionnaire to 13 items. Results indicated that caregivers experienced stress, anxiety, and sadness. Also, emotional, but not financial or professional, well-being was significantly impacted. There was no significant difference between the impact of caregiver stress on members from the sandwich generation and those from the nonsandwich generation. Meeting with a social worker for resource availability was identified most frequently as a potentially helpful intervention for coping with the impact of stress.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-48
Author(s):  
Takehiro Iizuka ◽  
Kimi Nakatsukasa

This exploratory study examined the impact of implicit and explicit oral corrective feedback (CF) on the development of implicit and explicit knowledge of Japanese locative particles (activity de, movement ni and location ni) for those who directly received CF and those who observed CF in the classroom. Thirty-six college students in a beginning Japanese language course received either recast (implicit), metalinguistic (explicit) or no feedback during an information-gap picture description activity, and completed a timed picture description test (implicit knowledge) and an untimed grammaticality judgement test (explicit knowledge) in a pre-test, immediate post-test and delayed post-test. The results showed that overall there was no significant difference between CF types, and that CF benefited direct and indirect recipients similarly. Potential factors that might influence the effectiveness of CF, such as instructional settings, complexity of target structures and pedagogy styles, are discussed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-120
Author(s):  
Ayça Aktaç Gürbüz ◽  
Orçun YORULMAZ ◽  
Gülşah DURNA

Scientific research into the reduction of stigmatization, particularly related to specific problems such as Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), is scarce. In the present study, we examine the impact of a video-based antistigma intervention program for OCD in a pretest-posttest control group research. After being randomly assigned to either an intervention (n= 101) or control group (n= 96), the participants reported their attitudes on a hypothetical case vignette before and after OCD vs. Multiple Sclerosis (MS) videos, and again six months later as a follow up assessment. The mixed design analyses for the group comparisons indicated that although there was no significant difference in the measures of the control group, the participants watching the anti-stigma OCD video, in which the focus was psychoeducation and interaction strategies, reported significantly lower scores on social distances and negative beliefs for the case vignettes they read, and this difference was maintained six months later. Then, the present results indicate the effectiveness of our anti-stigma intervention program for OCD. Interventions to reduce stigmatization can also be viewed as effective tools for changing the attitudes of people toward OCD, although further research and applications are needed related to specific disorders if a longlasting impact is to be achieved.


2019 ◽  
Vol 118 (7) ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Geethanjali N ◽  
Parveen Roja M ◽  
Lavanya D

Quality of work life is the major factor to be considered in working environment of any organization. The performance of employees and the organization lies on the ability of the employees based on working environment. The QWL leads to better working environment which improves the performance of organization. The present study has made an attempt to find the level of factors causing QWL and the impact of outcome of QWL in banks. Since the profile of the banks may be associated with the level of outcomes of QWL, the present study has made an attempt to examine it with the help of one way analysis of variance and t-test. The included outcomes of QWL are job satisfaction, job stress, organizational climate, organizational commitment, employees retention behaviour, service quality employees and service productivity of employees. The highly associated determinants of QWL and the significant difference among the PUSBs and PRSBs have been noticed. The significantly associating important profiles of the banks regarding the existence of outcome of QWL are identified.


This article presents the results of studying the impact of housing and feeding conditions on broiler chickens of Hubbard RedBro cross, as well as the quality of products obtained when using floor and cage content, in a farm. It established that when receiving a mixed feed of own production using feed raw materials grown on a farm without the use of pesticides, a statistically significant decrease in potentially dangerous substances for animal health is recorded. Compared with factory feed, it has reduced the content of pesticides by 14 times, and mercury and arsenic by 24 times, cadmium by five times, and lead by ten times. The results of the study of economic indicators of growing Hubbard RedBro cross broiler chickens, as well as the chemical composition and quality of carcasses, indicated that there was no significant difference between the floor and cell conditions of keeping. Still, the use of a diet based on eco-feeds contributed to a statistically significant decrease in the concentration of toxic metals in the muscles of the poultry of the experimental groups. As a result, it found that the use of the studied compound feed in the diets of broiler chickens increased the indicators of Biosafety and ensured the production of environmentally safe ("organic") poultry meat products.


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (05) ◽  
pp. 4563
Author(s):  
Tariq A. Zafar

Glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) test indicates the blood glucose levels for the previous two to three months. Using HbA1c test may overcome many of the practical issues and prevent infections such as urinary tract infections (UTIs). The study aimed to evaluate the impact of glycemic control using HbA1c test to understand patient characteristics and UTIs prevalence. Glycemic control was evaluated by measuring HbA1c for a total of 208 diabetes patients who were regularly attending diabetes center in Al-Noor specialist hospital in Makkah.  The results showed that good and moderate glycemic controlled patients were 14.9% and 16.9% respectively while the poor glycemic patients were 68.3%. Among the good improved glycemic control, 83.9% were females, 48.4% were from age group (15-44y). Among the moderately improved glycemic control, 68.4% were females, 54.3% were from age group (45-64 y) with no significant difference. The total number of the patients with positive UTIs was 55 (26.4%) while the total number of patients with negative was UTIs 153 (73.6%). Among the positive UTIs, 76.3% were with poor glycemic control while only 12.3% and 11% were moderate and good improved glycemic control respectively. Among the negative UTIs, 65.3% were with poor glycemic control while only 19% and 15.7% were with moderate and good improved glycemic control respectively.  Prevalence of UTIs among diabetic patients was not significant (p > 0.05). It was concluded that HbA1c was useful monitoring tool for diabetes mellitus and may lead to improved outcomes. Using a HbA1c test may overcome many of the practical issues that affect the blood glucose tests.


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