A survey evaluating the spatial and temporal distribution of horseweed (Conyza canadensis) late season in Ohio soybeanfields from 2013 to 2017

Weed Science ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Alyssa I. Essman ◽  
Mark M. Loux ◽  
Alexander J. Lindsey ◽  
Bruce A. Ackley ◽  
Emilie E. Regnier

Abstract On-site surveys of weed populations provide information on the relative occurrence and density of weeds that can be useful to growers in that region. Data generated by weed surveys can aid in the management of weed issues by monitoring the movement of problem weeds and forecasting areas susceptible to infestations. Currently, on-site surveys are often performed on a small scale, within single fields or counties. Questionnaire surveys are helpful for assessing relative abundance, but don’t always provide detailed information on weed distribution in time or space. A survey was conducted annually in Ohio from 2013 through 2017 in 49 counties with soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] production to assess the late-season occurrence of horseweed [Conyza canadensis (L.) Cronquist]. The objectives of this research were to: 1) determine the frequency, level of infestation, and distribution of C. canadensis in soybean fields in the primary soybean-producing Ohio counties over five years; 2) identify significant spatial clusters or movement trends over time. Conyza canadensis was encountered in each county from 2013 through 2017. Spatial cores of interest, or counties identified as having significant levels of C. canadensis infestations or a lack thereof, relative to surrounding counties, were identified in all years except 2017. The lowest frequency of C. canadensis encountered at all rating levels occurred in 2017, which coincided with second highest frequency of infestations (highest density level) among years. There was no distinct distribution or pattern of C. canadensis movement within the state from year to year, but there was an increase in counties with infestations over time compared to the early years of the survey where many counties had few to no infestations. These results suggest that C. canadensis persists as a common and troublesome threat to Ohio soybean producers, and that growers should continue making C. canadensis management a priority when developing weed control programs.

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Muers ◽  
Rhiannon Grant

Recent developments in contemporary theology and theological ethics have directed academic attention to the interrelationships of theological claims, on the one hand, and core community-forming practices, on the other. This article considers the value for theology of attending to practice at the boundaries, the margins, or, as we prefer to express it, the threshold of a community’s institutional or liturgical life. We argue that marginal or threshold practices can offer insights into processes of theological change – and into the mediation between, and reciprocal influence of, ‘church’ and ‘world’. Our discussion focuses on an example from contemporary British Quakerism. ‘Threshing meetings’ are occasions at which an issue can be ‘threshed out’ as part of a collective process of decision-making. Drawing on a 2015 small-scale study (using a survey and focus group) of British Quaker attitudes to and experiences of threshing meetings, set in the wider context of Quaker tradition, we interpret these meetings as a space for working through – in context and over time – tensions within Quaker theology, practice and self-understandings, particularly those that emerge within, and in relation to, core practices of Quaker decision-making.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 2953 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yiping Xiao ◽  
Yan Song ◽  
Xiaodong Wu

China’s rapid urbanization has attracted wide international attention. However, it may not be sustainable. In order to assess it objectively and put forward recommendations for future development, this paper first develops a four-dimensional Urbanization Quality Index using weights calculated by the Deviation Maximization Method for a comprehensive assessment and then reveals the spatial association of China’s urbanization by Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis. The study leads to three major findings. First, the urbanization quality in China has gradually increased over time, but there have been significant differences between regions. Second, the four aspects of urbanization quality have shown the following trends: (i) the quality of urban development has steadily increased; (ii) the sustainability of urban development has shown a downward trend in recent years; (iii) the efficiency of urbanization improved before 2006 but then declined slightly due to capital, land use, and resource efficiency constraints; (IV) the urban–rural integration deteriorated in the early years but then improved over time. Third, although the urbanization quality has a significantly positive global spatial autocorrelation, the local spatial autocorrelation varies between eastern and western regions. Based on these findings, this paper concludes with policy recommendations for improving urbanization quality and its sustainability in China.


2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 242-249
Author(s):  
Eva A. Buckner ◽  
Katie F. Williams ◽  
Samantha Ramirez ◽  
Constance Darrisaw ◽  
Juliana M. Carrillo ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Aedes aegypti is the predominant vector of dengue, chikungunya, and Zika viruses. This mosquito is difficult to control with conventional methods due to its container-inhabiting behavior and resistance to insecticides. Autodissemination of pyriproxyfen (PPF), a potent larvicide, has shown promise as an additional tool to control Aedes species in small-scale field trials. However, few large-scale field evaluations have been conducted. We undertook a 6-month-long large-scale field study to compare the effectiveness and operational feasibility of using In2Care Mosquito Traps (In2Care Traps, commercially available Aedes traps with PPF and Beauveria bassiana) compared to an integrated vector management (IVM) strategy consisting of source reduction, larviciding, and adulticiding for controlling Ae. aegypti eggs, larvae, and adults. We found that while the difference between treatments was only statistically significant for eggs and larvae (P < 0.05 for eggs and larvae and P > 0.05 for adults), the use of In2Care Traps alone resulted in 60%, 57%, and 57% fewer eggs, larvae, and adults, respectively, collected from that site compared to the IVM site. However, In2Care Trap deployment and maintenance were more time consuming and labor intensive than the IVM strategy. Thus, using In2Care Traps alone as a control method for large areas (e.g., >20 ha) may be less practical for control programs with the capacity to conduct ground and aerial larviciding and adulticiding. Based on our study results, we conclude that In2Care Traps are effective at suppressing Ae. aegypti and have the most potential for use in areas without sophisticated control programs and within IVM programs to target hotspots with high population levels and/or risk of Aedes-borne pathogen transmission.


2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (32) ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Alm ◽  
Eeva K Broberg ◽  
Thomas Connor ◽  
Emma B Hodcroft ◽  
Andrey B Komissarov ◽  
...  

We show the distribution of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) genetic clades over time and between countries and outline potential genomic surveillance objectives. We applied three genomic nomenclature systems to all sequence data from the World Health Organization European Region available until 10 July 2020. We highlight the importance of real-time sequencing and data dissemination in a pandemic situation, compare the nomenclatures and lay a foundation for future European genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Rouse

Research acknowledges that outcomes for young children are enhanced when effective partnerships are developed between educators and families. The Australian Early Years Learning Framework provides direction for the professional practice of early childhood educators by acknowledging the importance of educators working in partnership with families. In the Victorian state-based early years framework, family-centred practice has been included as the practice model. Family-centred practice has as its core a philosophy of professionals supporting the empowerment of parents as active decision makers for their child. The early childhood education and care sector in Australia, however, is made up of a workforce which is largely perceived as being undervalued as a profession. This raises questions as to the capacity of these educators to support the empowerment of parents when they themselves are coming from a position of disempowerment due to their professional status. This article reports on findings from a small-scale study of childhood educators working in a long day-care setting which aimed to identify perceptions of the partnerships that exist between themselves and parents. In the course of the investigation, it became evident that some of educators felt disempowered in the relationships that exist with some families.


Author(s):  
Yiqi Cao ◽  
Baiyu Zhang ◽  
Charles W. Greer ◽  
Kenneth Lee ◽  
Qinhong Cai ◽  
...  

The global increase in marine transportation of dilbit (diluted bitumen) can increase the risk of spills, and the application of chemical dispersants remains a common response practice in spill events. To reliably evaluate dispersant effects on dilbit biodegradation over time, we set large-scale (1500 mL) microcosms without nutrients addition using low dilbit concentration (30 ppm). Shotgun metagenomics and metatranscriptomics were deployed to investigate microbial community responses to naturally and chemically dispersed dilbit. We found that the large-scale microcosms could produce more reproducible community trajectories than small-scale (250 mL) ones based on the 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. In the early-stage large-scale microcosms, multiple genera were involved into the biodegradation of dilbit, while dispersant addition enriched primarily Alteromonas and competed for the utilization of dilbit, causing depressed degradation of aromatics. The metatranscriptomic based Metagenome Assembled Genomes (MAG) further elucidated early-stage microbial antioxidation mechanism, which showed dispersant addition triggered the increased expression of the antioxidation process genes of Alteromonas species. Differently, in the late stage, the microbial communities showed high diversity and richness and similar compositions and metabolic functions regardless of dispersant addition, indicating the biotransformation of remaining compounds can occur within the post-oil communities. These findings can guide future microcosm studies and the application of chemical dispersants for responding to a marine dilbit spill. Importance In this study, we employed microcosms to study the effects of marine dilbit spill and dispersant application on microbial community dynamics over time. We evaluated the impacts of microcosm scale and found that increasing the scale is beneficial for reducing community stochasticity, especially in the late stage of biodegradation. We observed that dispersant application suppressed aromatics biodegradation in the early stage (6 days) whereas exerting insignificant effects in the late stage (50 days), from both substances removal and metagenomic/metatranscriptomic perspectives. We further found that Alteromonas species are vital for the early-stage chemically dispersed oil biodegradation, and clarified their degradation and antioxidation mechanisms. The findings would help to better understand microcosm studies and microbial roles for biodegrading dilbit and chemically dispersed dilbit, and suggest that dispersant evaluation in large-scale systems and even through field trails would be more realistic after marine oil spill response.


Author(s):  
Paraskevi Tritsaroli

The Middle-Late Bronze Age (1620–1500 B.C.) was a period of emerging and intensifying social complexity involving small-scale settlement hierarchies, but the archaeological understanding of social organization at this time has remained limited. In a comparative case study of funerary treatment and skeletal biology, the authors consider the distribution of multiple skeletal pathological conditions between distinct tumuli-style burials at Pigi Athinas. Though social rank may have started to displace the centrality of kinship, subtle variations in both funerary and bioarchaeological data indicated the most important structuring factors were sex and age distinctions. Over time, the influence of differential diets, divisions of gender, and ritual feasting appear as the people participated in a widespread Mycenaean system that shaped both gender and health in ancient Greece.


2019 ◽  
pp. 166-185
Author(s):  
Hazel R. Wright ◽  
Paulette Luff ◽  
Cahide Sevgi Emre

Sustainable play practices offer many benefits to young children, developmental and cultural, and these are examined in an English context. The authors claim a shared European heritage for children's play practices; one that has been eroded with the commodification of play materials, the manufacture of commercial toys and games accessible only to the wealthy child. After demonstrating the value of education for sustainable development, the chapter considers how reclaimed resources can be used to promote this end. It discusses a small-scale research project that visited four English early years settings to see whether and how the staff followed sustainable principles. It was found that the approaches of the four settings varied considerably, using resources that spanned the spectrum from commercial to natural, and concluded that more should/could be done to encourage play with reclaimed materials to set children on the path to greater environmental awareness and intercultural harmony.


Author(s):  
Hazel R. Wright ◽  
Paulette Luff ◽  
Cahide Sevgi Emre

Sustainable play practices offer many benefits to young children, developmental and cultural, and these are examined in an English context. The authors claim a shared European heritage for children's play practices; one that has been eroded with the commodification of play materials, the manufacture of commercial toys and games accessible only to the wealthy child. After demonstrating the value of education for sustainable development, the chapter considers how reclaimed resources can be used to promote this end. It discusses a small-scale research project that visited four English early years settings to see whether and how the staff followed sustainable principles. It was found that the approaches of the four settings varied considerably, using resources that spanned the spectrum from commercial to natural, and concluded that more should/could be done to encourage play with reclaimed materials to set children on the path to greater environmental awareness and intercultural harmony.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document