scholarly journals A Biosecurity Response to Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) in Auckland, New Zealand

2010 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 600-609 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Holder ◽  
Sherly George ◽  
Mark Disbury ◽  
Monica Singe ◽  
John M. Kean ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Aedes Albopictus ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Light Trapping ◽  
Control Program ◽  
Larval Habitat ◽  
Habitat Modification ◽  
Surveillance Program ◽  
Founding Population ◽  
Trace Back

Abstract A biosecurity response was triggered by the detection of Aedes albopictus (Skuse) (Diptera: Culicidae) at the Port of Auckland, New Zealand. Ae. albopictus does not occur in New Zealand and is the most significant mosquito threat to this country. The possibility that a founding population had established, resulted in a large-scale biosecurity surveillance and control program. The response was initiated in early March 2007 and completed by mid-May 2007. No further exotic mosquitoes were detected. The response surveillance program consisted of larval habitat surveys and high density ovi- and light trapping. It was coordinated with a habitat modification and S-methoprene treatment control program. The response policies were guided by analysis of surveillance and quality assurance data, population modeling, and trace-back activities. Mosquito habitat and activity close to port were both more abundant than expected, particularly in storm water drain sumps. Sumps are difficult to treat, and during the response some modification was required to the surveillance program and the control regime. We were assured of the absence or eradication of any Ae. albopictus population, as a result of nil detection from surveillance, backed up by four overlapping rounds of insecticide treatment of habitat. This work highlights the importance of port surveillance and may serve as a guide for responses for future urban mosquito incursions.

scholarly journals Integrated control of Aedes albopictus in Southwest Germany supported by the Sterile Insect Technique

2022 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Norbert Becker ◽  
Sophie Min Langentepe-Kong ◽  
Artin Tokatlian Rodriguez ◽  
Thin Thin Oo ◽  
Dirk Reichle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Aedes Albopictus ◽  
Sterile Insect Technique ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Integrated Control ◽  
Control Program ◽  
Control Area ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Mosquito Vector ◽  
Breeding Sites ◽  
South West

Abstract Background The invasive species Aedes albopictus, commonly known as the Asian tiger mosquito, has undergone extreme range expansion by means of steady introductions as blind passengers in vehicles traveling from the Mediterranean to south-west Germany. The more than 25 established populations in the State of Baden-Württemberg, Palatine and Hesse (south-west Germany) have become a major nuisance and public health threat. Aedes albopictus deserves special attention as a vector of arboviruses, including dengue, chikungunya and Zika viruses. In Germany, Ae. albopictus control programs are implemented by local communities under the auspices of health departments and regulatory offices. Methods The control strategy comprised three pillars: (i) community participation (CP) based on the elimination of breeding sites or improved environmental sanitation, using fizzy tablets based on Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (fizzy Bti tablets; Culinex® Tab plus); (ii) door-to-door (DtD) control by trained staff through the application of high doses of a water-dispersible Bti granular formulation (Vectobac® WG) aimed at achieving a long-lasting killing effect; and (iii) implementation of the sterile insect technique (SIT) to eliminate remaining Ae. albopictus populations. Prior to initiating large-scale city-wide treatments on a routine basis, the efficacy of the three elements was evaluated in laboratory and semi-field trials. Special emphasis was given to the mass release of sterile Ae. albopictus males. Results More than 60% of the local residents actively participated in the first pillar (CP) of the large-scale control program. The most effective element of the program was found to be the DtD intervention, including the application of Vectobac® WG (3000 ITU/mg) to potential breeding sites (10 g per rainwater container, maximum of 200 l = maximum of approx. 150,000 ITU/l, and 2.5 g per container < 50 l) with a persistence of at least 3 weeks. In Ludwigshafen, larval source management resulted in a Container Index for Ae. albopictus of < 1% in 2020 compared to 10.9% in 2019. The mean number of Aedes eggs per ovitrap per 2 weeks was 4.4 in Ludwigshafen, 18.2 in Metzgergrün (Freiburg) (SIT area) and 22.4 in the control area in Gartenstadt (Freiburg). The strong reduction of the Ae. albopictus population by Bti application was followed by weekly releases of 1013 (Ludwigshafen) and 2320 (Freiburg) sterile Ae. albopictus males per hectare from May until October, resulting in a high percentage of sterile eggs. In the trial areas of Ludwigshafen and Frieburg, egg sterility reached 84.7 ± 12.5% and 62.7 ± 25.8%, respectively; in comparison, the natural sterility in the control area was 14.6 ± 7.3%. The field results were in line with data obtained in cage tests under laboratory conditions where sterility rates were 87.5 ± 9.2% after wild females mated with sterile males; in comparison, the sterility of eggs laid by females mated with unirradiated males was only 3.3 ± 2.8%. The overall egg sterility of about 84% in Ludwigshafen indicates that our goal to almost eradicate the Ae. albopictus population could be achieved. The time for inspection and treatment of a single property ranged from 19 to 26 min depending on the experience of the team and costs 6–8 euros per property. Conclusions It is shown that an integrated control program based on a strict monitoring scheme can be most effective when it comprises three components, namely CP, DtD intervention that includes long-lasting Bti-larviciding to strongly reduce Ae. albopictus populations and SIT to reduce the remaining Ae. albopictus population to a minimum or even to eradicate it. The combined use of Bti and SIT is the most effective and selective tool against Ae. albopictus, one of the most dangerous mosquito vector species. Graphical Abstract

scholarly journals Integrated Control of Aedes Albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) in Southwest Germany supported by the Sterile Insect Technique

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norbert Becker ◽  
Sophie Min Langentepe-Kong ◽  
Artin Tokatlian Rodriguez ◽  
Thin Thin Oo ◽  
Dirk Reichle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Community Participation ◽  
Aedes Albopictus ◽  
Sterile Insect Technique ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Integrated Control ◽  
Control Program ◽  
Control Area ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Breeding Sites ◽  
South West

Abstract BackgroundThe invasive species Aedes albopictus, the Asian tiger mosquito, has undergone an extreme expansion by steady introductions as blind passengers in vehicles from the Mediterranean to South-West Germany. The more than 15 established populations in the State of Baden-Württemberg and Palatine (South-West Germany) have become a major nuisance and public health threat. Aedes albopictus deserves special attention as vector of arboviruses like dengue, chikungunya or Zika virus. In Germany, control of Ae. albopictus is implemented under the auspice of health departments and regulatory offices. MethodsThe control strategy comprised three components or pillars: a) community participation (CP) based on the elimination or sanitation of breeding sites with the use of fizzy Bti-tablets (Culinex Tab plus); b) Door-to-Door (DtD) control by trained staff applying high doses of a Bti-water-dispersible granular formulation (Vectobac WG) aimed for a long-lasting killing effect; and c) the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) to eliminate remaining Ae. albopictus populations. Prior to large scale routine city-wide treatments, the efficacy of the three elements was evaluated in laboratory and semi-field trials. Special emphasis was given to the mass release of Ae. albopictus sterile males.ResultsMore than 60% of the local residents joined the Community Participation within the large-scale control program. It was shown that the most effective element was the DtD intervention including the application of Vectobac WG (2700 ITU/mg after radiation with 25 kGy) to potential breeding sites (10 g/rainwater container, max. 200L ≙ 13,500ITU/L and 2.5g/container <50L) with a persistence of at least about three weeks. The average time required for the inspection and treatment per property was 27 minutes. In Ludwigshafen the larval source management resulted in a container index for Ae. albopictus below 1% in 2020 compared to 10.9% in 2019. The mean number of Aedes eggs/ovitrap were 4.3 in Ludwigshafen and 18.23 in Freiburg-Metzgergrün (SIT areas); while 22.4 in Freiburg-Gartenstadt (Control area). After the strong reduction of the Aedes population by Bti-application, the weekly release of 1,013 (Ludwigshafen) and 2,320 (Freiburg) sterile Ae. albopictus males/ha from May until October resulted in a high percentage of sterile eggs. In the trial area of Ludwigshafen the sterility of eggs reached 82.61% (mean: 60.52%; SD: 42.88%) and in Freiburg 62.68% (SD 28.21%). The natural sterility in the control area was 16.93±13.5%. The field results were in line with data obtained in cage tests under laboratory conditions where wild females mated with sterile males showed sterility rates of 87.53±9.15%. The sterility of eggs laid by females mated with unirradiated males was only 3.3±2.8%. The overall sterility of about 83% in Ludwigshafen indicates that our goal to almost eradicate the Ae. albopictus population could be achieved. ConclusionsIt is shown that an integrated control program based on a strict monitoring scheme is most effective when it comprises three components, namely a) community participation, b) DtD intervention including long-lasting Bti-larviciding to strongly reduce Ae. albopictus populations and c) the release of sterile males to reduce the remaining Ae. albopictus population to a minimum or even to eradicate it. The combination of the use of Bti with SIT are most effective and selective tools against Ae. albopictus, one of the most dangerous mosquito vector species.

Partnerships Generate Co-Benefits in Agricultural Stream Restoration (Canterbury, New Zealand)

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine M. Febria ◽  
Maggie Bayfield ◽  
Kathryn E. Collins ◽  
Hayley S. Devlin ◽  
Brandon C. Goeller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Indigenous Rights ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystem ◽  
Reduced Pressure ◽  
Ecosystem Integrity ◽  
Riparian Management ◽  
Scale Change ◽  
Large Scale Change

In Aotearoa New Zealand, agricultural land-use intensification and decline in freshwater ecosystem integrity pose complex challenges for science and society. Despite riparian management programmes across the country, there is frustration over a lack in widespread uptake, upfront financial costs, possible loss in income, obstructive legislation and delays in ecological recovery. Thus, social, economic and institutional barriers exist when implementing and assessing agricultural freshwater restoration. Partnerships are essential to overcome such barriers by identifying and promoting co-benefits that result in amplifying individual efforts among stakeholder groups into coordinated, large-scale change. Here, we describe how initial progress by a sole farming family at the Silverstream in the Canterbury region, South Island, New Zealand, was used as a catalyst for change by the Canterbury Waterway Rehabilitation Experiment, a university-led restoration research project. Partners included farmers, researchers, government, industry, treaty partners (Indigenous rights-holders) and practitioners. Local capacity and capability was strengthened with practitioner groups, schools and the wider community. With partnerships in place, co-benefits included lowered costs involved with large-scale actions (e.g., earth moving), reduced pressure on individual farmers to undertake large-scale change (e.g., increased participation and engagement), while also legitimising the social contracts for farmers, scientists, government and industry to engage in farming and freshwater management. We describe contributions and benefits generated from the project and describe iterative actions that together built trust, leveraged and aligned opportunities. These actions were scaled from a single farm to multiple catchments nationally.

Epidemiology of Acute Extensor Mechanism Injuries in Collegiate-Level Athletes in the United States

2021 ◽  
pp. 194173812110129
Author(s):  
Kevin K. Chen ◽  
Jimmy J. Chan ◽  
William Ranson ◽  
Nicholas Debellis ◽  
Hsin-Hui Huang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Injury Rate ◽  
Collegiate Athletes ◽  
The United States ◽  
Extensor Mechanism ◽  
Surveillance Program ◽  
Level Of Evidence ◽  
Severe Injuries ◽  
Male Athletes ◽  
Collegiate Level

Background: Extensor mechanism injuries involving the quadriceps tendon, patella, or patellar tendon can be a devastating setback for athletes. Despite the potential severity and relative frequency with which these injuries occur, large-scale epidemiological data on collegiate-level athletes are lacking. Study Design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Level of Evidence: Level 4. Methods: Knee extensor mechanism injuries across 16 sports among National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men and women during the 2004-2005 to 2013-2014 academic years were analyzed using the NCAA Injury Surveillance Program (NCAA-ISP). Extensor mechanism injuries per 100,000 athlete-exposures (AEs), operative rate, annual injury and reinjury rates, in-season status (pre-/regular/postseason), and time lost were compiled and calculated. Results: A total of 11,778,265 AEs were identified and included in the study. Overall, 1,748 extensor mechanism injuries were identified, with an injury rate (IR) of 14.84 (per 100,000 AEs). N = 114 (6.5%) injuries were classified as severe injuries with a relatively higher median time loss (44 days) and operative risk (18.42%). Male athletes had higher risk of season-ending injuries in both all (3.20% vs 0.89%, P < 0.01) and severe (41.54% vs 16.33%, P < 0.01) extensor mechanism injuries. Similarly, contact injuries were more frequently season-ending injuries (4.44% vs 1.69%, P = 0.01). Women’s soccer (IR = 2.59), women’s field hockey (IR = 2.15), and women’s cross country (IR = 2.14) were the sports with the highest rate of severe extensor mechanism injuries. Conclusion: Extensor mechanism injuries in collegiate athletes represent a significant set of injuries both in terms of volume and potentially to their athletic careers. Male athletes and contact injuries appear to have a greater risk of severe injuries. Injuries defined as severe had a higher risk of operative intervention and greater amount of missed playing time. Clinical Relevance: Knowledge of the epidemiology of extensor mechanism injuries may help clinicians guide their athlete patients in sports-related injury prevention and management.

Harvest rate of sooty shearwaters (Puffinus griseus) by Rakiura Māori: a potential tool to monitor population trends?

2004 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Catherine Kitson
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Cross Section ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Population Change ◽  
Population Trends ◽  
Harvest Rate ◽  
General Index ◽  
Careful Screening ◽  
Potential Tool

Sooty shearwaters (tītī, muttonbird, Puffinus griseus) are highly abundant migratory seabirds, which return to breeding colonies in New Zealand. The Rakiura Māori annual chick harvest on islands adjacent to Rakiura (Stewart Island), is one of the last large-scale customary uses of native wildlife in New Zealand. This study aimed to establish whether the rate at which muttonbirders can extract chicks from their breeding burrows indicates population trends of sooty shearwaters. Harvest rates increased slightly with increasing chick densities on Putauhinu Island. Birders' harvest rates vary in their sensitivities to changing chick density. Therefore a monitoring panel requires careful screening to ensure that harvest rates of the birders selected are sensitive to chick density, and represents a cross-section of different islands. Though harvest rates can provide only a general index of population change, it can provide an inexpensive and feasible way to measure population trends. Detecting trends is the first step to assessing the long-term sustainability of the harvest.

scholarly journals Indigenous ethnic identity, in-group warmth, and psychological wellbeing: A longitudinal study of Māori

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla Houkamau ◽  
Petar Milojev ◽  
Lara Greaves ◽  
Kiri Dell ◽  
Chris G Sibley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Identity ◽  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Ethnic Group ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Strong Relationship ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Identity Centrality

AbstractLongitudinal studies into the relationship between affect (positive or negative feelings) towards one’s own ethnic group and wellbeing are rare, particularly for Indigenous peoples. In this paper, we test the longitudinal effects of in-group warmth (a measure of ethnic identity affect) and ethnic identity centrality on three wellbeing measures for New Zealand Māori: life satisfaction (LS), self-esteem (SE), and personal wellbeing (PW). Longitudinal panel data collected from Māori (N = 3803) aged 18 or over throughout seven annual assessments (2009–2015) in the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study were analyzed using latent trajectory models with structured residuals to examine cross-lagged within-person effects. Higher in-group warmth towards Māori predicted increases in all three wellbeing measures, even more strongly than ethnic identity centrality. Bi-directionally, PW and SE predicted increased in-group warmth, and SE predicted ethnic identification. Further, in sample-level (between-person) trends, LS and PW rose, but ethnic identity centrality interestingly declined over time. This is the first large-scale longitudinal study showing a strong relationship between positive affect towards one’s Indigenous ethnic group and wellbeing. Efforts at cultural recovery and restoration have been a deliberate protective response to colonization, but among Māori, enculturation and access to traditional cultural knowledge varies widely. The data reported here underline the role of ethnic identity affect as an important dimension of wellbeing and call for continued research into the role of this dimension of ethnic identity for Indigenous peoples.

scholarly journals Detection of DDOS attacks in distributed peer to peer networks

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2.7) ◽  
pp. 1051
Author(s):  
Gera Jaideep ◽  
Bhanu Prakash Battula
Keyword(s):  
High Risk ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Peer To Peer ◽  
P2p Network ◽  
Ddos Attacks ◽  
P2p Networks ◽  
Distributed Environment ◽  
Trace Back ◽  
Peer To Peer Networks ◽  
Direct Attack

Peer to Peer (P2P) network in the real world is a class of systems that are made up of thousands of nodes in distributed environments. The nodes are decentralized in nature. P2P networks are widely used for sharing resources and information with ease. Gnutella is one of the well known examples for such network. Since these networks spread across the globe with large scale deployment of nodes, adversaries use them as a vehicle to launch DDoS attacks. P2P networks are exploited to make attacks over hosts that provide critical services to large number of clients across the globe. As the attacker does not make a direct attack it is hard to detect such attacks and considered to be high risk threat to Internet based applications. Many techniques came into existence to defeat such attacks. Still, it is an open problem to be addressed as the flooding-based DDoS is difficult to handle as huge number of nodes are compromised to make attack and source address spoofing is employed. In this paper, we proposed a framework to identify and secure P2P communications from a DDoS attacks in distributed environment. Time-to-Live value and distance between source and victim are considered in the proposed framework. A special agent is used to handle information about nodes, their capacity, and bandwidth for efficient trace back. A Simulation study has been made using NS2 and the experimental results reveal the significance of the proposed framework in defending P2P network and target hosts from high risk DDoS attacks.  

Control of chironomid midge larvae in wastewater stabilisation ponds: comparison of five compounds

2005 ◽  
Vol 51 (12) ◽  
pp. 191-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Craggs ◽  
L. Golding ◽  
S. Clearwater ◽  
L. Susarla ◽  
W. Donovan
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Bacillus Thuringiensis ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Adult Emergence ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Slight Reduction ◽  
Organic Loading ◽  
Valuable Component ◽  
Pre Treatment

Chironomid midge larvae are a valuable component of wastewater stabilisation pond (WSP) ecology. However, in high numbers, adult midge swarms can be a nuisance to near-by urban areas. Improving WSP treatment by incorporating aerobic or maturation ponds or by the addition of pre-treatment to reduce organic loading also increases the availability of aerobic sediment (midge larva habitat) in the pond system and the potential for midge nuisance problems. The efficacy of Maldison, an organophosphate traditionally used to control midge larvae in New Zealand WSPs, was compared to Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis (Bti), Methoprene, Pyriproxyfen and Diflubenzuron which are all more specific to insects and have fewer adverse environmental effects. Initial laboratory trials established the concentration of each compound required to achieve 95% control of the midge population. During 21-day small-scale trials within the WSP, Bti, Diflubenzuron and Maldison reduced live larvae numbers substantially (80–89%) compared to controls and adult midge emergence was markedly reduced by all compounds (72–96%). Large-scale trials with Bti (Vectobac® WG) powder (1000 μg/L) only caused a slight reduction in midge larvae numbers compared to controls and had little effect on adult emergence, however, Methoprene (Prolink XRG granules) (50 μgAI/L) reduced midge adult emergence by ∼80% over 25 days and has been used successfully to control several midge nuisance outbreaks.

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