scholarly journals Damage by insect pests to the Djingarey Ber Mosque in Timbuktu: detection and control

2011 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lara Maistrello ◽  
Josephine D’Ilario ◽  
Gautier Bicheron ◽  
Christophe Bouleau

The Djingarey Ber Mosque in Timbuktu (Mali) is one of the most significant earthen construction in West Africa. Originally constructed in 1327, it was included in 1988 on the World Heritage UNESCO List for its unique architecture and historical importance. During its restoration, recently undertaken by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, the wooden parts of the roof and architraves showed clear signs of threatening insect presence. In order to identify the pests responsible of the damage, evaluate its extent and suggest a proper control strategy, a detailed survey was performed inside the Mosque complex and in its immediate surroundings. The entomological inspection, performed in the dry-cold season, allowed to detect signs of insect damage in most of the wooden elements, even in the recently replaced beams, but also in walls, pillars and the precious decorated panels. Damages in the wood elements could be attributed to <em>Amitermes evuncifer</em> Silvestri (Termitidae), <em>Bostrychoplites zycheli </em>Marseuli (Bostrichidae) and <em>Lyctus africanus </em>Lesne (Lyctidae), which were collected alive on site. Injures in the walls and decorated panels appeared to be performed by hymenopterans such as &ldquo;plasterer bees&rdquo; (Colletidae) and Sphecidae. From the evaluation of the type and extent of damage in relation to the architecture and materials used in its construction and decoration, the most serious pest and the worse threat for the mosque is represented by termites. Control and preventive measures, in the view of a sustainable, long-lasting integrated management are suggested.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
H. J. Surendra ◽  
B. T. Suresh ◽  
T. D. Ullas ◽  
T. Vinayak ◽  
Vinay P. Hegde

AbstractWater companies and their consumers affected with leakages in water distribution system worldwide. This has attracted many practitioner’s attention as well as researchers over the past years. Selected study area suffers from water losses of about 10 to 15% which accounts to loss of about 9 to 9.75 million liters per month. The present study was under taken to understand, analyze and evaluate the losses and suggest preventive measures of wrapping and repair clamping for control of these losses. The assessment of water losses is done through comparative analysis of data using Microsoft Excel software. Population forecasting is done in context of assessing the amount of water lost that can be prevented in future decades, adjusting to increased water demand and losses. For better efficiency of the suggested methods, experimental analysis was carried out on a reduced scale model of a single stretched pipeline. Cost estimation of the preventive measures was done by obtaining information about the materials used by trading professionals.


Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 2063
Author(s):  
Awad A. Shehata ◽  
Shereen Basiouni ◽  
Reinhard Sting ◽  
Valerij Akimkin ◽  
Marc Hoferer ◽  
...  

Poult enteritis and mortality syndrome (PEMS) is one of the most significant problem affecting turkeys and continues to cause severe economic losses worldwide. Although the specific causes of PEMS remains unknown, this syndrome might involve an interaction between several causative agents such as enteropathogenic viruses (coronaviruses, rotavirus, astroviruses and adenoviruses) and bacteria and protozoa. Non-infectious causes such as feed and management are also interconnected factors. However, it is difficult to determine the specific cause of enteric disorders under field conditions. Additionally, similarities of clinical signs and lesions hamper the accurate diagnosis. The purpose of the present review is to discuss in detail the main viral possible causative agents of PEMS and challenges in diagnosis and control.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinmei Yin ◽  
Jun Yin ◽  
Zhiwu Tian ◽  
Peiqiu Li ◽  
Xiaoqiu Chen

Abstract Background During the outbreak of new coronavirus pneumonia, many hospitals in China became the designated hospitals for the treatment of new coronavirus pneumonia. The goal was to develop rapid and effective prevention and control methods for blood purification centers. Research design and methods The medical department, hospital department, nursing department, and blood purification center jointly set up a multi-department integrated COVID-19 prevention and control management team to manage the blood purification center. The efforts included the establishment of the continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) team for COVID-19, the integrated training and assessment of medical personnel, the integrated education of patients and their families, and the integrated management of the workflow of the hemodialysis room. Results No infected persons, including medical staff, patients, and their families, have been found in the dialysis center. After multi-departmental integrated training, the theoretical performance of medical staff in our dialysis center has increased from 82.36 ± 8.10 to 95.29 ± 4.95 (p < 0.05), and the unqualified rate dropped from 23.21 to 1.78% (p < 0.05). In addition, the three operational skills evaluation scores have also been significantly improved, from 86.00 ± 4.02, 88.01 ± 6.20, 92.01 ± 2.46 to 95.90 ± 0.30, 97.21 ± 0.87, 96.00 ± 1.00 (p < 0.01), and the passing rate from 80.36 to 100% (p < 0.05). Conclusion Medical staff’s knowledge of novel coronavirus pneumonia prevention and control can be improved by multi-sectoral integrated management, and CRRT treatment of COVID-19 patients is effective.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1427
Author(s):  
Yeong-Hyeon Choi ◽  
Seong Eun Kim ◽  
Kyu-Hye Lee

This study used social network analysis, which is often adopted to analyze changes in trade structures and the world trade network for faux fur products, which are alternative materials used in vegan fashion. The data on the total trade value of artificial fur (HS Code: 4304) and animal fur and leather (HS Code: 0505) imports and exports between countries were collected through UN Comtrade, and the degree and betweenness centralities were used to analyze the trade structure of faux fur in 2009, 2014, and 2019 using NodeXL 1.0.1 programs. The results of the study are as follows: First, while the total amount of export and import of faux fur is increasing globally every day, the total amount of export and import in other Asian countries and Vietnam is decreasing. Second, due to the reduction in exports of the main producing countries of animal materials such as China, global imports of animal fur and leather decreased. Third, China was the largest ex-porter of faux fur, exporting to a large number of countries; it also played an important role in the intermediation and control over faux fur export. In exporting faux fur, the influence of other Asian countries declined over time, and Vietnam and the United States played an outstanding role as arbitrators in the export network. Fourth, Italy and France were the largest importers of faux fur from various countries and exerted significant influence as intermediaries in the import network of faux fur. On the other hand, Vietnam’s influence in import network decreased. Saudi Arabia appeared to be an important arbitrator in mediating the import. This study is significant due to its findings, obtained through micro-trading data, in respect of industrial moves of ethical fashion in the form of increased trade in faux fur and decline in the trade of animal fur and leather.


2013 ◽  
Vol 726-731 ◽  
pp. 3506-3512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shu Yuan Li ◽  
Jian Hua Tao ◽  
Lei Yu

Zhangweinan basin is a typical area where has the most serious water resource shortage and water environmental deterioration problems in north of China. To improve the increasingly deteriorated water eco-environment, studies on the integrated management of water resources and water environment in the basin were carried out with focus on the prevention and control of water pollution, and based on which, an integrated management platform on water environment was developed. This paper introduces the platform architecture and elaborates the construction process of the total pollutant load control model and pollution incident early warning model. This platform provides technical supports for weakening the total pollutant load in the basin, reducing the pollutant load flowing into the Bohai Sea, and increasing the eco-flow of river channel and flow into the Bohai Sea.


Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Zienab Raeyat ◽  
Jabraiel Razmjou ◽  
Bahram Naseri ◽  
Asgar Ebadollahi ◽  
Patcharin Krutmuang

Due to the detrimental side-effects of synthetic pesticides, the use of nonchemical strategies in the management of insect pests is necessary. In the present study, the susceptibility of fourteen eggplant cultivars to green peach aphid (M. persicae) were investigated. According to preliminary screening tests, ‘Long-Green’, ‘Ravaya’ and ‘Red-Round’ as relatively resistant, and ‘White-Casper’ and ‘Pearl-Round’ as susceptible cultivars were recognized. In the antixenosis tests, the highest hosting preference was documented for ‘White-Casper’. Population growth parameters were used for evaluation of antibiosis. The highest and lowest developmental time (d) was observed on ‘Long-Green’ (4.33 d) and ‘White-Casper’ (3.26 d), respectively. The highest and lowest intrinsic rates of population increase (rm) were on ‘White-Casper’ (0.384 d−1) and ‘Long-Green’ (0.265 d−1), respectively. Significant differences were observed in the height and fresh and dry weight of infested and noninfected plants. Plant resistance index (PRI), as a simplified way to assess all resistance mechanisms, provides a particular value to determine the proper resistant cultivar. The greatest PRI value was observed on ‘Long-Green’. In general, the ‘Long-Green’ showed the least, and the ‘White-Casper’ displayed the most susceptibility among tested cultivars infested by M. persicae, which might be useful in integrated management of this pest.


2005 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 243-248
Author(s):  
L. Pinotti ◽  
V.M. Moretti ◽  
A. Baldi ◽  
F. Bellagamba ◽  
A. Campagnoli ◽  
...  

The protracted outbreak of mad-cow disease, repeated episodes of dioxin and mycotoxin contamination, and the issue of labelling genetically modified foods have severely shaken public confidence in the food supply industry, increasing consumer concerns about the origins of the raw materials used in both animal feed and food products. The need to develop improved techniques to characterize feed and food components has consequently become more urgent, and DNA-based technologies promise to be able to meet these needs. DNA methods can establish the origin of species in meat- and fish-based products and feed ingredients, and are the most reliable analytical approaches for authenticating processed foodstuffs. The identification of ingredients in processed feed and food is mandatory not only to ensure correct labelling and assessment of value, but also to avoid health risks related to the presence of toxic contaminants or pathogenic agents.


Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1136
Author(s):  
Caiyun Xiao ◽  
Rongyu Li

Soft rot causing Fusarium oxysporum is one of the most destructive diseases of Dendrobium officinale Kimura et Migo in China that reduces D. officinale yield and quality. A key challenge for an integrated management strategy for this disease is the rapid and accurate detection of F. oxysporum on D. officinale. Therefore, a new loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay was developed for this purpose. In this study, the primers were selected and designed using the translation elongation factor-1α (TEF-1α) gene region as the target DNA sequence in order to screen the best system of reaction of LAMP to detect F. oxysporum through optimizing different conditions of the LAMP reaction, including time, temperature, concentrations of MgSO4, and concentrations of inner and outer primers. The optimized system was able to efficiently amplify the target gene at 62 °C for 60 min with 1.2 μM internal primers, 0.4 μM external primers, 7 mM Mg2+, and 5 fg/µL minimum detection concentration of DNA for F. oxysporum. The amplified products could be detected with the naked eye after completion of the reaction with SYBR green I. We were better able to control the effect of soft rot in D. officinale using fungicides following a positive test result. Additionally, the control effect of synergism combinations against soft rot was higher than 75%. Thus, LAMP assays could detect F. oxysporum in infected tissues of D. officinale and soils in field, allowing for early diagnosis of the disease.


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