A new 2-moment microphysical scheme for studying hail initiation and growth: schemes comparison

<p>Southwestern France is an important wine region where hail-producing storms could cause considerable economic loss. To study the initiation and growth of hailstone, a new microphysical scheme based on the LIMA (Liquid, Ice, Multiple Aerosols, Vié et al., 2016) has been developed. The original LIMA only contains two-moment scheme for rain water, cloud water, and ice crystal. Whereas, the other ice hydrometeors are described by a single-moment scheme. The new scheme adds a full two-moment framework to snow, graupel, and hailstone, thus allowing a better representation of the microphysical processes than the original partial two-moment approach could offer. An idealized severe storm case has been simulated and have been used to evaluate the performance of the single-moment ICE3 scheme, the partial two-moment LIMA scheme, and the new full two-moment scheme in reproducing the evolution of observed hail-producing storm cases. The difference as well as similarity in modeled structures of the storms including hailstone development by different microphysics schemes and using different aerosol loadings are examined and will be presented.</p>

Cold Tolerance and Population Dynamics of Leptoglossus zonatus (Hemiptera: Coreidae)

In California’s San Joaquin Valley, feeding by the coreid pest, Leptoglossus zonatus, can cause considerable economic loss on almond and pistachio. This research was conducted to improve understanding of how winter temperatures affect mortality of overwintering adult L. zonatus and to develop a better understanding of the role pomegranate plays in the species’ life-history. We exposed 7410 field-collected adult L. zonatus to temperatures between −2 and −10 °C for a period of three, four, or six hours using insect incubators. At six hours of exposure, the, LD50 and LD95 occur at −5.8 and −9.7 °C, respectively. We classified L. zonatus as chill-intolerant. Temperatures cold enough to affect substantial mortality of overwintering L. zonatus rarely occur in the San Joaquin Valley. Whole aggregation destructive sampling from a pomegranate hedgerow in Fresno County was conducted to determine population dynamics. At late summer to early fall, aggregations consisted of >90% immature stages. By early to mid-winter, mean aggregation size decreased, consisting of only three to 12 late-instars and adults. During years one and two of the experiment, L. zonatus produced a generation on pomegranate, mostly between September and mid-November. Overwintering did not occur on pomegranate, rather the majority of adults emigrated to other overwintering locations by mid-winter.

The influence of the environment on microbiological parameters of snails’ meat

Among the problems of hygiene of food products special attention is paid to the prophylaxis of human illnesses which occur as a result of the use of such quite exotic product as snails’ meat that can be affected by microflora, as well as to the improvement of hygienical conditions of breeding, transporting and processing of meat. Microorganisms get to the organism of snails systematically and their presence confirms certain mechanism of infection of gastropods molluscs and in such way characterizes the object from the point of view of potential danger. Food product including snails’ meat is a favourable medium for their development. In order to prevent the development of microorganisms it is necessary to minimize or to limit the influence of the factors of environment on the organism of snails. Air, soil and water belong to such factors. At certain conditions pathogenic microbes get to the intestines of snails from the environment and can penetrate to other organs and muscles. As a result, meat from such snails is of low quality and biodegradable. It was determined in the conducted research that for snails breeding it is necessary to minimize negative influence of environmental factors of air, soil and water. In the premises where snails are kept when it is cold the amount of dust and consequently the amount of microorganisms depends on the way of premises cleaning, organiation of production process, application and efficiency of ventilation, etc. Contamination of snails, and therefore, of prepared products by microflora leads not only to considerable economic loss but also can become a reason of getting of poisonous substances and pathogenic bacteria to the human organism that cause serious diseases which can be dangerous for life.

Goblet Cells and Mucin Related Gene Expression in Mice Infected withEimeria papillata

Coccidiosis causes considerable economic loss in the poultry industry. The current study aimed to investigate the response of goblet cells as well as the induced tissue damage duringEimeria papillatainfection. Mice were infected with sporulatedE. papillataoocytes. On day 5 postinfection, the fecal output was determined. Also, the jejunum was prepared for the histological, histochemical, and molecular studies. Our results revealed that the intestinal coccidian infection withE. papillatainduced a marked goblet cell hypoplasia and depleted mucus secretion. Also, the infection was able to alter the jejunal architecture and increased the apoptotic cells inside the villi. In addition, the real-time PCR results indicated that the inflammatory cytokines: TNF-α, iNOS, IFN-γ, and IL-1β, were significantly upregulated. In contrast, the mRNA expression patterns of IL-6 in response toE. papillatainfection did not differ significantly between control and infected mice. Moreover, the mRNA expression of TLR4 was significantly upregulated, whereas the expression of MUC2 is significantly downregulated upon infection. Further studies are required to understand the regulatory mechanisms of goblet cells related genes.

Roads Accelerate the Invasion Process of Alien Species

Biological invasions have been identified as one of the human-induced global changes, which not only threaten native biodiversity but also cause a considerable economic loss both globally and locally. The long distance dispersal of alien species is often facilitated by human activities and disturbances. This paper summarized lots of paper to explain how road affect the local biodiversity and accelerate the invasion process of alien species. We discuss several aspects to clarify this issue: the impacts of roads affect the alien and native species in new regions, environmental conditions near roads affect the effect of roads, the effects of roads on alien species in high altitude regions, the effects of roads on different propagation manner of alien species and at last the fast growth of road length and alien species in China. Human disturbances promote the performance and abundance of alien species in new regions, and roads as one key of human disturbances act as corridors for the flow of alien propagules and seeds into new landscapes and ultimately accelerate the invasion process of alien species.

Listeriosis

Listeriosis occurs in a variety of animals including humans, and most often affects the pregnant uterus, the central nervous system (CNS) or the bloodstream. During pregnancy, infection spreads to the foetus, which will either be born severely ill or die in-utero. In non-pregnant animals, listeriosis usually presents as meningitis, encephalitis. In humans, infection most often occurs in the immunocompromised and elderly, and to a lesser extent the pregnant woman, the unborn, or the newly delivered infant. Infection can be treated successfully with antibiotics, however 20–40% of human cases are fatal..In domestic animals (especially in sheep and goats) listeriosis usually presents as encephalitis, abortion, or septicaemia, and is a cause of considerable economic loss.The genus Listeria comprises six species of Gram-positive bacteria. Almost all cases of listeriosis are due to Listeria monocytogenes although up to 10% of cases in sheep are due to Listeria ivanovii.Listeriae are ubiquitous in the environment worldwide, especially in sites with decaying organic vegetable material. Many animals carry the organism in the faeces without serious infection. The consumption of contaminated food or feed is the principal route of transmission for both humans and animals, however other means of transmission occur.Human listeriosis is rare (<1 to > 10 cases per million people in North America and Western Europe), but because of the high mortality rate, it is amongst the most important causes of death from food-borne infections in industrialized countries. In the UK, human listeriosis is the biggest single cause of death from a preventable food-borne disease. Listeriosis in domestic animals is a cause of considerable economic loss. Control measures should be directed towards both to exclude Listeria from food or feed as well as inhibiting its multiplication and survival. Silage which is spoiled or mouldy should not be used, and care should be taken to maintain anaerobic conditions for as long as possible.Dietary advice is available for disease prevention, particularly targeted at ‘at risk’ individuals to modify their diet to avoid eating specific foods such as soft cheese and pâté.

Armillaria root rot

Armillaria luteobubalina is a fungal phytopathogen endemic to Australia. First described by Podger et al, this species affects a wide range of plants in horticultural and native environments of temperate regions within Australia, colonising root and trunk tissue. This colonisation causes tissue necrosis and ultimately death of the host, giving it the disease name of Armillaria root rot. This disease has brought about considerable economic loss to horticultural, forestry and amenity plantings. To date, control options are limited, with removal of the infected material as the only proven successful management procedure.

Effect of powdery mildew (Erysiphe polygoni) on yields and yield components of early and late maturing coriander (Conundrum sutivum)

SUMMARYExperiments were done during 1990/91 and 1991/92 at Bangalore to estimate the reduction in yield caused by powdery mildew (Erysiphe polygoni DC) on coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) cultivars differing widely in time to maturity. Powdery mildew resulted in smaller reductions in yield in the early maturing than the late maturing cultivars. Although the results of this study suggest that even expensive control measures can be recommended for managing powdery mildew in late maturing cultivars, because a small increase in the severity of powdery mildew infection may cause a considerable economic loss, they also indicate that such measures may not be economically viable for early maturing cultivars.

The effect of farrowing house temperature on piglet behaviour and creep use

Piglet mortality between birth and weaning represents a considerable economic loss to the national pig herd. Despite general reductions in pre-weaning losses, mortality figures from the better producers would suggest that improvement is possible. In attempting to reduce piglet losses it is important to establish when the deaths occur and their underlying causes. Together, starvation and overlying has been reported to account for 75% of all pre-weaning losses. Furthermore, chilling predisposes newborn piglets to starvation, overlying and disease, (Curtis, 1974). Piglets require a much greater environmental temperature than the farrowing sow, and therefore heated creep areas are provided to satisfy their needs. In addition the creep offers a safe area away from the danger of overlying by the sow. The greater the time piglets spend in the creep areas, the lower is the likelihood of them being chilled or overlain. Most studies show that 50% of pre-weaning mortalities occur during the first two days after farrowing, (Pomeroy, 1960 and English et al., 1977), therefore use of the creep during this period would seem important to piglet survival. This study provides information on piglet behaviour during the first week of life in relation to farrowing pen temperature and two designs of creep.

Oestrus detection in dairy cows by milk temperature measurement

The efficiency of oestrus detection is probably the most important factor determining the profitability of the dairy farming enterprise. With current trends towards larqer herds and fewer stockmen, achieving a 365 day calving interval has become increasingly difficult, with each oestrus missed representing considerable economic loss (Esslemont and Bryant, 1976). This highlights the need for an accurate method of oestrus detectionAn experiment was undertaken to evaluate the use of milk temperature as a method of oestrus detection.