Testing Biological Controls for \u3cem\u3eHeliothrips haemorrhoidalis\u3c/em\u3e (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), a Serious Pest of the Morris Arboretum Greenhouse Complex

The greenhouse thrips (Heliothrips haemorrhoidalis) is a serious pest of fruits and ornamental plants. In the Morris Arboretum’s greenhouse complex, this thrip has been prevalent, and could cause major damage to the young plants that are being propagated. The purpose of this project was to search for a suitable biological control of the thrips since chemicals have only been marginally effective. A predatory spider mite (Amblyseius cucumeris) and minute pirate bugs (Orius insidiousus) were chosen for the study. The results suggest that the minute pirate bugs are highly effective at hunting thrips, while the spider mites had no measurable effect

Commentary on ``Future directions: Building technologies and design tools``

This paper presents a number of interesting and thought-provoking scenarios about the future use of advanced technology in the design and operation of commercial buildings. I will express my reactions in the following series of short paragraphs. These thoughts will, I hope, raise some new questions and offer fruitful directions for further exploration

Human development of the ability to learn from bad news

Humans show a natural tendency to discount bad news while incorporating good news into beliefs (the “good news–bad news effect”), an effect that may help explain seemingly irrational risk taking. Understanding how this bias develops with age is important because adolescents are prone to engage in risky behavior; thus, educating them about danger is crucial. We reveal a striking valence-dependent asymmetry in how belief updating develops with age. In the ages tested (9–26 y), younger age was associated with inaccurate updating of beliefs in response to undesirable information regarding vulnerability. In contrast, the ability to update beliefs accurately in response to desirable information remained relatively stable with age. This asymmetry was mediated by adequate computational use of positive but not negative estimation errors to alter beliefs. The results are important for understanding how belief formation develops and might help explain why adolescents do not respond adequately to warnings

Blueberries infected with the fungal pathogen Colletotrichum fioriniae release odors that repel Drosophila suzukii

Spotted-wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii, is a serious pest of thin-skinned fruits. Alternative methods to control this pest are needed to reduce insecticide use, including new repellents. Previous research demonstrated that D. suzukii adults use odor cues to avoid blueberries infected with the fungal pathogen Colletotrichum fioriniae, which causes the disease anthracnose. To identify novel D. suzukii repellents, we investigated the volatile emission from experimentallyinfected fruit, which were inoculated with C. fioriniae isolates in the laboratory, and from field-collected fruit, which were naturally infected and harvested from a field. We then tested the pathogen-induced volatiles on D. suzukii adult behavior.hanks to Arthur Rudolph for his help operating the GC–MS during pandemic work restrictions, Chelsea Abegg for providing field-collected blueberry fruit infected with anthracnose, to Mustafa Wasti, Robert Holdcraft, and Vera Kyryczenko-Roth for technical assistance. Authors CCR and JJB were supported by USDA ARS CRIS 6036-224300-001-000D and CR-S and AQ were supported by USDA SCRI 2020-51181-32140, The Sridhar Polavarapu Memorial Endowment for Vaccinium Research, and USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (grant no. LNE22-455R).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Risk-based systems analysis for emerging technologies: Applications of a technology risk assessment model to public decision making

The risk-based systems analysis model was designed to establish funding priorities among competing technologies for tank waste remediation. The model addresses a gap in the Department of Energy`s (DOE`s) ``toolkit`` for establishing funding priorities among emerging technologies by providing disciplined risk and cost assessments of candidate technologies within the context of a complete remediation system. The model is comprised of a risk and cost assessment and a decision interface. The former assesses the potential reductions in risk and cost offered by new technology relative to the baseline risk and cost of an entire system. The latter places this critical information in context of other values articulated by decision makers and stakeholders in the DOE system. The risk assessment portion of the model is demonstrated for two candidate technologies for tank waste retrieval (arm-based mechanical retrieval -- the ``long reach arm``) and subsurface barriers (close-coupled chemical barriers). Relative changes from the base case in cost and risk are presented for these two technologies to illustrate how the model works. The model and associated software build on previous work performed for DOE`s Office of Technology Development and the former Underground Storage Tank Integrated Demonstration, and complement a decision making tool presented at Waste Management 1994 for integrating technical judgements and non-technical (stakeholder) values when making technology funding decisions

An Underground Storage Tank Integrated Demonstration report. Volume 1, Waste Characterization Data and Technology Development Needs Assessment

The Waste Characterization Data and Technology Development Needs Assessment provides direct support to the Underground Storage Tank Integrated Demonstration (UST-ID). Key users of the study`s products may also include individuals and programs within the US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Technology Development (EM-50), the Office of Waste Operations (EM-30), and the Office of Environmental Restoration (EM-40). The goal of this work is to provide the UST-ID with a procedure for allocating funds across competing characterization technologies in a timely and defensible manner. It resulted in three primary products: 1. It organizes and summarizes information on underground storage tank characterization data needs. 2. It describes current technology development activity related to each need and flags areas where technology development may be beneficial. 3. It presents a decision process, with supporting software, for evaluating, prioritizing, and integrating possible technology development funding packages. The data presented in this document can be readily updated as the needs of the Waste Operations and Environmental Restoration programs mature and as new and promising technology development options emerge

Setting the Foundation for Transforming the U.S. Energy System

Setting the Foundation for Transforming the U.S. Energy System: Three Federal Action Plans for Near- and Long-term Success is a short document written for the incoming U.S. Federal Administration's Transistion Team. The document represents what we believe to be foundational elements of a broad campaign to make rapid progress towards these goals for the longterm transformation necessary to meet our national economic, security, and environmental goals. The three immediate action plans include: * Creating Tomorrow’s Electricity Infrastructure * Decarbonizing the Energy Economy *Enabling Science-Based Polic

Otimismo comparativo e percepções de controle face à saúde na adolescência: existirão diferenças etárias?

O Otimismo Comparativo (OC), a tendência da maioria das pessoas para ver o seu futuro como mais positivo que o futuro dos outros, e a sua relação com a Percepção de Controle estão pouco estudados na adolescência. Os objetivos deste estudo prenderam-se com a análise das diferenças etárias na adolescência: (1) no OC e Percepções Comparativas de Controle (PCC) face a riscos para a saúde e (2) na forma como as Percepções Absolutas e Comparativas de Controle predizem o OC. Noventa e um pré-adolescentes (M = 11,92 anos) e 97 adolescentes (M = 16,86 anos) saudáveis efectuaram julgamentos de risco e controle (Próprio vs. Alvo) para 8 enfermidades. Os participantes mostraram-se comparativamente otimistas, julgando ter maior controle sobre algumas doenças que o alvo. Não existiram diferenças etárias no OC ou nas PCCs. Estas foram o principal preditor do OC, mediando a relação entre este e as Percepções Absolutas de Controle apenas na sub-amostra dos adolescentes.Comparative Optimism (CO) is the tendency for most people to perceive their future as rosier than the future of others. Such optimistic bias and its relationship with Perceived Control have seldom been studied among adolescents. Hence, this study aimed at exploring age differences throughout adolescence in: 1) CO and Comparative Perceived Control (CPC) over health hazards; 2) the way Absolute and Comparative Perceived Control account for CO. Ninety-one pre-adolescents (M = 11.92 years) and 97 adolescents (M = 16.86 years), all considered healthy, were asked for risk and control judgements (Self vs. Target) regarding 8 health hazards. Generally, participants were comparatively optimistic and saw themselves as having more personal control over some hazards than the target. No age differences were found in CO or CPC. The latter was the best predictor of CO for both cohorts. It mediated the relationship between Absolute Perceived Control and CO in the older participants' sample

Evacetrapib and Cardiovascular Outcomes in High-Risk Vascular Disease

BACKGROUND: The cholesteryl ester transfer protein inhibitor evacetrapib substantially raises the high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol level, reduces the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol level, and enhances cellular cholesterol efflux capacity. We sought to determine the effect of evacetrapib on major adverse cardiovascular outcomes in patients with high-risk vascular disease. METHODS: In a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial, we enrolled 12,092 patients who had at least one of the following conditions: an acute coronary syndrome within the previous 30 to 365 days, cerebrovascular atherosclerotic disease, peripheral vascular arterial disease, or diabetes mellitus with coronary artery disease. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either evacetrapib at a dose of 130 mg or matching placebo, administered daily, in addition to standard medical therapy. The primary efficacy end point was the first occurrence of any component of the composite of death from cardiovascular causes, myocardial infarction, stroke, coronary revascularization, or hospitalization for unstable angina. RESULTS: At 3 months, a 31.1% decrease in the mean LDL cholesterol level was observed with evacetrapib versus a 6.0% increase with placebo, and a 133.2% increase in the mean HDL cholesterol level was seen with evacetrapib versus a 1.6% increase with placebo. After 1363 of the planned 1670 primary end-point events had occurred, the data and safety monitoring board recommended that the trial be terminated early because of a lack of efficacy. After a median of 26 months of evacetrapib or placebo, a primary end-point event occurred in 12.9% of the patients in the evacetrapib group and in 12.8% of those in the placebo group (hazard ratio, 1.01; 95% confidence interval, 0.91 to 1.11; P=0.91). CONCLUSIONS: Although the cholesteryl ester transfer protein inhibitor evacetrapib had favorable effects on established lipid biomarkers, treatment with evacetrapib did not result in a lower rate of cardiovascular events than placebo among patients with high-risk vascular disease. (Funded by Eli Lilly; ACCELERATE ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01687998 .)