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IntroductionFall armyworm continues to disrupt smallholder farming systems across sub-Saharan Africa, with sporadic outbreaks and chronic cereal crop losses. Smallholders have been adapting to the pest by increasing crop surveillance for targeted control measures and developing low-cost solutions. For example, some report placing soil or ash in maize whorls where the mechanism of pest control may be suffocation, abrasion leading to desiccation, or through the introduction of soil-borne entomopathogens.MethodsTo verify the efficacy of this approach we evaluated different soil types on maize infested with fall armyworm to assess their efficacy. We also evaluated the efficacy of pesticidal plant species, powdered and placed in leaf whorls to control fall armyworm. Results and discussionDifferent United States Department of Agriculture-characterised soil types (sand, loam, clay) and wood ash were effective in reducing the number of larvae and maize leaf damage by approximately 50%. Maize yield with the synthetic control (chlorpyriphos) was 13,700 kg/ha, which was 42% higher than the untreated control (7,900 kg/ha). Soil and ash treatments yields between 10,400 to 12,400 kg/ha were 24-36% higher than the untreated control. Dry soil applied after watering was most effective regardless of soil type. However, wet soil treatments applied before watering were also highly effective in reducing the number of fall armyworm larvae and reducing insect damage to maize leaves. Botanical powders from Azadirachta indica, Nicotiana tabacum, Cymbopogon citratus and Lippia javanica were also effective when applied to maize leaf whorls. Plant powder treatments and water extracts were significantly effective in reducing the number of larvae and leaf damage. The highest yield obtained with botanicals was observed with A. indica powder (5,600 kg/ha), C. citratus extract (5,800 kg/ha) and N. tabacum extract (5,800 kg/ha), where the synthetic treatment yield was 6,900 kg/ha and the untreated yield was 1,700 kg/ha. We conclude that smallholder farmer innovations in managing fall armyworm are effective low-cost options. Scientific validation of soil treatments and botanicals should help increase the confidence of policy makers and allow knowledge extension services to recommend their use to smallholder farmers, which in turn may reduce reliance on imported synthetic pesticides and improve farmer resilience, circular economies and human and environmental health.

Against a background of continuing loss of biodiversity, it is argued that for the successful conservation of threatened plant species we need to ensure the more effective integration of the various conservation actions employed, clarify the wording of the CBD targets and provide clearer operational guidance as to how they are to be implemented and their implementation monitored. The role and effectiveness of protected areas in conserving biodiversity and in particular plant species in situ are discussed as are recent proposals for a massive increase of their extent. The need for much greater effort and investment in the conservation or protection of threatened species outside protected areas where most plant diversity occurs is highlighted. The difficulties involved in implementing effective in situ conservation of plant diversity both at an area- and species/population-based level are discussed. The widespread neglect of species recovery for plants is noted and the desirability of making a clearer distinction between species recovery and reintroduction is emphasized. Key messages from a global overview of species recovery are outlined and recommendations made, including the desirability of each country preparing a national species recovery strategy. The projected impacts of global change on protected areas and on species conservation and recovery, and ways of addressing them are discussed. Keywords: Plant conservation, CBD targets, Protected areas, Species recovery, Conservation approaches

As an introduction to the Special Issue on the restoration of threatened plant species and their habitats, this editorial shows how the various papers in the issue address the range of in situ interventions involved in species population management and restoration of their habitat, together with examples of case studies implementing these actions. It stresses the need for integrating these various interventions. It highlights the importance of protected areas in providing a degree of protection for threatened species but also the need to complement this with actions at the species level to ensure the effective conservation and long term persistence of these species. It emphasizes that ecological restoration is a complement to, not a substitute for conservation, and that the balance of effort and allocation of resources between them is a key issue. Keywords: Threatened species management, Habitat restoration, In situ conservation, Protected areas

Despite the massive efforts that have been made to conserve plant diversity across the world during the past few decades, it is becoming increasingly evident that our current strategies are not sufficiently effective to prevent the continuing decline in biodiversity. As a recent report by the CBD indicates, current progress and commitments are insufficient to achieve the Aichi Biodiversity Targets by 2020. Threatened species lists continue to grow while the world's governments fail to meet biodiversity conservation goals. Clearly, we are failing in our attempts to conserve biodiversity on a sufficient scale. The reasons for this situation are complex, including scientific, technical, sociological, economic and political factors. The conservation community is divided about how to respond. Some believe that saving all existing biodiversity is still an achievable goal. On the other hand, there are those who believe that we need to accept that biodiversity will inevitably continue to be lost, despite all our conservation actions and that we must focus on what to save, why and where. It has also been suggested that we need a new approach to conservation in the face of the challenges posed by the Anthropocene biosphere which we now inhabit. Whatever view one holds on the above issues, it is clear that we need to review the effectiveness of our current conservation strategies, identify the limiting factors that are preventing the Aichi goals being met and at the same time take whatever steps are necessary to make our conservation protocols more explicit, operational and efficient so as to achieve the maximum conservation effect. This paper addresses the key issues that underlie our failure to meet agreed targets and discusses the necessary changes to our conservation approaches. While we can justifiably be proud of our many achievements and successes in plant conservation in the past 30 years, which have helped slow the rate of loss, unless we devise a more coherent, consistent and integrated global strategy in which both the effectiveness and limitations of our current policies, action plans and procedures are recognized, and reflect this in national strategies, and then embark on a much bolder and ambitious set of actions, progress will be limited and plant diversity will continue to decline. Keywords: Plant conservation, Anthropocene, Aichi targets, Biodiversity governance, Protected areas

We revisit the estimation of the power deposited by the electron cloud (EC) in the arc dipoles of the LHC by means of simulations. We adopt, as simulation input, a set of electron-related parameters closely resembling those used in recent simulations at CERN [1]. We explore values for the bunch population Nb in the range 0.4 x 10^11 2 and Nb > 1.5 x 10^11 taken in combination. The rediffused component of the secondary electron emission spectrum plays a significant role: if we artificially suppress this component while keeping delta max fixed, dPbar/dz is roughly cut in half for most values of Nb explored here, and in this case we find good agreement with the results in Ref. 1, as expected. We provide a fairly detailed explanation of the mechanism responsible for such a relatively large effect. We assess the sensitivity of our results to numerical simulation parameters, and to physical parameters such as the photoelectric yield, bunch train length, etc. Owing to the lack of detailed knowledge of the electron emission spectrum, the sensitivity of dPbar/dz to the rediffused component appears to be the most significant source of uncertainty in our results. Nevertheless, taking our results as a whole, the condition delta max

The fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a recent invasive pest species that has successfully established across sub-Saharan Africa where it continues to disrupt agriculture, particularly smallholder cereal production. Management of FAW in its native range in the Americas has led to the development of resistance to many commercial pesticides before its arrival in Africa. Pesticide use may therefore be ineffective for FAW control in Africa, so new and more sustainable approaches to pest management are required that can help reduce the impact of this exotic pest. Pesticidal plants provide an effective and established approach to pest management in African smallholder farming and recent research has shown that their use can be cost-beneficial and sustainable. In order to optimize the use of botanical extracts for FAW control, we initially screened ten commonly used plant species. In laboratory trials, contact toxicity and feeding bioassays showed differential effects. Some plant species had little to no effect when compared to untreated controls; thus, only the five most promising plant species were selected for more detailed study. In contact toxicity tests, the highest larval mortality was obtained from Nicotiana tabacum (66%) and Lippia javanica (66%). Similarly, in a feeding bioassay L. javanica (62%) and N. tabacum (60%) exhibited high larval mortality at the highest concentration evaluated (10% w/v). Feeding deterrence was evaluated using glass-fibre discs treated with plant extracts, which showed that Cymbopogon citratus (36%) and Azadirachta indica (20%) were the most potent feeding deterrents among the pesticidal plants evaluated. In a screenhouse experiment where living maize plants infested with fall armyworm larvae were treated with plant extracts, N. tabacum and L. javanica were the most potent species at reducing foliar damage compared to the untreated control whilst the synthetic pesticide chlorpyrifos was the most effective in reducing fall armyworm foliar damage. Further field trial evaluation is recommended, particularly involving smallholder maize fields to assess effectiveness across a range of contexts.

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major health problem for Aboriginal people in Canada, with high rates of clustering of active TB cases. Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination has been used as a preventive measure against TB in this high-risk population.

Endemic tuberculosis (TB) was almost certainly present in Canadian aboriginal people (aboriginal Canadians denotes status Indians, Inuit, nonstatus Indians and metis as reported by Statistics Canada) before the Old World traders arrived. However, the social changes that resulted from contact with these traders created the conditions that converted endemic TB into epidemic TB. The incidence of TB varied inversely with the time interval from this cultural collision, which began on the east coast in the 16th century and ended in the Northern Territories in the 20th century. This relatively recent epidemic explains why the disease is more frequent in aboriginal children than in Canadian-born nonaboriginal people. Treatment plans must account for the socioeconomic conditions and cultural characteristics of the aboriginal people, especially healing models and language. Prevention includes bacillus Calmette-Guerin vaccination and chemoprophylaxis, and must account for community conditions, such as rates of suicide, which have exceeded the rate of TB. The control of TB requires a centralized program with specifically directed funding. It must include a program that works in partnership with aboriginal communities.