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Ecosystem restoration is inherently a complex activity with inevitable tradeoffs in environmental and societal outcomes. These tradeoffs can potentially be large when policies and practices are focused on single outcomes versus joint achievement of multiple outcomes. Few studies have assessed the tradeoffs in Nature’s Contributions to People (NCP) and the distributional equity of NCP from forest restoration strategies. Here, we optimized a defined forest restoration area across India with systematic conservation planning to assess the tradeoffs between three NCP: i) climate change mitigation NCP, ii) biodiversity value NCP (habitat created for forest-dependent mammals), and iii) societal NCP (human direct use of restored forests for livelihoods, housing construction material, and energy). We show that restoration plans aimed at a single-NCP tend not to deliver other NCP outcomes efficiently. In contrast, integrated spatial forest restoration plans aimed at achievement of multiple outcomes deliver on average 83.3% (43.2 to 100%) of climate change mitigation NCP, 89.9% (63.8 to 100%) of biodiversity value NCP, and 93.9% (64.5 to 100%) of societal NCP delivered by single-objective plans. Integrated plans deliver NCP more evenly across the restoration area when compared to other plans that identify certain regions such as the Western Ghats and north-eastern India. Last, 38 to 41% of the people impacted by integrated spatial plans belong to socioeconomically disadvantaged groups, greater than their overall representation in India’s population. Moving ahead, effective policy design and evaluation integrating ecosystem protection and restoration strategies can benefit from the blueprint we provide in this study for India.

Agriculture needs to reduce its current dependence toward pesticides while reducing crop losses caused by pests and ensuring food security; Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is considered the most appropriate approach to achieve the goal. More specifically, growers should use tools that enable informed decisions on whether and when crop protection is needed, and which methods should be used. These tools include risk algorithms, decision rules, intervention thresholds, and decision support systems (DSSs), collectively named decision tools (DTs). A large number of DTs have been developed and made available to advisors and farmers, mainly through Internet-based systems. The adoption rate of these systems, however, has been low because of technical limitations and farmer perceptions. Fragmentation of the DTs offered, poor local implementation, and restriction to particular users are among the causes for low adoption. If properly mobilised, the use and effects of DTs could substantially be increased. Sharing of IPM DTs has a strong potential for providing wider access to the existing knowledge, for fostering IPM implementation, and for supporting plant health policies. In this article, we outline an overall approach to develop a web-based platform, in which DTs are shared and made widely available. Such a platform can include a range of ready-to-use DTs, i.e. DTs which are currently available, that have been field-validated, and which are already being used in some agricultural contexts. The platform also provides open, full documentation of DTs, makes DTs available for validation and adaptation in different agricultural contexts, and makes DTs easily available for multiple kinds of end-users involved in IPM (farmers, IPM experts, public and private information and service providers, and policy makers). We also consider how DT sharing can reduce both the technological and behavioural limitations of existing plant health management systems.

The growth of four commercial biocontrol agents (BCAs: Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (BAD), Aureobasidium pullulans (APD), Metschnikowia fructicola (MFN), and Trichoderma atroviride (TAS)) was evaluated using turbidimetric assays on artificial substrates mimicking the chemical berry composition at four stages: pea-sized berries, veraison, softening, and ripe berries. The response of BCA growth differed among BCAs. Subsequently, the BCAs’ population size was assessed after 1 to 13 days of incubation on the substrate mimicking ripe berries at 15 to 35 °C. The population size of BAD increased with temperatures, while that of MFN decreased; the population sizes of APD and TAS showed bell-shaped patterns with lower growth at 15 or 35 °C. Finally, the BCAs were applied to ripe berries and then incubated at 15 to 30 °C. After 1 to 13 days, the berries were inoculated with B. cinerea and incubated for 7 days, after which the BCA control efficacy was assessed. The highest control was observed at 25 °C for BAD and APD, at 15 to 20 °C for MFN, and at 25 to 30 °C for TAS. The results confirm that the plant substrates and temperature affect the population size of the BCA following application; temperature also affects the preventative efficacy of BCA against B. cinerea.

Background: Numerous individual and organizational factors can influence the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Long Term Care Facilities (LTCFs). A range of outbreak control measures are still implemented in most facilities involving administrations, staff, residents and their families. This study aims to evaluate which measure could influence the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 infection among residents during the period March 2021-June 2022. Methods: We enrolled 3,272 residents aged ≥60 years. The outbreak control measures adopted to prevent or manage the infection included entry regulations, contact-regulating procedures, and virological surveillance of residents and staff. The association between LTCFs' and participants' characteristics with new cases of COVID-19 infections was analyzed using multilevel logistic regression models. Results: In 33.8% of the facilities 261 cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection were reported. Among participant characteristics, gender and age were not associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection, while having received the vaccine booster dose was protective against infection [Odds Ratio (OR) = 0.34, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.12–0.99, p = 0.048]. In addition, the implementation of protected areas for family visits was associated with a significant reduction of the probability of infections (OR = 0.18, 95% CI 0.03–0.98, p = 0.047). Overall, about 66% of the variability in the probability of SARS-CoV-2 infection during the observational period may be due to facility structure characteristics and 34% to the participant characteristics. Conclusions: These data showed that vaccination booster doses and family visit restriction-control are still needed to make the LTCFs safer against SARS-CoV-2 infection.

The use of biocontrol agents (BCAs) represents a promising alternative to conventional methods for the management of gray mold in vineyards during the berry ripening stage. The main advantages of BCAs are the short preharvest interval and lack of chemical fungicide residues in wine. In this study, eight commercial BCAs (based on different Bacillus or Trichoderma species and strains, Aureobasidium pullulans, Metschnikowia fructicola, and Pythium oligandrum) and a reference fungicide (boscalid) were applied to a vineyard during berry ripening over three seasons to evaluate the dynamics over time in terms of their relative efficacies in gray mold control. At 1-13 days after application of BCAs to the berry surfaces in field conditions, the berries were collected and artificially inoculated with conidia of Botrytis cinerea under controlled laboratory conditions, and gray mold severity was observed after 7 days of incubation. Significant differences were observed in gray mold severity among years, according to the number of days the BCAs grew on the berry surface before B. cinerea inoculation, and the season by day interaction (altogether accounting for >80% of the experimental variance). The variability in BCA efficacy was closely related to the environmental conditions at the time of application and in the following days. Overall, the BCA efficacy increased with the degree days accumulated between BCA application in the vineyard and B. cinerea inoculation in the dry (no rain) periods (r = 0.914, P = 0.001). Rainfall and the associated drop in temperature caused a relevant reduction of BCA efficacy. These results demonstrate that BCAs are an effective alternative to conventional chemicals for the preharvest control of gray mold in vineyards. However, environmental conditions can considerably affect the BCA efficacy.

SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines prevent severe COVID-19 by generating immune memory, comprising specific antibodies and memory B and T cells. Although children are at low risk of severe COVID-19, the spreading of highly transmissible variants has led to increasing in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations also in the youngest, but vaccine coverage remains low. Immunogenicity to mRNA vaccines has not been extensively studied in children 5 to 11 years old. In particular, cellular immunity to the wild-type strain (Wuhan) and the cross-reactive response to the Omicron variant of concern has not been investigated. We assessed the humoral and cellular immune response to the SARS-CoV-2 BNT162b2 vaccine in 27 healthy children. We demonstrated that vaccination induced a potent humoral and cellular immune response in all vaccinees. By using spike-specific memory B cells as a measurable imprint of a previous infection, we found that 50% of the children had signs of a past, undiagnosed infection before vaccination. Children with pre-existent immune memory generated significantly increased levels of specific antibodies, and memory T and B cells, directed against not only the wild type virus but also the omicron variant.

In this work, we developed a systematic map to identify and catalogue the literature pertaining to disease modelling for agricultural crops worldwide. Searches were performed in 2021 in the Web of Science and Scopus for papers reporting any type of disease model for 103 crops. In total, 768 papers were retrieved, and their descriptive metadata were extracted. The number of papers found increased from the mid-1900s to 2020, and most of the studies were from North America and Europe. More disease models were retrieved for wheat, potatoes, grapes, and apples than for other crops; the number of papers was more affected by the crop’s economic value than by its cultivated area. The systematic map revealed an underrepresentation of disease models for maize and rice, which is not justified by either the crop economic value or by disease impact. Most of the models were developed to understand the pathosystem, and fewer were developed for tactical disease management, strategic planning, or scenario analysis. The systematic map highlights a variety of knowledge gaps and suggests questions that warrant further research.

A general and flexible model was developed to simulate progress over time of the epidemics caused by a generic polycyclic pathogen on aerial plant parts. The model includes all of the epidemiological parameters involved in the pathogen life cycle: between-season survival, production of primary inoculum, occurrence of primary infections, production and dispersal of secondary inoculum both inside and outside the crop, and concatenation of secondary infection cycles during the host's growing season. The model was designed to include the effect of the main crop management actions that affect disease levels in the crop. Policy-oriented, strategic, and tactical actions were considered at the different levels of complexity (from the agro-ecosystem to the farming and cropping system). All effects due to disease management actions were translated into variations in the epidemiological components of the model, and the model quantitatively simulates the effect of these actions on epidemic development, expressed as changes in final disease and in the area under the disease progress curve. The model can help researchers, students and policy makers understand how management decisions (especially those commonly recommended as part of Integrated Pest Management programs) will affect plant disease epidemics at different scales of complexity.

Although the use of biocontrol agents (BCAs) to manage plant pathogens has emerged as a sustainable means for disease control, global reliance on their use remains relatively insignificant and the factors influencing their efficacy remain unclear. In this work, we further developed an existing generic model for biocontrol of foliar diseases, and we parametrized the model for the Botrytis cinerea–grapevine pathosystem. The model was operated under three climate types to study the combined effects on BCA efficacy of four factors: (i) BCA mechanism of action, (ii) timing of BCA application with respect to timing of pathogen infection (preventative vs. curative), (iii) temperature and moisture requirements for BCA growth, and (iv) BCA survival capability. All four factors affected biocontrol efficacy, but factors iii and iv accounted for > 90% of the variation in model simulations. In other words, the most important factors affecting BCA efficacy were those related to environmental conditions. These findings indicate that the environmental responses of BCAs should be considered during their selection, BCA survival capability should be considered during both selection and formulation, and weather conditions and forecasts should be considered at the time of BCA application in the field.

Quantification of colonization of grape bunch trash by Botrytis cinerea is crucial for Botrytis bunch rot (BBR) control. A previously developed quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) method was adapted to quantify B. cinerea DNA in grape bunch trash, and a colonization coefficient (CC) was calculated as the ratio between the DNA concentrations of B. cinerea and of Vitis vinifera. CC values increased linearly with the number of conidia of B. cinerea or the quantity of mycelium of B. cinerea added to the bunch trash increased. CC values also increased linearly in bunch trash samples containing increasing percentages of B. cinerea-colonized bunch trash; in the latter samples, CC values were correlated with subsequent assessments of B. cinerea colonization of trash (as determined by plating on agar) and sporulation on the trash (as determined by spore counts after incubation in humid chambers). The qPCR assay was also validated using trash collected from bunches treated or not treated with fungicides in three vineyards in two seasons. CC values reflected the reduction in sporulation and in latent infections of mature berries caused by fungicide application. The qPCR assay enables rapid, specific, sensitive, and reliable quantification of the degree of colonization of bunch trash by B. cinerea, which makes it a useful tool for studies of the epidemiology and management of BBR.

These revised guidelines for contemporary endodontic education in Australia and New Zealand (version 2021) propose the minimum criteria for the training of dentistry students. The document contains a definition of endodontics and a description of the scope of endodontics. It proposes a general outline for education programmes in endodontics as part of general dental practice.

Late blight caused by the oomycete Phytophthora infestans is a disease of potato and tomato of worldwide relevance and is widespread throughout Europe and the Mediterranean region. While pathogen populations in northern Europe have been sampled and characterized for many years, the genetic structure of populations from southern Europe, including Italy, has been less studied. Between 2018 and 2019, we collected 91 samples of P. infestans from potato and tomato crops in Italy, Algeria, and Tunisia on FTA cards and genotyped them using 12-plex microsatellites. These samples were compared to genotypes of P. infestans previously collected within the framework of the EuroBlight network and from published sources. Four clonal lineages were identified: 13_A2 (Blue 13), 2_A1, 23_A1, and 36_A2. Two other isolates collected could not be matched to any currently known clonal lineage. The 13_A2 and 36_A2 lineages were found exclusively in southern Italy and Algeria, while 2_A1 was only found in Algeria. This is the first report of the 36_A2 lineage in Italy. Two isolates from Solanum nigrum were 13_A2, suggesting this weed host could be a reservoir of inoculum. The 23_A1 lineage was found widely on infected tomato crops in Italy and is the same as the lineage US-23 that is widespread in North America. Differences in genotypes across the country suggests that there may be different sources of introduction into Italy, possibly via infected seed tubers from other countries in Europe, tubers for consumption from North Africa, or tomatoes.

Because the risk of resistance towards single-site fungicides in populations of Plasmopara viticola and Erysiphe necator, the causal agents of downy mildew (DM) and powdery mildew (PM), respectively, is substantial, fungicide resistance management is important in vineyards. Available methods for assessing resistance risk mainly focus on single fungicides and do not consider the risk of resistance of a complete fungicide schedule, which typically includes multiple fungicides, used solo or in mixture and at different doses, and other actions (behaviors) of the farmer. A simple scoring method (fungicide resistance risk score, FRRS) was developed to account for both (i) the intrinsic risk due to the fungicides used, the target pathogens, and agronomic factors, and (ii) the behavioral risk, which includes how the fungicides are used during the season. FRRSs were then calculated for 10 representative vineyards (10 cases) and ranked from 1 (highest score) to 10 (lowest score). For comparison, 20 assessors (four winegrowers and 16 experts including public advisors, field technicians, and consultants) ranked the same cases based on their individual “perception of risk” from 1 (highest risk) to 10 (lowest risk). When the FRRS-based rankings were compared with the modes of the rankings provided by the assessors, the correlation coefficients were significant for all experts (P < 0.001) and for each category of experts (P < 0.05); i.e., public advisors, field technicians from agro-chemical companies, and consultants; for non-experts, i.e., winegrowers, the FFRS values were significantly correlated with the modes of rankings for PM (P < 0.001) but not for DM (P = 0.293). The results indicated that the use of the new scoring method, i.e., the use of FRRSs, would reduce the variability in assessments of resistance risks and would provide a common method for evaluating resistance risk by both experts and winegrowers.