Search

PURPOSE: To examine the relationship between family structure, nonresident father involvement, and adolescent eating patterns. METHODS: Analyses were performed on data from Waves 1 and 2 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Wave 1, N = approximately 15,550; Wave 2, N = approximately 11,540), and a subsample of adolescents from each wave who had a nonresident father (Wave 1, N = approximately 3,745; Wave 2, N = 2,358). Multivariate regression provides estimates of the independent effects of family structure and nonresident father involvement on adolescent eating patterns while controlling for potentially confounding sociodemographic characteristics. RESULTS: Compared with children in traditional households (i.e., two biological or adoptive parents), adolescents in nontraditional family households (single parent, step-parent, no parent) were more likely to display unhealthy eating habits such as skipping breakfast and lunch, eating fewer vegetables, consuming more fast food, and had less parental monitoring of meals. Nonresident father involvement was associated with an increased frequency of eating breakfast and lunch and increased consumption of vegetables (Wave 1) but did not affect adolescents' consumption of fast food. Child support was positively associated with the odds that adolescents would consume dinner. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents in living in nontraditional families were more likely than adolescents living with two biological/adoptive parents to display unhealthy eating habits. Nonresident father involvement was generally associated with healthier eating patterns. Health professionals should keep in mind that children's and adolescents' living arrangements can be complex and have the potential to affect what and how they eat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Body weight issues disproportionately affect children with nonresident fathers. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, the authors investigate the relationship between nonresident father involvement and adolescent weight, specifically adolescents' risk of being underweight, overweight, and obese. The results show that nonresident father involvement is associated with adolescent weight and that the effect varies according to social class, fathers' obesity, and the gender of the child. Among both males and females, greater involvement with fathers increases their risk of obesity. Among females, the effect of father involvement on obesity is even greater if her father is obese. Among males, greater father involvement is also associated with lower risk of underweight. The effect of father involvement on adolescent obesity also varies by social class: Involvement with a more highly educated nonresident father is associated with a lower risk of obesity. Child support payments are not associated with being at risk of overweight or underweight among males or females. These results suggest that nonresident fathers must be included in policy discussions of adolescent weight, especially given the positive association between nonresident father involvement and adolescent obesity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined differences in alcohol use by sexual and gender identities during the COVID-19 pandemic, and assessed whether variation between groups was explained by pandemic-related stressors and minority stress. Data from 2,429 partnered adults in the National Couples' Health and Time Use Study (n = 3,593) collected from September 2020 to April 2021 were used to model drinking patterns (frequency, amount, and drinking to cope) by sexual and gender identities, COVID-19 stress and disruption, microaggressions, and supportive climate. Regression models indicated differences in drinking by gender and sexual identities, even controlling for demographic and socioeconomic factors. Gay, lesbian, and bisexual people had higher odds of drinking to cope with the pandemic than did heterosexual people, and cisgender men had higher odds than did cisgender women. Gay and lesbian people drank more regularly than did heterosexual people, as did cisgender men in relation to cisgender women. Exclusively bisexual people drank significantly more drinks than exclusively heterosexual people, and cisgender men drank significantly more drinks than did cisgender women and those who identified as trans/another gender identity. COVID-19 stress and minority stress were associated with greater alcohol consumption, but they did not account for these differentials. Moving forward, researchers will need to continuously assess these associations, as sources of discrimination and stress will persist beyond the pandemic. Although LGBTQ+ people have disproportionate sources of stress, they varied in how they used alcohol to cope. Potential sources of resilience among sexual and gender diverse individuals should be explored., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.)

Objective: To evaluate the reliability of preoperative abdominal ultrasonography as a staging tool for dogs with hemoperitoneum due to presumed splenic tumor rupture, focusing on the detection of metastatic lesions in the liver., Animals: 99 dogs from 20 emergency and specialty hospitals across the US., Methods: Dogs with nontraumatic hemoperitoneum secondary to splenic tumor rupture were included. A post hoc analysis was conducted on data from a nationwide prospective trial investigating novel treatments for canine hemangiosarcoma. The accuracy of preoperative staging was assessed by comparing ultrasonographic findings with intraoperative observations and histologic findings., Results: On preoperative ultrasonography, there was a 20% incidence of liver lesions identified, with no association to liver lesions seen during operation. Notably, 22% of liver lesions observed during operation were missed on preoperative ultrasonography. The presence of liver lesions on preoperative ultrasonography was associated with a higher likelihood of a benign splenic tumor diagnosis. There was no association between the identification of liver lesions on preoperative ultrasonography and the presence of metastatic disease on liver biopsy, with a sensitivity and specificity of 19% and 82%, respectively. Additionally, ultrasound had low sensitivity in detecting intra-abdominal lesions beyond the liver and spleen, with 82% of these lesions missed preoperatively., Clinical Relevance: This study challenges conventional perceptions around the approach to staging in dogs with hemoperitoneum. These findings advocate for a reevaluation of the staging approach, with more comprehensive modalities like whole-body CT or MRI potentially being more warranted.

Background: Frailty is increasingly present in patients with acute myocardial infarction. The electronic Frailty Index (eFI) is a validated method of identifying vulnerable older patients in the community from routine primary care data. Our aim was to assess the relationship between the eFI and outcomes in older patients hospitalised with acute myocardial infarction., Study Design and Setting: Retrospective cohort study using the DataLoch Heart Disease Registry comprising consecutive patients aged 65 years or over hospitalised with a myocardial infarction between October 2013 and March 2021., Methods: Patients were classified as fit, mild, moderate, or severely frail based on their eFI score. Cox-regression analysis was used to determine the association between frailty category and all-cause mortality., Results: In 4670 patients (median age 77 years [71-84], 43% female), 1865 (40%) were classified as fit, with 1699 (36%), 798 (17%) and 308 (7%) classified as mild, moderate and severely frail, respectively. In total, 1142 patients died within 12 months of which 248 (13%) and 147 (48%) were classified as fit and severely frail, respectively. After adjustment, any degree of frailty was associated with an increased risk of all-cause death with the risk greatest in the severely frail (reference = fit, adjusted hazard ratio 2.87 [95% confidence intervals 2.24 to 3.66])., Conclusion: The eFI identified patients at high risk of death following myocardial infarction. Automatic calculation within administrative data is feasible and could provide a low-cost method of identifying vulnerable older patients on hospital presentation., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Geriatrics Society.)

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of a beta prototype version of a new portable blood glucose meter in feline patients., Animals: 60 client-owned cats., Methods: In this prospective study, 3-mL blood samples were collected from each cat and analyzed in triplicate using a beta prototype device (AlphaTRAK 3 [AT3]) and by a reference lab standard immediately after collection. Accuracy of the AT3 device was determined in accordance with the International Organization of Standardization (ISO) 15197:2013 criteria, including Bland-Altman plotting and consensus error grid analysis. A Passing-Bablok regression analysis was also performed., Results: 96% of feline measurements fell within the ISO accuracy threshold, and 100% of measurements fell within zones A and B of the consensus error grid, meeting the ISO accuracy requirements. There was no significant bias in the data according to the Bland-Altman analysis. Within the full range of glucose concentrations (20 to 750 mg/dL) the correlation coefficient between the AT3 and the reference lab standard was 0.99. There was no significant constant or proportional bias present in the data., Clinical Relevance: The AT3 device met the ISO requirements and is accurate for measurement of blood glucose concentrations in cats.

Importance: Helicoverpa zea is a major crop pest in the United States that is managed with transgenic corn and cotton that produce insecticidal proteins from the bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). However, H. zea has evolved widespread resistance to the Cry proteins produced in Bt corn and cotton, leaving Vip3Aa as the only plant-incorporated protectant in Bt crops that consistently provides excellent control of H. zea . The benefits provided by Bt crops will be substantially reduced if widespread Vip3Aa resistance develops in H. zea field populations. Therefore, it is important to identify resistance alleles and mechanisms that contribute to Vip3Aa resistance to ensure that informed resistance management strategies are implemented. This study is the first report of reduced binding of Vip3Aa to midgut receptors associated with resistance., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Aims: Whether a single cardiac troponin measurement can safely rule out myocardial infarction in patients presenting within a few hours of symptom onset is uncertain. The study aim was to assess the performance of troponin in early presenters., Methods and Results: In patients with possible myocardial infarction, the diagnostic performance of a single measurement of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I at presentation was evaluated and externally validated in those tested ≤3, 4-12, and >12 h from symptom onset. The limit-of-detection (2 ng/L), rule-out (5 ng/L), and sex-specific 99th centile (16 ng/L in women; 34 ng/L in men) thresholds were compared. In 41 103 consecutive patients [60 (17) years, 46% women], 12 595 (31%) presented within 3 h, and 3728 (9%) had myocardial infarction. In those presenting ≤3 h, a threshold of 2 ng/L had greater sensitivity and negative predictive value [99.4% (95% confidence interval 99.2%-99.5%) and 99.7% (99.6%-99.8%)] compared with 5 ng/L [96.5% (96.2%-96.8%) and 99.3% (99.1%-99.4%)]. In those presenting ≥3 h, the sensitivity and negative predictive value were similar for both thresholds. The sensitivity of the 99th centile was low in early and late presenters at 71.4% (70.6%-72.2%) and 92.5% (92.0%-93.0%), respectively. Findings were consistent in an external validation cohort of 7088 patients., Conclusion: In early presenters, a single measurement of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I below the limit of detection may facilitate the safe rule out of myocardial infarction. The 99th centile should not be used to rule out myocardial infarction at presentation even in those presenting later following symptom onset., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology.)

Cotton leafroll dwarf virus (CLRDV) is an emerging aphid-borne pathogen infecting cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L., in the southern United States (U.S.). The cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover, infests cotton annually and is the only known vector to transmit CLRDV to cotton. Seven other species have been reported to feed on, but not often infest, cotton: Protaphis middletonii Thomas, Aphis craccivora Koch, Aphis fabae Scopoli, Macrosiphum euphorbiae Thomas, Myzus persicae Sulzer, Rhopalosiphum rufiabdominale Sasaki, and Smynthurodes betae Westwood. These seven have not been studied in cotton, but due to their potential epidemiological importance, an understanding of the intra- and inter-annual variations of these species is needed. In 2020 and 2021, aphids were monitored from North Carolina to Texas using pan traps around cotton fields. All of the species known to infest cotton, excluding A. fabae , were detected in this study. Protaphis middletonii and A. gossypii were the most abundant species identified. The five other species of aphids captured were consistently low throughout the study and, with the exception of R. rufiabdominale , were not detected at all locations. The abundance, distribution, and seasonal dynamics of cotton-infesting aphids across the southern U.S. are discussed.

Background: Gastrointestinal foreign bodies are a common indication for abdominal exploratory surgery., Objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship of pre-operative abdominal discomfort and duration of clinical signs with surgical resolution of canine small intestinal foreign body obstructions (SIFBO)., Methods: We performed a retrospective study of 181 canine abdominal exploratory surgeries for confirmed SIFBO at two referral hospitals. Animals were categorized into five surgical groups (gastrotomy after manipulation into the stomach, enterotomy, resection-and-anastomosis [R&A], manipulated into colon, already in colon) and further grouped by whether entry into the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) was required., Results: Abdominal discomfort was noted in 107/181 cases (59.1%), but no significant differences in abdominal discomfort rates were present among the surgical groups or between GIT entry and no entry groups. Clinical sign duration was associated with surgical procedure; median durations were R&A = 3 days (range, 1-9), enterotomy = 2 days (range, 1-14), gastrotomy = 2 days (range, 1-6), already in colon = 1.5 days (range, 1-2), and manipulated into colon = 1 day (range, 1-7). In a pairwise comparison, differences in the duration of clinical signs were found for obstructions manipulated into the colon versus R&A, gastrotomy versus R&A, and in colon versus R&A. When patients were grouped according to GIT entry, cases with entry had a longer duration of clinical signs (median = 2 days [range, 1-14] versus 1 day [range, 1-7], respectively)., Conclusions: Abdominal discomfort was not associated with surgical complexity; however, the duration of clinical signs was associated with surgical complexity, with longer duration being associated with entry into the GIT and R&A. Despite statistical significance, the maximum difference of 2 days between surgical groups is unlikely to be clinically relevant., (© 2022 The Authors. Veterinary Medicine and Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Objective: To evaluate the time-course of ampicillin-sulbactam and percentage of time that its concentration is above a given MIC (T% > MIC) in dogs with septic peritonitis when delivered as either a continuous infusion (CI) or intermittent infusion (II)., Animals: 11 dogs with septic peritonitis., Procedures: Dogs were randomized to receive ampicillin-sulbactam as either CI or II. Continuous infusions were delivered as a 50 mg/kg bolus IV followed by a rate of 0.1 mg/kg/min. Intermittent infusions were administered as 50 mg/kg IV q8h. Serum ampicillin-sulbactam concentrations were measured at hours 0, 1, 6, and every 12 hours after until patients were transitioned to an oral antimicrobial equivalent. All other care was at the discretion of the attending clinician. Statistical analysis was used to determine each patient's percentage of time T% > MIC for 4 MIC breakpoints (0.25, 1.25, 8, and 16 µg/mL)., Results: No dogs experienced adverse events related to ampicillin-sulbactam administration. Both CI and II maintained a T% > MIC of 100% of MIC 0.25 µg/mL and MIC 1.25 µg/mL. The CI group maintained a higher T% > MIC for MIC 8 µg/mL and MIC 16 µg/mL; however, these differences did not reach statistical significance (P = .15 and P = .12, respectively)., Clinical Relevance: This study could not demonstrate that ampicillin-sulbactam CI maintains a greater T% > MIC in dogs with septic peritonitis than II; however, marginal differences were noted at higher antimicrobial breakpoints. While these data support the use of antimicrobial CI in septic and critically ill patients, additional prospective trials are needed to fully define the optimal doses and the associated clinical responses.

Background: Crops genetically engineered to make insect-killing proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) have revolutionized management of some pests. However, the benefits of such transgenic crops are reduced when pests evolve resistance to Bt toxins. We evaluated resistance to Bt toxins and Bt cotton plants using laboratory bioassays and complementary field trials focusing on Helicoverpa zea, one of the most economically important pests of cotton and other crops in the United States., Results: The data from 235 laboratory bioassays demonstrate resistance to Cry1Ac, Cry1Fa, and Cry2Ab occurred in most of the 95 strains of H. zea derived from Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas during 2016 to 2021. Complementary field data show efficacy decreased for Bt cotton producing Cry1Ac + Cry1Fa or Cry1Ac + Cry2Ab, but not Cry1Ac + Cry1Fa + Vip3Aa. Moreover, analysis of data paired by field site and year shows higher survival in bioassays was generally associated with lower efficacy of Bt cotton., Conclusions: The results confirm and extend previous evidence showing widespread practical resistance of H. zea in the United States to the Cry toxins produced by Bt cotton and corn, but not to Vip3Aa. Despite deployment in combination with Cry toxins in Bt crops, Vip3Aa effectively acts as a single toxin against H. zea larvae that are highly resistant to Cry toxins. Furthermore, Vip3Aa adoption is increasing and previous work provided an early warning of field-evolved resistance. Thus, rigorous resistance management measures are needed to preserve the efficacy of Vip3Aa against this highly adaptable pest. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.)

A new high radial resolution 2D multichannel Charge eXchange Imaging (CXI) diagnostic is under development for deployment at DIII-D. The diagnostic system will measure low-to-intermediate radial wavenumber carbon density fluctuations by observing the n = 8 - 7 (λ = 529.06 nm) C-VI emission line, resulting from charge exchange collisions between heating neutral beam atoms and the intrinsic carbon ion density. The new CXI diagnostic will provide measurements with ΔR ∼ 0.4 cm to access higher k r instabilities (k r < 8 cm -1 ) predicted to arise in the steep-gradient region of the H-mode pedestal. The CXI system will feature 60 fiber bundles in a 12 × 5 arrangement, with each bundle consisting of four 1 mm fibers. A custom optical system has been designed to filter and image incoming signals onto an 8 × 8 avalanche photodiode array. Additionally, a novel electronics suite has been designed and commissioned to amplify and digitize the relatively low-intensity carbon signal at a 2 MHz bandwidth. Forward modeling results of the active C-VI emission suggest sufficient signal to noise ratios to resolve turbulent fluctuations. Prototype measurements demonstrate the ability to perform high frequency pedestal measurements.

Foliar-applied insecticide treatments may be necessary to manage thrips in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) under severe infestations or when at-planting insecticide seed treatments do not provide satisfactory protection. The most common foliar-applied insecticide is acephate. Field observations in Tennessee suggest that the performance of acephate has declined. Thus, the first objective was to perform leaf-dip bioassays to assess if tobacco thrips, Frankliniella fusca (Hinds) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), in cotton production regions have evolved resistance to foliar-applied insecticides. A second objective was to assess the performance of commonly applied foliar insecticides for managing thrips in standardized field trials in Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Texas. For both objectives, several insecticides were evaluated including acephate, dicrotophos, dimethoate, lambda-cyhalothrin, imidacloprid, and spinetoram. Field trials and bioassays were completed from 2018 to 2021. Dose-response bioassays with acephate were performed on tobacco thrips field populations and a susceptible laboratory population. Bioassay results suggest that tobacco thrips have developed resistance to acephate and other organophosphate insecticides; however, this resistance seems to be most severe in Arkansas, Tennessee, and the Delta region of Mississippi. Resistance to other classes of insecticides were perhaps even more evident in these bioassays. The performance of these insecticides in field trials was variable, with tobacco thrips only showing consistent signs of resistance to lambda-cyhalothrin. However, it is evident that many populations of tobacco thrips are resistant to multiple classes of insecticides. Further research is needed to determine heritability and resistance mechanism(s)., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America.)

Overwintering success is an important determinant of arthropod populations that must be considered as climate change continues to influence the spatiotemporal population dynamics of agricultural pests. Using a long-term monitoring database and biologically relevant overwintering zones, we modeled the annual and seasonal population dynamics of a common pest, Helicoverpa zea (Boddie), based on three overwintering suitability zones throughout North America using four decades of soil temperatures: the southern range (able to persist through winter), transitional zone (uncertain overwintering survivorship), and northern limits (unable to survive winter). Our model indicates H. zea population dynamics are hierarchically structured with continental-level effects that are partitioned into three geographic zones. Seasonal populations were initially detected in the southern range, where they experienced multiple large population peaks. All three zones experienced a final peak between late July (southern range) and mid-August to mid-September (transitional zone and northern limits). The southern range expanded by 3% since 1981 and is projected to increase by twofold by 2099 but the areas of other zones are expected to decrease in the future. These changes suggest larger populations may persist at higher latitudes in the future due to reduced low-temperature lethal events during winter. Because H. zea is a highly migratory pest, predicting when populations accumulate in one region can inform synchronous or lagged population development in other regions. We show the value of combining long-term datasets, remotely sensed data, and laboratory findings to inform forecasting of insect pests.

Background: Intervertebral disc-associated epidural hemorrhage (EH) in dogs is a poorly understood neurological condition., Objective: To compare the clinical presentation, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) changes, and clinical outcome of dogs with acute thoracolumbar intervertebral disc herniation (TL-IVDH) with and without EH., Animals: One hundred sixty client-owned dogs that underwent MRI and hemilaminectomy for acute TL-IVDH at a private practice in Colorado, including 63 dogs with EH and 97 dogs without EH., Methods: Retrospective review of medical record data from 160 dogs presenting sequentially to a single practice with acute TL-IVDH that underwent MRI and hemilaminectomy surgery., Results: Sixty-three of 160 (39%) dogs had confirmed EH. French Bulldogs were significantly overrepresented (23/63; odds ratio [OR]: 4.1; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.8-9.0; P < .001) of the EH cases. Dogs with EH were more likely to present with clinical signs less than 48 hours than were dogs without EH (24-48 vs 48-72 hours; OR: 2.4; 95% CI: 1.2-4.6; P = .02) and were more likely to be nonambulatory on presentation (OR: 2.1; 95% CI: 1.0-4.1; P = .04). Dogs with EH were more likely to have <50% cross-sectional spinal cord compression than dogs without EH (OR: 2.3 vs. 0.4; 95% CI: 1.2-4.4 and 0.2-0.9, respectively), longer longitudinal spinal cord compression (3 spaces vs 1 space, P < .001), and greater intrinsic spinal cord change (grade 3/severe vs grade 1/mild; P < .001) based on MRI. The location of the intervertebral disc herniation in French Bulldogs with EH was more likely to be thoracolumbar (OR: 10.8; 95% CI: 2.1-55.7; P = .03)., Conclusions and Clinical Importance: French Bulldogs have a high prevalence of intervertebral disc-associated EH. Dogs with EH have a shorter clinical course and are more likely to be nonambulatory on initial presentation., (© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.)

Sorafenib is a multi-kinase small molecule inhibitor that targets serine/threonine and tyrosine kinases including the RAF kinase family, VEGFR-2, and PDGFR. The aim of this study was to evaluate the systemic pharmacokinetics of a previously defined tolerable oral dose of sorafenib in tumor-bearing dogs. Six client-owned dogs with a cytologic or histologic diagnosis of cancer were enrolled in this open-label, tolerability study. Dogs were administered sorafenib at an intended dose of 3 mg/kg and serum samples were obtained for analysis of sorafenib serum concentrations at 0, 1, 2, 6, 12, 24, 48, 72, 96, and 168 h post-drug administration. Median time to peak serum sorafenib concentration occurred at 4 h (range 2-12 h) resulting in an average serum concentration of 54.9 ± 33.5 ng/mL (118.2 ± 72.1 nM). Mean sorafenib levels declined by over 70% relative to peak serum concentrations by 24 h in all dogs, suggesting the value of at least twice daily administration. Doses of 3 mg/kg were well-tolerated and no patients in the study experienced adverse events that were attributable to sorafenib. Future trials in dogs with cancer are recommended at this dosing schedule to assess the effect of sorafenib administration on anti-tumor efficacy signals and relevant pharmacodynamic target modulation in vivo ., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Cawley, Stewart, Mochel, Veluvolu, Khanna and Fenger.)

From micro to planetary scales, spatial heterogeneity-patchiness-is ubiquitous in ecosystems, defining the environments in which organisms move and interact. However, most large-scale models still use spatially averaged 'mean fields' to represent natural populations, while fine-scale spatially explicit models are mostly restricted to particular organisms or systems. In a conceptual paper, Grünbaum (2012, Interface Focus 2: 150-155) introduced a heuristic, based on three dimensionless ratios quantifying movement, reproduction and resource consumption, to characterise patchy ecological interactions and identify when mean-field assumptions are justifiable. We calculated these dimensionless numbers for 33 interactions between consumers and their resource patches in terrestrial, aquatic and aerial environments. Consumers ranged in size from bacteria to whales, and patches lasted from minutes to millennia, with separation scales from mm to hundreds of km. No interactions could be accurately represented by naive mean-field models, though 19 (58%) could be partially simplified by averaging out movement, reproductive or consumption dynamics. Clustering interactions by their non-dimensional ratios revealed several unexpected dynamic similarities. For example, bacterial Pseudoalteromonas exploit nutrient plumes similarly to Mongolian gazelles grazing on ephemeral steppe vegetation. We argue that dimensional analysis is valuable for characterising ecological patchiness and can link widely different systems into a single quantitative framework., (© 2022 The Authors. Ecology Letters published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Comparative studies of naturally occurring canine cancers have provided new insight into many areas of cancer research. Development and validation of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) analysis in pet dogs can help address diagnostic needs in veterinary as well as human oncology. Dogs have high incidence of naturally occurring spontaneous cancers, demonstrate molecular heterogeneity and clonal evolution during therapy, allow serial sampling of blood from the same individuals during the course of disease progression, and have relatively compressed intervals for disease progression amenable to longitudinal studies. Here, we present a feasibility study of ctDNA analysis performed in 48 dogs including healthy dogs and dogs with either benign splenic lesions or malignant splenic tumors (hemangiosarcoma) using shallow whole genome sequencing (sWGS) of cell-free DNA. To enable detection and quantification of ctDNA using sWGS, we adapted two informatic approaches and compared their performance for the canine genome. At the time of initial clinical presentation, mean ctDNA fraction in dogs with malignant splenic tumors was 11.2%, significantly higher than dogs with benign lesions (3.2%; p = 0.001). ctDNA fraction was 14.3% and 9.0% in dogs with metastatic and localized disease, respectively (p = 0.227). In dogs treated with surgical resection of malignant tumors, mean ctDNA fraction decreased from 11.0% prior to resection to 7.9% post-resection (p = 0.047 for comparison of paired samples). Our results demonstrate that ctDNA analysis is feasible in dogs with hemangiosarcoma using a cost-effective approach such as sWGS. Additional studies are needed to validate these findings, and determine the role of ctDNA to assess burden of disease and treatment response in dogs with cancer., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Background: Diet-overlay bioassays suggest that Helicoverpa zea (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) field populations have developed resistance to some of the Bt insecticidal proteins that are constituents of the pyramids expressed in the second and third generation Bt cotton technologies. Unfortunately, these bioassays are not always a reliable indicator for how a seemingly resistant population will perform in an actual cotton field, and thus, leaf tissue bioassays have been suggested as a method to better assess field performance. However, bollworm larvae typically prefer to feed on floral tissue rather than leaf tissue, and an alternative cotton structure type may be more ideal for use in plant tissue-based bioassays. A series of diet-overlay bioassays using Bt proteins and Bt cotton plant tissue were conducted with laboratory susceptible (Bz-SS) and resistant (Cry-RR, resistant to Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab) H. zea strains to determine if plant tissue overlays could detect resistance and which cotton plant structure type would be most ideal for use in bioassays., Results: Results suggest that diet overlays using lyophilized plant tissue were able to detect resistance. Lyophilized tissue from white flowers was most ideal for use in bioassays, whereas tissue from non-Bt bolls and leaves affected larval health and behavior, confounding assay results., Conclusion: Overlays using white flower tissue could potentially be used to supplement Bt protein overlays and provide an improved assessment of larval performance on Bt cotton technologies. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.)

Widespread field-evolved resistance of bollworm [Helicoverpa zea (Boddie)] to Cry1 and Cry2 Bt proteins has threatened the utility of Bt cotton for managing bollworm. Consequently, foliar insecticide applications have been widely adopted to provide necessary additional control. Field experiments were conducted across the Mid-South and in Texas to devise economic thresholds for foliar insecticide applications targeting bollworm in cotton. Bt cotton technologies including TwinLink (TL; Cry1Ab+Cry2Ae), TwinLink Plus (TLP; Cry1Ab+Cry2Ae+Vip3Aa), Bollgard II (BG2; Cry1Ac+Cry2Ab), Bollgard 3 (BG3; Cry1Ac+Cry2Ab+Vip3Aa), WideStrike (WS; Cry1Ac+Cry1F), WideStrike 3 (WS3; Cry1Ac+Cry1F+Vip3Aa), and a non-Bt (NBT) variety were evaluated. Gain threshold, economic injury level, and economic thresholds were determined. A 6% fruiting form injury threshold was selected and compared with preventive treatments utilizing chlorantraniliprole. Additionally, the differences in yield from spraying bollworms was compared among Bt cotton technologies. The 6% fruiting form injury threshold resulted in a 25 and 75% reduction in insecticide applications relative to preventive sprays for WS and BG2, respectively. All Bt technologies tested in the current study exhibited a positive increase in yield from insecticide application. The frequency of yield increase from spraying WS was comparable to that of NBT. Significant yield increases due to insecticide application occurred less frequently in triple-gene Bt cotton. However, their frequencies were close to the dual-gene Bt cotton, except for WS. The results of our study suggest that 6% fruiting form injury is a viable threshold, and incorporating a vetted economic threshold into an Integrated Pest Management program targeting bollworm should improve the sustainability of cotton production., (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

The utilization of food resources by aquatic consumers reflects the structure and functioning of river food webs. In lotic water systems, where food availability and predator-prey relationships vary with gradient changes in physical conditions, understanding diet assimilation by local communities is important for ecosystem conservation. In the subtropical Liuxi River, southern China, the relative contribution of basal resources to the diet assimilation of functional feeding groups (FFGs) was determined by stable carbon ( 13 C) and nitrogen ( 15 N) isotope analyses. The output of Bayesian mixing models showed that diatom-dominated periphyton (epilithic biofilm), aquatic C 3 plants (submerged hydrophytes), and suspended particulate organic matter (SPOM) associated with terrestrial C 3 plants contributed the most to the diet assimilation of FFGs in the upper, middle, and lower reaches, respectively. The relative contribution of consumer diet assimilation was weighted by the biomass (wet weight, g/m 2 ) of each FFG to reflect resource utilization at the assemblage level. From the upper to the lower reaches, the spatial variation in the diet assimilation of fish and invertebrate assemblages could be summarized as a longitudinal decrease in periphyton (from 57%-76% to <3%) and an increase in SPOM (from <7% to 51%-68%) with a notable midstream increase in aquatic C 3 plants (23%-48%). These results indicate that instream consumers in the Liuxi River rely more on autochthonous production (e.g., periphyton and submerged hydrophytes) than on terrestrially derived allochthonous matter (e.g., terrestrial plants). The pattern of resource utilization by consumers in the mid-upper Liuxi River is consistent with findings from other open subtropical and neotropical rivers and provides evidence for the riverine productivity model. Our study indicates that protecting inherent producers in rivers (e.g., periphyton and submerged hydrophytes) and restoring their associated habitats (e.g., riffles with cobble substrate) are conducive to aquatic ecosystem management., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (© 2021 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Tropical and subtropical rivers are being subjected to multiple stressors from human disturbance (e.g., water pollution and habitat degradation). Understanding the relationship between environmental conditions and the river ecosystem is important for improving river management. We built 14 Ecopath models composed of 28 functional groups (trophic levels [TLs] of 1.0-3.8) along a subtropical urban river to explore the influence of environmental changes on system attributes. From headwaters to downstream, the model outputs showed that the transfer efficiency (TE), energy flow parameters, and ecosystem theory indices exhibited significant (P < 0.05) differences across a longitudinal gradient of disturbance, indicating heterogeneous attributes of local river segments. The high TE values of TLs I, II, and III separated the upper, middle, and lower reaches, respectively, which could be attributed to the shift in dominant consumption flows from upstream 'periphyton - aquatic insects - insectivorous fish' to midstream 'detritus - shrimp - crustaceavorous fish' and to downstream 'phytoplankton - filter-feeding invertebrates/fish'. Structural equation modelling was used to test the causal relationships among environmental variables and demonstrated that abiotic factors directly influenced biomass composition and indirectly influenced trophic networks. Water quality, including dissolved oxygen and flow velocity; habitat characteristics, such as riffles, cobble-gravel substrate, and seasonal floodplain; and biological indicators, including the relative contributions (%) of decapods, insectivorous fish, and insect scrapers to biomass composition, had significant (P < 0.05) positive impacts on system maturity (evaluated by omnivory, connectance, and cycling indices). In the future, it will be possible to evaluate the health of river ecosystems by monitoring representative environmental factors, which could be a cost-effective approach to system-level improvement., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To address the shortage of emergency veterinarians, the profession is exploring accelerated training pathways. We sought to contribute to the solution by developing the foundation for an open standard, competency-based veterinary emergency training curriculum for use by any program. We also developed a curricular delivery, tracking, and assessment system to demonstrate how the framework can be integrated into training programs.  DESIGN: Hybrid Delphi method.  SETTING: Academia and referral practice.  ANIMALS: None., Interventions: None., Measurements and Main Results: An emergency veterinary competency framework was developed by adapting the human Model of the Clinical Practice of Emergency Medicine, which aligns with the Competency-Based Veterinary Education framework, to produce 4 areas of core competency: Patient Care, Interpersonal/Communication, Professionalism, and Practice-based Learning/Improvement. A comprehensive list of veterinary emergency skills was generated and organized within the framework utilizing the hybrid Delphi method. An initial survey completed by 133 emergency and critical care specialists and emergency room clinicians produced data regarding the value of specific skills. An 11-member focus group consisting of survey participants iterated upon the survey results to produce a master library of skills and cases, including 56 Patient Care, 43 Interpersonal/Communication, 11 Practice-based Learning/Improvement, and 20 Professionalism skills, as well as 155 case types. The curricular delivery system tracks and assesses case management proficiency and development of knowledge and professional skills using a patient care eLearning program and simulation training environment.  CONCLUSIONS: The increasing need for emergency veterinarians is a shared industry-wide challenge. To contribute toward a collective solution, we have undergone an evidence-based process to create the foundation for an open standard competency framework composed of a library of skills and cases. We offer this open standard framework to the veterinary profession and hope it continues to grow and evolve as we drive toward developing competency-based training programs that address the shortage of emergency veterinarians., (© Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society 2021.)

Background: Necrotizing meningoencephalitis (NME, aka Pug dog encephalitis) is an inflammatory brain condition associated with advanced disease at initial presentation, rapid progression, and poor response to conventional immunomodulatory therapy., Hypothesis/objectives: That genetic risk for NME, defined by a common germline DNA haplotype located on chromosome 12, is associated with altered blood cytokine concentrations and leukocyte subsets in asymptomatic Pugs., Animals: Forty Pug dogs asymptomatic for NME from a hospital sample., Methods: Prospective observational cohort study, including germline genome-wide genotyping, plasma cytokine determination by multiplexed profiling, and leukocyte subset characterization by flow cytometric analysis., Results: Seven (18%) dogs were high risk, 10 (25%) medium risk, and 23 (58%) low risk for NME, giving a risk haplotype frequency of 30%. High and medium risk Pugs had significantly lower proportion of CD4+ T cells (median 22% [range, 7.3%-38%] vs 29% [range, 16%-41%], P = .03) and higher plasma IL-10 concentrations than low-risk Pugs (median 14.11 pg/mL [range, 9.66-344.19 pg/mL] vs 12.21 pg/mL [range, 2.59-18.53 pg/mL], P = .001). No other variables were significantly associated with the NME haplotype-based risk., Conclusions and Clinical Importance: These data suggest an immunological underpinning to NME and a biologic rationale for future clinical trials that investigate novel diagnostic, preventative, and therapeutic strategies for this disease., (© 2021 The Authors. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.)

Nearshore (littoral) habitats of clear lakes with high water quality are increasingly experiencing unexplained proliferations of filamentous algae that grow on submerged surfaces. These filamentous algal blooms (FABs) are sometimes associated with nutrient pollution in groundwater, but complex changes in climate, nutrient transport, lake hydrodynamics, and food web structure may also facilitate this emerging threat to clear lakes. A coordinated effort among members of the public, managers, and scientists is needed to document the occurrence of FABs, to standardize methods for measuring their severity, to adapt existing data collection networks to include nearshore habitats, and to mitigate and reverse this profound structural change in lake ecosystems. Current models of lake eutrophication do not explain this littoral greening. However, a cohesive response to it is essential for protecting some of the world's most valued lakes and the flora, fauna, and ecosystem services they sustain., (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Institute of Biological Sciences.)

Tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris Palisot de Beauvois (Hemiptera: Miridae), has become a primary pest of cotton in the Midsouthern United States. Insect growth regulators such as novaluron are an important part of L. lineolaris management. While novaluron is lethal to nymphs, it does not kill adults, so it has been used when nymphs are the primary stage present. However, cotton yield protection was observed from an application of novaluron when adults were the predominant stage present. To explain this, a series of studies were conducted to examine sublethal impacts of novaluron to L. lineolaris adults. Novaluron ingestion by adults reduced hatch rate and sometimes reduced oviposition rate. Ingestion by either males or females reduced hatch rates, but the reduction was greater from female exposure. Contact exposure of adults with novaluron residues within 1 d of application reduced hatch rate by about 50%, but the impact on oviposition was inconsistent. A field study showed reduced hatch rate from contact exposure to mixed-age natural populations, but the overall net reproductive rate was not reduced. Surface exposure of eggs to novaluron did not reduce hatch rate. Overall, exposure of tarnished plant bug adults to novaluron, regardless of adult age or exposure route, reduced egg viability. However, the impact on oviposition rate and net reproductive rate varied with adult age and exposure route. This understanding of sublethal impacts of novaluron, in addition to lethal impacts on nymphs, should be considered when choosing application times to maximize effects on L. lineolaris populations., (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Stable isotopes are increasingly used to detect and understand the impacts of environmental changes on riverine ecological properties. The δ 13 C and δ 15 N signatures of fish with different feeding habits were measured in a large subtropical river to evaluate how fish isotopic niches respond to environmental gradients and human disturbance. From basal resources to fish consumers, the high values of epilithic periphyton (biofilm) δ 13 C and suspended particulate organic matter δ 15 N concurrently determined the niche ranges and space (e.g., convex hull area) of fish communities. Along a longitudinal gradient (except in the industrial zone), the number of fish trophic guilds identified by Bayesian ellipses continuously increased; meanwhile, higher trophic diversity and less redundancy were observed near the lower reaches and estuary. Variance inflation factors were estimated to detect the multicollinearity of 40 environmental variables, 14 of which were selected as indicators. Relative importance (RI) analysis was used to evaluate the explanatory power of these indicators for the spatial variation in isotopic niche metrics; the results showed that riffle habitat area, water nitrate concentration, gravel-cobble substrate, and riparian buffer width were the 4 key environmental indicators (average RI > 12%) that determined the longitudinal pattern of fish isotopic niches. These findings suggested that community-level δ 13 C signatures are more responsive to changes in habitats (e.g., riffle) and substrates (e.g., gravel-cobble) supporting the productivity of autochthonous diatoms while δ 15 N signatures respond to water quality altered by nitrogen pollution from manure-fertilized farming and poultry livestock effluent. Furthermore, δ 15 N may be more robust and interpretable than δ 13 C as an isotopic indicator of ecosystem change in rivers exposed to multiple or complex anthropogenic stressors., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Haemoperitoneum secondary to ruptured splenic tumours can be either benign or malignant in origin. The majority of previous studies of canine haemoperitoneum have been retrospective, which are associated with well-recognized biases, such as the potential to underappreciate the diversity of outcomes in a complex presentation such as haemoperitoneum. This study seeks to prospectively define perioperative morbidity and mortality of haemoperitoneum in dogs secondary to ruptured splenic masses. Forty dogs with haemoperitoneum secondary to a ruptured splenic mass met the inclusion criteria. As expected, the cohort predominately consisted of older large breed dogs. All dogs underwent preoperative staging and had a splenectomy performed. Histopathologic analysis was performed on the splenic mass, as well as any possible metastatic lesions that were noted intra-operatively. Perioperative care outside of splenectomy was delivered in specialty practices using current conventional approaches to care (eg, transfusions and anti-arrhythmic medications). Fifteen dogs (37.5%) had benign splenic tumours and were cured with surgery alone, whereas 62.5% had malignant disease (most often haemangiosarcoma [HSA]). Surgical outcomes were highly favourable in the vast majority of dogs. Indeed, 38 dogs (95%) survived and were discharged after a median hospitalization of 39.5 hours. Independent predictors of longer hospitalization times included receiving a transfusion and the development of an arrhythmia. Although small, this cohort defines distinctive and optimistic perspectives for dogs with haemoperitoneum from splenic tumour rupture. These favourable outcomes from this prospective study are sufficient to ask if larger prospective studies should be conducted to better inform owners during this challenging cancer emergency presentation., (© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Isotopic niches reflect the basic structure and functioning of river food webs; however, their response to riverine environments remains unclear. We used stable isotope analysis and community-wide metrics to quantify how invertebrate niches vary with environmental changes along a large subtropical river in China. Eight niche metrics, which had higher values in the wet than in the dry season, increased from headwaters to the middle river and decreased sharply near the estuarine industrial zones. The δ 13 C value of > - 23.8‰, which indicated consumption of epilithic diatoms, separated the invertebrates between the upper and mid-lower reaches. The δ 15 N values > 9.4‰ identified site-specific nitrogen sources from manure (e.g., animal effluent) and domestic sewage in agricultural area. The output of mixing models showed a downstream shift in carbon utilization by invertebrates from autochthonous periphyton and submerged hydrophytes to allochthonous C3 plants. Principle component (PC) and cluster analysis decomposed and grouped 40 environmental variables into 4 PCs that explained 84.5% of the total variance. Hierarchical partitioning revealed that the second and first PCs, which were driven mainly by biological indicators and habitat characteristics, had the highest explanatory power for niche ranges and areas (e.g., Bayesian ellipse), respectively. Our results suggest that reducing anthropogenic pressures (e.g., habitat loss and water pollution) on river ecosystems through measures, such as protecting diatom-dominated biofilms in riffles and controlling nitrogen loading in rural regions, may produce the greatest impact for river management. Graphical abstract.

Study Objective: High-sensitivity cardiac troponin assays enable myocardial infarction to be excluded in the emergency department (ED). As part of a prospective clinical trial, we explore how introducing an early rule-out pathway may affect patient experience of chest pain., Methods: In a qualitative study, participants presenting to the ED with suspected acute coronary syndrome, and for whom the diagnosis of myocardial infarction was excluded, were interviewed before (n=23) or after (n=26) implementation of an early rule-out pathway. Preimplementation, diagnosis of myocardial infarction was excluded on serial troponin testing requiring admission to the hospital. Postimplementation, diagnosis could be excluded in the ED, enabling direct patient discharge. Semistructured interviews exploring the patients' illness experience were conducted approximately 1 week postdischarge, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed thematically. Themes emerging pre- and postimplementation are described., Results: Common themes emerged across both pathways: participants commonly sought health care advice before presenting to the ED; a discordance may exist between the objective interpretation of troponin results by clinicians and the patients' experience of illness; and pretest information, trust in the clinician, and active listening may enhance reassurance gained from negative test results. Other themes related to the care pathway were that routine care procedures appeared to be a source of frustration for participants requiring hospital admission, and patients assessed with the early rule-out pathway appeared less likely to appraise their future health status., Conclusion: The early rule-out of myocardial infarction may be enhanced by recognition of patient out-of-hospital experience and improved communication surrounding reassurance and future cardiovascular health goals., (Copyright © 2019 American College of Emergency Physicians. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

In this study, we present phenotypic and genetic data characterizing the impact of imidacloprid and caging stress on honey bee Apis mellifera physiological responses and regulation of 45 genes using targeted-RNA seq. The term 'caging stress' characterizes the effects of depriving honey bees of all hive aspects and conditions. Two cohorts of 1 day old sister bees were subjected to different conditions. One cohort was caged and fed different imidacloprid-tainted sugar solutions and the second was marked and introduced back to its natal hive. Physiological bee parameters and diet behavior were monitored daily for caged bees over several weeks. Bee samples from both cohorts were sampled weekly for RNA sequencing and oxidative stress analyses. Imidacloprid induced significant protein damage and post-ingestive aversion responses in caged bees, leading to lower tainted syrup consumption and higher water intake compared with the controls. No differentially expressed genes were observed among caged bees in regards to imidacloprid treatment. However, significant upregulation in antioxidant genes was recorded in caged bees as compared with hive bees, with overwhelming downregulation in all gene categories in caged bees at week 4. We identified two sets of genes that were constantly regulated in caged bees, including Rsod with unknown function in insects that could potentially characterize caging stress in honey bees., Competing Interests: Competing interestsThe authors declare no competing or financial interests., (© 2019. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.)

Background Sex-specific criteria are recommended for the diagnosis of myocardial infarction, but the impact of these on presenting characteristics is unknown. Methods and Results We evaluated patient-reported symptoms in 1941 patients (39% women) with suspected acute coronary syndrome attending the emergency department in a substudy of a prospective trial. Standardized criteria defined typical and atypical presentations based on pain nature, location, radiation, and additional symptoms. Diagnosis of myocardial infarction was adjudicated using a high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I assay with sex-specific thresholds (>16 ng/L women, >34 ng/L men). Patients identified who were missed by the contemporary assay with a uniform threshold (≥50 ng/L) were reclassified by this approach. Type 1 myocardial infarction was diagnosed in 16% (184/1185) of men and 12% (90/756) of women, with 9 (5%) men and 27 (30%) women reclassified using high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I and sex-specific thresholds. Chest pain was the presenting symptom in 91% (1081/1185) of men and 92% (698/756) of women. Typical symptoms were more common in women than in men with myocardial infarction (77% [69/90] versus 59% [109/184]; P=0.007), and differences were similar in those reclassified (74% [20/27] versus 44% [4/9]; P=0.22). The presence of ≥3 typical features was associated with a positive likelihood ratio for the diagnosis of myocardial infarction in women (positive likelihood ratio, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.03-1.31) but not in men (positive likelihood ratio 1.09; 95% CI, 0.96-1.24). Conclusions Typical symptoms are more common and have greater predictive value in women than in men with myocardial infarction whether or not they are diagnosed using sex-specific criteria. Clinical Trial Registration URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier NCT01852123.

Honey bees forage across a large area, continually scouting the local landscape for ephemeral food resources. Beekeepers often rely on flowering plants in and around irrigated farmland to maintain their colonies during dry seasons, despite the potential risk of pesticide exposure. Recent declines in pollinator abundance and diversity have focused attention on the role of pesticides and their effects on honey bee health. This investigation examined two types of landscapes within a two-mile (3.2 km) radius of honey bee colonies: an intensive agricultural setting and a rural setting without intensive agriculture. More than 10,000 acres of agricultural land was surveyed to quantify the area of cultivated crops and the area treated with pesticides, including seed treatments and foliar applications of insecticides. Samples of honey, bee bread (stored pollen), beeswax, and adult bees were collected from hives in both landscape types and screened for pesticide residues to determine if foraging bees were transporting pesticides to hives. Some samples of bee bread and honey did contain pesticide residues, but these were below known lethal dose (LD 50 ) levels for honey bees. Beeswax samples contained the highest levels of contamination, but most were still relatively low. Samples were screened for 174 common agricultural pesticides and metabolites, but only 26 compounds were detected during the two-year study. These included one defoliant, one insect growth regulator, five herbicides, six fungicides, six insecticides never used in beekeeping, and five insecticides/miticides and their metabolites, which are used in beekeeping and for various other agricultural purposes, as well as two miticides exclusively used by beekeepers to control Varroa destructor . Bee colonies foraging in agricultural landscapes are potentially exposed to numerous pesticide applications. While the residues detected in this study did not pose an acute lethal risk to adult honey bees, this study did not measure sublethal effects on bee colony health or performance, which merit further investigation.

Thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) and tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris (Hemiptera: Miridae), are among the most important insect pests of cotton, Gosssypium hirsutum, in the mid-southern United States. These pests are currently managed primarily by insecticides; however, a new Bt toxin, Cry51Aa2.834&#95;16 is under evaluation for control of thrips and tarnished plant bug. Experiments were conducted to evaluate the behavioral response of thrips and tarnished plant bug to Bt Cry51Aa2.834&#95;16. Adult thrips avoided Bt Cry51Aa2.834&#95;16 cotton in field choice tests and in separate field tests of Bt and non-Bt cotton not treated with insecticides. In a greenhouse choice test, approximately twice as many adult thrips and eggs were found on non-Bt compared with Bt Cry51Aa2.834&#95;16 cotton. Similarly, in a field test of nontreated Bt Cry51Aa2.834&#95;16 and non-Bt cotton, 68% of adult thrips collected were found on non-Bt cotton. In cotton that was not sprayed with insecticides, Bt Cry51Aa2.834&#95;16 did not affect the distribution of tarnished plant bug within the canopy, although more square and flower injury was caused by tarnished plant bug in non-Bt cotton. Adult tarnished plant bug exhibited a nonpreference for diet containing lyophilized Bt Cry51Aa2.834&#95;16 leaves and for excised Bt Cry51Aa2.834&#95;16 squares in choice tests with non-Bt squares. The behavioral responses of these pests when exposed to this new Bt toxin will play a key role in the efficacy and potential resistance management strategies if this new technology is incorporated in an overall cotton insect pest management system., (© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America.)

Objective: To provide a review on the current use of antimicrobials with a discussion on the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profiles of antimicrobials in critically ill patients, the challenges of drug resistance, the use of diagnostic testing to direct therapy, and the selection of the most likely efficacious antimicrobial protocol., Etiology: Patients in the intensive care unit often possess profound pathophysiologic changes that can complicate antimicrobial therapy. Although many antimicrobials have known pharmacodynamic profiles, critical illness can cause wide variations in their pharmacokinetics. The two principal factors affecting pharmacokinetics are volume of distribution and drug clearance. Understanding the interplay between critical illness, drug pharmacokinetics, and antimicrobial characteristics (ie, time-dependent vs concentration-dependent) may improve antimicrobial efficacy and patient outcome., Diagnosis: Utilizing bacterial culture and susceptibility can aid in identifying drug resistant infections, selecting the most appropriate antimicrobials, and hindering the future development of drug resistance., Therapy: Having a basic knowledge of antimicrobial function and how to use diagnostics to direct therapeutic treatment is paramount in managing this patient population. Diagnostic testing is not always available at the time of initiation of antimicrobial therapy, so empiric selections are often necessary. These empiric choices should be made based on the location of the infection and the most likely infecting bacteria., Prognosis: Studies have demonstrated the importance of moving away from a "one dose fits all" approach to antimicrobial therapy. Instead there has been a move toward an individualized approach that takes into consideration the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic variabilities that can occur in critically ill patients., (© Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society 2019.)

By the end of 2017, kudzu bug was reported in 652 counties in the United States since it was first observed in Georgia in 2009. Modeling its invasion dynamics is valuable to guide management through early detection and prevention of further invasion. Herein, we initially estimated the spread rate of kudzu bug with county-level invasion records and then determined important spatial factors affecting its spread during years 2010-2016. As kudzu bug infests a large heterogeneous area and shows asymmetric spread, we first utilized spatially constrained clustering (SCC), an unsupervised machine learning method, to divide the infested area into eight spatially contiguous and environmentally homogenous neighborhoods. We then used distance regression and boundary displacement methods to estimate the spread rates in all neighborhoods. Finally, we applied multiple regression to determine spatial factors influencing the spread of kudzu bug. The average spread rate reached 76 km/yr by boundary displacement method; however, the rate varied largely among eight neighborhoods (45-144 km/yr). In the southern region of the infested area, host plant density and wind speed were positively associated with the spread rate, whereas mean annual temperature, precipitation in the fall, and elevation had inverse relationships. In the northern region, January minimum temperature, wind speed, and human population density showed positive relationships. This study increases the knowledge on the spread dynamics of kudzu bug. Our research highlights the utility of SCC to determine natural clustering in a large heterogeneous region for better modeling of local spread patterns and determining important factors affecting the invasions., (© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Background: Plant bugs (Lygus spp.) and thrips (Thrips spp.) are two of the most economically important insect pest groups impacting cotton production in the USA today, but are not controlled by current transgenic cotton varieties. Thus, seed or foliar-applied chemical insecticides are typically required to protect cotton from these pest groups. Currently, these pests are resistant to several insecticides, resulting in fewer options for economically viable management. Previous publications documented the efficacy of transgenic cotton event MON 88702 against plant bugs and thrips in limited laboratory and field studies. Here, we report results from multi-location and multi-year field studies demonstrating efficacy provided by MON 88702 against various levels of these pests., Results: MON 88702 provided a significant reduction in numbers of Lygus nymphs and subsequent yield advantage. MON 88702 also had fewer thrips and minimal injury. The level of control demonstrated by this transgenic trait was significantly better compared with its non-transgenic near-isoline, DP393, receiving insecticides at current commercial rates., Conclusion: The level of efficacy demonstrated here suggests that MON 88702, when incorporated into existing IPM programs, could become a valuable additional tool for management of Lygus and thrips in cotton agroecosystems experiencing challenges of resistance to existing chemical control strategies. © 2018 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2018 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.)

Several species of aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae) infesting wheat may reduce yield by the transmission of barley yellow dwarf (BYD). Neonicotinoid seed treatments and foliar application of insecticides are two common methods to control aphid infestations and reduce BYD. An analysis was carried out across 33 insecticide efficacy tests performed in west Tennessee during the last 11 yr to determine how insecticide seed treatments and/or a late-winter foliar insecticide application affected aphid populations, incidence of BYD, and yield. A significant decrease in springtime aphid populations and incidence of BYD was observed when using a seed treatment, a foliar insecticide application, or both. Average wheat yields were increased by 280-381 kg/ha (5.3-7.2%) if an insecticide seed treatment was used or when a foliar insecticide application was made. Compared with insecticide seed treatments, average springtime aphid populations and the incidence of BYD were lower when a foliar insecticide was applied. A foliar insecticide application made in addition to insecticide seed treatments increased yield by an average of 196 kg/ha (3.4%). The yield increases over the nontreated control suggest that wheat growers in west Tennessee can use insecticides to manage aphids and prevent transmission of BYD. Consideration of environmental conditions, whether or not insecticide seed treatments were used, and scouting can be used to help make decisions on when or if to apply foliar insecticides.

Field experiments were conducted in 2016 and 2017 in Tennessee to evaluate the effects of a novel Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt)-transgenic toxin, Bt Cry51Aa2.834&#95;16, on thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) and tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris (Palisot De Beauvois) (Hemiptera: Miridae), in cotton. Protection from thrips injury with the Bt trait was as good or better than an insecticide-based approach. The use of the Bt trait resulted in reduced numbers of immature tarnished plant bug, particularly large nymphs, and partial protection from plant bug injury. Cotton that expressed Bt Cry51Aa2.834&#95;16 had greater yields than the non-Bt isoline when insecticides were not used. Although Bt Cry51Aa2.834&#95;16 reduced the need for insecticide applications, foliar-applied insecticide applications were needed to provide adequate plant protection from tarnished plant bug. The currently recommended treatment thresholds for tarnished plant bug performed similarly well for Bt Cry51Aa2.834&#95;16 and non-Bt isolines. Insecticide applications for tarnished plant bug increased fiber quality, while Bt Cry51Aa2.834&#95;16 had minor effects. The Bt-transgenic toxin Cry51Aa2.834&#95;16 is expected to reduce the need for insecticide applications targeting thrips and tarnished plant bug and could be a valuable addition to an overall insect management program in cotton.

In order to study the in situ effects of the agricultural landscape and exposure to pesticides on honey bee health, sixteen honey bee colonies were placed in four different agricultural landscapes. Those landscapes were three agricultural areas with varying levels of agricultural intensity (AG areas) and one non-agricultural area (NAG area). Colonies were monitored for different pathogen prevalence and pesticide residues over a period of one year. RT-qPCR was used to study the prevalence of seven different honey bee viruses as well as Nosema sp. in colonies located in different agricultural systems with various intensities of soybean, corn, sorghum, and cotton production. Populations of the parasitic mite Varroa destructor were also extensively monitored. Comprehensive MS-LC pesticide residue analyses were performed on samples of wax, honey, foragers, winter bees, dead bees, and crop flowers for each apiary and location. A significantly higher level of varroa loads were recorded in colonies of the AG areas, but this at least partly correlated with increased colony size and did not necessarily result from exposure to pesticides. Infections of two viruses (deformed wing virus genotype a (DWVa) and acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV)) and Nosema sp. varied among the four studied locations. The urban location significantly elevated colony pathogen loads, while AG locations significantly benefited and increased the colony weight gain. Cotton and sorghum flowers contained high concentrations of insecticide including neonicotinoids, while soybean and corn had less pesticide residues. Several events of pesticide toxicity were recorded in the AG areas, and high concentrations of neonicotinoid insecticides were detected in dead bees.

Corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea (Boddie), commonly infests field corn, Zea mays (L.). The combination of corn plant biology, corn earworm behavior in corn ecosystems, and field corn value renders corn earworm management with foliar insecticides noneconomical. Corn technologies containing Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) Berliner (Bacillales: Bacillaceae) were introduced that exhibit substantial efficacy against corn earworm and may reduce mycotoxin contamination in grain. The first generation Bt traits in field corn demonstrated limited activity on corn earworm feeding on grain. The pyramided corn technologies have greater cumulative protein concentrations and higher expression throughout the plant, so these corn traits should provide effective management of this pest. Additionally, reduced kernel injury may affect physical grain quality. Experiments were conducted during 2011-2012 to investigate corn earworm impact on field corn yield and grain quality. Treatments included field corn hybrids expressing the Herculex, YieldGard, and Genuity VT Triple Pro technologies. Supplemental insecticide treatments were applied every 1-2 d from silk emergence until silk senescence to create a range of injured kernels for each technology. No significant relationship between the number of corn earworm damaged kernels and yield was observed for any technology/hybrid. In these studies, corn earworm larvae did not cause enough damage to impact yield. Additionally, no consistent relationship between corn earworm damage and aflatoxin contamination was observed. Based on these data, the economic value of pyramided Bt corn traits to corn producers, in the southern United States, appears to be from management of other lepidopteran insect pests including European and southwestern corn borer.

Neonicotinoid seed treatments are one of several effective control options used in corn, Zea mays L., production in the Mid-South for early season insect pests. An analysis was performed on 91 insecticide seed treatment trials from Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee to determine the value of neonicotinoids in corn production systems. The analysis compared neonicotinoid insecticide treated seed plus a fungicide to seed only with the same fungicide. When analyzed by state, corn yields were significantly higher when neonicotinoid seed treatments were used compared to fungicide only treated seed in Louisiana and Mississippi. Corn seed treated with neonicotinoid seed treatments yielded 111, 1,093, 416, and 140 kg/ha, higher than fungicide only treatments for Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee, respectively. Across all states, neonicotinoid seed treatments resulted in a 700 kg/ha advantage compared to fungicide only treated corn seed. Net returns for corn treated with neonicotinoid seed treatment were $1,446/ha compared with $1,390/ha for fungicide only treated corn seed across the Mid-South. Economic returns for neonicotinoid seed treated corn were significantly greater than fungicide-only-treated corn seed in 8 out of 14 yr. When analyzed by state, economic returns for neonicotinoid seed treatments were significantly greater than fungicide-only-treated seed in Louisiana. In some areas, dependent on year, neonicotinoid seed treatments provide significant yield and economic benefits in Mid-South corn., (© The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Neonicotinoid insecticides are currently one of two classes of chemicals available as a seed treatment for growers to manage early season insect pests of cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L. (Malvales: Malvaceae), and they are used on nearly 100% of cotton hectares in the midsouthern states. An analysis was performed on 100 seed-treatment trials from Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee to determine the value of neonicotinoid seed treatments in cotton production systems. The analysis compared seed treated with neonicotinoid insecticides seed treatments plus a fungicide with seed only treated with fungicide. When analyzed by state, cotton yields were significantly greater when neonicotinoid seed treatments were used compared with fungicide-only treatments. Cotton treated with neonicotinoid seed treatments yielded 123, 142, 95, and 104 kg ha-1, higher than fungicide only treatments for Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee, respectively. Across all states, neonicotinoid seed treatments provided an additional 115 kg lint ha-1 comparedwith fungicide only treated seed. Average net returns from cotton with a neonicotinoid seed treatment were $1,801 per ha-1 compared with $1,660 per ha-1 for cottonseed treated with fungicide only. Economic returns for cotton with neonicotinoid seed treatments were significantly greater than cottonseed treated with fungicide only in 8 out of 15 yr representing every state. These data show that neonicotinoid seed treatments provide significant yield and economic benefits in Mid-South cotton compared with fungicide only treated seed., (© The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Introduction: Several European studies suggest that some patients with appendicitis can be treated safely with antibiotics. A portion of patients eventually undergo appendectomy within a year, with 10%-15% failing to respond in the initial period and a similar additional proportion with suspected recurrent episodes requiring appendectomy. Nearly all patients with appendicitis in the USA are still treated with surgery. A rigorous comparative effectiveness trial in the USA that is sufficiently large and pragmatic to incorporate usual variations in care and measures the patient experience is needed to determine whether antibiotics are as good as appendectomy., Objectives: The Comparing Outcomes of Antibiotic Drugs and Appendectomy (CODA) trial for acute appendicitis aims to determine whether the antibiotic treatment strategy is non-inferior to appendectomy., Methods/analysis: CODA is a randomised, pragmatic non-inferiority trial that aims to recruit 1552 English-speaking and Spanish-speaking adults with imaging-confirmed appendicitis. Participants are randomised to appendectomy or 10 days of antibiotics (including an option for complete outpatient therapy). A total of 500 patients who decline randomisation but consent to follow-up will be included in a parallel observational cohort. The primary analytic outcome is quality of life (measured by the EuroQol five dimension index) at 4 weeks. Clinical adverse events, rate of eventual appendectomy, decisional regret, return to work/school, work productivity and healthcare utilisation will be compared. Planned exploratory analyses will identify subpopulations that may have a differential risk of eventual appendectomy in the antibiotic treatment arm., Ethics and Dissemination: This trial was approved by the University of Washington's Human Subjects Division. Results from this trial will be presented in international conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals., Trial Registration Number: NCT02800785., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.)

Sixteen honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) colonies were placed in four different agricultural landscapes to study the effects of agricultural landscape and exposure to pesticides on honey bee health. Colonies were located in three different agricultural areas with varying levels of agricultural intensity (AG areas) and one nonagricultural area (NAG area). Colonies were monitored for their performance and productivity for one year by measuring colony weight changes, brood production, and colony thermoregulation. Palynological and chemical analyses were conducted on the trapped pollen collected from each colony and location. Our results indicate that the landscape's composition significantly affected honey bee colony performance and development. Colony weight and brood production were significantly greater in AG areas compared to the NAG area. Better colony thermoregulation in AG areas' colonies was also observed. The quantities of pesticides measured in the trapped pollen were relatively low compared to their acute toxicity. Unexplained queen and colony losses were recorded in the AG areas, while colony losses because of starvation were observed in the NAG area. Our results indicate that landscape with high urban activity enhances honey bee brood production, with no significant effects on colony weight gain. Our study indicates that agricultural crops provide a valuable resource for honey bee colonies, but there is a trade-off with an increased risk of exposure to pesticides., (© The Authors 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

IN BRIEF Nonadherence to diabetes medications is a primary contributor to health complications and avoidable hospitalizations. This article discusses the evidence for taking a person-centered (as opposed to illness-centered) approach to promoting medication adherence among diabetes patients, provides suggestions for ways in which diabetes clinicians can best promote medication adherence, and argues for needed changes in how health care systems support providers in their efforts at adherence promotion.