Quantifying the impact of Psylliodes chrysocephala injury on the productivity of oilseed rape.

BACKGROUND: Current European Union and United Kingdom legislation prohibits the use of neonicotinoid insecticidal seed treatments in oilseed rape (OSR, Brassica napus). This ban, and the reduction in efficacy of pyrethroid insecticide sprays due to resistance, has exacerbated pest pressure from the cabbage stem flea beetle (Psylliodes chrysocephala) in winter OSR. We quantified the direct impact of P. chrysocephala injury on the productivity of OSR. Leaf area was removed from young plants to simulate differing intensities of adult feeding injury alone or in combination with varying larval infestation levels. RESULTS: OSR can compensate for up to 90% leaf area loss at early growth stages, with no meaningful effect on yield. Significant impacts were observed with high infestations of more than five larvae per plant; plants were shorter, produced fewer flowers and pods, with fewer seeds per pod which had lower oil content and higher glucosinolate content. Such effects were not recorded when five larvae or fewer were present. CONCLUSION: These data confirm the yield-limiting potential of the larval stages of P. chrysocephala but suggest that the current action thresholds which trigger insecticide application for both adult and larval stages (25% leaf area loss and five larvae/plant, respectively) are potentially too low as they are below the physiological injury level where plants can fully compensate for damage. Further research in field conditions is needed to define physiological thresholds more accurately as disparity may result in insecticide applications that are unnecessary to protect yield and may in turn exacerbate the development and spread of insecticide resistance in P. chrysocephala. © 2023 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Banker Plant Bonuses? The Benefits and Risks of Including Brassicas in Field Margins to Promote Conservation Biocontrol of Specialist Pests in Oilseed Rape.

European agri-environment schemes include the use of flower-rich field margins to promote on-farm biodiversity, but species mixtures rarely include Brassicaceae. As pests of oilseed rape (OSR; Brassica napus) and their parasitoids are mostly brassica specialists, including brassica 'banker plants' in the mixtures would help support these important biocontrol agents and improve pest control throughout the crop rotation. We assessed the potential of six brassicaceous plants (replicated plots grown in the field) to enhance populations of parasitoids of OSR pests whilst minimising proliferation of their pest hosts. Fodder radish (Raphanus sativus) facilitated high production of parasitoids of the pollen beetle pest (Brassicogethes aeneus) but may proliferate Ceutorhynchus weevil pests due to low parasitism. Turnip rape (B. rapa) and the B. rapa hybrid 'Tyfon' showed potential to perform a trap cropping function for pests, but their early flowering phenology resulted in B. aeneus larvae escaping parasitisation, potentially assisting proliferation of this pest. Forage rape B. napus exhibited similarly high B. aeneus parasitoid production characteristics to R. sativus but did not potentiate problems with other pests, indicating that it would be a favourable banker plant option. Careful selection of plants in field margin mixtures is therefore needed to maximise their benefits and ideally the whole crop pest-beneficial complex needs to be studied, as focus on a single major pest risks unintended consequences with other pest problems.

Quantifying inherent predictability and spatial synchrony in the aphid vector Myzus persicae: field-scale patterns of abundance and regional forecasting error in the UK.

BACKGROUND: Sugar beet is threatened by virus yellows, a disease complex vectored by aphids that reduces sugar content. We present an analysis of Myzus persicae population dynamics with and without neonicotinoid seed treatment. We use 6 years' yellow water trap and field-collected aphid data and two decades of 12.2 m suction-trap aphid migration data. We investigate both spatial synchrony and forecasting error to understand the structure and spatial scale of field counts and why forecasting aphid migrants lacks accuracy. Our aim is to derive statistical parameters to inform regionwide pest management strategies. RESULTS: Spatial synchrony, indicating the coincident change in counts across the region over time, is rarely present and is best described as stochastic. Uniquely, early season field populations in 2019 did show spatial synchrony to 90 km compared to the overall average weekly correlation length of 23 km. However, 70% of the time series were spatially heterogenous, indicating patchy between-field dynamics. Field counts lacked the same seasonal trend and did not peak in the same week. Forecasts tended to under-predict mid-season log10 counts. A strongly negative correlation between forecasting error and the proportion of zeros was shown. CONCLUSION: Field populations are unpredictable and stochastic, regardless of neonicotinoid seed treatment. This outcome presents a problem for decision-support that cannot usefully provide a single regionwide solution. Weighted permutation entropy inferred that M. persicae 12.2 m suction-trap time series had moderate to low intrinsic predictability. Early warning using a migration model tended to predict counts at lower levels than observed. © 2022 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Empowering Public Health Pharmacy Practice-Moving from Collaborative Practice Agreements to Provider Status in the U.S.

This article describes the history and evolution of pharmacist-physician collaborative practice agreements (CPAs) in the United States with future directions to support pharmacists' provider status as the profession continues to evolve from product-oriented to patient-centered care and population health. The pharmacy profession has a long history of dispensing and compounding, with the addition of clinical roles in the late 20th century. These clinical roles have continued to expand into diverse arenas such as communicable and non-communicable diseases, antimicrobial stewardship, emergency preparedness and response, public health education and health promotion, and critical and emergency care. Pharmacists continue to serve as integral members of interprofessional and interdisciplinary healthcare teams. In this context, CPAs allow pharmacists to expand their roles in patient care and may be considered as a step towards securing provider status. Moving beyond CPAs to a provider status would enable pharmacists to be reimbursed for cognitive services and promote integrated public health delivery models.

Pharmacy Emergency Preparedness and Response (PEPR): a proposed framework for expanding pharmacy professionals' roles and contributions to emergency preparedness and response during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Background: Pharmacists have long been involved in public health and emergency preparedness and response (EP&R), including through preventive measures such as screening, vaccinations, testing, medical and pharmaceutical countermeasures, as well as ensuring medication safety and access during natural disasters and pandemics. Pharmacy professionals are considered essential partners in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Community and hospital pharmacies are expanding services and hours to provide essential services, putting pharmacists and their co-workers at the frontlines for patient care and safety to improve public health. In addition, pharmacy professionals are increasingly integrating into global, national, state and local EP&R efforts, including into interprofessional teams, such as Medical Reserve Corps (MRCs). However, lacunae exist for further integration of pharmacists into public health and safety initiatives. There are increasing opportunities and recommendations that should be expanded upon to provide improved patient care and population health interventions, and to ensure healthcare worker and public health safety. Objective: Develop a Pharmacy Emergency Preparedness and Response (PEPR) Framework and recommendations for pharmacy professional pathways towards full integration within public health EP&R efforts (such as the COVID-19 pandemic), and enhanced recognition of pharmacists' skills, roles and contributions as integral members of the interprofessional healthcare team. Methods: This paper draws on the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) 2003 Statement on the Role of Health-System Pharmacists in Emergency Preparedness and lessons learned from previous and current public health emergencies, such as the 2009 H1N1 pandemic and the current COVID-19 pandemic, to provide expanded guidance for pharmacists and pharmacy professionals across all practice settings in EP&R. The proposed PEPR framework also incorporates information and recommendations from The Pharmacy Organizations' Joint Policy Recommendations to Combat the COVID-19 Pandemic (March 2020), CDC-NIOSH, International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) Guidance, health departments and emergency preparedness guidance and resources, Boards of Pharmacy, and other pharmacy professional organizations and educational institutions. Results: Based on methods and resources utilized in developing this proposed PEPR Framework, five key focus areas were identified, as follows:1)Emergency preparedness and response2)Operations management3)Patient care and population health interventions4)Public health pharmacy education and continuing professional education5)Evaluation, research, and dissemination for impact and outcomes. Conclusion: Pharmacists and pharmacy professionals have been at the frontlines in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, challenges remain, such as limited availability of personal protection equipment, high risk of infectious exposures inherent in healthcare professions, and legislative hurdles resulting in lack of provider status and related reimbursements. Recommendations to enhance pharmacy's scope as public health professionals involved in EP&R include targeted training and education on key framework areas and policymaking. Pharmacy professionals should further integrate with interdisciplinary public health teams. Additional research and dissemination on impacts and outcomes of EP&R can enhance recognition of pharmacy professionals' contribution and value during public health emergencies. The proposed PEPR Framework can be utilized to develop, implement, evaluate, and disseminate results in order to strengthen existing efforts and to establish new initiatives in EP&R.

Characterisation of bird cherry-oat aphid (Rhopalosiphum padi L.) behaviour and aphid host preference in relation to partially resistant and susceptible wheat landraces.

The bird cherry-oat aphid (Rhopalosiphum padi L.) is a major pest of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and can cause up to 30% yield losses. Heritable plant resistance to aphids is both an economically and ecologically sound method for managing aphids. Here we report how the behaviour and performance of R. padi differs on two resistant, one susceptible wheat landrace and a susceptible elite wheat variety. Feeding behaviour differed among the genotypes, with aphids on resistant lines spending longer in the pathway phase and less time phloem feeding. These behaviours suggest that both inter- and intracellular factors encountered during pathway and phloem feeding phases could be linked to the observed aphid resistance. Locomotion and antennal positioning choice tests also revealed a clear preference for susceptible lines. Although feeding studies revealed differences in the first probe indicating that the resistance factors might also be located in the peripheral layers of the plant tissue, scanning electron microscopy revealed no difference in trichrome length and density on the surface of leaves. Aphids are phloem feeders and limiting the nutrient uptake by the aphids may negatively affect their growth and development as shown here in lower weight and survival of nymphs on resistant genotypes and decreased reproductive potential, with lowest mean numbers of nymphs produced by aphids on W064 (54.8) compared to Solstice (71.9). The results indicate that resistant lines markedly alter the behaviour, reproduction and development potential of R. padi and possess both antixenosis and antibiosis type of resistance.

Oilseed rape (Brassica napus) as a resource for farmland insect pollinators: quantifying floral traits in conventional varieties and breeding systems.

Oilseed rape (OSR; Brassica napus L.) is a major crop in temperate regions and provides an important source of nutrition to many of the yield-enhancing insect flower visitors that consume floral nectar. The manipulation of mechanisms that control various crop plant traits for the benefit of pollinators has been suggested in the bid to increase food security, but little is known about inherent floral trait expression in contemporary OSR varieties or the breeding systems used in OSR breeding programmes. We studied a range of floral traits in glasshouse-grown, certified conventional varieties of winter OSR to test for variation among and within breeding systems. We measured 24-h nectar secretion rate, amount, concentration and ratio of nectar sugars per flower, and sizes and number of flowers produced per plant from 24 varieties of OSR representing open-pollinated (OP), genic male sterility (GMS) hybrid and cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) hybrid breeding systems. Sugar concentration was consistent among and within the breeding systems; however, GMS hybrids produced more nectar and more sugar per flower than CMS hybrid or OP varieties. With the exception of ratio of fructose/glucose in OP varieties, we found that nectar traits were consistent within all the breeding systems. When scaled, GMS hybrids produced 1.73 times more nectar resource per plant than OP varieties. Nectar production and amount of nectar sugar in OSR plants were independent of number and size of flowers. Our data show that floral traits of glasshouse-grown OSR differed among breeding systems, suggesting that manipulation and enhancement of nectar rewards for insect flower visitors, including pollinators, could be included in future OSR breeding programmes.

Use of noise cancellation earphones in out-of-booth audiometric evaluations.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the utility of noise cancelation earphones (NCE) in audiometric evaluations. DESIGN: Degree of noise reduction of Bose QuietComfort 15 NCE was assessed through probe-microphone measures and sound-field audiometry. Occlusion effects from NCE were assessed for potential effects on bone-conduction thresholds. STUDY SAMPLE: Twenty participants were tested to determine average occlusion effect values during bone-conduction testing with and without NCE. Noise reduction values of the NCE were assessed on a single subject through probe-microphone measures and sound-field testing. RESULTS: NCE sufficiently reduced ambient noise to levels acceptable for air-conduction testing as well as for bone-conduction testing for most patients when adding minimal adjustment to acceptable levels as outlined by the ANSI S3.1-1999 standard. In addition, NCE did not create a clinically significant change in the occlusion effect for bone-conduction testing. CONCLUSION: NCE placed over insert earphones provide a sound pressure level at the tympanic membrane that is below ANSI standards for routine air-conduction testing and result in sufficient ambient noise reduction for bone-conduction testing with most patients. There is no clinically significant occlusion effect from NCE during routine bone-conduction audiometry. These findings support the utility of using NCE for offsite audiometric testing.

Partners in Public Health: Public Health Collaborations With Schools of Pharmacy, 2015.

To collect data on public health collaborations with schools of pharmacy, we sent a short electronic survey to accredited and preaccredited pharmacy programs in 2015. We categorized public health collaborations as working or partnering with local and/or state public health departments, local and/or state public health organizations, academic schools or programs of public health, and other public health collaborations. Of 134 schools, 65 responded (49% response rate). Forty-six (71%) responding institutions indicated collaborations with local and/or state public health departments, 34 (52%) with schools or programs of public health, and 24 (37%) with local and/or state public health organizations. Common themes of collaborations included educational programs, community outreach, research, and teaching in areas such as tobacco control, emergency preparedness, chronic disease, drug abuse, immunizations, and medication therapy management. Interdisciplinary public health collaborations with schools of pharmacy provide additional resources for ensuring the health of communities and expose student pharmacists to opportunities to use their training and abilities to affect public health. Examples of these partnerships may stimulate additional ideas for possible collaborations between public health organizations and schools of pharmacy.

Mass seasonal bioflows of high-flying insect migrants.

Migrating animals have an impact on ecosystems directly via influxes of predators, prey, and competitors and indirectly by vectoring nutrients, energy, and pathogens. Although linkages between vertebrate movements and ecosystem processes have been established, the effects of mass insect "bioflows" have not been described. We quantified biomass flux over the southern United Kingdom for high-flying (>150 meters) insects and show that ~3.5 trillion insects (3200 tons of biomass) migrate above the region annually. These flows are not randomly directed in insects larger than 10 milligrams, which exploit seasonally beneficial tailwinds. Large seasonal differences in the southward versus northward transfer of biomass occur in some years, although flows were balanced over the 10-year period. Our long-term study reveals a major transport process with implications for ecosystem services, processes, and biogeochemistry.

Dedicated biomass crops can enhance biodiversity in the arable landscape.

Suggestions that novel, non-food, dedicated biomass crops used to produce bioenergy may provide opportunities to diversify and reinstate biodiversity in intensively managed farmland have not yet been fully tested at the landscape scale. Using two of the largest, currently available landscape-scale biodiversity data sets from arable and biomass bioenergy crops, we take a taxonomic and functional trait approach to quantify and contrast the consequences for biodiversity indicators of adopting dedicated biomass crops on land previously cultivated under annual, rotational arable cropping. The abundance and community compositions of biodiversity indicators in fields of break and cereal crops changed when planted with the dedicated biomass crops, miscanthus and short rotation coppiced (SRC) willow. Weed biomass was consistently greater in the two dedicated biomass crops than in cereals, and invertebrate abundance was similarly consistently higher than in break crops. Using canonical variates analysis, we identified distinct plant and invertebrate taxa and trait-based communities in miscanthus and SRC willows, whereas break and cereal crops tended to form a single, composite community. Seedbanks were shown to reflect the longer term effects of crop management. Our study suggests that miscanthus and SRC willows, and the management associated with perennial cropping, would support significant amounts of biodiversity when compared with annual arable crops. We recommend the strategic planting of these perennial, dedicated biomass crops in arable farmland to increase landscape heterogeneity and enhance ecosystem function, and simultaneously work towards striking a balance between energy and food security.

Flight performance of actively foraging honey bees is reduced by a common pathogen.

Sudden and severe declines in honey bee (Apis mellifera) colony health in the US and Europe have been attributed, in part, to emergent microbial pathogens, however, the mechanisms behind the impact are unclear. Using roundabout flight mills, we measured the flight distance and duration of actively foraging, healthy-looking honey bees sampled from standard colonies, before quantifying the level of infection by Nosema ceranae and Deformed Wing Virus complex (DWV) for each bee. Neither the presence nor the quantity of N. ceranae were at low, natural levels of infection had any effect on flight distance or duration, but presence of DWV reduced flight distance by two thirds and duration by one half. Quantity of DWV was shown to have a significant, but weakly positive relation with flight distance and duration, however, the low amount of variation that was accounted for suggests further investigation by dose-response assays is required. We conclude that widespread, naturally occurring levels of infection by DWV weaken the flight ability of honey bees and high levels of within-colony prevalence are likely to reduce efficiency and increase the cost of resource acquisition. Predictions of implications of pathogens on colony health and function should take account of sublethal effects on flight performance.

Removal of Trace Elements by Cupric Oxide Nanoparticles from Uranium In Situ Recovery Bleed Water and Its Effect on Cell Viability.

In situ recovery (ISR) is the predominant method of uranium extraction in the United States. During ISR, uranium is leached from an ore body and extracted through ion exchange. The resultant production bleed water (PBW) contains contaminants such as arsenic and other heavy metals. Samples of PBW from an active ISR uranium facility were treated with cupric oxide nanoparticles (CuO-NPs). CuO-NP treatment of PBW reduced priority contaminants, including arsenic, selenium, uranium, and vanadium. Untreated and CuO-NP treated PBW was used as the liquid component of the cell growth media and changes in viability were determined by the MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay in human embryonic kidney (HEK 293) and human hepatocellular carcinoma (Hep G2) cells. CuO-NP treatment was associated with improved HEK and HEP cell viability. Limitations of this method include dilution of the PBW by growth media components and during osmolality adjustment as well as necessary pH adjustment. This method is limited in its wider context due to dilution effects and changes in the pH of the PBW which is traditionally slightly acidic however; this method could have a broader use assessing CuO-NP treatment in more neutral waters.

Temperature-activity relationships in Meligethes aeneus: implications for pest management.

BACKGROUND: Pollen beetle (Meligethes aeneus F.) management in oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) has become an urgent issue in the light of insecticide resistance. Risk prediction advice has relied upon flight temperature thresholds, while risk assessment uses simple economic thresholds. However, there is variation in the reported temperature of migration, and economic thresholds vary widely across Europe, probably owing to climatic factors interacting with beetle activity and plant compensation for damage. The effect of temperature on flight, feeding and oviposition activity of M. aeneus was examined in controlled conditions. RESULTS: Escape from a release vial was taken as evidence of flight and was supported by video observations. The propensity to fly followed a sigmoid temperature-response curve between 6 and 23 °C; the 10, 25 and 50% flight temperature thresholds were 12.0-12.5 °C, 13.6-14.2 °C and 15.5-16.2 °C, respectively. Thresholds were slightly higher in the second of two flight bioassays, suggesting an effect of beetle age. Strong positive relationships were found between temperature (6-20 °C) and the rates of feeding and oviposition on flower buds of oilseed rape. CONCLUSION: These temperature relationships could be used to improve M. aeneus migration risk assessment, refine weather-based decision support systems and modulate damage thresholds according to rates of bud damage.

So near and yet so far: harmonic radar reveals reduced homing ability of Nosema infected honeybees.

Pathogens may gain a fitness advantage through manipulation of the behaviour of their hosts. Likewise, host behavioural changes can be a defence mechanism, counteracting the impact of pathogens on host fitness. We apply harmonic radar technology to characterize the impact of an emerging pathogen--Nosema ceranae (Microsporidia)--on honeybee (Apis mellifera) flight and orientation performance in the field. Honeybees are the most important commercial pollinators. Emerging diseases have been proposed to play a prominent role in colony decline, partly through sub-lethal behavioural manipulation of their hosts. We found that homing success was significantly reduced in diseased (65.8%) versus healthy foragers (92.5%). Although lost bees had significantly reduced continuous flight times and prolonged resting times, other flight characteristics and navigational abilities showed no significant difference between infected and non-infected bees. Our results suggest that infected bees express normal flight characteristics but are constrained in their homing ability, potentially compromising the colony by reducing its resource inputs, but also counteracting the intra-colony spread of infection. We provide the first high-resolution analysis of sub-lethal effects of an emerging disease on insect flight behaviour. The potential causes and the implications for both host and parasite are discussed.

Occupational exposures in the oil and gas extraction industry: State of the science and research recommendations.

The oil and gas extraction industry is rapidly growing due to horizontal drilling and high volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF). This growth has provided new jobs and economic stimulus. The industry occupational fatality rate is 2.5 times higher than the construction industry and 7 times higher than general industry; however injury rates are lower than the construction industry, suggesting injuries are not being reported. Some workers are exposed to crystalline silica at hazardous levels, above occupational health standards. Other hazards (particulate, benzene, noise, radiation) exist. In this article, we review occupational fatality and injury rate data; discuss research looking at root causes of fatal injuries and hazardous exposures; review interventions aimed at improving occupational health and safety; and discuss information gaps and areas of needed research. We also describe Wyoming efforts to improve occupational safety in this industry, as a case example.

The role of besifloxacin in the treatment of bacterial conjunctivitis.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the role of besifloxacin in bacterial conjunctivitis treatment. DATA SOURCES: Searches were made on MEDLINE/PubMed and EMBASE (January 2007 to January 2014) using the terms besifloxacin and Besivance. References from these publications were reviewed for additional resources. Additional information was collected from Bausch & Lomb, the manufacturer of Besivance; www.clinicaltrials.gov; and American Academy of Ophthalmology. STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION: English-language documents were reviewed for pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, efficacy, and safety, with priority on clinical trials. DATA SYNTHESIS: Three large randomized controlled clinical trials established the safety and efficacy of besifloxacin ophthalmic suspension 0.6% compared with placebo or active comparator (moxifloxacin ophthalmic solution 0.5%) given 3 times a day for 5 days for acute bacterial conjunctivitis (BC) treatment. Compared with placebo, besifloxacin had clinically superior bacterial eradication rates and was noninferior to moxifloxacin. Besifloxacin was compared with placebo in 2 randomized, placebo-controlled trials, dosed twice a day for 3 days. Superior efficacy was seen compared with placebo, which supports the shorter dosing schedule. Ophthalmic besifloxacin is well tolerated; the most common adverse effect (conjunctival redness) occurred in 2% of patients. Adverse effects in 1% to 2% of patients included blurred vision, eye pain, eye irritation, eye pruritus, and headache. CONCLUSION: Besifloxacin 0.6% ophthalmic suspension 3 times a day for 5 days is safe and effective for BC. Twice-a-day dosing for 3 days was also effective-a simplified regimen compared with other fluoroquinolones. Disadvantages include price and lack of a generic. Further evaluation is needed to evaluate comparative efficacy among other ocular fluoroquinolones and unlabeled uses.

The ontogeny of bumblebee flight trajectories: from naïve explorers to experienced foragers.

Understanding strategies used by animals to explore their landscape is essential to predict how they exploit patchy resources, and consequently how they are likely to respond to changes in resource distribution. Social bees provide a good model for this and, whilst there are published descriptions of their behaviour on initial learning flights close to the colony, it is still unclear how bees find floral resources over hundreds of metres and how these flights become directed foraging trips. We investigated the spatial ecology of exploration by radar tracking bumblebees, and comparing the flight trajectories of bees with differing experience. The bees left the colony within a day or two of eclosion and flew in complex loops of ever-increasing size around the colony, exhibiting Lévy-flight characteristics constituting an optimal searching strategy. This mathematical pattern can be used to predict how animals exploring individually might exploit a patchy landscape. The bees' groundspeed, maximum displacement from the nest and total distance travelled on a trip increased significantly with experience. More experienced bees flew direct paths, predominantly flying upwind on their outward trips although forage was available in all directions. The flights differed from those of naïve honeybees: they occurred at an earlier age, showed more complex looping, and resulted in earlier returns of pollen to the colony. In summary bumblebees learn to find home and food rapidly, though phases of orientation, learning and searching were not easily separable, suggesting some multi-tasking.

Competition between isolates of Zoophthora radicans co-infecting Plutella xylostella populations.

Interactions between Zoophthora radicans isolates were studied in vitro and in vivo during infection of Plutella xylostella larvae. We distinguished between isolates within infected hosts using PCR-RFLP. Isolates obtained from P. xylostella larvae (NW386 and NW250) were more virulent than isolates from other insect hosts. Isolate NW250 was most virulent at 27°C and isolate NW386 was most virulent at 22°C. In vitro growth of all isolates except NW386 was affected by the presence of other isolates. During in vivo interactions between NW250 and NW386, the isolate with the greatest conidial concentration at inoculation infected more larvae than its competitor. Dual infected larvae were only found in treatments where inoculation concentrations of conidia were high for both isolates. Where concentrations of conidia at inoculation were low for both isolates, only NW250 caused successful infection. The implications of these results for the ecology of Z. radicans are discussed.

Effects of social housing on hippocampal dendrites and behavior in ovariectomized rats.

Social stress is both species and gender specific. For female rats, individual housing and social instability housing conditions are associated with behavioral indicators of stress and depression. The present study directly compared the effects of six weeks of individual housing, social instability and mixed sex, semi-crowded housing in a visible burrow system (VBS) on ovariectomized female rats. Paired, stable housing was used as the control. Behavioral tests were conducted two, four and six weeks into the housing manipulations and included sucrose consumption, social interest, and activity in the open field. Following a series of four behavioral tests, animals were sacrificed and brains were processed for Golgi impregnation. Basal dendrites of CA3 hippocampal neurons were measured. Results indicate that the individual housing and social instability groups were comparable to the control group for all measures. In contrast, the rats housed in the VBS exhibited reduced activity in open field testing, and alterations in social interest. Dendritic lengths were also reduced in those animals living in the VBS in comparison to the animals housed in pairs. To our knowledge, this is the first report of behavioral and neural effects of VBS housing on female rats. Further research is necessary to determine what facets of the VBS housing are responsible for the behavioral and neural changes. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled 'Animal Models'.