Icerya purchasi Maskell (Hemiptera: Monophlebidae) Control Using Low Carbon Footprint Oligonucleotide Insecticides.

Climate change creates favourable conditions for the growth of insect populations. Today, the world is seeing an increase in the number of insect pest infestations associated with a long-term increase in the average temperature of climatic systems. For example, local invasions of Icerya purchasi Maskell, a citrus pest recognized worldwide, have increased in size and number in recent years. Controlling this pest is complicated because not all chemical insecticides are effective, and their use is undesirable since citrus fruit is used for food and chemical agents cumulatively harm human health. In this article, we demonstrated for the first time the successful use of a short single-stranded fragment of the 28S ribosomal RNA gene called "oligoICER-11" to control cottony cushion scale, and we propose the use of green oligonucleotide insecticides with a low carbon footprint for large-scale implementation in agriculture and forestry. Using the contact oligonucleotide insecticide oligoICER-11 at a concentration of 100 ng/µL on I. purchasi larvae resulted in a mortality of 70.55 ± 0.77% within 10 days. Thus, climate change is driving the need in both agriculture and forestry for oligonucleotide insecticides (DNA insecticides, olinscides): safe, effective, affordable insecticides with a low carbon footprint and long operational life.

Four Most Pathogenic Superfamilies of Insect Pests of Suborder Sternorrhyncha: Invisible Superplunderers of Plant Vitality.

Sternorrhyncha representatives are serious pests of agriculture and forestry all over the world, primarily causing damage to woody plants. Sternorrhyncha members are vectors for the transfer of a large number of viral diseases, and subsequently, the host plant weakens. Additionally, many are inherent in the release of honeydew, on which fungal diseases develop. Today, an innovative approach is needed to create new and effective ways to control the number of these insects based on environmentally friendly insecticides. Of particular relevance to such developments is the need to take into account the large number of organisms living together with insect pests in this group, including beneficial insects. Practically without changing their location on their host plant, they adopted to be more invisible and protected due to their small size, symbiosis with ants, the ability to camouflage with a leaf, and moderately deplete plants and others, rarely leading them to death but still causing substantial economic loss in the subtropics and tropics. Due to the lack of presence in the literature, this review fills in this pesky spot by examining (on the example of distinct species from four superfamilies) the characteristic adaptations for this suborder and the chemical methods of combating these insects that allow them to survive in various environmental conditions, suggesting new and highly promising ways of using olinscides for plant protection against Sternorrhyncha members.

[Cardiovascular risk assessment among patients with hypertension based on SCORE2 and SCORE-OP algorithms in black Africans]. / Évaluation du risque cardiovasculaire chez les patients hypertendus selon le SCORE2 et le SCORE OP dans une population d'Afrique subsaharienne.

BACKGROUND: Hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular events. The cardiovascular risk assessment is performed using specific algorithms, particularly SCORE2 and SCORE2-OP developed by the European Society of Cardiology. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Prospective cohort study from February 1, 2022, to July 31, 2022, enrolling 410 hypertensive patients. Epidemiological, paraclinical, therapeutic, and follow-up data were analyzed. Cardiovascular risk stratification of patients was performed using SCORE2 and SCORE2-OP algorithms. We compared the initial and 6-month cardiovascular risks. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 60.88 ± 12.35 years with a female predominance (sex ratio = 0.66). In addition to hypertension, dyslipidemia (45.4%) was the most frequently associated risk factor. A high proportion of patients were classified as high (48.6%) and very high (46.3%) cardiovascular risk, with a significant difference between men and women. Reassessment of cardiovascular risk after 6 months of treatment found significant differences compared with the initial cardiovascular risk (p < 0.001). The rate of patients at low to moderate cardiovascular risk (49.5%) increased substantially, whereas the proportion of patients at very high risk decreased (6.8%). CONCLUSION: Our study conducted at Abidjan Heart Institute in a young population of patients with hypertension revealed a severe cardiovascular risk profile. Almost half of the patients are classified at very high cardiovascular risk, based on the SCORE2 and SCORE2-OP. The widespread use of these new algorithms for risk stratification should lead to more aggressive management and prevention strategies for hypertension and associated risk factors.

Breast Cancer Molecular Subtypes Defined by ER/PR and HER2 Status: Association with Clinicopathologic Parameters in Ivorian Patients.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease that represents a major public health problem. The immunohistochemical determination of breast cancer subtypes with regard to estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER2) status can contribute to improved selection of therapy and patientcare. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of the molecular breast cancer subtypes and to assess their associations with classical clinicopathologic parameters for better therapeutic decisions in women with breast cancer in the Ivory Coast. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Formalin- fixed and paraffin-embedded blocks of patients diagnosed with primary breast carcinoma were subjected to immunohistochemical assay for the assessment of ER/RP and HER2 expression. The one-way analysis of variance evaluated the difference between breast cancer subtypes and mean age of patients. The Chi-square Test was used to compare standard clinicopathologic prognostic parameters with tumor subtypes. RESULTS: Among 302 patients, 57% were premenopausal and 43% were postmenopausal. The invasive ductal carcinoma not otherwise specified (IDC NOS) (82.8%) was the most frequent histological type, and the tumor grade 2 (56%) was predominant followed by grade 3 (20.9%). The proportion of positivity of ER, PR, and HER2 was 56%, 49%, and 15.6%, respectively. Half of patients of this study (51.6%) had luminal A breast tumor type followed by TN (32.1%). Other subtypes were luminal B (10.1% ) and non-luminal HER2+ (6.3%). CONCLUSIONS: The findings of the present study are in line with the literature and should assist in management of breast cancer in our country.