First transgenic trait for control of plant bugs and thrips in cotton.

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.

Successful oral ciprofloxacin therapy of Neisseria elongata endocarditis.

OBJECTIVE: To report successful oral ciprofloxacin therapy for Neisseria elongata endocarditis. CASE SUMMARY: A patient with N elongata endocarditis refused parenteral therapy, but his infection completely resolved with 7 weeks of oral ciprofloxacin. DISCUSSION: This patient's refusal of parenteral therapy prompted the use of oral ciprofloxacin because it is well absorbed and was expected to be very active against his organism. His infection resolved and did not relapse. Although successful oral therapy has been reported for endocarditis caused by Staphylococcus aureus, primarily in injection drug users, completely oral therapy for other organisms has not been previously described. CONCLUSIONS: When parenteral therapy is not possible, oral administration of highly active, well-absorbed antibiotics may be effective for selected cases of endocarditis caused by susceptible organisms.

Fidelity of external boll feeding lesions to internal damage for assessing stink bug damage in cotton.

Previous research showed that the most precise estimates of stink bug damage in developing cotton bolls are obtained by collecting soft quarter-sized bolls and dissecting them for signs of internal feeding damage, such as internal boll wall warts and/or stained lint. However, this method requires considerable time and effort; therefore, scouts and growers are unwilling to invest adequate resources to make sound pest management decisions. Here, the authors evaluated enumeration of external feeding lesions on groups of 10, 15, 20, or 25 bolls per sample as an alternative sampling procedure. Results relate the similarity of external boll feeding lesions to internal damage as a function of boll sample size and external lesion tally. Inverse prediction confidence intervals (CIs) were also calculated to predict internal boll damage on a new sample based only on external feeding lesions. Results show that linear regression model fit increased when examining at least 20 bolls per sample, and only one external lesion per boll provided as good of model fit as using a minimum of two, three, or four lesions per boll. Inverse prediction CIs suggested that more than one sample (20 bolls per sample) will be required to make external lesions an acceptable method for making reasonably accurate management decisions. F-test lack of fit and significant regression models suggest that examination of external lesions is a promising a method for estimating stink bug damage in cotton.

Using population death rate to predict rate of admissions to the intensive care unit.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the intensive care unit (ICU) admission rates of new health plan members can be predicted by the mortality of non-ICU-treated members. DESIGN: Retrospective study of health records. PATIENTS: Five sequential cohorts of new health plan members (298,974 members) seen at any of three tertiary care medical centers of a health maintenance organization in northern California who joined the health plan during the first quarter of 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, or 1998 and retained membership for > or =1 yr. SETTING: Three medical centers in northern California. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: We measured rates of ICU admission, death, and mechanical ventilation among cohort members. ICU admission rate varied between hospitals and over time but was predicted by non-ICU mortality-ICU admission rate = 0.83 x non-ICU mortality-and was linear throughout its range. In no hospital or time period was a higher mortality associated with fewer ICU admissions. Seventeen percent of population deaths occurred among ICU patients and did not differ among medical centers. CONCLUSIONS: A single linear equation predicted ICU admission rate from death rate of non-ICU-treated patients among cohorts of new members. ICU admission rates can be predicted from a measure of population illness burden, such as the mortality of non-ICU-treated patients. It may be possible to extend this analysis to other hospitals and health care systems to evaluate the adequacy of ICU services provided.