Insecticidal and anti-microbial activity of bio-oil derived from fast pyrolysis of lignin,cellulose, and hemicellulose

Journal of Pest Science - Conflicting views regarding synthetic pesticides include the successful use as pest management tools for agriculture and forestry on one hand and the threats to components...     

Silicon reduces slug feeding on wheat seedlings

Journal of Pest Science - Slugs are a serious pest of cereal crops, and recent emphasis in slug pest management has shifted from solely chemical towards integrated approaches. The objective of the...     

Processes affecting the dissipation of the herbicide isoxaflutole and its diketonitrile metabolite in agricultural soils under field conditions

Two-year field dissipation studies were conducted in three soil types in Minnesota to examine the processes affecting the dissipation of the herbicide isoxaflutole and its phytotoxic diketonitrile metabolite (DKN) under relatively cool, wet soil conditions. Plots of cuphea were treated with isoxaflutole and potassium bromide, a nonsorbed, nondegraded tracer. Replicate soil cores were collected six times during the growing season to a depth of 1 m, and the bromide or herbicide concentration was measured in each of five depth increments. The dissipation half-life (DT50) of isoxaflutole + DKN was 8-18 days in each soil. Bromide and herbicide concentrations were low at depths >40 cm throughout the study, and herbicide concentrations in soil 100 days after application were usually undetectable. Simulation modeling using Hydrus-1D for the loam soil suggested that plant uptake was an important mechanism of dissipation.     

Dietary nano-chromium tripicolinate increases feed intake and decreases plasma cortisol in finisher gilts during summer

Chromium (Cr) is an essential mineral element and has been used in pig diets to improve growth performance, insulin sensitivity, immune response and carcase traits and to reduce heat or other stress responses. The aims of thiss study were to determine the impact of nano-sized chromium tripicolinate (nCrPic) on growth performance, feed efficiency and carcase characteristics of finisher gilts during the summer period. A total of 60 finisher Large White x Landrace gilts were stratified on initial weight and then within strata randomly allocated into two treatment groups in three replicates during mid-summer for 28 days. All pigs were housed in individual pens and had ad libitum access to feed and water. Pigs were fed either a control finisher diet (wheat-based diet containing 13.8 MJ digestible energy (DE) per kilogram and 0.56 g available lysine/MJ DE) or a control diet containing 400 ppb Cr as nCrPic. Dietary nCrPic supplementation increased feed intake by 6 % over the entire study (P?=?0.05). In particular, dietary nCrPic increased average daily feed intake (ADFI) by 8 % (P?=?0.02) during the final 2 weeks of the study. Moreover, dietary nCrPic tended to improve average daily feed (ADFI) over the entire study (P?=?0.09). However, there were no significant effects of nCrPic on feed conversion ratio (FCR), final weight, hot standard carcase weight (HCWT), P2 depth or dressing percentage. Plasma cortisol was decreased by 25 % (P?=?0.06) by dietary nCrPic supplementation. However, there were no effects of nCrPic on plasma glucose, insulin and nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA), might because of the higher feed intake. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that dietary nCrPic supplementation at 400 ppb can increase feed intake in finisher gilts during mid-summer, suggesting that nCrPic can ameliorate some of the negative effects of heat stress in pigs, possibly via decreased of circulating cortisol.     

Catch per unit effort standardization of the eastern Bering Sea walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) fleet

A general linear model (GLM) was used to standardize catch per unit effort (CPUE) data for Alaska walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) from the Bering Sea fleet for the years 1995–1999. Data were stratified temporally by year and season and spatially by area using either Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) or National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) reporting areas. Four factors were used: vessel identification (ID) number, vessel speed, percentage of pollock by weight in the haul (a measure of targeting), and whether most of the haul took place before or after sunset. At least 29 combinations of main effects, quadratic covariates, and interactions were tested for each year/area/season stratum. GLM models explained from 31 to 48% of the total sums of squares. Vessel identification number was included in all models and explained the most variability. Of the remaining factors, the square of the percentage of pollock in the haul was included in most models, following an F-test to determine parsimony. Analysis of the vessel identification number coefficients indicated that larger vessels tended to have higher CPUEs; and that this relationship differed between dedicated catcher vessels and offshore catcher processors. Coefficient estimates and response surfaces generally indicated increased CPUEs with the percentage of pollock in the haul and showed mixed results with vessel speed. The vessel identification number incorporated most vessel characteristics, leaving vessel speed primarily as a fitting variable with less biological meaning. The year/area/season stratification procedure was found to be necessary due to the unbalanced design, which otherwise would have factor levels with no data in a large combined model. In addition, the stratification procedure reduced the variability in CPUE substantially.