bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Plant Damage by Bank Voles (Clethrionomys glareolus [Schreber]) and Related Species in Europe1
Authors: Hansson L. , Zejda J. 
Published: April 2008

ABSTRACTA survey of the ecological adaptations of the bank vole, Clethrionomys glareolus (Schreber), indicates that this species is a potential pest, particularly to forest tree seeds and bark. Observations from most parts of Europe show clear cases of damage to seeds, young shoots and buds and bark of young trees above the snow level. Worst losses appear in central and eastern Europe. The bank vole may also attack a few year old seedlings (either bark or complete consumption). Widespread seedling attacks, which are economically very important in some countries, have, however, not been definitely proven for this species. In northern Europe, the bank vole may also cause damage to hay in barns.Bank vole populations show greatest fluctuations in eastern and northern Europe. The cycle length is variable. Damage (except, possibly, seed consumption) appears mainly during or just after the appearance of peak populations. Baits with zinc phosphide seem to be the most efficient control method. A number of other preparations have been tried more or less successfully.In summary, knowledge of the economic importance of the bank vole is very restricted. Specific studies are suggested for improving such an evaluation.
Usefulness of Stress Indicators in Forecasting Population Trends in Microtus arvalis (Pallas)1
Authors: Hamar M. , Tuta Al. , Petrescu Anca , Babes Liliana 
Published: April 2008

ABSTRACTThe appearance of a stress condition in Microtus arvalis (Pallas) populations was established on the basis of histochemical analyses and correlated with population dynamics. It was found that stress appears only during invasions, i.e. when crop damage has already occurred.Commonly, the population crash occurs 30 to 50 days after the appearance of stress. It is concluded that stress indices can neither be used for warnings nor for long‐term forecasts of outbreaks.
Studies of Variations in Weight and Volume of Internal Organs of Microtus agrestis (L.) and their Possible Relation to Fluctuations in Population Density1
Authors: Giege B. 
Published: April 2008

ABSTRACTThis paper discusses the possibility of measuring the cumulative effect upon voles of measurable and immeasurable, endogenous and exogenous stress factors. Variations in certain internal organs (adrenals, thymus, spleen, brown adipose tissue) were studied in 2 populations of Microtus agrestis (L.) in Sweden.Both these populations ended in a crash, but after a different period of time. Variations in the internal organs observed during certain investigation periods up to the crash are discussed. Weight of adrenals appeared to be dependent on population density. Spleen hypertrophy did not seem to appear untU stress reached a certain level and after that was more or less persistent. Thus, the spleen might well be a good indicator of the cumulative effect of exogenous and endogenous stress. The amount of axillary brown adipose tissue could, to a certain extent, be a measure of mean ambient temperature, and, perhaps, could also give information on incipient stress situations. The investigation indicated that there are reasons to assume correlation exists between spleen hypertrophy in voles and their damage to plants.
Evaluation of Rodent Depredations to Crops and Stored Products1
Authors: Jackson W.B. 
Published: April 2008

ABSTRACTEstimates of food losses to rodents vary widely. In most cases, such estimates are not statistically defensible. Adequate sampling techniques have only been developed for a few crops and a few situations. Often, estimates have been related to rodent numbers, which have not been validly determined.Environmental management is basic to rodent control, both in terms of growing crops and stored products. Many aspects of intermediate technology have important applications to this need.Needs relate to better understanding of rodent ecology, adequate assessment of damages, training of specialists in management of vertebrate pests, and use and development of appropriate technologies.
Methods of Laboratory Toxicological Investigations on the Common Vole (Microtus arvalis [Pallas])1
Authors: Nikodémusz E. , Nechay G. 
Published: April 2008

ABSTRACTThis paper reports on some laboratory methods for evaluating the toxicity of rodenticides to the common vole. Test conditions including the experimental animals used, their housing, feeding and handling (measuring body weight, marking of the individuals, route of administering the toxicant), test materials and observations are presented.New toxicants were screened simultaneously on white rats and on voles. For each compound, the following data were determined: a) the acute (single dose) approximate LD50 (= ALD50), b) the acute (single dose) LD50, as well as the multiple dose toxicity for anticoagulants, c) the approximate 5‐day LD50 and d) the 5‐day LD50.For the determination of a) and c), about 6 animals were used. The LD50 values were determined by giving 6–8 doses to each of 10 rats and 4 doses to each of 4–6 voles.A brief report is given on the determination of the joint toxic action of the 2 chemicals.Rodenticidal formulations were tested on voles in various no‐choice and choice feeding tests. No‐choice tests with compounds having an acute toxicity were carried out for 24 h, those with anticoagulants for 5 × 24 h and those with narcotics for 2 × 24 h. The corresponding periods for choice tests were 2 × 24 h, 5 × 24 h and 4 × 24 h, respectively.Preference and repellency tests were also carried out.The stability of a rodenticide in baits exposed to weather, as well as the effectiveness of fumigants on solid carriers were investigated under simulated environmental conditions.
Methods of Monitoring Rat Infestations, and Approval Schemes for City‐wide Deratization Operations1
Authors: Gacs F. , Herczeg T. , Papocsi L. , Elek S. 
Published: April 2008

ABSTRACTAn account is given of the program for deratization of Budapest (city and suburbs) and the maintenance of a rat‐free state. A single contractor, the Babolna Disinfecting Station, was entrusted with carrying out the 3 phases of the program, which consisted of large‐scale poisoning of rats with Racumin 57 (3 [α‐tetralyl] ‐4‐hydroxycoumarin), in houses, factories and sewers. Use was made of the mass media to encourage the public to help in reporting infestation foci. Between January 1971 and December 1972, rat infestation levels were reduced from 43% to 0.065%. Continued vigilance has ensured that this acceptably low level has been maintained. There were no indications of resistance to the rodenticide used developing.
Recent Progress in Breeding for Fireblight Resistance in Apples and Pears in North America1
Authors: ALDWINCKLE H. S. , ZWET T. VAN DER 
Published: April 2008

AbstractResistance in apple is evaluated by needle–inoculation of succulent shoot tips with 106–107 cells of a virulent isolate of Erwinia amylovora (Burr.) Winslow et al. (the incitant of fireblight) and measurement of the resulting cortical lesion when extension is complete. Data are now available on practically all commercial cultivars, some of which have a useful level of resistance. Some newer cultivars, particularly those with resistance to scab (Venluria inaequalis [Cooke] Wint.) derived from Malus floribunda, have good resistance to E. amylovora. A very high level of resistance is present in Asiatic Malus species, including M. x robusta, M. x sublo–bata, M. x atrosanguinea, and M. prunifolia, and in the North American species M. fusca. This type of resistance appears to be inherited polygenically, and because of its detectability in young seedlings can be used conveniently in breeding.Objectives of pear breeding programs are aimed at developing superior fruit quality combined with resistance to fireblight, psylla, and Fabraea leaf spot. Many high quality cultivars of Pyrus communis are extremely susceptible to E. amylovora and sensitivity appears to be controlled by a dominant gene Se. A high level of resistance is present in P. ussuriensis but varies considerably between clonal selections of other Pyrus species. Pear seedlings from controlled pollinations are artificially inoculated in the glasshouse with a similar bacterial suspension as used for apples, and only the most resistant ones are selected and planted in the field for future evaluation. In Beltsville, heritability studies of crosses between non–sensitive parents have indicated that selection for resistance within progenies results in a high degree of genetic gain. Interspecific hybridization has an advantage over P. communis crosses mainly when insect or fungus resistance is required.
Introduction to Weed Problems 1
Authors: FRYER J.D. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractI have approached the very wide topic of this paper by outlining the modern concept of weediness as traced from the beginnings of agriculture and then giving examples of some important present day weed problems from various parts of the world. Weeds have no place in nature and are essentially a reflection of the environment and of man's activities and desires. When these change, the weed flora responds and weed control methods may have to be modified. In developed agricultural systems, weed control has been revolutionised by herbicides which have also allowed major advances in methods of crop production and land and water management. As a result some classical weed species are no longer important whilst hitherto unimportant species have emerged as major problems. In many parts of the world there are obstacles to the introduction of chemical weed control techniques, and weed problems and control methods are much the same as they have always been. With the increasing world population and the need to provide more food, intensification of agriculture is inevitable. If weed control is not to be a limiting factor, more recognition and support must be given to weed science as an essential discipline of agricultural research.
A Concept of Pest Risk Analysis
Authors: KAHN R.P. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractA pest risk analysis curve on a graph is used to present diagramatically 1) the concept of pest risk analysis, and 2) the interaction of biological, economical, social, and political factors with quarantine policies, regulations, or decisions. The culmination of these regulatory activities often leads to a decision about the entry status of a wide spectrum of imported “items”. While the concept pertains to animal as well as plant quarantine matters, this paper concentrates on plant quarantine. Most of the examples presented relate specifically to the pest risk associated with importing plants or plant parts for propagation. Some of the examples presented have wide application in international quarantine circles while others relate only to the United States.The method of illustrating pest risk analysis as a curve should be useful in effectively communicating quarantine philosophy, principles, policies, and decisions not only to the commercial, lay, and scientific public, but to plant quarantine officers. For within–house quarantine activities, the diagrams may be useful in training, explaining assignments or responsibilities to officers, determining priorities or planning budgets, and as a means for emphasizing the biological aspects of decisions about entry status of imported items.
The Place of Multiple Regression Analysis in Modern Approaches to Disease Control1)
Authors: ROYLE D.J. , Burr D.J. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractIn this paper multiple regression models are compared with fundamental models in the context of the plant disease system. The value of the regression technique for analysing the pathogen–host–environment complex and for prediction is discussed. Although there are limitations to the use and interpretation of multiple regression equations, their underlying simplicity can be of advantage for the solution of many practical problems in disease management. Despite the empirical nature of multiple regression, it can be used to advantage in the construction of hybrid models of the deductive–inductive type which combine the summary of experience with the fundamental principles of disease mechanisms.
Predator–prey Systems with Mites1)
Authors: RABBINGE R. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractPopulation models of fruit tree red spider mite and predatory mite are given, which are used to explain the regulation of spider mites by predatory mites and may be used to manage spider mite systems in apple orchards.The models are based on extensive experimental knowledge of the bionomics of prey and predator. A detailed analysis of the prey–predator relations on the individual level paved the way for the development of prey–predator models on the population level. These models, based on the state variable approach, simulate the population fluctuations: of prey and predator in dependence of the changing abiotic factors during the season using time steps of a quarter of an hour and trace all state variables, as the number of eggs, larvae, adult females and gut content of the adult female predator. Verification of the models at different levels of integration showed good agreement between model output and the results of independent experiments, and this enabled a sensitivity analysis with the model. This sensitivity analysis showed the relative importance of different factors, so that management strategies to achieve tolerable prey–predator levels throughout the year may be developed.
Modélisation du développement de souches résistantes aux fongicides systémiques, compte tenu du mode d'application, de l'adaptabilité génétique du champignon et de la synergie entre fongicides1
Authors: LEVY Y. , STRIZYK S. 
Published: April 2008

L'action de la synergie entre deux fongicides à caractéristique unisite et multisite et le contrôle des sous‐populations, dites résistantes et sensibles au même unisite, sont décrits par l'intermédiaire d'un modèle bio‐mathématique.Les paramètres suivants sont introduits dans le modèle:

taux apparent d'infection (Sensu Van der Planck);
efficacité de chaque fongicide seul sur le développement de la population sensible et résistante;
efficacité du mélange sur chaque sous‐population;
répartition du mélange sur la plante;
dégradation du fongicide;
croissance de la plante assurant une moins grande efficacité de la couverture par le fongicide.

Les simulations montrent que l'efficacité de lutte dépend du niveau de la synergie entre fongicides. L'évolution de la population résistante dépend largement de la forme de la synergie du mélange vis‐à‐vis des souches sensibles et résistantes. Quand la synergie est plus forte vis‐à‐vis des souches résistantes quc vis‐à‐vis des souches sensibles, alors la population des souches résistantes tend à décroitre. Dans le cas contrairc, la population des souches résistantes augmente rapidement. Toutefois, cette augmentation dépend du taux d'infection. Nous concluons qu'il est nécessaire de tester l'action du synergisme vis‐à‐vis des differentes souches avant de commercialiser un mélange de fongicides.
The situation and outlook for inputs of plant protection products and weed control in Polish agriculture
Authors: ADAMCZEWSKI K. , SKRZYPCZAK G. , WOZNICA Z. , BLECHARCZYK A. 
Published: April 2008

This paper reviews the situation of Polish agriculture, as well as land distribution, privatisation, farm numbers and cropping patterns of the major field crops. The current situation of the market for plant protection products is presented, together with changes during the past decade in the degree of weed infestation.Situation des apports de produits phytosanitaires et du désherbage dans l'agriculture polonaise, et perspectives
Sediment shear properties from seafloor compliance measurements: Faroes‐Shetland basin case study
Authors: Crawford Wayne C. , Singh Satish C. 
Published: April 2008

ABSTRACTShear properties provide important information about the lithology, fluid content and stability of sediments but are difficult to measure using conventional seismics in the marine environment. Seafloor compliance measurements are sensitive to subsurface shear properties but have only been used in the Pacific Ocean and on shallow coastal shelves, where the source wave energy is known to be strong. We show here that seafloor compliance measurements can provide useful information about shear properties of marine sediments in less energetic settings and under high noise conditions caused by strong seafloor currents. We measured compliance at three sites in the Faroes‐Shetland sedimentary basin north of the Atlantic ocean. The sites have 1000 times higher noise levels than quiet seafloor sites and the source wave power is highly variable, but the data still reveal significant differences in sediment properties between two sites down to 2 kilometres beneath the seafloor. The first site, at the northern end of the basin, has an average shear velocity of 400 m/s in the upper 0.6 kilometres beneath the seafloor, increasing to approximately 2100 m/s at 2 kilometres beneath the seafloor. The second site, further south and to the west of the basin axis, has an average shear velocity of 150 m/s in the upper 0.6 kilometres beneath the seafloor, increasing to 1400 m/s at 2 kilometres beneath the seafloor. The sediments are probably unconsolidated in the upper 0.6 kilometres beneath the seafloor at both sites, with a mean grain size of 1 μm at the southern site and 20 μm at the northern site. The southern site has higher porosity at all depths and a higher risk of borehole collapse during drilling.
Receiver function method in reflection seismology
Authors: Edme Pascal , Singh Satish C. 
Published: April 2008

ABSTRACTThe receiver function method was originally developed to analyse earthquake data recorded by multicomponent (3C) sensors and consists in deconvolving the horizontal component by the vertical component. The deconvolution process removes travel path effects from the source to the base of the target as well as the earthquake source signature. In addition, it provides the possibility of separating the emergent P and PS waves based on adaptive subtraction between recorded components if plane waves of constant ray parameters are considered. The resulting receiver function signal is the local PS wave's impulse response generated at impedance contrasts below the 3C receiver.We propose to adapt this technique to the wide‐angle multi‐component reflection acquisition geometry. We focus on the simplest case of land data reflection acquisition. Our adapted version of the receiver function approach consists in a multi‐step procedure that first removes the P wavefield recorded on the horizontal component and next removes the source signature. The separation step is performed in the τ−p domain while the source designature can be achieved in either the τ−p or the t−x domain. Our technique does not require any a priori knowledge of the subsurface. The resulting receiver function is a pure PS‐wave reflectivity response, which can be used for amplitude versus slowness or offset analysis. Stack of the receiver function leads to a high‐quality S wave image.
Finite‐difference modelling of S‐wave splitting in anisotropic media
Authors: Bansal Reeshidev , Sen Mrinal K. 
Published: April 2008

ABSTRACTWe have implemented a 3D finite‐difference scheme to simulate wave propagation in arbitrary anisotropic media. The anisotropic media up to orthorhombic symmetry were modelled using a standard staggered grid scheme and beyond (monoclinic and triclinic) using a rotated staggered grid scheme. The rationale of not using rotated staggered grid for all types of anisotropic media is that the rotated staggered grid schemes are more expensive than standard staggered grid schemes. For a 1D azimuthally anistropic medium, we show a comparison between the seismic data generated by our finite‐difference code and by the reflectivity algorithm; they are in excellent agreement.We conducted a study on zero‐offset shear‐wave splitting using the finite‐difference modelling algorithm using the rotated staggered grid scheme. Our S‐wave splitting study is mainly focused on fractured media. On the scale of seismic wavelenghts, small aligned fractures behave as an equivalent anisotropic medium. We computed the equivalent elastic properties of the fractures and the background in which the fractures were embedded, using low‐frequency equivalent media theories. Wave propagation was simulated for both rotationally invariant and corrugated fractures embedded in an isotropic background for one, or more than one, set of fluid‐filled and dry fractures. S‐wave splitting was studied for dipping fractures, two vertical non‐orthogonal fractures and corrugated fractures. Our modelling results confirm that S‐wave splitting can reveal the fracture infill in the case of dipping fractures. S‐wave splitting has the potential to reveal the angle between the two vertical fractures. We also notice that in the case of vertical corrugated fractures, S‐wave splitting is sensitive to the fracture infill.
Sleep quality and morningness–eveningness of shift nurses
Authors: Chung Min‐Huey , Chang Fwu‐Mei , Yang Cheryl CH , Kuo Terry BJ , Hsu Nanly 
Published: April 2008

Aim and objective.  The aim of the study was to analyse, while controlling for identified covariates, the effects of morningness–eveningness on sleep quality for shift nurses.Background.  Shift nurses had greater difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, thus resulting in higher rates of retiring from hospital. Existing research has addressed the effects of manpower demand and personal preferences on shift assignment; however, the concept of endogenous rhythms is rarely considered.Methods.  This analysis included 137 nurses between the ages of 21–58. Nurses completed the Horne and Ostberg questionnaire to assess morningness‐eveningness and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaire to measure self‐reported sleep quality over the last month. The 18‐point Chinese version had a Cronbach's reliability coefficient of 0·79 overall and 0·86 respectively. This study analysed correlates of sleep quality by comparing the groups with better or worse sleep quality according to the median of PSQI. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used for the risk factors of worse sleep quality.Results.  The result showed that the strongest predictor of sleep quality was morningness–eveningness not the shift schedule or shift pattern for nurses under controlling the variable of age. Greater age and longer years employed in nursing significantly decreased the risk of worse sleep quality. The confounding age factor was properly controlled; evening types working on changing shifts had higher risk of poor sleep quality compared to morning types.Conclusions.  Morningness–eveningness was the strongest predictor of sleep quality under controlling the variable of age in shift nurses.Implications for clinical practice.  Our results suggested that determining if nurses were attributed to morning or evening types is an important sleep issue before deciding the shift assignment.