1,720,957 research outputs found
Development of molecular tests (Diagnostic PCR) for the identification of Lepidopteran pests in Almonds and Pistachios
Get PDFAlmonds and pistachios are high valued crops in California, where they are attacked by diverse group of lepidopteran pests. The high crop value and large number of pests posing concern for farm managers leads to a sense of urgency for pest control. Many of these moth larvae can look similar, and their damage may mask the proper identification as one pest, the navel orangeworm, is dominant in terms of density and grower concern. Moreover, the general identification of pests from pheromone-baited traps can be difficult when the pests' morphological features are damaged. Decisions on chemical, cultural and biological controls are based on species identification and for this reason it is important to have proper tools in place for pest identification. Here arises the need for accurate, rapid and inexpensive identification of all stages of these lepidopteran pests. Here, two genetic tools to identify common lepidopteran pests in almonds and pistachios were developed. First, a diagnostic PCR was developed by amplifying barcode region of the insect using species specific primer pairs. These species-specific primers act on a target region on the barcode gene and amplify that particular region specific to that species. PCR is successful when the primers exactly match the template sequence and amplify it. Therefore, it can be used as an identification tool by designing these species-specific primers. Cytochrome c Oxidase subunit 1 (CO1) is the barcode gene used in the test. For this work multiple species-specific primers were designed in order to amplify specific target regions for each species on the template. These multiple species-specific primers amplify species specific target sites within a single PCR making it possible to rapidly differentiate multiple species in a single process. Second, we used a more recent technique, RT-PCR q-PCR, which enables real-time detection, quantification and identification of specific DNA sequences using fluorescent dye, which fluoresces when hybridized with complementary DNA. In RT-PCR, during the denaturation step of PCR process, as the temperature increases, the fluorescence gradually decreases as the DNA strands separates. For each species, this decrease is plotted against the increase in temperature during denaturation, in the form of curves. The shape of these curves depends on the nucleotide sequence in the gene. That means sequence with more C and G requires more energy to break the triple bond between them compared to those with more of A and T. So, these curves will be different for different species because they certainly have different base sequences and useful for identification. Also, this technique doesn't require the gel electrophoresis step which saves approximately an addition hour making the identification more rapid
Development of Longterm Stewardship Practices in XtendFlex Cotton and Economic Analysis for Grower Adoption in Texas
No full textField trials were conducted during 2019-2021 at two locations in Texas to evaluate the efficacy and profitability of dicamba based herbicide programs under continuous cotton production and cotton: sorghum: cotton rotation for three years in no-till cover cropping, strip tillage and conventional tillage. Seasonal weed control data for Palmer amaranth at irrigated and dryland environments, barnyard grass control at irrigated environments, Texas panicum control at dryland environment, cotton and sorghum yields, as well as fiber quality data were collected during 2019-2022. Similarly, cover crop biomass and, Palmer amaranth density at different timings during the growing season were collected during 2020-2021. Cumulative distribution function analysis and stop light chart analysis were conducted using the variability of net returns for each treatment and ranked their economic success. Conventional tillage showed significantly lower in-season Palmer amaranth densities and seedbank compared to no-till cover cropping and strip tillage at both locations. Using high input herbicide program (HI) under cotton: sorghum: cotton rotation provided >90% Palmer amaranth, barnyard grass, and Texas panicum control in College Station and Thrall during the three years. Conventional tillage produced significantly higher seed cotton yields compared to no-till cover cropping in Thrall, whereas no consistent effect of single tillage practice was observed on seed cotton and grain sorghum yields in College Station. No significant difference for seed cotton and grain sorghum yields were observed between herbicide programs at either location. Cumulative density function analysis and stop light charts confirm that using low input herbicide programs under cotton: sorghum: cotton rotation provides significantly greater net returns compared to other treatments in all tillage types at Thrall
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Development of DNA Melt Curve Analysis for the Identification of Lepidopteran Pests in Almonds and Pistachios.
No full textkoamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
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