A sustainable pest control system integrates automated pest detection and recognition to evaluate the pest density using image samples taken from habitats. Novel predator/prey modelling algorithms assess control requirements for the UAV system, which is designed to deliver measured quantities of naturally beneficial predators to combat pest infestations within economically acceptable timeframes. The integrated system will reduce the damaging effect of pests in an infested habitat to an economically acceptable level without the use of chemical pesticides. Plant pest recognition and detection is vital for food security, quality of life and a stable agricultural economy. The research utilises a combination of the k-means clustering algorithm and the correspondence filter to achieve pest detection and recognition. The detection is achieved by partitioning the data space into Voronoi cells, which tends to find clusters of comparable spatial extents, thereby separating the objects (pests) from the background (pest habitat). The detection is established by extracting the variant and distinctive attributes between the pest and its habitat (leaf, stem) and using the correspondence filter to identify the plant pests to obtain correlation peak values for the different datasets. The correspondence filter can achieve rotationally invariant recognition of pests for a full 360 degrees, which proves the effectiveness of the algorithm and provides a count of the number of pests in the image. A series of models has been produced that will permit an assessment of common pest infestation problems and estimate the number of predators that are required to control the problem within a time schedule. A UAV predator deployment system has been designed. The system is offered as a replacement for chemical pesticides to improve peoples' health opportunities and the quality of food products.

Thesis (M.A.(Anthropology)) --University of Limpopo, 1999 / Refer to document

Of the 430+ extant species of Gyrodactylus, ectoparasitic monogenetic flukes of aquatic vertebrates, Gyrodactylus salaris Malmberg, 1957 is arguably the most well-known. Following the introduction of this species into Norway in the 1970s with consignments of infected Atlantic salmon smolts, Salmo salar L., this species has had a devastating impact on the Norwegian Atlantic salmon population, decimating wild stocks in over 40 rivers. Gyrodactylus salaris is the only OIE (Office International des Epizooties) listed parasitic pathogen of fish and has been reported from 19 countries across Europe, though many of these records require confirmation. The UK, Ireland and some selected watersheds in Finland are currently recognised as G. salaris-free states; however, the threat that this notifiable parasite poses to the salmon industry in the UK and Ireland is of national concern. Current British contingency plans are based on the assumption that if G. salaris were to be introduced, the parasite would follow similar dynamics to those on salmonid stocks from across Scandinavia, i.e. that Atlantic strains of Atlantic salmon would be highly susceptible to infection, with mortalities resulting; that brown trout, Salmo trutta fario L., would be resistant and would lose their infection in a relatively short period of time; and that grayling, Thymallus thymallus (L.), would also be resistant to infection, but would carry parasites, at a low level, for up to 143 days. Two of the objectives of this study were to confirm the current distribution of G. salaris across Europe, and then, to investigate the relative susceptibility of British salmonids to G. salaris, to determine whether they would follow a similar pattern of infection to their Scandinavian counterparts or whether, given their isolation since the last glaciation and potential genetic differences, they would exhibit different responses. It has been almost six years since the distribution of G. salaris across Europe was last evaluated. Some of the European states identified as being G. salaris-positive, however, are ascribed this status based on misidentifications, on partial data resulting from either morphological or molecular tests, or according to records that have not been revisited. Additional Gyrodactylus material from selected salmonids was obtained from several countries to contribute to current understanding regarding the distribution of G. salaris across Europe. From the work conducted in the study, G. salaris is reported from Italy for the first time, alongside three other species, and appears to occur extensively throughout the central region without causing significant mortalities to their rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum), hosts. The analysis of archive material from G. salaris-positive farms would suggest that G. salaris has been in the country for at least 12 years. Material obtained from rainbow trout from Finland and Germany was confirmed as G. salaris supporting existing data for these countries. No specimens of G. salaris, however, were found in the additional Gyrodactylus material obtained from Portuguese and Spanish rainbow trout, only Gyrodactylus teuchis Lautraite, Blanc, Thiery, Daniel et Vigneulle, 1999, a morphologically similar species was found. Gyrodactylus salaris is now reported from 23 out of ~50 recognised states throughout Europe, only 17 of these however, have been confirmed by either morphology or by an appropriate molecular test, and only ten of these records have been confirmed by a combination of both methods. To assess the susceptibility of English and Welsh salmonids to G. salaris, a number of salmonid stocks of wild origin, were flown to the Norwegian Veterinary Institute (NVI) in Oslo, where they were experimentally challenged with G. salaris. Atlantic salmon from the Welsh River Dee, S. trutta fario from the English River Tyne and T. thymallus from the English River Nidd, raised from wild stock in government hatcheries, were flown out and subsequently challenged with G. salaris haplotype A. After acclimation, each fish was infected with ~50–70 G. salaris and marked, so that parasite numbers on individual fish could be followed. The dynamics on individual fish were followed against a control (Lierelva Atlantic salmon). The experiment found that the number of G. salaris on S. salar from the River Dee continued to rise exponentially to a mean intensity (m.i.) of ~3851 G. salaris fish-1 (day 40 post-infection). These salmon were highly susceptible, more so than the Norwegian salmon control (m.i. ~1989 G. salaris fish-1 d40 post-infection) and were unable to regulate parasite numbers. The S. trutta fario and T. thymallus populations, although initially susceptible, were able to control and reduce parasite burdens after 12 (m.i. ~146 G. salaris fish-1) and 19 (m.i. ~253 G. salaris fish-1) days, respectively when peak infections were seen. Although the latter two hosts were able to limit their G. salaris numbers, both hosts carried infections for up to 110 days (i.e. when the experiment was terminated). The ability of S. trutta fario and T. thymallus to carry an infection for long periods increases the window of exposure and the potential transfer of G. salaris to other susceptible hosts. The potential role that brown trout may play in the transmission and spread of G. salaris in the event of an outbreak, needs to be considered carefully, as well as the interpretation of the term “resistant” which is commonly used when referring to brown trout’s susceptibility to G. salaris. The current British surveillance programmes for G. salaris are focused on the screening of Atlantic salmon and on the monitoring of the rainbow trout movements. The findings from this study demonstrate that G. salaris can persist on brown trout for long periods, and suggest that brown trout sites which overlap with Atlantic salmon or rainbow trout sites are also included within surveillance programmes and that the role that brown trout could play in disseminating infections needs to be factored into contingency/management plans. Throughout the course of the study, a number of parasite samples were sent to the Aquatic Parasitology Laboratory at Stirling for evaluation. Some of these samples represented Gyrodactylus material that were associated with fish mortalities, but the species of Gyrodactylus responsible appeared to be new to science. A further aspect of this study was, therefore, to investigate these Gyrodactylus related mortalities in aquaculture stock and to describe the species found in each case, which may represent emerging pathogens. The two new species, Gyrodactylus orecchiae Paladini, Cable, Fioravanti, Faria, Di Cave et Shinn, 2009 and Gyrodactylus longipes Paladini, Hansen, Fioravanti et Shinn, 2011 on farmed gilthead seabream, Sparus aurata L., were collected from several Mediterranean farms. The finding of G. orecchiae in Albania and Croatia was associated with 2–10% mortality of juvenile stock and represents the first species of Gyrodactylus to be formally described from S. aurata. Subsequently, G. longipes was found in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Italy, and at the Italian farm site, it occurred as a mixed infection with G. orecchiae, but these infections did not appear to result in any loss of stock. Unconfirmed farm reports from this latter site, however, suggest that a 5–10% mortality of juvenile S. aurata was also caused by an infection of Gyrodactylus, which is suspected to be G. longipes. Additional samples of Gyrodactylus from a gilthead seabream farm located in the north of France have been morphologically identified as G. longipes, extending the geographical distribution of this potentially pathogenic species to three countries and three different coasts. In addition to these samples, some specimens of Gyrodactylus from a Mexican population of rainbow trout were sent for evaluation.

Quite a number of important crops have been genetically modified with genes for agronomically important traits, such as insect and viral resistance. As the numbers of genetically modified foods continue to increase on the market, the need for rapid development of GMO detection methods is indispensable. This study was carried out to detect if genetically modified potatoes exist on food market in Turkey. Thirty samples from different places were collected. Using a DNA based PCR method, potato samples were examined for the presence of 35S promoter, Nos terminator, neomycin phosphotransferase (nptII) genes, and synthetic cry3A gene which is the general transgene in all approved Newleaf transgenic potato lines. The experimental design of this study was to detect Newleaf insect resistant lines. In 11 samples at least one genetic element was detected. Sample R from Ankara has shown to be belonging to Newleaf insect resistant lines. Since 35S promoter was not detected in samples M3, 14 and F1, it is proposed that they are belonging to Newleaf virus and insect resistant lines (Newleaf plus or Newleaf Y). Although Nos terminator was not detected in samples H2, Z2 and D, cry3A fragments amplified in those samples have been verified that they are from the synthetic cry3A regions of Newleaf lines. The detected synthetic cry3A gene in GM potatoes was amplified by specific primers, which cannot amplify Bacillus thuringiensis tenebrionis natural cry3A gene. In addition, the authenticity of the synthetic cry3A PCR products were confirmed by both sequencing and restriction digestions. Our results showed that genetically modified Newleaf potatoes exist in food market in Turkey. Further studies by accredited laboratories are strongly recommended.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Sveriges lantbruksuniv., 2004. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

目的：全面而系統的評價中醫藥對慢性萎縮性胃炎伴腸上皮化生的臨床總體療效、胃鏡療效、病理療效，及中醫藥對腸上皮化生的逆轉率。 方法：電腦檢索中國期刊全文資料庫、重慶維普中文科技期刊資料庫、中國知網資料庫、中國生物醫學文獻資料庫網路版、萬方資料庫、PUBMED 和中國中醫藥期刊文獻資料庫，查找有關中醫藥治療，慢性萎縮性胃炎伴腸上皮他生的隨機對照試驗，檢索從2006 年至2015 年12 月發表的論文。按照納入標準、排除標準及結局指標的統計進行文獻篩查，採用Jadad 評分標準對文獻進行評估，採用Review Manager5 軟體進行Meta分析。 結果： 共納入的項臨床研究，未發現隨機雙盲實驗。共納入1559 例慢性萎縮性胃炎伴腸上皮化生患者，未發現嚴重不良反應。Meta 分析結果顯示，在臨床有效性方面， 中醫藥個體化方案治療組與中成藥治療組相比OR=5.18,95%CI(3.59, 7.64)]，中醫藥個體化方案治療組與單純西醫西藥治療組相比OR=5.46, 95%CI (3.42,8.70），中醫中藥合輔助治療組與此外其他療法治療組OR=6.66 , 95%CI (2.69,16.49），試驗組療效均優於對照組。在胃鏡療效和病理療效方面，中醫中藥治療組與此外其他療法治療名且對胃粘膜萎縮改善情況對比結果OR=2.81，95%CI(1.76,4.47）, 對腸上皮化生改善情況的對比結果OR=4.14, 95%CI (2.87, 5.99 ）中醫中藥治療組與中成藥治療組對綜合胃鏡結果改善情況的對比結果OR =2.68, 95%CI (0.96, 6.8），對綜合病理結果改善情況的對比結果OR=2.80, 95%CI(1.79, 4.38）, 試驗組優於對照在且。中醫中藥治療組與此外其他方法治療組對腸上皮化生逆轉情況的對比結果，共在內人病例數1552 例，結果顯示OR=3.61, 95%CI(2.76, 4.72）,試驗組優於對照組。 結論：中醫藥治療慢性萎縮性胃炎伴腸上皮化生具有很好的臨床療效，主要體現在改善綜合胃鏡情況， 改善綜合病理情況以及逆轉腸上皮他生的情況。但由於臨床試驗設計的局限，不能對中醫藥對該疾病的作用進行全面的判斷，故仍需嚴謹的大樣本多中心的隨機雙盲試驗加以驗證。

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T16:44:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Aldemir Evangelista da Cruz.pdf: 328390 bytes, checksum: af4df7d7d4e1cb9a8b3170bc5b8b0d31 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-09-16 / The aim of this research was to investigate why, in Brazil, the neglected diseases are still neglected, as well as the reasons for this persistence. Such diseases are malaria, tuberculosis, Chagas disease, lepra, dengue and Leisshimaniosis/ kalazar. Through the literature, it was possible to verify that the persistence of those diseases occurs because of a sequence of flaws in the public and private health system. The development of science and investments is insufficient or even inexistent concerning this. When there is medicine or when there are vaccines for treatment, their prices are extremely high for a great part of the population living in developing countries. Moreover, public services for preventing such diseases and the medicine distribution management are inefficient. The neglected diseases do not call much attention from global pharmaceutical companies; furthermore, developed and developing countries governments do not invest a lot in prevention and treatment of these diseases. Therefore, focusing on medicine demands and vaccines for treatment of the neglected diseases could be a very profitable market for the national pharmaceutical industry. When taking into account the difficulties for research and the volume of money needed for the production of such treatment medicines, it is clear that the partnership between governments and private companies might be a possible solution for this problem / O objetivo desta pesquisa é investigar o motivo pelo qual, no Brasil, as doenças negligenciadas persistem como tal, quais as causas da persistência da negligência, com permissão para a redundância da expressão. As doenças negligenciadas são malária, tuberculose, doença de Chagas, hanseníase, dengue e leishmaniose. A literatura examinada mostra que a persistência dessas doenças se dá pela sucessão de deficiências do sistema de saúde público e privado. A produção de ciência e investimentos são insuficientes ou mesmo inexistentes. Quando o medicamento ou vacinas existem, os preços são proibitivos para maioria das populações residentes nos países em desenvolvimento. Os serviços públicos para a prevenção das doenças e a gestão da distribuição dos medicamentos são inadequados. As doenças negligenciadas despertam pouco interesse por parte das empresas farmacêuticas mundiais, os governos dos países desenvolvidos e em desenvolvimento também pouco investem na prevenção e tratamento dessas doenças. Nesse quadro, o atendimento da demanda por medicamentos e vacinas para as doenças negligenciadas pode ser um mercado significativo para a indústria farmacêutica nacional. Ao se considerar as dificuldades de pesquisa e o volume de dinheiro necessários para a produção desses bens, entende-se que as parcerias entre governos e indústrias privadas fazem parte do quadro de soluções para o problema

The objective of this study was to transform sweet pepper ferredoxin-like protein (PFLP) gene, which has antimicrobial properties, to tobacco and investigate the disease resistance abilities of transgenic tobacco. This protein interacts with another protein, harpin that is produced by the bacteria which is invading the plant tissues, and stimulates hypersensitivity response in plants, thus the spreading of disease is limited. Gene transfer was achieved to tobacco by Agrobacterium- mediated method and with indirect organogenesis / the explants were grown on selective media and then transferred to jars and pots respectively. Molecular and genetic analyses such as PCR, RT-PCR, Sequence Analysis and Northern Blot, were performed with plants which their seeds survived and grew on selective medium and also gave positive reactions for GUS histochemical assay. Finally, with putative transgenic plants, some hypersensitive response assays were carried out with Pseudomonas syringae and it was observed that the recovered plants showed hypersensitive response (HR) in the preliminary tests. These results indicated that putative transgenic tobacco plants which carry pflp transgene, can be used in disease resistance studies.

No description available.

Micromotors are recognized as promising candidates for untethered micromanipulation and targeted cargo transport. Their future application is, however, hindered by the low efficiency of drug encapsulation and their poor adaptability in physiological conditions. To address these challenges, one potential solution is to incorporate micromotors with biological materials as the combination of functional biological entities and smart artificial parts represents a manipulable and biologically friendly approach. This dissertation focuses on the development of custom-designed micromotors combined with sperm and their potential applications on targeted diseases treatment. By means of 2D and 3D lithography methods, microstructures with complex configurations can be fabricated for specific demands. Bovine and human sperm are both for the first time explored as drug carriers thanks to their high encapsulation efficiency of hydrophilic drugs, their powerful self-propulsion and their improved drug-uptake relying on the somatic-cell fusion ability. The hybrid micromotors containing drug loaded sperm and constructed artificial enhancements can be self-propelled by the sperm flagella and remotely guided and released to the target at high precision by employing weak external magnetic fields. As a result, micromotors based on both bovine and human sperm show significant anticancer effect. The application here can be further broadened to other biological environments, in particular to the blood stream, showing the potential on the treatment of blood diseases like blood clotting. Finally, to enhance the treatment efficiency, in particular to control sperm number and drug dose, three strategies are demonstrated to transport swarms of sperm. This research paves the way for the precision medicine based on engineered sperm-based micromotors.