Variation in pollinator visitation among garden cultivars of marigold, portulaca, and bidens.

Due to declines in pollinator populations, many people are now interested in learning about which annual flowers they can plant in their garden to better support pollinators. However, reports of experimental evaluation of cultivars of annual flowers for attraction to pollinators are scarce. We sampled pollinators visiting six cultivars of marigold (Tagetes erecta and T. patula), ten cultivars of bidens (Bidens ferulifolia and B. aurea), and eight cultivars of portulaca (Portulaca oleracea and P. grandiflora) for two years to compare pollinator visitation rates among cultivars within each flower type. Pollinators collected on flowers in research plots were categorized into four groups, honey bees (Apis mellifera), common eastern bumble bees (Bombus impatiens), wild bees, and syrphids, to show the proportion of different pollinator visitors to each cultivar. Pollinator visitation rates varied significantly among cultivars of marigold, bidens, and portulaca, with some cultivars having as much as 10-fold the visitation rate of other cultivars of the same flower type. In the second year we also evaluated nectar production and nectar quality of the most and least visited cultivars of portulaca and bidens. Our results show that pollinators have a strong preference for cultivars that produce the most nectar or nectar with the highest sugar content. This research will better inform entomologists, growers, educators, and plant breeders, about which cultivars of marigold, portulaca, and bidens are visited the most by pollinators, and how to accurately determine this at the cultivar level.

Gradual Decline of Japanese Beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) Populations in Michigan Follows Establishment of Ovavesicula popilliae (Microsporidia).

The purpose of this research was to document the incidence of Japanese beetle, Popillia japonica Newman (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), infection by the microsporidian pathogen, Ovavesicula popilliae Andreadis & Hanula (Microsporida: Pleistophoridae) while monitoring Japanese beetle populations at nine golf courses in Michigan from 1999 to 2018. We also compared the current distribution of the pathogen in Michigan to the known distribution in 1999. Beetles were sampled a total of seven different years, in three time periods: 1999-2000, 2005-2007, and 2015-2018. At these nine golf courses, O. popilliae infection rates of adults increased from 0.39% in 2000 to 29.5% in 2018, while Japanese beetle adult populations declined 73.2%, and Japanese beetle larval density declined 78.6% (from 1999 to 2018). In previous research, larval infection rates averaged at least twice the infection rates of adults, because all infections originate in the larval stage, and at least 75% of infected larvae die before pupation. This means that an adult infection rate of 29.5%, combined with previously observed 50% reductions in egg production by infected females, are consistent with the observed population declines. The current distribution of O. popilliae in southern Michigan was determined by sampling Japanese beetle larvae and adults at 38 sites in 2017 and 2018. Ovavesicula popilliae was found at 21 of 38 sites and in 16 of 21 counties, compared with two sites in one of 16 counties when it was first detected in Michigan in 1999 and 2000.

Geographic distribution of Ovavesicula popilliae in the United States and sensitivity of visual diagnosis compared with qPCR detection.

The Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica) is one of the most destructive invasive pests in North America, causing significant economic impact to many fruit crops, turfgrass and the nursery industry. A microsporidian pathogen of Japanese beetle, Ovavesicula popilliae, discovered in 1985, proliferates in the Malpighian tubules of larvae and adults, disrupting waste-removal, mineral filtering, and fluid balance in heavily infected individuals. Most infected larvae do not survive from fall to spring, and egg production by infected females is reduced by 50%. Ovavesicula popilliae is promising as a classical biological control agent for Japanese beetle, but outside of surveys completed in Connecticut and Michigan little is known about its geographic distribution in North America. The objective of this research is to obtain a better understanding of the distribution of O. popilliae in North America. Japanese beetles were collected at 59 locations in a total of 19 different states in the USA for pathogen analysis. Overall, the proportion of Japanese beetle adults infected by O. popilliae was much greater in Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee and four states in the northeastern USA compared with sites located west of the Mississippi River (18.6 ± 13.3% and 0.6 ± 1.2%, respectively). Nucleotide sequences of the gene encoding a small subunit of nuclear ribosomal RNA (ssrDNA), obtained from GenBank for O. popilliae was used to develop a highly specific qPCR test for O. popilliae DNA. A subsample of 110 individual Japanese beetles were visually diagnosed first, then analyzed via qPCR. Visual diagnosis and qPCR detection agreed for 80.9% of the beetles tested. The qPCR assay is more sensitive than visual diagnosis (56 visually positive, 73 qPCR positive), is highly specific for O. popilliae, and will be useful for detecting the pathogen in large batches of beetles, or in beetle frass.

Molecular epidemiology of Pasteurella multocida in dairy and beef calves.

The molecular epidemiology of Pasteurella multocida has rarely been studied at the farm level in cattle. The aim of this study was to determine whether single or multiple strains of P. multocida tend to exist within farms. Molecular characterisation was carried out on isolates obtained from nasal swabs from 105 calves from 32 randomly selected beef and dairy farms located throughout Scotland, and from 131 calves from 20 farms in the Mayenne region of France, where sampling occurred in response to respiratory disease outbreaks. P. multocida isolates were characterised by random-amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) typing and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) using restriction enzyme ApaI. In addition, isolates representative of each farm/RAPD profile combination were typed by multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Among 105 Scottish isolates, 15 RAPD profiles were distinguished. The majority of farms (27/32) had indistinguishable profiles in all positive animals. Five farms had two profiles. Among 140 French isolates, 23 RAPD profiles were distinguished. More within-farm heterogeneity was observed although 10/20 farms had just one profile (E4) in sampled calves. Profile E4 accounted for 60% (84/140) of French isolates. PFGE was more discriminatory than RAPD but confirmed results with respect to within farm homogeneity or heterogeneity of strains, whereas MLST was not discriminatory enough for farm level epidemiology. As in other host species, either several strains or one dominant strain of P. multocida may exist within farms, with evidence for a role of management factors such as movements onto the farm in the number of strains detected.

Prevalence of Pasteurella multocida and other respiratory pathogens in the nasal tract of Scottish calves.

The prevalence of Pasteurella multocida, a cause of bovine respiratory disease, was studied in a random sample of beef suckler and dairy farms throughout Scotland, by means of a cross-sectional survey. A total of 637 calves from 68 farms from six geographical regions of Scotland were sampled between February and June 2008. Deep nasal swabs were taken, and samples that were culture-positive for P multocida were confirmed by PCR. Prevalence of P multocida was 17 per cent (105 of 616 calves); 47 per cent of farms had at least one positive animal. A higher prevalence was detected in dairy calves than beef calves (P=0.04). It was found that P multocida was associated with Mycoplasma-like organisms (P=0.06) and bovine parainfluenza type 3 virus (BPI-3) (P=0.04), detected by culture and quantitative PCR of nasal swabs, respectively. Detection of P multocida was not associated with bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV), bovine herpesvirus type 1 (BoHV-1) or bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV). Mycoplasma-like organisms, BPI-3, BRSV, BoHV-1 and BVDV were detected in 58, 17, four, 0 and eight calves, on 25, five, two, 0 and five of the 68 farms, respectively.

Pupillometry in the detection of concomitant drug use in opioid-maintained patients.

Pupillometry and ocular response measures are sensitive to a variety of acutely administered drugs and as such are useful for drug detection and fitness-for-duty applications. The utility of pupillometry to complement urine testing in methadone clinics, where there is considerable non-therapeutic drug use, has not been tested. A video-based pupillometer (FIT 2000) was evaluated in 37 opioid-maintained patients. Three times a week they provided urine samples and pupillometry measures of: initial diameter (ID) in mm; constriction amplitude (CA) in mm; constriction latency (CL) in msec; and saccadic velocity (SV) in mm/sec. Analysis of the success rates indicated that 92.9% of subjects obtained an acceptable reading, 59% on the first attempt. Low variability in pupillary parameters on drug-free days are necessary for effective identification of concomitant drug use. The variability (standard deviation) of ID (0.51 vs. 0.68), CA (0.12 vs. 0.27) and SV (7.2 vs. 11.1) increased on days when the urine was positive for abused drugs compared with drug-free urine days in subjects (n = 6). Subjects who were always drug-free (n = 4) had lower variability than those who always had urine positive for additional drugs (n = 20). These preliminary results suggest that pupillometry may be useful to verify concomitant drug use in a methadone-maintained population. Successful implementation of the methodology could reduce costly and intrusive urine testing.

Impairment of memory function by antihypertensive medication.

This study describes a specific memory impairment in subjects taking either of two kinds of centrally active anti-hypertensive agents. Verbal memory impairment was present in hypertensive and normotensive patients taking methyldopa or propranolol hydrochloride, while hypertensive patients receiving only a diuretic did not show this deficit. Visual memory impairment was not seen in any of the groups tested. The majority of the subjects were unaware of their memory deficit, even when test results clearly revealed impairment. An earlier pilot study of 12 hypertensive patients receiving methyldopa or propranolol used a broad range of cognitive tests and also demonstrated impairment in verbal memory only, while other cognitive measures remained relatively unaffected.

Ultrastructure of a primary fibrosarcoma of the human thyroid gland.

A primary fibrosarcoma of the thyroid occurring in a patient with a nodular goiter is described. Light microscopy showed interwoven bundles of spindle cells admixed with plump ovoid cells, and foci of multinucleated giant cells. Remnants of distorted thyroid follicles were found only at the periphery of the tumor. "Transitional" epithelial elements were not discernible but the tumor resembled an anaplastic giant cell carcinoma. Multiple blocks studied by electron microscopy, however, revealed that the tumor cells, including the giant cells, have the ultrastructure features of a fibroblast.