Fall armyworm from a maize multi-peril pest risk perspective.

We assembled 3,175 geo-tagged occurrences of fall armyworm worldwide and used that data in conjunction with information about the physiological requirements of the pest to spatially assess its global climate suitability. Our analysis indicates that almost the entire African maize crop is grown in areas with climates that support seasonal infestations of the insect, while almost 92% of the maize area supports year-round growth of the pest. In contrast, rich-country maize production largely occurs in temperate areas where only 2.

Predicting potential global and future distributions of the African armyworm (Spodoptera exempta) using species distribution models.

Invasive species have historically been a problem derived from global trade and transport. To aid in the control and management of these species, species distribution models (SDMs) have been used to help predict possible areas of expansion. Our focal organism, the African Armyworm (AAW), has historically been known as an important pest species in Africa, occurring at high larval densities and causing outbreaks that can cause enormous economic damage to staple crops.

Institutional and policy bottlenecks to IPM.

This paper summarises institutional and policy bottlenecks to IPM in Africa. Agricultural policy in Africa generally prioritises production and productivity above environmental sustainability, so the use of synthetic pesticides for controlling pests is encouraged. Funding for research in IPM is limited, and extension systems struggle to provide the level of farmer support that adoption of IPM often needs.

Comparing, evaluating and combining statistical species distribution models and CLIMEX to forecast the distributions of emerging crop pests.

Background: Forecasting the spread of emerging pests is widely requested by pest management agencies in order to prioritise and target efforts. Two widely used approaches are statistical Species Distribution Models (SDMs) and CLIMEX, which uses ecophysiological parameters. Each have strengths and weaknesses.

Assessing the Potential of Inoculative Field Releases of to Control in Ghana.

In response to the threat caused by the fall armyworm to African maize farmers, we conducted a series of field release studies with the egg parasitoid in Ghana. Three releases of ≈15,000 individuals each were conducted in maize plots of 0.5 ha each in the major and minor rainy seasons of 2020, and compared to no-release control plots as well as to farmer-managed plots with chemical pest control.

Regional and seasonal activity predictions for fall armyworm in Australia.

Since 2016, the fall armyworm (FAW), , has undergone a significant range expansion from its native range in the Americas, to continental Africa, Asia, and in February 2020, mainland Australia. The large dispersal potential of FAW adults, wide host range of immature feeding stages, and unique environmental conditions in its invasive range creates large uncertainties in the expected impact on Australian plant production industries. Here, using a spatial model of population growth and spread potential informed by existing biological and climatic data, we simulate seasonal population activity potential of FAW, with a focus on Australia's grain production regions.

Publisher Correction: Science diplomacy for plant health.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Understanding smallholders' responses to fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) invasion: Evidence from five African countries.

Fall armyworm (FAW) is a new invasive pest that is causing devastating effects on maize production and threatening the livelihoods of millions of poor smallholders across sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Using unique survey data from 2356 maize-growing households in Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, we examined how smallholder farmers are fighting this voracious pest. In particular, we assessed the FAW management strategies used by smallholders, socio-economic factors driving the choice of the management options, the complementarities or tradeoffs among the management options, and the (un)safe pesticide use practices of farmers.

Why don't smallholder farmers in Kenya use more biopesticides?

Background: Although Kenya has a relatively high number of registered biopesticide products, little is known about biopesticide use by smallholders. This paper documents farmers' current use and perception of chemical pesticides and biopesticides, their willingness to pay for biopesticides, and the key challenges to biopesticide uptake.

Results: A survey found that chemical pesticides are used widely by smallholders despite awareness of the risks to human health and the environment.

Parasitoid Complex of Fall Armyworm, , in Ghana and Benin.

biological control; ; ; ; ; West Africa.

Evidence of Leaf Consumption Rate Decrease in Fall Armyworm, , Larvae Parasitized by .

Biological control is one of the best options for the sustainable management of the invasive maize pest in Africa. However, there is limited knowledge of the efficacy of native natural enemies of and their potential use in integrated pest management. The endoparasitoid wasp is one of the natural enemies of in Africa.

Farmer perception of fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiderda J.E. Smith) and farm-level management practices in Zambia.

Background: This paper documents farmer perceptions and management practices for fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiderda J.E. Smith), providing a baseline for the development of sustainable pest management strategies.

Next generation sequencing of PD-L1 for predicting response to immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Background: PD-L1 immunohistochemistry (IHC) has been traditionally used for predicting clinical responses to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). However, there are at least 4 different assays and antibodies used for PD-L1 IHC, each developed with a different ICI. We set to test if next generation RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) is a robust method to determine PD-L1 mRNA expression levels and furthermore, efficacy of predicting response to ICIs as compared to routinely used, standardized IHC procedures.

Pest risk assessment of for the European Union.

EFSA was asked for a partial risk assessment of for the territory of the EU focussing on the main pathways for entry, factors affecting establishment, risk reduction options and pest management. As a polyphagous pest, five commodity pathways were examined in detail. Aggregating across these and other pathways, we estimate that tens of thousands to over a million individual larvae could enter the EU annually on host commodities.

Planning clinically relevant biomarker validation studies using the "number needed to treat" concept.

Purpose: Despite an explosion of translational research to exploit biomarkers in diagnosis, prediction and prognosis, the impact of biomarkers on clinical practice has been limited. The elusiveness of clinical utility may partly originate when validation studies are planned, from a failure to articulate precisely how the biomarker, if successful, will improve clinical decision-making for patients. Clarifying what performance would suffice if the test is to improve medical care makes it possible to design meaningful validation studies.

Improving Cancer Gene Expression Data Quality through a TCGA Data-Driven Evaluation of Identifier Filtering.

Data quality is a recognized problem for high-throughput genomics platforms, as evinced by the proliferation of methods attempting to filter out lower quality data points. Different filtering methods lead to discordant results, raising the question, which methods are best? Astonishingly, little computational support is offered to analysts to decide which filtering methods are optimal for the research question at hand. To evaluate them, we begin with a pair of expression data sets, transcriptomic and proteomic, on the same samples.

What Tumor Dynamics Modeling Can Teach us About Exploiting the Stem-Cell View for Better Cancer Treatment.

The cancer stem cell hypothesis is that in human solid cancers, only a small proportion of the cells, the cancer stem cells (CSCs), are self-renewing; the vast majority of the cancer cells are unable to sustain tumor growth indefinitely on their own. In recent years, discoveries have led to the concentration, if not isolation, of putative CSCs. The evidence has mounted that CSCs do exist and are important.

Evidence of a chemopreventive effect of progestin unrelated to ovulation on reproductive tract cancers in the egg-laying hen.

Epidemiologic, laboratory, and animal evidence suggests that progestins and vitamin D may be potent ovarian cancer preventives. Our objectives were to evaluate progestins as reproductive tract cancer chemopreventives in the chicken, determine whether restricted ovulation affected the incidence of reproductive tract tumors, and assess whether vitamin D would confer cancer protection either alone or in addition to progestin. A total of 2,400 two-year-old Single Comb White Leghorns were randomized into six groups (400 each) with hormonal and dietary manipulation for 2 years as follows: (i) no intervention, regular feed/caloric intake, (ii) control, (iii) vitamin D, (iv) the progestin levonorgestrel, (v) vitamin D plus levonorgestrel, and (vi) the progestin Provera (medroxyprogesterone acetate).

A decision theory paradigm for evaluating identifier mapping and filtering methods using data integration.

Background: In bioinformatics, we pre-process raw data into a format ready for answering medical and biological questions. A key step in processing is labeling the measured features with the identities of the molecules purportedly assayed: "molecular identification" (MI). Biological meaning comes from identifying these molecular measurements correctly with actual molecular species.

Estrogen represses gene expression through reconfiguring chromatin structures.

Estrogen regulates over a thousand genes, with an equal number of them being induced or repressed. The distinct mechanisms underlying these dual transcriptional effects remain largely unknown. We derived comprehensive views of the transcription machineries assembled at estrogen-responsive genes through integrating multiple types of genomic data.