Mid February Research Articles

Unfinished Painting

Unfinished Painting

Risk perception and coping response to COVID-19 mediated by positive and negative emotions: A study on Chinese college students.

This study aimed to assess the mediating roles of positive and negative emotions on the relationship between COVID-19-related risk perception and coping behaviours adopted by Chinese college students in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted an internet-based questionnaire survey from mid February-late October 2020, among 1038 college students, from six Chinese universities (females = 73.41%), ranging within 17-26 years. The survey questionnaire included three major components-the COVID-19-Related Risk Perception Scale (CRPS), the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS-Revision), and Coping Response of COVID-19 Scale (CRCS). Descriptive statistics and a mediated model were used to analyse the collected data. A partial mediation relationship was found between COVID-19-related risk perception and 1) active-response behaviour (β = 0.05, 95% Confidence Interval [CI: 0.03, 0.08]), 2) self-protection behaviour through positive emotions (β = 0.03, CI [0.01, 0.04]), and 3) risk-taking behaviour through negative emotions (β = -0.04, CI [-0.07, -0.02]). This study's double-mediation model has been shown to detect the effect coping mechanisms to COVID-19. Furthermore, it implies that public health managers should consider the differences in coping mechanisms and the diverse mediating roles of positive and negative emotions for coping with public health emergencies.

Effect of meteorological parameters on Karnal bunt incidence in wheat under different agroclimatic zones of Punjab

To quantify the effect of meteorological parameters on incidence of Karnal bunt in wheat crop, an investigation was done using 9 to 12 season’s data of Bathinda and Ludhiana stations of Punjab. Maximum temperature during March in range of 25-31oC, minimum temperature of February (8.5-11.0oC), morning and evening relative humidity of March in range of 85-95 and 40-60 per cent respectively, rainfall more than 25 mm with sunshine hours 5.5-9.0 hrs/day during mid February to mid March favour Karnal bunt in wheat crop. Maximum temperature of March showed significant negative correlation with incidence of Karnal bunt whereas minimum temperature of February showed significant positive correlation with disease incidence at both locations. Morning and evening relative humidity showed significant positive correlation with disease incidence. Rain amount and rainy days during mid February to mid March significantly influenced disease incidence. Sunshine hours had negative correlation with disease incidence. Backward multiple linear regression (BMLR) analysis indicated maximum temperature, rainfall and sunshine hours play significant role in Karnal bunt incidence at Ludhiana. However, at Bathinda, maximum temperature, evening time relative humidity, rain amount and rainy days played significant role.

Introduction and variety study of muscari on the Black Sea coast of Russia (Sochi)

Muscari are unpretentious, undemanding, at the same time highly ornamental plants that are widely spred and used in landscape design. Research onMuscaricollection was conducted at the experimental base of Subtropical Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2018-2021. The objects of research were:Muscari armeniacumLeichtlin ex Baker and its varieties: ‘Early Giant’, ‘Fantasy Creation’, ‘Blue Spike’, ‘Touch of Snow’, ‘Dark Eyes’, ‘Peppermint’,Muscari neglectumGuss. ex Ten.,Muscari comosum(L.) Mill (syn.Leopoldia comosa(L.) Parl.) ‘Plumosum’,Muscari racemosumMill. andMuscari botryoides(L.) Mill. The research was carried out according to the developed methodology for studying low-growing flower crops. The characteristics of meteorological conditions were described based on the materials obtained from the weather archive of the Weather and Climate website. During the research, meteorological parameters differed both in the observation years and from the average long-term ones. Higher air temperatures with less precipitation were noted in almost all the research years during the rooting of bulbs (October-November). In the spring months, there was a significant reduction in the amount of precipitation in April and May, often at higher temperatures, which led to a reduction in the duration of the growing season. Phenological observations have shown that Muscari intensively vegetated, bloomed and bore fruit. Vegetation, depending on the variety and the condition of the year, began in late December — early January in early and medium varieties, while in early–mid February — in late varieties. Blooming of early varieties was noted in early–mid March; middle varieties bloomed in mid–late March, late varieties – in the early-mid April. As a result of the conducted research, the ornamental value of 11 Muscari species and varieties has been evaluated. The following varieties with high parameters of ornamental qualities were identified: M.neglectum(58), ‘Fantasy Creation’ (58), ‘Miss Vain’ (58), M.racemosum(58), M.botryoides(58), ‘Blue Spike’ (59). The study of the Muscari collection of Subtropical Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences has shown that all varieties have high ornamental qualities and long blooming and can be used in landscaping.

Allergy to oak pollen in North America

Background: Oak pollen is an important allergen in North America. The genus Quercus (oak) belongs to the family Fagaceae under the order Fagales. Objective: The objective of this article was to narratively review the oak pollen season, clinical and epidemiologic aspects of allergy to oak pollen, oak taxonomy, and oak allergen cross-reactivity, with a focus on the North American perspective. Methods: A PubMed literature review (no limits) was conducted. Publications related to oak pollen, oak-related allergic rhinitis with or without conjunctivitis, and oak-related allergic asthma were selected for review. Results: Oak species are common throughout the United States and contribute up to 50% to overall atmospheric pollen loads. Mean peak oak pollen counts can reach >2000 grains/m³. The start of the oak pollen season generally corresponds to the seasonal shift from winter to spring based on latitude and elevation, and may begin as early as mid February. The duration of the season can last > 100 days and, in general, is longer at lower latitudes. In the United States, ∼30% of individuals with allergy are sensitized to oak. The oak pollen season correlates with increased allergic rhinitis symptom-relieving medication use and asthma-related emergency department visits or hospitalizations. Oak falls within the birch homologous group. Extensive immunologic cross-reactivity has been demonstrated between oak pollen and birch pollen allergens, and, more specifically, their major allergens Que a 1 and Bet v 1. The cross-reactivity between oak and birch has implications for allergy immunotherapy (AIT) because guidelines suggest selecting one representative allergen within a homologous group for AIT, a principle that would apply to oak. Conclusion: Allergy to oak pollen is common in North America and has a substantial clinical impact. Oak pollen allergens are cross-reactive with birch pollen allergens, which may have implications for AIT.

PSVIII-26 Extending the grazing season for grass-fed beef production into the spring transition period

Abstract In the Gulf Coast region, the spring transition period is a 45–60 d period between late April and mid-June. Red and white clovers’ growth pattern is delayed compared to winter grasses making them suitable for this transition period; however, an appropriate rest period allowing stockpiling is needed. Three treatments were evaluated on pastures planted in September of three consecutive years: 1) grazed until mid-February (MF); 2) grazed until first week of March (EM); and 3) grazed until last week of March (LM). Grazing re-started on May 1. Pasture was a mixed of annual ryegrass, red, white and berseem clover. Each year, 24 crossbred steers (330 ± 11 kg) were blocked by BW, allotted to 1 of 6 groups (2 replicates/treatment), and continuously stocked at 995 kg BW/ha. Forage mass at the beginning of the grazing period was greater (P < 0.05) in MF, followed by EM and LM. This represented a forage allowance of 2.0, 1.6, and 1.1 kg DM/kg BW. On d0, the proportion of annual ryegrass was greater (P < 0.05) in MF than in EM and the smallest in LM. Proportion of clovers was greater (P = 0.04) in EM in Year 2 while MF and LM were similar but greater for MF in Year 1. Berseem clover represented 59% of the clover biomass in MF while red clover was 72% of the clover biomass in LM. Proportion of clovers decreased with time while annual ryegrass became mature affecting its palatability. Steers that grazed on MF and EM had greater ADG (1.83 and 1.71 kg) than those on LM (1.41 kg). Grazing season was longer (P = 0.03) for MF (66 days) than for LM (39 days) while EM was intermediate (50 days). A rest period from early March to late April would allow grazing of high-quality pastures during the spring transition period.

Suppression of chili leaf curl virus (ChLCV) incidence in chili (Capsicum annuum L.) across Bangladesh via manipulated planting date and spacing

A 2-year factorial experiment was undertaken in RARS, Jessore in 2019 and 2020 following randomized complete block design with three replicates to evaluate the impact of planting date and spacing on ChLCV disease development and its vector whitefly abundance in chili (Capsicum annuum) modulating chili growth and yield attributes. The field experiments were found consistent between the years improving the reliability and generalizability of the data. The factors planting date and spacing separately produced statistical variation in ChLCV epidemiological parameters along with growth and yield attributing characters. Of the three chili planting dates, early planting (January 1) significantly suppressed ChLCD incidence, severity and its vector whitefly abundance over mid (February 1) and late planting (March 1) dates. Among four spacings, spacious plant spacing (50 × 60 cm) performed significantly better than other spacings in reducing ChLCD incidence and thereby expediting chili growth and yield. No statistical variation was documented between two narrow spacings of 50 × 30 cm and 50 × 40 cm in most of the studied parameters. Regression analyses depicted AUSiPC and AUDPC declined by 13.07 and 12.66 with each unit increase in plant spacing ensuring good fits of the models. A three-variables contour plot illustrated how vector whitefly abundance in chili stimulated ChLCD incidence and reduced chili yield while a 3-D wireframe pointed out that ChLCD incidence accelerated both AUSiPC and AUDPC. PCA analysis identified the major components of the studied parameters impacting disease incidence and chili yield. Cluster analyses well supported the PCA analysis and distinctly branched all the studied parameters into two, one associated with chili yield promoting characters and another with yield constraining ChLCD epidemiological attributes positioned in different nodes with variable similarity matrix. Molecular PCR analysis confirmed the presence of ssDNA (+) ChLCV in sampled plants.

Modeling and prediction of the 2019 coronavirus disease spreading in China incorporating human migration data.

This study integrates the daily intercity migration data with the classic Susceptible-Exposed-Infected-Removed (SEIR) model to construct a new model suitable for describing the dynamics of epidemic spreading of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China. Daily intercity migration data for 367 cities in China were collected from Baidu Migration, a mobile-app based human migration tracking data system. Early outbreak data of infected, recovered and death cases from official source (from January 24 to February 16, 2020) were used for model fitting. The set of model parameters obtained from best data fitting using a constrained nonlinear optimisation procedure was used for estimation of the dynamics of epidemic spreading in the following months. The work was completed on February 19, 2020. Our results showed that the number of infections in most cities in China would peak between mid February to early March 2020, with about 0.8%, less than 0.1% and less than 0.01% of the population eventually infected in Wuhan, Hubei Province and the rest of China, respectively. Moreover, for most cities outside and within Hubei Province (except Wuhan), the total number of infected individuals is expected to be less than 300 and 4000, respectively.

Preventive actions to minimizing the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) transmissions among health workers: a systematic review

On mid February 2020, the World Health Organization declared an outbreak of a new type of respiratory disease originated from Wuhan, China, which was identified as coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19). After a long-standing status of COVID-19-free, on March 2nd, 2020, Indonesia finally broke its first cases. This study aimed to systematically review preventive actions to minimizing the COVID-19 transmissions among health workers. The articles were selected from Google Scholar, World Cat, PROQUEST, PUBMED journal databases published from January to April 2020. The keywords for this review included “COVID-19” or “Corona” and “health behavior” or “health promotion” or “wash hands” or “health workers”. A total of 2,809 articles generated from the databases, the authors identified seven articles of preventing the COVID-19 virus outbreak among the health care workers in the world around 2019-2020. The studies reported that health care workers tried to prevent the COVID-19 transmission by doing social distancing, using the right personal protective equipment (PPE), handwashing, screening for in-person visit, and telemedicine. Health care workers have additional responsibility of protecting the patients and their self. Some issues may be unique to different health care workers departments, the majority of challenges faced by health care workers globally are similar.

Sleep health early in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in the United States: integrating longitudinal, cross-sectional, and retrospective recall data

BackgroundThe outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused substantial changes in lifestyle, responsibilities, and stressors. Such dramatic societal changes might cause overall sleep health to decrease (stress view), to remain unchanged (resilience view), or even to improve (reduced work/schedule burden view).MethodsWe addressed this question using longitudinal, cross-sectional, and retrospective recall methodologies in 699 American adult participants in late March 2020, two weeks following the enactment of social distancing and shelter-in-place policies in the United States.ResultsRelative to baseline data from mid February 2020, cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses demonstrated that average sleep quality was unchanged, or even improved, early in the pandemic. However, there were clear individual differences: approximately 25% of participants reported that their sleep quality had worsened, which was explained by stress vulnerability, caregiving, adverse life impact, shift work, and presence of COVID-19 symptoms.ConclusionsTherefore, the COVID-19 pandemic has detrimentally impacted some individuals' sleep health while paradoxically benefited other individuals’ sleep health by reducing rigid work/school schedules such as early morning commitments.

COVID-19 virus outbreak forecasting of registered and recovered cases after sixty day lockdown in Italy: A data driven model approach.

BackgroundTill 31 March 2020, 105,792 COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Italy including 15,726 deaths which explains how worst the epidemic has affected the country. After the announcement of lockdown in Italy on 9 March 2020, situation was becoming stable since last days of March. In view of this, it is important to forecast the COVID-19 evaluation of Italy condition and the possible effects, if this lock down could continue for another 60 days.MethodsCOVID-19 infected patient data has extracted from the Italian Health Ministry website includes registered and recovered cases from mid February to end March. Adoption of seasonal ARIMA forecasting package with R statistical model was done.ResultsPredictions were done with 93.75% of accuracy for registered case models and 84.4% of accuracy for recovered case models. The forecasting of infected patients could be reach the value of 182,757, and recovered cases could be registered value of 81,635 at end of May.ConclusionsThis study highlights the importance of country lockdown and self isolation in control the disease transmissibility among Italian population through data driven model analysis. Our findings suggest that nearly 35% decrement of registered cases and 66% growth of recovered cases will be possible.

Modelling and Prediction of the 2019 Coronavirus Disease Spreading in China Incorporating Human Migration Data

This study integrates the daily intercity migration data with the classic Susceptible-Exposed-Infected-Removed (SEIR) model to construct a new model suitable for describing the dynamics of epidemic spreading of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China. Daily intercity migration data for 367 cities in China are collected from Baidu Migration, a mobile-app based human migration tracking data system. Historical data of infected, recovered and death cases from official source are used for model fitting. The set of model parameters obtained from best data fitting using a constrained nonlinear optimisation procedure is used for estimation of the dynamics of epidemic spreading in the coming months. Our results show that the number of infections in most cities in China will peak between mid February to early March 2020, with about 0.8%, less than 0.1% and less than 0.01% of the population eventually infected in Wuhan, Hubei Province and the rest of China, respectively. Moreover, for most cities outside and within Hubei Province (except Wuhan), the total number of infected individuals is expected to be less than 300 and 4000, respectively. Funding Statement: This work was supported by National Science Foundation of China Project 61703355, Guangdong Youth University Innovative Talents Project 2016KQNCX223, and City University of Hong Kong under Special Fund 9380114. Declaration of Interests: None.

Life-history traits of the spiny dogfish Squalus acanthias in the Adriatic Sea

Pivotal life history traits concerning age structure and reproduction of the spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias, Linnaeus 1758) were investigated in the Adriatic Sea from mid February 2012 to mid July 2013 and in 2016. The whole sample consisted of 176 females and 150 males, ranging between 217–1025 mm and 219–875 mm, respectively. The individual age, which was estimated using a cross-sectioning technique of the second dorsal-fin spine, ranged from 0 to 13+ years for females and from 0 to 9+ years for males. Based on the length-at-age estimates, the Gompertz growth parameters were L∞ = 1130 mm, k = 0.18 and L∞ = 920 mm, k = 0.24 for females and males, respectively. The size at sexual maturity (L50) was 659 mm for females and 575 mm for males, corresponding to 7.5 and 5.5 years of age (A50), respectively. Mean biennial fecundity was approximately 11 embryos/female and 12 ripe oocytes/female. Mature males occurred during much of the sampling period, while mature females with nearly full-term embryos were exclusively recorded in May 2013 and July 2016. Monitoring of catches conducted in a sample port of the north Adriatic (Chioggia) over the past 20 years has shown fluctuating trends in landings, with peaks during the summer reproductive season.

Climate change impact on thermal comfort in Mexico City housing

A two storey terraced house was modelled in ESP-r with a simple window opening control strategy to represent typical dwellings found in Mexico City and the adjoining municipalities. Future weather data was generated for years in this century based on morphing methods developed from the literature and by the authors and a TMY weather file developed from historical data between 1975 to 1989 by WhiteBox Technologies. The population in the region under consideration is a little over 20 million which represents 16% of Mexico’s population. The present day climate is such that air conditioning is rarely used in single family housing. The main cooling strategy in the hottest months (Mid February to mid June) is window opening. This was modelled considering that if the interior temperature was at or above 18°C and the exterior air temperature was below the interior air temperature then windows would be open. The air flow was modelled using the flow network model within ESP-r. It was found that in the latter part of the present century, this strategy would become increasingly ineffective. This is likely to lead to a considerable increase in installed air conditioning in single family dwellings and a consequent increase in electricity demand and consumption leading to a need for substantial investments in electricity transmission and distribution systems in the region to bring in power from distant sources.

Early spring warming may hasten leaf emergence in Erythronium americanum.

Climate change is making spring arrive earlier than in the past, causing some species to alter the timing of their spring activities. This study addressed whether Erythronium americanum Ker Gawl. (trout lily), a common spring ephemeral, can emerge earlier if exposed to early spring warming. I collected corms of Erythronium americanum in the fall, overwintered them in soil, and exposed them to warming in either mid (early treatment) or late (late treatment) February. The timing of leaf emergence was monitored and compared between treatments. Leaves exposed to early warming emerged earlier than those in the late treatment. Bud break happened closer to date of exposure to warming in the late treatment than in the early treatment. Spring ephemerals may be able to produce leaves early in response to early spring warming induced by climate change. Risk of late frost and eventual shading by the canopy may limit the duration of a potentially extended growing season.

Population, Fluctuation of Aphid on the different Wheat Varieties from Larkana District

The present investigation has been carried on the population fluctuation of aphids on the different wheat varieties i-e TD-1, Benazir, Tj-83, QS-4, NIAamber from larkana district. Triticium astivum (wheat) is considered very important food crop in Pakistan including Sindh. This crop is attacked by numbers of insect including aphids, which is responsible for reduction of its yield. The occurrence of aphid has been started in the month of January and its peak infestation was observed during mid March when wheat crop was fully grown. During the present study significant large numbers of specimens were collected from the different varieties of wheat. The collected material was sorted out in to two species viz: Rhopalosiphum padi (L.), Schizaphis graminum (Rondani). During this study it was noted that TD-1 was significantly affected by R.padi and S.gramium as compare to other tested varieties. It was observed that aphid reached peak point in mid February on leaves then in the end of February aphids started shifting from leaves to ears and their population start to decline in month of April.

Growth of Apis mellifera (L.) colonies influenced by honey extraction frequencies

Present re search was formulated to find out how honey extraction frequencies influence colony growth and honey production of European honey bee Apis mellifera colonies. Colonies were equalized in terms of food and brood before starting experiment and were subjected to three types of honey extraction frequencies namely single, two and regular/ farmer’s practices. Observations were recorded fortnightly throughout the honey flow season for two consecutive years (2014-16). As per present findings single extraction frequency have maximum mean honey area of 668.4 inches2 followed by twice extracted colonies (568.6) with significant difference and regular extraction (449.0) gives least honey. Honey peaks were observed during mid February (837.8-916.8 inches2) which remains significantly higher than honey areas in January and in March. As far as colony growth was concerned colonies with two extractions have high total brood areas of 436.4 inches2 and similar trend was followed in case of larvae, pupae and egg. Effect on pollen stores gave a different picture in contrast of other parameters here colonies with regular extraction were observed with significantly high pollen stores (99.3 inches2) than single extracted colonies (83.7 inches2). For high honey production single extraction was recommended and if colony multiplication was also an aim than twice extraction is best option as per findings.

Body Mass Increase before an Oversea Jump in a Short-Distance Migrant, the White-Throated Dipper Cinclus cinclus

A fraction of White-throated Dippers Cinclus cinclus breeding in Scandinavia migrate south over the Baltic Sea during their short-distance migration to the winter quarters. The aim of our study was to investigate patterns of body mass changes between arrival to and departure from the wintering grounds in northern Poland. From a cost-benefit perspective, according to optimal body mass theory, we expected that fuel loading should occur as late as possible before spring migration, to reduce costs associated with high fuel loads. We were interested if sexes (in view of the larger body size of males) and age classes (in view of the less experienced young individuals) differ in the duration of the fueling period and in rates of increase of body mass prior to spring migration. To address these questions, we used morphometric data from 520 Dippers trapped over 16 wintering seasons (1989/1990–2004/2005), including birds trapped more than once (881 captures in total). Body mass was stable between late October and mid February. The period of intensive body mass increase lasted for about one month directly before departure in all Dippers and started in the second half of February. The rate of increase depended on date in a non-linear fashion: the later the date, the higher the rate, with a tendency to stabilize in the last days of March. In late March, the estimated mean body mass was 20–21% higher in males and 18% higher in females compared to the mean body mass during winter. Immature males increased body mass faster than adults (both sexes) and immature females and reached higher body mass prior to departure (increase up to 36%). Fuel loads are not only sufficient to complete the 100–300 km long migration over the Baltic Sea, but probably also to reach breeding destinations in the Scandinavian Mountains, c. 600 km north from the wintering range in northern Poland.

The Relationship between the Biochemical Leaf Components and the Population Density of the Onion Thrips and Land Snails Attacking some Vegetable Crops

Field experiments were carried out at Sakha Agricultural Research Station, Kafr El-Sheikh governorate during 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons, to study host preference and the population densities of Thrips tabaci Lind. andMonacha spp. in lettuce (Roman), onion (Giza red) and garlic (sids 40 and balady cultivars) plantations. Also, the relationship between the biochemical leaf components (Chlorophyll, moisture, potassium (K), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), protein, total carbohydrates mg/kg and phenols) and pest population density. The population density of T. tabaciwere detected in lettuce, onion, garlic (sids 40 and balady) plantations by late January. The population density of T. tabaci progressively increased to reached its peaks during February and March. No land snails were detected on balady garlic. Snail populations in lettuce, onion, garlic (sids 40), were low or moderate until mid February, and then gradually increased to maximal peaks in February and March. The highest population density of thrips was observed in onion followed by garlic when compared with lettuce, while Monacha spp. was opposite. Garlic (sids 40) had higher chlorophyll content followed by balady garlic than lettuce. Almost, K, N, P, protein, total carbohydrates and total phenols significantly varied among vegetable crops (p≤ 0.05). In addition, there is a positive correlation between the population density of T. tabaci with each of chlorophyll content, moisture, P and total phenols, while relationship between the population density and K, N, protein and total carbohydrates were negative. There is a negative correlation between land snails and chlorophyll content but it was positive with each of moisture, N, protein and total phenols and positive significant with K (p≤ 0.05).

Comparative evaluation of Doolittle, Cupkit and Karl Jenter techniques for rearing Apis mellifera Linnaeus queen bees during breeding season

Comparative evaluation of Doolittle, Karl Jenter and Cupkit techniques of Apis mellifera Linnaeus queen bee rearing was done during spring (mid February- mid April 2013) breeding season. The highest acceptance of cell cups (66.00 %), queen cells raising (64.00 %), their sealing (60.67 %) and emergence of gynes (54.67 %) was recorded in Cupkit apparatus. Maximum weight of newly emerged gyne was recorded in Doolittle method in plastic cell cups (212.36 mg), while the mean weight was 184.96 mg in case of Cupkit apparatus. Overall, Cupkit proved to be the best option for queen bee rearing because of its better performance in terms of acceptance of larvae (66.00 %) and the number of successfully produced gynes i.e. 16 queens/colony/cycle of 12 days.