Visual Counting Methods Research Articles

DETERMINATION OF FISH DIVERSITY IN THE ROCKY HABITAT AROUND MERSIN BOĞSAK ISLAND (NORTHEAST MEDITERRANEAN) BY VISUAL CENSUS METHOD

This study was conducted in the rocky habitat of Boğsak Island in Mersin Bay in November, March and July, representing the fall, spring and summer months of 2022-2023, by scuba diving between 0-18 m depth for approximately 40 hours. The Go-Pro Hero 12 black camera was used in the study. In the study, the structure of the fish community of the rocky bottom habitat of Boğsak Island in Mersin Bay was determined, and the seasonal availability, abundance, feeding status, and distribution of local and non-native fish species were determined. Sampling was carried out using the underwater visual counting method, and surveys were made along a linear line. Shannon-Weiner Diversity Index (H'), Homogeneity and Relative Diversity Index Evennes (J) and Species Richness Index Margalef Rhichnes (D) were used to determine the species diversity. The distance of the relationship between the data was determined with N-MDS, one of the multidimensional scaling analyses. The Euclidean formula was used to determine the distances of coordinates in the scaling. Principal component analysis was used to classify species based on the number of individuals. A total of 29 fish species, including 28 bony fish species belonging to 15 families and 1 cartilaginous Gymnura altavela (Linnaeus, 1758), were identified in the study area. The richest family in terms of species diversity was Sparidae (6), followed by Mullidae (3), Serranidae (3), Tetraodontidae (2), Soleidae (2), Labridae (2) and other families with 1 species each. Of the fish species identified throughout the year in the study area, 52% were Atlantic, 37% were Indo-Pacific and 11% were cosmopolitan. It was found that 41% of the fish species were invertivores, 22% carnivores (feeding on fish and invertebrates), 18% omnivores, 11% planktivores, 4% herbivores and 4% piscivores. Torquigener flavimaculosus in summer, Cheilodipterus novemstriatus in spring, and Chromis chromis in fall were the most abundant species. According to the Shannon diversity index (H'), the highest species diversity was found in the fall (H'=2,956), followed by spring (H'=2,501) and summer (H'=2,458). Homogeneity and relative diversity index Evennes (J) was determined as J=0.642 in spring, J=0.531 in summer and J=0.800 in fall. The species richness index Margalef Rhichnes (D) was highest in autumn (d=4.804), then in summer (d=3.917) and lowest in spring (d=3.632). This is the first study to investigate the structure of rocky habitat fish communities in the northeastern Mediterranean, which shows a dynamic structure in terms of biodiversity, and is expected to contribute to researchers working in this field.

Study on Different Nectar Rich Flowering Plants of Few Butterfly Species at Different Habitats in Pjtsau Campus Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, India

The present study was conducted to investigate the different nectar rich flowering plants of few butterfly species at various habitats in PJTSAU campus, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad during the period from October 2022 to March 2023. The study was conducted in agricultural fields (college farm, student farm and Agricultural Research Institute (ARI)), open scrub areas, Agri biodiversity park (ABP) and botanical garden. To record the nectar plants of few butterfly species, systematic field survey through transact walk was conducted by employing visual count method (VCM) in various habitats. A total of 37 flowering plant species belongs to 20 families were visited by butterflies during the study period. Interestingly, flowering trees found to have contributed more (27.03%) followed by weeds (24.32%), cultivable crops (16.22%), herbs and shrubs with same contribution (13.51%) and the least contribution was found to have recorded with climbers (5.41%). Among the 20 families, Asteraceae (6 plant species) and Fabaceae (6 plant species) families with Yellow, white and pink colored flowers were visited more often for nectar collection. It could help to understand the locally available flora with different flower colors as source of food for few butterfly species and emphasized the need of herbaceous flora conservation to restore native butterfly species in various habitats.

Automated software for counting and measuring Hyalella genus using artificial intelligence

Amphipods belonging to the Hyalella genus are macroinvertebrates that inhabit aquatic environments. They are of particular interest in areas such as limnology and ecotoxicology, where data on the number of Hyalella individuals and their allometric measurements are used to assess the environmental dynamics of aquatic ecosystems. In this study, we introduce HyACS, a software tool that uses a model developed with the YOLOv3’s architecture to detect individuals, and digital image processing techniques to extract morphological metrics of the Hyalella genus. The software detects body metrics of length, arc length, maximum width, eccentricity, perimeter, and area of Hyalella individuals, using basic imaging capture equipment. The performance metrics indicate that the model developed can achieve high prediction levels, with an accuracy above 90% for the correct identification of individuals. It can perform up to four times faster than traditional visual counting methods and provide precise morphological measurements of Hyalella individuals, which may improve further studies of the species populations and enhance their use as bioindicators of water quality.

Ki67 in Breast Cancer Assay: An Ad Hoc Testing Recommendation from the Canadian Association of Pathologists Task Force

Ki67, a marker of cellular proliferation, is commonly assessed in surgical pathology laboratories. In breast cancer, Ki67 is an established prognostic factor with higher levels associated with worse long-term survival. However, Ki67 IHC is considered of limited clinical use in breast cancer management largely due to issues related to standardization and reproducibility of scoring across laboratories. Recently, both the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Health Canada have approved the use of abemaciclib (CDK4/6 inhibitor) for patients with HR+/HER2: high-risk early breast cancers in the adjuvant setting. Health Canada and the FDA have included a Ki67 proliferation index of ≥20% in the drug monograph. The approval was based on the results from monarchE, a phase III clinical trial in early-stage chemotherapy-naïve, HR+, HER2 negative patients at high risk of early recurrence. The study has shown significant improvement in invasive disease-free survival (IDFS) with abemaciclib when combined with adjuvant endocrine therapy at two years. Therefore, there is an urgent need by the breast pathology and medical oncology community in Canada to establish national guideline recommendations for Ki67 testing as a predictive marker in the context of abemaciclib therapy consideration. The following recommendations are based on previous IKWG publications, available guidance from the monarchE trial and expert opinions. The current recommendations are by no means final or comprehensive, and their goal is to focus on its role in the selection of patients for abemaciclib therapy. The aim of this document is to guide Canadian pathologists on how to test and report Ki67 in invasive breast cancer. Testing should be performed upon a medical oncologist's request only. Testing must be performed on treatment-naïve tumor tissue. Testing on the core biopsy is preferred; however, a well-fixed resection specimen is an acceptable alternative. Adhering to ASCO/CAP fixation guidelines for breast biomarkers is advised. Readout training is strongly recommended. Visual counting methods, other than eyeballing, should be used, with global rather than hot spot assessment preferred. Counting 100 cells in at least four areas of the tumor is recommended. The Ki67 scoring app developed to assist pathologists with scoring Ki67 proposed by the IKWG, available for free download, may be used. Automated image analysis is very promising, and laboratories with such technology are encouraged to use it as an adjunct to visual counting. A score of <5 or >30 is more robust. The task force recommends that the results are best expressed as a continuous variable. The appropriate antibody clone and staining protocols to be used may take time to address. For the time being, the task force recommends having tonsils/+pancreas on-slide control and enrollment in at least one national/international EQA program. Analytical validation remains a pending goal. Until the data become available, using local ki67 protocols is acceptable. The task force recommends participation in upcoming calibration and technical validation initiatives.

비가림 재배 유기농 한라봉 감귤원에서 썩덩나무노린재의 연간 발생양상

The brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) is polyphagous pest insect, originated in East Asia including Korea, China, Japan and Taiwan, injuring leguminous and fruit plants and many ornamental trees. Usually stink bugs need legumes as food to complete their life cycle. In particular, in Jeju, the damage of H. halys is frequently found in the environment-friendly citrus cultivation, thus, this study was conducted to find out whether the full life history of H. halys can be completed in an organic citrus orchard with non-heated cultivated greenhouse. In organic ‘Shiranui’ (brand name Hallabong ((Citrus unshiu x C. sinensis) x C. reticulata)) orchard grown in non-heated greenhouse, seasonal fluctuation of each developmental stages of H. halys and its preferring host sites were investigated by visual counting method. The adult population peaks (summer generation) occurred in mid-July for the first generation and late-October for the second generation. Most H. halys was found on young leaves of shoots before fruit coloring (September) with few-individuals were observed on fruits, while thereafter the fourth to fifth nymphs of H. halys moved to citrus fruits for feeding resulting in the fruit drop. Consequently, it was found that H. halys can complete its life cycle in the citrus without special legumes.

Automated identification and quantification of invisible microplastics in agricultural soils

Microplastics in agricultural soils have become the research hotspot in recent years, however, the quantitative methods based on the traditional visual inspection may have a high false detection rate. Here we combined the laser direct infrared (LDIR) and Fourier–transform infrared (FTIR) methods to investigate the microplastics in farmland with long–term agricultural activities. The results showed that the total abundance of microplastics reached 1.98 ± 0.41 × 105, 1.57 ± 0.28 × 105, 1.78 ± 0.27 × 105, and 3.20 ± 0.41 × 105 particles/kg soil in cotton fields with film mulching of 5, 10, 20, and >30 years, respectively. LDIR results indicated that microplastics ranging from 10 to 500 μm accounted for 96.5–99.9 % of the total microplastic amounts in the soils. Additionally, a total of 26 polymer types of microplastics were detected, among which polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyamide (PA), and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) were dominantly observed. For the microplastics detected by FTIR (500 μm–5 mm), PE polymer was majorly observed (88.0–98.9 %). Most microplastics were films (88.2 %), while fibers and pellets were also found. The reclaimed water from sewage treatment plants, the drip irrigation utilities, and the residual plastic film are the potential sources of microplastics in the farmland soils. By using the automated quantitative and identifiable approaches, this study suggested that the commonly used visual counting method may underestimate the microplastic contamination in agricultural soils.

Comparing pest abundance and diversity among various organic regimes of rice

Present study was conducted to observe insect fauna in different organic regimes of rice and treatments Trichoderma treatment, Pseudomonas treatment, farmers' practice. Organic rice without seed treatment and Untreated control. Insect pests were collected using visual observation and collection; yellow pan traps; sweep net; yellow sticky traps and D-net. Insect pests of 15 families belonging to 6 orders were recorded in the study. A total of 1112 insect pests belonging to 12 families and 4 orders were registered in visual count method, of which Crambidae were found to be abundant. In yellow pan traps, a total of 221 insect pests belonging to 4 orders and 5 families were trapped and Delphacidae dominated the catch. About 869 insect pests belonging to 4 orders were collected by sweep net, Acrididae dominated the catch. A total of 1060 pests of 3 orders and 4 families were trapped in yellow sticky traps with higher abundance of Cicadellidae. A total of 15 individuals were collected using D-net. However, total pest abundance was found to be similar in all the treatments in the study. Shannon - Wiener index, Simpson diversity index, True diversity and Density were calculated. Diversity indices indicated that diversity and density impacted negatively by the treatments.

Seasonal abundance and diversity of spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) in rice ecosystem of Himachal Pradesh

Spiders are one of the most fascinating and diverse invertebrates and also potential bio-control agents in agro-ecosystems. Field surveys were carried out at Sundernagar, Jogindernagar, Nurpur and Palampur areas of Himachal Pradesh by two methods namely visual count and sweep net to assess seasonal abundance and diversity of spider, in the rice ecosystems during kharif, 2015 and 2016. It was found that the population trend was well represented by visual count method as compared to sweep net method. Maximum numbers of spiders were recorded from Palampur area followed by Sundernagar, Jogindernagar and Nurpur. Eleven families viz., Oxyopidae, Tetragnathidae, Salticidae, Lycosidae, Pisauridae, Araneidae, Theridiidae, Clubionidae, Sparassidae, Thomisidae and Pholcidae were recorded from the fields with majority belonging to Araneidae and Tetragnathidae. The pre-dominant spider genus from all the locations were Tetragnatha and Neoscona while Araneus pseudosturmii and Runcinia ghorpadei Tikader were confined only to Nurpur and Sundernagar, respectively. A. pseudosturmii and Micropholcus fauroti Simon seem to be the first records from India while R. ghorpadei to be the hitherto unknown male morph.

Is the Visual Survey Method Effective for Measuring Fruit Production in Prosopis Tree Species?

Woodland managers in northern Chile require efficient means of estimating fruit production to improve their ability to sustainably manage mesquite tree ecosystem. We assessed the accuracy of the indirect visual count (VC) method for quantifying fruit production of two endangered mesquite trees, tamarugo (Prosopis tamarugo) and algarrobo (Prosopis alba), by comparing it with the fruit trap (FT) method, during three fruit dissemination periods. We studied two natural populations of trees of P. tamarugo and P. alba in the Pampa del Tamarugal ecosystem, Atacama Desert, northern Chile. We placed FTs beneath the crowns of the trees to measure the fruit crop during the mast dissemination period. The VC method was performed at the same trees used for FT. We used linear regressions and coefficient of variation to assess the relationship between the two methods. There was a positive correlation between both methodologies in all three periods for P. alba, but the relationship for P. tamarugo was not statistically significant. Analysis of the variability in fruit production estimates using the FT method showed significant interannual differences for P. tamarugo and significant differences among individuals for both species. The VC method had better results for fruit production in P. alba, whereas the use of the FT method is more suitable for P. tamarugo.

Automated River Plastic Monitoring Using Deep Learning and Cameras

AbstractQuantifying plastic pollution on surface water is essential to understand and mitigate the impact of plastic pollution to the environment. Current monitoring methods such as visual counting are labor intensive. This limits the feasibility of scaling to long‐term monitoring at multiple locations. We present an automated method for monitoring plastic pollution that overcomes this limitation. Floating macroplastics are detected from images of the water surface using deep learning. We perform an experimental evaluation of our method using images from bridge‐mounted cameras at five different river locations across Jakarta, Indonesia. The four main results of the experimental evaluation are as follows. First, we realize a method that obtains a reliable estimate of plastic density (68.7% precision). Our monitoring method successfully distinguishes plastics from environmental elements, such as water surface reflection and organic waste. Second, when trained on one location, the method generalizes well to new locations with relatively similar conditions without retraining (≈50% average precision). Third, generalization to new locations with considerably different conditions can be boosted by retraining on only 50 objects of the new location (improving precision from ≈20% to ≈42%). Fourth, our method matches visual counting methods and detects ≈35% more plastics, even more so during periods of plastic transport rates of above 10 items per meter per minute. Taken together, these results demonstrate that our method is a promising way of monitoring plastic pollution. By extending the variety of the data set the monitoring method can be readily applied at a larger scale.

A comparative evaluation of thermal camera and visual counting methods for primate census in a riparian forest at the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary (LKWS), Malaysian Borneo.

A number of primate census techniques have been developed over the past half-century, each of which have advantages and disadvantages in terms of resources required by researchers (e.g., time and costs), availability of technologies, and effectiveness in different habitat types. This study aims to explore the effectiveness of a thermal imaging technique to estimate the group size of different primate species populations in a degraded riparian forest in the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary (LKWS), Sabah. We compared this survey technique to the conventional visual counting method along the riverbank. For 38days, a total of 138 primate groups were observed by thermal camera and visually throughout the study. Optimal conditions for the thermal camera were clear weather, not more than 100m distance from the observer to the targeted area, boat speed ranging between 5 and 12km/h, and early morning between 04:30 and 05:30am. The limitations of the thermal cameras include the inability to identify individual species, sexes, age classes, and also to discern between animals closely aggregated (i.e., mothers with attached infants). Despite these limitations with the thermal camera technique, 1.78 times more primates were detected than counting by eye (p < 0.001), showing the potential benefit of using thermal cameras as an important tool in primate surveys. Nevertheless, ground truthing must be conducted immediately after, or simultaneously during, the thermal survey to verify the species of animals observed on the thermal imagery.

Estimating Trout Abundance with Cataraft‐Mounted Dual‐Frequency Identification Sonar: a Comparison with Drift Diving

AbstractWe investigated the potential of dual‐frequency identification sonar (DIDSON) deployed from a drifting cataraft for estimating abundance in rivers of Brown TroutSalmo truttalarger than 20 cm. We compared triplicate trout density estimates made by DIDSON with drift‐diving density estimates in three reaches of a clear‐water river in New Zealand. DIDSON density estimates were much lower (∼22% of drift‐dive estimates, range = 7–33%) and less precise than drift‐dive estimates (DIDSON CV = 0.13–0.47; drift diving CV = 0.15–0.17). Variation in detecting fish in the DIDSON field survey contributed substantially more (95%) to DIDSON count variability than did fish detection in the image files. Highest precision with DIDSON was achieved in the reach with the least shallow habitat and most uniform channel. Fewer person‐hours were required to undertake the field component of DIDSON surveys than the drift dives (5 versus 8.3 h), but the substantial time spent on image review (3.3 h) made DIDSON surveys 34% more costly than drift dives in terms of overall effort. Despite observed shortcomings, cataraft‐mounted DIDSON has utility as a noninvasive survey method for estimating abundance of large (&gt;20‐cm) fish, particularly in situations where turbidity is too high for visual counting methods to be effective.Received September 22, 2014; accepted January 8, 2015

Hawfinch, Coccothraustes coccothraustes: autumnal migration over Trevigiane Prealps. Years 2004-2010.

Since 2004 we have performed a census of autumnal Passeriformes migrating over the Trevigiane Prealps area. For the assessment the visual count method was used. Among all data collected, we analyzed those regarding Hawfinch, Coccothraustes coccothraustes, a species easily monitored by its characteristic f light and vocalization. The monitoring was performed in two sites far away 39 kilometres: Mount Pizzoc (Fregona, Vittorio Veneto) and Forcella Mostaccin (Maser). During seven years of monitoring, we have observed strong variations of number of migrating hawfinches, but in the meantime we have improved the knowledge related to the migration of this species over these two important areas, now protected as mountain pass.

Spectrum of Insect Pest Complex of Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) at Lambapeepal Village in Kota Region

The field studies were carried out for identification of various insect pests of soybean at Lambapeepal village agriculture farm in Kota region. Study of insect pest complex was done from July 2010 to October 2010 by direct visual counting method. The investigations reveal that maximum population of green semilooper was observed on vegetative stage of Glycine max, while tobacco caterpillar was most frequent on flowering and pod stages. The order of frequency of pests at vegetative stage was green semilooper (1.2) > tobacco caterpillar (0.8) > grass hoppers (0.4) >, girdle beetle and Heliothis sp. (0.2 each) > white fly (0.1). The order of frequency of pests of flowering stage was, tobacco caterpillar (3.25) > green semilooper, Heliothis sp. and grass hopper (0.8 each) > girdle beetle (0.6) > white fly (0.4) > Bihar hairy caterpillar (0.3) > pollen feeder (0.2), while the frequency order at pod stages was tobacco caterpillar (2.75) > Heliothis sp. and grasshoppers (0.8 each) > girdle beetle and hairy caterpillar (0.5 each) > pollen feeder (0.4) > white fly (0.2).

Tourism demand and atmospheric parameters: non-intrusive observation techniques

CR Climate Research Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsSpecials CR 51:135-145 (2012) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/cr01068 Tourism demand and atmospheric parameters: non-intrusive observation techniques M. B. Gómez-Martín1,*, E. Martínez-Ibarra2 1Department of Physical Geography and Regional Geographical Analysis, University of Barcelona, Montalegre 6, Barcelona 08001, Spain 2Laboratory of Climatology, University of Alicante, Campus de San Vicente del Raspeig, s/n, Apdo. Correos 99, Alicante 03080, Spain *Email: bgomez@ub.edu ABSTRACT: In this study, we used images from webcam cameras and Argus video systems to examine how the behaviour of sun and beach tourists in Spain was influenced by the meteorological weather conditions. We applied a qualitative visual count method, which involved creating a bank of images and undertaking a classification of the density of use at each observation point. Thus, each image was assigned a density-of-use level. These results were then correlated with a range of meteorological variables and the physiological equivalent temperature (PET). Atmospheric conditions do have an impact on the behaviour of sun and beach tourists, and our study shows that the density of use of the beaches in Spain is controlled by solar radiation (the aesthetic facet) and the maximum temperature and PET (the comfort facet). The optimal thresholds of these meteorological variables for going to the beach were as follows: a maximum temperature between 28.83 and 31°C; a maximum PET between 34.5 and 38.8°C; a percentage of solar radiation at 13:00 h of at least 50%; a wind speed at 13:00 h of <8 m s−1 (or, at the most, <10 m s−1); and no rainfall or, at the most, <1 mm d−1 or a rainfall event with a duration of <60 min. The application of these thresholds for determining the degree of use of beaches during the year should lead to more accurate forecasts of the calendar of the tourist season and ensure that the basic tourist resources provided for beach tourism are managed more effectively during these periods, including the provision of services and safety facilities. KEY WORDS: Sun and beach tourism · Atmospheric conditions · Tourism demand · Webcams · Spain Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Gómez-Martín MB, Martínez-Ibarra E (2012) Tourism demand and atmospheric parameters: non-intrusive observation techniques. Clim Res 51:135-145. https://doi.org/10.3354/cr01068 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in CR Vol. 51, No. 2. Online publication date: March 07, 2012 Print ISSN: 0936-577X; Online ISSN: 1616-1572 Copyright © 2012 Inter-Research.

Agreement, Precision, and Accuracy of Epifluorescence Microscopy Methods for Enumeration of Total Bacterial Numbers

To assess interchangeability of estimates of bacterial abundance by different epifluorescence microscopy methods, total bacterial numbers (TBNs) determined by most widely accepted protocols were statistically compared. Bacteria in a set of distinctive samples were stained with acridine orange (AO), 4'-6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI), and BacLight and enumerated by visual counting (VC) and supervised image analysis (IA). Model II regression and Bland-Altman analysis proved general agreements between IA and VC methods, although IA counts tended to be lower than VC counts by 7% on a logarithmic scale. Distributions of cells and latex beads on polycarbonate filters were best fitted to negative binomial models rather than to Poisson or log-normal models. The fitted models revealed higher precisions of TBNs by the IA method than those by the VC method. In pairwise comparisons of the staining methods, TBNs by AO and BacLight staining showed good agreement with each other, but DAPI staining had tendencies of underestimation. Although precisions of the three staining methods were comparable to one another (intraclass correlation coefficients, 0.97 to 0.98), accuracy of the DAPI staining method was rebutted by disproportionateness of TBNs between pairs of samples that carried 2-fold different volumes of identical cell suspensions. It was concluded that the TBN values estimated by AO and BacLight staining are relatively accurate and interchangeable for quantitative interpretation and that IA provides better precision than does VC. As a prudent measure, it is suggested to avoid use of DAPI staining for comparative studies investigating accuracy of novel cell-counting methods.

콩포장에서 노린재류의 밀도조사법 개발

콩의 생식생장기에 노린재류의 밀도조사법을 개발하고자 하였다. 타락법, 포충망법 및 달관법으로 콩의 개화기(R2), 결협기(R4) 및 성숙기(R7)에 발생하는 톱다리개미허리노린재, 가로줄노린재, 풀색노린재, 알락수염노린재 및 썩덩나무노린재의 성충과 약충의 밀도를 조사한 결과 노린재류의 총 조사량은 타락법에서 5,214.2마리로 가장 많았으며, 다음은 달관법에서 2,581.8마리 였으며, 포충망법에서 103.1마리로 가장 적었다. 타락법과 달관법에 의한 노린재류의 총 조사량은 가로줄노린재 > 풀색노린재 > 썩덩나무노린재 > 톱다리개미허리노린재 > 알락수염노린재의 순서로 많았고, 발생량의 차이도 분명하였으나, 포충망법에 의한 노린재류의 총 조사량은 18-23마리로 발생량의 차이가 분명하지 않았다. 따라서 타락법에 의한 주요 노린재류의 조사밀도는 톱다리개미허리노린재 성충을 제외하곤 대체로 높았다. 하지만 타락법보다 불출법으로 콩의 개화시부터 성숙까지 톱다리개미허리노린재의 성충을 더 많이 조사할 수 있었고, 일중 조사량은 오후시간대보다 오전시간대에 많았다. 그러므로 콩포장에서 노린재류의 밀도조사법으로 톱다리개미허리노린재는 불출법으로, 가로줄노린재, 풀색노린재, 알락수염노린재 및 썩덩나무노린재는 타락법이 추천되었다. 이러한 2가지 조사법의 적용은 노린재류의 종간 행동적 특성 차이 때문이다. This study was conducted to develope the observing methods for density of stink bugs in soybean reproductive stage. The adults and nymphs of bean bug, Riptortus clavatus, red-banded shield bug, Piezodous hybneri, green stink bug, Nezara antennata, Sole bug, Dolycoris baccarum, and brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys were observed by three observing methods such as beating, sweeping net, and visual counting methods in the full bloom (R2), full pod (R4) and beginning maturity (R7) of soybean. As a result, total number of stink bugs observed was the highest with 5,214.2 by beating method, and then was 2,581.8 by visual counting method, and was the lowest with 103.1 by sweeping net method. Total number of stink bugs observed by the beating and visual counting methods was P. hybneri, followed by N. antennata, H. halys, R. clavatus and D. baccarum with clear difference in observed number of each stink bugs while total number of stink bugs observed by sweeping net method was very low in the range of 18 to 23. Accordingly, the observed density of stink bugs exception of R. clavatus adult by beating method was generally high. However, the number of R. clavatus adult was more observed by flushing method than that by beating method from the beginning bloom (R1) to full maturity (R8), and was more observed at morning time than that at afternoon time. Therefore, two observation methods that flushing method for R. clavatus and beating method for the other stink bugs were recommended for the occurring density of stink bugs in soybean because both bean bug and pentatomidae stink bugs have distinct behavior characteristics such as flying and dropping.

Comparison of a Visual to a Computer Assisted Technique for Detecting Apoptosis

In many studies, fluorescent dyes (ethidium bromide [EB] and acridine orange [AO]) are used to stain DNA to determine if nuclei are apoptotic. However, there are numerous visual methods for counting these stained DNA that may lead to inaccuracies Measuring apoptosis by the visual counting method may be imprecise because of the variability of individuals' perception of color. Therefore, the authors compared a visual method of counting chromatin for apoptosis with a method relying on a computer program. They began counting chromatin using the visual method, in which individuals identify the stained DNA using their own visual perception. For comparison, they used a software-based counting method (analySIS software) to determine the color (hue) of the stained DNA. Using the numeric hue values from the software eliminates the variations in human color perception. Intra and interrater reliability of the visual and computer-assisted counting methods were evaluated with Spearman's. The authors found statistical significance in the intrarater reliability (r = 1.0, P = 0.0001 for all chromatin categories) and interrater reliability (r = 0.975, P = 0.005 for both readings) when using the software program. No statistical significance was found for the visual counting method, indicating inaccuracy between and within raters. Thus, the computer-assisted counting method of identifying the damaged DNA is more accurate and precise than the individual's visual perception of color. Based on these data, apoptosis measurements using color staining with EB and AO should be determined using hue values generated by a computer program and not by a researcher's visual assessment.

Quantifying the density of mangrove crabs: Ocypodidae and Grapsidae

Numerous studies have highlighted the importance of crabs within mangrove ecosystems, but tested methods of enumeration are virtually non-existent. The aim of the present study was to assess the accuracy of quick, non-invasive methods for estimating the population density of three species of mangrove crabs in East Africa: Uca annulipes, Sesarma guttatum and Neosarmatium meinerti. Methods employed depended on the behaviour and habitat of each species. Counts of U. annulipes and N. meinerti individuals that were active on the surface (visual counts) and burrow counts (of U. annulipes) were compared to actual densities. Actual densities were determined by excavation of U. annulipes, and by multiplying counts of N. meinerti burrows by the mean number of crabs per burrow. Visual counts of marked individuals of S. guttatum were compared to known densities of marked crabs. For N. meinerti two visual counting methods were tested: (1) instant counts – crabs were counted every 5 min during 0.5 h and the highest count taken; and (2) continuous counts – all burrows were tagged, and those from which a crab emerged during 0.5 h were totalled. For U. annulipes on Inhaca Island (Mozambique) visual counts underestimated excavated numbers by 27%, whereas burrow counts overestimated numbers by 46%. These values were similar for both sexes, and on both spring and neap tides. Burrow counts and visual counts estimated absolute numbers of U. annulipes with equal consistency. At Mida Creek (Kenya) visual counts underestimated U. annulipes numbers by 37%, again with no differences between spring and neap tides. In Zanzibar 81% of N. meinerti burrows contained a crab. The instant visual count underestimated N. meinerti numbers by 41%, the continuous count, by 12%. Visual counts of S. guttatum in Zanzibar (Tanzania) underestimated crab numbers by 49%.

Comparisons of sampling methods and seasonal abundance of Drosophila repleta in caged-layer poultry houses

Four sampling methods were compared to determine their practicality and suitability for detecting population fluctuations of adult Drosophila repleta, a pest in caged-layer poultry houses. Five caged-layer poultry houses with gutter-flush manure removal systems in Franklin County, North Carolina, U.S.A., were sampled once every 2 weeks over 15 months, from June 1991 to August 1992. The flies were most abundant during the spring and early summer. Visual counts of adult flies resting on the feed troughs in front of cages in the aisles and counts of flies caught on a sticky ribbon lowered into the gutter used for manure removal by flushing were more satisfactory sampling methods than using counts of flies caught on sticky ribbons carried along the aisles or aspirator collections from the gutters. For the visual count method, the effects of location in the house, within each aisle, and feed trough height were determined; two counts on feed troughs in each of two inside rows of cages were sufficient to measure population changes. For routine monitoring of D. repleta populations, visual counts of flies resting on the feed troughs in the front area of two aisles and catching flies on sticky ribbons inserted into the rear gutter area are recommended.