Pecan ipmPIPE: Harnessing the Internet for stakeholders in production agriculture

Public release date: 17-Oct-2011
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Contact: Richard Levine
rlevine@entsoc.org
301-731-4535
Entomological Society of America

A new, open-access article (http://tinyurl.com/5voksnc) in the Journal of Integrated Pest Management examines the Pecan Pest Information Platform for Extension and education (PIPE), a program that provides a new informatics resource that targets 5,000 pecan stakeholders located primarily in the southern tier of the United States.

Pecan scientists and producers working with information technology experts have developed and delivered this program via the Internet since 2009. Stakeholder participation in and adoption of this resource has grown since inception and is expected to continue as new upgrades are made. More than 41,000 visits have been recorded annually, page loads have increased by 312%, unique visitors have increased by 205%, and return visitors have increased by 32%.

Major program features are the interdisciplinary organization of information relevant to conducting pecan integrated pest management aided by search engines that provide real time access to information for the status of the Pecan Nut Casebearer tailored to any location across the pecan belt, and the interactive involvement of scientists and producers in real time that is enabled by informatics.

Producers are discovering, contributing to, and using more resources from the Internet to incorporate into their programs, including Pecan ipmPIPE. Simultaneously, all stakeholders are rethinking and reshaping the role the Internet can play in their respective efforts to improve the pecan industry.

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"Pecan ipmPIPE: Harnessing the Internet for Stakeholders in Production Agriculture" is available for free at http://tinyurl.com/5voksnc.

The Journal of Integrated Pest Management

(http://entsoc.org/Pubs/Periodicals/jipm), an open-access, peer-reviewed, extension journal covering the field of integrated pest management, is published by the Entomological Society of America. Founded in 1889, ESA today has more than 6,000 members affiliated with educational institutions, health agencies, private industry, and government. Members are researchers, teachers,extension service personnel, administrators, marketing representatives,research technicians, consultants, students, and hobbyists.

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 17-Oct-2011
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Richard Levine
rlevine@entsoc.org
301-731-4535
Entomological Society of America

A new, open-access article (http://tinyurl.com/5voksnc) in the Journal of Integrated Pest Management examines the Pecan Pest Information Platform for Extension and education (PIPE), a program that provides a new informatics resource that targets 5,000 pecan stakeholders located primarily in the southern tier of the United States.

Pecan scientists and producers working with information technology experts have developed and delivered this program via the Internet since 2009. Stakeholder participation in and adoption of this resource has grown since inception and is expected to continue as new upgrades are made. More than 41,000 visits have been recorded annually, page loads have increased by 312%, unique visitors have increased by 205%, and return visitors have increased by 32%.

Major program features are the interdisciplinary organization of information relevant to conducting pecan integrated pest management aided by search engines that provide real time access to information for the status of the Pecan Nut Casebearer tailored to any location across the pecan belt, and the interactive involvement of scientists and producers in real time that is enabled by informatics.

Producers are discovering, contributing to, and using more resources from the Internet to incorporate into their programs, including Pecan ipmPIPE. Simultaneously, all stakeholders are rethinking and reshaping the role the Internet can play in their respective efforts to improve the pecan industry.

###

"Pecan ipmPIPE: Harnessing the Internet for Stakeholders in Production Agriculture" is available for free at http://tinyurl.com/5voksnc.

The Journal of Integrated Pest Management

(http://entsoc.org/Pubs/Periodicals/jipm), an open-access, peer-reviewed, extension journal covering the field of integrated pest management, is published by the Entomological Society of America. Founded in 1889, ESA today has more than 6,000 members affiliated with educational institutions, health agencies, private industry, and government. Members are researchers, teachers,extension service personnel, administrators, marketing representatives,research technicians, consultants, students, and hobbyists.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-10/esoa-pih101711.php

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Surprising K-State up to 12th in AP poll (AP)

NEW YORK ? Surprising Kansas State has climbed to No. 12 in The Associated Press college football poll, the Wildcats' best ranking since 2004.

Kansas State improved to 6-0 on Saturday night with a 41-34 comeback victory at Texas Tech and jumped five spots in the rankings released Sunday. It was the fourth straight week coach Bill Snyder's Wildcats won as underdogs.

The last time Kansas State was ranked this highly was the 2004 preseason poll, when the Wildcats were No. 12.

The top 10 teams in the rankings remained the same after a weekend filled with blowouts. No. 1 LSU received 41 first-place votes, No. 2 Alabama had 11 and No. 3 Oklahoma got six.

The rest of the top 10 was Wisconsin, Boise State (one first-place vote), Oklahoma State, Stanford, Clemson, Oregon and Arkansas.

Kansas State went 7-6 last season and was picked eighth out of 10 in the Big 12's preseason poll. But behind a much improved defense and a solid running game led by quarterback Collin Klein, the Wildcats are perfect after six games for the first time since 2000.

Snyder is in his third season since coming out of retirement to return to the job he held for 17 years.

The Wildcats' resurgence this season is impressive, but when it comes turnarounds, the 72-year-old Snyder has done much better in Manhattan, Kan.

He first took over the program in 1989 and it wasn't a stretch to call Kansas State the worst program in major college football.

From 1938-1988, K-State won 130 games. Snyder was hired during 27-game winless streak.

But from 1993-2003, Snyder led the Wildcats to a bowl every season, averaged 10 wins and contended for national championships.

He stepped down after the 2005 season, but after three lackluster seasons under Ron Prince, he returned and has the Wildcats, who play in-state rival Kansas on Saturday, contending for a conference title again.

Just ahead of Kansas State at No. 11 in the latest rankings was West Virginia.

No. 13 Nebraska was next, followed by South Carolina and Michigan State, which hosts Wisconsin on Saturday.

The rest of the top 20 had Virginia Tech, Texas A&M, Michigan, Auburn and Georgia Tech, which dropped eight spots to No. 20 after its first loss.

The 17th-ranked Wolverines fell seven spots after losing for the first time this season, 28-14 to Michigan State.

The final five were undefeated Houston at No. 21, Washington, Illinois, another first-time loser on Saturday, and Arizona State and Georgia tied for No. 24.

Texas and Baylor dropped out of the rankings after losing Big 12 games.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111016/ap_on_sp_co_ap_po/fbc_t25_college_fb_poll

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Texas returns to World Series with boom, purpose

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By STEPHEN HAWKINS

updated 4:19 p.m. ET Oct. 16, 2011

ARLINGTON, Texas - The Texas Rangers are back in the World Series with a boom and a purpose.

Just getting there isn't enough this time.

"We've got that experience," Ian Kinsler said. "It wasn't a very good one, but we have the experience."

Texas waited a half-century to finally play in their first World Series before losing to San Francisco in five games last year. They quickly have another chance to win their first championship.

The Rangers won their second consecutive American League pennant after an unprecedented playoff power display by Nelson Cruz, who had six home runs and 13 RBIs in the six-game AL championship series. They beat Detroit 15-5 in the clincher after a nine-run outburst in the third inning.

"It was a group commitment. We weren't very happy with the results (against the Giants), and we certainly knew that we were a better team than we showed," manager Ron Washington said before relaying what Michael Young told teammates after last year's World Series.

The message from the team's longest-tenured player: "Enjoy your winter, but don't turn it off mentally. We're capable of getting back."

And they were, even without Cliff Lee.

The franchise that began as the expansion Washington Senators in 1961, then moved to Texas in 1972 with Ted Williams as its manager, opens another World Series on Wednesday night at St. Louis or Milwaukee.

The World Series returns deep into the heart of Texas with Game 3 on Saturday night.

"It's amazing but I have to say that I couldn't be prouder for this group of men," team president and CEO Nolan Ryan said. "They came together this spring on a mission, with one thing in mind. And this is the stepping stone of what they want to get it done, and that's to win a world championship."

The Rangers had a day off Sunday. They will work out at home Monday afternoon, then fly to the National League city the following morning.

Hall of Fame pitcher Ryan got to only one World Series as a player, as a 22-year-old reliever for the 1969 Amazin' Mets. He's going to his second in a row as a team executive since the ownership group he is part of finally acquired the Rangers in August 2010.

Texas is the AL's first consecutive pennant winner since the New York Yankees won four in a row from 1998-01.

"We know what we're capable of. Last year, we knew we had a group of guys and knew we could go on a run like this. And here we are again," said Young, in his 11th season with Texas. "Nothing's going to sneak up on us in the World Series. We know that the environment is going to be like. ... We'll be ready for it."

Before last year, the Rangers had won only one playoff game. They had never won a playoff series, getting knocked out of the postseason by the Yankees in 1996, 1998 and 1999 AL division series.

Now they will try to be the first team since the Oakland Athletics in 1989 to win the World Series a year after losing it.

"That's what we set out to do in spring training. We were three games shy last season," pitcher Colby Lewis said. "That's what it's all about. We put ourselves in that situation to go back and do it."

Lee spent the second half of last season in Texas after being acquired in a trade. But the ace left-hander turned down a $138 million, six-year offer to stay and instead returned to Philadelphia in free agency.

The Phillies won a franchise-record 102 games and their fifth consecutive NL East title. They didn't make it out of the first round of the playoffs.

Texas set its own franchise record by winning 96 games, then won an AL division series rematch with Tampa Bay before facing the Tigers.

An ALCS that had been so tight ? the Rangers won the opener 3-2, then had two 11-inning victories before Detroit extended the series with a rally sparked by a likely double-play grounder that ricocheted off third base ? ended with the highest-scoring playoff game since 2004.

Cruz missed 29 games because of two stints on the disabled list (strained right quadriceps, left hamstring strain). He returned in mid-September and was still getting back in the swing of things when the playoffs started.

After going 1 for 15 with a single in the ALDS against Tampa Bay, Cruz hit a solo homer in the ALCS opener. And he was just getting started against the Tigers.

There were two homers in Game 2, a tying blast leading off the seventh before the first game-ending grand slam in postseason history four innings later. Cruz homered in all four Texas victories and became the first player with extra-inning homers in two games in one playoff series.

"Coming down the stretch, he really didn't have a whole lot of at-bats, but he kept battling and he kept working, kept believing, his teammates supported him," Washington said. "At the end, it all came together."

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Red October: Cards in World Series

David Freese hit a three-run homer in the first inning as St. Louis roughed up Milwaukee 12-6 in Game 6 of the NLCS on Sunday night, a win that?gave the?Cardinals their 18th pennant.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/44922854/ns/sports-baseball/

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U.S. advisers doubt Teva Parkinson's drug claim (Reuters)

SILVER SPRING, Maryland (Reuters) ? U.S. health advisers said they were unconvinced that Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd's Parkinson's drug Azilect slows the progression of the incurable disease.

Azilect is already approved as a Parkinson's therapy, but it is the first time a drugmaker has sought approval for slowing the degenerative disease of the nervous system, instead of merely masking its symptoms.

The panel of experts convened by the Food and Drug Administration were unanimous in their skepticism about the result of Teva's latest trial.

"This is really going to be the flagship... and we have to be very solid in this and set a very high standard," said Dr. Robert Clancy, one of the panel members and a neurologist at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "And this is close, but it's not good enough."

The advisory panel's concerns were similar to those of FDA staff reviewers, that were published last week.

Azilect, generically known as rasagiline, is marketed by Israel-based Teva and, in several countries, with Danish partner Lundbeck.

It already has FDA approval to treat symptoms of Parkinson's Disease, such as trembling limbs, stiffness, slow movement and impaired balance. Teva is seeking an expansion of Azilect's label to include the slowed progression claim.

The FDA will make a final decision on the label but usually follows the advice of its advisory committees.

In Teva's latest trial, Parkinson's appeared to deteriorate more slowly in patients who started taking Azilect earlier than in those who began later. But while the 1 milligram (mg) dose appeared to slow the progression, the 2 mg dose did not, overshadowing the results of the 1 mg trial under review.

Much remains unknown about Parkinson's, including its causes, which has many researchers struggling to find a cure or develop ways to measure the development of the disease.

That complicated evaluation of Teva's trial of Azilect as it is hard to tell whether the drug was hiding the symptoms or affecting the disease itself.

"If you tell people in labeling that a drug has effect on disease progression, you want to be sure that it does indeed have an effect on disease progression," Dr. Russell Katz, head of the FDA's neurology products division, told the advisers.

Anywhere from 500,000 to 1.5 million Americans are estimated to have the disease, and nearly 60,000 are diagnosed each year, according to the Parkinson's Action Network.

That network, joined by five other major groups representing the Parkinson's patient community, had submitted a written statement to the FDA advisory panel ahead of the vote.

Acknowledging various concerns raised by researchers about the conclusiveness of Teva's trial, the groups said they were encouraged by the evidence but realized the data was not yet definitive and additional information was required.

"Azilect is clearly the furthest ahead, but this is an area of incredible research and need," Michael J. Fox Foundation Chief Executive Todd Sherer told Reuters ahead of the advisers' vote.

Azilect received FDA approval in 2006 for use as a single drug therapy in early Parkinson's and, in more advanced patients, in addition to levodopa, a standard treatment for the disease that alleviates the symptoms.

Teva's drug works by blocking the breakdown of dopamine, a neurotransmitter chemical.

The company declined to comment on the advisory panel's vote, which came after the regular close of the U.S. stock market. Teva's shares were little changed in afterhours trade from their $39.29 close.

(Editing by Steve Orlofsky, Gary Hill and Tim Dobbyn)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/seniors/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111017/hl_nm/us_teva_azilect_fda

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A kid in a candy store, POTUS scoops up candy (Washington Bureau)

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Strikes hit Greece as crisis enters decisive week (AP)

ATHENS, Greece ? Greek unions lashed out at the government Monday with protests, strikes and ministry building sit-ins, intensifying resistance to more austerity cuts as both Greece and the 17-nation eurozone faced a crucially decisive week.

Strikes halted ferries to the Greek islands and left rotting trash piling up on the streets of Athens for a 16th straight day. Tax collectors and customs officers walked off the job and protesting civil servants occupied the finance and labor ministry buildings in the Greek capital.

Greece faces a key vote on new austerity measures Thursday, while other eurozone countries are rushing to find a comprehensive solution to Europe's escalating debt crisis in time for a Sunday summit by European leaders. Both the Greek vote and the debt plan are required so the continent can avoid a loss of confidence in global markets that some fear would plunge the world economy back into recession.

"The government is destroying its central administration and cutting away the safety net for our citizens, while dramatic cuts in pay are driving workers into poverty and depravation," the civil servants' union ADEDY said. "The latest measures are the deathblow for our income."

Prime Minister George Papandreou said he was determined to see the latest reforms through.

"It will demonstrate that we, by ourselves, are seeking to make major changes," he said at an emergency meeting with President Karolos Papoulias. "It will mean we can go to the (debt) negotiations ... with our heads held high and with a stronger negotiating position."

The government was considering using the army to help clear the trash, but was to decide on emergency plans later in the day, an official with knowledge of the contingency plans told The Associated Press. He asked not to be named because discussions were still ongoing.

Police said a private truck, commissioned by the government to replace striking garbage collectors, was attacked Monday by dozens of unidentified men in an Athens suburb. The driver escaped unharmed.

A 48-hour general strike looms for Wednesday and Thursday that will ground flights for two days, cripple public and many private services and even leave bakeries without workers.

The Socialist government is facing mounting party dissent over a vote in parliament Thursday to pass a new punishing round of tax hikes and pay cuts agreed upon in exchange for international bailout loans. With a majority of just four seats in parliament, the government is facing the prospect of an embarrassing defeat over a central part of the new legislation ? its plans to strip Greek workers of decades-old labor rights.

The dissent and fierce protests by Socialist-led unions are piling pressure on the Papandreou government as Greece awaits formal approval this week of its next rescue payout of euro8 billion ($11 billion) from the International Monetary and eurozone countries, which are increasingly skeptical of Athens' ability to catch up with its deficit-cutting targets.

European officials intend to have ready by the end of the week a comprehensive plan to fight the debt crisis with new tools. That is expected to include new agreements on lightening Greece's debt load, boosting the health of Europe's banks to withstand the debt turmoil and enhancing the impact of the eurozone bailout fund's lending capacities.

On Sunday, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said private holders of Greek bonds would likely have to endure bigger voluntary losses than the 20 percent level set in a July agreement. That is considered crucial if Greece is to have a fighting chance of emerging from its massive debt hole.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111017/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_greece_financial_crisis

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Perry's Frat Choice (Taegan Goddard's Political Wire)

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