The brown planthopper (BPH) Nilaparvata lugens, whitebacked planthopper (WBPH) Sogatella furcifera and smaller BPH Laodelphax striatellus increasingly exhibit resistance to insecticides and ...adaptation to resistant varieties, so they threaten food security. This review draws together, for the first time, information on the parasitoids of planthopper pests of rice from the non-English literature published in Asia. This is integrated with the English language literature to provide a comprehensive analysis. Planthopper pests of rice are attacked by a large range of parasitoids from Strepsiptera, Diptera and, especially, Hymenoptera. Levels of field parasitism vary widely between parasitoid species and locations. For many taxa, especially within Mymaridae, there is evidence that non-crop habitats are important as overwintering habitat in which alternative hosts are available. These source habitats may promote early season parasitism of pest Hemiptera in rice crops, and their movement into crops could be manipulated with applications of herbivore-induced plant volatiles. Non-crop plants can also provide nectar to improve parasitoid longevity and fecundity. Despite evidence for the importance of environmental factors affecting parasitoids of rice pests, the use of habitat manipulation to enhance biological control in the world's most important crop is surprisingly underrepresented in the literature. Current research in China, Vietnam and Thailand on ecological engineering, carefully selected vegetation diversity introduced without disrupting profitable farming, is briefly reported. Although the most important pest, BPH (N. lugens), is a migratory species, maintaining local communities of parasitoids and other natural enemies offers scope to prevent even r-selected pests from reaching damaging population densities.
Objectives
We describe neuropsychological test performance (NP) in antiretroviral treatment (ART)‐naïve HIV‐positive individuals with CD4 cell counts above 500 cells/μL.
Methods
In a neurology ...substudy of the International Network for Strategic Initiatives in Global HIV Trials (INSIGHT) Strategic Timing of AntiRetroviral Treatment (START) study, eight neurocognitive tests were administered. The primary measure of NP was the quantitative NP z‐score (QNPZ‐8), the average of the z‐scores for the eight tests. Associations of baseline factors with QNPZ‐8 scores were assessed by multiple regression. Mild neurocognitive impairment (NCI) was defined as z‐scores < −1 in at least two of six cognitive domains.
Results
A total of 608 participants had a median age of 34 years; 11% were women and 15% were black; the median time since HIV diagnosis was 0.9 years; the median CD4 cell count was 633 cells/μL; 19.9% had mild NCI. Better NP was independently associated with younger age, being white, higher body mass index (0.10 per 10 kg/m2 higher), and higher haematocrit percentage (0.19 per 10% higher). Worse NP was associated with longer time since HIV diagnosis (‐0.17 per 10 years), diabetes (‐0.29) and higher Framingham risk score (‐0.15 per 10 points higher). QNPZ‐8 scores differed significantly between geographical locations, with the lowest scores in Brazil and Argentina/Chile.
Conclusions
This is the largest study of NP in ART‐naïve HIV‐positive adults with CD4 counts > 500 cells/μL. Demographic factors and diabetes were most strongly associated with NP. Unmeasured educational/sociocultural factors may explain geographical differences. Poorer NP was independently associated with longer time since HIV diagnosis, suggesting that untreated HIV infection might deleteriously affect NP, but the effect was small.
Immune clearance and resource limitation (via red blood cell depletion) shape the peaks and troughs of malaria parasitemia, which in turn affect disease severity and transmission. Quantitatively ...partitioning the relative roles of these effects through time is challenging. Using data from rodent malaria, we estimated the effective propagation number, which reflects the relative importance of contrasting within-host control mechanisms through time and is sensitive to the inoculating parasite dose. Our analysis showed that the capacity of innate responses to restrict initial growth saturates with parasite dose and that experimentally enhanced innate immunity can affect parasite density indirectly via resource depletion. Such a statistical approach offers a tool to improve targeting of drugs or vaccines for human therapy by revealing the dynamics and interactions of within-host regulatory mechanisms.
In this paper we consider the probability density function (pdf) of the non-central χ2 distribution with arbitrary number of degrees of freedom and non-centrality. For this function we find the ...approximate location of the maximum and discuss related edge cases of 1 and 2 degrees of freedom. We also use this expression to demonstrate the improved performance of the C++ Boost’s implementation of the non-central χ2 and extend the domain of its applicability.
Gonorrhea remains a major global public health problem because of the high incidence of infection (estimated 82 million cases in 2020) and the emergence and spread of Neisseria gonorrhoeae strains ...resistant to previous and current antibiotics used to treat infections. Given the dearth of new antibiotics that are likely to enter clinical practice in the near future, there is concern that cases of untreatable gonorrhea might emerge. In response to this crisis, the World Health Organization (WHO), in partnership with the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP), has made the search for and development of new antibiotics against N. gonorrhoeae a priority. Ideally, these antibiotics should also be active against other sexually transmitted organisms, such as Chlamydia trachomatis and/or Mycoplasma genitalium, which are often found with N. gonorrhoeae as co-infections. Corallopyronin A is a potent antimicrobial that exhibits activity against Chlamydia spp. and inhibits transcription by binding to the RpoB switch region. Accordingly, we tested the effectiveness of corallopyronin A against N. gonorrhoeae. We also examined the mutation frequency and modes of potential resistance against corallopyronin A. We report that corallopyronin A has potent antimicrobial action against antibiotic-susceptible and antibiotic-resistant N. gonorrhoeae strains and could eradicate gonococcal infection of cultured, primary human cervical epithelial cells. Critically, we found that spontaneous corallopyronin A-resistant mutants of N. gonorrhoeae are exceedingly rare (≤10
) when selected at 4× the MIC. Our results support pre-clinical studies aimed at developing corallopyronin A for gonorrheal treatment regimens.
The high global incidence of gonorrhea, the lack of a protective vaccine, and the emergence of N. gonorrhoeae strains expressing resistance to currently used antibiotics demand that new treatment options be developed. Accordingly, we investigated whether corallopyronin A, an antibiotic which is effective against other pathogens, including C. trachomatis, which together with gonococci frequently cause co-infections in humans, could exert anti-gonococcal action
and
, and potential resistance emergence. We propose that corallopyronin A be considered a potential future treatment option for gonorrhea because of its potent activity, low resistance development, and recent advances in scalable production.
Southern Hemisphere humpback whales breed in tropical waters and migrate to Antarctica to forage. While the breeding grounds are well defined, the population structure on Antarctic feeding grounds is ...poorly described. The Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) is of particular interest, where rapidly changing environmental conditions could alter prey distribution or migration pathways. To examine changes in the population of whales around the WAP, we used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and 15 microsatellite loci. We compared our WAP dataset to a dataset collected 18 years earlier, and identified new haplotypes for the region, but found no significant difference between the datasets. We compared whales from the WAP to breeding populations in Oceania, Colombia, and Brazil. We used an Analysis of Molecular Variance to confirm significant genetic differentiation between the WAP and each breeding ground (overall
F
ST
= 0.035/0.007 mtDNA/microsatellite,
p
<
0.001
) except Colombia. Bayesian mixed-stock analyses showed a large apportionment to Colombia (mtDNA 93.0%; CL 91–99%; microsatellites 86%; CL 72–93%) and a small apportionment to French Polynesia/Samoan Islands (mtDNA 2.9%; CL 0.0–11.5%; microsatellites 8.9%; CL 0–22%), supporting the strong connection between Colombia and the WAP. Assignment tests allocated 81 individuals to Colombia and two to French Polynesia/Samoan Islands. No other breeding grounds had significant apportionments. Direct connectivity of French Polynesia to the WAP was confirmed with the first genotype match of French Polynesia to a feeding area. Continued genetic monitoring will highlight the complex patterns of humpbacks in this rapidly changing climate. Our results serve as a baseline for humpback whale population structure, illustrate mixed-stock analysis as a useful tool for migrating wildlife, and aid in future management considerations for humpbacks.
Building the team for team science Read, E. K.; O'Rourke, M.; Hong, G. S. ...
Ecosphere (Washington, D.C),
March 2016, 2016-03-00, 20160301, 2016-03-01, Letnik:
7, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The ability to effectively exchange information and develop trusting, collaborative relationships across disciplinary boundaries is essential for 21st century scientists charged with solving complex ...and large‐scale societal and environmental challenges, yet these communication skills are rarely taught. Here, we describe an adaptable training program designed to increase the capacity of scientists to engage in information exchange and relationship development in team science settings. A pilot of the program, developed by a leader in ecological network science, the Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network (GLEON), indicates that the training program resulted in improvement in early career scientists’ confidence in team‐based network science collaborations within and outside of the program. Fellows in the program navigated human‐network challenges, expanded communication skills, and improved their ability to build professional relationships, all in the context of producing collaborative scientific outcomes. Here, we describe the rationale for key communication training elements and provide evidence that such training is effective in building essential team science skills.
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