A biomarkers study of human skin fibroblasts exposition to glyphosate-based herbicide using an untargeted and targeted metabolomics approach.

Metabolomics is a valuable tool to assess glyphosate exposure and its potential impact on human health. However, few studies have used metabolomics to evaluate human exposure to glyphosate or glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs). In this study, an untargeted and targeted metabolomics approach was applied to human skin fibroblasts exposed to the GBH Roundup (GLYP-R).

Decoding how receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) mediate nuclear calcium signaling.

Calcium (Ca) is a highly versatile intracellular messenger that regulates several cellular processes. Although it is unclear how a single-second messenger coordinates various effects within a cell, there is growing evidence that spatial patterns of Ca signals play an essential role in determining their specificity. Ca signaling patterns can differ in various cell regions, and Ca signals in the nuclear and cytoplasmic compartments have been observed to occur independently.

Short-term effects of COVID-19 lockdown on foreign direct investment: Evidence from Ecuadorian firms.

We exploit the exogenous variation that comes from the COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdown in Ecuador. We estimate a regression discontinuity in time (RDiT) design using official administrative FDI data from January to May 2020. We observe an overall large decrease in FDI inflows.

Disaster aid? Mapping historical responses to volcanic eruptions from 1800-2000 in the English-speaking Eastern Caribbean: their role in creating vulnerabilities.

This paper uses volcanic eruptions on the Caribbean islands of Montserrat and Saint Vincent to explore the role that British colonial rule in the past and near past (1800-2000) has played in response to and recovery from hazardous events, and in turn, the influence that the nature of the hazards has on these responses. It shows that systemic vulnerabilities to natural hazards have been created by inadequate aid responses and longer-term chronic problems and demonstrates that hazard impacts are compounded by them. Vulnerabilities could be reduced by analysing integrated hazard impacts to generate mitigative measures across hazards and identify actions that more closely match timescales of political decision-making.

Food insufficiency in the households of reproductive-age Ecuadorian women: association with food and nutritional status indicators.

Data from a nationally representative survey of Ecuadorian households with reproductive-aged women (n = 10,784) were used to analyze the prevalence of household food insufficiency (HFI) and its association with sociodemographic characteristics, food acquisition and expenditure patterns, dietary diversity, and anthropometric indicators. Fifteen percent of households had food insufficiency and 15% had marginal food sufficiency. HFI was associated with poverty-linked indicators.

Fluctuations at a low mean temperature accelerate dengue virus transmission by Aedes aegypti.

Background: Environmental factors such as temperature can alter mosquito vector competence for arboviruses. Results from recent studies indicate that daily fluctuations around an intermediate mean temperature (26°C) reduce vector competence of Aedes aeygpti for dengue viruses (DENV). Theoretical predictions suggest that the mean temperature in combination with the magnitude of the diurnal temperature range (DTR) mediate the direction of these effects.

Effects of fluctuating daily temperatures at critical thermal extremes on Aedes aegypti life-history traits.

Background: The effect of temperature on insect biology is well understood under constant temperature conditions, but less so under more natural, fluctuating conditions. A fluctuating temperature profile around a mean of 26°C can alter Aedes aegypti vector competence for dengue viruses as well as numerous life-history traits, however, the effect of fluctuations on mosquitoes at critical thermal limits is unknown.

Methodology/principal Findings: We investigated the effects of large and small daily temperature fluctuations at low (16°C) and high (35-37°C) mean temperatures, after we identified these temperatures as being thresholds for immature development and/or adult reproduction under constant temperature conditions.

Reduction of Aedes aegypti vector competence for dengue virus under large temperature fluctuations.

Diurnal temperature fluctuations can fundamentally alter mosquito biology and mosquito-virus interactions in ways that impact pathogen transmission. We investigated the effect of two daily fluctuating temperature profiles on Aedes aegypti vector competence for dengue virus (DENV) serotype-1. A large diurnal temperature range of 18.

Distribution and phylogenetic comparisons of a novel mosquito flavivirus sequence present in Culex tarsalis Mosquitoes from western Canada with viruses isolated in California and Colorado.

In a previous study, a new flavivirus genome sequence was identified in Culex tarsalis mosquitoes obtained in Alberta, Canada and was shown to be genetically related to but distinct from members of the insect-specific flaviviruses. Nonstructural protein 5-encoding sequences amplified from Cx. tarsalis pools from western Canada have shown a high similarity to genome sequences of novel flaviviruses isolated from mosquitoes in California and Colorado.

Stone Lakes virus (family Togaviridae, genus Alphavirus), a variant of Fort Morgan virus isolated from swallow bugs (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) west of the Continental Divide.

Multiple isolates of an alphaviruses within the western equine encephalomyelitis-serocomplex that were related closely to Ft. Morgan and its variant Buggy Creek virus were made from swallow bugs, Oeciacus vicarius Horvath (Hemiptera: Cimicidae), collected from cliff swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) nests at the Stone Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Sacramento County, CA, during the summers of 2005 and 2006. This virus (hereafter Stone Lakes virus, family Togaviridae, genus Alphavirus, STLV) was the first record of this viral group west of the Continental Divide.

Role of communally nesting ardeid birds in the epidemiology of West Nile virus revisited.

Although herons and egrets in the family Ardeidae frequently have been associated with viruses in the Japanese encephalitis virus serocomplex, communal nesting colonies do not appear to be a focus of early season and rapid amplification of West Nile virus (WNV) in California. Evidence for repeated WNV infection was found by testing living and dead nestlings collected under trees with mixed species ardeid colonies nesting above in an oak grove near the University of California arboretum in Davis and in a Eucalyptus grove at a rural farmstead. However, mosquito infection rates at both nesting sites were low and positive pools did not occur earlier than at comparison sites within the City of Davis or at the Yolo Bypass wetlands managed for rice production and waterfowl habitat.

DIFFERENTIAL IMPACT OF WEST NILE VIRUS ON CALIFORNIA BIRDS.

The strain of West Nile virus (WNV) currently epidemic in North America contains a genetic mutation elevating its virulence in birds, especially species in the family Corvidae. Although dead American Crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) have been the hallmark of the epidemic, the overall impact of WNV on North America's avifauna remains poorly understood and has not been addressed thoroughly in California. Here, we evaluate variation by species in the effect of WNV on California birds from 2004 to 2007 by using (1) seroprevalence in free-ranging birds, (2) percentage of carcasses of each species reported by the public that tested positive for WNV, (3) mortality determined from experimental infections, and (4) population declines detected by trend analysis of Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) data.

Risk factors associated with human infection during the 2006 West Nile virus outbreak in Davis, a residential community in northern California.

We collected a total of 15,329 mosquitoes during weekly sampling in Davis, CA, from April through mid-October 2006 at 21 trap sites uniformly spaced 1.5 km apart over an area of approximately 26 km(2). Of these mosquitoes, 1,355 pools of Culex spp.

High subclinical West Nile virus incidence among nonvaccinated horses in northern California associated with low vector abundance and infection.

Although horse cases frequently are reported during West Nile virus (WNV) outbreaks, few investigations have focused on the epidemiology of this transmission. From April to October 2003 to 2005, mosquito abundance and infection were monitored 3 days per week at an equine research facility at the University of California, Davis. Thirty-two nonvaccinated horses enrolled as controls in a vaccine study were bled monthly, and their serum was tested for evidence of WNV infection by plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT).

An avian contribution to the presence of Ixodes pacificus (Acari: Ixodidae) and Borrelia burgdorferi on the Sutter Buttes of California.

Birds from 45 species were sampled during three spring seasons from an isolated canyon on the Sutter Buttes in California for the presence of subadult stages of Ixodes pacificus Cooley & Kohls, and for infection with Borrelia burgdorferi Johnson, Schmid, Hyde, Steigerwalt & Brenner. These birds were found to have an infestation prevalence of 45%, a density of 1.7 ticks per bird, and an intensity of 3.