Ancient origin of an urban underground mosquito.

Understanding how life is adapting to urban environments represents an important challenge in evolutionary biology. Here we investigate a widely cited example of urban adaptation, form , also known as the London Underground Mosquito. Population genomic analysis of ~350 contemporary and historical samples counter the popular hypothesis that originated belowground in London less than 200 years ago.

Farnesol brain transcriptomics in CNS inflammatory demyelination.

Background: Farnesol (FOL) prevents the onset of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a murine model of multiple sclerosis (MS).

Objective: We examined the transcriptomic profile of the brains of EAE mice treated with daily oral FOL using next-generation sequencing (RNA-seq).

Methods: Transcriptomics from whole brains of treated and untreated EAE mice at the peak of EAE was performed.

Behavioral characteristics and endosymbionts of two potential tularemia and Rocky Mountain spotted fever tick vectors.

Due to climate change-induced alterations of temperature and humidity, the distribution of pathogen-carrying organisms such as ticks may shift. Tick survival is often limited by environmental factors such as dryness, but a predicted hotter and wetter world may allow the expansion of tick ranges. Dermacentor andersoni and D.

Ameliorating Impact of Prophylactic Intranasal Oxytocin on Signs of Fear in a Rat Model of Traumatic Stress.

Oxytocin treatment reduces signs of long-term emotional stress after exposure to trauma; however, little is known about the potential protective effects of oxytocin treatment on behavioral and physiological changes associated with extreme stress exposure. The objective of this study was to investigate oxytocin treatment as a prophylactic measure against rat signs of fear. Two separate experiments were conducted in which the time of intranasal oxytocin administration differed.

Laboratory colonization stabilizes the naturally dynamic microbiome composition of field collected Dermacentor andersoni ticks.

Background: Nearly a quarter of emerging infectious diseases identified in the last century are arthropod-borne. Although ticks and insects can carry pathogenic microorganisms, non-pathogenic microbes make up the majority of their microbial communities. The majority of tick microbiome research has had a focus on discovery and description; very few studies have analyzed the ecological context and functional responses of the bacterial microbiome of ticks.

A bidirectional association between the gut microbiota and CNS disease in a biphasic murine model of multiple sclerosis.

The gut microbiome plays an important role in the development of inflammatory disease as shown using experimental models of central nervous system (CNS) demyelination. Gut microbes influence the response of regulatory immune cell populations in the gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT), which drive protection in acute and chronic experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Recent observations suggest that communication between the host and the gut microbiome is bidirectional.

The chicken or the egg dilemma: intestinal dysbiosis in multiple sclerosis.

Recent findings suggest that the intestinal microbiota of patients suffering from relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) shows changes on the relative abundances of archaeal and bacterial genera. Although the richness and overall structure of the microbiota may be similar compared to the intestinal microbiota of healthy controls, elevated and reduced frequencies suggest a dysbiotic microbiota in MS. Over the past decade experimental evidence obtained in murine models of the disease highlighted the important relevance of the microbiota in the regulation of the immune system and in the severity of the disease.

Multi-scale model of epidemic fade-out: Will local extirpation events inhibit the spread of white-nose syndrome?

White-nose syndrome (WNS) is an emerging infectious disease that has resulted in severe declines of its hibernating bat hosts in North America. The ongoing epidemic of white-nose syndrome is a multi-scale phenomenon becau.se it causes hibernaculum-level extirpations, while simultaneously spreading over larger spatial scales.

[Old and new ways of personal and victim identification by dental methods. Review of the literature].

The aim of this paper was to create a comprehensive literature review on forensic dental methods. This literature review is based on historical and the latest results of the forensic odontology. Thus, this comparative study deals with various methods including certain dental identification methods which are easy to use and do not require advanced technological background.

Wetland cover dynamics drive hemorrhagic disease patterns in white-tailed deer in the United States.

While vector-borne diseases are known to be particularly influenced by environmental factors, the impact of land-cover change on vector-borne wildlife disease patterns is poorly understood, largely due to the paucity of data on disease occurrence at extensive spatial and temporal scales. Widespread and rapid anthropogenic land-cover change, especially urbanization, has transformed the US landscape during the last century. Epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus and blue tongue virus, vectored by Culicoides biting midges, are two RNA viruses in the Orbivirus genus that cause severe hemorrhagic disease (HD) in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus).

When more transmission equals less disease: reconciling the disconnect between disease hotspots and parasite transmission.

The assumed straightforward connection between transmission intensity and disease occurrence impacts surveillance and control efforts along with statistical methodology, including parameter inference and niche modeling. Many infectious disease systems have the potential for this connection to be more complicated-although demonstrating this in any given disease system has remained elusive. Hemorrhagic disease (HD) is one of the most important diseases of white-tailed deer and is caused by viruses in the Orbivirus genus.

The evolutionary consequences of alternative types of imperfect vaccines.

The emergence and spread of mutant pathogens that evade the effects of prophylactic interventions, including vaccines, threatens our ability to control infectious diseases globally. Imperfect vaccines (e.g.

Spread of white-nose syndrome on a network regulated by geography and climate.

Wildlife and plant diseases can reduce biodiversity, disrupt ecosystem services and threaten human health. Emerging pathogens have displayed a variety of spatial spread patterns due to differences in host ecology, including diffusive spread from an epicentre (West Nile virus), jump dispersal on a network (foot-and-mouth disease), or a combination of these (Sudden oak death). White-nose syndrome is a highly pathogenic infectious disease of bats currently spreading across North America.

Ecological and inhost factors promoting distinct parasite life-history strategies in Lyme borreliosis.

Understanding the ecology and evolution of tick-borne parasites is the foundation for preventing and managing tick-borne diseases. Tick-borne diseases such as Lyme borreliosis, are an emerging health threat in America, Europe, and Asia. Certain strains of Borrelia burgdorferi (the etiological agent of Lyme borreliosis) sampled in nature appear to be rapidly cleared by murine hosts.

Decelerating spread of West Nile virus by percolation in a heterogeneous urban landscape.

Vector-borne diseases are emerging and re-emerging in urban environments throughout the world, presenting an increasing challenge to human health and a major obstacle to development. Currently, more than half of the global population is concentrated in urban environments, which are highly heterogeneous in the extent, degree, and distribution of environmental modifications. Because the prevalence of vector-borne pathogens is so closely coupled to the ecologies of vector and host species, this heterogeneity has the potential to significantly alter the dynamical systems through which pathogens propagate, and also thereby affect the epidemiological patterns of disease at multiple spatial scales.

Evaluation of location-specific predictions by a detailed simulation model of Aedes aegypti populations.

Background: Skeeter Buster is a stochastic, spatially explicit simulation model of Aedes aegypti populations, designed to predict the outcome of vector population control methods. In this study, we apply the model to two specific locations, the cities of Iquitos, Peru, and Buenos Aires, Argentina. These two sites differ in the amount of field data that is available for location-specific customization.

Regional differences in the association between land cover and West Nile virus disease incidence in humans in the United States.

West Nile virus (WNV) is generally considered to be an urban pathogen in the United States, but studies associating land cover and disease incidence, seroprevalence, or infection rate in humans, birds, domesticated and wild mammals, and mosquitoes report varying and sometimes contradictory results at an array of spatial extents. Human infection can provide insight about basic transmission activity; therefore, we analyzed data on the incidence of WNV disease in humans to obtain a comprehensive picture of how human disease and land cover type are associated across the United States. Human WNV disease incidence in Northeastern regions was positively associated with urban land covers, whereas incidence in the Western United States was positively associated with agricultural land covers.

Skeeter Buster: a stochastic, spatially explicit modeling tool for studying Aedes aegypti population replacement and population suppression strategies.

Background: Dengue is the most important mosquito-borne viral disease affecting humans. The only prevention measure currently available is the control of its vectors, primarily Aedes aegypti. Recent advances in genetic engineering have opened the possibility for a new range of control strategies based on genetically modified mosquitoes.

Impact of herbivore-induced plant volatiles on parasitoid foraging success: a spatial simulation of the Cotesia rubecula, Pieris rapae, and Brassica oleracea system.

Many parasitoids are known to use herbivore-induced plant volatiles as cues to locate hosts. However, data are lacking on how much of an advantage a parasitoid can gain from following these plant cues and which factors can limit the value of these cues to the parasitoid. In this study, we simulate the Cotesia rubecula-Pieris rapae-Brassica oleracea system, and ask how many more hosts can a parasitoid attack in a single day of foraging by following plant signals versus randomly foraging.

Introducing transgenes into insect populations using combined gene-drive strategies: modeling and analysis.

Engineered underdominance (EU), meiotic drive (MD) and Wolbachia have been proposed as mechanisms for driving anti-pathogen transgenes into natural populations of insect vectors of human diseases. EU can drive transgenes to high and stable frequencies but requires the release of sizeable numbers of engineered insects. MD and Wolbachia either cannot maintain high frequencies of transgenes or lack appropriate expression in critical tissues, but both can drive the transgenes to spread from very low initial frequencies.

Introducing desirable transgenes into insect populations using Y-linked meiotic drive - a theoretical assessment.

The use of genetic drive mechanisms to replace native mosquito genotypes with individuals bearing antipathogen transgenes is a potential strategy for repressing insect transmission of human diseases such as malaria and dengue. Antipathogen transgenes have been developed and tested, but efficient gene drive mechanisms are lacking. Here we theoretically assess the feasibility of introducing antipathogen genes into wild Aedes aegypti populations by using a naturally occurring meiotic drive system.

Drugged driving in Hungary 2000-2004.

The authors analyzed the biological samples available in criminal cases that were started because of illicit and prescribed drug-impaired driving between 2000 and 2004. The result of the on-the-spot clinical test is not informative and cannot be evaluated as it is mainly affected by the simultaneous presence of alcohol. Licit or illicit drugs in the urine could be detected in 378 people out of 623 people (60.

Genetically engineered underdominance for manipulation of pest populations: a deterministic model.

We theoretically investigate the potential for introgressing a desired engineered gene into a pest population by linking the desired gene to DNA constructs that exhibit underdominance properties. Our deterministic model includes two independently segregating engineered constructs that both carry a lethal gene, but suppress each other. Only genotypes containing both or neither construct are viable.