BLOOD-MEAL PREFERENCE OF AEDES AGEYPTI (DIPTERA: CULICIDAE) TO RESOURCES TREATED WITH THE TOXIN PRODUCED BY MYCOBACTERIUM ULCERANS

Mycolactone is a unique toxin produced by Mycobacterium ulcerans (MU), the causative agent of Buruli ulcer. The primary vector for Buruli ulcer (BU) is still unknown; however, some hypothesize mosquitoes, such as Aedes aegypti, could be the culprit due to their high vector competence with other pathogens and association with environments endemic to BU. Through a simple attraction test, supplemented with Evans Blue dye in blood to distinguish blood meal sites, the affinity for A. aegypti to take a blood meal successfully from a mycolactone saturated area was evaluated and these results show that there is a higher attraction for the control blood meal site in the lowest and highest dose, 0.05 μg/mL and 1.0 μg/mL respectively, and a higher attraction for the treatment blood meal site in the mid-level dose of 0.5 μg/mL. These results thus explore the possibility of interkingdom communication between mycolactone and A. aegypti. Additionally, this research will test the possibility that A. aegypti could help in spreading Buruli ulcer or causing secondary infection in people infected with BU with another disease in which they are the primary vector

Searching for Effective Forces in Laboratory Insect Swarms

Collective animal behaviour is often modeled by systems of agents that interact via effective social forces, including short-range repulsion and long-range attraction. We search for evidence of such effective forces by studying laboratory swarms of the flying midge Chironomus riparius. Using multi-camera stereoimaging and particle-tracking techniques, we record three-dimensional trajectories for all the individuals in the swarm. Acceleration measurements show a clear short-range repulsion, which we confirm by considering the spatial statistics of the midges, but no conclusive long-range interactions. Measurements of the mean free path of the insects also suggest that individuals are on average very weakly coupled, but that they are also tightly bound to the swarm itself. Our results therefore suggest that some attractive interaction maintains cohesion of the swarms, but that this interaction is not as simple as an attraction to nearest neighbours

Pauli-blocking Effect in a Quark Model

Pauli-Blocking effect on the kinetic term is investigated by employing the quark cluster model. The effect can be understood by the change of the degrees of the mixing between the incoming wave and the 0$\ell$ state of the inter-cluster wave function, which can be expressed by a potential which is highly nonlocal. We look into the properties of this effect by comparing equivalent local potentials. In the channel where the Pauli-blocking effect is small, the on-shell equivalent local potential simulates the nonlocal potential well even for the off-shell behavior. On the other hand, the off-shell behavior is very different from the original one where the effect is large. This off-shell behavior, however, can well be simulated by considering the nonlocal matrix elements only between the $0s$ state and the other states. The energy dependent potentials are also constructed and found to be helpful to understand the energy dependence of the effect.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figure

Novel Strategies for the Control of Wireworm in Potato Crops

The biological control of wireworm (Agriotes spp.) in potato crops has not yet caught up to conventional controls at a time in which deregistration of pesticides is increasing, leaving a paucity of options for growers. Some measure of control has been achieved with use of entomopathogenic fungi (EPF), and to a lesser extent, entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN), with varying success. Factors affecting efficacy range from instability of pathogens within a soil matrix to difficulty in accurately targeting a subterranean pest in a heterogeneous population. The overall aim of this project was to identify areas for improvement for biological control strategies for wireworm, through identification of bioactive compounds and exploring synergies between these and existing entomopathogens. Using historical research to identify botanical extracts for bioactivity against invertebrate pests, tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) and rosemary (Salvia rosemarinus) oils were found to elicit repellent properties in wireworm, positively associated with mortality. Cedarwood (Cedrus atlantica) oil produced the opposite effect, an attractant response with no adverse effects on larval health. The second aspect of the project posited a novel behavioural assay methodology, demonstrating wireworm plant preferences and complex behavioural responses to introduced botanical semiochemicals beyond that of a simple attraction or repulsion. Identified botanicals were then evaluated for compatibility with strains of Metarhizium brunneum, with each of the three exhibiting fungicidal and fungistatic effects on the EPF, but at lower concentrations improving mortality and rate of pathogenicity. Finally, wireworm behavioural responses to EPF inoculations were exploited with two fungal volatile organic compounds (VOC), 1-octen-3-ol and 3-Octanone, found to have direct bioactivity towards wireworm and marginal synergistic effects with a known biological control in the entomopathogenic nematode, Heterorhabiditis bacteriophora. The project has clearly demonstrated methods for improvement for existing biological controls and given strong evidence for use of botanicals as crop protectant compounds in an integration pest management system for potato crops

Guest Editorial: An Ode to 215 Babies Tossed Away Unmarked

Remembering the Babie

RATT: RFID Assisted Tracking Tile. Preliminary results

© 2017 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permissíon from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertisíng or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.[EN] Behavior is one of the most important aspects of animal life. This behavior depends on the link between animals, their nervous systems and their environment. In order to study the behavior of laboratory animals several tools are needed, but a tracking tool is essential to perform a thorough behavioral study. Currently, several visual tracking tools are available. However, they have some drawbacks. For instance, when an animal is inside a cave, or is close to other animals, the tracking cameras cannot always detect the location or movement of this animal. This paper presents RFID Assisted Tracking Tile (RATT), a tracking system based on passive Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology in high frequency band according to ISO/IEC 15693. The RATT system is composed of electronic tiles that have nine active RFID antennas attached; in addition, it contains several overlapping passive coils to improve the magnetic field characteristics. Using several tiles, a large surface can be built on which the animals can move, allowing identification and tracking of their movements. This system, that could also be combined with a visual tracking system, paves the way for complete behavioral studies.Research supported in part by the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (MINECO) and FEDER funds under grants BFU2015-64380-C2-2-R and BFU2015-64380-C2-1-R. Santiago Canals acknowledges financial support from the Spanish State Research Agency, through the "Severo Ochoa" Programme for Centres of Excellence in R&D (ref. SEV-2013-0317). Dario R. Quinones is supported by grant Ayudas para la formacion de personal investigador (FPI) from Universitat Politecnica de Valencia.Quiñones, DR.; Cuevas-López, A.; Cambra-Enguix J.; Canals-Gamoneda, S.; Moratal, D. (2017). RATT: RFID Assisted Tracking Tile. Preliminary results. Proceedings Intenational Anual Conference of IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. 4114-4117. https://doi.org/10.1109/EMBC.2017.8037761S4114411

BLOOD-MEAL PREFERENCE OF AEDES AGEYPTI (DIPTERA: CULICIDAE) TO RESOURCES TREATED WITH THE TOXIN PRODUCED BY MYCOBACTERIUM ULCERANS

Mycolactone is a unique toxin produced by Mycobacterium ulcerans (MU), the causative agent of Buruli ulcer. The primary vector for Buruli ulcer (BU) is still unknown; however, some hypothesize mosquitoes, such as Aedes aegypti, could be the culprit due to their high vector competence with other pathogens and association with environments endemic to BU. Through a simple attraction test, supplemented with Evans Blue dye in blood to distinguish blood meal sites, the affinity for A. aegypti to take a blood meal successfully from a mycolactone saturated area was evaluated and these results show that there is a higher attraction for the control blood meal site in the lowest and highest dose, 0.05 μg/mL and 1.0 μg/mL respectively, and a higher attraction for the treatment blood meal site in the mid-level dose of 0.5 μg/mL. These results thus explore the possibility of interkingdom communication between mycolactone and A. aegypti. Additionally, this research will test the possibility that A. aegypti could help in spreading Buruli ulcer or causing secondary infection in people infected with BU with another disease in which they are the primary vector