Swarming Behavior of Aedes polynesiensis (Diptera: Culicidae) and Characterization of Swarm Markers in American Samoa

We characterize the swarming behavior of male Aedes polynesiensis (Marks) in American Samoa. Instead of swarming around a blood host, males used the base of certain trees as a marker. Repeated sampling proved nondestructive and allowed us to investigate the impact of static (e.g., tree species) and dynamic (e.g., barometric pressure) characters on the likelihood of swarm presence and intensity. Tree circumference and oviposition activity (number of Ae. polynesiensis reared from oviposition cups) were significant positive predictors of the number of males in a swarm. Tree circumference and diameter were significantly positively associated, and canopy height was significantly negatively associated, with swarm occurrence. Comparisons between males swarming early and late during the swarming period allowed for insight into swarm composition in terms of male size and the amount of putative fluid (e.g., nectar) in the crop, indicators of energetic reserves. Males collected during the late period had significantly larger wings and less crop contents than did males of the early cohort. Because the ecology of male Ae. polynesiensis remains understudied, we consider how the current results could facilitate further studies related to applied autocidal strategies as well as the evolution of host-based mating behavio

Determinants of Male Aedes aegypti and Aedes polynesiensis (Diptera: Culicidae) Response to Sound: Efficacy and Considerations for Use of Sound Traps in the Field

Understanding the mating competitiveness of male mosquitoes in field settings is essential to programs relying on the mass release of modified male mosquitoes, yet studies on male ecology have been hampered by the lack of a convenient trapping method. An existing promising method makes use of the innate attraction of males to female flight tones. Here, we present laboratory, greenhouse, and field experiments on the efficacy of sound traps for the collection of Aedes aegypti (L.) and Aedes polynesiensis Marks, and laboratory experiments with Ae. aegypti on the effects of male age, size, and mating status on responsiveness to a range of frequencies. Age and mating status influenced the overall responsiveness to sound, whereas male size did not. There were no interactions between these factors and sound frequency. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention miniature light trap modified to produce a tone of 465 Hz collected 76.2% of Ae. aegypti males in laboratory cages, and 49.7% of males in a greenhouse enclosure. In two sets of experiments in laboratory cages, 50.8 and 46.5% of male Ae. polynesiensis were captured with a trap producing a tone of 440 Hz. In the field, CDC miniature light traps or BG-Sentinel traps fitted with a portable speaker producing tones of 440 or 465 Hz captured significantly more male Ae. polynesiensis when placed near a male swarm than did traps that did not produce sound. When the trap was placed at a distance of 16.5 m from the nearest swarm, there was no significant difference in the number of males caught between control and sound-producing traps. The numbers of Ae. aegypti males captured were low under all circumstances in the fiel

Severity of disease and risk of malignant change in hereditary multiple exostoses. A genotype-phenotype study

We performed a prospective genotype-phenotype study using molecular screening and clinical assessment to compare the severity of disease and the risk of sarcoma in 172 individuals (78 families) with hereditary multiple exostoses. We calculated the severity of disease including stature, number of exostoses, number of surgical procedures that were necessary, deformity and functional parameters and used molecular techniques to identify the genetic mutations in affected individuals. Each arm of the genotype-phenotype study was blind to the outcome of the other. Mutations EXT1 and EXT2 were almost equally common, and were identified in 83% of individuals. Non-parametric statistical tests were used. There was a wide variation in the severity of disease. Children under ten years of age had fewer exostoses, consistent with the known age-related penetrance of this condition. The severity of the disease did not differ significantly with gender and was very variable within any given family. The sites of mutation affected the severity of disease with patients with EXT1 mutations having a significantly worse condition than those with EXT2 mutations in three of five parameters of severity (stature, deformity and functional parameters). A single sarcoma developed in an EXT2 mutation carrier, compared with seven in EXT1 mutation carriers. There was no evidence that sarcomas arose more commonly in families in whom the disease was more severe. The sarcoma risk in EXT1 carriers is similar to the risk of breast cancer in an older population subjected to breast-screening, suggesting that a role for regular screening in patients with hereditary multiple exostoses is justifiable. ©2004 British Editorial Society of Bone and Joint Surgery

TDP-43 in the hypoglossal nucleus identifies amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia

The hypoglossal nucleus was recently identified as a key brain region in which the presence of TDP-43 pathology could accurately discriminate TDP-43 proteinopathy cases with clinical amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The objective of the present study was to assess the hypoglossal nucleus in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), and determine whether TDP-43 in this region is associated with clinical ALS. Twenty-nine cases with neuropathological FTLD-TDP and clinical bvFTD that had not been previously assessed for hypoglossal TDP-43 pathology were included in this study. Of these 29 cases, 41% (n = 12) had a dual diagnosis of bvFTD-ALS at presentation, all 100% (n = 12) of which demonstrated hypoglossal TDP-43 pathology. Of the 59% (n = 17) cohort that presented with pure bvFTD, 35% (n = 6) were identified with hypoglossal TDP-43 pathology. Review of the case files of all pure bvFTD cases revealed evidence of possible or probable ALS in 5 of the 6 hypoglossal-positive cases (83%) towards the end of disease, and this was absent from all cases without such pathology. In conclusion, the present study validates grading the presence of TDP-43 in the hypoglossal nucleus for the pathological identification of bvFTD cases with clinical ALS, and extends this to include the identification of cases with possible ALS at end-stage

Cerebellar Integrity in the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis - Frontotemporal Dementia Continuum

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) are multisystem neurodegenerative disorders that manifest overlapping cognitive, neuropsychiatric and motor features. The cerebellum has long been known to be crucial for intact motor function although emerging evidence over the past decade has attributed cognitive and neuropsychiatric processes to this structure. The current study set out i) to establish the integrity of cerebellar subregions in the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia spectrum (ALS-bvFTD) and ii) determine whether specific cerebellar atrophy regions are associated with cognitive, neuropsychiatric and motor symptoms in the patients. Seventy-eight patients diagnosed with ALS, ALS-bvFTD, behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), most without C9ORF72 gene abnormalities, and healthy controls were investigated. Participants underwent cognitive, neuropsychiatric and functional evaluation as well as structural imaging using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to examine the grey matter subregions of the cerebellar lobules, vermis and crus. VBM analyses revealed: i) significant grey matter atrophy in the cerebellum across the whole ALS-bvFTD continuum; ii) atrophy predominantly of the superior cerebellum and crus in bvFTD patients, atrophy of the inferior cerebellum and vermis in ALS patients, while ALS-bvFTD patients had both patterns of atrophy. Post-hoc covariance analyses revealed that cognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms were particularly associated with atrophy of the crus and superior lobule, while motor symptoms were more associated with atrophy of the inferior lobules. Taken together, these findings indicate an important role of the cerebellum in the ALS-bvFTD disease spectrum, with all three clinical phenotypes demonstrating specific patterns of subregional atrophy that associated with different symptomology

Clinical and genetic analysis of 29 Brazilian patients with Huntington’s disease-like phenotype

Huntington’s disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by chorea, behavioral disturbances and dementia, caused by a pathological expansion of the CAG trinucleotide in the HTT gene. Several patients have been recognized with the typical HD phenotype without the expected mutation. The objective of this study was to assess the occurrence of diseases such as Huntington’s disease-like 2 (HDL2), spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) 1, SCA2, SCA3, SCA7, dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy (DRPLA) and choreaacanthocytosis (ChAc) among 29 Brazilian patients with a HD-like phenotype. In the group analyzed, we found 3 patients with HDL2 and 2 patients with ChAc. The diagnosis was not reached in 79.3% of the patients. HDL2 was the main cause of the HD-like phenotype in the group analyzed, and is attributable to the African ancestry of this population. However, the etiology of the disease remains undetermined in the majority of the HD negative patients with HD-like phenotype. Key words: Huntington’s disease, Huntington’s disease-like, chorea-acanthocytosis, Huntington’s disease-like 2

A temporal dimension to the influence of pollen rewards on bee behaviour and fecundity in Aloe tenuior

The net effect of pollen production on fecundity in plants can range from negative – when self-pollen interferes with fecundity due to incompatibility mechanisms, to positive – when pollen availability is associated with increased pollinator visitation and fecundity due to its utilization as a reward. We investigated the responses of bees to pollen and nectar rewards, and the effects of these rewards on pollen deposition and fecundity in the hermaphroditic succulent shrub Aloe tenuior. Self-pollinated plants failed to set fruit, but their ovules were regularly penetrated by self-pollen tubes, which uniformly failed to develop into seeds as expected from ovarian self-incompatibility (or strong early inbreeding depression). Bees consistently foraged for pollen during the morning and early afternoon, but switched to nectar in the late afternoon. As a consequence of this differential foraging, we were able to test the relative contribution to fecundity of pollen- versus nectar-collecting flower visitors. We exposed emasculated and intact flowers in either the morning or late afternoon to foraging bees and showed that emasculation reduced pollen deposition by insects in the morning, but had little effect in the afternoon. Despite the potential for self-pollination to result in ovule discounting due to late-acting self-sterility, fecundity was severely reduced in artificially emasculated plants. Although there were temporal fluctuations in reward preference, most bee visits were for pollen rewards. Therefore the benefit of providing pollen that is accessible to bee foragers outweighs any potential costs to fitness in terms of gender interference in this species

Pedigree with frontotemporal lobar degeneration - motor neuron disease and Tar DNA binding protein-43 positive neuropathology: genetic linkage to chromosome 9

Background: Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) represents a clinically, pathologically and genetically heterogenous neurodegenerative disorder, often complicated by neurological signs such as motor neuron-related limb weakness, spasticity and paralysis, parkinsonism and gait disturbances. Linkage to chromosome 9p had been reported for pedigrees with the neurodegenerative disorder, frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) and motor neuron disease (MND). The objective in this study is to identify the genetic locus in a multi-generational Australian family with FTLD-MND. Methods: Clinical review and standard neuropathological analysis of brain sections from affected pedigree members. Genome-wide scan using microsatellite markers and single nucleotide polymorphism fine mapping. Examination of candidate genes by direct DNA sequencing. Results: Neuropathological examination revealed cytoplasmic deposition of the TDP-43 protein in three affected individuals. Moreover, we identify a family member with clinical Alzheimer's disease, and FTLD-Ubiquitin neuropathology. Genetic linkage and haplotype analyses, defined a critical region between markers D9S169 and D9S1845 on chromosome 9p21. Screening of all candidate genes within this region did not reveal any novel genetic alterations that co-segregate with disease haplotype, suggesting that one individual carrying a meiotic recombination may represent a phenocopy. Re-analysis of linkage data using the new affection status revealed a maximal two-point LOD score of 3.24 and a multipoint LOD score of 3.41 at marker D9S1817. This provides the highest reported LOD scores from a single FTLD-MND pedigree. Conclusion: Our reported increase in the minimal disease region should inform other researchers that the chromosome 9 locus may be more telomeric than predicted by published recombination boundaries. Moreover, the existence of a family member with clinical Alzheimer's disease, and who shares the disease haplotype, highlights the possibility that late-onset AD patients in the other linked pedigrees may be mis-classified as sporadic dementia cases.Agnes A Luty, John BJ Kwok, Elizabeth M Thompson, Peter Blumbergs, William S Brooks, Clement T Loy, Carol Dobson-Stone, Peter K Panegyres, Jane Hecker, Garth A Nicholson, Glenda M Halliday and Peter R Schofiel

Neuroacanthocytosis associated with a defect of the 4.1R membrane protein

BACKGROUND: Neuroacanthocytosis (NA) denotes a heterogeneous group of diseases that are characterized by nervous system abnormalities in association with acanthocytosis in the patients' blood. The 4.1R protein of the erythrocyte membrane is critical for the membrane-associated cytoskeleton structure and in central neurons it regulates the stabilization of AMPA receptors on the neuronal surface at the postsynaptic density. We report clinical, biochemical, and genetic features in four patients from four unrelated families with NA in order to explain the cause of morphological abnormalities and the relationship with neurodegenerative processes. CASE PRESENTATION: All patients were characterised by atypical NA with a novel alteration of the erythrocyte membrane: a 4.1R protein deficiency. The 4.1R protein content was significantly lower in patients (3.40 ± 0.42) than in controls (4.41 ± 0.40, P < 0.0001), reflecting weakened interactions of the cytoskeleton with the membrane. In patients IV:1 (RM23), IV:3 (RM15), and IV:6 (RM16) the 4.1 deficiency seemed to affect the horizontal interactions of spectrin and an impairment of the dimer self-association into tetramers was detected. In patient IV:1 (RM16) the 4.1 deficiency seemed to affect the skeletal attachment to membrane and the protein band 3 was partially reduced. CONCLUSION: A decreased expression pattern of the 4.1R protein was observed in the erythrocytes from patients with atypical NA, which might reflect the expression pattern in the central nervous system, especially basal ganglia, and might lead to dysfunction of AMPA-mediated glutamate transmission

Computational Identification of Phospho-Tyrosine Sub-Networks Related to Acanthocyte Generation in Neuroacanthocytosis

Acanthocytes, abnormal thorny red blood cells (RBC), are one of the biological hallmarks of neuroacanthocytosis syndromes (NA), a group of rare hereditary neurodegenerative disorders. Since RBCs are easily accessible, the study of acanthocytes in NA may provide insights into potential mechanisms of neurodegeneration. Previous studies have shown that changes in RBC membrane protein phosphorylation state affect RBC membrane mechanical stability and morphology. Here, we coupled tyrosine-phosphoproteomic analysis to topological network analysis. We aimed to predict signaling sub-networks possibly involved in the generation of acanthocytes in patients affected by the two core NA disorders, namely McLeod syndrome (MLS, XK-related, Xk protein) and chorea-acanthocytosis (ChAc, VPS13A-related, chorein protein). The experimentally determined phosphoproteomic data-sets allowed us to relate the subsequent network analysis to the pathogenetic background. To reduce the network complexity, we combined several algorithms of topological network analysis including cluster determination by shortest path analysis, protein categorization based on centrality indexes, along with annotation-based node filtering. We first identified XK- and VPS13A-related protein-protein interaction networks by identifying all the interactomic shortest paths linking Xk and chorein to the corresponding set of proteins whose tyrosine phosphorylation was altered in patients. These networks include the most likely paths of functional influence of Xk and chorein on phosphorylated proteins. We further refined the analysis by extracting restricted sets of highly interacting signaling proteins representing a common molecular background bridging the generation of acanthocytes in MLS and ChAc. The final analysis pointed to a novel, very restricted, signaling module of 14 highly interconnected kinases, whose alteration is possibly involved in generation of acanthocytes in MLS and ChAc