A molecular analysis of the Afrotropical Baetidae

Recent work on the Afrotropical Baetidae has resulted in a number of important taxonomic changes: several polyphyletic genera have been split and more than 30 new Afrotropical genera have been established. In order to test their phylogenetic relevance and to clarify the suprageneric relationships, we reconstructed the first comprehensive molecular phylogeny of the Afrotropical Baetidae. We sequenced a total of ca. 2300 bp from nuclear (18S) and mitochondrial (12S and 16S) gene regions from 65 species belonging to 26 genera. We used three different approaches of phylogeny reconstruction: direct optimization, maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood. The molecular reconstruction indicates the Afrotropical Baetidae require a global revision at a generic as well as suprageneric level. Only four of the 12 genera were monophyletic when represented by more than one species in the analysis. Historically, two conflicting concepts of the suprageneric classification of Afrotropical Baetidae were proposed. One was based on the gathering of sister genera into complexes and the other on the division of the family into a restricted number of subfamilies. According to our reconstruction, neither is completely satisfactory: the major complexes of genera present in Africa are either paraphyletic or polyphyletic and the division of the Afrotropical Baetidae into two subfamilies is probably too simplified

What constitutes responsiveness of physicians: A qualitative study in rural Bangladesh

Responsiveness entails the social actions by health providers to meet the legitimate expectations of patients. It plays a critical role in ensuring continuity and effectiveness of care within people centered health systems. Given the lack of contextualized research on responsiveness, we qualitatively explored the perceptions of outpatient users and providers regarding what constitute responsiveness in rural Bangladesh. An exploratory study was undertaken in Chuadanga, a southwestern Bangladeshi District, involving in-depth interviews of physicians (n = 17) and users (n = 7), focus group discussions with users (n = 4), and observations of patient provider interactions (three weeks). Analysis was guided by a conceptual framework of responsiveness, which includes friendliness, respecting, informing and guiding, gaining trust and optimizing benefits. In terms of friendliness, patients expected physicians to greet them before starting consultations; even though physicians considered this unusual. Patients also expected physicians to hold social talks during consultations, which was uncommon. With regards to respect patients expected physicians to refrain from disrespecting them in various ways; but also by showing respect explicitly. Patients also had expectations related to informing and guiding: they desired explanation on at least the diagnosis, seriousness of illness, treatment and preventive steps. In gaining trust, patients expected that physicians would refrain from illegal or unethical activities related to patients, e.g., demanding money against free services, bringing patients in own private clinics by brokers (dalals), colluding with diagnostic centers, accepting gifts from pharmaceutical representatives. In terms of optimizing benefits: patients expected that physicians should be financially sensitive and consider individual need of patients. There were multiple dimensions of responsiveness- for some, stakeholders had a consensus; context was an important factor to understand them. This being an exploratory study, further research is recommended to validate the nuances of the findings. It can be a guideline for responsiveness practices, and a tipping point for future research

Quasi-autonomous quantum thermal machines and quantum to classical energy flow

There are both practical and foundational motivations to consider the thermodynamics of quantum systems at small scales. Here we address the issue of autonomous quantum thermal machines that are tailored to achieve some specific thermodynamic primitive, such as work extraction in the presence of a thermal environment, while having minimal or no control from the macroscopic regime. Beyond experimental implementations, this provides an arena in which to address certain foundational aspects such as the role of coherence in thermodynamics, the use of clock degrees of freedom and the simulation of local time-dependent Hamiltonians in a particular quantum subsystem. For small-scale systems additional issues arise. Firstly, it is not clear to what degree genuine ordered thermodynamic work has been extracted, and secondly non-trivial back-actions on the thermal machine must be accounted for. We find that both these aspects can be resolved through a judicious choice of quantum measurements that magnify thermodynamic properties up the ladder of length-scales, while simultaneously stabilising the quantum thermal machine. Within this framework we show that thermodynamic reversibility is obtained in a particular Zeno limit, and finally illustrate these concepts with a concrete example involving spin systems

Morphometric comparison of Simulium perflavum larvae (Diptera: Simuliidae) in relation to season and gender in Central Amazônia, Brazil

Number of larval instars, age structure and environmental effects on these parameters represent basic information in the study of insect population biology. When species have economic importance, this information is essential in order to choose the best period to apply different control methods and to determine the stages of the life cycle of the insect that are most susceptible to each treatment. The family Simuliidae has many species of medical/veterinary importance in the world, and some studies in the temperate region have suggested that the number of larval instars and the larval size can vary according to the season, gender and some environmental factors, such as temperature and diet. This study, with the zoophilic species Simulium perflavum Roubaud, is the first in the Neotropics observing some of these factors and will serve as a template for other species of medical importance in the region. S. perflavum larvae were collected in five streams in Central Amazônia (Manaus and Presidente Figueiredo counties, State of Amazonas), in Sept./Oct. 1996 (dry season) and Feb./Mar. 1997 (rainy season). These larvae were measured (lateral length of head capsule and width of cephalic apodema) to determine the number of larval instars (n=3985), to compare the larval size between seasons and genders (last and penultimate larval instars, n=200). Seven larval instars were determined for this species using frequency distributions, t-tests and Crosby´s growth rule. Significant differences were not detected (t-test, p>0.05) in larval size between seasons and genders. Our results differ from some found in temperate regions suggesting that in the Neotropical region the larval size in different seasons and different genders remains constant, although some environmental parameters, such as diet, change depending on the season

Biodiversit\ue9 aquatique de Madagascar 30: le genre Cheirogenesia Demoulin, 1952 (Ephemeroptera, Palingeniidae)

Volume: 106Start Page: 325End Page: 33

Typology of susceptibilities of aquatic insect larvae to different larvicides in a tropical environment

Multi-gutter tests are used by the Onchocerciasis Control Programme in West Africa to screen antiblackfly larvicides with reference to non-target aquatic insect larvae. Because the tests are not always conducted under the same environmental conditions, direct comparison of results by the usual methods of data analysis presents some difficulties. The application of reciprocal averaging (correspondence analysis) to data from tests carried out using the same protocol indicates that the test periods have no incidence on the impact in gutter of the larvicides. The analysis also makes it possible to classify the insecticide families according to their degree of general toxicity on fauna. In addition there is no evidence of a uniform effect produced by each insecticide family on the principal taxa

Homologie d’évolution de peuplements benthiques soumis aux épandages d’insecticides antisimulidiens

L’utilisation hebdomadaire d’insecticides pour lutter contre les Simulles modifie l’abondance des populations benthiques. Les variations ne sont ni de la même ampleur ni du même signe, selon l’insecticide (Abate, chlorphoxime, B.t.) et les taxons.Parmi les dizaines de rivières savanicoles traitées aux insecticides antisimulidiens, seules quelques unes font l’objet d’une surveillance de la faune non-cible. La problématique de ce travail est de savoir s’il est possible de généraliser à l’ensemble des rivières, les fluctuations d’abondance des populations observées sur une station de référence.Sur la station de référence, l’évolution de l’abondance des populations pour les trois insecticides étudiés est mesurée à l’aide du rapport : R/P = log APTi/log AVT, où log APTi est le logarithme de l’effectif moyen pour la période de traitement à l’insecticide i et où log AVT est le logarithme de l’effectif moyen avant traitement. Pour chaque taxon ainsi que pour la faune totale on obtient donc un rapport Abate, un rapport chlorphoxime et un rapport B.t.Les valeurs de ces rapports obtenus pour la station d’Entomokro, sont ensuite appliquées aux effectifs récoltés avant traitement sur trois autres stations. Les valeurs calculées sont comparées aux valeurs observées dans le cadre de la surveillance des rivières.Pour la faune totale, l’écart entre les valeurs calculées et les valeurs observées est très faible, r = 0,98.L’étude par taxon montre que la prédiction de ce modèle est excellente pour les Caenidae et les Hydropsychidae, bonne pour les Baetidae, les Chironomini, les Tricorythidae et les Orthocladiinae, médiocre pour les Tanypodinae et les Tanytarsini.The weekly utilization of insecticides sprayed by the Onchocerciasis Control Programme to control Simulium damnosum larvae modifies the abundance of the non target benthic populations. These insecticides (B.t., Abate and chlorphoxim) have neither the same toxicity nor the same selectivity for the principal taxa. In consequence, the long-term variations of the abundance of the populations are neither of the same importance nor of the same sign (some of them remain the same or decrease while others increase), according to the product and the taxa. In long term, these variations being mainly the consequence of direct toxicity but also take into account the duration of the life cycles as well as spatial and trophic competitions.In this study, only the saxicolous fauna is taken into account. It has been collected on rocks with the Surber sampler during the low water period (December to March).Among the ten savannah rivers treated with antiblackfly insecticides, only few are the object of a non-target fauna monitoring. The object of this work is to find out if it is possible to generalize to all the rivers, the variations in population abundance observed for an insecticide on a control station.In the reference station, the variation of population abundance for each of the insecticides is calculated by means of the ratio R/P = log APTI/log AVT, where log APTi is the logarithm of the average for the period treated with the i insecticide, and where log AVT is the logarithm of the average before treatment. For each taxa as well as for the total fauna, Abate, chlorphoxim and B.t. ratio were defined.The values of these ratio obtained for the Entomokro station on the Marahoué river in the Ivory Coast are then applied to the data collected before treatment on three rivers or stations (Amou-Oblo on the Amou river in Togo, Asubende on the Pru river in Togo and Danangoro on the Marahoué river in the ivory coast). The calculated values are then compared to the values collected after treatment in the river monitoring programme.In the reference station the ratio of the populations collected before and after treatment are sometimes greater, sometimes lower than unit (when the ratio is greater than unit, it means that there is an increase of the abundance of populations during the Processing period).The ratios are very close to the one for the B.t. which is the less toxic insecticide against the non target fauna, the greatest for the chlorphoxim which is the more toxic product and intermediate for Abate which has an intermediate toxicity. It appears that the more insecticides were estimated to be toxic in gutter tests, the more population abundance differ from the reference ones.For the total fauna, differences between the values calculated ans observed were very low (r = 0,98). For the taxa, the prediction of this model is excellent for Caenidae and Hydropsychidae, good for Baetidae, Chironomini, Tricorythidae and Orthocladiinae, but mediocre for Tanypodinae and Tanytarsini. The authors submit some hypotheses to explain the bad adequation of the model for these two taxa; hypotheses based on taxonomic problems and niche releasing