The variegated mud-loving beetles (Coleoptera: Heteroceridae) of Mississippi and Alabama, with discussion and keys to the species occurring in the southeastern United States

We review the variegated mud-loving beetle fauna of the southeastern United States (Coleoptera: Heteroceridae), with an emphasis on Mississippi and Alabama. A key is presented to all species known to occur in the southeastern US, and includes several extra-limital species. Descriptions, illustrations and distribution maps are presented for each species. One new species, Tropicus nigrellus, is described and a lectotype is designated for Heterocerus schwarzi Horn. Our molecular data suggest that many previously recognized generic concepts are unnatural. As a result, the following generic synonymies are proposed: Culmus Pacheco 1964, Damfius Pacheco 1964, Efflagitatus Pacheco 1964, Erus Pacheco 1964, Filiolus Pacheco 1964, Gradus Pacheco 1964, Lanternarius Pacheco 1964, Lapsus Pacheco 1964, Neoheterocerus Pacheco 1964, Olmedous Pacheco 1964 and Peditatus Pacheco 1964 are synonyms of Heterocerus Fabricius; the genera Centariatus Pacheco 1964, Explorator Pacheco 1964, and Microaugyles Pacheco 1964 are synonyms of Augyles Schiödte. New combinations proposed and used in this paper include: Augyles auromicans (Kiesenwetter 1851, Heterocerus), Heterocerus parrotus (Pacheco 1964, Lanternarius), Heterocerus sandersoni (Pacheco 1964, Neoheterocerus) and Heterocerus selanderi (Pacheco 1964, Efflagitatus), Heterocerus texanus (Pacheco 1964, Peditatus). Other new combinations for North American species formed as a result of these generic reconfigurations, but not used in this paper, include: Heterocerus inciertus (Pacheco 1964, Damfius), Heterocerus longilobulus (Pacheco 1964, Neoheterocerus), Heterocerus sinuosus (Pacheco 1964, Lanternarius), Augyles canadensis (Fall 1920, Heterocerus), Augyles compactus (Fall 1937, Heterocerus), Augyles moleculus (Fall 1920, Heterocerus) and Augyles mundulus (Fall 1920, Heterocerus). New combinations for South American species suggested by molecular data, all originally described in the genus Efflagitatus, include: Heterocerus boliviensis (Pacheco 1964), Heterocerus freudei (Pacheco 1973), Heterocerus furmidus (Pacheco 1964), Heterocerus ingeniosus (Pacheco 1964), Heterocerus meridianus (Pacheco 1975), Heterocerus reticulatus (Pacheco 1964), Heterocerus solitarius (Pacheco 1973), Heterocerus splendidus (Pacheco 1964), Heterocerus tortuosus (Pacheco 1973), Heterocerus woodruffi (Pacheco 1975). No new combinations involving synonymy within the genera Culmus, Erus, Filiolus, Gradus, Lapsus, and Olmedous were proposed because all included species were originally described as Heterocerus

Contraction of the Ventral Abdomen Potentiates Extracardiac Retrograde Hemolymph Propulsion in the Mosquito Hemocoel

BACKGROUND: Hemolymph circulation in mosquitoes is primarily controlled by the contractile action of a dorsal vessel that runs underneath the dorsal midline and is subdivided into a thoracic aorta and an abdominal heart. Wave-like peristaltic contractions of the heart alternate in propelling hemolymph in anterograde and retrograde directions, where it empties into the hemocoel at the terminal ends of the insect. During our analyses of hemolymph propulsion in Anopheles gambiae, we observed periodic ventral abdominal contractions and hypothesized that they promote extracardiac hemolymph circulation in the abdominal hemocoel. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We devised methods to simultaneously analyze both heart and abdominal contractions, as well as to measure hemolymph flow in the abdominal hemocoel. Qualitative and quantitative analyses revealed that ventral abdominal contractions occur as series of bursts that propagate in the retrograde direction. Periods of ventral abdominal contraction begin only during periods of anterograde heart contraction and end immediately following a heartbeat directional reversal, suggesting that ventral abdominal contractions function to propel extracardiac hemolymph in the retrograde direction. To test this functional role, fluorescent microspheres were intrathoracically injected and their trajectory tracked throughout the hemocoel. Quantitative measurements of microsphere movement in extracardiac regions of the abdominal cavity showed that during periods of abdominal contractions hemolymph flows in dorsal and retrograde directions at a higher velocity and with greater acceleration than during periods of abdominal rest. Histochemical staining of the abdominal musculature then revealed that ventral abdominal contractions result from the contraction of intrasegmental lateral muscle fibers, intersegmental ventral muscle bands, and the ventral transverse muscles that form the ventral diaphragm. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These data show that abdominal contractions potentiate extracardiac retrograde hemolymph propulsion in the abdominal hemocoel during periods of anterograde heart flow

The C-Band All-Sky Survey: Instrument design, status, and first-look data

The C-Band All-Sky Survey (C-BASS) aims to produce sensitive, all-sky maps of diffuse Galactic emission at 5 GHz in total intensity and linear polarization. These maps will be used (with other surveys) to separate the several astrophysical components contributing to microwave emission, and in particular will allow an accurate map of synchrotron emission to be produced for the subtraction of foregrounds from measurements of the polarized Cosmic Microwave Background. We describe the design of the analog instrument, the optics of our 6.1 m dish at the Owens Valley Radio Observatory, the status of observations, and first-look data.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures, published in Proceedings of SPIE MIllimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy V (2010), Vol. 7741, 77411I-1 - 77411I-1

Complex effects of temperature on mosquito immune function

Over the last 20 years, ecological immunology has provided much insight into how environmental factors shape host immunity and host–parasite interactions. Currently, the application of this thinking to the study of mosquito immunology has been limited. Mechanistic investigations are nearly always conducted under one set of conditions, yet vectors and parasites associate in a variable world. We highlight how environmental temperature shapes cellular and humoral immune responses (melanization, phagocytosis and transcription of immune genes) in the malaria vector, Anopheles stephensi. Nitric oxide synthase expression peaked at 30°C, cecropin expression showed no main effect of temperature and humoral melanization, and phagocytosis and defensin expression peaked around 18°C. Further, immune responses did not simply scale with temperature, but showed complex interactions between temperature, time and nature of immune challenge. Thus, immune patterns observed under one set of conditions provide little basis for predicting patterns under even marginally different conditions. These quantitative and qualitative effects of temperature have largely been overlooked in vector biology but have significant implications for extrapolating natural/transgenic resistance mechanisms from laboratory to field and for the efficacy of various vector control tools

C-Band All-Sky Survey: A First Look at the Galaxy

We present an analysis of the diffuse emission at 5 GHz in the first quadrant of the Galactic plane using two months of preliminary intensity data taken with the C-Band All Sky Survey (C-BASS) northern instrument at the Owens Valley Radio Observatory, California. Combining C-BASS maps with ancillary data to make temperature-temperature plots we find synchrotron spectral indices of $\beta = -2.65 \pm 0.05$ between 0.408 GHz and 5 GHz and $\beta = -2.72 \pm 0.09$ between 1.420 GHz and 5 GHz for $-10^{\circ} < |b| < -4^{\circ}$, $20^{\circ} < l < 40^{\circ}$. Through the subtraction of a radio recombination line (RRL) free-free template we determine the synchrotron spectral index in the Galactic plane ($|b| < 4^{\circ}$) to be $\beta = -2.56 \pm 0.07$ between 0.408 GHz and 5 GHz, with a contribution of $53 \pm 8$ per cent from free-free emission at 5\,GHz. These results are consistent with previous low frequency measurements in the Galactic plane. By including C-BASS data in spectral fits we demonstrate the presence of anomalous microwave emission (AME) associated with the HII complexes W43, W44 and W47 near 30 GHz, at 4.4 sigma, 3.1 sigma and 2.5 sigma respectively. The CORNISH VLA 5 GHz source catalogue rules out the possibility that the excess emission detected around 30\;GHz may be due to ultra-compact HII regions. Diffuse AME was also identified at a 4 sigma level within $30^{\circ} < l < 40^{\circ}$, $-2^{\circ} < b < 2^{\circ}$ between 5 GHz and 22.8 GHz.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, submitted to MNRAS, referee's corrections made, awaiting for final approval for publicatio

Long-lived T follicular helper cells retain plasticity and help sustain humoral immunity

CD4; +; memory T cells play an important role in protective immunity and are a key target in vaccine development. Many studies have focused on T central memory (T; cm; ) cells, whereas the existence and functional significance of long-lived T follicular helper (T; fh; ) cells are controversial. Here, we show that T; fh; cells are highly susceptible to NAD-induced cell death (NICD) during isolation from tissues, leading to their underrepresentation in prior studies. NICD blockade reveals the persistence of abundant T; fh; cells with high expression of hallmark T; fh; markers to at least 400 days after infection, by which time T; cm; cells are no longer found. Using single-cell RNA-seq, we demonstrate that long-lived T; fh; cells are transcriptionally distinct from T; cm; cells, maintain stemness and self-renewal gene expression, and, in contrast to T; cm; cells, are multipotent after recall. At the protein level, we show that folate receptor 4 (FR4) robustly discriminates long-lived T; fh; cells from T; cm; cells. Unexpectedly, long-lived T; fh; cells concurrently express a distinct glycolytic signature similar to trained immune cells, including elevated expression of mTOR-, HIF-1-, and cAMP-regulated genes. Late disruption of glycolysis/ICOS signaling leads to T; fh; cell depletion concomitant with decreased splenic plasma cells and circulating antibody titers, demonstrating both unique homeostatic regulation of T; fh; and their sustained function during the memory phase of the immune response. These results highlight the metabolic heterogeneity underlying distinct long-lived T cell subsets and establish T; fh; cells as an attractive target for the induction of durable adaptive immunity

The Selection of a Hepatocyte Cell Line Susceptible to Plasmodium falciparum Sporozoite Invasion That Is Associated With Expression of Glypican-3

In vitro studies of liver stage (LS) development of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum are technically challenging; therefore, fundamental questions about hepatocyte receptors for invasion that can be targeted to prevent infection remain unanswered. To identify novel receptors and to further understand human hepatocyte susceptibility to P. falciparum sporozoite invasion, we created an optimized in vitro system by mimicking in vivo liver conditions and using the subcloned HC-04.J7 cell line that supports mean infection rates of 3–5% and early development of P. falciparum exoerythrocytic forms—a 3- to 5-fold improvement on current in vitro hepatocarcinoma models for P. falciparum invasion. We juxtaposed this invasion-susceptible cell line with an invasion-resistant cell line (HepG2) and performed comparative proteomics and RNA-seq analyses to identify host cell surface molecules and pathways important for sporozoite invasion of host cells. We identified and investigated a hepatocyte cell surface heparan sulfate proteoglycan, glypican-3, as a putative mediator of sporozoite invasion. We also noted the involvement of pathways that implicate the importance of the metabolic state of the hepatocyte in supporting LS development. Our study highlights important features of hepatocyte biology, and specifically the potential role of glypican-3, in mediating P. falciparum sporozoite invasion. Additionally, it establishes a simple in vitro system to study the LS with improved invasion efficiency. This work paves the way for the greater malaria and liver biology communities to explore fundamental questions of hepatocyte-pathogen interactions and extend the system to other human malaria parasite species, like P. vivax

The politicisation of evaluation: constructing and contesting EU policy performance

Although systematic policy evaluation has been conducted for decades and has been growing strongly within the European Union (EU) institutions and in the member states, it remains largely underexplored in political science literatures. Extant work in political science and public policy typically focuses on elements such as agenda setting, policy shaping, decision making, or implementation rather than evaluation. Although individual pieces of research on evaluation in the EU have started to emerge, most often regarding policy “effectiveness” (one criterion among many in evaluation), a more structured approach is currently missing. This special issue aims to address this gap in political science by focusing on four key focal points: evaluation institutions (including rules and cultures), evaluation actors and interests (including competencies, power, roles and tasks), evaluation design (including research methods and theories, and their impact on policy design and legislation), and finally, evaluation purpose and use (including the relationships between discourse and scientific evidence, political attitudes and strategic use). The special issue considers how each of these elements contributes to an evolving governance system in the EU, where evaluation is playing an increasingly important role in decision making

International meta-analysis of PTSD genome-wide association studies identifies sex- and ancestry-specific genetic risk loci.

The risk of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following trauma is heritable, but robust common variants have yet to be identified. In a multi-ethnic cohort including over 30,000 PTSD cases and 170,000 controls we conduct a genome-wide association study of PTSD. We demonstrate SNP-based heritability estimates of 5-20%, varying by sex. Three genome-wide significant loci are identified, 2 in European and 1 in African-ancestry analyses. Analyses stratified by sex implicate 3 additional loci in men. Along with other novel genes and non-coding RNAs, a Parkinson's disease gene involved in dopamine regulation, PARK2, is associated with PTSD. Finally, we demonstrate that polygenic risk for PTSD is significantly predictive of re-experiencing symptoms in the Million Veteran Program dataset, although specific loci did not replicate. These results demonstrate the role of genetic variation in the biology of risk for PTSD and highlight the necessity of conducting sex-stratified analyses and expanding GWAS beyond European ancestry populations