Incidental mosquitocidal effect of an ivermectin mass drug administration on Anopheles farauti conducted for scabies control in the Solomon Islands.

Background: The Solomon Islands is targeting elimination of malaria by 2030. The dominant vector is the predominantly exophagic, exophilic Anopheles farauti sensu strictu. This biting behaviour limits the efficacy of conventional vector control tools and highlights the need for new strategies. When administered to humans ivermectin has been shown to have a mosquitocidal effect. Mass drug administration (MDA) with ivermectin is an emerging strategy in the control of scabies. In this study we explored any incidental effect of ivermectin MDA conducted for scabies control on mosquitoes. Methods: MDA for scabies was conducted in three villages. We performed human landing catches and measured 5-day mortality amongst Anopheles mosquitoes caught before and after MDA. Cox regression was used to calculate hazard ratios (HR) for mortality between mosquitoes caught before and after MDA. Results: There was a significant increase in 5-day mortality in anopheline mosquitoes caught post-MDA which was highest on the day of MDA itself (HR 4.2 95% CI 1.8 to 10.1, p=0.001) and the following day (HR 4.4 95% CI 1.8 to 10.8, p=0.002) compared to mosquitoes caught before MDA. Conclusions: This study shows a possible mosquitocidal effect of ivermectin MDA conducted for scabies control. Studies with a larger sample size with clinical as well as entomological outcomes should be conducted in this population

Considering sex as a biological variable in preclinical research

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154390/1/fsb2fj201600781r.pd

Variation in Responses of Fishes across Multiple Reserves within a Network of Marine Protected Areas in Temperate Waters

Meta-analyses of field studies have shown that biomass, density, species richness, and size of organisms protected by no-take marine reserves generally increase over time. The magnitude and timing of changes in these response variables, however, vary greatly and depend upon the taxonomic groups protected, size and type of reserve, oceanographic regime, and time since the reserve was implemented. We conducted collaborative, fishery-independent surveys of fishes for seven years in and near newly created marine protected areas (MPAs) in central California, USA. Results showed that initially most MPAs contained more and larger fishes than associated reference sites, likely due to differences in habitat quality. The differences between MPAs and reference sites did not greatly change over the seven years of our study, indicating that reserve benefits will be slow to accumulate in California's temperate eastern boundary current. Fishes in an older reserve that has been closed to fishing since 1973, however, were significantly more abundant and larger than those in associated reference sites. This indicates that reserve benefits are likely to accrue in the California Current ecosystem, but that 20 years or more may be needed to detect significant changes in response variables that are due to MPA implementation. Because of the high spatial and temporal variability of fish recruitment patterns, long-term monitoring is needed to identify positive responses of fishes to protection in the diverse set of habitats in a dynamic eastern boundary current. Qualitative estimates of response variables, such as would be obtained from an expert opinion process, are unlikely to provide an accurate description of MPA performance. Similarly, using one species or one MPA as an indicator is unlikely to provide sufficient resolution to accurately describe the performance of multiple MPAs

Validation of spinal motion with the spine reposition sense device

© 2009 Petersen and Rundquist; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

Improved rapid diagnostic tests to detect syphilis and yaws: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Current rapid tests for syphilis and yaws can detect treponemal and non-treponemal antibodies. We aimed to critically appraise the literature for rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) which can better distinguish an active infection of syphilis or yaws. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis, searching five databases between January 2010 and October 2021 (with an update in July 2022). A generalised linear mixed model was used to conduct a bivariate meta-analysis for the pooled sensitivity and specificity. Heterogeneity was assessed using the I2 statistic. We used the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (QUADAS) to assess the risk of bias and Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations (GRADE) to evaluate the certainty of evidence. RESULTS: We included 17 studies for meta-analyses. For syphilis, the pooled sensitivity and specificity of the treponemal component were 0.93 (95% CI: 0.86 to 0.97) and 0.98 (95% CI: 0.96 to 0.99), respectively. For the non-treponemal component, the pooled sensitivity and specificity were 0.90 (95% CI: 0.82 to 0.95) and 0.97 (95% CI: 0.92 to 0.99), respectively. For yaws, the pooled sensitivity and specificity of the treponemal component were 0.86 (95% CI: 0.66 to 0.95) and 0.97 (95% CI: 0.94 to 0.99), respectively. For the non-treponemal component, the pooled sensitivity and specificity were 0.80 (95% CI: 0.55 to 0.93) and 0.96 (95% CI: 0.92 to 0.98), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: RDTs that can differentiate between active and previously treated infections could optimise management by providing same-day treatment and reducing unnecessary treatment. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42021279587

2016 Research & Innovation Day Program

A one day showcase of applied research, social innovation, scholarship projects and activities.https://first.fanshawec.ca/cri_cripublications/1003/thumbnail.jp

Prevalence and architecture of de novo mutations in developmental disorders.

The genomes of individuals with severe, undiagnosed developmental disorders are enriched in damaging de novo mutations (DNMs) in developmentally important genes. Here we have sequenced the exomes of 4,293 families containing individuals with developmental disorders, and meta-analysed these data with data from another 3,287 individuals with similar disorders. We show that the most important factors influencing the diagnostic yield of DNMs are the sex of the affected individual, the relatedness of their parents, whether close relatives are affected and the parental ages. We identified 94 genes enriched in damaging DNMs, including 14 that previously lacked compelling evidence of involvement in developmental disorders. We have also characterized the phenotypic diversity among these disorders. We estimate that 42% of our cohort carry pathogenic DNMs in coding sequences; approximately half of these DNMs disrupt gene function and the remainder result in altered protein function. We estimate that developmental disorders caused by DNMs have an average prevalence of 1 in 213 to 1 in 448 births, depending on parental age. Given current global demographics, this equates to almost 400,000 children born per year