Multiattribute perceptual mapping with idiosyncratic brand and attribute sets

This article proposes an extremely flexible procedure for perceptual mapping based on multiattribute ratings, such that the respondent freely generates sets of both brands and attributes. Therefore, the brands and attributes are known and relevant to each participant. Collecting and analyzing such idiosyncratic datasets can be challenging. Therefore, this study proposes a modification of generalized canonical correlation analysis to support the analysis of the complex data structure. The model results in a common perceptual map with subject-specific and overall fit measures. An experimental study compares the proposed procedure with alternative approaches using predetermined sets of brands and/or attributes. In the proposed procedure, brands are better known, attributes appear more relevant, and the respondent's burden is lower. The positions of brands in the new perceptual map differ from those obtained when using fixed brand sets. Moreover, the new procedure typically yields positioning information on more brands. An empirical study on positioning of shoe stores illustrates our procedure and resulting insights. Finally, the authors discuss limitations, potential application areas, and directions for research

Misconceptions about Aerobic and Anaerobic Energy Expenditure

The measurement of gas exchange has played an invaluable role in metabolic interpretation. The uptake of 1 liter of oxygen is often converted into an energy expenditure estimate of 21.1 kilojoules (e.g., 1 L O2 = 21.1 kJ or ~5 kcal). This article demonstrates both the importance of such a conversion and the potential for misinterpretation. Oxygen uptake during heavy and severe exercise will also be discussed

Male Mating Competitiveness of a Wolbachia-Introgressed Aedes polynesiensis Strain under Semi-Field Conditions

Aedes polynesiensis is the primary mosquito vector of lymphatic filariasis (LF) in the island nations of the South Pacific. Control of LF in this region of the world is difficult due to the unique biology of the mosquito vector. A proposed method to control LF in the Pacific is through the release of male mosquitoes that are effectively sterile. In order for this approach to be successful, it is critical that the modified male mosquitoes be able to compete with wild type male mosquitoes for female mates. In this study the authors examined the mating competitiveness of modified males under semi-field conditions. Modified males were released into field cages holding field-collected, virgin females and field collected wild type males. The resulting proportion of eggs that hatched was inversely related to the number of modified males released into the cage, which is consistent with the hypothesized competitiveness of modified males against indigenous males. The outcome indicates that mass release of modified A. polynesiensis mosquitoes could result in the suppression of A. polynesiensis populations and supports the continued development of applied strategies for suppression of this important disease vector

Current understanding of the human microbiome

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2018. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Nature Publishing Group for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Nature Medicine 24 (2018): 392–400, doi:10.1038/nm.4517.Our understanding of the link between the human microbiome and disease, including obesity, inflammatory bowel disease, arthritis and autism, is rapidly expanding. Improvements in the throughput and accuracy of DNA sequencing of the genomes of microbial communities associated with human samples, complemented by analysis of transcriptomes, proteomes, metabolomes and immunomes, and mechanistic experiments in model systems, have vastly improved our ability to understand the structure and function of the microbiome in both diseased and healthy states. However, many challenges remain. In this Review, we focus on studies in humans to describe these challenges, and propose strategies that leverage existing knowledge to move rapidly from correlation to causation, and ultimately to translation.Many of the studies described here in our laboratories were supported by the NIH, NSF, DOE, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.2018-10-1

Male mating biology

Before sterile mass-reared mosquitoes are released in an attempt to control local populations, many facets of male mating biology need to be elucidated. Large knowledge gaps exist in how both sexes meet in space and time, the correlation of male size and mating success and in which arenas matings are successful. Previous failures in mosquito sterile insect technique (SIT) projects have been linked to poor knowledge of local mating behaviours or the selection of deleterious phenotypes during colonisation and long-term mass rearing. Careful selection of mating characteristics must be combined with intensive field trials to ensure phenotypic characters are not antagonistic to longevity, dispersal, or mating behaviours in released males. Success has been achieved, even when colonised vectors were less competitive, due in part to extensive field trials to ensure mating compatibility and effective dispersal. The study of male mating biology in other dipterans has improved the success of operational SIT programmes. Contributing factors include inter-sexual selection, pheromone based attraction, the ability to detect alterations in local mating behaviours, and the effects of long-term colonisation on mating competitiveness. Although great strides have been made in other SIT programmes, this knowledge may not be germane to anophelines, and this has led to a recent increase in research in this area

Transcriptomic and functional analysis of the Anopheles gambiae salivary gland in relation to blood feeding

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The <it>Anopheles gambiae </it>salivary glands play a major role in malaria transmission and express a variety of bioactive components that facilitate blood-feeding by preventing platelet aggregation, blood clotting, vasodilatation, and inflammatory and other reactions at the probing site on the vertebrate host.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We have performed a global transcriptome analysis of the <it>A. gambiae </it>salivary gland response to blood-feeding, to identify candidate genes that are involved in hematophagy. A total of 4,978 genes were found to be transcribed in this tissue. A comparison of salivary gland transcriptomes prior to and after blood-feeding identified 52 and 41 transcripts that were significantly up-regulated and down-regulated, respectively. Ten genes were further selected to assess their role in the blood-feeding process using RNAi-mediated gene silencing methodology. Depletion of the salivary gland genes encoding <it>D7L2</it>, <it>anophelin</it>, <it>peroxidase</it>, the <it>SG2 precursor</it>, and a <it>5'nucleotidase </it>gene significantly increased probing time of <it>A. gambiae </it>mosquitoes and thereby their capacity to blood-feed.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The salivary gland transcriptome comprises approximately 38% of the total mosquito transcriptome and a small proportion of it is dynamically changing already at two hours in response to blood feeding. A better understanding of the salivary gland transcriptome and its function can contribute to the development of pathogen transmission control strategies and the identification of medically relevant bioactive compounds.</p

Evidence for the Complexity of MicroRNA-Mediated Regulation in Ovarian Cancer: A Systems Approach

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short (∼22 nucleotides) regulatory RNAs that can modulate gene expression and are aberrantly expressed in many diseases including cancer. Previous studies have shown that miRNAs inhibit the translation and facilitate the degradation of their targeted messenger RNAs (mRNAs) making them attractive candidates for use in cancer therapy. However, the potential clinical utility of miRNAs in cancer therapy rests heavily upon our ability to understand and accurately predict the consequences of fluctuations in levels of miRNAs within the context of complex tumor cells. To evaluate the predictive power of current models, levels of miRNAs and their targeted mRNAs were measured in laser captured micro-dissected (LCM) ovarian cancer epithelial cells (CEPI) and compared with levels present in ovarian surface epithelial cells (OSE). We found that the predicted inverse correlation between changes in levels of miRNAs and levels of their mRNA targets held for only ∼11% of predicted target mRNAs. We demonstrate that this low inverse correlation between changes in levels of miRNAs and their target mRNAs in vivo is not merely an artifact of inaccurate miRNA target predictions but the likely consequence of indirect cellular processes that modulate the regulatory effects of miRNAs in vivo. Our findings underscore the complexities of miRNA-mediated regulation in vivo and the necessity of understanding the basis of these complexities in cancer cells before the therapeutic potential of miRNAs can be fully realized

Early Gnathostome Phylogeny Revisited: Multiple Method Consensus

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.A series of recent studies recovered consistent phylogenetic scenarios of jawed vertebrates, such as the paraphyly of placoderms with respect to crown gnathostomes, and antiarchs as the sister group of all other jawed vertebrates. However, some of the hylogenetic relationships within the group have remained controversial, such as the positions of Entelognathus, ptyctodontids, and the Guiyu-lineage that comprises Guiyu, Psarolepis and Achoania. The revision of the dataset in a recent study reveals a modified phylogenetic hypothesis, which shows that some of these phylogenetic conflicts were sourced from a few inadvertent miscodings. The interrelationships of early gnathostomes are addressed based on a combined new dataset with 103 taxa and 335 characters, which is the most comprehensive morphological dataset constructed to date. This dataset is investigated in a phylogenetic context using maximum parsimony (MP), Bayesian inference (BI) and maximum likelihood (ML) approaches in an attempt to explore the consensus and incongruence between the hypotheses of early gnathostome interrelationships recovered from different methods. Our findings consistently corroborate the paraphyly of placoderms, all `acanthodians' as a paraphyletic stem group of chondrichthyans, Entelognathus as a stem gnathostome, and the Guiyu-lineage as stem sarcopterygians. The incongruence using different methods is less significant than the consensus, and mainly relates to the positions of the placoderm Wuttagoonaspis, the stem chondrichthyan Ramirosuarezia, and the stem osteichthyan LophosteusÐthe taxa that are either poorly known or highly specialized in character complement. Given that the different performances of each phylogenetic approach, our study provides an empirical case that the multiple phylogenetic analyses of morphological data are mutually complementary rather than redundant