Zoogeography, ecology, and systematics of the genus Rhagovelia Mayr (Heteroptera: Veliidae) in Borneo, Celebes, and the Moluccas

The genus Rhagovelia is revised for the region comprising Borneo, Celebes, and the Moluccas. Redescriptions are given for species previously described from the area, and 26 new species are described. Figures of the dorsal habitus and key characters are provided for all species, accompanied by a key to species and distribution maps. Species occurring in the region are divided into eight monophyletic intrageneric species groups, some of which also contain members outside the region, based primarily on wing venation, thoracic morphology, and genitalia. A zoogeographic analysis is presented based on the distribution of these groups within the Malay Archipelago and surrounding regions. We conclude that the present Rhagovelia fauna of the Malay Archipelago is derived from species which originated in continental Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Caledonia. Distinct lineages have entered the region from each of these three source areas, penetrating the archipelago with differing degrees of success and contributing to the fauna of each individual island to varying extents. Species groups of Asian origin do not extend beyond Celebes and the Lesser Sunda islands, while species groups of Papuan origin are absent in the Lesser Sundas and do not extend west of Borneo. Endemic species groups have also arisen on New Guinea, the Philippines, the north Moluccas, and Borneo. A section on ecology and behavior is provided, dealing in particular with the altitudinal segregation of species on individual islands. The following new Rhagovelia species are described: bacanensis, borneensis, celebensis, christenseni, grayi, hamdjahi, incognita, lorelinduana, meikdelyi, melanopsis, minahasa, obi, pruinosa, ranau, sabela, samardaca, samarinda, sarawakensis, silau, simulata, sondaica, sulawesiana, tawau, lebakang, unica, and wallacei. Rhagovelia mindanaoensis Hungerford and Matsuda 1961 is synonymized with Rhagovelia orientalis Lundblad 1937 (new synonymy)

The scientific publications of Roland Fountain Hussey : 1916 - 1968

R. F. Hussey was born in San Francisco, California 16 November 1896 and died 19 August 1968 in Gainesville, Florida. He held academic positions at New York University, Florida Southern College and the University of Florida, and was to have been retired from the latter as their first Professor Emeritus of Biology. For about twenty years following 1926 he held administrative positions in the New York Academy of Medicine and Doctors Hospital and during this time he published little except the excellent catalog of Pyrrhocoridae (which at that time included the family Largidae) as fascicle 3 of the General Catalogue of Hemiptera. This was his most significant contribution to Hemipterology. He envisioned and collected some materials for the catalogue of Heteroptera of North America, a work carried forward by J. L. Herring and finally brought to fruition in 1988 by editors T. J. Henry and R. C. Froeschner

Saldolepta kistnerorum, new genus and new species from Ecuador (Hemiptera, Leptopodomorpha), the sister group of Leptosalda chiapensis. American Museum novitates ; no. 2698

5 p. : ill. ; 26 cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. 5)."Saldolepta kistnerorum, new species, is described from the nest of Nasutitermes dendrophilus from the western lowlands of Ecuador. It is considered the sister group of Leptosalda chiapensis from Tertiary Chiapas amber, and as such is the first recent member of the Leptosaldinae. It is the first known apparent inquiline in the Leptopodomorpha"--P. [1]

Revision of Pseudosaldula Cobben.

100 p. : ill. (some col.), maps ; 26 cm. "Issued June 30, 2009." Includes bibliographical references (p. 90-91).The genus Pseudosaldula Cobben, which is restricted to the Andean Subregion of South America, is revised. Fourteen valid species are recognized, nine of them being described as new and 10 previously published names are treated as junior synonyms based on the examination of approximately 3500 specimens from Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile. All taxa are described or redescribed. A key to the species is provided. Color habitus illustrations, distributional maps, and detailed measurements are provided for all species. Scanning electron micrographs of the vestiture, parameres, parandria, face, and pretarsus are provided for representative species, as are color views of the face and the nymphs. The concept of a postclypeus in the Saldidae is questioned and the term transverse swelling, as coined by Parsons, is applied in discussing distinctive aspects of facial morphology in Pseudosaldula. A previously unreported, presumably glandular, pore is documented on the parameres in the Saldinae in the form of a cavernous pit with internal digitiform processes. A phylogenetic analysis based on morphological character data documents the monophyly of Pseudosaldula. Characters treated as synapomorphic for Pseudosaldula are five cells in the membrane of the forewing, the incomplete connection of the transverse swelling across the posterior margin of the clypeus, and the straight connection across the posterior margin of the parandria; nymphal coloration is also distinctive, although treated as ambiguous because this character was not scored for all species. DNA sequence data from the 16S rDNA region of the mitochondrion and H3 nuclear region were acquired for 13 Pseudosaldula spp. and five outgroup taxa. The combined analysis of morphological and sequence data consistently treated Pseudosaldula as paraphyletic. These results are interpreted as the result of inadequate sampling of both taxa and gene regions, in light of the fact that the patterns of distribution become transpacific, as opposed to a monophyletic group in the Andean Region. Not unexpectedly, several morphological characters documenting the monophyly of Pseudosaldula show greater homoplasy in the combined analysis than when analyzing morphological data alone. Therefore, the results of the morphological cladistic analysis are further used to examine distributional patterns in the group. Five areas of endemism are recognized: northern Andes, northern Peru, Puna, central Chile, and subantarctic; the boundaries of these areas show substantial correspondence with those proposed for other groups of insects.American Museum of Natural History

Fractional Branes, Confinement, and Dynamically Generated Superpotentials

We examine the effects of instantons in four dimensional N=1 supersymmetric gauge theory by including D0-branes in type IIA brane constructions. We examine instanton generated superpotentials in supersymmetric QCD and find that they are due to a repulsive force between D4-branes bound to D0-branes ending on NS 5-branes. We study situations where instanton effects break supersymmetry such as the Intriligator-Thomas-Izawa-Yangagida model and relate this to a IIA brane construction. We also argue how confinement due to a condensate of fractional instantons manifests itself in Super Yang-Mills theory using fractional D0 branes, D4 branes, and NS strings.Comment: 19 pages, 2 figures, uses harvmac. References adde

Efficacy of RTS,S malaria vaccines: individual-participant pooled analysis of phase 2 data.

BACKGROUND: The efficacy of RTS,S/AS01 as a vaccine for malaria is being tested in a phase 3 clinical trial. Early results show significant, albeit partial, protection against clinical malaria and severe malaria. To ascertain variations in vaccine efficacy according to covariates such as transmission intensity, choice of adjuvant, age at vaccination, and bednet use, we did an individual-participant pooled analysis of phase 2 clinical data. METHODS: We analysed data from 11 different sites in Africa, including 4453 participants. We measured heterogeneity in vaccine efficacy by estimating the interactions between covariates and vaccination in pooled multivariable Cox regression and Poisson regression analyses. Endpoints for measurement of vaccine efficacy were infection, clinical malaria, severe malaria, and death. We defined transmission intensity levels according to the estimated local parasite prevalence in children aged 2-10 years (PrP₂₋₁₀), ranging from 5% to 80%. Choice of adjuvant was either AS01 or AS02. FINDINGS: Vaccine efficacy against all episodes of clinical malaria varied by transmission intensity (p=0·001). At low transmission (PrP₂₋₁₀ 10%) vaccine efficacy was 60% (95% CI 54 to 67), at moderate transmission (PrP₂₋₁₀ 20%) it was 41% (21 to 57), and at high transmission (PrP₂₋₁₀ 70%) the efficacy was 4% (-10 to 22). Vaccine efficacy also varied by adjuvant choice (p<0·0001)--eg, at low transmission (PrP₂₋₁₀ 10%), efficacy varied from 60% (95% CI 54 to 67) for AS01 to 47% (14 to 75) for AS02. Variations in efficacy by age at vaccination were of borderline significance (p=0·038), and bednet use and sex were not significant covariates. Vaccine efficacy (pooled across adjuvant choice and transmission intensity) varied significantly (p<0·0001) according to time since vaccination, from 36% efficacy (95% CI 24 to 45) at time of vaccination to 0% (-38 to 38) after 3 years. INTERPRETATION: Vaccine efficacy against clinical disease was of limited duration and was not detectable 3 years after vaccination. Furthermore, efficacy fell with increasing transmission intensity. Outcomes after vaccination cannot be gauged accurately on the basis of one pooled efficacy figure. However, predictions of public-health outcomes of vaccination will need to take account of variations in efficacy by transmission intensity and by time since vaccination. FUNDING: Medical Research Council (UK); Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Vaccine Modelling Initiative; Wellcome Trust

Sex-Differential Herbivory in Androdioecious Mercurialis annua

Males of plants with separate sexes are often more prone to attack by herbivores than females. A common explanation for this pattern is that individuals with a greater male function suffer more from herbivory because they grow more quickly, drawing more heavily on resources for growth that might otherwise be allocated to defence. Here, we test this ‘faster-sex’ hypothesis in a species in which males in fact grow more slowly than hermaphrodites, the wind-pollinated annual herb Mercurialis annua. We expected greater herbivory in the faster-growing hermaphrodites. In contrast, we found that males, the slower sex, were significantly more heavily eaten by snails than hermaphrodites. Our results thus reject the faster-sex hypothesis and point to the importance of a trade-off between defence and reproduction rather than growth

Antibody-Mediated Growth Inhibition of Plasmodium falciparum: Relationship to Age and Protection from Parasitemia in Kenyan Children and Adults

BACKGROUND: Antibodies that impair Plasmodium falciparum merozoite invasion and intraerythrocytic development are one of several mechanisms that mediate naturally acquired immunity to malaria. Attempts to correlate anti-malaria antibodies with risk of infection and morbidity have yielded inconsistent results. Growth inhibition assays (GIA) offer a convenient method to quantify functional antibody activity against blood stage malaria. METHODS: A treatment-time-to-infection study was conducted over 12-weeks in a malaria holoendemic area of Kenya. Plasma collected from healthy individuals (98 children and 99 adults) before artemether-lumefantrine treatment was tested by GIA in three separate laboratories. RESULTS: Median GIA levels varied with P. falciparum line (D10, 8.8%; 3D7, 34.9%; FVO, 51.4% inhibition). The magnitude of growth inhibition decreased with age in all P. falciparum lines tested with the highest median levels among children \u3c4 years compared to adults (e.g. 3D7, 45.4% vs. 30.0% respectively, p = 0.0003). Time-to-infection measured by weekly blood smears was significantly associated with level of GIA controlling for age. Upper quartile inhibition activity was associated with less risk of infection compared to individuals with lower levels (e.g. 3D7, hazard ratio = 1.535, 95% CI = 1.012-2.329; p = 0.0438). Various GIA methodologies had little effect on measured parasite growth inhibition. CONCLUSION: Plasma antibody-mediated growth inhibition of blood stage P. falciparum decreases with age in residents of a malaria holoendemic area. Growth inhibition assay may be a useful surrogate of protection against infection when outcome is controlled for age

Zoogeography, Ecology, and Systematics of the Genus \u3ci\u3eRhagovelia \u3c/i\u3eMayr (Heteroptera: Veliidae) in Borneo, Celebes, and the Moluccas

The genus Rhagovelia is revised for the region comprising Borneo, Celebes, and the Moluccas. Redescriptions are given for species previously described from the area, and 26 new species are described. Figures of the dorsal habitus and key characters are provided for all species, accompanied by a key to species and distribution maps. Species occurring in the region are divided into eight monophyletic intrageneric species groups, some of which also contain members outside the region, based primarily on wing venation, thoracic morphology, and genitalia. A zoogeographic analysis is presented based on the distribution of these groups within the Malay Archipelago and surrounding regions. We conclude that the present Rhagovelia fauna of the Malay Archipelago is derived from species which originated in continental Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Caledonia. Distinct lineages have entered the region from each of these three source areas, penetrating the archipelago with differing degrees of success and contributing to the fauna of each individual island to varying extents. Species groups of Asian origin do not extend beyond Celebes and the Lesser Sunda islands, while species groups of Papuan origin are absent in the Lesser Sundas and do not extend west of Borneo. Endemic species groups have also arisen on New Guinea, the Philippines, the north Moluccas, and Borneo. A section on ecology and behavior is provided, dealing in particular with the altitudinal segregation of species on individual islands. The following new Rhagovelia species are described: bacanensis, borneensis, celebensis, christenseni, grayi, hamdjahi, incognita, lorelinduana, meikdelyi, melanopsis, minahasa, obi, pruinosa, ranau, sabela, samardaca, samarinda, sarawakensis, silau, simulata, sondaica, sulawesiana, tawau, lebakang, unica, and wallacei. Rhagovelia mindanaoensis Hungerford and Matsuda 1961 is synonymized with Rhagovelia orientalis Lundblad 1937 (new synonymy)