From eggs to bites: do ovitrap data provide reliable estimates of Aedes albopictus biting females?

Background. Aedes albopictus is an aggressive invasive mosquito species that represents a serious health concern not only in tropical areas, but also in temperate regions due to its role as vector of arboviruses. Estimates of mosquito biting rates are essential to account for vector-human contact in models aimed to predict the risk of arbovirus autochthonous transmission and outbreaks, as well as nuisance thresholds useful for correct planning of mosquito control interventions. Methods targeting daytime and outdoor biting Ae. albopictus females (e.g., Human Landing Collection, HLC) are expensive and difficult to implement in large scale schemes. Instead, egg-collections by ovitraps are the most widely used routine approach for large-scale monitoring of the species. The aim of this work was to assess whether ovitrap data can be exploited to estimate numbers of adult biting Ae. albopictus females and whether the resulting relationship could be used to build risk models helpful for decision-makers in charge of planning of mosquito-control activities in infested areas. Method. Ovitrap collections and HLCs were carried out in hot-spots of Ae. albopictus abundance in Rome (Italy) along a whole reproductive season. The relationship between the two sets of data was assessed by generalized least square analysis, taking into account meteorological parameters. Result. The mean number of mosquito females/person collected by HLC in 150 (i.e., females/HLC) and the mean number of eggs/day were 18.9 ± 0.7 and 39.0 ± 2.0, respectively. The regression models found a significant positive relationship between the two sets of data and estimated an increase of one biting female/person every five additional eggs found in ovitraps. Both observed and fitted values indicated presence of adults in the absence of eggs in ovitraps. Notably, wide confidence intervals of estimates of biting females based on eggs were observed. The patterns of exotic arbovirus outbreak probability obtained by introducing these estimates in risk models were similar to those based on females/HLC (R0 > 1 in 86% and 40% of sampling dates for Chikungunya and Zika, respectively; R0 < 1 along the entire season for Dengue). Moreover, the model predicted that in this case-study scenario an R0 > 1 for Chikungunya is also to be expected when few/no eggs/day are collected by ovitraps. Discussion. This work provides the first evidence of the possibility to predict mean number of adult biting Ae. albopictus females based on mean number of eggs and to compute the threshold of eggs/ovitrap associated to epidemiological risk of arbovirus transmission in the study area. Overall, however, the large confidence intervals in the model predictions represent a caveat regarding the reliability of monitoring schemes based exclusively on ovitrap collections to estimate numbers of biting females and plan control interventions

The influence of push-off timing in a robotic ankle-foot prosthesis on the energetics and mechanics of walking

Background: Robotic ankle-foot prostheses that provide net positive push-off work can reduce the metabolic rate of walking for individuals with amputation, but benefits might be sensitive to push-off timing. Simple walking models suggest that preemptive push-off reduces center-of-mass work, possibly reducing metabolic rate. Studies with bilateral exoskeletons have found that push-off beginning before leading leg contact minimizes metabolic rate, but timing was not varied independently from push-off work, and the effects of push-off timing on biomechanics were not measured. Most lower-limb amputations are unilateral, which could also affect optimal timing. The goal of this study was to vary the timing of positive prosthesis push-off work in isolation and measure the effects on energetics, mechanics and muscle activity. Methods: We tested 10 able-bodied participants walking on a treadmill at 1.25 m.s(-1). Participants wore a tethered ankle-foot prosthesis emulator on one leg using a rigid boot adapter. We programmed the prosthesis to apply torque bursts that began between 46% and 56% of stride in different conditions. We iteratively adjusted torque magnitude to maintain constant net positive push-off work. Results: When push-off began at or after leading leg contact, metabolic rate was about 10% lower than in a condition with Spring-like prosthesis behavior. When push-off began before leading leg contact, metabolic rate was not different from the Spring-like condition. Early push-off led to increased prosthesis-side vastus medialis and biceps femoris activity during push-off and increased variability in step length and prosthesis loading during push-off. Prosthesis push-off timing had no influence on intact-side leg center-of-mass collision work. Conclusions: Prosthesis push-off timing, isolated from push-off work, strongly affected metabolic rate, with optimal timing at or after intact-side heel contact. Increased thigh muscle activation and increased human variability appear to have caused the lack of reduction in metabolic rate when push-off was provided too early. Optimal timing with respect to opposite heel contact was not different from normal walking, but the trends in metabolic rate and center-of-mass mechanics were not consistent with simple model predictions. Optimal push-off timing should also be characterized for individuals with amputation, since meaningful benefits might be realized with improved timing

Efficient Photothermal Generation by Nanoscale Light Trapping in a Forest of Silicon Nanowires

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New adhesive traps to monitor urban mosquitoes with a case study to assess the efficacy of insecticide control strategies in temperate areas

Background: Urban mosquitoes in temperate regions may represent a high nuisance and are associated with the risk of arbovirus transmission. Common practices to reduce this burden, at least in Italian highly infested urban areas, imply calendar-based larvicide treatments of street catch basins – which represent the main non-removable urban breeding site and/or insecticide ground spraying. The planning of these interventions, as well as the evaluation of their effectiveness, rarely benefit of adequate monitoring of the mosquito abundance and dynamics. We propose the use of adhesive traps to monitor Aedes albopictus and Culex pipiens adults and to evaluate the efficacy of insecticide-based control strategies. Methods: We designed two novel types of adhesive traps to collect adult mosquitoes visiting and/or emerging from catch basins. The Mosquito Emerging Trap (MET) was exploited to assess the efficacy of larvicide treatments. The Catch Basin Trap (CBT) was exploited together with the Sticky Trap (ST, commonly used to collect ovipositing/resting females) to monitor adults abundance in the campus of the University of Rome “Sapienza” - where catch basins were treated with Insect Growth Regulators (IGR) bi-monthly and Low-Volume insecticide spraying were carried out before sunset - and in a nearby control area. Results: Results obtained by MET showed that, although all monitored diflubenzuron-treated catch basins were repeatedly visited by Ae. albopictus and Cx. pipiens, adult emergence was inhibited in most basins. Results obtained by ST and CBT showed a significant lower adult abundance in the treated area than in the untreated one after the second adulticide spraying, which was carried out during the major phase of Ae. albopictus population expansion in Rome. Spatial heterogeneities in the effect of the treatments were also revealed. Conclusions: The results support the potential of the three adhesive traps tested in passively monitoring urban mosquito adult abundance and seasonal dynamics and in assessing the efficacy of control measures. ST showed higher specificity for Ae. albopictus and CBT for Cx. pipiens. The results also provide a preliminary indication on the effectiveness of common mosquito control strategies carried out against urban mosquito in European urban areas

Transmission dynamics of the ongoing chikungunya outbreak in Central Italy. From coastal areas to the metropolitan city of Rome, summer 2017

A large chikungunya outbreak is ongoing in Italy, with a main cluster in the Anzio coastal municipality. With preliminary epidemiological data, and a transmission model using mosquito abundance and biting rates, we estimated the basic reproduction number R0 at 2.07 (95% credible interval: 1.47–2.59) and the first case importation between 21 May and 18 June 2017. Outbreak risk was higher in coastal/rural sites than urban ones. Novel transmission foci could occur up to mid-November

Binocular Rivalry Measured 2 Hours After Occlusion Therapy Predicts the Recovery Rate of the Amblyopic Eye in Anisometropic Children

Recent studies on adults have shown that short-term monocular deprivation boosts the deprived eye signal in binocular rivalry, reflecting homeostatic plasticity. Here we investigate whether homeostatic plasticity is present also during occlusion therapy for moderate amblyopia.PURPOSE. Recent studies on adults have shown that short-term monocular deprivation boosts the deprived eye signal in binocular rivalry, reflecting homeostatic plasticity. Here we investigate whether homeostatic plasticity is present also during occlusion therapy for moderate amblyopia. METHODS. Binocular rivalry and visual acuity (using Snellen charts for children) were measured in 10 children (mean age 6.2±6 1 years) with moderate anisometropic amblyopia before the beginning of treatment and at four intervals during occlusion therapy (2 hours, 1, 2, and 5 months). Visual stimuli were orthogonal gratings presented dichoptically through ferromagnetic goggles and children reported verbally visual rivalrous perception. Bangerter filters were applied on the spectacle lens over the best eye for occlusion therapy. RESULTS. Two hours of occlusion therapy increased the nonamblyopic eye predominance over the amblyopic eye compared with pretreatment measurements, consistent with the results in adults. The boost of the nonamblyopic eye was still present after 1 month of treatment, steadily decreasing afterward to reach pretreatment levels after 2 months of continuous occlusion. Across subjects, the increase in nonamblyopic eye predominance observed after 2 hours of occlusion correlated (rho =-0.65, P =0.04) with the visual acuity improvement of the amblyopic eye measured after 2 months of treatment. CONCLUSIONS. Homeostatic plasticity operates during occlusion therapy for moderate amblyopia and the increase in nonamblyopic eye dominance observed at the beginning of treatment correlates with the amblyopic eye recovery rate. These results suggest that binocular rivalry might be used to monitor visual cortical plasticity during occlusion therapy, although further investigations on larger clinical populations are needed to validate the predictive power of the technique

FEM and BEM Analysis of a Human Mandible with Added Temporomandibular Joints

Mathematical modelling of human mandible and its temporomandibular joints (TMJs) is one of the most important steps for developing a powerful forecasting tool to analyse the stress/strain behaviour of a human masticatory system under occlusal loads. In this work the structural behaviour of a mandible with articular discs, undergoing a unilateral occlusion, is numerically analysed by means of both Finite Element Method (FEM) and Boundary Element Method (BEM). The mandible is considered as completely edentulous and its anisotropic and non-homogeneous bone material behaviour is modelled. The material behaviour of the articular discs was assumed to be either elastic or hyper-elastic. The loads applied to the mandible are related to the active muscle groups during a unilateral occlusion. The results of FEM and BEM analyses are presented mainly in terms of stress distribution on the mandible and on the articular discs. Due to the uncertainty in the determination of the biological parameters, a sensitivity analysis is provided, which demonstrates the impact of the variation of articular disc stiffness and TMJ friction coefficient on the mandible stress peaks and on the occlusal loads (for a given intensity of muscle loads). Moreover a comparison between the effectiveness of the BEM and FEM numerical approaches on this kind of problem is provided