Quantitative Sequencing for the Determination of Kdr-type Resistance Allele (V419L,L925I, I936F) Frequencies in Common Bed Bug, Cimex lectularius L., (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) Populations Collected from Israel

Human bed bug infestations have dramatically increased worldwide since the mid-1990s. A similar phenomenon was also observed in Israel since 2005, when infestations were reported from all over the country. Two single nucleotide polymorphisms (V419L and L925I) in the bed bug voltage sensitive sodium channel confer kdr-type resistance to pyrethroids. Using quantitative sequencing (QS), the resistance allele frequencies of Israeli bed bug populations from across the country were determined. Genomic DNA was extracted from samples of 12 populations of bed bugs collected from Israel and DNA fragments containing the V419L or L925I and I936F mutations sites were PCR amplified. The PCR products were analyzed by QS and the nucleotide signal ratios calculated and used to predict the resistance allele frequencies of the unknown populations. Results of the genetic analysis show that resistant nucleotide signals are highly correlated to resistance allele frequencies for both mutations. Ten of the 12 tested populations had 100% of the L925I mutation and 0% of the V419L mutation. One population was heterogeneous for the L925I mutation and had 0% of the V419L mutation and another population was heterozygous for the V419L mutation and had 100% of the L925I mutation. I936F occurred only at low levels. These results indicate that bed bugs in Israel are genetically resistant to pyrethroids. Thus, pyrethroids should only be used for bed bug management with caution using effective application and careful monitoring procedures. Additionally, new and novel-acting insecticides and non-chemical means of controlling bed bugs should be explored

Epidemiological Investigation of Bovine Ephemeral Fever Outbreaks in Israel

Outbreaks of bovine ephemeral fever (BEF) occurred in Israel in 1990, 1999, and 2004. The main patterns of BEF spread were similar in the 1990 and in 1999 epidemics, and the BEF virus was probably carried in vectors transported by air streams across the Rift Valley and the Red Sea. In the 2004 outbreak, the primary focus of the disease was the southern Mediterranean coastal plain and the disease agent was apparently brought by infected mosquitoes carried from their breeding site in the Nile Delta by the south-western winds. The disease broke out under optimal ecological conditions, among a vulnerable cattle population and spread rapidly; it showed essentially a spring-summer herd incidence and terminated soon after the night average ambient temperature fell below 16°C in late autumn. The herd incidence of the disease reached 78.4%, 97.7%, and 100% in 1990, 1999, and 2004, respectively. The highest herd incidence, morbidity, and case fatality rates were noted in dairy cattle herds in the Jordan Valley, with morbidity of 20%, 38.6%, and 22.2%, and case fatality rate among affected animals of 2%, 8.6%, and 5.4% in 1990, 1999, and 2004, respectively. The average sero-positivity to BEF in 1999 was 39.5%, which matched the morbidity rate. Comparison among the various age groups showed that the lowest morbidity rates were observed in the youngest age group, that is, heifers up to 1 year, with 3.2%, 3.6%, and 4.2% in 1990, 1999, and 2004, respectively. In heifers from 1 year to calving, the morbidity rates were 13.8%, 14.9%, and 28%, respectively, in first calvers 30.8%, 31.6%, and 28.3%, respectively, and in cows 34.3%, 35.7%, and 27.2%, respectively. All affected cattle were over the age of 3 months. It is hypothesized that mosquitoes and not Culicoides spp. are the vectors of the BEF virus in Israel

Synthesis of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Images via Multi-channel Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs)

Positron emission tomography (PET) image synthesis plays an important role, which can be used to boost the training data for computer aided diagnosis systems. However, existing image synthesis methods have problems in synthesizing the low resolution PET images. To address these limitations, we propose multi-channel generative adversarial networks (M-GAN) based PET image synthesis method. Different to the existing methods which rely on using low-level features, the proposed M-GAN is capable to represent the features in a high-level of semantic based on the adversarial learning concept. In addition, M-GAN enables to take the input from the annotation (label) to synthesize the high uptake regions e.g., tumors and from the computed tomography (CT) images to constrain the appearance consistency and output the synthetic PET images directly. Our results on 50 lung cancer PET-CT studies indicate that our method was much closer to the real PET images when compared with the existing methods.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figure

Effects of Tectonics and Large Scale Climatic Changes On the Evolutionary History of \u3ci\u3eHyalomma\u3c/i\u3e ticks

Hyalomma Koch, 1844 are ixodid ticks that infest mammals, birds and reptiles, to which 27 recognized species occur across the Afrotropical, Palearctic and Oriental regions. Despite their medical and veterinary importance, the evolutionary history of the group is enigmatic. To investigate various taxonomic hypotheses based on morphology, and also some of the mechanisms involved in the diversification of the genus, we sequenced and analysed data derived from two mtDNA fragments, three nuclear DNA genes and 47 morphological characters. Bayesian and Parsimony analyses based on the combined data (2242 characters for 84 taxa) provided maximum resolution and strongly supported the monophyly of Hyalomma and the subgenus Euhyalomma Filippova, 1984 (including H. punt Hoogstraal, Kaiser and Pedersen, 1969). A predicted close evolutionary association was found between morphologically similar H. dromedarii Koch, 1844, H. somalicum Tonelli Rondelli, 1935, H. impeltatum Schulze and Schlottke, 1929 and H. punt, and together they form a sister lineage to H. asiaticum Schulze and Schlottke, 1929, H. schulzei Olenev, 1931 and H. scupense Schulze, 1919. Congruent with morphological suggestions, H. anatolicum Koch, 1844, H. excavatum Koch, 1844 and H. lusitanicum Koch, 1844 form a clade and so also H. glabrum Delpy, 1949, H. marginatum Koch, 1844, H. turanicum Pomerantzev, 1946 and H. rufipes Koch, 1844. Wide scale continental sampling revealed cryptic divergences within African H. truncatum Koch, 1844 and H. rufipes and suggested that the taxonomy of these lineages is in need of a revision. The most basal lineages in Hyalomma represent taxa currently confined to Eurasia and molecular clock estimates suggest that members of the genus started to diverge approximately 36.25 million years ago (Mya). The early diversification event coincides well with the collision of the Indian and Eurasian Plates, an event that was also characterized by large scale faunal turnover in the region. Using S-Diva, we also propose that the closure of the Tethyan seaway allowed for the genus to first enter Africa approximately 17.73 Mya. In concert, our data supports the notion that tectonic events and large scale global changes in the environment contributed significantly to produce the rich species diversity currently found in the genus Hyalomma

International recommendations for an effective control of head louse infestations

Head louse infestations continue to be a concern of public health in most countries, including the most developed ones. The present recommendations are intended to inform and stress the role and impact of the different authorities, institutions, industry, and the public in the control of head lice in order to reduce the prevalence of this parasite. We encourage health authorities to pursue more effective methods to correctly identify such infestations, and evaluate existing and new pediculicides, medical devices, louse repellents, and louse- and nit-removal remedies. Pediculicides and medical devices must have verifiable claims in the instructions for use and should be tested periodically to document current levels of resistance by lice to the active ingredients and to the formulated products. Where the prevalence of lice is claimed to be epidemic, children should be periodically evaluated objectively to document the actual level of prevalence. Continuing education for health providers and the general population promises to correct misinformation regarding the biology, prevention, and management of lice. Parents should regularly inspect their children for head lice and treat as necessary. Health authorities are encouraged to eliminate policies and practices that rely upon school exclusion as a means to reduce incidence and prevalence, e.g., the ‘no-nit’ policy which lacks scientific justification, and are counterproductive to the health and welfare of childrenFil: Mumcuoglu, Kosta Y.. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; IsraelFil: Pollack, Richard J.. Harvard University; Estados UnidosFil: Reed, David L.. University Of Florida. Florida Museum Of History; Estados UnidosFil: Barker, Stephen C.. University of Queensland; AustraliaFil: Gordon, Shirley. Florida Atlantic University; Estados UnidosFil: Toloza, Ariel Ceferino. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas para la Defensa. Centro de Investigación de Plagas e Insecticidas; ArgentinaFil: Picollo, Maria Ines. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas para la Defensa. Centro de Investigación de Plagas e Insecticidas; ArgentinaFil: Taylan Ozkan, Aysegul. Hitit University; Turquía. Near East University; ChipreFil: Chosidow, Olivier. Hôpital Henri Mondor; FranciaFil: Habedank, Birgit. German Environment Agency; AlemaniaFil: Ibarra, Joanna. Community Hygiene Concern; Reino UnidoFil: Meinking, Terri L.. Global Health Associates of Miami; Estados UnidosFil: Vander Stichele, Robert H.. Heymans Institute of Pharmacology; Bélgic

Maggot secretions suppress pro-inflammatory responses of human monocytes through elevation of cyclic AMP

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Maggots of the blowfly Lucilia sericata are used for the treatment of chronic wounds. As monocytes may contribute to the excessive inflammatory responses in such wounds, this study focussed on the effects of maggot secretions on the pro-inflammatory activities of these cells. METHODS: Freshly isolated monocytes were incubated with a range of secretions for 1 h and then stimulated with lipopolysaccharides (range 0-100 ng/ml) or lipoteichoic acid (range 0-5 microg/ml) for 18 h. The expression of cell surface molecules, cytokine and chemokine levels in culture supernatants, cell viability, chemotaxis, and phagocytosis and killing of Staphylococcus aureus were measured. RESULTS: Maggot secretions dose-dependently inhibited production of the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-alpha, IL-12p40 and macrophage migration inhibitory factor by lipopolysaccharides- and lipoteichoic acid-stimulated monocytes, while enhancing production of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. Expression of cell surface receptors involved in pathogen recognition remained unaffected by secretions. In addition, maggot secretions altered the chemokine profile of monocytes by downregulating macrophage inflammatory protein-1beta and upregulating monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 and IL-8. Nevertheless, chemotactic responses of monocytes were inhibited by secretions. Furthermore, maggot secretions did not affect phagocytosis and intracellular killing of S. aureus by human monocytes. Finally, secretions induced a transient rise in the intracellular cyclic AMP concentration in monocytes and Rp-cyclic AMPS inhibited the effects of secretions. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Maggot secretions inhibit the pro-inflammatory responses of human monocytes through a cyclic AMP-dependent mechanism. Regulation of the inflammatory processes by maggots contributes to their beneficial effects on chronic wound

Cold streams in early massive hot haloes as the main mode of galaxy formation

The massive galaxies in the young universe, ten billion years ago, formed stars at surprising intensities. Although this is commonly attributed to violent mergers, the properties of many of these galaxies are incompatible with such events, showing gas-rich, clumpy, extended rotating disks not dominated by spheroids (Genzel et al. 2006, 2008). Cosmological simulations and clustering theory are used to explore how these galaxies acquired their gas. Here we report that they are stream-fed galaxies, formed from steady, narrow, cold gas streams that penetrate the shock-heated media of massive dark matter haloes (Dekel & Birnboim 2006; Keres et al. 2005). A comparison with the observed abundance of star-forming galaxies implies that most of the input gas must rapidly convert to stars. One-third of the stream mass is in gas clumps leading to mergers of mass ratio greater than 1:10, and the rest is in smoother flows. With a merger duy cycle of 0.1, three-quarters of the galaxies forming stars at a given rate are fed by smooth streams. The rarer, submillimetre galaxies that form stars even more intensely are largely merger-induced starbursts. Unlike destructive mergers, the streams are likely to keep the rotating disk configuration intact, although turbulent and broken into giant star-forming clumps that merge into a central spheroid (Noguchi 1999; Genzel et al. 2008, Elmegreen, Bournaud & Elmegreen 2008, Dekel, Sari & Ceverino 2009). This stream-driven scenario for the formation of disks and spheroids is an alternative to the merger picture.Comment: Improved version, 25 pages, 13 figures, Letter to Nature with Supplementary Informatio

Robust Framework for PET Image Reconstruction Incorporating System and Measurement Uncertainties

In Positron Emission Tomography (PET), an optimal estimate of the radioactivity concentration is obtained from the measured emission data under certain criteria. So far, all the well-known statistical reconstruction algorithms require exactly known system probability matrix a priori, and the quality of such system model largely determines the quality of the reconstructed images. In this paper, we propose an algorithm for PET image reconstruction for the real world case where the PET system model is subject to uncertainties. The method counts PET reconstruction as a regularization problem and the image estimation is achieved by means of an uncertainty weighted least squares framework. The performance of our work is evaluated with the Shepp-Logan simulated and real phantom data, which demonstrates significant improvements in image quality over the least squares reconstruction efforts