Vector species richness increases haemorrhagic disease prevalence through functional diversity modulating the duration of seasonal transmission

© Copyright Cambridge University Press 2015. SUMMARY Although many parasites are transmitted between hosts by a suite of arthropod vectors, the impact of vector biodiversity on parasite transmission is poorly understood. Positive relationships between host infection prevalence and vector species richness (SR) may operate through multiple mechanisms, including (i) increased vector abundance, (ii) a sampling effect in which species of high vectorial capacity are more likely to occur in species-rich communities, and (iii) functional diversity whereby communities comprised species with distinct phenologies may extend the duration of seasonal transmission. Teasing such mechanisms apart is impeded by a lack of appropriate data, yet could highlight a neglected role for functional diversity in parasite transmission. We used statistical modelling of extensive host, vector and microparasite data to test the hypothesis that functional diversity leading to longer seasonal transmission explained variable levels of disease in a wildlife population. We additionally developed a simple transmission model to guide our expectation of how an increased transmission season translates to infection prevalence. Our study demonstrates that vector SR is associated with increased levels of disease reporting, but not via increases in vector abundance or via a sampling effect. Rather, the relationship operates by extending the length of seasonal transmission, in line with theoretical predictions

Erratum: Vector species richness increases haemorrhagic disease prevalence through functional diversity modulating the duration of seasonal transmission (Parasitology (2015) 143 (874-879) DOI: 10.1017/S0031182015000578)

© Cambridge University Press 2016. The publisher apologises for the link to the Supplementary Material being incorrect. On page 878, the Supplementary Material section should read as follows: SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL To view supplementary material for this article, please visit https://doi.org/10.1017/S0031182015000578

New records of biting midges of the genus \u3ci\u3eCulicoides\u3c/i\u3e Latreille from the southeastern United States (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae)

We provide new state and county records of biting midges in the genus Culicoides Latreille (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) from the southeastern United States collected with CDC miniature light traps during 2007–2012 in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas. The primary goals of the surveys were to identify the presence of exotic Culicoides, and determine the ranges of known and possible vectors of bluetongue virus (BTV) and epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV). Included are the first records of: Culicoides (Amossovia) beckae Wirth and Blanton from Louisiana and Mississippi, C. (A.) oklahomensis Khalaf from Alabama and Arkansas, C. (Avaritia) alachua Jamnback and Wirth from Alabama, C. (Culicoides) neopulicaris Wirth from Alabama, C. (Drymodesmyia) butleri Wirth and Hubert from Texas, C. (Hoffmania) insignis Lutz from Mississippi, C. (Oecacta) barbosai Wirth and Blanton from Georgia, C. (Silvaticulicoides) loisae Jamnback from Alabama, and C. kirbyi Glick and Mullen from Mississippi. We also provide new Florida county records for C. alachua, C. barbosai, C. (Beltranmyia) hollensis (Melander and Brues), C. insignis, and C. (Monoculicoides) sonorensis Wirth and Jones; a new Georgia county record for C. alachua; and new Alabama county records for C. insignis, and C. sonorensis

Attributing scientific and technical progress: the case of holography

Holography, the three-dimensional imaging technology, was portrayed widely as a paradigm of progress during its decade of explosive expansion 1964–73, and during its subsequent consolidation for commercial and artistic uses up to the mid 1980s. An unusually seductive and prolific subject, holography successively spawned scientific insights, putative applications and new constituencies of practitioners and consumers. Waves of forecasts, associated with different sponsors and user communities, cast holography as a field on the verge of success—but with the dimensions of success repeatedly refashioned. This retargeting of the subject represented a degree of cynical marketeering, but was underpinned by implicit confidence in philosophical positivism and faith in technological progressivism. Each of its communities defined success in terms of expansion, and anticipated continual progressive increase. This paper discusses the contrasting definitions of progress in holography, and how they were fashioned in changing contexts. Focusing equally on reputed ‘failures’ of some aspects of the subject, it explores the varied attributes by which success and failure were linked with progress by different technical communities. This important case illuminates the peculiar post-World War II environment that melded the military, commercial and popular engagement with scientific and technological subjects, and the competing criteria by which they assessed the products of science

Mastering the Hard Stuff: The History of College Concrete-Canoe Races and the Growth of Engineering Competition Culture

This article details the history of college engineering competitions, originating with student concrete-canoe racing in the 1970s, through today’s multi-million-dollar international multiplicity of challenges. Despite initial differences between engineering educators and industry supporters over the ultimate purpose of undergraduate competitions, these events thrived because they evolved to suit many needs of students, professors, schools, corporations, professional associations, and the engineering profession itself. The twenty-first-century proliferation of university-level competitions in turn encouraged a trickling-down of technical contests to elementary-age children and high schools, fostering the institutionalization of what might be called a competition culture in engineering