The dominant Anopheles vectors of human malaria in the Asia-Pacific region: occurrence data, distribution maps and bionomic précis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The final article in a series of three publications examining the global distribution of 41 dominant vector species (DVS) of malaria is presented here. The first publication examined the DVS from the Americas, with the second covering those species present in Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Here we discuss the 19 DVS of the Asian-Pacific region. This region experiences a high diversity of vector species, many occurring sympatrically, which, combined with the occurrence of a high number of species complexes and suspected species complexes, and behavioural plasticity of many of these major vectors, adds a level of entomological complexity not comparable elsewhere globally. To try and untangle the intricacy of the vectors of this region and to increase the effectiveness of vector control interventions, an understanding of the contemporary distribution of each species, combined with a synthesis of the current knowledge of their behaviour and ecology is needed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Expert opinion (EO) range maps, created with the most up-to-date expert knowledge of each DVS distribution, were combined with a contemporary database of occurrence data and a suite of open access, environmental and climatic variables. Using the Boosted Regression Tree (BRT) modelling method, distribution maps of each DVS were produced. The occurrence data were abstracted from the formal, published literature, plus other relevant sources, resulting in the collation of DVS occurrence at 10116 locations across 31 countries, of which 8853 were successfully geo-referenced and 7430 were resolved to spatial areas that could be included in the BRT model. A detailed summary of the information on the bionomics of each species and species complex is also presented.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This article concludes a project aimed to establish the contemporary global distribution of the DVS of malaria. The three articles produced are intended as a detailed reference for scientists continuing research into the aspects of taxonomy, biology and ecology relevant to species-specific vector control. This research is particularly relevant to help unravel the complicated taxonomic status, ecology and epidemiology of the vectors of the Asia-Pacific region. All the occurrence data, predictive maps and EO-shape files generated during the production of these publications will be made available in the public domain. We hope that this will encourage data sharing to improve future iterations of the distribution maps.</p

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Effects of Anacetrapib in Patients with Atherosclerotic Vascular Disease

BACKGROUND: Patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease remain at high risk for cardiovascular events despite effective statin-based treatment of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels. The inhibition of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) by anacetrapib reduces LDL cholesterol levels and increases high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels. However, trials of other CETP inhibitors have shown neutral or adverse effects on cardiovascular outcomes. METHODS: We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving 30,449 adults with atherosclerotic vascular disease who were receiving intensive atorvastatin therapy and who had a mean LDL cholesterol level of 61 mg per deciliter (1.58 mmol per liter), a mean non-HDL cholesterol level of 92 mg per deciliter (2.38 mmol per liter), and a mean HDL cholesterol level of 40 mg per deciliter (1.03 mmol per liter). The patients were assigned to receive either 100 mg of anacetrapib once daily (15,225 patients) or matching placebo (15,224 patients). The primary outcome was the first major coronary event, a composite of coronary death, myocardial infarction, or coronary revascularization. RESULTS: During the median follow-up period of 4.1 years, the primary outcome occurred in significantly fewer patients in the anacetrapib group than in the placebo group (1640 of 15,225 patients [10.8%] vs. 1803 of 15,224 patients [11.8%]; rate ratio, 0.91; 95% confidence interval, 0.85 to 0.97; P=0.004). The relative difference in risk was similar across multiple prespecified subgroups. At the trial midpoint, the mean level of HDL cholesterol was higher by 43 mg per deciliter (1.12 mmol per liter) in the anacetrapib group than in the placebo group (a relative difference of 104%), and the mean level of non-HDL cholesterol was lower by 17 mg per deciliter (0.44 mmol per liter), a relative difference of -18%. There were no significant between-group differences in the risk of death, cancer, or other serious adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease who were receiving intensive statin therapy, the use of anacetrapib resulted in a lower incidence of major coronary events than the use of placebo. (Funded by Merck and others; Current Controlled Trials number, ISRCTN48678192 ; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01252953 ; and EudraCT number, 2010-023467-18 .)

Just Accepted Manuscript •

Abstract In this work, we investigated the effect of Rb and Ta doping on the ionic conductivity and stability of the garnet Li 7+2x-y (La 3-x Rb x )(Zr 2-y Ta y )O 12 (0≤x≤0.375, 0≤y≤1) superionic conductor using first principles calculations. Our results indicate that doping does not greatly alter the topology of the migration pathway, but instead acts primarily to change the lithium concentration. The structure with the lowest activation energy and highest room temperature conductivity is Li 6.75 , has a lower activation energy than c-LLZO, but further Rb doping leads to a dramatic decrease in performance. We also examined the effect of changing the lattice parameter at fixed lithium concentration and found that a decrease in the lattice parameter leads to a rapid decline in Li + conductivity, whereas an expanded lattice offers only marginal improvement. This result suggests that doping with larger cations will not provide a significant enhancement in performance. Our result

Phase stability, electrochemical stability and ionic conductivity of the Li[subscript 10±1]MP[subscript 2]X[subscript 12] (M = Ge, Si, Sn, Al or P, and X = O, S or Se) family of superionic conductors

We present an investigation of the phase stability, electrochemical stability and Li[superscript +] conductivity of the Li[subscript 10±1]MP[subscript 2]X[subscript 12] (M = Ge, Si, Sn, Al or P, and X = O, S or Se) family of superionic conductors using first principles calculations. The Li[subscript 10]GeP[subscript 2]S[subscript 12] (LGPS) superionic conductor has the highest Li[superscript +] conductivity reported to date, with excellent electrochemical performance demonstrated in a Li-ion rechargeable battery. Our results show that isovalent cation substitutions of Ge[superscript 4+] have a small effect on the relevant intrinsic properties, with Li[subscript 10]SiP[subscript 2]S[subscript 12] and Li[subscript 10]SnP[subscript 2]S[subscript 12] having similar phase stability, electrochemical stability and Li[superscript +] conductivity as LGPS. Aliovalent cation substitutions (M = Al or P) with compensating changes in the Li[superscript +] concentration also have a small effect on the Li[superscript +] conductivity in this structure. Anion substitutions, however, have a much larger effect on these properties. The oxygen-substituted Li[subscript 10]MP[subscript 2]O[subscript 12] compounds are predicted not to be stable (with equilibrium decomposition energies >90 meV per atom) and have much lower Li[superscript +] conductivities than their sulfide counterparts. The selenium-substituted Li[subscript 10]MP[subscript 2]Se[subscript 12] compounds, on the other hand, show a marginal improvement in conductivity, but at the expense of reduced electrochemical stability. We also studied the effect of lattice parameter changes on the Li[superscript +] conductivity and found the same asymmetry in behavior between increases and decreases in the lattice parameters, i.e., decreases in the lattice parameters lower the Li[superscript +] conductivity significantly, while increases in the lattice parameters increase the Li[superscript +] conductivity only marginally. Based on these results, we conclude that the size of the S[superscript 2−] is near optimal for Li[superscript +] conduction in this structural framework.United States. Dept. of Energy. Office of Science (Contract DE-AC02-05CH11231

The Amazon basin in transition

Agricultural expansion and climate variability have become important agents of disturbance in the Amazon basin. Recent studies have demonstrated considerable resilience of Amazonian forests to moderate annual drought, but they also show that interactions between deforestation, fire and drought potentially lead to losses of carbon storage and changes in regional precipitation patterns and river discharge. Although the basin-wide impacts of land use and drought may not yet surpass the magnitude of natural variability of hydrologic and biogeochemical cycles, there are some signs of a transition to a disturbance-dominated regime. These signs include changing energy and water cycles in the southern and eastern portions of the Amazon basin. © 2012 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved