scholarly journals Wolbachia infections in Aedes aegypti differ markedly in their response to cyclical heat stress

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Perran A. Ross ◽  
Itsanun Wiwatanaratanabutr ◽  
Jason K. Axford ◽  
Vanessa L. White ◽  
Nancy M. Endersby-Harshman ◽  
...  

AbstractAedes aegypti mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia bacteria are currently being released for arbovirus suppression around the world. Their potential to invade populations and persist will depend on interactions with environmental conditions, particularly as larvae are often exposed to fluctuating and extreme temperatures in the field. We reared Ae. aegypti larvae infected with different types of Wolbachia (wMel, wAlbB and wMelPop) under diurnal cyclical temperatures. Rearing wMel and wMelPop-infected larvae at 26-37°C reduced the expression of cytoplasmic incompatibility, a reproductive manipulation induced by Wolbachia. We also observed a sharp reduction in the density of Wolbachia in adults. Furthermore, exposure to 26-37°C over two generations eliminated both the wMel and wMelPop infections. In contrast, the wAlbB infection was maintained at a high density, exhibited complete cytoplasmic incompatibility, and was transmitted from mother to offspring with a high fidelity under this temperature cycle. These findings have implications for the success of Wolbachia interventions across different environments and highlight the importance of temperature control in rearing.

Author(s):  
Silvia Monti

Much attention has been recently focused on exploring how a language shapes its speakers’ identity in multiethnic contexts of interaction (Carter, 2004), where linguistic identities are constantly open to renegotiation, reconstruction and reinterpretation. From this perspective, multicultural audiovisual products prove to be one of the most apt media to represent the richness and complexity of real-life multilingual realities (Bleichenbacher, 2008) within which code-switching plays a crucial role. Starting from these assumptions, this paper sets out to investigate the conversational functions code-switching fulfils in two British and two American intercultural films: Bend it Like Beckham (Chadha, 2002), Ae Fond Kiss (Loach, 2004), Spanglish (Brooks, 2004) and Gran Torino (Eastwood, 2008), where it is functional both to plot development and to the bilingual immigrants’ characterisation (Wahl 2008). In establishing a specific socio-linguistic and pragmatic framing within which code-switching seems to operate in audiovisual products, the film scripts will be analysed: looking contrastively, in both the original and the Italian dubbed version, at the translation strategies of the different types of code-switching; focusing on the scenes where code-switching emphasizes the competing visions of the world held by the two generations (Myers-Scotton, 1993); pointing out which functions of code-switching are encoded in the Italian version and which ones are lost in translation; showing what can be achieved by both dubbing and subtitling in terms of transcultural transmission in conveying the “translaguaging space” (Wei, 2011, p. 1222) the immigrant characters live in.


Author(s):  
Y. Arockia Suganthi ◽  
Chitra K. ◽  
J. Magelin Mary

Dengue fever is a painful mosquito-borne infection caused by different types of virus in various localities of the world. There is no particular medicine or vaccine to treat person suffering from dengue fever. Dengue viruses are transmitted by the bite of female Aedes (Ae) mosquitoes. Dengue fever viruses are mainly transmitted by Aedes which can be active in tropical or subtropical climates. Aedes Aegypti is the key step to avoid infection transmission to save millions of people in all over the world. This paper provides a standard guideline in the planning of dengue prevention and control measures. At the same time gives the priorities including clinical management and hospitalized dengue patients have to address essentially.


Author(s):  
T. M. Robinson

This article argues the following five claims: 1. Plato’s description of the origins of cosmos in the Timaeus is not a myth, nor something unlikely: when he called it an eikos mythos or eikos logos, he meant a likely or trustworthy account on this very subject. 2. Among the details in this account, the following are prominent and surprising: a) the world was fashioned in time, in that precise point that was the beginning of time; b) several kinds of duration can be distinguished in cosmology (mainly eternity, sempiternity, perpetuity and time); and c) space is an entity characterized by movement and tension. 3. In the Statesman, Plato repeats much the same thing, adding this time the strange notion that the universe’s circular movement is periodically reversed. 4. In spite of the important differences in detail, there is a striking similarity between Plato’s account of the origins of the world and the explanation adopted by much of modern cosmology. 5. What Plato shares with so many instances of recent thought is here termed “cosmological imaginativity”. A first section of the paper deals exclusively with the Timaeus. Claims 1 and 2a are supported by a revision of the meanings of mythos and logos, followed by brief reference and discussion of the argument at Timaeus 27d, leading to the conclusion that Plato affirms that the ever-changing world has indeed had a beginning in time. Claim 2b describes five different types of duration, corresponding to Forms, the Demiurge, Space, the [empirical] world and its contents, physical objects. The second section is concerned with the myth in the Statesman, discussing it as a parallel and describing its peculiar turn to the Timaeus’ cosmology and cosmogony, a complex spheric and dynamic model. After digressing into some important ideas in modern cosmology, touching especially on affinities of some of Einstein’s ideas with of Plato’s own, the paper closes with a discussion of cosmological imaginativity, oriented to recover and recognize fully Plato’s greatness as a cosmologist.


The effective altruism movement consists of a growing global community of people who organize significant parts of their lives around two key ideas, represented in its name. Altruism: If we use a significant portion of the resources in our possession—whether money, time, or talents—with a view to helping others, we can improve the world considerably. Effectiveness: When we do put such resources to altruistic use, it is crucial to focus on how much good this or that intervention is reasonably expected to do per unit of resource expended (for example, per dollar donated). While global poverty is a widely used case study in introducing and motivating effective altruism, if the ultimate aim is to do the most good one can with the resources expended, it is far from obvious that global poverty alleviation is highest priority cause area. In addition to ranking possible poverty-alleviation interventions against one another, we can also try to rank interventions aimed at very different types of outcome against one another. This includes, for example, interventions focusing on animal welfare or future generations. The scale and organization of the effective altruism movement encourage careful dialogue on questions that have perhaps long been there, throwing them into new and sharper relief, and giving rise to previously unnoticed questions. In the present volume, the first of its kind, a group of internationally recognized philosophers, economists, and political theorists contribute in-depth explorations of issues that arise once one takes seriously the twin ideas of altruistic commitment and effectiveness.


2021 ◽  
pp. 193896552110335
Author(s):  
John W. O’Neill ◽  
Jihwan Yeon

In recent years, short-term rental platforms in the lodging sector, including Airbnb, VRBO, and HomeAway, have received extensive attention and emerged as potentially alternative suppliers of services traditionally provided by established commercial accommodation providers, that is, hotels. Short-term rentals have dramatically increased the available supply of rooms for visitors to multiple international destinations, potentially siphoning demand away from hotels to short-term rental businesses. In a competitive market, an increase in supply with constant demand would negatively influence incumbent service providers. In this article, we examine the substitution effects of short-term rental supply on hotel performance in different cities around the world. Specifically, we comprehensively investigate the substitution effects of short-term rental supply on hotel performance based on hotel class, location type, and region. Furthermore, we segment the short-term rental supply based on its types of accommodations, that is, shared rooms, private rooms, and entire homes, and both examine and quantify the differential effects of these types of short-term rentals on different types of hotels. This study offers a comprehensive analysis regarding the impact of multiple short-term rental platforms on hotel performance and offers both conceptual and practical insights regarding the nature and extent of the effects that were identified.


Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 524
Author(s):  
Junhua Xu ◽  
Shuangbao Zhang ◽  
Guofang Wu ◽  
Yingchun Gong ◽  
Haiqing Ren

With the increasing popularity of cross-laminated timber (CLT) constructions around the world, there have been attempts to produce CLT using local wood species in different countries, such as Japanese larch (Larix kaempferi (Lamb.) Carr.) in China. Thus, the need to investigate the connection performance also increases to support the design and construction of CLT buildings using local wood species. In this study, the withdrawal properties of three different types of self-tapping screws (STS), with a diameter of 6 mm, 8 mm, and 11 mm, were tested with Japanese larch CLT. The results revealed that the withdrawal strength of STS increased with increasing density and effective length, but decreased with an increasing diameter. With a density increment of 0.05 g/cm3, the withdrawal strength increased by an average of 9.4%. With an effective length increment of 24 mm, the withdrawal strength increased by an average of 1.4%. An empirical regression model was adopted to predict the withdrawal strength of Japanese larch CLT based on the results, which can be used for potential engineering design of CLT connections using STS.


Author(s):  
Ling Qiu ◽  
Qujing Chen ◽  
Tian Gao

The world is facing the challenge of aging populations. Urban natural environments, including green spaces and blue spaces, have been demonstrated to have great benefits to the mental restoration of the elderly. However, the study of the specific characteristics of urban environments that are popular and the most restorative for the elderly is still lacking. Photo elicitation as visual stimuli was utilized to explore the differences in preference and psychological restoration of the elderly through the perception of the eight perceived sensory dimensions (PSDs) in different types of urban environments. The results showed that: (1) The respondents had different perceptions of the eight PSDs in the different urban natural environments. Blue space and partly-closed green space were more preferred by the elderly, and also had more psychological restorative effects on the elderly. (2) There was no significant correlation between the number of highly perceived PSDs and preference, as well as between the number of highly perceived PSDs and psychological restoration. However, there was a significant correlation between preference and psychological restoration. (3) Partly-closed green space with more Serene and Refuge qualities, and blue space with more Serene, Refuge and Prospect properties were optimal characteristics for psychological restoration of the elderly. In addition, open green space with more Prospect, Serene and Social qualities, and closed green space with more Space, Refuge and less Nature properties could also increase psychological restoration of older adults. These findings can provide useful guidelines for restorative environmental design for the elderly in the future.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 712
Author(s):  
Andrea Okanović ◽  
Jelena Ješić ◽  
Vladimir Đaković ◽  
Simonida Vukadinović ◽  
Andrea Andrejević Panić

Growing environmental problems and increasing requirements of green jobs force universities around the world not only to transform their curricula but also to enrich existing ones with contents related to the promotion of sustainable development. This paper aims to show the importance of measuring and monitoring the share of green contents in all university activities, as only in that way it is possible to monitor trends and give realistic assessments of their effect and importance. The paper presents a comparative analysis of different types of methodologies for assessing sustainable activities at universities as well as research conducted at the University of Novi Sad in Serbia and its comparison with the University of Gothenburg (Sweden). This research aims to point out the importance of increasing competitiveness in higher education through assessment of green content in a curriculum and its promotion. In this way, through eco-labeling methodology, it would be easier to identify those contents that, in a certain share, contribute to the promotion of sustainable development. Furthermore, this methodology can easily be extended across the country and the region, which would bring positive effects to all stakeholders in higher education.


Author(s):  
Melisa B Bonica ◽  
Dario E Balcazar ◽  
Ailen Chuchuy ◽  
Jorge A Barneche ◽  
Carolina Torres ◽  
...  

Abstract Diseases caused by flaviviruses are a major public health burden across the world. In the past decades, South America has suffered dengue epidemics, the re-emergence of yellow fever and St. Louis encephalitis viruses, and the introduction of West Nile and Zika viruses. Many insect-specific flaviviruses (ISFs) that cannot replicate in vertebrate cells have recently been described. In this study, we analyzed field-collected mosquito samples from six different ecoregions of Argentina to detect flaviviruses. We did not find any RNA belonging to pathogenic flaviviruses or ISFs in adults or immature stages. However, flaviviral-like DNA similar to flavivirus NS5 region was detected in 83–100% of Aedes aegypti (L.). Despite being previously described as an ancient element in the Ae. aegypti genome, the flaviviral-like DNA sequence was not detected in all Ae. aegypti samples and sequences obtained did not form a monophyletic group, possibly reflecting the genetic diversity of mosquito populations in Argentina.


2021 ◽  
pp. 101269022110054
Author(s):  
Nicola Hague ◽  
Graeme Law

The world of football arguably brings together and unites people in support of their teams and countries, while inspiring young children and adolescents to dream of a professional career. Existing research in the field has sought to begin to understand what professional footballers experience on their journey through the game. However, much of this UK-based research has focused on first team players and their professional experiences, including transitions from youth team to first team and to retirement. This study, therefore, aimed to examine players during their youth academy scholarship at one English Championship club. This study focused on the transitional experiences of youth players from school to the academy and their resulting embodying of a footballer’s identity. Twelve semi-structured interviews with players aged 17–19, were conducted and then analysed by thematic analysis using figurational sociology concepts. Three different types of transition were identified. Among other reasons, early specialisation in football was a prevalent factor that partly influenced the way the players experienced their transition. The transition into the academy coincided with the transition from youth to adulthood that was arguably anything but linear as players managed the dominant sub-cultures present in the club.


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