The Effects of Boric Acid Sugar Bait on Wolbachia Trans-Infected Male Aedes albopictus (ZAP Males®) in Laboratory Conditions

The field release of Wolbachia trans-infected male mosquitoes, as well as the use of toxic sugar baits, is a novel and promising candidate technique for integrated mosquito management programs. However, the methods of action of the two techniques may not be complementary, because the Wolbachia method releases mosquitoes into the environment expecting a wild population reduction in subsequent generations while the toxic baits are intended to reduce the wild population by killing mosquitoes. This laboratory study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of boric acid toxic sugar baits on Wolbachia trans-infected male Aedes albopictus, relative to wild-type Ae. albopictus males. Wolbachia trans-infected (ZAP male®) and the wild-type Ae. albopictus males were exposed separately to 1% boric acid in a 10% sucrose solution in BugDorms. In the control test, the two groups were exposed to 10% sucrose solution without boric acid. Percent mortalities were counted for 24 h, 48 h and 72 h post exposure periods. The results show that 1% boric acid toxic sugar bait can effectively kill ZAP males under laboratory conditions, and the effectiveness was significantly higher after 24 h and 48 h, compared to wild-type male Ae. albopictus. This finding will help in planning and coordinating integrated mosquito management programs, including both Wolbachia trans-infected mosquito releases and the use of toxic sugar baits against Ae. albopictus.

“他無法面對身體”：東尼、克許納劇作《美國天使》中的肉體顛覆

<p>東尼、克許納的普立茲得獎作品《美國天使，國家議題的同志幻想》探討同性戀、宗教、政治、同志恐懼症、和身份等重大議題，亦激發意識型態、畏懼、及焦慮等種種意見衝突。然而，探討本劇的學術研究，無論為關於政治、宗教、或文化的意識型態戰爭，都不經意地透露出某方面的忽略或迴避──肉體。肉體在本劇中不僅舉足輕重且一再地帶給觀眾深痛的衝擊。《美國天使》中無所不在的肉體展現，尤其是感染愛滋病的男同志病體，在在證實了劇中具強烈身體感官的言語、意象、和行動的重要性。本文深究《美國天使》中運用肉體的意識型態和䇿略意涵，並論述克許納將肉體政治化，透過展現怪誕醜陋的男同志愛滋病體、疾病敍述、及性暴露的方式，為男同性戀者和愛滋病患爭取平權，並激發同情心與善解的人性光輝。</p> <p>&nbsp;</p><p>Tony Kushner’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Angels in America, A Gay Fantasia on National Themes (1992) brings ponderous issues such as homosexuality, religion, politics, homophobia, and identity together in a fascinating and profound clash of warring beliefs, ideologies, fears, and anxiety. However, the plethora of scholarship which the play has inspired on the wars of ideology, be they political, religious, or cultural, has betrayed an unwitting negligence or avoidance in one regard&mdash;corporeality, which not only abounds in the play but also insistently makes poignant impressions on the audience. The pervasiveness of corporeality in Angels in America, specifically the AIDS-infected male homosexual body, attests to the centrality of visceral language, imagery, and action in the play. This study delves into the ideological and strategic implications of corporeality in Angels in America and postulates that Kushner politicizes corporeality to strive for equity for homosexual males and AIDS patients and to inspire sympathy and understanding humanity through the AIDS-infected male homosexual grotesquery, illness narratives, and sexual explicitness.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>

Case Report: Genomic Characteristics of the First Known Case of SARS-CoV-2 Imported From Spain to Sichuan, China

The pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been basically under control in China since March 2020, but the import of domestic SARS-CoV-2 has begun to increase. This study reported the first case of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection imported from Spain into Sichuan Province, China, on March 11, 2020. The infected male had a body temperature of 37.5°C, normal blood oxygen saturation levels, and a computed tomography (CT) examination showed that his lungs had no shadows. However, a throat swab from the subject tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 using qPCR assay. In this study, we conducted transcriptome sequencing on respiratory throat swabs from the subject and found that the dominant SARS-CoV-2 sequence (Gene Bank ID: MW301121) was a spike protein D614G mutant strain, which is currently popular throughout world. We downloaded and analyzed SARS-CoV-2 sequences collected from cases in China and Spain for comparison and tracing purposes. After March 11, 2020, the Chinese domestic clade was naturally divided into the imported SARS-CoV-2 D614G mutant strain and evolutionarily-related similar sequences and that of sequences collected in the original Wuhan area. The sequence reported in this study was located on a small branch, far from the evolution of Wuhan sequences. As expected, the identified sequence was closely related to the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 D614G mutant strain circulating in Spain.

Perspectives into the possible effects of the B.1.1.7 variant of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on spermatogenesis

B.1.1.7 is a recently discovered variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) associated with increased transmissibility. Recent findings indicate that this variant has a propensity to infect adolescents and children at higher rates than adults. The virus gains entry into various body cells utilizing angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2) and basigin (CD147) as receptors. The virus mainly affects type II pneumocytes of lungs, endothelial cells, enterocytes, and renal tubular cells. It is reported to affect testes, causing testicular pain, and producing histopathological changes, as observed in some autopsies. The B.1.1.7 variant can also affect various cells in the testes. This raises a major concern regarding the long-term effects of the viral infection on spermatogenesis and highlights the pressing need for a robust database of serum samples from infected male children.

Modeling and Sensitivity Analysis of Dynamical Transmission of Lassa Fever

Lassa fever is an acute viral disease which occurs across West Africa regions. In view of this a non-linear deterministic model was considered to study dynamics spread of Lassa fever. Existence and uniqueness of the model were determined and the basic reproduction number of the model was computed using next-generation matrix, and sensitivity analysis of the model was performed and shows that the most sensitive parameters to the dynamical spread of Lassa fever are human birth rate bH, followed by average number of female partners acquired by susceptible male c2, and transmission rate resulting from sexual interaction between infected male and susceptible female h2 have the highest values. It concludes that average number of female partners acquired by susceptible male and sexual transmission rate between the infected male and susceptible female should be reduced. Keywords: Existence and Uniqueness, disease free equilibrium, basic reproduction numbers and sensitivity analysis.

Helminthiasis Prevalence Based on GIS along Thai-Cambodian Border in Phusing District, Sisaket Province, Thailand

Helminthiasis has been a major public health problem in Southeast Asia, especially in rural areas significant along the Thai national borderline. This research within provincial public health working standard aimed to identify the situation and influent factors along 3 sequential purposes within 3 steps as 1)To explore 5 years situation to get the specific study area, 2)To find out the prevalence of the area, and 3)To excrete the influent factors. The target area of the first step comprised 2 subdistricts, Donrak and Phrai Phattana within 9873 parents who participated in the stool examination program in 2015-2019 under the provincial Public Health Office, of primary school pupils. In the second step specific area were selected via the criteria of 30 percentile of the high border length line which were 2 subdistricts. 469 parents in those did re-examine their stool in the last 3 months in 2019 to compare the 2 sets of the prevalence. In both steps of the analysis, basic data were gender and 6 age ranges (Min = 20 years old, Max > 60 years old).In the final step, influent factors based on the documents and congruence among 6 responsible staffs with an equal number in each, The stool examination was FECT and helminthiasis simple smear in the first 2 steps was in the same standard. In the third one, the excreted factors were supported by theories and 100 percent of the congruence. The results were as 1)In the first step, 15.96% among 9873 subjects were infected. Male (n=893)was statistically significant higher (P<=.05) than female(n=682).The age range mode was 41-50 years old. 2)In the second step, 21 % among 496 subjects were infected. Male(n=37)was statistically significant higher than female(n=13) at .05 level. Age range mode was in 40-50 years old in both subdistricts. 3)In the final step, 3 influent factors were delivered out as the number of water resources and geographical patient location, and fish consuming behavior. The beyond results besides the purposes revealed prevalence of helminthiasis comprised; Opisthorchis viverrini (47.08%), hookworm (28.17%), and Taenia spp (6.91%). This was crucial for further investigation in each type to be able to link into both the public health and helminth professional area.

Еffectiveness and safety of the in vitro fertilization program for HIV infection in men

Purpose of the study: to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of IVF/ICSI program for couples with HIV infected men.Research and methods. Prospective clinical study was applied to 169 infertile married couples. The main group of subjects was 94 couples with HIV infected men. The control group included 75 couples with HIV negative status for both partners. In the main group there were carried out 60 treatment IVF/ICSI cycles and 31 frozen protocols, in the control group 86 and 39 cycles respectively. Before the Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) was applied to the HIV infected men they were tested for DNA HIV in purified spermatozoa by PCR method. To evaluate the seroconversion in 21 days following the embryo transfer the women were tested for the presence of an antigen/antibodies to the HIV virus.Results. Clinical pregnancy rate [6 (19,4%) and 17 (27%); p=0,41] as well as birth rate [5 (16,1%) and 11 (17,5%); p=0,87] in couples with HIV infected male was comparable to the control group. The testing of semen samples showed no RNA HIV in 100% cases. Evaluation of seroconversion showed absolutely no antibodies to HIV in the women’s blood in 100% cases.Conclusion. Implementation of the IVF/ICSI program for discordant married couples with HIV infected male showed the rate of pregnancy onset which is comparable to the HIV seronegative control. Ejaculate processing of HIV infected male using «double» gradient and swim up is turns to be the measure to prevent horizontal transmission of the virus. This method can be recommended when implementing ART for couples with HIV infected male, both in the case of infertility and according to epidemiological indications.

Mathematical analysis and optimal control interventions for sex structured syphilis model with three stages of infection and loss of immunity

In this study, we develop a nonlinear ordinary differential equation to study the dynamics of syphilis transmission incorporating controls, namely prevention and treatment of the infected males and females. We obtain syphilis-free equilibrium (SFE) and syphilis-present equilibrium (SPE). We obtain the basic reproduction number, which can be used to control the transmission of the disease, and thus establish the conditions for local and global stability of the syphilis-free equilibrium. The stability results show that the model is locally asymptotically stable if the Routh–Hurwitz criteria are satisfied and globally asymptotically stable. The bifurcation analysis result reveals that the model exhibits backward bifurcation. We adopted Pontryagin’s maximum principle to determine the optimality system for the syphilis model, which was solved numerically to show that syphilis transmission can be optimally best control using a combination of condoms usage and treatment in the primary stage of infection in both infected male and female populations.