Lab-scale characterization and semi-field trials of Wolbachia Strain wAlbB in a Taiwan Wolbachia introgressed Ae. aegypti strain

Dengue fever is one of the most severe viral diseases transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes, with traditional approaches of disease control proving insufficient to prevent significant disease burden. Release of Wolbachia-transinfected mosquitoes offers a promising alternative control methodologies; Wolbachia-transinfected female Aedes aegypti demonstrate reduced dengue virus transmission, whilst Wolbachia-transinfected males cause zygotic lethality when crossed with uninfected females, providing a method for suppressing mosquito populations. Although highly promising, the delicate nature of population control strategies and differences between local species populations means that controlled releases of Wolbachia-transinfected mosquitoes cannot be performed without extensive testing on specific local Ae. aegypti populations. In order to investigate the potential for using Wolbachia to suppress local Ae. aegypti populations in Taiwan, we performed lab-based and semi-field fitness trials. We first transinfected the Wolbachia strain wAlbB into a local Ae. aegypti population (wAlbB-Tw) and found no significant changes in lifespan, fecundity and fertility when compared to controls. In the laboratory, we found that as the proportion of released male mosquitoes carrying Wolbachia was increased, population suppression could reach up to 100%. Equivalent experiments in semi-field experiments found suppression rates of up to 70%. The release of different ratios of wAlbB-Tw males in the semi-field system provided an estimate of the optimal size of male releases. Our results indicate that wAlbB-Tw has significant potential for use in vector control strategies aimed at Ae. aegypti population suppression in Taiwan. Open field release trials are now necessary to confirm that wAlbB-Tw mediated suppression is feasible in natural environments.

The Effect of Leadership Style and Work Climate on Employee Performance In The Population and Family Planning Department of Manado City

The success of an organization is closely related to employee performance. It can even be said that employee performance is one indicator of its success. Employee performance determines the organization's success if it can carry out its duties and functions appropriately and adequately in realizing the set organizational goals. The purpose of this article is to measure Performance which is influenced by leadership style and work climate in Manado city. Researchers use this type of research with a quantitative approach. Researchers used a cross-sectional design to obtain information from respondents through a researched sample. The method of this study requires the variables to be measured by surveying the selected model. This quantitative approach is used to measure the level of success in the influence of leadership style and work climate on employee performance at the Manado City Population Control and Family Planning Office. The technique of collecting data and information in this quantitative approach is a questionnaire. The data method analysis in this study uses statistics, namely inferential statistics. Inferential statistics used in this study are parametric. The statistic is helpful for testing population parameters through sample data. This test population parameter is called a statistical hypothesis test.Parametric statistics requires the fulfillment of many assumptions. The results showed that leadership style significantly affected the employees' Performance at the Office of Population Control and Family Planning in Manado City with a contribution of 3.059 or 0.031%. So it can be concluded that the better the Leadership Style, the higher the performance of employees at the Office of Population and Family Control. Manado City Planning. Work climate does not significantly affect employee performance at the Manado City Population Control and Family Planning Office because it does not contribute to the dependent variable. The influence of leadership style and work climate together on the Performance of employees in the Department of Population Control and Family Planning Manado City is 11.3%.

Associations of rs4244285 in the CYP2C19 gene with multifactorial diseases

Xenobiotic metabolism system in the current populations is involved in the biotransformation of a wide range of endogenous substrates and various xenobiotics, which can contribute to developing the diseases of various organ systems, and, in some cases, comorbid conditions where increased biotransformation system activity is observed. In this regard, it is of great interest to study the involvement of polymorphism in xenobiotic metabolism genes in the development of both isolated pathology and various comorbid conditions.Aim. The goal of study was to investigate the involvement of rs4244285 in the CYP2C19 gene in the development of isolated pathology and comorbidities.Material and Methods. The frequencies of alleles and genotypes were studied in groups of patients with comorbid conditions including groups of coronary artery disease (CAD) with hypertension (HTN) (CAD_HTN, n = 133) and bronchial asthma (BA) with HTN (BA_HTN, n = 178), in group of isolated BA (n = 135), and in the population sample of the city of Tomsk (n = 377). Association analysis covered three initial groups of patients (CAD, BA, and BA_HTN) and subgroups assigned based on the presence of absence of HTN diagnosis taking into account comorbid conditions both in patient samples and in population control.Results and Discussion. The study demonstrated the predisposing eff ect of GA genotype on the development of comorbid BA and HTN (OR = 1.94, p = 0.038) and comorbid CAD and HTN (OR = 2.26, p = 0.009) compared to isolated BA. The AA genotype was observed 3.98 times less often in HTN patients than in normotensive individuals. However, the diff erences did not reach the level of statistical signifi cance due to the low occurrence of this genotype.Conclusion. The obtained results may be explained by the involvement of CYP2C19-metabolites of arachidonic acid in the regulation of vascular tone, which requires further study.

Plutella xylostella (L.) population control in sowings of spring rapeseed using pheromones

The diamondback moth Plutella xylostella (Linnaeus, 1758) is a common pest of rapeseed and other crops of Brassicaceae family. Annual yield losses and costs of pest control worldwide are estimated at $ 4-5 billion. The pest has an increased tendency to develop resistance to insecticides. The use of traps with synthetic sex pheromone is a modern instrumental method of monitoring P. xylostella. The use of the mating disruption method will effectively decrease pest numbers and reduce the application of insecticides. In 2017-2020, we researched the pheromone activity and evaluated the mating disruption method in the sowings of spring rapeseed at V.S. Pustovoit All-Russian Research Institute of Oil Crops (VNIIMK) (Krasnodar). We established that P. xylostella males were caught in traps with all tested dispenser types. The pheromone showed the greatest activity on the foil-film dispenser (F). The mating disruption method effectively decreased P. xylostella population in rapeseed sowing; the disruption effect by the end of crop vegetation was high and reached 82.5 %.

Spatial distribution of anti-rabies post-exposure treatments associated with the decentralization process in Belo Horizonte, 2007 to 2011

Cases of canine attacks on people are reported because of the proximity of the dog to the households in several Brazilian cities. In the present study, we aim to evaluate post-exposure anti-rabies treatments with canine accidents between the years 2007 to 2011 in Belo Horizonte - MG. Duly notified data were obtained from the National System of Notifiable Diseases (SINAN). The spatial characteristics of the cases during the period of the study referred to the neighborhoods and the nine sanitary districts of the municipality of Belo Horizonte - MG. For georeferencing and spatial analysis, we used the software Maporama to identify the coordinates and the Geographic Information System ArcGIS for mapping. Considering the 6.153 prophylactic services that were georeferenced, the Norte, Venda Nova, Leste, and Centro Sul regions were highlighted due to the higher frequency of registered cases. It is suggested that an integrative action focused on canine population control, health education and epidemiological surveillance studies could contribute to the reduction of canine aggression cases.

Sperm Quality and Histology of the Testis and Epididymis in Chemical Castrated Male Cats with Intra-testicular Injection of Sodium Chloride Solution

The high population of feral cats in Bali, Indonesia, could be a problem associated with cat welfare and the risk of zoonotic diseases. Gonadectomy or male castration is an option for population control; however, there would be more economical ways to reach this goal. Sterilization using chemicals is an alternative to the surgical method of castration as it is reasonably priced, activated in a short time, and does not affect animal activity after the chemical administration. The present study aimed to evaluate intratesticular injection of Sodium chloride as an agent of chemosterilants in male cats. In the current study, 16 healthy male cats aged nearly one year old were randomly selected. The male cats were allocated into four groups containing four cats in each. Group 1 (control) received bilateral intratesticular injection with 0.25 mL normal saline solution containing 2% Lidocaine. The cats in groups 2, 3, and 4 received bilateral intratesticular injection of 0.25 mL Sodium chloride solution containing 2% Lidocaine with a concentration of 15%, 20%, and 25%, respectively. At the end of the study (after 30 days of injection), the cats were castrated and their testes were removed for sperm quality and histopathological evaluation. The results of the present study indicated that intratesticular injection of Sodium chloride significantly decreased the motility and viability rates, and increased the abnormalities of the sperms. Histopathological studies revealed marked depletion of spermatozoa in the testes and seminiferous tubular degeneration, seminiferous tubular atrophy, and epithelial cell vacuolation. In conclusion, the injection of 20-25% solution of Sodium chloride in testes had the potential as a chemosterilant for chemical sterilization in cats.

Exploiting a Y chromosome-linked Cas9 for sex selection and gene drive

CRISPR-based genetic engineering tools aimed to bias sex ratios, or drive effector genes into animal populations, often integrate the transgenes into autosomal chromosomes. However, in species with heterogametic sex chromsomes (e.g. XY, ZW), sex linkage of endonucleases could be beneficial to drive the expression in a sex-specific manner to produce genetic sexing systems, sex ratio distorters, or even sex-specific gene drives, for example. To explore this possibility, here we develop a transgenic line of Drosophila melanogaster expressing Cas9 from the Y chromosome. We functionally characterize the utility of this strain for both sex selection and gene drive finding it to be quite effective. To explore its utility for population control, we built mathematical models illustrating its dynamics as compared to other state-of-the-art systems designed for both population modification and suppression. Taken together, our results contribute to the development of current CRISPR genetic control tools and demonstrate the utility of using sex-linked Cas9 strains for genetic control of animals.

Methods used in 'ALDH2*2 association with longevity and reduced risk of cognitive decline in Japanese-American men'

ALDH2*2 is a loss of function mutation common in East Asian populations associated with facial flushing on exposure to alcohol and increased risk of certain cancers. Conversely, absence of the ALDH2*2 mutation is associated with increased risk of hypertension and cerebral microbleeds, and two recent studies report a higher frequency of ALDH2*2 alleles in nonagenarians compared to population control samples. We used survival analysis to investigate the association between ALDH2*2 and risk of cognitive impairment and death after controlling for midlife alcohol consumption and other covariates. Participants are 621 Japanese-American men (72 to 92) enrolled in the Honolulu Asia Aging Study (HAAS) and assessed for cognitive impairment for up to 20 years. Impairment was defined as crossing below a threshold score of 74 on the Cognitive Assessment Screening Instrument (CASI). Age at death was determined by Hawaii state death certificate. Ounces of ethyl alcohol consumed per month was assessed by structured interview (number, frequency, and type of beverage) conducted 25 years prior to baseline cognitive assessment. Persons heterozygous for the ALDH2*2 variant have reduced risk of cognitive impairment and reduced risk of death, compared to homozygote non-carriers. Covarying by alcohol exposure had no effect on observed associations. This study replicates previous findings associating ALDH2*2 with longevity, and provides evidence the protective effect extends to cognition. This poster details the statistical analysis carried out to obtain these results.