Author Correction: Striking diflubenzuron resistance in Culex pipiens, the prime vector of West Nile Virus.

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Point Shear Wave Elastography of the Spleen: Its Role in Patients with Portal Hypertension.

The goals of the study described here were to evaluate the feasibility and reproducibility of measuring spleen stiffness (SS) using point shear wave elastography in a series of cirrhotic patients and to investigate whether SS, liver stiffness (LS) and other non-invasive parameters are correlated with the presence of esophagogastric varices (EVs). Fifty-four cirrhotic patients with low-grade EVs or without EVs at esophago-gastro-duodenoscopy were enrolled. They underwent abdominal ultrasound and Doppler ultrasound of hepatic vessels simultaneously with p-SWE of the liver and spleen. In 42 patients, the accuracy of LS and SS, as well as of platelet count and spleen longitudinal diameter, in predicting the presence of EVs was evaluated. The technical success was 90.74% for LS (49/54 patients) and 77.78% for SS (42/54 patients). Inter-observer agreement for SS measurement was high. Both LS and SS correlated with esophago-gastro-duodenoscopy: LS had the highest accuracy in predicting the presence of EVs (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUROC] = 0.913); SS had the lowest accuracy (AUROC = 0.675); platelet count and spleen diameter had intermediate accuracy (AUROC = 0.731 and 0.729, respectively). SS did not have an advantage over LS in predicting low-grade EVs and cannot be proposed as a useful tool in the diagnostic process of cirrhotic patients who require screening esophago-gastro-duodenoscopy.

Striking diflubenzuron resistance in Culex pipiens, the prime vector of West Nile Virus.

Culex pipiens mosquitoes cause severe nuisance and transmit human diseases including West Nile. Vector control by insecticides is the main tool to prevent these diseases and diflubenzuron is one of the most effective mosquito larvicides used in many places. Here, high levels of resistance were identified in Cx. pipiens from Italy, with a Resistance Ratio of 128 fold. The phenotype was associated with mutations at amino acid I1043 (I1043M and I1043L) of the Chitin synthase gene, which showed significantly higher frequency in bioassay survivors. Both mutations have been introduced in the Drosophila melanogaster chitin synthase gene using the genome editing method CRISPR/Cas9 and validated to confer significant levels of resistance, although at different levels. The I→M mutation results in a Resistance Ratio >2,900 fold and the I→L mutation >20 fold. Two PCR based diagnostics were developed for monitoring of the resistant mutations in field populations. The findings are of major concern for public health given the importance of diflubenzuron in mosquito control in many places, the intensity of the resistance phenotype and the limited availability of alternative larvicides.

Status of insecticide resistance in Culex pipiens field populations from north-eastern areas of Italy before the withdrawal of OP compounds.

BACKGROUND: Heavy and constant use of organophosphorus (OP) larvicides selected Culex pipiens L. resistant populations through two main mechanisms of genetic resistance, the increased activity of detoxifying esterase and the production of alterate acetylcholinesterase-1 (AChE1) by G119S mutation. The aim of this study was the assessment of the distribution of Cx. pipiens populations resistant to temephos and chlorpyrifos in the north-eastern regions of Italy and the occurrence of the insensitive AChE in these populations. Data describe the situation in the last years before European legislation prohibited the use of OP larvicides in mosquito control, up until 2007. RESULTS: For the first time a high level of OP resistance in the samples from Ravenna (182-fold, 80% A4/B4 or A5/B5 esterases and 38.3% Ester(5)), Emilia Romagna region, was detected; therefore, new data from the Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia regions were obtained and reinforced existing knowledge about resistance previously studied along the Adriatic coast. Nearby, in the Villa Verucchio locality, the highest (87.5%) AChE1R was found. CONCLUSION: Cx. pipiens resistance esterases A5/B5 and A4/B4 spread southward along the Adriatic coastal plain while OPs were being used in mosquito control, as confirmed by the first molecular screening of the AChE1 gene in these populations.