Aedes aegypti (L.) mosquitoes in Trinidad, West Indies: longevity case studies.

Few laboratory and field studies have reported long survival periods for Ae. aegypti females and even fewer have designed experiments to characterize this important life history trait. This study was conducted under laboratory conditions to determine the number of blood meals taken by individual females, the number of eggs laid per individual female, the length of the gonotrophic cycle, and the duration of female survival. The results showed individual females oviposited between 670 and 1,500 eggs throughout their lifetimes, females undergoing large numbers of gonotrophic cycles and surviving up to 224 days. These results are discussed in the context of vector competence, unique alternating high and low oviposition patterns observed after week 14, and resource partitioning/allocation by older Ae. aegypti females after blood feeding.

The Epidemiology of Fatal road traffic Collisions in Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies (2000-2011).

BACKGROUND: The purpose of the study is to determine the epidemiology of road traffic collisions (RTCs) in Trinidad and Tobago by characterizing RTCs in terms of number of collisions, fatalities, victim profiles, and locations for the purpose of informing accident prevention programs. Previous studies of RTCs in Trinidad and Tobago were primarily concerned with patterns of drivers use of seat belts, road collisions as a cause of mortality in young men, and the economic burden of road collisions. Attempts were made to model road fatalities, but limited epidemiological data meant that it was difficult to determine trends or develop models. METHODS: This study determined the epidemiology of RTCs in Trinidad and Tobago over the period 2000-2011 using data collected by the Trinidad and Tobago Road Traffic Branch of the Police Service and secondary data from the Central Statistical Office. Data were analyzed using Excel, SPSS, and R statistical packages. RESULTS: Fatalities were greater among men (80%) than among women (20%) and were highest on two major freeways in Trinidad [the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway and the Sir Solomon Hochoy Highway]. Most collisions occurred during the night among individuals between the ages of 15 and 44 years. Fatalities among drivers steadily increased over the study period and overtook fatalities among pedestrians, who were the group most affected in 2000. Most fatalities occurred at weekends. CONCLUSIONS: These patterns can inform (i) education programs and (ii) road and traffic control measures.

Exploratory space-time analysis of dengue incidence in Trinidad: a retrospective study using travel hubs as dispersal points, 1998-2004.

BACKGROUND: Dengue is an acute arboviral disease responsible for most of the illness and death in tropical and subtropical regions. Over the last 25 years there has been increase epidemic activity of the disease in the Caribbean, with the co-circulation of multiple serotypes. An understanding of the space and time dynamics of dengue could provide health agencies with important clues for reducing its impact. METHODS: Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever (DHF) cases observed for the period 1998-2004 were georeferenced using Geographic Information System software. Spatial clustering was calculated for individual years and for the entire study period using the Nearest Neighbor Index. Space and time interaction between DHF cases was determined using the Knox Test while the Nearest Neighbor Hierarchical method was used to extract DHF hot spots. All space and time distances calculated were validated using the Pearson r significance test. RESULTS: Results shows that (1) a decrease in mean distance between DHF cases correlates with activity leading up to an outbreak, (2) a decrease in temporal distance between DHF cases leads to increased geographic spread of the disease, with an outbreak occurrence about every 2 years, and (3) a general pattern in the movement of dengue incidents from more rural to urban settings leading up to an outbreak with hotspot areas associated with transportation hubs in Trinidad. CONCLUSION: Considering only the spatial dimension of the disease, results suggest that DHF cases become more concentrated leading up to an outbreak. However, with the additional consideration of time, results suggest that when an outbreak occurs incidents occur more rapidly in time leading to a parallel increase in the rate of distribution of the disease across space. The results of this study can be used by public health officers to help visualize and understand the spatial and temporal patterns of dengue, and to prepare warnings for the public. Dengue space-time patterns and hotspot detection will provide useful information to support public health officers in their efforts to control and predict dengue spread over critical hotspots allowing better allocation of resources.

Diel sugar feeding and reproductive behaviours of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in Trinidad: with implications for mass release of sterile mosquitoes.

Studies on the diel sugar feeding periodicity of male and female Aedes aegypti were conducted under laboratory conditions and monitored in single cages using the polyphagometer device and examined every 2h. Males mosquitoes displayed two peaks in sugar feeding, a small morning peak at 06.00-08.00 h (16% of sugar feeding) and a significant evening peak at 16.00-18.00 h (40% of sugar feeding). A similar pattern was observed among females: a small early morning peak (18% of sugar feeding) and a significant peak in the evening 16.00-18.00 h (42% of sugar feeding). Studies on the effects of sugar feeding on the excitation of males showed 100% erect antennal fibrillae after 36 h. In contrast, only 15% of the water-fed males responded. Laboratory studies on the effects of sugar feeding on the insemination rates of A. aegypti females showed similar inseminations rates among sugar and water fed males but after 4 days all water fed males died while the sugar fed males continued to survive and inseminate females. The synchronization of the male and female diel sugar feeding periodicity is discussed in the context of sterile insect techniques or genetic control methods.

L-arginine cardioplegia reduces oxidative stress and preserves diastolic function in patients with low ejection fraction undergoing coronary artery surgery.

PL-arginine cardioplegia decreases biochemical markers of myocardial damage and oxidative stress in patients with normal left ventricular function. We investigated the effects of L-arginine supplemented cardioplegic arrest in patients with reduced ejection fraction. Fifty-three adult patients with left ventricular ejection fraction <35% undergoing elective coronary artery bypass surgery were randomised to receive blood cardioplegia with or without L-arginine. Following cardiopulmonary bypass, measured endpoints were cardiac troponin-I concentration at 12 and 24 hours, coronary sinus concentrations of malondialdehyde and superoxide dismutase activity at five and 15 minutes, lactic acid flux at one, five and 15 minutes and left ventricular systolic and diastolic function after protamine administration. There were no differences in cardiac troponin-I between groups. Malondialdehyde was lower in the L-arginine group, 0.28 ± 0.12 vs 0.48 ± 0.32 (5 minutes) and 0.31 ± 0.14 vs 0.38 ± 0.15 nmol.ml(-1) (15 minutes) (P=0.0004). Superoxide dismutase activity was higher in L-arginine group, 229 ± 87 vs 191.3 ± 68 (5 minutes), 229 ± 54 vs 198 ± 15 nmol.minute(-1).m(l) (15 minutes) (P=0.005). Lactic acid flux was lower in L-arginine group, 0.15 ± 0.23 vs 0.48 ± 0.32 (1 minute), 0.08 ± 0.19 vs 0.38 ± 0.31 (5 minutes) and -0.15 ± 0.13 vs 0.26 ± 0.30 mmol.l(-1) (15 minutes), (P=0.0003). There was no difference in left ventricular systolic function. The mitral annular tissue Doppler inflow (e') velocity during early diastole improved in the L-arginine group following cardiopulmonary bypass (control 4.2 ± 1.9 cm.s(-1) to 3.6 ± 1.2 cm.s(-1) vs L-arginine 3.8 ±1.2 cm.s(-1) to 4.6 ± 1.4 cm.s(-1)) (P=0.018). In patients with reduced ejection fraction, L-arginine supplemented cardioplegic arrest did not affect postoperative cardiac troponin-I levels, but attenuated cardiac cellular peroxidation and improved early left ventricular diastolic function.

Burkholderia phymatum is a highly effective nitrogen-fixing symbiont of Mimosa spp. and fixes nitrogen ex planta.

* The ability of Burkholderia phymatum STM815 to effectively nodulate Mimosa spp., and to fix nitrogen ex planta, was compared with that of the known Mimosa symbiont Cupriavidus taiwanensis LMG19424. * Both strains were equally effective symbionts of M. pudica, but nodules formed by STM815 had greater nitrogenase activity. STM815 was shown to have a broader host range across the genus Mimosa than LMG19424, nodulating 30 out of 31 species, 21 of these effectively. LMG19424 effectively nodulated only nine species. GFP-marked variants were used to visualise symbiont presence within nodules. * STM815 gave significant acetylene reduction assay (ARA) activity in semisolid JMV medium ex planta, but no ARA activity was detected with LMG19424. 16S rDNA sequences of two isolates originally from Mimosa nodules in Papua New Guinea (NGR114 and NGR195A) identified them as Burkholderia phymatum also, with nodA, nodC and nifH genes of NGR195A identical to those of STM815. * B. phymatum is therefore an effective Mimosa symbiont with a broad host range, and is the first reported beta-rhizobial strain to fix nitrogen in free-living culture.

A novel locus for Meckel-Gruber syndrome, MKS3, maps to chromosome 8q24.

Meckel-Gruber syndrome (MKS), the most common monogenic cause of neural tube defects, is an autosomal recessive disorder characterised by a combination of renal cysts and variably associated features, including developmental anomalies of the central nervous system (typically encephalcoele), hepatic ductal dysplasia and cysts, and polydactyly. Locus heterogeneity has been demonstrated by the mapping of the MKS1locus to 17q21-24 in Finnish kindreds, and of MKS2 to 11q13 in North African-Middle Eastern cohorts. In the present study, we have investigated the genetic basis of MKS in eight consanguineous kindreds, originating from the Indian sub-continent, that do not show linkage to either MKS1 or MKS2. We report the localisation of a third MKS locus ( MKS3) to chromosome 8q24 in this cohort by a genome-wide linkage search using autozygosity mapping. We identified a 26-cM region of autozygosity between D8S586 and D8S1108 with a maximum cumulative two-point LOD score at D8S1179 ( Z(max)=3.04 at theta=0.06). A heterogeneity test provided evidence of one unlinked family. Exclusion of this family from multipoint analysis maximised the cumulative multipoint LOD score at locus D8S1128 ( Z(max)=5.65). Furthermore, a heterozygous SNP in DDEF1, a putative candidate gene, suggested that MKS3 mapped within a 15-cM interval. Comparison of the clinical features of MKS3-linked cases with reports of MKS1- and MKS2-linked kindreds suggests that polydactyly (and possibly encephalocele) appear less common in MKS3-linked families.