Courtship song genes and speciation in sand flies

Lutzomyia longipalpis (Lutz & Neiva, 1912) (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae) is a vector of visceral leishmaniasis in the Americas and it might represent a complex of sibling species. Reproductive isolation between closely related species often involves differences in courtship behaviour. cacophony (cac) and period (per) are two Drosophila genes that control features of the "lovesong" males produce during courtship that has been implicated in the sexual isolation between closely related species. We are using gene fragments from L. longipalpis' homologues of these two genes to study the speciation process in this putative species complex.

Strength of family history in predicting levels of blood pressure, plasma glucose and cholesterol.

Objective: Limited information is available on the quantitative relationship between family history and the corresponding underlying traits. We analyzed these associations for blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, and cholesterol levels. Methods: Data were obtained from 6,102 Caucasian participants (2,903 men and 3,199 women) aged 35-75 years using a population-based cross-sectional survey in Switzerland. Cardiovascular disease risk factors were measured, and the corresponding family history was self-reported using a structured questionnaire. Results: The prevalence of a positive family history (in first-degree relatives) was 39.6% for hypertension, 22.3% for diabetes, and 29.0% for hypercholesterolemia. Family history was not known for at least one family member in 41.8% of participants for hypertension, 14.4% for diabetes, and 50.2% for hypercholesterolemia. A positive family history was strongly associated with higher levels of the corresponding trait, but not with the other traits. Participants who reported not to know their family history of hypertension had a higher systolic blood pressure than participants with a negative history. Sibling histories had higher positive predictive values than parental histories. The ability to discriminate, calibrate, and reclassify was best for the family history of hypertension. Conclusions: Family history of hypertension, diabetes, and hypercholesterolemia was strongly associated with the corresponding dichotomized and continuous phenotypes.

Food availability dictates the timing of parturition in insectivorous mouse-eared bats

Which of these two confounding factors, weather or food availability - that largely correlate and interact - controls the timing of parturition in insectivorous bats? To answer this question. we took advantage of a predator-prey system that offers a unique opportunity to perform natural experiments. The phenology of reproduction of two sibling bat species that inhabit the same colonial roosts, but exploit different feeding niches. was investigated. Myotis myotis feeds mainly on carabid beetles, a food source available from the end of hibernation onwards, whereas bush crickets, the main prey of M. blythii, are not available early in the season due to their successive instars; cockchafers are actually the sole possible alternative prey for M. blythii at that time of the year, but they occur every third year only, independently of local weather conditions. By comparing the species responses to the presence/absence of cockchafers, we could test the hypothesis that food availability, rather than climate. influences the timing of bat parturition. Our data show that Nt. blythii gave birth, on average. 10 d later than M. myotis in years without cockchafers, whilst parturition (1) was synchronous during cockchafer years, and (2) did not show much among-year time variation in M. myotis. This suggests that food availability is the chief factor regulating the timing of parturition in mouse-eared bats.

Family-based affirmative action? Subversion and resilience strategies of gay father families

The present doctoral dissertation is aimed at analyzing how and with what consequences gay father families and their children’s schools negotiate possible differences in the construction of family and gender at home and in the families’ social milieus. This objective fits in with the broader goal of researching how family-school interactons are influenced by the social context such as hegemonic masculinity (Connell, 2002). The thesis is based on qualitative fieldwork carried out with 18 nonheterosexual parent families in Spain, comprising 30 interviews with 44 people. The principal participant group were 14 de novo (adoptive and surrogacy) gay father families with resident preadolescent children. The findings revealed that all the de novo families assumed open communication strategies at school with inclusive consequences: apart from incidental questions and reactions of surprise, the children did not suffer homophobic bullying. The analisis showed that the necessary condition for inclusion was not the open communication but rather illocutionary orientation (Habermas, 1984; Soler & Flecha, 2010), understood as the parents’ sensitivity to the attitudes of their children and schools. The schools received the families in an inclusive manner, which, however, was only receptive and not proactive, therefore some of the families (reconstituted ones), coerced by the social context, got excluded. Gender relations at home were predominantly androgynous, and outside home predominantly traditional, yet the children negotiated this difference with inclusive consequences. They participated in hegemonic collective practices, thus confirming the thesis on the similarity between homo- and heterosexual-parent families (Golombok, 2006). Consistently, also the families’ identity politics was “assimilationist” and non-queer. Admittedly, the analisis showed that such a politics was increased by social expectations. Still, the findings suggest that educational and other family policies should draw on broad agendas of gender and family diversity rather than on the politics of difference and the unique status of LGB families.

Effects of brood size manipulation and common origin on phenotype and telomere length in nestling collared flycatchers.

BACKGROUND: Evidence is accumulating that telomere length is a good predictor of life expectancy, especially early in life, thus calling for determining the factors that affect telomere length at this stage. Here, we investigated the relative influence of early growth conditions and origin (genetics and early maternal effects) on telomere length of collared flycatchers (Ficedula albicollis) at fledging. We experimentally transferred hatchlings among brood triplets to create reduced, control (i.e. unchanged final nestling number) and enlarged broods. RESULTS: Although our treatment significantly affected body mass at fledging, we found no evidence that increased sibling competition affected nestling tarsus length and telomere length. However, mixed models showed that brood triplets explained a significant part of the variance in body mass (18%) and telomere length (19%), but not tarsus length (13%), emphasizing that unmanipulated early environmental factors influenced telomere length. These models also revealed low, but significant, heritability of telomere length (h(2) = 0.09). For comparison, the heritability of nestling body mass and tarsus length was 0.36 and 0.39, respectively, which was in the range of previously published estimates for those two traits in this species. CONCLUSION: Those findings in a wild bird population demonstrate that telomere length at the end of the growth period is weakly, but significantly, determined by genetic and/or maternal factors taking place before hatching. However, we found no evidence that the brood size manipulation experiment, and by extension the early growth conditions, influenced nestling telomere length. The weak heritability of telomere length suggests a close association with fitness in natural populations.

Promoting young people's social and emotional wellbeing in secondary education.

This guidance is for all those who have a responsibility for the social and emotional wellbeing of young people in secondary education. This includes teachers, support staff, governors and professionals with public health as part of their remit working in education (including the independent sector), local authorities, the NHS and the wider public, voluntary and community sectors. It focuses on interventions to support all young people aged 11-19 who attend any education establishment. Social and emotional wellbeing includes being happy, confident and in control, with the ability to solve and cope with problems and have good relationships with other people. The six recommendations cover: strategy, the key principles and conditions, working in partnership with parents, families and young people, the curriculum, and training and professional development. They include: â?¢ Secondary education establishments should have access to the specialist skills, advice and support they require. â?¢ Practitioners should have the knowledge, understanding and skills they need to develop young peopleâ?Ts social and emotional wellbeing. â?¢ Secondary education establishments should provide a safe environment which nurtures and encourages young peopleâ?Ts sense of self-worth, reduces the threat of bullying and violence and promotes positive behaviour. â?¢ Social and emotional skills education should be tailored to the developmental needs of young people.This resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.

Activ8: A children and obesity project

This project is a 6 x weekly food and activity programme using the local sports centre as a venue. Overweight/obese children, together with a parent / carer and sibling were recruited. A lifestyle pre-course assessment was made with each child, resulting in 5 individual goals. Evaluation was based on attendance; individual goals; post course questionnaire; anthropometric measurements and a food diary. Follow up at 4/52,3/12 and 6/12.

Identification of sex pheromones of Lutzomyia longipalpis (Lutz & Neiva, 1912) populations from the state of São Paulo, Brazil

In Brazil, four populations of Lutzomyia longipalpis each producing different sex pheromones are recognised. It has been suggested that these chemotype populations represent true sibling species. In this study we present the results of an analysis, by coupled gas cromotography - mass spectrometry, of the pheromones of males L. longipalpis from two different municipalities of the state of São Paulo. Our study showed that L. longipalpis from these two municipalities produced different sex pheromones from each other. This coupled with the remarkable difference between the epidemiological situation in Araçatuba and Espírito Santo do Pinhal, suggests that the (S)-9-methylgermacrene-B and cembrene-1 populations may have different vectorial capacities.

The number of families of Triatoma dimidiata in a Guatemalan house

Triatoma dimidiata is an important vector of Chagas disease in Guatemala. To help understand the biology and population dynamics of the insect, we estimated the number of full sibling families living in one house. Forty one families with an average size of 2.17 individuals were detected using random amplification of polymorphic DNA-polymerase chain reaction genetic markers. This result suggests high levels of migration of the vector, polyandry, and a significant capability for spreading the disease.

Diverse population dynamics of three Anopheles species belonging to the Triannulatus Complex (Diptera: Culicidae)

The Triannulatus Complex of Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) consists of at least three sibling species, namely Anopheles triannulatus s.s., Anopheles halophylus and a third undescribed member herein referred to as An. triannulatus "C". Sympatric anophelines belonging to species complexes, even though closely related, may exploit different environments such as larval habitats. In this paper we hypothesize that rainfall and seasonal flooding would distinctly influence the availability of larval habitats and consequently the seasonal population dynamics of sympatric members of the Triannulatus Complex. A reflection of this is distinct seasonal biting frequencies exhibited by three members of the Triannulatus Complex at a site in Central Brazil. Population dynamics seem to be influenced by the water level in the local rivers, although biting frequency of all three species was negatively influenced by rainfall. An. triannulatus s.s. was more abundant following the end of the rainy season, but notably 30 to 60 days after flooding. On the other hand, An. halophylus and An. triannulatus C peaked during the middle of the dry season, when water impoundments have no inflow, are somewhat reduced in size and the water becomes brackish. Differences in population dynamics were greater between An. triannulatus s.s. and An. halophylus and An. triannulatus C than between An. halophylus and An. triannulatus C. This might reflect differences in larval habitat exploitation and therefore spatial segregation among these members of the complex.

Genetic divergence between two sympatric species of the Lutzomyia longipalpis complex in the paralytic gene, a locus associated with insecticide resistance and lovesong production

The sandfly Lutzomyia longipalpis s.l. is the main vector of American Visceral Leishmaniasis. L. longipalpis s.l. is a species complex but until recently the existence of cryptic sibling species among Brazilian populations was a controversial issue. A fragment of paralytic (para), a voltage dependent sodium channel gene associated with insecticide resistance and courtship song production in Drosophila, was isolated and used as a molecular marker to study the divergence between two sympatric siblings of the L. longipalpis complex from Sobral, Brazil. The results revealed para as the first single locus DNA marker presenting fixed differences between the two species in this locality. In addition, two low frequency amino-acid changes in an otherwise very conserved region of the channel were observed, raising the possibility that it might be associated with incipient resistance in this vector. To the best of our knowledge, the present study represents the first population genetics analysis of insecticide resistance genes in this important leishmaniasis vector.

A genome-wide significant linkage for severe depression on chromosome 3: the depression network study.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to find loci for major depression via linkage analysis of a large sibling pair sample. Method: The authors conducted a genome-wide linkage analysis of 839 families consisting of 971 affected sibling pairs with severe recurrent major depression, comprising waves I and II of the Depression Network Study cohort. In addition to examining affected status, linkage analyses in the full data set were performed using diagnoses restricted by impairment severity, and association mapping of hits in a large case-control data set was attempted. Results: The authors identified genome-wide significant linkage to chromosome 3p25-26 when the diagnoses were restricted by severity, which was a maximum LOD score of 4.0 centered at the linkage marker D3S1515. The linkage signal identified was genome-wide significant after correction for the multiple phenotypes tested, although subsequent association mapping of the region in a genome-wide association study of a U.K. depression sample did not provide significant results. Conclusions: The authors report a genome-wide significant locus for depression that implicates genes that are highly plausible for involvement in the etiology of recurrent depression. Despite the fact that association mapping in the region was negative, the linkage finding was replicated by another group who found genome-wide-significant linkage for depression in the same region. This suggests that 3p25-26 is a new locus for severe recurrent depression. This represents the first report of a genome-wide significant locus for depression that also has an independent genome-wide significant replication.

Should reproductively isolated populations of Lutzomyia longipalpis sensu lato receive taxonomically valid names?

A group of 18 research workers involved in different aspects of the biology of Lutzomyia longipalpis discussed whether or not it is important to give taxonomically valid names to populations that have been defined by biological, biochemical and molecular methods to be reproductively isolated. The type material of this medically important species has been lost and because of this it was recommended that a colony should be established from insects captured in the region of the type area and that their description should serve as the basis for future descriptions. It was pointed out that there is a lack of uniformity in the naming of closely related American sand flies and that some of the differences between populations of Lu. longipalpis are greater than those between accepted species. The majority of the participants agreed that the populations that have been defined in the literature as sibling species should be named.

Susceptibility of Anopheles campestris-like and Anopheles barbirostris species complexes to Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax in Thailand

Nine colonies of five sibling species members of Anopheles barbirostris complexes were experimentally infected with Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax. They were then dissected eight and 14 days after feeding for oocyst and sporozoite rates, respectively, and compared with Anopheles cracens. The results revealed that Anopheles campestris-like Forms E (Chiang Mai) and F (Udon Thani) as well as An. barbirostris species A3 and A4 were non-potential vectors for P. falciparum because 0% oocyst rates were obtained, in comparison to the 86.67-100% oocyst rates recovered from An. cracens. Likewise, An. campestris-like Forms E (Sa Kaeo) and F (Ayuttaya), as well as An. barbirostris species A4, were non-potential vectors for P. vivax because 0% sporozoite rates were obtained, in comparison to the 85.71-92.31% sporozoite rates recovered from An. cracens. An. barbirostris species A1, A2 and A3 were low potential vectors for P. vivax because 9.09%, 6.67% and 11.76% sporozoite rates were obtained, respectively, in comparison to the 85.71-92.31% sporozoite rates recovered from An. cracens. An. campestris-like Forms B and E (Chiang Mai) were high-potential vectors for P. vivax because 66.67% and 64.29% sporozoite rates were obtained, respectively, in comparison to 90% sporozoite rates recovered from An. cracens.

Disseny d’un programa de prevenció d’assetjament escolar entre iguals (AEI) en primers i segons d’ESO

Disseny d’un programa pera al a prevenció de l’AEI en primers i segons d’ESO que pretén, al mateix temps que forma als joves assistents, formar als professionals dels centres per a què puguin aplicar-ho en futures convocatòries de manera autònoma