Attractivity of cattle infested by Amblyomma variegatum (Acari: Ixodidae) for conspecific adult ticks from the field in Guadeloupe

Four field experiments were conducted with creole cattle in Guadeloupe to study the attractivity for adult ticks of animals previously infested with males of Amblyomma variegatum producing aggregation attachment pheromones (AAPs). In each experiment, two groups of cattle were used; the first group was infested with adult A. variegatum and the second group was kept free of ticks and pheromones by acaricidal treatment and by washing the hair and skin of previously infested sites. Both groups were then exposed to natural infestation by ticks present in the environment or by ticks bred in the laboratory and released on the pasture. The number of additional ticks infesting animals were compared between the treated and control groups. There were no significant differences between both groups in the numbers of new male ticks infesting the animals during the first days following the beginning of the experiment. Thereafter, comparison of the slopes of infestation indicated that infested cattle were no more attractive for male ticks than uninfested hosts. Uninfested cattle were spontaneously and rapidly infested by male ticks. It is concluded that carbon dioxide or another host component was a major attractant for A. variegatum males. Female ticks attached on predilection sites exclusively in the presence of AAP-producing males, i.e. 5–10 days after the attachment of the first males. Based on these results we postulate that slow-release devices impregnated with pheromones have no additional attractive effect on A. variegatum males under Caribbean conditions. However, they may be useful in inducing the attachment of females, but only in the first days preceding the arrival of pioneer AAP-producing males. © Rapid Science Ltd. 1998     

The Spread of Aedes albopictus in Metropolitan France: Contribution of Environmental Drivers and Human Activities and Predictions for a Near Future

Invasion of new territories by insect vector species that can transmit pathogens is one of the most important threats for human health. The spread of the mosquito Aedes albopictus in Europe is emblematic, because of its major role in the emergence and transmission of arboviruses such as dengue or chikungunya. Here, we modeled the spread of this mosquito species in France through a statistical framework taking advantage of a long-term surveillance dataset going back to the first observation of Ae. albopictus in the Metropolitan area. After validating the model, we show that human activities are especially important for mosquito dispersion while land use is a major factor for mosquito establishment. More importantly, we show that Ae. albopictus invasion is accelerating through time in this area, resulting in a geographic range extending further and further year after year. We also show that sporadic “jump” of Ae. albopictus in a new location far from the colonized area did not succeed in starting a new invasion front so far. Finally, we discuss on a potential adaptation to cooler climate and the risk of invasion into Northern latitudes.     

Assessment of Patient Empowerment - A Systematic Review of Measures

BackgroundPatient empowerment has gained considerable importance but uncertainty remains about the best way to define and measure it. The validity of empirical findings depends on the quality of measures used. This systematic review aims to provide an overview of studies assessing psychometric properties of questionnaires purporting to capture patient empowerment, evaluate the methodological quality of these studies and assess the psychometric properties of measures identified.MethodsElectronic searches in five databases were combined with reference tracking of included articles. Peer-reviewed articles reporting psychometric testing of empowerment measures for adult patients in French, German, English, Portuguese and Spanish were included. Study characteristics, constructs operationalised and psychometric properties were extracted. The quality of study design, methods and reporting was assessed using the COSMIN checklist. The quality of psychometric properties was assessed using Terwee’s 2007 criteria.Findings30 studies on 19 measures were included. Six measures are generic, while 13 were developed for a specific condition (N=4) or specialty (N=9). Most studies tested measures in English (N=17) or Swedish (N=6). Sample sizes of included studies varied from N=35 to N=8261. A range of patient empowerment constructs was operationalised in included measures. These were classified into four domains: patient states, experiences and capacities; patient actions and behaviours; patient self-determination within the healthcare relationship and patient skills development. Quality assessment revealed several flaws in methodological study quality with COSMIN scores mainly fair or poor. The overall quality of psychometric properties of included measures was intermediate to positive. Certain psychometric properties were not tested for most measures.DiscussionFindings provide a basis from which to develop consensus on a core set of patient empowerment constructs and for further work to develop a (set of) appropriately validated measure(s) to capture this. The methodological quality of psychometric studies could be improved by adhering to published quality criteria.     

A Novel Video Tracking Method to Evaluate the Effect of Influenza Infection and Antiviral Treatment on Ferret Activity

Ferrets are the preferred animal model to assess influenza virus infection, virulence and transmission as they display similar clinical symptoms and pathogenesis to those of humans. Measures of disease severity in the ferret include weight loss, temperature rise, sneezing, viral shedding and reduced activity. To date, the only available method for activity measurement has been the assignment of an arbitrary score by a ‘blind’ observer based on pre-defined responsiveness scale. This manual scoring method is subjective and can be prone to bias. In this study, we described a novel video-tracking methodology for determining activity changes in a ferret model of influenza infection. This method eliminates the various limitations of manual scoring, which include the need for a sole ‘blind’ observer and the requirement to recognise the ‘normal’ activity of ferrets in order to assign relative activity scores. In ferrets infected with an A(H1N1)pdm09 virus, video-tracking was more sensitive than manual scoring in detecting ferret activity changes. Using this video-tracking method, oseltamivir treatment was found to ameliorate the effect of influenza infection on activity in ferret. Oseltamivir treatment of animals was associated with an improvement in clinical symptoms, including reduced inflammatory responses in the upper respiratory tract, lower body weight loss and a smaller rise in body temperature, despite there being no significant reduction in viral shedding. In summary, this novel video-tracking is an easy-to-use, objective and sensitive methodology for measuring ferret activity.     

CDKN3 mRNA as a Biomarker for Survival and Therapeutic Target in Cervical Cancer

The cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 3 (CDKN3) gene, involved in mitosis, is upregulated in cervical cancer (CC). We investigated CDKN3 mRNA as a survival biomarker and potential therapeutic target for CC. CDKN3 mRNA was measured in 134 CC and 25 controls by quantitative PCR. A 5-year survival study was conducted in 121 of these CC patients. Furthermore, CDKN3-specific siRNAs were used to investigate whether CDKN3 is involved in proliferation, migration, and invasion in CC-derived cell lines (SiHa, CaSki, HeLa). CDKN3 mRNA was on average 6.4-fold higher in tumors than in controls (p = 8 x 10⁻⁶, Mann-Whitney). A total of 68.2% of CC patients over expressing CDKN3 gene (fold change ≥ 17) died within two years of diagnosis, independent of the clinical stage and HPV type (Hazard Ratio = 5.0, 95% CI: 2.5–10, p = 3.3 x 10⁻⁶, Cox proportional-hazards regression). In contrast, only 19.2% of the patients with lower CDKN3 expression died in the same period. In vitro inactivation of CDKN3 decreased cell proliferation on average 67%, although it had no effect on cell migration and invasion. CDKN3 mRNA may be a good survival biomarker and potential therapeutic target in CC.     

Discovery of tetrahydroisoquinoline (THIQ) derivatives as potent and orally bioavailable LFA-1/ICAM-1 antagonists

This letter describes the discovery of a novel series of tetrahydroisoquinoline (THIQ)-derived small molecules that potently inhibit both human T-cell migration and super-antigen induced T-cell activation through disruption of the binding of integrin LFA-1 to its receptor, ICAM-1. In addition to excellent in vitro potency, 6q shows good pharmacokinetic properties and its ethyl ester (6t) demonstrates good oral bioavailability in both mouse and rat. Either intravenous administration of 6q or oral administration of its ethyl ester (6t) produced a significant reduction of neutrophil migration in a thioglycollate-induced murine peritonitis model.     

Sex-dependent differences in parameters of a long-term pain caused by inflammatory focus in prenatally stressed newborn rats

In experiments on the 7-day-old female and male Long-Evans rat pups, for the first time, there was studied effect of prenatal (immobilization) stress on dynamics of nociceptive behavioral response caused by an inflammatory focus. The nociceptive sensitivity was evaluated for 1 h by the number of 7-day-old organized at the spinal level in response to injection of formalin (10%, 10 microl) to the posterior leg sole. Control rat pups were not submitted to any prenatal stress; in these animals the response in the formalin test was found to be represented by one phase. It the prenatally stressed rat pups the studied patterns were organized into two phases characteristic of the definitive type of response. At the period between them (during interphase), the nociceptive behavior was absent. At the second, tonic phase the number of flexes+shakes in the prenatally stressed males was statistically significantly higher than in the prenatally stressed females, which indicates a sensitization of the neurons involved in the tonic pain chains in male individuals. Thus, the data obtained on prenatally stressed animals confirm the previous data about immaturity of the mechanisms mediating the second phase of response in the formalin test in the 7-day-old rat pups. An important fact is revealed which indicates that in the prenatally stressed rat pups of the same age the second phase of response is already obvious. Mechanisms underlying the behavioral response caused by the inflammatory focus in the formalin test in the number flexes + shakes old stressed rat pups are characterized by sexual dimorphism: the pain sensitivity in males at the second phase of response is statistically significantly higher than in females.     

Resurgence and persistence of Dorymyrmex flavus after reduction of Solenopsis invicta buren with a broadcast bait

The effects of bait treatment(s) on population dynamics of Solenopsis invicta and Dorymyrmex flavus were studied, and various factors underlying the resurgence and persistence of D. flavus to reinvasion by S. invicta were studied in more detail. Pitfall traps, bait vials, transect sampling, and direct inspections were used to monitor densities of these two species, and inspections of D. flavus midden contents, video monitoring of D. flavus colonies, and studies of the fate of marked S. invicta were used to further clarify interactions of these two species, D. flavus abundance increased after the reduction of S. invicta with baits. D. flavus was also observed to sustain higher densities for an extended period (2 yr) after cessation of bait treatment and to exhibit antagonistic behaviors toward S. invicta, showing an ability to resist reinvasion of the treated area by S. invicta. Given these findings, D. flavus may retard domination of the ant assemblage by S. invicta. Additional studies are justified regarding how to enhance the role of this species in affected ecosystems.     

Isolation of avian paramyxovirus 1 from a patient with a lethal case of pneumonia

An unknown virus was isolated from a lung biopsy sample and multiple other samples from a patient who developed a lethal case of pneumonia following a peripheral blood stem cell transplant. A random PCR-based molecular screening method was used to identify the infectious agent as avian paramyxovirus 1 (APMV-1; a group encompassing Newcastle disease virus), which is a highly contagious poultry pathogen that has only rarely been found in human infections. Immunohistochemical analysis confirmed the presence of APMV-1 antigen in sloughed alveolar cells in lung tissue from autopsy. Sequence from the human isolate showed that it was most closely related to virulent pigeon strains of APMV-1. This is the most completely documented case of a systemic human infection caused by APMV-1 and is the first report of an association between this virus and a fatal disease in a human.