Comparison of two sampling methods for domestic populations of Triatoma infestans in north-west Argentina

Abstract. In mud-and-thatch houses of Santiago del Estero Province, northwest Argentina, where no insecticides had been sprayed officially to control domestic infestations of the Chagas disease vector Triatoma infestans (Klug) (Hemiptera: Reduviidae), two knockdown (KD) insecticidal collection procedures were compared with the standard flush-out (FO) method for sampling T. infestans. Bugs were collected by FO using 0.2% tetramethrin in bedrooms of (1) 41 houses of Amama village employing 1 man-hour of capture effort per house, and (2) 19 houses of Trinidad and Mercedes villages employing 4 man-hours/house. From the same houses, 2-5 days after the manual FO collection, bugs were collected by KD indoor-spraying of deltamethrin 25mga.i./m² in Amama, or burning of one γ-HCH (=γ-BHC) fumigant tablet 3.1g of γ-isomer) per bedroom in Trinidad and Mercedes. The majority of infestations were detected by both methods, the proportion of positive houses being 81% at Amama and 95% at the other villages. Although the FO method was more sensitive, at least because it was applied first, the KD method detected infestations in 25% of houses where bugs were not found by FO. Bug densities estimated by FO or by subsequent KD in each house were significantly correlated: r = 0.795 for deltamethrin; r= 0.882 for y-HCH. Compared with FO collections of T.infestans large stages, i.e. adults plus fourth and fifth instar nymphs, the KD catch averaged 0.88x with deltamethrin and 0.57× with γ-HCH, regardless of the apparent population density of bugs per house. However, the KD method has practical advantages of speed and standardization.     

Biochemical Changes in Cultures of Nectria galligena during the Autolytic Phase of Growth

Some biochemical changes occurring in cultures of Nectria galligenaduring its autolytic phase of growth have been investigated.In nitrate-grown and autolysed cultures of this fungus the degreeof autolysis amounted to 57 per cent. The amount of myceliallipids decreased continuously with the age of the culture. Totalmycelial nitrogen did not substantially change within the first50 days of autolysis. The constancy in the amount of bound aminoacids released from mycelium of Nectria galligena strongly suggeststhat mycelial protein are not affected by autolysis.     

ORCADIAN COMPONENTS IN THE DAILY ACTIVITY OF HELIX LUCORUM L. FROM NORTHERN GREECE

The nocturnal activity of Helix lucorum Linnaeus has a majorcircadian component, normally entrained by photoperiod, anda second, slower circadian oscillator is also present. (Received 19 March 1986;     

The prevalence and correlates of DSM-IV disorders in the Iraq Mental Health Survey (IMHS)

Data on the prevalence and correlates of anxiety, mood, behavioral, and substance disorders are presented from a 2007-8 national survey of the Iraq population, the Iraq Mental Health Survey (IMHS). The IMHS was carried out by the Iraq Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Iraq Ministry of Planning and the World Health Organization (WHO) World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative. Interviews were administered to a probability sample of Iraqi household residents by trained lay interviewers. The WHO Composite International Diagnostic interview (CIDI) was used to assess DSM-IV disorders. The response rate was 95.2%. The estimated lifetime prevalence of any disorder was 18.8%. Cohort analysis documented significantly increasing lifetime prevalence of most disorders across generations. This was most pronounced for panic disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, with lifetime-to-date prevalence 5.4-5.3 times as high at comparable ages in the youngest (ages 18-34) as oldest (ages 65+) cohorts. Anxiety disorders were the most common class of disorders (13.8%) and major depressive disorder (MDD) the most common disorder (7.2%). Twelve-month prevalence of any disorder was 13.6%, with 42.1% of cases classified mild, 36.0% moderate, and 21.9% serious. The disorders most often classified serious were bipolar disorder (76.9%) and substance-related disorders (54.9%). Socio-demographic correlates were generally consistent with international epidemiological surveys, with the two exceptions of no significant gender differences in mood disorders and positive correlations of anxiety and mood disorders with education. Only 2.2% of IMHS respondents reported receiving treatment for emotional problems in the 12 months before interview, including 23.7% of those with serious, 9.2% with moderate, and 5.3% with mild disorders and 0.9% of other respondents. Most healthcare treatment, which was roughly equally distributed between the general medical and specialty sectors, was of low intensity. Further analyses of barriers to seeking treatment are needed to inform government efforts to expand the detection and treatment of mental disorders     

Individual variation in migratory movements and winter behaviour of Iberian Lesser Kestrels Falco naumanni revealed by geolocators

The population decline of the Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni has been the subject of studies across its Western Palaearctic breeding range, but little is known about its use of pre‐migratory areas or African wintering quarters. We used geolocators to describe the temporal and spatial patterns of Portuguese Lesser Kestrel migration and wintering behaviour. Data on the complete migration were obtained from four individuals and another three provided further information. Prior to southward migration, Lesser Kestrels showed two different behaviours: northward‐orientated movements to Spain and movements in the proximity of the breeding area. Autumn migration took place mostly in late September; spring departures occurred mainly in the first half of February. Wintering grounds included Senegal, Mauritania and Mali, with individuals overlapping considerably in Senegal. Movements registered within the wintering grounds suggest itinerant behaviour in relation to local flushes of prey. During spring migration, birds crossed the Sahara Desert through Mauritania, Western Sahara and Morocco before passing over the Mediterranean to reach Portugal. Autumn migration lasted 4.8 ± 1.1 days, and spring migration lasted 4.1 ± 0.3 days. The mean daily flight range varied between approximately 300 and 850 km for an entire journey of around 2500 km. Effective protection of roosting sites in both pre‐migratory and wintering areas and maintaining grasshopper populations in Sahelian wintering quarters appear crucial in preserving this threatened migratory raptor across its African–Eurasian flyway. There was no evidence of any deleterious effects of fitting birds with loggers.     

Identification of C3 Acceptors Responsible for Complement Activation in Crithidia fasciculata1

Crithidia fasciculata, an insect trypanosomatid is readily lysed by normal human serum at concentrations as low as 3%. Lysis occurs in the presence of Mg⁺²-EGTA and is antibody independent, indicating that the alternative pathway of complement activation is involved. Analysis of [¹³¹I]C3 deposition on C. fasciculata cells using C8-deficient serum, revealed that about 4 times 10⁵ C3 molecules bound to each cell. Most of the C3 was bound to cells as C3b, part of it forming high molecular weight complexes, which could be dissociated by methylamine treatment at alkaline pH. To characterize the C3 acceptors on C. fasciculata, surface-iodinated cells were incubated with C8D or heat-inactivated serum, extracted and immunoprecipitated with anti-C3 or anti-arabinogalactan antisera. Analysis of the immunoprecipitated material on SDS gels showed high-molecular weight components, which disappeared after methylamine treatment, giving rise to a component of 200 kDa molecular size. This 200-kDa component corresponded to a purified arabinogalactan complex, which was immunoprecipitated from labeled cell extracts, without incubation with C8D, using anti-arabinogalactan antibodies. These results suggest that the arabinogalactan glycoconjugate is a C3 acceptor in C. fasciculata during complement activation. Purified arabinogalactan complexes were able to inactivate C3 in vitro. Solubilization in KOH to cleave the peptide moiety rendered it unable to inactivate C3. Apparently, the aggregated state of the purified arabinogalactan component at the cell surface is important for C3 deposition and activation.     

Morphological and biochemical variation in populations of Dugesia (G.) tigrina (Turbellaria, Tricladida, Paludicola) from the western Mediterranean: biogeographical and taxonomical implications

Dugesia (Girardia) tigrina is a Nearctic freshwater triclad native to North America, now amply distributed in most European countries as the result of a reportedly unique introduction into north-west Europe early this century and its dispersal southwards and eastwards in the last decades. All European populations described so far are externally spotted, with a pigmented pharynx, and, apart from two sexual populations recently described in England, they are fissiparous. This uniformity contrasts with the variability reported in its native area, thus supporting the hypothesis of a single introduction. However, thorough morphological, karyological and biochemical comparative studies of European populations have never been properly done.
We have undertaken such a study comparing 24 populations present in a restricted area of the western Mediterranean. The results show an unexpectedly ample variation in external and pharyngeal pigmentation patterns, the presence of sexually reproducing populations, and ample variation in their biochemical patterns as revealed by isoelectric-focusing. This is an indication that European Dugesia (G.) tigrina is far more diverse than previously thought, suggesting that several, independent introductions from its native area have recently occurred, and the implications of these findings in biogeographical and taxonomic terms are discussed.     

Myxosoma cerebralis (Myxozoa: Myxosporea) Etiologic Agent of Salmonid Whirling Disease Requires Tubificid Worm (Annelida: Oligochaeta) in its Life Cycle

Studies of the life cycle of Myxosoma cerebralis showed that development of infectivity did not occur endogenously but that the spore “aging” process required participation of an aquatic tubificid oligochaete. Data suggestive of such involvement were derived from trials in which spores were “aged” in an array of inert, sterilized, pasteurized, or natural aquatic substrates and from examination of aquatic soils from trout hatcheries in which whirling disease was epizootic. The role of the aquatic oligochaete was confirmed two ways. First, signs of whirling disease developed, and M. cerebralis spores were produced in young rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) that had been fed oligochaetes harvested from pond soil taken from two hatcheries where whirling disease was epizootic. Second, when containers of pasteurized soil were populated with four genera of oligochaetes–Aeolosoma, Dero, Stylaria, or Tubifex– from a biological supply house, or with tubificid worms from trout hatcheries free of whirling disease, and then seeded with M. cerebralis spores and “aged” for 4 months, whirling disease occurred only in trout held with Tubifex and with hatchery tubificids.