Indiana University took first place, with the rest of the top five from outside the United States Record participation from nearly 570 teams across 24 countries CHICAGO, Nov. 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/...

Chief Financial Officer Lynne Fitzpatrick Appointed to President and CFO Chief Operating Officer Julie Holzrichter to Step Down and Assume Advisory Role Suzanne Sprague to Succeed Holzrichter CHICAGO,

Mosquitoes transmit deadly pathogens from person to person as they obtain the blood meal that is essential for their life cycle. Female mosquitoes of many species are unable to reproduce without consuming protein that they obtain from blood. This developmental stage makes them highly efficient disease vectors of deadly pathogens. They can transmit pathogens between members of the same species and different species that can provide a route for evolving zoonotic viruses to jump from animals to humans. One possible way to develop novel strategies to combat pathogen transmission by mosquitoes is to study the sensory systems that drive mosquito reproductive behaviors, in particular the neural architecture and circuits of mosquito sensory afferent neurons, the central circuits that process sensory information, and the downstream circuits that drive reproductive behaviors. The study of mosquito neuroanatomy and circuitry also benefits basic neuroscience, allowing for comparative neuroanatomy in insect species, which has great value in the current model species-heavy landscape of neuroscience. Here, we introduce two important techniques that are used to study neuroanatomy and neural circuitry—namely, immunofluorescent labeling and neural tracing. We describe how to apply these approaches to study mosquito neuroanatomy and describe considerations for researchers using the techniques.

A researcher may have many reasons for wanting to establish new laboratory colonies from field-collected mosquitoes. In particular, the ability to study the diversity found within and among natural populations in a controlled laboratory environment opens up a wide range of possibilities for understanding how and why burdens of vector-borne disease vary over space and time. However, field-collected mosquitoes are often more difficult to work with than established laboratory strains, and considerable logistical challenges are involved in safely transporting field-collected mosquitoes into the laboratory. Here, we provide advice for researchers working with Aedes aegypti, Anopheles gambiae, and Culex pipiens, as well as notes on other closely related species. We provide guidance on each stage of the life cycle and highlight the life stages for which it is easiest to initiate new laboratory colonies for each species. In accompanying protocols, we provide methods detailing Ae. aegypti egg collection and hatching as well as how to transport larvae and pupae from the field.

Sleep is likely a whole-brain phenomenon, with most of the brain probably benefiting from this state of decreased arousal. Recent advances in our understanding of some potential sleep functions, such as metabolite clearance and synaptic homeostasis, make it evident why the whole brain is likely impacted by sleep: All neurons have synapses, and all neurons produce waste metabolites. Sleep experiments in the fly Drosophila melanogaster suggest that diverse sleep functions appear to be conserved across all animals. Studies of brain activity during sleep in humans typically involve multidimensional data sets, such as those acquired by electroencephalograms (EEGs) or functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and these whole-brain read-outs often reveal important qualities of different sleep stages, such as changes in frequency dynamics or connectivity. Recently, various techniques have been developed that allow for the recording of neural activity simultaneously across multiple regions of the fly brain. These whole-brain-recording approaches will be important for better understanding sleep physiology and function, as they provide a more comprehensive view of neural dynamics during sleep and wake in a relevant model system. Here, we present a brief summary of some of the findings derived from sleep activity recording studies in sleeping Drosophila flies and discuss the value of electrophysiological versus calcium imaging techniques. Although these involve very different preparations, they both highlight the value of multidimensional data for studying sleep in this model system, like the use of both EEG and fMRI in humans.

The establishment of neural connectivity is a major part of neural development. The central nervous system (CNS) midline is the most characterized axon guidance choice point, and work in Drosophila has played a pivotal role in understanding the molecular mechanisms responsible. Axons respond to attractive cues such as Netrin via the Frazzled receptor, and repulsive cues such as Slit via Robo receptors. Both signals are expressed at the CNS midline, affect pioneer axons, and have dramatic effects on the axon scaffold as a whole. Here, we focus on previous research analyzing classic mutants in the Slit/Robo pathway, which can readily be detected with a dissecting microscope. We also discuss analyzing these mutants in a teaching lab situation. The combination of sophisticated genetics and reliable axonal markers in Drosophila allows phenotypic analysis to be performed at the single-cell level. The elaborate architecture of neurons is very sensitive to disruption by genetic mutations, allowing the effects of novel mutations to be easily detected and assessed.

CRISPR–Cas9 has revolutionized gene editing for traditional and nontraditional model organisms alike. This tool has opened the door to new mechanistic studies of basic mosquito biology as well as the development of novel vector control strategies based on CRISPR–Cas9, including gene drives that spread genetic elements in the population. Although the promise of the specificity, flexibility, and ease of deployment CRISPR is real, its implementation still requires empirical optimization for each new species of interest, as well as to each genomic target within a given species. Here, we provide an overview of designing and testing single-guide RNAs for the use of CRISPR-based gene editing tools.

The host associations of mosquitoes vary by species, with some species being relative generalists, whereas others specialize, to varying extents, on a particular subset of the available host community. These host associations are driving factors in transmission dynamics of mosquito-vectored pathogens. For this reason, characterizing the host associations of mosquito species is critical for understanding the epidemiology of mosquito-vectored pathogens. Diverse methods have been used to associate mosquito species with their hosts. These typically include collecting mosquitoes that bite a restrained host (bait) or collecting wild blood-engorged mosquitoes and matching their blood meal to reference samples (blood meal analysis). Blood meal analysis refers to a collection of molecular techniques for determining the taxonomic identity of the source of a mosquito blood meal using cytological, serological, or DNA-based characteristics of the blood meal. Blood meal analyses that are based on DNA markers have advantages over cytological and serological methods and are effective for determining species-level identities of hosts from a broad range of potential host taxa. Here, we discuss effective techniques for analyzing blood meals.

Anautogenous female mosquitoes, which ingest a blood meal from warm-blooded vertebrates to produce eggs, have become a valuable model organism for investigating signaling pathways and physiological processes that occur during egg development. Different molecular pathways tightly regulate the initiation of egg development and are governed by a balance among different insect hormones. Gravid (mature egg-carrying) females deposit fully developed eggs at the end of each gonotrophic cycle, which is defined as the time interval between the ingestion of a blood meal to oviposition. An intact eggshell protects the oocyte and embryo inside from external factors such as desiccation, physical damage, etc., and the various eggshell proteins are spatially and temporary deposited during oogenesis. Additionally, follicle resorption (oosorption) during blood meal–induced mosquito ovarian follicle development is an adapted physiological process that optimizes reproductive fitness. Mosquito oocytes grow and mature synchronously throughout oogenesis; however, during the later stages of oogenesis, some oocytes may undergo oosorption if sufficient nutrients are unavailable. This introduction highlights how mosquito egg development can be used to investigate follicular resorption and identify proteins involved in eggshell formation in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.

Volker (OM Montenegro) describes how their outdoor lessons for Roma kids were threatened by bad weather. Then God provided not only the solution - building a carport as a shelter - but also the funds and manpower needed to build it.

Local people notice the unity in Christ of OM Montenegro as the team work and relax together.

Although church planting has progressed at a slower pace than the team first expected, a few important milestones in Bar, Montenegro, have been reached.

When OM Montenegro began in 2007 with a team of three, holding a full Sunday meeting seemed a long way off—but not anymore.

At 33, Igor, from Serbia, was sick, jobless and homeless. But one winter night he met Jesus. Now he serves God with OM in Montenegro.

OM Montenegro holds a programme for local friends to learn and talk about God.

OM Montenegro has discovered that if they are faithful and patient, they can eventually walk through doors that had once seemed closed.

Four OM guys in Bar, Montenegro, and four guys from a nearby Roma camp take a hiking/camping trip together.

The OM team in Bar, Montenegro, do a creative programme in over 15 kindergartens, explaining to children how important it is to regularly brush their teeth.

No public playground exists in Bar, Montenegro. This year, OM Montenegro plans to build one with the help of an outreach team.

She only came for a week, but impacted lives of several families with children with autism. Isabel Black shares about her experiences in Montenegro.

Four volunteers from Switzerland. One empty park. Ten days to build a playground. Could it be done?

Every other week the OM team in Bar visits a Roma community to teach the children to read and write.

Social workers in Bar, Montenegro, introduce OM workers to “hidden” people, enabling them to give holistic help, which the social workers alone could not provide.

With the help of two Scottish special-needs teachers, OM Montenegro passionately improves the lives of children with autism and the lives of their families.

OM Montenegro partners with Serbian singer-songwriter Dejan Milinov to bring worship music to believers in their own language.

God transforms the hearts of teens from two people groups, who normally do not interact, to bring them together for worship, Bible study and friendship.

A couple in Montenegro, working with children in a tough neighbourhood in Bar, desire to find ways to reach them with Jesus’ love.

An OM couple serving in Bar, Montenegro share how a short-term team building a shelter has had positive and lasting impact on a community they serve through a club for kids.

Can young people be united in faith, irrespective of their ethnic background? The answer is yes!

A short-term team help OMers in Montenegro spread God's love by hosting a tea party for forgotten residents of a care home.

Robbie and Angela from OM in Montenegro take every opportunity to bring God's love into the lives of lonely elderly people in a care home.

Even if things don't go quite to plan, the kids' craft sessions at OM Montenegro's Lighthouse centre result in wonderful presents for families.

OM uses a team car to transport teenagers with autism to Montenegro's only special needs school. But a better car is needed to continue.

After making friends at OM's English Cafe, Igor shares with them how he came from a similar background but was freed from despair when he met Jesus.

OMers visit the beachfront cafes for weekly Bible study, seeking to bless the businesses and share God's love all year round.

Pioneering Technology Allows Surgeons to Cut Precisely and Control Bleeding Without Causing Heat Damage to Tissue

Centuries-old university standardizes on SolidWorks Education Edition software so students can learn CAD and design validation skills

Knee replacement doesn’t have to be ‘total’

Quadruped Dinosaur Stomps the Rest of the Competition

Flagship Data Management Solution Introduces‘Item-Centric’ PDM and New BOM Functionality