Genome Resources-A chromosome-Level genome assembly for the long-nosed leopard lizard, Gambelia wislizenii, the first reference genome for the lizard family crotaphytidae.

We report on an annotated chromosome-level genome assembly for the long-nosed leopard lizard, Gambelia wislizenii, as part of the California Conservation Genomics Project (CCGP). All seventeen species of reptiles, including two turtles, seven lizards, and seven snakes targeted for reference genome sequencing by the CCGP are now complete and posted on NCBI, and this paper is the third of seven CCGP lizard release papers to be published. It is also the first species of the family Crotaphytidae to have a released reference genome.

A chromosome-level reference genome assembly for Gilbert's skink Plestiodon gilberti.

Advances in genomic studies are revealing that gene flow between species is more frequent than previously understood, although the ways in which hybridization can bias gene flow across species boundaries or the extent to which introgression might be adaptive remain unexplored in most systems. We report on an annotated chromosome-level genome assembly for the Gilbert's skink, Plestiodon gilberti, one of 18 clades of reptiles and amphibians selected for reference genome sequencing in the California Conservation Genomics Project (CCGP). This assembly was produced using Pacific Biosciences HiFi long reads and Omni-C proximity ligation data.

Reference genome of the Gophersnake, Pituophis catenifer (Serpentes: Colubridae).

The Gophersnake, Pituophis catenifer, is a habitat generalist that ranges throughout the western half of the United States and southward into México. Five of the six subspecies, P. catenifer affinis (Sonoran Gophersnake), P.

A novel genetic strategy to enable rapid detection of rare non-native alleles.

Established invasive species represent one of the most harmful and challenging threats to native biodiversity, necessitating methods for Early Detection and Rapid Response. Cryptic invasions are particularly challenging and often require expensive and time-consuming molecular surveys which limits their usefulness for management. We present a novel application of the Fluidigm SNP-Type Assay to identify rare non-native alleles that significantly reduces the cost and time to generate diagnostic results.

Comparative assessment of a novel fan box trap for collecting Anopheles farauti and culicine mosquitoes alive in tropical north Queensland, Australia.

During preliminary mosquito surveys at Cowley Beach Training Area in north Queensland, Australia, it was found that the utility of the standard encephalitis virus surveillance (EVS) trap for collecting the malaria vector Anopheles farauti (Laveran) adults was compromised by the harsh tropical conditions. With the aim of increasing the survival rate of mosquitoes, we designed a downdraft fan box trap (FBT) that incorporated a screened fan at the bottom of the trap, so mosquitoes did not have to pass through a fan. The FBT was tested against the EVS and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) light traps, where mosquitoes do pass through a fan, and a nonpowered passive box trap (PBT).

Managing invasive hybrids with pond hydroperiod manipulation in an endangered salamander system.

When invasive and endangered native taxa hybridize, the resulting admixture introduces novel conservation challenges. Across a large region of central California, a hybrid swarm consisting of admixed endangered California tiger salamanders (CTS) (Ambystoma californiense) and introduced barred tiger salamanders (BTS) (Ambystoma mavortium) has replaced native populations, threatening the genetic integrity of CTS and the vernal pool systems they inhabit. We employed a large-scale, genomically informed field experiment to test whether shortening breeding pond hydroperiod would favor native CTS genotypes.

Seasonal assessment on the effects of time of night, temperature and humidity on the biting profile of Anopheles farauti in north Queensland, Australia using a population naive to malaria vector control pressures.

Background: Anopheles farauti is one of the major vectors of malaria in the Southwest Pacific region and is responsible for past outbreaks in Australia. With an adaptable biting profile conducive to behavioural resistance to indoor residual spraying (IRS) and insecticide-treated nets (ITNs), its all-night biting behaviour can switch to biting mostly in the early evening. With limited insight into the biting profile of An.

Natural parasites in conjunction with behavioral and color traits explain male agonistic behaviors in a lizard.

Male competition conforms to a cost-benefit model, because while aggression may increase reproductive prospects, it can also increase the risk of injury. We hypothesize that an additional cost in aggressive males would be an increase in parasite load associated with a high energy investment into sexual competition. Some of these infections, in turn, may downmodulate the level of host aggression via energetic trade-offs.

Gene flow between island populations of the malaria mosquito, , may have contributed to the spread of divergent host preference phenotypes.

is a mosquito species with variable host preference. Throughout New Guinea and northern Australia, .  feeds on humans (it is opportunistically anthropophagic) while in the south-west Pacific's Solomon Archipelago, the species is abundant but has rarely been found biting humans (it is exclusively zoophagic in most populations).

Continuity of Care in a Student-Run Free Clinic: Impact on Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Risk.

Background And Objectives: Medical student-run free clinics (SRFC) provide underserved patients access to health care. Few studies have examined the effects of specific care models implemented by these clinics. We looked at the impact of a continuity of care delivery model on chronic care outcomes at an SRFC sponsored by Ohio State University College of Medicine.

Allele-specific expression and gene regulation help explain transgressive thermal tolerance in non-native hybrids of the endangered California tiger salamander (Ambystoma californiense).

Hybridization between native and non-native species is an ongoing global conservation threat. Hybrids that exhibit traits and tolerances that surpass parental values are of particular concern, given their potential to outperform native species. Effective management of hybrid populations requires an understanding of both physiological performance and the underlying mechanisms that drive transgressive hybrid traits.

Population genetics of through Papua New Guinea: New cryptic species and landscape topography effects on genetic connectivity.

New Guinea is a topographically and biogeographically complex region that supports unique endemic fauna. Studies describing the population connectivity of species through this region are scarce. We present a population and landscape genetic study on the endemic malaria-transmitting mosquito, (Owen).

Smallest Anopheles farauti occur during the peak transmission season in the Solomon Islands.

Background: Malaria transmission varies in intensity amongst Solomon Island villages where Anopheles farauti is the only vector. This variation in transmission intensity might be explained by density-dependent processes during An. farauti larval development, as density dependence can impact adult size with associated fitness costs and daily survivorship.

Critical aortic stenosis.

Unlabelled: A case of a 52-year-old male with ventricular tachycardia and atrial fibrillation associated with aortic stenosis is outlined. Focused cardiac ultrasound images obtained in the emergency department are presented. A discussion of aortic stenosis and emergency ultrasound in the above clinical context is included.

Multiple color patches and parasites in : differential relationships by sex and infection.

Parasites generally have a negative influence on the color expression of their hosts. Sexual selection theory predicts resistant high-quality individuals should show intense coloration, whereas susceptible low-quality individuals would show poor coloration. However, intensely colored males of different species of Old and New World lizards were more often infected by hemoparasites.

Spatial-temporal heterogeneity in malaria receptivity is best estimated by vector biting rates in areas nearing elimination.

Background: Decisions on when vector control can be withdrawn after malaria is eliminated depend on the receptivity or potential of an area to support vector populations. To guide malaria control and elimination programmes, the potential of biting rates, sporozoite rates, entomological inoculation rates and parity rates to estimate malaria receptivity and transmission were compared within and among geographically localised villages of active transmission in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands.

Results: Malaria transmission and transmission potential was heterogeneous in both time and space both among and within villages as defined by anopheline species composition and biting densities.

Tiger on the prowl: Invasion history and spatio-temporal genetic structure of the Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus (Skuse 1894) in the Indo-Pacific.

Background: Within the last century, increases in human movement and globalization of trade have facilitated the establishment of several highly invasive mosquito species in new geographic locations with concurrent major environmental, economic and health consequences. The Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, is an extremely invasive and aggressive daytime-biting mosquito that is a major public health threat throughout its expanding range.

Methodology/principal Findings: We used 13 nuclear microsatellite loci (on 911 individuals) and mitochondrial COI sequences to gain a better understanding of the historical and contemporary movements of Ae.

Larval habitats of the Anopheles farauti and Anopheles lungae complexes in the Solomon Islands.

Background: There is an urgent need for vector control tools to supplement long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) and indoor residual spraying; particularly in the Solomon Islands where the primary vector, Anopheles farauti, is highly anthropophagic and feeds mainly outdoors and early in the evening. Currently, the only supplementary tool recommended by the World Health Organization is larval source management (LSM). The feasibility and potential effectiveness of LSM requires information on the distribution of anophelines, the productivity of larval habitats and the potential impacts of larval control on adult fitness.

Frequent blood feeding enables insecticide-treated nets to reduce transmission by mosquitoes that bite predominately outdoors.

Background: The effectiveness of vector control on malaria transmission by long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS) depends on the vectors entering houses to blood feed and rest when people are inside houses. In the Solomon Islands, significant reductions in malaria have been achieved in the past 20 years with insecticide-treated bed nets, IRS, improved diagnosis and treatment with artemisinin combination therapies; despite the preference of the primary vector, Anopheles farauti, to feed outdoors and early in the evening and thereby avoid potential exposure to insecticides. Rational development of tools to complement LLINs and IRS by attacking vectors outdoor requires detailed knowledge of the biology and behaviours of the target species.

Determinants of host feeding success by Anopheles farauti.

Background: The proportion of blood meals that mosquitoes take from a host species is a function of the interplay of extrinsic (abundance and location of potential hosts) and intrinsic (innate preference) factors. A mark-release-recapture experiment addressed whether host preference in a population of Anopheles farauti was uniform or if there were anthropophilic and zoophilic subpopulations. The corresponding fitness associated with selecting different hosts for blood meals was compared by measuring fecundity.

Anopheles farauti is a homogeneous population that blood feeds early and outdoors in the Solomon Islands.

Background: In the 1970s, Anopheles farauti in the Solomon Island responded to indoor residual spraying with DDT by increasingly feeding more outdoors and earlier in the evening. Although long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) are now the primary malaria vector control intervention in the Solomon Islands, only a small proportion of An. farauti still seek blood meals indoors and late at night where they are vulnerable to being killed by contract with the insecticides in LLINs.

Anopheles punctulatus group: evolution, distribution, and control.

The major malaria vectors of the Southwest Pacific belong to a group of closely related mosquitoes known as the Anopheles punctulatus group. The group comprises 13 co-occurring species that either are isomorphic or carry overlapping morphological features, and today several species remain informally named. The advent of species-diagnostic molecular tools in the 1990s permitted a new raft of studies into the newly differentiated mosquitoes of this group, and these have revealed five species as the region's primary malaria vectors: An.

Does thermal ecology influence dynamics of side-blotched lizards and their micro-parasites?

Hosts and parasites form interacting populations that influence each other in multiple ways. Their dynamics can also be influenced by environmental and ecological factors. We studied host-parasite dynamics in a previously unexplored study system: side-blotched lizards and their micro-parasites.

Long-term insecticidal activity and physical integrity of Olyset nets in Tafea Province, Vanuatu.

The long-term efficacy of long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) depends on both the physical condition of the net and the residual activity of the insecticide. This study focused on monitoring these parameters in Olyset nets (Sumitomo Chemical Co., Osaka, Japan) (n = 101) that had been used for 1-3 yr in Tafea Province, Vanuatu.

The bionomics of the malaria vector Anopheles farauti in Northern Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands: issues for successful vector control.

Background: The north coast of Guadalcanal has some of the most intense malaria transmission in the Solomon Islands. And, there is a push for intensified vector control in Guadalcanal, to improve the livelihood of residents and to minimize the number of cases, which are regularly exported to the rest of the country. Therefore, the bionomics of the target vector, Anopheles farauti, was profiled in 2007-08; which was after 20 years of limited surveillance during which time treated bed nets (ITNs) were distributed in the area.