Comparative Efficacy of Pyrethroid-Based Paints against Turkestan Cockroaches.

The Turkestan cockroach, Periplaneta lateralis (Walker), is an invasive urban pest prevalent in dry areas of the southwestern United States. Treatment with liquid spray formulations containing insecticides is the most conventional method to decrease Turkestan cockroach population abundance around buildings. Intensive application of insecticide treatments near natural environments has prompted concerns regarding the impacts on non-target aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Technologies embedding insecticides in a paint matrix have successfully been used for the long-term reduction in disease-vector populations in tropical areas. Here, we evaluated the potential effectiveness of three pyrethroid-based paints against Turkestan cockroach nymphs on common surfaces inhabited by this species. Turkestan cockroaches continuously exposed for 1 h to 1-month aged alphacypermethrin and deltamethrin paints applied to concrete, metal, or PVC caused moderate to high mortality. Evaluations using choice boxes indicated that deltamethrin and transfluthrin paints had combined lethal and repellent effects on cockroaches. Alphacypermethrin also caused repellency and killed cockroaches rapidly. We discuss the implications of these findings on cockroach control practices.

Coconut fatty acids exhibit strong repellency and week-long efficacy against several urban pest arthropods of the southwestern United States.

BACKGROUND: The southwestern United States is home to a variety of arthropods including Turkestan cockroaches, Blatta lateralis (Walker); hematophagous kissing bugs, Tritoma rubida (Uhler); and Arizona bark scorpions, Centruroides sculpturatus Ewing. These arthropods cause medical concern when they become established around homes and/or invade indoors. Traditionally, the management of these pests has relied primarily on the use of chemical insecticides; however, they offer poor prospects for control owing to their lack of efficacy as well as the effects of insecticides on humans and the environment. Botanical repellents are an option that has not been fully investigated for the management of these pests. Here, we investigated the behavioral responses of common urban pests of the southwestern USA to recently discovered coconut fatty acids (CFAs), to establish the potential use of these compounds as repellents. RESULTS: Fresh residues of CFA mixture (CFAm) and their constituents caprylic acid, capric acid, capric acid methyl ester, lauric acid, and lauric acid methyl ester, tested at a concentration of 1 mg cm-2 , strongly repelled all arthropods. The repellent activity of CFAm lasted for at least 7 days, and the addition of lavender oil, used as an odor-masking agent, did not decrease this effect. Concentrations of CFAm ten times lower (0.1 mg cm-2 ) still repelled Turkestan cockroaches, and concentrations 100 times lower (0.01 mg cm-2 ) repelled T. rubida and scorpions. CONCLUSIONS: CFAm and some of their constituents are efficacious, economical, and logistically feasible for inclusion in integrated pest management programs for these important urban pests of the southwestern USA. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.

Effects of blood meal source on blood consumption and reproductive success of cat fleas, Ctenocephalides felis.

Cat fleas, small blood-feeding ectoparasites that feed on humans and animals, cause discomfort through their bites, and can transmit numerous diseases to animals and humans. Traditionally, fleas have been reared for research on live animals, but this process requires animal handling permits, inflicts discomfort on animals, and requires money and time to maintain the host animals. Although artificial membrane-based feeding systems have been implemented, these methods are not sustainable in the long term because they result in lower blood consumption and egg production than those with rearing on live hosts. To maximize these parameters, we tested blood from four hosts to determine the most suitable blood, on the basis of blood consumption and egg production. We also tested the effects of adding the phagostimulant adenosine-5´-triphosphate to the blood to maximize blood consumption. In 48 hours, fleas fed dog blood consumed the most blood, averaging 9.5 µL per flea, whereas fleas fed on cow, cat, or human blood consumed 8.3 µL, 5.7 µL, or 5.2 µL, respectively. Addition of 0.01 M and 0.1 M adenosine-5´-triphosphate to dog and cow blood did not enhance blood consumption. In a 1-week feeding period, the total egg production was also greatest in fleas fed dog blood, with females producing 129.5 eggs, whereas females on cat, human, and cow blood produced 97.2, 83.0, and 70.7 eggs, respectively. The observed results in dog blood indicate an improvement over previously reported results in cat fleas fed with an artificial feeding system. Improving the sustainability of rearing cat flea colonies without feeding on live animals will enable more humane and convenient production of this pest for scientific research.

Behavioral Responses of the Common Bed Bug, Cimex lectularius, to Insecticide Dusts.

Bed bugs have reemerged recently as a serious and growing problem not only in North America but in many parts of the world. These insects have become the most challenging pest to control in urban environments. Residual insecticides are the most common methods used for bed bug control; however, insecticide resistance limits the efficacy of treatments. Desiccant dusts have emerged as a good option to provide a better residual effect for bed bug control. Several studies have focused on determining the efficacy of dust-based insecticides against bed bugs. However, behavioral responses of bed bugs to insecticide dusts could influence their efficacy. The behavioral responses of bed bugs to six insecticide dusts commonly used in the United States were evaluated with an advanced video tracking technique (Ethovision). Bed bugs took longer to make first contact with areas treated with the diatomaceous earth (DE)-based products MotherEarth D and Alpine than pyrethroid, pyrethrins or silica gel based products, DeltaDust, Tempo 1% Dust and CimeXa, respectively. Lower visitation rates of bed bugs were recorded for areas treated with MotherEarth D, Alpine and CimeXa than that of DeltaDust, Tempo 1% Dust, and Tri-Die Silica + Pyrethrum Dust. Bed bugs spent less time in areas treated with Tri-Die Dust, CimeXa, Alpine, and MotherEarth D than DeltaDust and Tempo 1% Dust, and they exhibited a reduction in locomotor parameters when crawling on areas treated with CimeXa and Alpine. The implications of these responses to bed bug control are discussed.

Randomized Controlled Trial of Therapeutic Horseback Riding in Children and Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder.

OBJECTIVE: This study expands previous equine-assisted intervention research by evaluating the effectiveness of therapeutic horseback riding (THR) on self-regulation, socialization, communication, adaptive, and motor behaviors in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). METHOD: Participants with ASD (aged 6-16 years; N = 127) were stratified by nonverbal IQ standard scores (≤85 or >85) and randomized to 1 of 2 groups for 10 weeks: THR intervention or a barn activity (BA) control group without horses that used similar methods. The fidelity of the THR intervention was monitored. Participants were evaluated within 1 month pre- and postintervention by raters blinded to intervention conditions and unblinded caregiver questionnaires. During the intervention, caregivers rated participants' behaviors weekly. RESULTS: Intent-to-treat analysis conducted on the 116 participants who completed a baseline assessment (THR n = 58; BA control n = 58) revealed significant improvements in the THR group compared to the control on measures of irritability (primary outcome) (p = .02; effect size [ES] = 0.50) and hyperactivity (p = .01; ES = 0.53), beginning by week 5 of the intervention. Significant improvements in the THR group were also observed on a measure of social cognition (p = .05; ES = 0.41) and social communication (p = .003; ES = 0.63), along with the total number of words (p = .01; ES = 0.54) and new words (p = .01; ES = 0.54) spoken during a standardized language sample. Sensitivity analyses adjusting for age, IQ, and per protocol analyses produced consistent results. CONCLUSION: This is the first large-scale, randomized, controlled trial demonstrating efficacy of THR for the ASD population, and findings are consistent with previous equine-assisted intervention studies. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION INFORMATION: Trial of Therapeutic Horseback Riding in Children and Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder; http://clinicaltrials.gov; NCT02301195.

Elevated repetitive behaviors are associated with lower diurnal salivary cortisol levels in autism spectrum disorder.

Previously, we reported a subgroup of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) had consistently high rates of repetitive behaviors (RBs) with abnormal sensory sensitivity. Given evidence of lower cortisol levels in response to stress and associated sensory sensitivity in the ASD population, this pilot study evaluates whether the presence of RBs reflects an underlying pathophysiology related to cortisol regulation. Diurnal salivary cortisol from 21 children with ASD and high versus low occurrence RBs were collected at four time points over three consecutive days. Although a typical decline in salivary cortisol was observed, participants in the high RB group showed 36% lower diurnal salivary cortisol than the low RB group. Age, IQ, RB type, and sleep quality were unrelated to observed differences. These findings suggest that RBs may serve to mitigate distress or that the glucocorticoid system has been down regulated in association with prolonged distress in this sample population.

Improving psychiatric hospital care for pediatric patients with autism spectrum disorders and intellectual disabilities.

Pediatric patients with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and/or intellectual disabilities (ID) are at greater risk for psychiatric hospitalization compared to children with other disorders. However, general psychiatric hospital environments are not adapted for the unique learning styles, needs, and abilities of this population, and there are few specialized hospital-based psychiatric care programs in the United States. This paper compares patient outcomes from a specialized psychiatric hospital program developed for pediatric patients with an ASD and/or ID to prior outcomes of this patient population in a general psychiatric program at a children's hospital. Record review data indicate improved outcomes for patients in the specialized program of reduced recidivism rates (12% versus 33%) and decreased average lengths of inpatient stay (as short as 26 days versus 45 days). Available data from a subset of patients (n = 43) in the specialized program showed a decrease in irritability and hyperactivity behaviors from admission to discharge and that 35 previously undetected ASD diagnoses were made. Results from this preliminary study support specialized psychiatric care practices with this population to positively impact their health care outcomes.

Functional and effective connectivity of visuomotor control systems demonstrated using generalized partial least squares and structural equation modeling.

Tasks employing parametric variation in movement rate are associated with predictable modulations in neural activity and provide a convenient context for developing new techniques for system identification. Using a multistage approach, we explored the functional and effective connectivity of a visuomotor control system by combining generalized partial least squares (gPLS) with subsequent structural equation modeling (SEM) to reveal the relationships between neural activity and finger movement rate in an experiment involving visually paced left or right thumb flexion. The gPLS in the first analysis stage automatically identified spatially distributed sets of BOLD-contrast signal changes using linear combinations of sigmoidal basis functions parameterized by kinematic variables. The gPLS provided superior sensitivity in detecting task-related functional activity patterns via a step-wise comparison with both classical linear modeling and behavior correlation analysis. These activity patterns were used in the second analysis stage, which employed SEM to characterize the areal regional interactions. The hybrid gPLS/SEM procedure allowed modeling of complex regional interactions in a network including primary motor cortex, premotor areas, cerebellum, thalamus, and basal ganglia, with differential activity modulations with respect to rate observed in the corticocerebellar and corticostriate subsystems. This effective connectivity analysis of visuomotor control circuits showed that both the left and right corticocerebellar and corticostriate circuits exhibited movement rate-related modulation. The identification of the functional connectivity among regions participating particular classes of behavior using gPLS, followed by the estimation of the effective connectivity using SEM is an efficient means to characterize the neural interactions underlying variations in sensorimotor behavior.

Deposition-dependent normal ranges for radioaerosol assessment of lung mucus clearance.

Deposition distribution variability strongly influences data from radioaerosol mucus clearance measurements. We investigated how one clearance measurement-the area under the 0-6 h tracheobronchial retention curve (AUC)-relates to three different indices characterizing initial particle distribution. These indices were a conventional penetration index (PI), retention at 24 h (R(24)) and an Airways Penetration Index (API). API is an estimate of an outer to inner zone ratio for "tracheobronchial" (short-term cleared) deposition. Data were analyzed from "control" tests on 35 normal nonsmoking volunteers (16 females, 19 males, age 18-72 years). The strongest clearance-deposition correlation (r = 0.84, p < 0.0001) was obtained with API, yielding a narrower normal range than those with PI or R(24). No influence of age was detected. Data from repeat tests on 17 subjects demonstrated AUC changes correlating closely with API changes (r = 0.92, p < 0.0001), confirming the potential value of API as a "predictor" of clearance changes resulting simply from a changed distribution of initial deposition along the tracheobronchial airway generations. Additional data from 19 "placebo" tests on normal subjects gave AUC values within or close to suggested normal confidence limits derived from the control subject plots of AUC against, respectively, PI, R(24), and API. Quantitative attention to the influence of depositionclearance relationships should help in analyzing data from studies where posttreatment aerosol distribution cannot be exactly matched to the pretreatment situation. Deposition-corrected clearance provides an approach to improved estimation of clearance "normality."

Neural changes following remediation in adult developmental dyslexia.

Brain imaging studies have explored the neural mechanisms of recovery in adults following acquired disorders and, more recently, childhood developmental disorders. However, the neural systems underlying adult rehabilitation of neurobiologically based learning disabilities remain unexplored, despite their high incidence. Here we characterize the differences in brain activity during a phonological manipulation task before and after a behavioral intervention in adults with developmental dyslexia. Phonologically targeted training resulted in performance improvements in tutored compared to nontutored dyslexics, and these gains were associated with signal increases in bilateral parietal and right perisylvian cortices. Our findings demonstrate that behavioral changes in tutored dyslexic adults are associated with (1) increased activity in those left-hemisphere regions engaged by normal readers and (2) compensatory activity in the right perisylvian cortex. Hence, behavioral plasticity in adult developmental dyslexia involves two distinct neural mechanisms, each of which has previously been observed either for remediation of developmental or acquired reading disorders.

The effect of inhaled tiotropium bromide on lung mucociliary clearance in patients with COPD.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of tiotropium on lung mucociliary clearance in COPD. DESIGN: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study. SETTING: Outpatients of an urban-area university teaching hospital. PATIENTS: Thirty-four patients with COPD aged 40 to 75 years classified equally into two groups. INTERVENTION: Single (18 microg) daily dose of tiotropium inhalation capsules or of placebo for 21 days. METHODS: Six-hour tracheobronchial clearance of inhaled 99mTc-labeled polystyrene particles using a 48-h retention measurement to determine the "nontracheobronchial" deposition fraction. RESULTS: Test radioaerosol penetration into the lungs increased significantly (p < 0.003) as did FEV1 (p < 0.006) in the tiotropium-treated patients, but measured mucociliary clearance was not significantly changed despite the increased pathway length for clearance (mean +/- SE area under the tracheobronchial retention curve changed from 442 +/- 22 to 453 +/- 20%/h). Smaller (nonsignificant) decreases of radioaerosol penetration and FEV1 occurred in the placebo group together with a small (nonsignificant) decrease in the area under the retention curve. CONCLUSION: Twenty-one days of inhaled tiotropium, 18 microg/d, as a dry powder does not retard mucus clearance from the lungs.

Left hemisphere specialization for the control of voluntary movement rate.

Although persuasive behavioral evidence demonstrates the superior dexterity of the right hand in most people under a variety of conditions, little is known about the neural mechanisms responsible for this phenomenon. As this lateralized superiority is most evident during the performance of repetitive, speeded movement, we used parametric rate variations to compare visually paced movement of the right and left hands. Twelve strongly right-handed subjects participated in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiment involving variable rate thumb movements. For movements of the right hand, contralateral rate-related activity changes were identified in the precentral gyrus, thalamus, and posterior putamen. For left-hand movements, activity was seen only in the contralateral precentral gyrus, consistent with the existence of a rate-sensitive motor control subsystem involving the left, but not the right, medial premotor corticostriatal loop in right-handed individuals. We hypothesize that the right hemisphere system is less skilled at controlling variable-rate movements and becomes maximally engaged at a lower movement rate without further modulation. These findings demonstrate that right- and left-hand movements engage different neural systems to control movement, even during a relatively simple thumb flexion task. Specialization of the left hemisphere corticostriatal system for dexterity is reflected in asymmetric mechanisms for movement rate control.

Effect of intensive training on auditory processing and reading skills.

This study assessed the ability of seven children to accurately judge relative durations of auditory and visual stimuli before and after participation in a language remediation program. The goal of the intervention program is to improve the children's ability to detect and identify rapidly changing auditory stimuli, and thereby improve their language-related skills. Children showed improved accuracy on a test of auditory duration judgement following the intervention without analogous improvements in the visual domain, supporting the assertion that intensive training with modified speech improves auditory temporal discrimination. However, these improvements did not generalize to reading skills, as assessed by standard measures of phonological awareness and non-word reading.

Multivariate analysis of neuronal interactions in the generalized partial least squares framework: simulations and empirical studies.

Identification of spatiotemporal interactions within/between neuron populations is critical for detection and characterization of large-scale neuronal interactions underlying perception, cognition, and behavior. Univariate analysis has been employed successfully in many neuroimaging studies. However, univariate analysis does not explicitly test for interactions between distributed areas of activity and is not sensitive to distributed responses across the brain. Multivariate analysis can explicitly test for multiple statistical models, including the designed paradigm, and allows for spatial and temporal model detection. Here, we investigate multivariate analysis approaches that take into consideration the 4D (time and space) covariance structure of the data. Principal component analysis (PCA) and independent component analysis (ICA) are two popular multivariate approaches with distinct mathematical constraints. Common difficulties in using these two different decompositions include the following: classification of the revealed components (task-related signal versus noise), overall signal-to-noise sensitivity, and the relatively low computational efficiency (multivariate analysis requires the entire raw data set and more time for model identification analysis). Using both Monte Carlo simulations and empirical data, we derived and tested the generalized partial least squares (gPLS) framework, which can incorporate both PCA and ICA decompositions with computational efficiency. The gPLS method explicitly incorporates the experimental design to simplify the identification of characteristic spatiotemporal patterns. We performed parametric modeling studies of a blocked-design experiment under various conditions, including background noise distribution, sampling rate, and hemodynamic response delay. We used a randomized grouping approach to manipulate the degrees of freedom of PCA and ICA in gPLS to characterize both paradigm coherent and transient brain responses. Simulation data suggest that in the gPLS framework, PCA mostly outperforms ICA as measured by the receiver operating curves (ROCs) in SNR from 0.01 to 100, the hemodynamic response delays from 0 to 3 TR in fMRI, background noise models of Guassian, sub-Gaussian, and super-Gaussian distributions and the number of observations from 5, 10, to 20 in each block of a six-block experiment. Further, due to selective averaging, the gPLS method performs robustly in low signal-to-noise ratio (<1) experiments. We also tested PCA and ICA using PLS in a simulated event-related fMRI data to show their similar detection. Finally, we tested our gPLS approach on empirical fMRI motor data. Using the randomized grouping method, we are able to identify both transient responses and consistent paradigm/model coherent components in the 10-epoch block design motor fMRI experiment. Overall, studies of synthetic and empirical data suggest that PLS analysis, using PCA decomposition, provides a stable and powerful tool for exploration of fMRI/behavior data.

Effect of aromatics on lung mucociliary clearance in patients with chronic airways obstruction.

BACKGROUND: Complementary and alternative medicine have become an increasingly topical theme in respiratory medicine. Aromatics are a commonly used ingredient in a number of proprietary medicines. It is well established that lung mucus clearance is impaired in patients with chronic airways obstruction. This study investigated whether aromatics delivered by inunction could be objectively shown to enhance lung clearance. METHODS: We studied 12 patients with chronic bronchitic with a mean standard error (SE) age of 67 (2) years (mean [SE] tobacco consumption history of 64 [12] pack-years). We used a randomized, single-blinded, placebo-controlled crossover trial within patient design assessing the effect of 7.5 g of aromatics inunction (compared to a "no-treatment baseline" and to a petrolatum "placebo") on lung mucus clearance measured by a standard radioaerosol technique. RESULTS: Aromatic treatment significantly enhanced clearance at two time points 30 (p < 0.05) and 60 (p < 0.02) minutes postradioaerosol inhalation but had no demonstrable further effect over the following 5 hours despite further application of the inunction. The clearance improvement (relative to a baseline) observed during the first hour of testing was significantly correlated (p < 0.01) with the concentration level of aromatics. CONCLUSION: Our data, thus, provide objective evidence of a positive effect of aromatics inunction on mucus clearance in chronic airways obstruction.