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The Berenstain Bears and the bad habit
With the help of her family, Sister Bear breaks her habit of biting her nails.
Book
Taxonomy, ecology and medical relevance of human-biting Leptoconops (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) from Andaman and Nicobar archipelago with insights on capture methods
Biting midges of the genus
Leptoconops
(Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) are neglected yet aggressive diurnal biting pests. This study investigates the species diversity, abundance, biting behaviour, trap efficiency, and public health relevance of
Leptoconops
across ten tourist and potential tourist beaches in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago, India, during two peak tourist seasons. Three species were identified:
Leptoconops (Styloconops) spinosifrons
, first report from the archipelago;
Leptoconops (Leptoconops) leptorhynchus
, newly recorded from India and redescribed;
Leptoconops (Leptoconops) paruii
sp. nov., a proposed new species. Species identification was supported by morphological characters and a COI-based molecular phylogeny along with species delimitation analysis using ABGD, ASAP and mPTP. Biting activity studies revealed unimodal and bimodal biting patterns for
L. paruii
and
L. spinosifrons
, respectively. Inter-island distribution and abundance patterns revealed
L. spinosifrons
(most abundant) was restricted to the Andaman group,
L. paruii
occurred in both the Andaman group and the Great Nicobar, with
L. leptorhynchus
being the rarest. Among diurnal capture methods, HLC proved most effective for capturing host-seeking females, while sweep netting captured both sexes. Nocturnally, LED light sheets outperformed UV-based CDC and UT. Furthermore, the case report of
Leptoconops
bite-induced dermatitis highlights the potential clinical relevance of these bites for travellers and local population.
Journal Article
A Multifunction Trade-Off has Contrasting Effects on the Evolution of Form and Function
Trade-offs caused by the use of an anatomical apparatus for more than one function are thought to be an important constraint on evolution. However, whether multifunctionality suppresses diversification of biomechanical systems is challenged by recent literature showing that traits more closely tied to trade-offs evolve more rapidly. We contrast the evolutionary dynamics of feeding mechanics and morphology between fishes that exclusively capture prey with suction and multifunctional species that augment this mechanism with biting behaviors to remove attached benthic prey. Diversification of feeding kinematic traits was, on average, over 13.5 times faster in suction feeders, consistent with constraint on biters due to mechanical trade-offs between biting and suction performance. Surprisingly, we found that the evolution of morphology contrasts directly with these differences in kinematic evolution, with significantly faster rates of evolution of head shape in biters. This system provides clear support for an often postulated, but rarely confirmed prediction that multifunctionality stifles functional diversification, while also illustrating the sometimes weak relationship between form and function.
Journal Article
Preliminary Study on Host Use and Phylogenetic Analysis of Corethrella nippon in Taiwan
This study investigated frog‐biting dipteran species using newly designed frog‐calling traps in Taiwan. The trap effectively collected specimens from both families, Culicidae and Corethrellidae, demonstrating its utility. Host preference analysis revealed that Odorrana swinhoana (Boulenger, 1903) and Kurixalus eiffingeri (Boettger, 1895) were most frequently associated with collected specimens of Corethrellidae. Additionally, the corethrellids were predominantly attracted to a sound frequency around 2200 to 2700 Hz. Then, DNA barcoding was also conducted on the four collected species of Culicidae: Armigeres subalbatus (Coquillett, 1898), Uranotaenia nivipleura Leicester, 1908, Ur . macferlanei Edwards, 1914, and Mimomyia luzonensis (Ludlow, 1905), and the mitochondrial genome of Corethrella nippon Miyagi 1980 was first sequenced and annotated. Mitogenome‐based phylogenetic analysis confirmed that C. nippon formed a clade with Corethrella condita Borkent, 2008. In our analysis, family Corethrellidae clustered with Culicidae; however, the inter‐family phylogenetic relationships within Culicoidea appeared paraphyletic, particularly concerning family Chaoboridae. Future studies should explore a greater variety of frog species across more diverse regions and use other genomic datasets beyond the mitogenome to infer a more robust deep topology at the superfamily level and further broaden our understanding of host preference.
Journal Article
Mosquito feeding behavior and how it influences residual malaria transmission across Africa
The antimalarial efficacy of the most important vector control interventions—long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS)—primarily protect against mosquitoes’ biting people when they are in bed and indoors. Mosquito bites taken outside of these times contribute to residual transmission which determines the maximum effectiveness of current malaria prevention. The likelihood mosquitoes feed outside the time of day when LLINs and IRS can protect people is poorly understood, and the proportion of bites received outdoors may be higher after prolonged vector control. A systematic review of mosquito and human behavior is used to quantify and estimate the public health impact of outdoor biting across Africa. On average 79% of bites by the major malaria vectors occur during the time when people are in bed. This estimate is substantially lower than previous predictions, with results suggesting a nearly 10% lower proportion of bites taken at the time when people are beneath LLINs since the year 2000. Across Africa, this higher outdoor transmission is predicted to result in an estimated 10.6 million additional malaria cases annually if universal LLIN and IRS coverage was achieved. Higher outdoor biting diminishes the cases of malaria averted by vector control. This reduction in LLIN effectiveness appears to be exacerbated in areas where mosquito populations are resistant to insecticides used in bed nets, but no association was found between physiological resistance and outdoor biting. Substantial spatial heterogeneity in mosquito biting behavior between communities could contribute to differences in effectiveness of malaria control across Africa.
Journal Article
Diurnal biting of malaria mosquitoes in the Central African Republic indicates residual transmission may be “out of control”
Malaria control interventions target nocturnal feeding of the Anopheles vectors indoors to reduce parasite transmission. Mass deployment of insecticidal bed nets and indoor residual spraying with insecticides, however, may induce mosquitoes to blood-feed at places and at times when humans are not protected. These changes can set a ceiling to the efficacy of these control interventions, resulting in residual malaria transmission. Despite its relevance for disease transmission, the daily rhythmicity of Anopheles biting behavior is poorly documented, most investigations focusing on crepuscular hours and nighttime. By performing mosquito collections 48-h around the clock, both indoors and outdoors, and by modeling biting events using circular statistics, we evaluated the full daily rhythmicity of biting in urban Bangui, Central African Republic. While the bulk of biting by Anopheles gambiae, Anopheles coluzzii, Anopheles funestus, and Anopheles pharoensis occurred from sunset to sunrise outdoors, unexpectedly ∼20 to 30% of indoor biting occurred during daytime. As biting events did not fully conform to any family of circular distributions, we fitted mixtures of von Mises distributions and found that observations were consistent with three compartments, corresponding indoors to populations of early-night, late-night, and daytime-biting events. It is not known whether these populations of biting events correspond to spatiotemporal heterogeneities or also to distinct mosquito genotypes/phenotypes belonging consistently to each compartment. Prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum in nighttime- and daytime-biting mosquitoes was the same. As >50% of biting occurs in Bangui when people are unprotected, malaria control interventions outside the domiciliary environment should be envisaged.
Journal Article
BASNEF behavioral transformation: effect of empowerment program on children’s knowledge, attitude, self-efficacy, and practice of nail biting
Background
Nail-biting or onychophagia is a common phenomenon affecting children. Excessive nail biting is associated with several adverse consequences beyond mere appearance. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of an empowerment program based on the BASNEF model on children’s knowledge, attitude, self-efficacy, and nail-biting practice.
Method
A quasi-experimental study was conducted in the pediatric wards of Menoufia University Hospital and Benha University Hospital. A convenience sample of 135 children (6 to 18 years) was randomly assigned to the study or control group who received routine care. To effectively measure the dependent variables, four questionnaires were developed and tested for content validity, stability reliability and internal consistency. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) identified the underlying factors while the findings of the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) demonstrated a satisfactory fit. The researcher developed the session objectives, learning activities and designed a booklet with relevant content. The participants of the study group were divided into sub-groups (six children and their mothers) who attended four empowerment sessions based on the BASNEF model, emphasizing (a) age-appropriate information, (b) fostering a positive attitude towards quitting nail-biting, (c) discovering the subjective norms, perceived social expectations, and influences of nail-biting behaviors, and (d) equipping children with enabling factors to quit. The comparison between the two groups was done using the Mann-Whitney (U) test, while the Wilcoxon Signed Rank test conducted for the intragroup comparison.
Results
There was a significant improvement in knowledge about nail-biting among children in both groups and a noticeable decline in the nail-biting habits/practices among children in the study group (22.42 ± 5.69) compared to the control group (42.76 ± 6.75). The attitude scores towards nail-biting significantly improved among children in the study group compared to the control group with appositive impact on children’s self-efficacy in controlling the habit (
P
< 0.001 for each).
Conclusion
The empowerment program based on the BASNEF model effectively improved children’s knowledge, attitude, self-efficacy, and practice of nail biting.
Trial registration number
Trial registration number: NCT06471153, ClinicalTrails.gov, Retrospectively registered June 18th, 2024), URL of trial registry record:
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT06471153
.
Journal Article
Risk factors for dental anxiety and cooperativeness in pediatric patients with or without oral habits (bruxism, nail biting, and thumb sucking)
Introduction
Anxiety and fear can deter patients from visiting dentists and can deteriorate their oral health. In children, this can also affect their cooperativeness. No studies exist on potential links between oral habits and dental fear and children’s cooperation. Moreover, predictors of dental anxiety and patient cooperativeness are controversial. Therefore, this study was conducted with the objectives of (1) evaluating associations between oral habits and children’s dental fear and cooperativeness as well as (2) potential risk factors of dental anxiety, cooperation, and oral habits.
Methods
This quasi-experimental study was performed on 169 child patients aged from 4 to 10 years needing dental treatment (82 boys [6.9 ± 1.7 years], 87 girls [6.7 ± 1.7 years]). After a diagnostic visit, patients were treated. Their anxiety and behavior were evaluated through Venham scales. Their cooperativeness was examined using Frankl scale. The following factors were collected: oral habits (bruxism, thumb sucking, and nail biting), children’s and parents’ demographics and education, history of dental treatment, continuation of the habit, if the parents sought advice to quit the habit, previous treatment history (its type, cooperativeness, pain). The associations between anxiety/cooperativeness with these factors were assessed using chi-square, Spearman correlation coefficient, and multiple linear regressions (α = 0.05).
Results
The average Venham and Frankl scores were 1.45 ± 1.45 and 0.76 ± 0.95, respectively. The multiple linear regression identified the children’s cooperation in visiting the previous dentist, the pain experienced during treatment by the previous dentist, and the current treatment type to be associated with both Venham/Frankl scores (
P
< 0.05). None of the assessed oral habits were found to be associated with the anxiety and cooperativeness of children. Definitive risk factors of children’s anxiety and cooperativeness (according to both Venham and Frankl scales) were their previous cooperativeness in the previous dental treatment session, the pain experienced during treatment by the previous dentist, and the type of the treatment administered in the current dental session. The scales were excellently correlated with each other.
Conclusions
The children’s anxiety and cooperativeness are not associated with their evaluated oral habits ‘bruxism, nail biting, or thumb sucking’. Risk factors for children’s cooperation and anxiety are their previous experiences of pain and previous cooperativeness as well as the current treatment type.
Journal Article
Review: Early life predisposing factors for biting in pigs
The pig industry faces many animal welfare issues. Among these, biting behaviour has a high incidence. It is indicative of an existing problem in biters and is a source of physical damage and psychological stress for the victims. We categorize this behaviour into aggressive and non-aggressive biting, the latter often being directed towards the tail. This review focusses specifically on predisposing factors in early life, comprising the prenatal and postnatal periods up to weaning, for the expression of aggressive and non-aggressive biting later in life. The influence of personality and coping style has been examined in a few studies. It varies according to these studies and, thus, further evaluation is needed. Regarding the effect of environmental factors, the number of scientific papers is low (less than five papers for most factors). No clear influence of prenatal factors has been identified to date. Aggressive biting is reduced by undernutrition, cross-fostering and socialization before weaning. Non-aggressive biting is increased by undernutrition, social stress due to competition and cross-fostering. These latter three factors are highly dependent on litter size at birth. The use of familiar odours may contribute to reducing biting when pigs are moved from one environment to another by alleviating the level of stress associated with novelty. Even though the current environment in which pigs are expressing biting behaviours is of major importance, the pre-weaning environment should be optimized to reduce the likelihood of this problem.
Journal Article
Modeling Intraday Aedes-human exposure dynamics enhances dengue risk prediction
Cities are the hot spots for global dengue transmission. The increasing availability of human movement data obtained from mobile devices presents a substantial opportunity to address this prevailing public health challenge. Leveraging mobile phone data to guide vector control can be relevant for numerous mosquito-borne diseases, where the influence of human commuting patterns impacts not only the dissemination of pathogens but also the daytime exposure to vectors. This study utilizes hourly mobile phone records of approximately 3 million urban residents and daily dengue case counts at the address level, spanning 8 years (2015–2022), to evaluate the importance of modeling human-mosquito interactions at an hourly resolution in elucidating sub-neighborhood dengue occurrence in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro. The findings of this urban study demonstrate that integrating knowledge of
Aedes
biting behavior with human movement patterns can significantly improve inferences on urban dengue occurrence. The inclusion of spatial eigenvectors and vulnerability indicators such as healthcare access, urban centrality measures, and estimates for immunity as predictors, allowed a further fine-tuning of the spatial model. The proposed concept enabled the explanation of 77% of the deviance in sub-neighborhood DENV infections. The transfer of these results to optimize vector control in urban settings bears significant epidemiological implications, presumably leading to lower infection rates of
Aedes
-borne diseases in the future. It highlights how increasingly collected human movement patterns can be utilized to locate zones of potential DENV transmission, identified not only by mosquito abundance but also connectivity to high incidence areas considering
Aedes
peak biting hours. These findings hold particular significance given the ongoing projection of global dengue incidence and urban sprawl.
Journal Article