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Bionomics, blood-host plasticity and its effect on host-choice and feeding behaviour of tsetse species from selected human- wildlife interface in Tanzania
No full textMSc. DissertationTsetse flies are vectors of trypanosome parasites which cause
human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) in human and African animal
trypanosomiasis (AAT) in livestock across Sub-Saharan Africa.
These flies feed exclusively on animals’ blood. It is during blood-
feeding process of these flies; un-infected host get infected by
parasites carried by infected vector. Several tsetse controls
programs have been implemented so as to minimize the incidences
of trypanosome infections; however, the human-wildlife interfaces
remain as the risk areas where both livestock and human being can
be infected with trypanosome parasites. Therefore, surveillance and
control of these flies is important so as to minimize the African
trypanosomiasis’ risks in these areas. This study assessed the
species composition, abundance and phylogenetic relatedness of
wild collected tsetse flies from selected human-wildlife-livestock
interface in Tanzania. Variation in host choice and feeding
behaviours of predominant species’ (Glossina morsitans) siblings
whose parents were blood-fed on different host species were also
investigated. The tsetse flies were trapped seasonally in two
selected wards within Morogoro Rural district. The study wards and
villages were purposively selected targeting those which are
bordering to protected areas. In each ward, baited NZI, Pyramidal
and Biconical traps were deployed at 200m distance apart from each
other for 72 hours before rotating to the next trapping sites. Trapped
flies were collected from the traps after 24 hours then identified
morphologically and later confirmed using the Polymerase Chain
Reaction (PCR). Moreover, a colony of tsetse flies were established
from pupa obtained from tsetse and vector control centre, Tanga.
Hatched flies were maintained on selected hosts blood until the
offsprings were obtained for the experiments. The host-choice and
feeding behaviours experiments were carried out in large semi-field
cage containing four small equal size screen cages. During the
experiments, individual host was placed in a screen cage which
allowed flies to enter through openings on each side. The groups of flies (20 per replicate) colour-marked differently basing on their
parents’ bloodmeal hosts, were released from the centre of large
semi-field cage and left to forage for 24 hours before being
collected, then, sorted basing on the location, feeding status and
parents’ bloodmeal. The total of 784 tsetseflies were collected;
Glossina pallidipes (n=371; 47.32%) and Glossina morsitans
morsitans (n=413; 52.68%). Of these, 96 flies (80-female, 16-male)
were blood-fed; 57(48-female and 9-male) G. pallidipes and 39(32-
female, 7-male) G.m. morsitans. Overall abundance of collected
tsetse significantly varied across surveyed wards (χ2=4.597, df=1, p=
0.032), villages (χ2=9.491, df=3, p= 0.023), habitats (χ2=17.239,
df=2, p<0.001), months (χ2=13.507, df=3, p= 0.004) and deployed
traps (χ2=6.348, df= 2, p= 0.04). About 78.82% of tsetse flies were
collected from Kisaki ward (n=618; p<0.001) and 21.17% (n=166;
p=0.032) from Bwakila chini. The highest proportion of these flies
were collected in Mbojoge village (62%; n= 489) followed by
Kiperege (18%; n=141) and Sebo (16%; n=129). NZI traps collected
the highest proportion of tsetse flies (n=422; 54%; 4.98 FTD)
followed by Pyramidal traps (n=281; 36%; 4.01 FTD) and Biconical
traps (n=81; 10%; 1.87 FTD). Similarly, the large proportion of tsetse
flies (78.06%) were collected in bushed grassland habitat (n=612;
55.41 FTD) followed by woodland habitat (16.45%; n=129; 20.56
FTD) and farmland (5.5%; n=43; 7.17 FTD). The phylogenetic
analysis revealed genetic relatedness of tsetse flies collected in
Tanzania with those collected from Nigeria and Senegal.
Furthermore, a total of 213 flies (72.95% of the recovered) were
attracted to the hosts. The number of flies attracted to different hosts
varied significantly (χ24= 33.685, p= 0.0001); Rodent (n=80,
p=0.006), Rabbit (n=59, p=0.331), Guinea pig (n=49, p=0.057) and
squirrel (n=25, p=0.005). The number of flies attracted to their
parent’s blood meal source varied significantly (χ212 = 56.476,
p<0.001); rabbits (n= 35, 59.32%, p<0.001), rodent (n=25, 31.25%,
p=0.043) and guinea pig (n= 19, 38.78%, p=0.45). But, only 39 flies
(18.31% of total attracted) bloodfed on the hosts; Guinea pigs (n=10,
25.64%), Rodents (n=23, 58.97%), Rabbits (n=6, 15.38%) and Squirrels (n=0,0.0%). There was significant variation in number of
flies that fed successively across hosts (χ24=49.478, p<0.001). The
present study recommends NZI and Pyramidal traps for tsetse fly
control at the interface and wet season as appropriate season for
conducting control activities. Also, the study confirms the presence
of the hosts’ differential attractiveness to flies but failed to explain
observed behaviours in relation to genetic inheritance. Therefore,
future studies are recommended to investigate the effect of
bloodmeal sources on tsetse fly siblings’ behaviours across filial
generations using small mammals.The Africa Centre of Excellence for Innovative Rodent Pest Management and Biosensor
Technology Development (ACE II IRPM-BTD)
Bionomics, blood-host plasticity and its effect on host-choice and feeding behaviour of tsetse species from selected human- wildlife interface in Tanzania
No full textMSc. DissertationTsetse flies are vectors of trypanosome parasites which cause
human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) in human and African animal
trypanosomiasis (AAT) in livestock across Sub-Saharan Africa.
These flies feed exclusively on animals’ blood. It is during blood-
feeding process of these flies; un-infected host get infected by
parasites carried by infected vector. Several tsetse controls
programs have been implemented so as to minimize the incidences
of trypanosome infections; however, the human-wildlife interfaces
remain as the risk areas where both livestock and human being can
be infected with trypanosome parasites. Therefore, surveillance and
control of these flies is important so as to minimize the African
trypanosomiasis’ risks in these areas. This study assessed the
species composition, abundance and phylogenetic relatedness of
wild collected tsetse flies from selected human-wildlife-livestock
interface in Tanzania. Variation in host choice and feeding
behaviours of predominant species’ (Glossina morsitans) siblings
whose parents were blood-fed on different host species were also
investigated. The tsetse flies were trapped seasonally in two
selected wards within Morogoro Rural district. The study wards and
villages were purposively selected targeting those which are
bordering to protected areas. In each ward, baited NZI, Pyramidal
and Biconical traps were deployed at 200m distance apart from each
other for 72 hours before rotating to the next trapping sites. Trapped
flies were collected from the traps after 24 hours then identified
morphologically and later confirmed using the Polymerase Chain
Reaction (PCR). Moreover, a colony of tsetse flies were established
from pupa obtained from tsetse and vector control centre, Tanga.
Hatched flies were maintained on selected hosts blood until the
offsprings were obtained for the experiments. The host-choice and
feeding behaviours experiments were carried out in large semi-field
cage containing four small equal size screen cages. During the
experiments, individual host was placed in a screen cage which
allowed flies to enter through openings on each side. The groups of flies (20 per replicate) colour-marked differently basing on their
parents’ bloodmeal hosts, were released from the centre of large
semi-field cage and left to forage for 24 hours before being
collected, then, sorted basing on the location, feeding status and
parents’ bloodmeal. The total of 784 tsetseflies were collected;
Glossina pallidipes (n=371; 47.32%) and Glossina morsitans
morsitans (n=413; 52.68%). Of these, 96 flies (80-female, 16-male)
were blood-fed; 57(48-female and 9-male) G. pallidipes and 39(32-
female, 7-male) G.m. morsitans. Overall abundance of collected
tsetse significantly varied across surveyed wards (χ2=4.597, df=1, p=
0.032), villages (χ2=9.491, df=3, p= 0.023), habitats (χ2=17.239,
df=2, p<0.001), months (χ2=13.507, df=3, p= 0.004) and deployed
traps (χ2=6.348, df= 2, p= 0.04). About 78.82% of tsetse flies were
collected from Kisaki ward (n=618; p<0.001) and 21.17% (n=166;
p=0.032) from Bwakila chini. The highest proportion of these flies
were collected in Mbojoge village (62%; n= 489) followed by
Kiperege (18%; n=141) and Sebo (16%; n=129). NZI traps collected
the highest proportion of tsetse flies (n=422; 54%; 4.98 FTD)
followed by Pyramidal traps (n=281; 36%; 4.01 FTD) and Biconical
traps (n=81; 10%; 1.87 FTD). Similarly, the large proportion of tsetse
flies (78.06%) were collected in bushed grassland habitat (n=612;
55.41 FTD) followed by woodland habitat (16.45%; n=129; 20.56
FTD) and farmland (5.5%; n=43; 7.17 FTD). The phylogenetic
analysis revealed genetic relatedness of tsetse flies collected in
Tanzania with those collected from Nigeria and Senegal.
Furthermore, a total of 213 flies (72.95% of the recovered) were
attracted to the hosts. The number of flies attracted to different hosts
varied significantly (χ24= 33.685, p= 0.0001); Rodent (n=80,
p=0.006), Rabbit (n=59, p=0.331), Guinea pig (n=49, p=0.057) and
squirrel (n=25, p=0.005). The number of flies attracted to their
parent’s blood meal source varied significantly (χ212 = 56.476,
p<0.001); rabbits (n= 35, 59.32%, p<0.001), rodent (n=25, 31.25%,
p=0.043) and guinea pig (n= 19, 38.78%, p=0.45). But, only 39 flies
(18.31% of total attracted) bloodfed on the hosts; Guinea pigs (n=10,
25.64%), Rodents (n=23, 58.97%), Rabbits (n=6, 15.38%) and Squirrels (n=0,0.0%). There was significant variation in number of
flies that fed successively across hosts (χ24=49.478, p<0.001). The
present study recommends NZI and Pyramidal traps for tsetse fly
control at the interface and wet season as appropriate season for
conducting control activities. Also, the study confirms the presence
of the hosts’ differential attractiveness to flies but failed to explain
observed behaviours in relation to genetic inheritance. Therefore,
future studies are recommended to investigate the effect of
bloodmeal sources on tsetse fly siblings’ behaviours across filial
generations using small mammals.The Africa Centre of Excellence for Innovative Rodent Pest Management and Biosensor
Technology Development (ACE II IRPM-BTD)
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
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