Bio-ecology of malaria vectors in an endemic area,Southeast of Iran

Objective:To determine some bio-ecological aspects of malaria vectors in Jask County,where is targeted for malaria elimination in the national program.Methods:Mosquitoes were collected monthly during 2013-2014 using different collection methods.Subsequently,ELISA test was used to detect the human blood index of mosquitoes.The susceptibility status of Anopheles stephensi was evaluated against the diagnostic dosages of seven WHO recommended insecticides.Results:A total of 3 650 female and 4 736 Anopheles larvae were collected including Anopheles stephensi,Anopheles culicifacies s.l.,Anopheles dthali.Anopheles fluviatilis s.l.,Anopheles moghulensis and Anopheles turkhodi species.Anopheles stephensi was the dominant collected species on human baits and indoors with high rate of unfed and gravid specimens in internal and external window traps.Human blood index was calculated as 14.3%for this species.It was also found to be resistant to DDT and Dieldrin.Conclusions:The collected species had a wide range of habitats,and resting behaviors.With regarding to the presence of most important malaria vectors in Jask.control of the disease may be so complicated;as based on the weather condition it can be transmitted during the whole year,except for cold months.With this strong potential of transmission,existing population movements in the area may lead to imported cases of malaria and local outbreak(s).So,more specific studies on malaria vectors in high risk areas of Jask County are recommended.

Environmental characteristics of anopheline mosquito larval habitats in a malaria endemic area in Iran

Objective:To determine the effects of environmental parameters of lanal habitats on distribution and abundance of anopheline mosquitoes in Rudan county of Iran.Methods:This cross-sectional study was conducted during the mosquito breeding season from February 2010 to October 2011. The anopheline larvae were collected using the standard dipping method,the specimens were identified using a morphological-based key.Simultaneously with larvay collection,environmental parameters of the larval habitats including water current and turbidity,sunlight situation,and substrate type of habitats were recorded.Water samples were taken from breeding sites during lanal collection.Before collection of samples,the water temperature was measured.The water samples were analysed for turbidity,conductivity,total alkalinity,total dissolved solid.pH and ions including chloride,sulphate,calcium,and magnesium.Statistical correlation analysis and ANOVA test were used to analyze the association between environmental parameters and larval mosquito abundance.Results:In total 2 973 lanae of the genus Anopheles were collected from 25 larval habitats and identified using morphological characters.They comprised of six species: An.dthali(53.21%),An.stephensi(24.22%),An.culicifacies(14.06%),An.superpictus(4.07%),An. turkhudi(3.30%),and An.apoci(1.14%).The most abundant species was An.dthali which were collected from all of the study areas.Larvae of two malaria vectors.An.dthali and An.stephensi, co-existed and collected in a wide range of habitats with different physico-chemical parameters. The most common larval habitats were man-made sites such as sand mining pools with clean and still water.The anopheline mosquitoes also preferred permanent habitats in sunlight with sandy substrates.The results indicated that there was a significant relationship between mean physicochemical parameters such as water temperature,conductivity,total alkalinity,sulphate,chloride, and mosquito distribution and abundance.Conclusions:The results of this study showed a correlation between certain environmental parameters and mosquito lanae abundance,and these parameters should be considered in planning and implementing larval control programs.

Resistance status of main malaria vector, Liston (Diptera:Culicidae) to insecticides in a malaria Endemic Area,Southern Iran

Objective: To evaluate the susceptibility of Anopheles stephensi(An. stephensi) Liston, the main malaria vector in southern Iran, to WHO recommended insecticides. Methods: Larvae of An. stephensi were collected from three different larval habitats in both urban and rural area of Bandar Abbas city and one rural area in Rudan county southern Iran. WHO standard method was used for evaluation of adult and larval mosquito susceptibility. Bendiocarb, permethrin, lambda-cyhalothrin, deltamethrin as insecticide and temephos and chlorpyriphos as larvicide were used at the diagnostic dosages recommended by WHO. Results: Findings of this study showed all larval populations of An. stephensi were completely susceptible to temephos and candidate for resistance to chlorpyriphos. Adult mosquitoes in rural areas of Bandar Abbas city were resistant to pyrethroid and carbamate insecticides. Conclusion: Comparison of the results of this survey with previous studies indicates that the resistance to pyrethroids and carbamates in this malaria endemic region is increasing. Wide use of pesticides in agriculture is certainly effective in increasing resistance. The inter-sectoral coordination and collaboration in health and agriculture seem to be necessary to manage insecticide resistance in malaria vectors.

Effect of methane content and the oscillating electric field between electrodes on atmospheric Ar/methane plasma jet and DLC coating deposition

In this work,the effects of the methane gas flow and the internal oscillating electric field between electrodes on radio-frequency(RF)atmospheric pressure argon/methane plasma jet and process of diamond-like carbon(DLC)film deposition have been investigated.Properties of RF atmospheric Ar/methane plasma jet such as active species density,length,electron temperature,appearance and ionization process of argon/methane plasma jet are changed due to the changing of methane flow content and electric field vector and its gradient.With increasing methane flow,the formation of C2 hydrocarbon and CH band content is decreased because injected electrical energy to a mixture of Ar/methane gases is insufficient to stabilize the ionization process of methane gas and the electrical-chemical reaction rate is decreased.With shortening the gas gap between two electrodes,electric field strength and its gradient are increased leading to more energy injection to the electron.Electrical-chemical reactions are strengthened leading to increasing the CH band content.These phenomena introduce the Ar/methane plasma jet in different modes causing to deposit the DLC film with different structures and properties.With using quartz glass and alumina ceramic as dielectric barriers tubes,RF atmospheric pressure Ar/methane plasma jet has been used to deposit DLC coating in different modes.Increasing methane content and shortening the gas gap leads to decreasing sp3 bonded content and the quality of the deposited film.

Site Selectivity of One Hydroxyl Group Bonded on the Surface of Finite (5, 0) Zigzag Carbon Nanotube

We have investigated the stability, geometrical structure, electronic properties and vibrational spectra of different isomers of hydroxylate (5, 0) zigzag carbon nanotube (CNT) with 60 C atoms and 10 hydrogen (C60H10) by using all-electron density-functional-theory (DFT) methods. Stable arrangements of these molecules were found by means of full geometry optimizations using B3LYP/6-31G(d) level of theory. From symmetrical point of view, four isomers of HO-C60H10 are possible when -OH bonds to the surface. We observed that the molecular properties strongly depend on the position of bonded hydroxyl group on the surface of CNT.

Local Energy Dissipation/Transition in Field Effect Molecular Nanoelectronic Systems:a Quantum Mechanical Methodology

Electronic and vibrational intra-molecular thermoelectric-like ?gures of merit(ZT_γ~M) are introduced for single molecule nanoelectronic system, using quantum theory of atoms in molecule. These ?gures of merit are used to describe intra-molecular or local energy dissipation/transition(as in Joule-like, Peltier-like, and Thomson-like effects) in?eld effect molecular devices. The ZT_γ~M?gures of merit are computed for two proposed molecular devices. Analysis of the results shows that ZT_γ~Mdepends almost non-linearly on the electric ?eld(EF) strength. Also, the intra-molecular Joule-like heating plays a dominant role in the local energy dissipation, and intra-molecular Thomson-like heating is generally larger than the intra-molecular Peltier-like heating. Introduction of ZT_γ~Mcan be applied to extend the analysis of thermoelectric heating down to molecular and intra-molecular levels, and thus can be used to predict characteristics and performance of any candidate multi-terminal or multi-pole molecular systems prior to their application in real nanoelectronic circuits.