@article{evans_hintz_jones_shiau_solano_drake_murdock_2019, title={Microclimate and Larval Habitat Density Predict Adult Aedes albopictus Abundance in Urban Areas}, volume={101}, ISSN={["1476-1645"]}, DOI={10.4269/ajtmh.19-0220}, abstractNote={The Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, transmits several arboviruses of public health importance, including chikungunya and dengue. Since its introduction to the United States in 1985, the species has invaded more than 40 states, including temperate areas not previously at risk of Aedes-transmitted arboviruses. Mathematical models incorporate climatic variables in predictions of site-specific Ae. albopictus abundances to identify human populations at risk of disease. However, these models rely on coarse resolutions of environmental data that may not accurately represent the climatic profile experienced by mosquitoes in the field, particularly in climatically heterogeneous urban areas. In this study, we pair field surveys of larval and adult Ae. albopictus mosquitoes with site-specific microclimate data across a range of land use types to investigate the relationships between microclimate, density of larval habitat, and adult mosquito abundance and determine whether these relationships change across an urban gradient. We find no evidence for a difference in larval habitat density or adult abundance between rural, suburban, and urban land classes. Adult abundance increases with increasing larval habitat density, which itself is dependent on microclimate. Adult abundance is strongly explained by microclimate variables, demonstrating that theoretically derived, laboratory-parameterized relationships in ectotherm physiology apply to the field. Our results support the continued use of temperature-dependent models to predict Ae. albopictus abundance in urban areas.}, number={2}, journal={AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE AND HYGIENE}, author={Evans, Michelle V. and Hintz, Carl W. and Jones, Lindsey and Shiau, Justine and Solano, Nicole and Drake, John M. and Murdock, Courtney C.}, year={2019}, pages={362–370} }
 @article{alexy_hintz_hughes_taniguchi_lindsey_2015, title={Paley's watchmaker analogy and prebiotic synthetic chemistry in surfactant assemblies. Formaldehyde scavenging by pyrroles leading to porphyrins as a case study}, volume={13}, ISSN={["1477-0539"]}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84942899459&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.1039/c5ob01409c}, abstractNote={The formation of elaborate molecules is regarded as an essential first step in prebiotic chemistry, but how such transformations could spontaneously occur, particularly in dilute aqueous conditions, remains poorly understood. Here, micromolar concentrations of a 3,4-dialkylpyrrole and excess formaldehyde in aqueous micellar solution (pH 7) at 25 or 50 °C were found to give good yield (up to 40%) of the lipophilic octaalkylporphyrin. The reaction occurs despite a mean occupancy number of ∼0.1 pyrrole molecules/micelle, and <1 of 10,000 micelles initially containing the requisite 4 pyrrole molecules to form the porphyrin assuming a (random) Poisson distribution. Yields of up to 13% were observed in large, unilamellar phosphatidylcholine vesicles, wherein there are ∼15,000 pyrrole molecules per vesicle membrane. Double-labeling crossover experiments (of 3,4-diethylpyrrole and 3,4-dimethylpyrrole) examined by mass spectrometry revealed facile exchange processes of reactive constituents among both micelle and vesicle surfactant assemblies. Together, the exchange of pyrrolic reactants among micelles and the thermodynamic driving force for tetrapyrrole formation overcome the apparent statistical odds against reaction. The fruitful exchange, accumulation and reaction of minute quantities of reactants in aqueous-surfactant assemblies suggest a general means for formation of prebiotically valuable constituents, even when the statistical odds at the outset are overwhelmingly improbable.}, number={39}, journal={ORGANIC & BIOMOLECULAR CHEMISTRY}, publisher={Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)}, author={Alexy, Eric J. and Hintz, Carl W. and Hughes, Hubert M. and Taniguchi, Masahiko and Lindsey, Jonathan S.}, year={2015}, pages={10025–10031} }