Social bonds are necessary for many mammals to survive and reproduce successfully. These bonds (i.e. pair-bonds, friendships, filial bonds) are characterized by different periods of development, longevity and strength. Socially monogamous species display certain behaviors not seen in many other mammals, such as adult pair-bonding and male parenting. In our studies of prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) and titi monkeys (Callicebus cupreus), we have examined the neurohormonal basis of these bonds. Here, we discuss the evidence from voles that aspects of adolescent and adult social behavior are shaped by early experience, including changes to sensory systems and connections, neuropeptide systems such as oxytocin and vasopressin, and alterations in stress responses. We will compare this with what is known about these processes during development and adulthood in other mammalian species, both monogamous and non-monogamous, and how our current knowledge in voles can be used to understand the development of and variation in social bonds. Humans are endlessly fascinated by the variety of social relationships and family types displayed by animal species, including our own. Social relationships can be characterized by directionality (either uni- or bi-directional), longevity, developmental epoch (infant, juvenile or adult) and strength. Research on the neurobiology of social bonds in animals has focused primarily on 'socially monogamous' species, because of their long-term, strong adult affiliative bonds. In this Review, we attempt to understand how the ability and propensity to form these bonds (or lack thereof), as well as the display of social behaviors more generally, are transmitted both genomically and non-genomically via variation in parenting in monogamous and non-monogamous species.

Vector-borne diseases, such as dengue, Zika and malaria, are a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. These diseases have proven difficult to control and currently available management tools are insufficient to eliminate them in many regions. Gene drives have the potential to revolutionize vector-borne disease control. This suite of technologies has advanced rapidly in recent years as a result of the availability of new, more efficient gene editing technologies. Gene drives can favorably bias the inheritance of a linked disease-refractory gene, which could possibly be exploited (i) to generate a vector population incapable of transmitting disease or (ii) to disrupt an essential gene for viability or fertility, which could eventually eliminate a population. Importantly, gene drives vary in characteristics such as their transmission efficiency, confinability and reversibility, and their potential to develop resistance to the drive mechanism. Here, we discuss recent advancements in the gene drive field, and contrast the benefits and limitations of a variety of technologies, as well as approaches to overcome these limitations. We also discuss the current state of each gene drive technology and the technical considerations that need to be addressed on the pathway to field implementation. While there are still many obstacles to overcome, recent progress has brought us closer than ever before to genetic-based vector modification as a tool to support vector-borne disease elimination efforts worldwide.

How mosquitoes determine which individuals to bite has important epidemiological consequences. This choice is not random; most mosquitoes specialize in one or a few vertebrate host species, and some individuals in a host population are preferred over others. Mosquitoes will also blood feed from other hosts when their preferred is no longer abundant, but the mechanisms mediating these shifts between hosts, and preferences for certain individuals within a host species, remain unclear. Here, we show that olfactory learning may contribute to Aedes aegypti mosquito biting preferences and host shifts. Training and testing to scents of humans and other host species showed that mosquitoes can aversively learn the scent of specific humans and single odorants and learn to avoid the scent of rats (but not chickens). Using pharmacological interventions, RNAi, and CRISPR gene editing, we found that modification of the dopamine-1 receptor suppressed their learning abilities. We further show through combined electrophysiological and behavioral recordings from tethered flying mosquitoes that these odors evoke changes in both behavior and antennal lobe (AL) neuronal responses and that dopamine strongly modulates odor-evoked responses in AL neurons. Not only do these results provide direct experimental evidence that olfactory learning in mosquitoes can play an epidemiological role, but collectively, they also provide neuroanatomical and functional demonstration of the role of dopamine in mediating this learning-induced plasticity, for the first time in a disease vector insect.

Localizing the sources of stimuli is essential. Most organisms cannot eat, mate, or escape without knowing where the relevant stimuli originate. For many, if not most, animals, olfaction plays an essential role in search. While microorganismal chemotaxis is relatively well understood, in larger animals the algorithms and mechanisms of olfactory search remain mysterious. In this symposium, we will present recent advances in our understanding of olfactory search in flies and rodents. Despite their different sizes and behaviors, both species must solve similar problems, including meeting the challenges of turbulent airflow, sampling the environment to optimize olfactory information, and incorporating odor information into broader navigational systems.

Mosquitoes rely on the integration of multiple sensory cues, including olfactory, visual, and thermal stimuli, to detect, identify, and locate their hosts [1-4]. Although we increasingly know more about the role of chemosensory behaviors in mediating mosquito-host interactions [1], the role of visual cues is comparatively less studied [3], and how the combination of olfactory and visual information is integrated in the mosquito brain remains unknown. In the present study, we used a tethered-flight light-emitting diode (LED) arena, which allowed for quantitative control over the stimuli, and a control theoretic model to show that CO₂ modulates mosquito steering responses toward vertical bars. To gain insight into the neural basis of this olfactory and visual coupling, we conducted two-photon microscopy experiments in a new GCaMP6s-expressing mosquito line. Imaging revealed that neuropil regions within the lobula exhibited strong responses to objects, such as a bar, but showed little response to a large-field motion. Approximately 20% of the lobula neuropil we imaged were modulated when CO₂ preceded the presentation of a moving bar. By contrast, responses in the antennal (olfactory) lobe were not modulated by visual stimuli presented before or after an olfactory stimulus. Together, our results suggest that asymmetric coupling between these sensory systems provides enhanced steering responses to discrete objects.

Geostationary satellites have provided routine, high temporal resolution Earth observations since the 1970s. Despite the long period of record, use of these data in climate studies has been limited for numerous reasons, among them that no central archive of geostationary data for all international satellites exists, full temporal and spatial resolution data are voluminous, and diverse calibration and navigation formats encumber the uniform processing needed for multisatellite climate studies. The International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) set the stage for overcoming these issues by archiving a subset of the full-resolution geostationary data at ~10-km resolution at 3-hourly intervals since 1983. Recent efforts at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center to provide convenient access to these data include remapping the data to a standard map projection, recalibrating the data to optimize temporal homogeneity, extending the record of observations back to 1980, and reformatting the data for broad public distribution. The Gridded Satellite (GridSat) dataset includes observations from the visible, infrared window, and infrared water vapor channels. Data are stored in Network Common Data Format (netCDF) using standards that permit a wide variety of tools and libraries to process the data quickly and easily. A novel data layering approach, together with appropriate satellite and file metadata, allows users to access GridSat data at varying levels of complexity based on their needs. The result is a climate data record already in use by the meteorological community. Examples include reanalysis of tropical cyclones, studies of global precipitation, and detection and tracking of the intertropical convergence zone.

A 0.5-NA extreme ultraviolet micro-field exposure tool has been installed and commissioned at beamline 12.0.1.4 of the Advanced Light Source synchrotron facility at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Commissioning has demonstrated a patterning resolution of 13 nm half-pitch with annular 0.35-0.55 illumination; a patterning resolution of 8 nm half-pitch with annular 0.1-0.2 illumination; critical dimension (CD) uniformity of 0.7 nm 1σ on 16 nm nominal CD across 80% of the 200 um x 30 um aberration corrected field of view; aerial image vibration relative to the wafer of 0.75 nn RMS and focus control and focus stepping better than 15 nm.

Drosophila melanogaster is an established model for neuroscience research with relevance in biology and medicine. Until recently, research on the Drosophila brain was hindered by the lack of a complete and uniform nomenclature. Recognizing this, Ito et al. (2014) produced an authoritative nomenclature for the adult insect brain, using Drosophila as the reference. Here, we extend this nomenclature to the adult thoracic and abdominal neuromeres, the ventral nerve cord (VNC), to provide an anatomical description of this major component of the Drosophila nervous system. The VNC is the locus for the reception and integration of sensory information and involved in generating most of the locomotor actions that underlie fly behaviors. The aim is to create a nomenclature, definitions, and spatial boundaries for the Drosophila VNC that are consistent with other insects. The work establishes an anatomical framework that provides a powerful tool for analyzing the functional organization of the VNC.