Aquatain® Causes Anti-Oviposition, Egg Retention, Oocyte Melanization and Triggers Female Death in Ae. Aegypti

Background: In arboviral disease systems where the virus can be transmitted from male to female and from one generation to the next, targeting the female (especially when she is pregnant) can help alter the persistence of the virus in nature and its transmission. This is typical of Ae. aegypti, which has been unmanageable due to the development of insecticide resistance. Despite evidence that monomolecular surface films prevent the selection of genetic resistance, their potential in Aedes vector control remains largely unexplored. Methods: We examined the oviposition, egg retention, oocyte melanization, and female mortality of the Cayman Islands strain of Ae. aegypti, using choice and no-choice bioassays involving Aquatain® Mosquito Formulation (AMF). Results: When presented with similar opportunities to oviposit in two sites treated with AMF and two others with water (control), egg deposition rates were significantly higher in water than in oil presence. We also observed a matching pattern of egg deposition preference in arenas with more options in AMF-treated sites. Females laid appreciably more eggs when water was the only available medium than when all sites were treated with AMF. Also, considerably more mature eggs were withheld in the AMF no-choice arena than in the no-choice test involving only water. Internal oocyte melanization was not observed in females from the oviposition arenas with the lowest oil presence (equal-choice and water-based no-choice); in contrast, this physiological response intensified as the number of AMF-treated sites increased. Female death occurred at high rates in AMF-treated environments, and this response increased with the increasing presence of such egg deposition sites. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that AMF acted as a deterrent signal to ovipositing Ae. aegypti and an indirect adulticide. Referring to its previously reported direct toxicity on the aquatic stages of this mosquito and its biodegradability, AMF should be incorporated as a critical component in integrated control strategies for dengue and related diseases.

Does holding offshore jurisdictions to higher AML standards really assist in preventing money laundering?

Purpose This paper aims to contend that when tackling financial crimes such as money laundering and terrorist financing, international regulators are seeking to hold offshore jurisdictions such as the Cayman Islands to higher standards and that this detracts from the pursuit of detecting and prosecuting money launders. Design/methodology/approach This paper will deal with the following perceived issues: firstly, to offshore jurisdictions as a concept; secondly, to outline the efforts made by the Cayman Islands to combat money laundering and to rate these changes against Financial Action Task Forces’ (FATAF’s) technical criteria; thirdly, to demonstrate that the Cayman Islands is among some of the world’s top jurisdictions for compliance with FATAF’s standards; and finally, to examine whether greylisting was necessary and to comment upon whether efforts by international regulators to hold offshore jurisdictions to higher standards detracts from the actual prosecution of money laundering within the jurisdiction. Findings Greylisting the Cayman Islands in these authors’ view was something that should have never happened; the Cayman Islands is being held to standards far beyond what is expected in an onshore jurisdiction. There is a need for harmonisation in respect of international anti money laundering rules and regulations to shift the tone to prosecution and investigation of offences rather than on rating jurisdictions technical compliance with procedural rules where states have a workable anti-money laundering (AML) regime. Research limitations/implications The implications of this research are to show that offshore jurisdictions are being held by FATAF and other international regulators to higher AML standards than their onshore counterparties. Practical implications The author hopes that this paper will begin the debate as to whether FATAF needs to give reasons as to why offshore jurisdictions are held to higher standards and whether it needs to begin to contemplate higher onshore standards. Originality/value This is an original piece of research evaluating the effect of FATAF's reporting on offshore jurisdictions with a case study involving primary and secondary data in relation to the Cayman Islands.

The Plain Meaning Rule: A Quibble about Nomenclature and a Lot More

In the Cayman Islands, a British Overseas Territory, the proper understanding of the plain meaning rule (or literal rule) of statutory interpretation remains unclear. In its most basic iteration, the rule states that, where a statute is clear and unambiguous, the words must be given their natural and ordinary signification; there is no room for interpretation. That notwithstanding, to this day, even the meaning of the rule, as opposed to its application, still sometimes sparks debate in the Commonwealth. In 2015, a judge of the Grand Court in Cayman held that once a provision in a statute is clear and unambiguous, a court does not need to read the provision in its broader context. In a subsequent case, in 2018, a court of coordinate jurisdiction disagreed. It ruled that, even where a provision appears to be clear and unambiguous, a court must still read the statute in its fuller context in order to decipher the legal meaning in that particular context. This article discusses the plain meaning rule with a view to elucidating its proper understanding while questioning the appropriateness of its continuing nomenclature especially in light of developments in recent decades.

Aulacaspis yasumatsui. [Distribution map].

A new distribution map is provided for Aulacaspis yasumatsui Takagi. Hemiptera: Diaspididae. Hosts: cycads (Cycadales). Information is given on the geographical distribution in Africa (South Africa), Asia (China, Yunnan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Java, Sulawesi, Malaysia, Peninsular Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam), Europe (Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, United Kingdom, England), North America (Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Martinique, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, U.S. Virgin Islands, United States, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, South Carolina, Texas), Oceania (Fiji, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau), South America (French Guiana).

Nemorimyza maculosa. [Distribution map].

A new distribution map is provided for Nemorimyza maculosa (Malloch). Diptera: Agromyzidae. Hosts: Chrysanthemum, lettuce (Lactuca sativa) and other Asteraceae. Information is given on the geographical distribution in Europe (Portugal, Madeira, Spain, Canary islands), North America (Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Canada, Ontario, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Martinique, Mexico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago, United States, California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Wisconsin), South America (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Para, Pernambuco, Sao Paulo, Chile, Easter Island, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela).