Lethal and sublethal effects of the natural and healthy spinosad-based formulation Tracer™ on tadpoles of two neotropical species

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This paper presents the first acute toxicity data of the natural insecticide spinosad in amphibians. The sensitivity of two neotropical sympatric...     

Fetal brain,head, and neck tumors: Prenatal imaging and management

Fetal tumors represent an infrequent pathology when compared to congenital malformations, although their true incidence may be underestimated. A variety of benign and malignant neoplasms may occur anywhere in the neural axis. Imaging plays an important role in the fetal tumor diagnosis and evaluation of their resultant complications. Discovery of a fetal mass on obstetric ultrasound necessitates further evaluation with prenatal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). New MR sequences and new applications of existing techniques have been successfully implemented in prenatal imaging. A detailed assessment may be performed using a variety of MR. Fetal tumors may be histologically benign or malignant, but their prognosis generally remains poor, especially for intracranial lesions. Unfavorable tumor location or heightened metabolic demands on a developing fetus may result in severe complications and a fatal outcome, even in cases of benign lesions. Nowadays, prenatal treatment focuses mainly on alleviation of secondary complications caused by the tumors. In this article we review congenital tumors of the brain, face, and neck encountered in prenatal life, and discuss diagnostic clues for appropriate diagnosis.     

Slave addition increases sexual production of the facultative slave-making ant Formica subnuda

Formica subnuda is a facultative slave-making ant, and colonies without slaves are often found. We studied the effect of slave workers on sexual production of F. subnuda by experimentally increasing the proportion of slaves. We added c. 4000 worker pupae of the ant F. podzolica to 15 F. subnuda colonies and kept 15 colonies as controls. The following year we excavated all colonies, counted the proportion of slaves, the total number of workers (colony size) and the number of sexual offspring. The proportion of slaves was significantly higher in the slave-added colonies than in the control colonies. The total production of sexual offspring increased 57% in the treatment colonies in comparison to the controls. When colony size was adjusted to the number of sexual offspring, the treatment colonies produced significantly more sexual offspring than the controls. Slave addition did not alter sex ratios. We suggest that two alternative mechanisms, not mutually exclusive, caused the increase of sexual production in F. subnuda colonies: (1) Most of the added pupae were consumed and stored as fat body in workers at the end of the experimental year; the following spring the excess fat was metabolized and fed to the developing sexual larvae, or (2) a proportion of the added pupae hatched to become slaves; the following spring these slaves foraged actively for protein-rich food for the developing sexual offspring. Received: 27 April 1995/Accepted after revision: 23 October 1995     

Long‐Term Contaminant Trends at the Picillo Farm Superfund Site in Rhode Island

Environmental disasters, such as the infamous Love Canal site or the Valley of Drums, have taken many years and consumed billions of dollars to investigate and remediate. In consequence, a large amount of geologic and hydrologic information has been gathered over the past few decades. Because of the difficulties involved with compiling this information, scientists and professionals rarely use the data to investigate the unique long‐term databases. This article presents for the first time the compilation of chemical fate and transport data from the Picillo Farm Superfund site in Rhode Island. The data cover a quarter of a century worth of geologic, hydrogeologic, and geochemical information and indicate significant changes in the contaminant inventory and the center of mass contaminant location over time. Many of these changes would have been missed if a data set of shorter duration were evaluated. Thus, compiling and evaluating data collected over many years can be extremely valuable in understanding the fate and transport of contaminants and determining the effectiveness of remediation. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Murine Norovirus Interaction with Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilm in a Dynamic Bioreactor

Food and Environmental Virology - Biofilms can constitute permanent threats to food safety and public health. Bacteria and viruses lodged in biofilm can escape cleaning and sanitizing agents. The...     

Evaluation of interventions to make top tether hardware more visible during child restraint system (CRS) installations

Objectives: The objective of the study is to determine whether specific child restraint system (CRS) or vehicle conditions improve top tether attachment rates during volunteer installations.

Methods: A factorial randomized controlled trial was designed to evaluate 4 different experimental categories: (1) Color of tether adjuster casing (black or red), (2) labeling on tether adjuster casing (labeled with “Tether: Use for forward-facing” or unlabeled), (3) storage location of tether (bundled in a rubber band on the back of CRS or Velcroed over the forward-facing belt path), and (4) labeling in vehicle (labeled under head restraint and below anchor or unlabeled). Ninety-six volunteers were randomly assigned to one combination of conditions. One installation per volunteer was completed. The primary outcome measure was acceptable attachment of the top tether to the tether anchor. The secondary outcome measure was overall secureness of the installation. Pearson’s chi-square tests were used to identify significant predictors of acceptable outcomes and logistic regression was used to investigate interaction effects.

Results: A total of 66/96 subjects (68.8%) attached the top tether in an acceptable manner, with either zero errors (n?=?50) or minor errors (n?=?16). A total of 30/96 subjects (31.2%) had unacceptable tether outcomes, with either major errors (n?=?10) or nonuse the tether at all (n?=?20). None of the 4 experimental categories significantly affected tether outcomes. Subjects who opted to install the CRS with the lower anchors (LAs) had higher rates of acceptable tether attachment compared to subjects who installed using the seat belt or those who used both LA and seat belt together (χ² = 6.792, P = .034). Tether outcomes were not correlated with previous CRS experience, use of instruction manual(s), age, or sex. Only 15.6% of subjects produced overall correct and tight installations. Of those who used the seat belt in some manner, 70.2% neglected to switch the retractor into locking mode.

Conclusions: Conditions in this study including tether color, tether labeling, storage location, and vehicle labeling did not significantly affect tether attachment rates. High rates of tether misuse and nonuse warrant further exploration to find effective solutions to this usability problem.     

Inter- and intra-specific diurnal habitat selection of zooplankton during the spring bloom observed by Video Plankton Recorder

Diel vertical migration (DVM) is a common behavior adopted by zooplankton species. DVM is a prominent adaptation for avoiding visual predation during daylight hours and still being able to feed on surface phytoplankton blooms during night. Here, we report on a DVM study using a Video Plankton Recorder (VPR), a tool that allows mapping of vertical zooplankton distributions with a far greater spatial resolution than conventional zooplankton nets. The study took place over a full day–night cycle in Disko Bay, Greenland, during the peak of the phytoplankton spring bloom. The sampling revealed a large abundance of copepods performing DVM (up during night and down during day). Migration behavior was expressed differently among the abundant groups with either a strong DVM (euphausiids), an absence of DVM (i.e., permanently deep; ostracods) or a marked DVM, driven by strong surface avoidance during the day and more variable depth preferences at night (Calanus spp.). The precise individual depth position provided by the VPR allowed us to conclude that the escape from surface waters during daytime reduces feeding opportunities but also lowers the risk of predation (by reducing the light exposure) and thereby is likely to influence both state (hunger, weight and stage) and survival. The results suggest that the copepods select day and night time habitats with similar light levels (~10^?9 μmol photon s^?1 m^?2). Furthermore, Calanus spp. displayed state-dependent behavior, with DVM most apparent for smaller individuals, and a deeper residence depth for the larger individuals.