A GIS tool to estimate West Nile virus risk based on a degree-day model

West Nile virus (Flaviviridae: Flavivirus) is a serious infectious disease that recently spread across the North America continent. A spatial analysis tool was developed on the ArcMap 9.x platform to estimate potential West Nile virus activity using a spatially explicit degree-day model. The model identifies when the virus Extrinsic Incubation Period (EIP) is completed within the vector longevity during mid-summer months. The EIP is treated as a threshold indicator of the potential for virus emergence and activity. Comparing the number of West Nile virus cases in Wyoming reported from 2003 to 2005 with model results, actual cases and predicted events of West Nile virus activity match relatively well. The model represents a useful method for estimating potential West Nile virus activity in a large spatial scale.     

Toward a Practical Method for Setting Screening-Level, Ecological Risk-Based Water Temperature Criteria and Monitoring Compliance

We integrated basic concepts from fisheries science and toxicological risk assessment to form a potential method for setting screening-level, risk-based, site-specific water quality objectives for temperature. In summary, the proposed approach: (a) uses temperature impacts upon specific growth as a measure of chronic (cumulative) temperature effects; (b) explicitly incorporates the consequences of both magnitude and cumulative duration of exposures; (c) adjusts the result for local watershed conditions, reducing the likelihood that naturally warm systems are identified as thermally polluted while helping to ensure that naturally cool systems are closely monitored for ecologically harmful changes in thermal regime; and (d) expresses the net result both graphically and as a risk quotient, RQ, closely analogous to that used in toxicological risk assessments. The latter yields a site-specific, risk-based water quality objective and may serve as a straightforward decision rule for environmental managers. The method was applied to historical data from a small British Columbia stream subject to increasing urban development pressures. We also illustrate how the technique might be used to explore potential climatic change impacts, using coupled general circulation model predictions in conjunction with empirical downscaling. Overall, the method and results are presented as an introduction and illustration of concept, intended as a step toward the development of a logistically feasible risk-based approach to establishing screening-level, site-specific water temperature objectives, and monitoring compliance, in the context of large-scale, many-site, environmental monitoring networks. With further work, the technique offers potential to fill the gap between the temperature threshold-based targets typically specified in regulatory guidelines, which may be hydroecologically unrealistic, and detailed biophysical modelling, which typically is logistically infeasible in a day-to-day environmental monitoring and management context.     

Antibiotic-resistant E. coli in surface water and groundwater in dairy operations in Northern California

Generic Escherichia coli was isolated from surface water and groundwater samples from two dairies in Northern California and tested for susceptibility to antibiotics. Surface samples were collected from flush water, lagoon water, and manure solids, and groundwater samples were collected from monitoring wells. Although E. coli was ubiquitous in surface samples with concentrations ranging from several hundred thousand to over a million colony-forming units per 100 mL of surface water or per gram of surface solids, groundwater under the influence of these high surface microbial loadings had substantially fewer bacteria (3- to 7-log₁₀ reduction). Among 80 isolates of E. coli tested, 34 (42.5 %) were resistant to one or more antibiotics and 22 (27.5 %) were multi-antibiotic resistant (resistant to ≥3 antibiotics), with resistance to tetracycline, cefoxitin, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, and ampicillin being the most common. E. coli isolates from the calf hutch area exhibited the highest levels of multi-antibiotic resistance, much higher than isolates in surface soil solids from heifer and cow pens, flush alleys, manure storage lagoons, and irrigated fields. Among E. coli isolates from four groundwater samples, only one sample exhibited resistance to ceftriaxone, chloramphenicol, and tetracycline, indicating the potential of groundwater contamination with antibiotic-resistant bacteria from dairy operations.     

Ammonia modeling for assessing potential toxicity to fish species in the Rio Grande, 1989-2002.

Increasing volumes of treated and untreated human sewage discharged into rivers around the world are likely to be leading to high aquatic concentrations of toxic, unionized ammonia (NH3), with negative impacts on species and ecosystems. Tools and approaches are needed for assessing the dynamics of NH3. This paper describes a modeling approach for first-order assessment of potential NH3 toxicity in urban rivers. In this study daily dissolved NH3 concentrations in the Rio Grande of central New Mexico, USA, at the city of Albuquerque's treated sewage outfall were modeled for 1989-2002. Data for ammonium (NH4+) concentrations in the sewage and data for discharge, temperature, and pH for both sewage effluent and the river were used. We used State of New Mexico acute and chronic NH3- N concentration values (0.30 and 0.05 mg/L NH3-N, respectively) and other reported standards as benchmarks for determining NH3 toxicity in the river and for assessing potential impact on population dynamics for fish species. A critical species of concern is the Rio Grande silvery minnow (Hybognathus amarus), an endangered species in the river near Albuquerque. Results show that NH3 concentrations matched or exceeded acute levels 13%, 3%, and 4% of the time in 1989, 1991, and 1992, respectively. Modeled NH3 concentrations matched or exceeded chronic values 97%, 74%, 78%, and 11% of the time in 1989, 1991, 1992, and 1997, respectively. Exceedences ranged from 0% to 1% in later years after enhancements to the wastewater treatment plant. Modeled NH3 concentrations may differ from actual concentrations because of NH3 and NH4+ loss terms and additive terms such as mixing processes, volatilization, nitrification, sorbtion, and NH4+ uptake. We conclude that NH3 toxicity must be considered seriously for its potential ecological impacts on the Rio Grande and as a mechanism contributing to the decline of the Rio Grande fish community in general and the Rio Grande silvery minnow specifically. Conclusions drawn for the Rio Grande suggest that NH3 concentrations may be high in rivers around the world where alkaline pH values are prevalent and sewage treatment capabilities are poorly developed or absent.     

Elemental composition of Malawian rice

Widespread potential dietary deficiencies of calcium (Ca), iron (Fe), iodine (I), selenium (Se) and zinc (Zn) have been identified in Malawi. Several deficiencies are likely to be compounded by high phytic acid (PA) consumption. Rice (Oryza sativa) is commonly consumed in some Malawian populations, and its mineral micronutrient content is important for food security. The considerable irrigation requirements and flooded conditions of paddy soils can also introduce or mobilise potentially toxic elements including arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb). The aim of this study was to determine the mineral composition of rice sampled from farmers’ fields and markets in Malawi. Rice was sampled from 18 extension planning areas across Malawi with 21 white (i.e. polished) and 33 brown samples collected. Elemental composition was determined by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Arsenic speciation was performed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-ICP-MS. Concentration of PA was determined using a PA-total phosphorus assay. Median total concentrations (mg kg^?1, dry weight) of elements important for human nutrition in brown and white rice, respectively, were: Ca = 66.5 and 37.8; Cu = 3.65 and 2.49; Fe = 22.1 and 7.2; I = 0.006 and <0.005; Mg = 1130 and 265; Mn = 18.2 and 9.6; Se = 0.025 and 0.028; and Zn = 17.0 and 14.4. In brown and white rice samples, respectively, median PA concentrations were 5438 and 1906 mg kg^?1, and median PA:Zn molar ratios were 29 and 13. Concentrations of potentially toxic elements (mg kg^?1, dry weight) in brown and white rice samples, respectively, were: As = 0.030 and 0.006; Cd  ≤ 0.002 and 0.006; Pb = 0.008 and 0.008. Approximately 95 % of As was found to be inorganic As, where this could be quantified. Malawian rice, like the more widely consumed staple grain maize, contains inadequate Ca, I, Se or Zn to meet dietary requirements. Biofortification strategies could significantly increase Se and Zn concentrations and require further investigation. Concentrations of Fe in rice grain varied greatly, and this was likely due to contamination of rice samples with soil. Risk of As, Cd or Pb toxicity due to rice consumption in Malawi appears to be minimal.     

Assessing the health risks of aluminum

Aluminum is a ubiquitous substance with over 4,000 uses. Aluminum, as aluminum sulfate, is commonly used in the United States as a coagulant in the treatment of drinking water. For many years aluminum was not considered to be toxic to humans. However, reports associating aluminum with several skeletal and neurological disorders in humans suggest that exposure to aluminum may pose a health hazard. In 1983 the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced plans to regulate a number of substances, including aluminum, in drinking water. Aluminum was considered because of its occurrence and apparent toxicity. Upon further evaluation of the health effects data the EPA proposed not to regulate aluminum as a result of the uncertainty of the toxicity of ingested aluminum. Putative causal associations between aluminum exposure and neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease have yet to be substantiated. Although several issues regarding the toxicity of ingested aluminum are unresolved, aluminum has been specified in the 1986 Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act, as one of 83 substances in drinking water to be regulated by 1989. Additional data are needed before the potential risk of aluminum can be assessed; therefore the EPA has deferred possible regulation until 1991.     

Pheromonal and behavioral queen control over the production of gynes in the Argentine ant Iridomyrmex humilis (Mayr)

Summary Both field observations and laboratory experiments have suggested that queens of I. humilis inhibit the production of new queens (gynes). Using small colony fragments, laboratory experiments were conducted to determine the means by which this inhibition is achieved. The addition of queen corpses to queenless fragments effectively inhibited the production of gynes, suggesting that a queen inhibitory primer pheromone is involved. This inhibitory influence was removed when corpses were washed in pentane, lending further support to the pheromonal hypothesis. Adult gynes (winged virgin queens) were not inhibitory, whereas young dealated mated queens of the same age were, suggesting that only inseminated queens produce the pheromone. Daily addition of eggs to queenless units did not appear to have a strong inhibitory influence, indicating that the lower worker/larva ratios associated with the presence of an egg-laying queen in such colony fragments does not greatly influence the production of sexuals. Pheromonal inhibition of gyne development appears to be achieved mainly by preventing the sexualization of bipotent female larvae, probably by affecting the brood-rearing behavior of workers. In addition, queens may also cause the execution of female larvae after they have become sexualized. In nearly all cases, the addition of a living queen to previously queenless units containing gyne larvae caused workers to execute one or more of these larvae within 24 h. In some cases queens were also seen attacking gyne larvae. The addition of queen corpses resulted in the execution of gyne larvae, suggesting that a queen pheromone mediates, at least in part, this execution behavior of workers. These results show that I. humilis queens exert control over the production of gynes in two ways: (1) by preventing the sexualization of female larvae and (2) by killing female larvae after they have become sexualized. A queen primer pheromone appears to be involved in both processes. Queen behavior also plays a role, at least in the execution of gyne larvae. This queen control over the production of gynes, probably mostly pheromonal, appears to operate strongly in the field where gynes are produced only in spring just after a sharp drop in the inhibitory queen influence due to the massive execution of queens by the workers. Offprint requests to: E.L. Vargo at his present address     

Mitochondrial DNA variation and population structure in the spiny lobster Panulirus argus

Adult spiny lobsters (Panulirus argus) were collected from nine locations throughout the tropical and subtropical northwest Atlantic Ocean and examined for mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation. 187 different mtDNA haplotypes were observed among the 259 lobsters sampled. Haplotype diversity was calulated to be 0.986 and mean nucleotide sequence-diversity was estimated to be 1.44%; both of these values are among the highest reported values for a marine species. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) and phenetic clustering both failed to reveal any evidence of genetic structure within and among populations of P. argus. The present data are consistent with high levels of gene flow among populations of P. argus resulting from an extended planktonic larval stage and strong prevailing ocean currents.