Potential Impact of Climate Change on Hurricane Flooding Inundation,Population Affected and Property Damages in Corpus Christi1

Frey, Ashley E., Francisco Olivera, Jennifer L. Irish, Lauren M. Dunkin, James M. Kaihatu, Celso M. Ferreira, and Billy L. Edge, 2010. Potential Impact of Climate Change on Hurricane Flooding Inundation, Population Affected and Property Damages in Corpus Christi. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 1–11. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-1688.2010.00475.x Abstract: The effect of climate change on storm-surge flooding and the implications for population and structural damages on the city of Corpus Christi, Texas, was investigated. The study considered the influence of sea level rise and hurricane intensification, both influenced by climate change. Combinations of future carbon dioxide equivalent emission rates and carbon dioxide doubling sensitivities, based on findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, were considered to define future climate scenarios. A suite of physically based numerical models for hurricane winds and the resulting waves, surge, and morphological change at the coast were used to determine flooded areas, population affected, and property damages for Hurricanes Bret, Beulah, and a version of Carla shifted south from its original track, under present and predicted future climate conditions. A comparison of the economic damages for current climate conditions and for the 2080s climate scenario shows that, for Carla (shifted), there will be an increase in the range of $270-1,100 million; for Beulah, of $100-390 million; and, for Bret, of $30-280 million. A similar analysis was also conducted for 2030s predicted climate scenarios. Overall, the comparison of the results for the different climate conditions indicates what the destructive consequences of climate change could be, even within the somewhat short time frame of 80 years considered here.     

Macrophage activity and histopathology of the lymphohematopoietic organs in male Wistar rats orally exposed to single or mixed pesticides

The noxious effects of low or effective dose exposure to single or mixed pesticides on macrophage activity and the lymphohematopoietic organs were investigated. Male Wistar rats were orally exposed to dichlorvos, dicofol, endosulfan, dieldrin and permethrin, either as single or combined mixtures during a 28-day study containing eight groups: one group received a semipurified diet (non-treated); two groups received a semipurified diet containing low dose mixture (dieldrin 0.025 mg/kg, endosulfan, 0.6 mg/kg, dicofol 0.22 mg/kg, dichlorvos 0.23 mg/kg, permethrin 5 mg/kg) or an effective dose mixture (dichlorvos 2.3 mg/kg, dicofol 2.5 mg/kg, endosulfan 2.9 mg/kg, dieldrin 0.05 mg/kg and permethrin 25.0 mg/kg), respectively; the other five groups received a semipurified diet containing each single pesticide in effective doses. At sacrifice, the thymus, spleen, mesenteric lymph nodes, Payer's patches and bone marrow were removed for histological analysis. Peritoneal macrophages were obtained to determine the phagocytosis and spreading indexes and tumoral necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), nitric oxide (NO) and H₂O₂ production. Exposure to pesticide mixtures did not alter the percentage of macrophage phagocytosis and spreading, TNF-α production or the NO and H₂O₂ release when compared to the non-treated group. Neither was there any apparent evidence that a pesticide mixture at low or effective doses altered the histological structure of the lymphohematopoietic organs. The findings indicate that short-term treatment with pesticide mixtures did not induce an apparent immunotoxic effect in male Wistar rats.     

Brassica napus hairy roots and rhizobacteria for phenolic compounds removal

Phenolic compounds are contaminants frequently found in water and soils. In the last years, some technologies such as phytoremediation have emerged to remediate contaminated sites. Plants alone are unable to completely degrade some pollutants; therefore, their association with rhizospheric bacteria has been proposed to increase phytoremediation potential, an approach called rhizoremediation. In this work, the ability of two rhizobacteria, Burkholderia kururiensis KP 23 and Agrobacterium rhizogenes LBA 9402, to tolerate and degrade phenolic compounds was evaluated. Both microorganisms were capable of tolerating high concentrations of phenol, 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP), guaiacol, or pentachlorophenol (PCP), and degrading different concentrations of phenol and 2,4-DCP. Association of these bacterial strains with B. napus hairy roots, as model plant system, showed that the presence of both rhizospheric microorganisms, along with B. napus hairy roots, enhanced phenol degradation compared to B. napus hairy roots alone. These findings are interesting for future applications of these strains in phenol rhizoremediation processes, with whole plants, providing an efficient, economic, and sustainable remediation technology.     

Effects of feed-supplementation and hide-spray application of two sources of tannins on enteric and hide bacteria of feedlot cattle

Pathogenic bacteria attached to the hide or shed in the feces of cattle at slaughter can contaminate carcasses intended to be processed for human consumption. Therefore, new pre-harvest interventions are needed to prevent the carriage and excretion of foodborne pathogens in cattle presented to the processing plant. The objectives of this study were to examine the antimicrobial effects of hydrolysable tannin-rich chestnut and condensed tannin-rich mimosa extracts on bacterial indicators of foodborne pathogens when applied as a hide-intervention and as a feed additive to feedlot cattle. Water (control) or solutions (3 % wt/vol) of chestnut- and mimosa-extract treatments were sprayed (25 mL) at the left costal side of each animal to a 1000 cm² area, divided in four equal quadrants. Hide-swabs samples obtained at pre-, 2-min, 8-h, and 24-h post-spray application were cultured to enumerate Escherichia coli/total coliforms and total aerobic plate counts. In a second experiment, diets supplemented without (controls) or with (1.5 % of diet dry matter) chestnut- or mimosa-extracts were fed during a 42–day experimental feeding period. Weekly fecal samples starting on day 0, and rumen fluid obtained on days 0, 7, 21 or 42 were cultured to enumerate E.coli/total coliforms and Campylobacter. Tannin spray application showed no effect of treatment or post-application-time (P> 0.05) on measured bacterial populations, averaging 1.7/1.8, 1.5/1.6 and 1.5/1.7 (log₁₀ CFU/cm²) for E. coli/total coliforms, and 4.0, 3.4 and 4.2 (log₁₀CFU/cm²) in total aerobes for control, chestnut and mimosa treatments, respectively. Mean (± SEM) ruminal E. coli and total coliform concentrations (log₁₀ CFU/mL) were reduced (P< 0.01) in steers fed chestnut-tannins (3.6 and 3.8 ± 0.1) in comparison with the controls (4.1 and 4.2 ± 0.1). Fecal E. coli concentrations were affected by treatment (P< 0.01), showing the highest values (log₁₀ CFU/g) in fecal contents from mimosa-fed steers compared to controls (5.9 versus 5.6 ± 0.1 SEM, respectively). Total coliforms (log CFU/g) showed the highest values (P< 0.01) in feces from chestnut- and mimosa-fed steers (6.0 and 6.1 ± 0.1 respectively) in comparison with controls (5.7 ± 0.1). Fecal Campylobacter concentrations (log₁₀CFU/g) were affected by treatment (P< 0.05), day (P< 0.001) and their interaction (P< 0.01) with the controls having lower concentrations than chestnut- and mimosa-fed steers (0.4, 1.0, and 0.8 ± 0.3, respectively). It was concluded that under our research conditions, tannins were not effective in decreasing measured bacterial populations on beef cattle hides. Additionally, chestnut tannin reduced E. coli and total coliforms within the rumen but the antimicrobial effect was not maintained in the lower gastrointestinal tract. Further research is necessary to elucidate the possible antimicrobial effects of tannins at site-specific locations of the gastrointestinal tract in beef cattle fed high-grain and high-forage diets.     

ARCGIS‐SWAT: A GEODATA MODEL AND GIS INTERFACE FOR SWAT1

This paper presents ArcGIS‐SWAT, a geodata model and geographic information system (GIS) interface for the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). The ArcGIS‐SWAT data model is a system of geodatabases that store SWAT geographic, numeric, and text input data and results in an organized fashion. Thus, it is proposed that a single and comprehensive geodatabase be used as the repository of a SWAT simulation. The ArcGIS‐SWAT interface uses programming objects that conform to the Component Object Model (COM) design standard, which facilitate the use of functionality of other Windows‐based applications within ArcGIS‐SWAT. In particular, the use of MS Excel and MATLAB functionality for data analysis and visualization of results is demonstrated. Likewise, it is proposed to conduct hydrologic model integration through the sharing of information with a not‐model‐specific hub data model where information common to different models can be stored and from which it can be retrieved. As an example, it is demonstrated how the Hydrologic Modeling System (HMS) ‐ a computer application for flood analysis ‐ can use information originally developed by ArcGIS‐SWAT for SWAT. The application of ArcGIS‐SWAT to the Seco Creek watershed in Texas is presented.     

Degradation of Polylactic Acid (PLA) Plastic in Costa Rican Soil and Iowa State University Compost Rows

In this study the degradation of polylactic acid (PLA) plastic films in Costa Rican soil and in a leaf composting environment was investigated. Three types of PLA films were used: Ch-I, (PLA monolayer plastic films from Chronopol, Golden, CO), GII (PLA trilayer plastic films from Cargill Dow Polymers LLC, Minnetonka, MN), and Ca-I (PLA monolayer plastic films from Cargill Dow Polymers LLC). The average soil temperature and moisture content in Costa Rica were 27°C and 80%, respectively. The average degradation rate of PLA plastic films in the soil of the banana field was 7675 M _w/week. Two compost rows were set up at the Iowa State University (ISU) (Ames) compost site. Temperature and relative humidity of the compost rows were kept at 55 ± 5°C and 50 ± 10% RH, respectively. The degradation rates of GII and Ca-I in the compost rows were 113,290 and 71,283 M _w/week, respectively. Therefore, it was estimated that in Costa Rican soil and in compost rows, PLA would be visibly degraded in 6 months and in 3 weeks, respectively.     

Interpretation of analytical data on n-alkanes and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons in Arbacia lixula from the coasts of Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain) by multivariate data analysis

The hydrocarbons contents (n-alkanes, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) were determined in the sea urchin Arbacia lixula. Multivariate data analysis as principal component analysis, factor analysis and, cluster analysis were applied to elucidate sources of pollution. PCA and FA were performed to establish the relationships between variables (hydrocarbons), samples (sea urchin) and sources of pollution.     

Interpretation of heavy metal data from mussel by use of multivariate classification techniques

Different strategies of multivariate analysis of metals concentrations (Mn, Fe, Ni, V, Co, Cu, Cd, Hg, Pb, Na, K) in mussel samples from different spanish markets are used to interpret a data base and identify differences between species and origin of the samples. Principal Component Analysis and Potential curves are applied to properly classify unknown samples from representative mussels samples (Mytilus edulis and Perna canaliculus). Also, Principal Components Analysis is used as display method to visualize the relation between the variables and objects of interest.