Management of microbial contamination in storm runoff from California coastal dairy pastures

A survey of storm runoff fecal coliform bacteria (FCB) from working farm and ranch pastures is presented in conjunction with a survey of FCB in manure management systems (MMS). The cross-sectional survey of pasture runoff was conducted on 34 pastures on five different dairies over 2 yr under varying conditions of precipitation, slope, manure management, and use of conservation practices such as vegetative filter strips. The MMS cross-sectional survey consisted of samples collected during 1 yr on nine different dairies from six loafing barns, nine primary lagoons, 12 secondary lagoons, and six irrigation sample points. Pasture runoff samples were additionally analyzed for Cryptosporidium sp. and Giardia duodenalis, whereby detectable concentrations occurred sporadically at higher FCB concentrations resulting in poor correlations with FCB. Prevalence of both parasites was lower relative to high-use areas studied simultaneously on these same farms. Application of manure to pastures more than 2 wk in advance of storm-associated runoff was related to a > or =80% reduction in FCB concentration and load compared to applications within 2 wk before a runoff event. For every 10 m of buffer length, a 24% reduction in FCB concentration was documented. A one-half (75%), one (90%), and two (99%) log10 reduction in manure FCB concentration was observed for manure holding times in MMS of approximately 20, 66, and 133 d, respectively. These results suggest that there are several management and conservation practices for working farms that may result in reduced FCB fluxes from agricultural operations.     

Development and Application of the 2010 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Total Maximum Daily Load Model

The Phase 5.3 Watershed Model simulates the Chesapeake watershed land use, river flows, and the associated transport and fate of nutrient and sediment loads to the Chesapeake Bay. The Phase 5.3 Model is the most recent of a series of increasingly refined versions of a model that have been operational for more than two decades. The Phase 5.3 Model, in conjunction with models of the Chesapeake airshed and estuary, provides estimates of management actions needed to protect water quality, achieve Chesapeake water quality standards, and restore living resources. The Phase 5.3 Watershed Model tracks nutrient and sediment load estimates of the entire 166,000 km² watershed, including loads from all six watershed states. The creation of software systems, input datasets, and calibration methods were important aspects of the model development process. A community model approach was taken with model development and application, and the model was developed by a broad coalition of model practitioners including environmental engineers, scientists, and environmental managers. Among the users of the Phase 5.3 Model are the Chesapeake watershed states and local governments, consultants, river basin commissions, and universities. Development and application of the model are described, as well as key scenarios ranging from high nutrient and sediment load conditions if no management actions were taken in the watershed, to low load estimates of an all‐forested condition.     

The Responsibility of Farmers,Public Authorities and Consumers for Safeguarding Bees Against Harmful Pesticides

Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics - This study examines the influence of environmental values on consumer intentions to participate in agritourism through the theory of planned...     

Cross-national variation in determinants of climate change concern

ABSTRACT

Our understanding of the determinants of public concern about climate change relies heavily on survey research in the United States. But can those findings be generalized to the rest of the world? Analysis of the Pew Research Center’s 2015 Global Attitudes Survey shows fairly similar patterns in the English-speaking Western democracies and, to a lesser extent, western Europe, but party identification and political ideology matter much less in most of the globe, and demographic factors have very different impacts. Female, younger, and less religious people tend to worry more about climate change in English-speaking Western democracies. In most of the world, however, concern is only weakly correlated with gender, rises with age and religiosity, and is more strongly correlated with education. A new measure of commitment to democratic values proved to be the most consistent predictor of concern globally.     

The use of material flow analysis and the ecological footprint in regional policy-making: application and insights from Northern Ireland

This paper aims to contribute to the ongoing debate on the use of resource accounting tools in regional policy-making. The Northern Limits project applied material flow analysis (MFA) and ecological footprinting (EF) to regional policy-making in Northern Ireland over a number of years. The early phase of the research informed the regions first sustainable development strategy which was published in 2006 with key targets relating to the EF and improving the resource efficiency of the economy. Phase II identified the next steps required to address data availability and quality and the use of MFA and EF in providing a measurement and monitoring framework for the strategy and the development of the strategy implementation plan. The use of MFA and EF in sustainable regional policy-making and the monitoring of its implementation is an ongoing process which has raised a number of research issues which can inform the ongoing application and development of these and other resource accounting tools to within Northern Ireland, provide insights for their use in other regions, and help set out the priorities for research to support this important policy area.     

Movement and deposition of two organophosphorus pesticides within a residence after interior and exterior applications

Post-application temporal and spatial distributions of two organophosphorus pesticides, diazinon (O,O-diethyl O-[6-methyl-2-(1-methylethyl)-4-pyrimidinyl] phosphorothioate, CAS No. 333-41-5) and chlorpyrifos [O,O-diethyl-O-(2-isopropyl-6-methyl-4-pyrimidinyl) phosphorothioate, CAS No. 2921-88-2], were monitored after homeowner applications for indoor and outdoor insect control. Samples of indoor air, vacuumable carpet dust, carpet dislodgeable residues, deposits on bare floors, table tops and dinnerware, surrogate food, and residues on children's hands and toys were taken before and up to 12 days after treatments in the family room, kitchen, and child's bedroom. Results from the study demonstrate the nature and magnitude of translocation of pesticides from the areas of application to surfaces accessible for human contact and permit comparisons of potential exposures via respiration and dermal contact/oral ingestion. Potential indoor inhalation exposures were estimated to be as high as 0.5 microg/kg/day for diazinon applied indoors and 0.05 microg/kg/day for chlorpyrifos applied to the outside perimeter of the house. While ingestion of carpet dust at the rate of 100 microg/day would have added a maximum of only approximately 0.01 microg/kg/day to the daily dose, residues found on the children's hands suggest that repeated mouthing could have contributed as much as 1-1.5 microg/kg/day. These estimates are below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reference dose for chlorpyrifos, but exceed those for diazinon.     

An evaluation of benthic macroinvertebrate biomass methodology

Evaluation of analytical methods employed for wet weight (live or preserved samples) of benthic macroinvertebrates reveals that centrifugation at 140 x gravity for one minute yields constant biomass estimates. Less relative centrifugal force increases chance of incomplete removal of body moisture and results in weighing error, while greater force may rupture fragile macroinvertebrates, such as mayflies. Duration of specimen exposure in ethanol, formalin, and formol (formaling-ethanol combinations) causes significant body weight loss with within 48 hr formalin and formol cause less body weight loss than ethanol. However, as all preservatives tested cause body weight loss, preservation time of samples collected for comparative purposes should be treated uniformly. Dry weight estimates of macroinvertebrates are not significantly affected by kind of preservative or duration of exposure. Constant dry weights are attained by oven drying at 103 °C at a minimum of four hours or vacuum oven drying (15 inches of mercury pressure) at 103 °C for a minimum of one hour. Although requiring more time in preparation than oven drying and inalterably changing specimen body shape, freeze drying (10 microns pressure, -55 °C, 24 hr) provides constant dry weights and is advantageous for long term sample storage by minimizing curatorial attention. Constant ash-free dry weights of macroinvertebrate samples are attained by igniting samples at 500–550 °C for a minimum of one hour with slow cooling to room temperature in desiccators before weighing.     

Seasonal and Long‐Term Variations in Hydraulic Head in a Karstic Aquifer: Roswell Artesian Basin,New Mexico1

Abstract: Water levels in the karstic San Andres limestone aquifer of the Roswell Artesian Basin, New Mexico, display significant variations on a variety of time scales. Large seasonal fluctuations in hydraulic head are directly related to the irrigation cycle in the Artesian Basin, lower in summer months and higher in winter when less irrigation occurs. Longer‐term variations are the result of both human and climatic factors. Since the inception of irrigated farming more than a century ago, over‐appropriation of water resources has caused water levels in the artesian aquifer to fall by as much as 70 m. The general decline in hydraulic head began to reverse in the mid‐1980s due to a variety of conservation measures, combined with a period of elevated rainfall toward the end of the 20th Century.     

Isolating fetal nucleated red blood cells from maternal blood: The baylor experience—1995

In our previous work we have isolated fetal cells from maternal blood and used fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) for chromosome-specific probes to detect aneuploidy. Current efforts in the Baylor College of Medicine programme are focusing on obtaining consistency in flow-sorting methodology and on determining sensitivity and specificity. To this end, systematic evaluation of five glycophorin A (gly A) antibodies all produced agglutination, leading us to abandon the use of gly A antibodies for positive selection of fetal cells. Conversely, we have found LDS-751 to be useful for nuclear selection. CD45 negative selection can best be accomplished by the use of flasks coated with goat antibodies against mouse antibodies. Positive selection by flow sorting for either CD71⁺ cells or gamma-globin-positive cells seems to be successful. Using these two approaches, we have recently detected male (fetal) cells in pregnancies in which the fetus was 46, XY in 10 of 18 and in 12 of 14 cases, respectively.     

A cost-effectiveness analysis of alternative air quality control strategies

A number of linear programming models purport to minimize the costs of emission control to achieve ambient air quality standards. Many of the simulations incorporate the simplifying assumption that improvements in ambient air quality are proportional to reductions in regional emissions. This approach minimizes the cost of mass emission reduction, but not the cost to achieve a prescribed ambient air quality. The costs of this emissions least-cost strategy are compared to an ambient least-cost strategy which does achieve prescribed ambient air quality at minimum cost. The cost saving achieved by this strategy relative to the emissions least-cost strategy is as much as 50670. In addition, both are compared to a strategy typical of those currently used by the states, which is found to be as much as ten times as expensive as the ambient least-cost strategy.