Comparison of Extraction Methods for the Detection of Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus RNA in Goat Raw Milk and Cream Cheese

Food and Environmental Virology - Infection with the tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) can cause meningitis, meningoencephalitis and myelitis in humans. TBEV is an enveloped RNA virus of the...     

Typologies of collaborative governance for scaling nature-based solutions in two strategic South African river systems

Scaled up planning and implementation of nature-based solutions requires better understanding of broad characteristics (typologies) of the current governance and financing landscape, collaborative approaches amidst local complexities, and factors of scalability. An inventory was compiled of water-related ecological infrastructure intervention projects in two river systems in South Africa, incorporating actor, environmental, social, and financial dimensions and benefits. Qualitative participatory analysis revealed eight typologies. Post-hoc classification analysis determined similarities and/or unique characteristics of seven quantitative typologies. Key characterising factors included the complexity/size of financial flows, complexity of partnership/governance arrangements, mandates/goals of actors, type of ecological infrastructure, trade-offs in investment in ecological/built infrastructure, and the model used for social benefits. Identified scalable typologies offer structures suited to increased investment, with other typologies offering specialised local value. A range of ecological infrastructure intervention typologies with differing biophysical and socioeconomic outcomes provide choices for investors with specific goals, and benefits to landscape actors.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-021-01531-z.     

Experts and the sense of things

ABSTRACT

In a world, in which measurements, indices and agreed-upon standards are ubiquitous, Bessy and Chateauraynaud’s work on experts and counterfeiters has gained new relevance. The French social scientists provide a rich theory on the sense of things, explaining how experts evaluate the authenticity of objects. Along with the mobilisation of a shared language and stabilised criteria, the sense of things generates from everyday interactions between experts and objects. While social scientists tend to prioritise the study of the commonly-accepted aspects of evaluation, the concept of the sense of things directs attention to the subtle micro interactions and sensory experiences on the ground. This process can initiate shifts in stabilised evaluations of the true and false. This article presents the central theoretical arguments of the book “Experts et Faussaires” (Experts and Counterfeiters) and sketches their relevance for the study of environmental phenomena.     

A Review of Known and Hypothetical Transmission Routes for Noroviruses

Human noroviruses (NoVs) are considered a worldwide leading cause of acute non-bacterial gastroenteritis. Due to a combination of prolonged shedding of high virus levels in feces, virus particle shedding during asymptomatic infections, and a high environmental persistence, NoVs are easily transmitted pathogens. Norovirus (NoV) outbreaks have often been reported and tend to affect a lot of people. NoV is spread via feces and vomit, but this NoV spread can occur through several transmission routes. While person-to-person transmission is without a doubt the dominant transmission route, human infective NoV outbreaks are often initiated by contaminated food or water. Zoonotic transmission of NoV has been investigated, but has thus far not been demonstrated. The presented review aims to give an overview of these NoV transmission routes. Regarding NoV person-to-person transmission, the NoV GII.4 genotype is discussed in the current review as it has been very successful for several decades but reasons for its success have only recently been suggested. Both pre-harvest and post-harvest contamination of food products can lead to NoV food borne illness. Pre-harvest contamination of food products mainly occurs via contact with polluted irrigation water in case of fresh produce or with contaminated harvesting water in case of bivalve molluscan shellfish. On the other hand, an infected food handler is considered as a major cause of post-harvest contamination of food products. Both transmission routes are reviewed by a summary of described NoV food borne outbreaks between 2000 and 2010. A third NoV transmission route occurs via water and the spread of NoV via river water, ground water, and surface water is reviewed. Finally, although zoonotic transmission remains hypothetical, a summary on the bovine and porcine NoV presence observed in animals is given and the presence of human infective NoV in animals is discussed.     

Relationships between diversity of grassland vegetation, field characteristics and land use management practices assessed at the farm level

In order to assess the impact of policies to encourage extensification in less favoured areas and improve our knowledge of extensive livestock systems, we analyzed relationships between the diversity of grassland vegetation and land use management practices and field characteristics. This study, conducted on a mountainous area in the centre of France, was based on 149 fields, mainly of natural grasslands belonging to 7 farmers. Regression analyses were performed to analyze the relations between the grassland vegetation types (five types established from the list of dominant species), management practices (cutting versus grazing and fertilization) and the topographic (altitude and aspect) and topologic (slope, distance and surface area) characteristics of the fields. The land use management rules used by the farmers were studied by specifying the grazing management rules of the herd (dairy cows), as well as those for conserved forage (mainly hay or silage) and were identified from observations mentioned on the “grazing schedules”, as well as from interviews at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of the study period. The statistical analysis showed that neither the topographic characteristics of the fields nor the distance from the cowshed or surface area were correlated with the grassland vegetation types. It was the management practices used, largely determined by the field slope, which determined the grassland vegetation type. On the other hand, farmers’ statements showed that the grazing and cutting management rules were mostly determined by the slope of the fields and the distance from the cowshed and, to a lesser extent, by the altitude and aspect. These results showed that the farmers take into consideration environmental differences when choosing fields to allocate for grazing and cutting at different seasons, particularly when they are constrained by these features. Nevertheless, when the constraints were minimal, a wide diversity of grassland vegetation types was also observed. This diversity was a result of attributing different functions to the fields which led to different management practices (defoliation methods and fertilization) and, thus, to different grassland vegetation types. Consequently, for farms where animal feed requirements vary according to the time of the year and the type of animal, we suggest that diversity in the grassland vegetation types is a sound component of these livestock systems.     

Embedding CCS infrastructure into the European electricity system: a policy coordination problem

Carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) has recently been receiving increasing recognition in policy debates. Various aspects of possible regulatory frameworks for its implementation are beginning to be discussed in Europe. One of the issues associated with the wide use of CCS is that it requires the establishment of a carbon dioxide (CO₂) transport network, which could result in the spatial restructuring of power generation and transmission systems. This poses a significant coordination problem necessitating public planning and regulation. This paper provides a survey over multiple research strands on CCS, particularly energy system modeling and spatial optimization, pertaining to the efficient installment of CCS-related infrastructure throughout Europe. It integrates existing findings and highlights the factors that determine policy coordination needs for a potential wide implementation of CCS in the next decades.     

Development and validation of an individual based Daphnia magna population model: The influence of crowding on population dynamics

An individual-based model was developed to predict the population dynamics of Daphnia magna at laboratory conditions from individual life-history traits observed in experiments with different feeding conditions. Within the model, each daphnid passes its individual life cycle including feeding on algae, aging, growing, developing and – when maturity is reached – reproducing. The modelled life cycle is driven by the amount of ingested algae and the density of the Daphnia population. At low algae densities the population dynamics is mainly driven by food supply, when the densities of algae are high, the limiting factor is “crowding” (a density-dependent mechanism due to chemical substances released by the organisms or physical contact, but independent of food competition).     

Fate of 17β-estradiol in terrestrial model ecosystems amended with contaminated composted biosolids

Biosolids spread onto agricultural soils are potential sources of steroidal hormones that are able to adversely affect the soil ecosystem. Here we studied the fate of the [4-¹⁴C]-17-β-estradiol hormone in laboratory experiments. First, our results show that only 2.9% of the hormone was mineralized in the soil from a French vineyard. By contrast, the mineralization increased to 7.1% when the hormone was provided in composted biosolids. Second, we found that only a minor part of the estradiol-derived ¹⁴C was mobile and partly transferred to soil leachates. Indeed, the hormone was mainly stabilized in the soil as non-extractable residues. Overall, our findings show that estradiol undergoes two main processes, complete degradation and stabilisation. We therefore conclude that the environmental risk of hormones provided to the soil through composted biosolids is negligible under the conditions of our experiments.