Examining the Impact of a Public Health Message on Fish Consumption in Bermuda

Background

In 2003 mean cord blood mercury concentrations in pregnant Bermudian women exceeded levels associated with adverse health outcomes in children. The principal mercury source was local fish species. Public health messages were developed suggesting pregnant women reduce consumption of fish species with higher mercury concentrations (e.g. swordfish), substituting species containing lower mercury concentrations, and elevated omega-3 fatty acids (e.g. anchovies). Recent evidence indicates mercury concentrations in Bermuda’s pregnant women have fallen five- fold.

Objectives

Assess whether changes in women’s fish eating patterns during pregnancy are consistent with the public health messaging. Determine who is making changes to their diet during pregnancy and why.

Methods

Mixed methods study with a cross-sectional survey of 121 pregnant women, including 13 opened-ended interviews. Health system, social vulnerability, public health messaging, and socio-demographic variables were characterized and related to changes in fish consumption during pregnancy. Qualitative data were coded according to nutritional advice messages, comprehension of communication strategies, and sources of information.

Results

95% of women surveyed encountered recommendations about fish consumption during pregnancy. 75% reported modifying fish eating behaviors because of recommendations. Principal sources of information about fish consumption in pregnancy were health care providers and the Internet. 71% of women reported reducing consumption of large fish species with greater mercury levels, but 60% reported reduced consumption of smaller, low mercury fish. No participant mentioned hearing about the benefits of fish consumption. More frequent exposure to public health messages during pregnancy was associated with lower reported consumption. Bermudian born women were less likely to reduce consumption of large fish species during pregnancy.

Conclusions

In Bermuda, public health messages advocating reduced consumption of larger, higher mercury-containing fish species appear effective, but masked the nutritional value message of small fish species, with low mercury concentration. Adjustment is needed to better balance the risk communication.     

Restoring Savanna Using Fire: Impact on the Breeding Bird Community

Restoration of many terrestrial plant communities involves the reintroduction of fire. However, there have been few studies of the effects of fire on the avifauna during the restoration process. To study the effects of oak savanna restoration on avian communities, breeding birds were censused and the vegetation structure documented in seven experimental burn units (8–18 ha) that had experienced different frequencies of controlled burns during the past 31 years (0–26 burns). Data were analyzed with both direct and indirect gradient analyses using multivariate techniques. The results showed that, as savanna restoration proceeded, there was a general decline in predominantly insectivorous species, particularly those that feed in the upper canopy region (leaves and air space), and a general increase in omnivorous species, particularly those that feed on the ground and in the lower canopy. Insectivorous bark gleaners (woodpeckers) also increased during restoration and were correlated with the increase in standing dead trees resulting from the fires. Overall, savanna restoration resulted in increases in the abundance of many open country bird species, including many species that have been declining in central and eastern North America, including red‐headed woodpecker, Baltimore oriole, eastern kingbird, vesper sparrow, field sparrow, lark sparrow, brown thrasher, American goldfinch, and brown‐headed cowbird. The shifts in species and guilds were correlated with changes in burn frequency and the macro vegetation structure—tree and shrub density, leaf area index, and relative proportion of standing dead trees. The findings show that savanna restoration can increase bird diversity and provide important habitat for uncommon or declining bird species. These birds are most likely attracted to one or more of the distinctive habitat features of the restored savanna environments, including scattered mature trees, standing dead trees and snags, and presence of both shrubby and grassland vegetation. The findings also suggest that restoration ecologists and wildlife biologists will need to work together to achieve desired goals, since different types of savanna restoration efforts may produce different effects on the breeding bird community.     

Fragmentation Effects on Diversity of Wasp Community and Its Impact on Fig/Fig Wasp Interaction in Ficus racemosa L.

Habitat fragmentation usually results in alteration of species composition or biological communities. However, little is known about the effect of habitat fragmentation on the fig/fig wasp system.In this study, we compared the structure of a fig wasp community and the interaction between figs and fig wasps of Ficus racemosa L. in a primary forest, a locally fragmented forest and a highly fragmented forest.Our results show that, in the highly fragmented forest, the proportion of pollinator wasps is lower and the proportion of non-pollinator wasps is higher compared with the primary forest and locally fragmented forest. The proportion of fruits without pollinator wasps in mature fruits is also greatly increased in the highly fragmented forest. The proportion of galls in all female flowers increases in the highly fragmented forest, whereas the proportion of viable seeds does not change considerably. The disruption of groups of fig trees results in a decrease in pollinator wasps and even might result in the extinction of pollinator wasps in some extreme cases, which may transform the reciprocal interaction between figs and fig wasps into a parasite/host system. Such an effect may lead to the local extinction of this keystone plant resource of rain forests in the process of evolution, and thereby, may change the structure and function of the tropical rain forest.     

Fragmentation Effects on Diversity of Wasp Community and Its Impact on Fig／Fig Wasp Interaction in Ficus racemosa L.

Habitat fragmentation usually results in alteration of species composition or biological communities. However, little is known about the effect of habitat fragmentation on the fig/fig wasp system.In this study, we compared the structure of a fig wasp community and the interaction between figs and fig wasps of Ficus racemosa L. in a primary forest, a locally fragmented forest and a highly fragmented forest.Our results show that, in the highly fragmented forest, the proportion of pollinator wasps is lower and the proportion of non-pollinator wasps is higher compared with the primary forest and locally fragmented forest. The proportion of fruits without pollinator wasps in mature fruits is also greatly increased in the highly fragmented forest. The proportion of galls in all female flowers increases in the highly fragmented forest, whereas the proportion of viable seeds does not change considerably. The disruption of groups of fig trees results in a decrease in pollinator wasps and even might result in the extinction of pollinator wasps in some extreme cases, which may transform the reciprocal interaction between figs and fig wasps into a parasite/host system. Such an effect may lead to the local extinction of this keystone plant resource of rain forests in the process of evolution, and thereby, may change the structure and function of the tropical rain forest.     

Spatial Subsidies, Trophic State, and Community Structure: Examining the Effects of Leaf Litter Input on Ponds

In aquatic systems, light and subsidy input often co-vary along a canopy cover gradient. This creates systems where subsidies are more prevalent in areas with low primary productivity and less prevalent in areas with high primary productivity. We expect ecosystem processes and community structure to respond to these changes in resources. We examined the effects of light and subsidy input (leaf litter) on ponds by placing pond mesocosms along a canopy gradient and manipulating litter input. We then sampled mesocosms for ecosystem and community parameters for 2 years during April (pre-leaf out), July (full canopy), and November (start of leaf fall). Neither canopy cover nor litter input tended to dominate effects overall, highlighting the importance of the light-subsidy gradient combination that is frequently encountered in temperate aquatic systems. Ponds shifted from an autotrophy/heterotrophy balance to net heterotrophy with increasing canopy cover in concordance with our predictions. Although litter input affected dissolved oxygen, we did not detect an effect of litter on trophic state, primary production, or community respiration. We additionally found effects of both canopy cover and litter input on community composition, but very differently than that found in streams. In general, the grazer and shredder macroinvertebrate functional feeding groups were rare in the pond mesocosms, and thus did not respond to treatments. The collector proportion of the community, mainly chironomids, increased with canopy cover and was higher in mesocosms with litter input than those without. Contrary to predictions, there were few differences between subsidy input type (leaves or grass) despite differences in litter quality. This study, along with many others, highlights the importance of canopy gradients in determining ecosystem function and community composition.     

The Political Impact of Trade in Chiefdoms

Trade theories of state formation have failed to specify trade as market behavior, and to appreciate the political role of imported luxury goods in chiefdoms. When luxury goods and other valuable commodities become available through the market rather than through interpersonal, chiefly exchanges, the elite's power depends increasingly on economic exploitation and the control of arms. Archeological data from several locales illustrate the disruptive and formative effects of trade diasporas in chiefdoms.     

Impact of UV Radiation on Bacterioplankton Community Composition

The potential effect of UV radiation on the composition of coastal marine bacterioplankton communities was investigated. Dilution cultures with seawater collected from the surface mixed layer of the coastal North Sea were exposed to different ranges of natural or artificial solar radiation for up to two diurnal cycles. The composition of the bacterioplankton community prior to exposure was compared to that after exposure to the different radiation regimes using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of 16S rRNA and 16S ribosomal DNA. Only minor changes in the composition of the bacterial community in the different radiation regimes were detectable. Sequencing of selected bands obtained by DGGE revealed that some species of the Flexibacter-Cytophaga-Bacteroides (FCB) group were sensitive to UV radiation while other species of the FCB group were resistant. Overall, only up to ≈10% of the operational taxonomic units present in the dilution cultures appeared to be affected by UV radiation. Thus, we conclude that UV radiation has little effect on the composition of coastal marine bacterioplankton communities in the North Sea.     

Impact of Mycobacterium Avium Infection on Macrophage-Liposome Interaction

Abstract

Mycobacterium avium (M. avium) can survive within macrophages, and alters various functions of its cellular host. Liposomes and other particulate drug carriers have been investigated as a means for enhancing drug delivery to the intracellular site of infection via the endocytic pathway. We have investigated the impact of M. avium infection on the endocytosis, retention, and intracellular disposition of liposomes, as these are essential macrophage functions that may determine the activity of liposome-encapsulated antibiotics. J774, a macrophage-like cell line, was infected with M. avium at various multiplicities. Infected cells accumulated and retained liposomes in a manner similar to uninfected cells, regardless of the time after infection. Moreover, the intracellular trafficking and disposition of liposomes was unaltered in J774 cells that contained live or heat-killed M. avium, as evidenced by the vesicular pH which liposomes encountered within cells. These results suggest that specific essential cellular functions involved in processing particulate drug carriers remain intact in macrophages infected with M. avium.     

Impact of Oil on Bacterial Community Structure in Bioturbated Sediments

Oil spills threaten coastlines where biological processes supply essential ecosystem services. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how oil influences the microbial communities in sediments that play key roles in ecosystem functioning. Ecosystems such as sediments are characterized by intensive bioturbation due to burrowing macrofauna that may modify the microbial metabolisms. It is thus essential to consider the bioturbation when determining the impact of oil on microbial communities. In this study, an experimental laboratory device maintaining pristine collected mudflat sediments in microcosms closer to true environmental conditions – with tidal cycles and natural seawater – was used to simulate an oil spill under bioturbation conditions. Different conditions were applied to the microcosms including an addition of: standardized oil (Blend Arabian Light crude oil, 25.6 mg.g⁻¹ wet sediment), the common burrowing organism Hediste (Nereis) diversicolor and both the oil and H. diversicolor. The addition of H. diversicolor and its associated bioturbation did not affect the removal of petroleum hydrocarbons. After 270 days, 60% of hydrocarbons had been removed in all microcosms irrespective of the H. diversicolor addition. However, 16S-rRNA gene and 16S-cDNA T-RFLP and RT-PCR-amplicon libraries analysis showed an effect of the condition on the bacterial community structure, composition, and dynamics, supported by PerMANOVA analysis. The 16S-cDNA libraries from microcosms where H. diversicolor was added (oiled and un-oiled) showed a marked dominance of sequences related to Gammaproteobacteria. However, in the oiled-library sequences associated to Deltaproteobacteria and Bacteroidetes were also highly represented. The 16S-cDNA libraries from oiled-microcosms (with and without H. diversicolor addition) revealed two distinct microbial communities characterized by different phylotypes associated to known hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria and dominated by Gammaproteobacteria and Deltaproteobacteria. In the oiled-microcosms, the addition of H. diversicolor reduced the phylotype-richness, sequences associated to Actinobacteria, Firmicutes and Plantomycetes were not detected. These observations highlight the influence of the bioturbation on the bacterial community structure without affecting the biodegradation capacities.     

Investigating the Impact of Storage Conditions on Microbial Community Composition in Soil Samples

Recent advances in DNA sequencing technologies have allowed scientists to probe increasingly complex biological systems, including the diversity of bacteria in the environment. However, despite a multitude of recent studies incorporating these methods, many questions regarding how environmental samples should be collected and stored still persist. Here, we assess the impact of different soil storage conditions on microbial community composition using Illumina-based 16S rRNA V4 amplicon sequencing. Both storage time and temperature affected bacterial community composition and structure. Frozen samples maintained the highest alpha diversity and differed least in beta diversity, suggesting the utility of cold storage for maintaining consistent communities. Samples stored for intermediate times (three and seven days) had both the highest alpha diversity and the largest differences in overall beta diversity, showing the degree of community change after sample collection. These divergences notwithstanding, differences in neither storage time nor storage temperature substantially altered overall communities relative to more than 500 previously examined soil samples. These results systematically support previous studies and stress the importance of methodological consistency for accurate characterization and comparison of soil microbiological assemblages.     

Impact of Conjunctivochalasis on Visual Quality of Life: A Community Population Survey

Conjunctivochalasis (Cch) is a very common ocular disorder, which can cause an unstable tear film and ocular discomfort. The study of vision-related quality of life (VR-QoL) in a community population with Cch can provide a better understanding of the impact of Cch on common people than objective clinical examinations alone. This cross-sectional comparative study enrolled 360 participants ≥40 years old living in Sanle Community, Shanghai. In the study, 198 subjects were diagnosed with Cch and 86 with dry eye syndrome (DES) without Cch. The remaining 76 subjects were normal controls. Socio-demographical data were collected, and Cch and related ocular symptoms and signs were evaluated. In addition, all participants were required to complete the Chinese version of the 25-item National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire (NEI VFQ-25) and Ocular Surface Disease Index Questionnaire (OSDI). Main outcome measures include the comparison on the OSDI score and VFQ-25 score among the subgroups, and the correlation of these scores with the socio-demographical and clinical data. The results revealed that subjects with Cch had significantly decreased tear film stability even compared with those with DES (P = 0.001). The participants with either Cch or DES reported significantly higher OSDI scores and lower VFQ-25 composite scores than the normal controls (P<0.001 and 0.007 respectively). Further comparisons among the subgroups of Cch revealed that the following factors were associated with higher OSDI scores and lower VFQ-25 composite scores: nasal-side Cch, chalasis folds higher than tear meniscus height, punctal occlusion, or increased extent of chalasis on digital pressure. In conclusion, Cch was associated with an adverse impact on VR-QoL in a community population, and the impairment in VR-QoL had a significant correlation with disease severity and tear film abnormalities.     

Orienteering in Knowledge Spaces: The Hyperbolic Geometry of Wikipedia Mathematics

In this paper we show how the coupling of the notion of a network with directions with the adaptation of the four-point probe from materials testing gives rise to a natural geometry on such networks. This four-point probe geometry shares many of the properties of hyperbolic geometry wherein the network directions take the place of the sphere at infinity, enabling a navigation of the network in terms of pairs of directions: the geodesic through a pair of points is oriented from one direction to another direction, the pair of which are uniquely determined. We illustrate this in the interesting example of the pages of Wikipedia devoted to Mathematics, or “The MathWiki.” The applicability of these ideas extends beyond Wikipedia to provide a natural framework for visual search and to prescribe a natural mode of navigation for any kind of “knowledge space” in which higher order concepts aggregate various instances of information. Other examples would include genre or author organization of cultural objects such as books, movies, documents or even merchandise in an online store.     

Content Volatility of Scientific Topics in Wikipedia: A Cautionary Tale

Wikipedia has quickly become one of the most frequently accessed encyclopedic references, despite the ease with which content can be changed and the potential for ‘edit wars’ surrounding controversial topics. Little is known about how this potential for controversy affects the accuracy and stability of information on scientific topics, especially those with associated political controversy. Here we present an analysis of the Wikipedia edit histories for seven scientific articles and show that topics we consider politically but not scientifically “controversial” (such as evolution and global warming) experience more frequent edits with more words changed per day than pages we consider “noncontroversial” (such as the standard model in physics or heliocentrism). For example, over the period we analyzed, the global warming page was edited on average (geometric mean ±SD) 1.9±2.7 times resulting in 110.9±10.3 words changed per day, while the standard model in physics was only edited 0.2±1.4 times resulting in 9.4±5.0 words changed per day. The high rate of change observed in these pages makes it difficult for experts to monitor accuracy and contribute time-consuming corrections, to the possible detriment of scientific accuracy. As our society turns to Wikipedia as a primary source of scientific information, it is vital we read it critically and with the understanding that the content is dynamic and vulnerable to vandalism and other shenanigans.     

Impact of Nutrient Composition on a Degradative Biofilm Community

A microbial community was cultivated in flow cells with 2,4,6-trichlorobenzoic acid (2,4,6-TCB) as sole carbon and energy source and was examined with scanning confocal laser microscopy and fluorescent molecular probes. The biofilm community which developed under these conditions exhibited a characteristic architecture, including a basal cell layer and conspicuous mounds of bacterial cells and polymer (approximately 20 to 30 (mu)m high and 25 to 40 (mu)m in diameter) occurring at 20- to 200-(mu)m intervals. When biofilms grown on 2,4,6-TCB were shifted to a labile, nonchlorinated carbon source (Trypticase soy broth), the biofilms underwent an architectural change which included the loss of mound structures and the formation of a more homogeneous biofilm. Neutrally charged fluorescent dextrans, which upon hydration become cationic, were observed to bind to mounds, as well as to the basal cell layer, in 14-day biofilms. In contrast, polyanionic dextrans bound only to the basal cell layer, indicating that this material incorporated sites with both positive and negative charge. The results from this study indicate that nutrient composition has a significant impact on both the architecture and the physicochemistry of degradative biofilm communities.     

小麦—白三叶草复合群体中种群关系的初步研究

小麦和白三叶草（Ｔｒｉｆｏｌｉｕｍｒｅｐｅｎｓ）复合共生,是一种新型的农田人工群落。其功能表现为种养（养地与养殖）的有效结合,并通过小麦与三叶草的群体优势抑制农田杂草种群。因此,在理论上,这种复合群体是多功能效益,而且是相对稳定的农田生态系。在生产实...     

Impact of Agricultural Practices on the Zea mays L. Endophytic Community

Agricultural practices are known to alter bulk soil microbial communities, but little is known about the effect of such practices on the plant endophytic community. We assessed the influence of long-term applications (20 years) of herbicides and different fertilizer types on the endophytic community of maize plants grown in different field experiments. Nested PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analyses targeting general bacteria, type I or II methanotrophs, actinomycetes, and general fungi were used to fingerprint the endophytic community in the roots of Zea mays L. Low intraplant variability (reproducible DGGE patterns) was observed for the bacterial, type I methanotroph, and fungal communities, whereas the patterns for endophytic actinomycetes exhibited high intraplant variability. No endophytic amplification product was obtained for type II methanotrophs. Cluster and stability analysis of the endophytic type I methanotroph patterns differentiated maize plants cultivated by using mineral fertilizer from plants cultivated by using organic fertilizer with a 100% success rate. In addition, lower methanotroph richness was observed for mineral-fertilized plants than for organically fertilized plants. The use of herbicides could not be traced by fingerprinting the endophytic type I methanotrophs or by evaluating any other endophytic microbial group. Our results indicate that the effect of agrochemicals is not limited to the bulk microbial community but also includes the root endophytic community. It is not clear if this effect is due to a direct effect on the root endophytic community or is due to changes in the bulk community, which are then reflected in the root endophytic community.