Amphibians Testing Negative for Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau,China

A disease caused by the fungi Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis(Bd) and Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans(Bsal) is responsible for recent worldwide declines and extinctions of amphibian populations.The Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau(QTP) is aglobal biodiversity hotspot,yet little is known about the prevalence of Bd and Bsal in this region.In this study,we collected 336 non-invasive skin swabs from wild amphibians(including an exotic amphibian species) on the QTP.In addition,to assess the historical prevalence of Bd and Bsal on the QTP,we collected 117 non-invasive skin swabs from museum-archived amphibian samples(from 1964–1982) originating from the QTP.Our results showed all samples to be negative for Bd and Bsal.The government should ban the potentially harmful introduction of non-native amphibian species to the QTP and educate the public about the impacts of releasing exotic amphibians from chytridinfected areas into native environments of the QTP.     

Impact of Travel Between Patches for Spatial Spread of Disease

A multipatch model is proposed to study the impact of travel on the spatial spread of disease between patches with different level of disease prevalence. The basic reproduction number for the ith patch in isolation is obtained along with the basic reproduction number of the system of patches, ℜ₀. Inequalities describing the relationship between these numbers are also given. For a two-patch model with one high prevalence patch and one low prevalence patch, results pertaining to the dependence of ℜ₀ on the travel rates between the two patches are obtained. For parameter values relevant for influenza, these results show that, while banning travel of infectives from the low to the high prevalence patch always contributes to disease control, banning travel of symptomatic travelers only from the high to the low prevalence patch could adversely affect the containment of the outbreak under certain ranges of parameter values. Moreover, banning all travel of infected individuals from the high to the low prevalence patch could result in the low prevalence patch becoming diseasefree, while the high prevalence patch becomes even more disease-prevalent, with the resulting number of infectives in this patch alone exceeding the combined number of infectives in both patches without border control. Under the set of parameter values used, our results demonstrate that if border control is properly implemented, then it could contribute to stopping the spatial spread of disease between patches.     

The Use of Bacteriological Variables for the Characterization of Different Water Bodies

Studies on the Mediterranean Undercurrent in the Gulf of Cádiz showed that bacterial abundance and biomass as well as heterotrophic activity were higher in the water of Mediterranean origin in 500–800 m depth than in the adjacent Atlantic water. Upwelling processes off Mauretania and Portugal were accompanied by high bacterial numbers (bacterial plate counts) in the mixed surface layer. Changes in the qualitative composition of the bacterial flora in the waters off West Africa and in the Arabian Gulf were explained by the introduction of dust from desert regions into the sea by aeolian transport. In the Western Baltic migration of fish was detected by the presence of special bacteria, which normally live on or in these animals. Regions with complex hydrographic structures such as the Western and Central Baltic Sea revealed interesting relationships between bacteriological abundance and activity on the one hand and characteristic physical and chemical properties, such as origin, salinity and O₂/H₂S-content, on the other. The importance of bacteriological variables for the characterization of different water bodies is discussed.     

Predation Limits Spread of Didemnum vexillum into Natural Habitats from Refuges on Anthropogenic Structures

Non-indigenous species can dominate fouling assemblages on artificial structures in marine environments; however, the extent to which infected structures act as reservoirs for subsequent spread to natural habitats is poorly understood. Didemnum vexillum is one of few colonial ascidian species that is widely reported to be highly invasive in natural ecosystems, but which in New Zealand proliferates only on suspended structures. Experimental work revealed that D. vexillum established equally well on suspended artificial and natural substrata, and was able to overgrow suspended settlement plates that were completely covered in other cosmopolitan fouling species. Fragmentation led to a level of D. vexillum cover that was significantly greater than was achieved as a result of ambient larval recruitment. The species failed to establish following fragment transplants onto seabed cobbles and into beds of macroalgae. The establishment success of D. vexillum was greatest in summer compared with autumn, and on the underside of experimental settlement plates that were suspended off the seabed to avoid benthic predators. Where benthic predation pressure was reduced by caging, D. vexillum establishment success was broadly comparable to suspended treatments; by contrast, the species did not establish on the face-up aspect of uncaged plates. This study provides compelling evidence that benthic predation was a key mechanism that prevented D. vexillum’s establishment in the cobble habitats of the study region. The widespread occurrence of D. vexillum on suspended anthropogenic structures is consistent with evidence for other sessile invertebrates that such habitats provide a refuge from benthic predation. For invasive species generally, anthropogenic structures are likely to be most important as propagule reservoirs for spread to natural habitats in situations where predation and other mechanisms do not limit their subsequent proliferation.     

Spatial Risk Analysis of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis,A Global Emerging Fungal Pathogen

EcoHealth - Chytridiomycosis, a leading cause for the global decline in the number of amphibians, is caused by the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. In this study, global distribution...     

Widespread occurrence of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in Ontario,Canada, and predicted habitat suitability for the emerging Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans

Chytridiomycosis, caused by the fungi Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans, is associated with massive amphibian mortality events worldwide and with some species’ extinctions. Previous ecological niche models suggest that B. dendrobatidis is not well‐suited to northern, temperate climates, but these predictions have often relied on datasets in which northern latitudes are underrepresented. Recent northern detections of B. dendrobatidis suggest that these models may have underestimated the suitability of higher latitudes for this fungus. We used qPCR to test for B. dendrobatidis in 1,041 non‐invasive epithelial swab samples from 18 species of amphibians collected across 735,345 km² in Ontario and Akimiski Island (Nunavut), Canada. We detected the pathogen in 113 samples (10.9%) from 11 species. Only one specimen exhibited potential clinical signs of disease. We used these data to produce six Species Distribution Models of B. dendrobatidis, which classified half of the study area as potential habitat for the fungus. We also tested each sample for B. salamandrivorans, an emerging pathogen that is causing alarming declines in European salamanders, but is not yet detected in North America. We did not detect B. salamandrivorans in any of the samples, providing a baseline for future surveillance. We assessed the potential risk of future introduction by comparing salamander richness to temperature‐dependent mortality, predicted by a previous exposure study. Areas with the highest species diversity and predicted mortality risk extended 60,530 km² across southern Ontario, highlighting the potential threat B. salamandrivorans poses to northern Nearctic amphibians. Preventing initial introduction will require coordinated, transboundary regulation of trade in amphibians (including frogs that can carry and disperse B. salamandrivorans), and surveillance of the pathways of introduction (e.g., water and wildlife). Our results can inform surveillance for both pathogens and efforts to mitigate the spread of chytridiomycosis through wild populations.     

Optimal Designs for Estimating the Percentiles of the Risk in Multistage Models of Carcinogenesis

The multistage carcinogenesis models describe a process by which a normal cell becomes malignant and gives rise to a tumor. This paper aims at evaluating the percentiles of the risk function derived as dose-response relationship in a multi-stage model. These percentiles have been known as “virtual safe dose” levels or risk specific dose levels. The optimal design theory is applied to estimate the appropriate percentile and the sequential approach of design is adopted through a stochastic approximation scheme. If the initial design is D-optimal the limit design is D-optimal as well and it is the one with the minimum entropy.     

The Effects of Anthropogenic Structures on Habitat Connectivity and the Potential Spread of Non-Native Invertebrate Species in the Offshore Environment

Offshore structures provide habitat that could facilitate species range expansions and the introduction of non-native species into new geographic areas. Surveys of assemblages of seven offshore oil and gas platforms in the Santa Barbara Channel revealed a change in distribution of the non-native sessile invertebrate Watersipora subtorquata, a bryozoan with a planktonic larval duration (PLD) of 24 hours or less, from one platform in 2001 to four platforms in 2013. We use a three-dimensional biophysical model to assess whether larval dispersal via currents from harbors to platforms and among platforms is a plausible mechanism to explain the change in distribution of Watersipora and to predict potential spread to other platforms in the future. Hull fouling is another possible mechanism to explain the change in distribution of Watersipora. We find that larval dispersal via currents could account for the increase in distribution of Watersipora from one to four platforms and that Watersipora is unlikely to spread from these four platforms to additional platforms through larval dispersal. Our results also suggest that larvae with PLDs of 24 hours or less released from offshore platforms can attain much greater dispersal distances than larvae with PLDs of 24 hours or less released from nearshore habitat. We hypothesize that the enhanced dispersal distance of larvae released from offshore platforms is driven by a combination of the offshore hydrodynamic environment, larval behavior, and larval release above the seafloor.     

Diagnostic assays and sampling protocols for the detection of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis

Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis is a fungus belonging to the Phylum Chytridiomycota, Class Chytridiomycetes, Order Chytridiales, and is the highly infectious aetiological agent responsible for a potentially fatal disease, chytridiomycosis, which is currently decimating many of the world's amphibian populations. The fungus infects 2 amphibian orders (Anura and Caudata), 14 families and at least 200 species and is responsible for at least 1 species extinction. Whilst the origin of the agent and routes of transmission are being debated, it has been recognised that successful management of the disease will require effective sampling regimes and detection assays. We have developed a range of unique sampling protocols together with diagnostic assays for the detection of B. dendrobatidis in both living and deceased tadpoles and adults. Here, we formally present our data and discuss them in respect to assay sensitivity, specificity, repeatability and reproducibility. We suggest that compliance with the recommended protocols will avoid the generation of spurious results, thereby providing the international scientific and regulatory community with a set of validated procedures which will assist in the successful management of chytridiomycosis in the future.     

A Global Airport-Based Risk Model for the Spread of Dengue Infection via the Air Transport Network

The number of travel-acquired dengue infections has seen a consistent global rise over the past decade. An increased volume of international passenger air traffic originating from regions with endemic dengue has contributed to a rise in the number of dengue cases in both areas of endemicity and elsewhere. This paper reports results from a network-based risk assessment model which uses international passenger travel volumes, travel routes, travel distances, regional populations, and predictive species distribution models (for the two vector species, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus) to quantify the relative risk posed by each airport in importing passengers with travel-acquired dengue infections. Two risk attributes are evaluated: (i) the risk posed by through traffic at each stopover airport and (ii) the risk posed by incoming travelers to each destination airport. The model results prioritize optimal locations (i.e., airports) for targeted dengue surveillance. The model is easily extendible to other vector-borne diseases.     

Use of Toxicological Data in Estimating Reference Values for Risk Assessment

A number of programs within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) currently set less-than-lifetime exposure limits in addition to the chronic reference dose (RfD) and reference concentration (RfC). A review of procedures within the USEPA for setting reference values suggests that less-thanlifetime reference values should be more routinely developed and captured in the USEPA's online IRIS database where chronic RfDs and RfCs, as well as cancer slope factors, are currently available. A review of standard testing study protocols was conducted to determine what data were available for setting acute, short-term, and longer-term reference values, as well as chronic values. This review was done from the point of view of endpoints assessed for specific organ systems (both structural and functional), life stages covered by exposure and outcome, durations of exposure covered and the outcomes evaluated for each, and evaluation of latency to response and/or reversibility of effects. This review revealed a number of data gaps and research needs, including the need for an acute and/or short-term testing protocol that can be used to set acute and shortterm reference values, a strategy for when to conduct more extensive testing based on initial screening data or other information (e.g., chemical class, pharmacokinetics, mode of action), additonal standard testing guidlines protocols to allow more complete assessment of certain organ systems and life stages, development of pharmacokinetic data for different life stages, toxicity related to aging, and latency to response, particularly long-term latency as a result of developmental exposures. The implications of this review are discussed relative to characterizing hazard data for setting reference values, and the potential effects on uncertainty factors and low-dose extrapolation.     

Transpiration and Water Uptake in the Fruit Bodies of Some Hymenomycetes

The relationship between relative humidity and transpiration was studied in the basidiocarps of Coprinus, Amanita, Agaricus, Tricholoma, Collybia and Polyporus. Transpiration decreases with an increase in the humidity and there is virtually no transpiration in nearly saturated air. To determine the relationship between uptake and transpiration, stipes were immersed in solutions of various osmotic ally active substances and inhibitors. Results showed that uptake has no influence on the transpiration. Additional data suggested that uptake in a detached basi-diocarp proceeds as long as the fruit body is young and healthy. Studies with fluorescein dye and mannitol showed that most transpiration occurs at the surface and edges of the hymenium.     

Experiments on the Spread of Potato Virus X Between Plants in Contact

Experiments on the spread of five strains of potato virus X were made with seven potato varieties and with tomato plants both under glass and in the field. Spread by leaf contact between healthy and infected plants was confirmed, and it was also found that spread could occur between plants whose only contact was below ground.
The rate of spread was much greater in tomato than in potato plants, and virulent strains of the virus, which achieve a high concentration in infected plants, spread more rapidly than avirulent strains. In only one experiment with potatoes did more than 10% of the healthy potato plants exposed to infection become infected during one season.
Datura stramonium and tomato plants became infected when growing in soil containing sap or residues from X -infected plants.
It was common in the field for potato plants whose foliage gave no reaction for virus X at the end of the season to yield a mixed progeny of healthy and infected tubers. Such infections are thought to result from underground spread.
Attempts to transmit virus X from infected to healthy potatoes by means of Rhizoctonia solani failed. No examples of infection were found except when healthy plants came into direct contact with sources of the virus.     

Estimating and Mapping the Population at Risk of Sleeping Sickness

Background

Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), also known as sleeping sickness, persists as a public health problem in several sub-Saharan countries. Evidence-based, spatially explicit estimates of population at risk are needed to inform planning and implementation of field interventions, monitor disease trends, raise awareness and support advocacy. Comprehensive, geo-referenced epidemiological records from HAT-affected countries were combined with human population layers to map five categories of risk, ranging from “very high” to “very low,” and to estimate the corresponding at-risk population.

Results

Approximately 70 million people distributed over a surface of 1.55 million km² are estimated to be at different levels of risk of contracting HAT. Trypanosoma brucei gambiense accounts for 82.2% of the population at risk, the remaining 17.8% being at risk of infection from T. b. rhodesiense. Twenty-one million people live in areas classified as moderate to very high risk, where more than 1 HAT case per 10,000 inhabitants per annum is reported.

Discussion

Updated estimates of the population at risk of sleeping sickness were made, based on quantitative information on the reported cases and the geographic distribution of human population. Due to substantial methodological differences, it is not possible to make direct comparisons with previous figures for at-risk population. By contrast, it will be possible to explore trends in the future. The presented maps of different HAT risk levels will help to develop site-specific strategies for control and surveillance, and to monitor progress achieved by ongoing efforts aimed at the elimination of sleeping sickness.     

Estimating the Sizes of Populations at High Risk for HIV: A Comparison Study

Objectives

Behavioral interventions are effective strategies for HIV/AIDS prevention and control. However, implementation of such strategies relies heavily on the accurate estimation of the high-risk population size. The multiplier method and generalized network scale-up method were recommended to estimate the population size of those at high risk for HIV by UNAIDS/WHO in 2003 and 2010, respectively. This study aims to assess and compare the two methods for estimating the size of populations at high risk for HIV, and to provide practical guidelines and suggestions for implementing the two methods.

Methods

Studies of the multiplier method used to estimate the population prevalence of men who have sex with men in China published between July 1, 2003 and July 1, 2013 were reviewed. The generalized network scale-up method was applied to estimate the population prevalence of men who have sex with men in the urban district of Taiyuan, China.

Results

The median of studies using the multiplier method to estimate the population prevalence of men who have sex with men in China was 4–8 times lower than the national level estimate. Meanwhile, the estimate of the generalized network scale-up method fell within the range of national level estimate.

Conclusions

When high-quality existing data are not readily available, the multiplier method frequently yields underestimated results. We thus suggest that the generalized network scale-up method is preferred when sampling frames for the general population and accurate demographic information are available.     

A Novel Approach Toward Natural and Anthropogenic Risk Assessment of Gas Power Plants

The current study focuses on identification and prioritization of the most important risks affecting a gas power plant located in southern Iran that was selected as a case study. After identifying risky activities, plant operations, and natural disasters, a Delphi questionnaire was prepared to specify crisis and accident-prone centers that could lead to the plant's destruction. After analyzing the questionnaires, the final criteria were determined. Subsequently, multi-criteria decision-making methods including technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) and analytical hierarchy process (AHP) were applied to prioritize the identified criteria. The relative weights of the criteria were calculated using the eigenvector method in the environment of MATLAB and EXPERT CHOICE. In some cases, there was no correlation between the obtained results, resulting in a novel integrated technique consisting of three methods: average, Borda, and Copeland was used to reach a consensus for prioritizing the criteria. The risk assessment results indicate that gas and oil pipes, dust storm, and terrorism have the first to third priorities among the other risks. Some strategies are proposed to control and mitigate the identified risks.     

A New Approach Toward Natural and Anthropogenic Risk Assessment of Gas Power Plants

The current study focuses on identification and prioritization of the most important risks affecting a gas power plant located in southern Iran that was selected as a case study. After identifying risky activities, plant operations, and natural disasters, a Delphi questionnaire was prepared to specify crisis and accident-prone centers that could lead to the plant's destruction. After analyzing the questionnaires, the final criteria were determined. Subsequently, multi-criteria decision-making methods including the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) and analytical hierarchy process (AHP) were applied to prioritize the identified criteria. The relative weights of the criteria were calculated using the eigenvector method in the environment of MATLAB and Expert Choice. In some cases, there was no correlation between the obtained results, resulting in a novel integrated technique consisting of three methods: average, Borda, and Copeland were used to reach a consensus for prioritizing the criteria. The risk assessment results indicate that gas and oil pipes, dust storm, and terrorism have the first to third priorities among the other risks. Some strategies are proposed to control and mitigate the identified risks.     

狼尾草的种子特性与扩散风险分析

狼尾草(Pennisetum alopecuroides(L.)Spreng.)是一种极具观赏价值和应用潜力的观赏草。但是,狼尾草也是部分地区的旱地杂草,而且狼尾草属的许多种在有些国家已经成为入侵种。本实验通过对狼尾草种子的发芽温度、不同覆土深度、休眠特性及种子活力研究来评估其传播扩散的能力,分析其逃逸扩散的风险性。结果表明,10~40℃条件下,狼尾草均可发芽;温度为20~30℃时,发芽率均在80%以上,最适发芽温度为26℃。覆土厚度为15~20 mm时的发芽率较好,最适发芽的覆土厚度为13 mm。狼尾草种子的休眠期一般可长达5个月,但经过土壤埋藏处理后,其休眠期由5个月缩短至2个月;狼尾草种子加速老化处理后,发芽率由正常的92%降低到32.5%;寒冷试验后,发芽率由51.0%降低到26.0%。扩散风险不大。     

TMV在不同水体与温度条件下的灭活动力学

了解植物病毒在不同水体与温度条件下的灭活规律具有重要的理论与实际意义.本文以典型植物病毒烟草花叶病毒(TMV)为模型,比较了其在不同温度条件下,在闽江水、自来水、生活污水、微孔滤膜过滤除菌污水及超纯水中的灭活动力学.结果显示,温度是导致TMV灭活的重要因素,水温升高,病毒灭活速率加快;此外,某些水质因子也影响TMV的灭活效率,其中可溶性盐的存在及其含量对TMV的灭活会因所处的环境不同而异;某些微生物或代谢产物对植物病毒TMV具有灭活作用,而能生化降解的有机质加速TMV灭活可能是通过促进水体中的微生物增殖而起作用.