State Drought Programs and Plans: Survey of the Western United States

Drought preparedness programs are considered a primary defense against drought hazards. This article investigates state drought programs in the western United States, including a review of drought plans and interviews with state drought officials. While nearly all states have developed drought plans and larger drought programs, the scope and depth of these programs vary widely. State programs and plans typically address monitoring, declaration and response, and communication and coordination. Yet few states conduct postdrought assessments or impact and risk assessments. Resources tend to be allocated more for drought response than mitigation. Officials emphasized not only the importance of available monitoring data, but also the need for improved information for monitoring and predicting drought. State drought officials recommended the following: (1) clear and relevant drought indicators and triggers; (2) frequent communication and coordination among state agencies, local governments, and stakeholders; (3) regularly updated drought plans; and (4) strong leadership that includes a full-time state drought coordinator

Ultrasonic Deterrents Reduce Nuisance Cat (Felis Catus) Activity on Suburban Properties

Urban environments are increasingly important for biodiversity conservation, but pet cats threaten wildlife therein, displaying nuisance behaviour such as hunting, fighting, fouling and urine spraying. In an attempt to empower landholders wishing to reduce cat incursions humanely, we tested the effectiveness of two ultrasonic cat deterrents (CatStop© and On-Guard Mega-Sonic Cat Repeller©). After confirming in arena trials that cats detect and respond negatively to an ultrasonic device, we tested both deterrents in 18 suburban gardens in Perth, Western Australia. Camera monitoring at foci of cat activity (e.g. fish ponds, property entry/exit points) occurred for two weeks before (Period 1: device off), during (Period 2: device on) and after (Period 3: device off) the activation of deterrents. Data included individual cat demographics and behaviours, number of cat detections per site per day per sampling period, the duration of cat activity, and detection of non-target species. Seventy-eight unique cats were detected at 17 of 18 garden sites (2e9 cats/garden). Over half the cats could be sexed (56.4%, with 65.1% males). Nearly 53.0% of cats were confirmed to be pets living nearby. Cats that were most active in period 1 (100 s total activity duration) were classified as ‘residents’; all others were ‘peripherals’. Overall, the ultrasonic deterrents reduced the frequency of incursions into gardens by resident cats by 46%, while the duration of incursions was reduced by 78%. Cat activity declined significantly from period 1 (baseline) to period 2 for resident cats but not peripheral cats (50% reduction; p . 0.001), and remained depressed in period 3 for resident cats but not peripheral cats (p \u3c 0.001). Peripheral cat activity remained at an unchanging low level across all three periods. Males were slightly more active than females over the experiment (p . 0.04), but sexes did not vary in response to deterrents (p \u3e 0.05). Cats confirmed as owned (53% of cats) generated more activity than cats of unknown ownership status (p . 0.03), probably reflecting proximity of their residences to trial gardens. Both deterrent models had similar effects (p . 0.89). By allowing pets to roam, cat owners are complicit in cat nuisance. This requires public education. Ultrasonic deterrents offer a cost-effective, humane option to reduce incursions by unwanted cats. Ultrasonic deterrents will not prevent all incursions, but they reduce their frequency and duration. Reduced cat activity has flow-on benefits to wildlife across a variety of urban-suburban settings, including gardens and parks

Evolutionary history of <i>Plasmodium vivax</i> and <i>Plasmodium simium</i> in the Americas

Malaria is a vector-borne disease caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Plasmodium. Plasmodium vivax is the most prevalent human-infecting species in the Americas. However, the origins of this parasite in this continent are still debated. Similarly, it is now accepted that the existence of Plasmodium simium is explained by a P. vivax transfer from humans to monkey in America. However, many uncertainties still exist concerning the origin of the transfer and whether several transfers occurred. In this review, the most recent studies that addressed these questions using genetic and genomic approaches are presented.</p

Genetic homogeneity in the face of morphological heterogeneity in the harbor porpoise from the Black Sea and adjacent waters (<i>Phocoena phocoena relicta</i>)

Absence of genetic differentiation is usually taken as an evidence of panmixia, but can also reflect other situations, including even nearly complete demographic independence among large-sized populations. Deciphering which situation applies has major practical implications (e.g., in conservation biology). The endangered harbor porpoises in the Black Sea illustrates this point well. While morphological heterogeneity suggested that population differentiation may exist between individuals from the Black and Azov seas, no genetic study provided conclusive evidence or covered the entire subspecies range. Here, we assessed the genetic structure at ten microsatellite loci and a 3904 base-pairs mitochondrial fragment in 144 porpoises across the subspecies range (i.e., Aegean, Marmara, Black, and Azov seas). Analyses of the genetic structure, including F ST, Bayesian clustering, and multivariate analyses revealed a nearly complete genetic homogeneity. Power analyses rejected the possibility of underpowered analyses (power to detect F ST ≥ 0.008 at microsatellite loci). Simulations under various demographic models, evaluating the evolution of F ST, showed that a time-lag effect between demographic and genetic subdivision is also unlikely. With a realistic effective population size of 1000 individuals, the expected “gray zone” would be at most 20 generations under moderate levels of gene flow (≤10 migrants per generation). After excluding alternative hypotheses, panmixia remains the most likely hypothesis explaining the genetic homogeneity in the Black Sea porpoises. Morphological heterogeneity may thus reflect other processes than population subdivision (e.g., plasticity, selection). This study illustrates how combining empirical and theoretical approaches can contribute to understanding patterns of weak population structure in highly mobile marine species. </p

Draft genome sequence of a nonhemolytic fish-pathogenic streptococcus agalactiae strain

Streptococcus agalactiae is a significant Gram-positive bacterial pathogen of terrestrial and aquatic animals. A subpopulation of nonhemolytic strains which appear to be pathogenic only for poikilotherms exists. We report here the first draft genome sequence of a nonhemolytic S. agalactiae isolate recovered from a diseased fish

Acute phase protein response in an experimental model of ovine caseous lymphadenitis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Caseous lymphadenitis (CLA) is a disease of small ruminants caused by <it>Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis</it>. The pathogenesis of CLA is a slow process, and produces a chronic rather than an acute disease state. Acute phase proteins (APP) such as haptoglobin (Hp) serum amyloid A (SAA) and α₁acid glycoprotein (AGP) are produced by the liver and released into the circulation in response to pro-inflammatory cytokines. The concentration of Hp in serum increases in experimental CLA but it is not known if SAA and AGP respond in parallel or have differing response profiles.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The concentration in serum of Hp, SAA and AGP in 6 sheep challenged with 2 × 10⁵cells of <it>C. pseudotuberculosis </it>showed significant increases (P < 0.05) compared to 3 unchallenged control sheep. By day 7 post infection. (p.i.) the Hp and SAA concentrations reached mean (± SEM) values of 1.65 ± 0.21 g/L and 18.1 ± 5.2 mg/L respectively. Thereafter, their concentrations fell with no significant difference to those of the control sheep by day 18 p.i.. In contrast, the serum AGP concentration in infected sheep continued to rise to a peak of 0.38 ± 0.05 g/L on day 13 p.i., after which a slow decline occurred, although the mean concentration remained significantly higher (P < 0.05) than the control group up to 29 days p.i.. Specific IgG to phospholidase D of <it>C. pseudotuberculosis </it>became detectable at 11 days p.i. and continued to rise throughout the experiment.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The serum concentrations of Hp, SAA and AGP were raised in sheep in an experimental model of CLA. An extended response was found for AGP which occurred at a point when the infection was likely to have been transforming from an acute to a chronic phase. The results suggest that AGP could have a role as a marker for chronic conditions in sheep.</p

Harbor porpoise losing its edge:Genetic time series suggests a rapid population decline in Iberian waters over the last 30 years

Impact of climate change is expected to be especially noticeable at the edges of a species' distribution, where they meet suboptimal habitat conditions. In Mauritania and Iberia, two genetically differentiated populations of harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) form an ecotype adapted to local upwelling conditions and distinct from other ecotypes further north on the NE Atlantic continental shelf and in the Black Sea. By analyzing the evolution of mitochondrial genetic variation in the Iberian population between two temporal cohorts (1990–2002 vs. 2012–2015), we report a substantial decrease in genetic diversity. Phylogenetic analyses including neighboring populations identified two porpoises in southern Iberia carrying a divergent haplotype closely related to those from the Mauritanian population, yet forming a distinct lineage. This suggests that Iberian porpoises may not be as isolated as previously thought, indicating possible dispersion from Mauritania or an unknown population in between, but none from the northern ecotype. Demo-genetic scenario testing by approximate Bayesian computation showed that the rapid decline in the Iberian mitochondrial diversity was not simply due to the genetic drift of a small population, but models support instead a substantial decline in effective population size, possibly resulting from environmental stochasticity, prey depletion, or acute fishery bycatches. These results illustrate the value of genetics time series to inform demographic trends and emphasize the urgent need for conservation measures to ensure the viability of this small harbor porpoise population in Iberian waters.</p

Using Model Test Data to Assess VIV Factor of Safety for SCR and TTR in GOM

This paper presents results obtained as part of the DeepStar Phase 10 program on VIV Factors of Safety. The objective was to develop a general methodology to calibrate Factors of Safety for VIV-induced fatigue and to apply it to partially straked risers. This was achieved using reliability methods, accepted industry VIV prediction software and state-of-the-art model test experiments. Most oil companies use a Factor of Safety of 20 when predicting VIV damage using VIV software tools. There are numerous software tools currently in use in industry to predict VIV damage to straked risers and each of them will have different accuracy, and therefore an intrinsic level of conservatism. Understanding the level of conservatism in different VIV prediction software is therefore critical to determining what Factor of Safety to use. This study benchmarks the latest generation of industry accepted VIV design tools at the time of the study (2011): SHEAR7v4.6, VIVAv6.5 and VIVANAv3.7.24 against high quality VIV data from three separate straked riser experiments. A bias distribution (predicted to measured VIV damage results) is obtained for each software tool as a function of the strake coverage. A novel reliability framework approach is then developed to incorporate all uncertainties associated with VIV fatigue prediction into a limit state function, including variability in met-ocean conditions and variability in the fatigue resistance of the material characterized by a design S-N curve. The limit state function is analyzed using First Order Reliability Methods to develop Factors of Safety for target probabilities of failure. The general method is then applied on two case studies involving an SCR and TTR in Gulf of Mexico loop currents, but it can be easily extended to different locations and riser configurations. The resulting FoS range from about 1 to 15 for most software, and are lower than industry standards for VIV prediction. The FoS do not vary markedly for different riser configurations, indicating the possibility of reducing excess conservatism when predicting VIV damage on straked risers.DeepStar (Consortium)SHEAR7 JI

Microvolt T-Wave Alternans and the Risk of Death or Sustained Ventricular Arrhythmias in Patients With Left Ventricular Dysfunction

ObjectivesThis study hypothesized that microvolt T-wave alternans (MTWA) improves selection of patients for implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) prophylaxis, especially by identifying patients who are not likely to benefit.BackgroundMany patients with left ventricular dysfunction are now eligible for prophylactic ICDs, but most eligible patients do not benefit; MTWA testing has been proposed to improve patient selection.MethodsOur study was conducted at 11 clinical centers in the U.S. Patients were eligible if they had a left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≤0.40 and lacked a history of sustained ventricular arrhythmias; patients were excluded for atrial fibrillation, unstable coronary artery disease, or New York Heart Association functional class IV heart failure. Participants underwent an MTWA test and then were followed for about two years. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality or non-fatal sustained ventricular arrhythmias.ResultsIschemic heart disease was present in 49%, mean LVEF was 0.25, and 66% had an abnormal MTWA test. During 20 ± 6 months of follow-up, 51 end points (40 deaths and 11 non-fatal sustained ventricular arrhythmias) occurred. Comparing patients with normal and abnormal MTWA tests, the hazard ratio for the primary end point was 6.5 at two years (95% confidence interval 2.4 to 18.1, p < 0.001). Survival of patients with normal MTWA tests was 97.5% at two years. The strong association between MTWA and the primary end point was similar in all subgroups tested.ConclusionsAmong patients with heart disease and LVEF ≤0.40, MTWA can identify not only a high-risk group, but also a low-risk group unlikely to benefit from ICD prophylaxis

The Evolution of the Anopheles 16 Genomes Project

We report the imminent completion of a set of reference genome assemblies for 16 species of Anopheles mosquitoes. In addition to providing a generally useful resource for comparative genomic analyses, these genome sequences will greatly facilitate exploration of the capacity exhibited by some Anopheline mosquito species to serve as vectors for malaria parasites. A community analysis project will commence soon to perform a thorough comparative genomic investigation of these newly sequenced genomes. Completion of this project via the use of short next-generation sequence reads required innovation in both the bioinformatic and laboratory realms, and the resulting knowledge gained could prove useful for genome sequencing projects targeting other unconventional genomes