Snow, forest, and meteorological data collected in the Cedar River Municipal Watershed, Washington, USA

See associated paper: Dickerson-Lange, S.E., Lutz, J.A., Gersonde, R., Martin, K.A., Forsyth, J.E., and J.D. Lundquist (2015, in preparation for Water Resources Research), Field observations of distributed snow depth and snow duration within diverse forest structures in a maritime mountain watershedSpatially distributed snow depth and snow duration data were collected over two to four snow seasons during water years 2011-2014 in experimental forest plots within the Cedar River Municipal Watershed, 50 km east of Seattle, Washington, USA. These 40 m × 40 m forest plots, situated on the western slope of the Cascade Range, include un-thinned second-growth coniferous forest as control treatments, variable density thinned forests, forest gaps in which a 20 m diameter (approximately equivalent to one tree height) gap was cut in the middle of each plot, and old growth forest. Together, this publicly available dataset includes snow depth observations from manual snow courses, distributed snow duration observations from ground temperature sensors and time-lapse cameras, meteorological data collected at two open locations and three forested locations, and forest canopy data from airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data and hemispherical photographs. These co-located snow, meteorological, and forest data have the potential to improve understanding of forest influences on snow processes, and provide a unique model-testing dataset for hydrological analyses in a forested, maritime watershed.National Science Foundation, CBET-093178

Lead exposure and antisocial behavior: A systematic review protocol.

BACKGROUND: Lead exposure remains highly prevalent worldwide despite decades of research highlighting its link to numerous adverse health outcomes. In addition to well-documented effects on cognition, there is growing evidence of an association with antisocial behavior, including aggression, conduct problems, and crime. An updated systematic review on this topic, incorporating study evaluation and a developmental perspective on the outcome, can advance the state of the science on lead and inform global policy interventions to reduce exposure. OBJECTIVES: We aim to evaluate the link between lead exposure and antisocial behavior. This association will be investigated via a systematic review of human epidemiological and experimental nonhuman mammalian studies. METHODS: The systematic review protocol presented in this publication is informed by recommendations for the conduct of systematic reviews in toxicology and environmental health research (COSTER) and follows the study evaluation approach put forth by the U.S. EPA Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) program. DATA SOURCES: We will search the following electronic databases for relevant literature: PubMed, BIOSIS and Web of Science. Search results will be stored in EPA's Health and Environmental Research Online (HERO) database. STUDY ELIGIBILITY AND CRITERIA: Eligible human epidemiological studies will include those evaluating any population exposed to lead at any lifestage via ingestion or inhalation exposure and considering an outcome of antisocial behavior based on any of the following criteria: psychiatric diagnoses (e.g., oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), conduct disorder (CD), disruptive behavior disorders (DBD)); violation of social norms (e.g., delinquency, criminality); and aggression. Eligible experimental animal studies will include those evaluating nonhuman mammalian studies exposed to lead via ingestion, inhalation, or injection exposure during any lifestage. The following outcomes will be considered relevant: aggression; antisocial behavior; and altered fear, anxiety, and stress response. STUDY APPRAISAL AND SYNTHESIS METHODS: Screening will be conducted with assistance from an artificial intelligence application. Two independent reviewers for each data stream (human, animal) will screen studies with highest predicted relevance against pre-specified inclusion criteria at the title/abstract and full-text level. Study evaluation will be conducted using methods adapted from the U.S. EPA IRIS program. After data extraction, we will conduct a narrative review and quantitative meta-analysis on the human epidemiological studies as well as a narrative review of the experimental animal studies. We will evaluate the strength of each evidence stream separately and then will develop a summary evidence integration statement based on inference across evidence streams

Source reduction with a purpose: Mosquito ecology and community perspectives offer insights for improving household mosquito management in coastal Kenya.

Understanding mosquito breeding behavior as well as human perspectives and practices are crucial for designing interventions to control Aedes aegypti mosquito-borne diseases as these mosquitoes primarily breed in water-holding containers around people's homes. The objectives of this study were to identify productive mosquito breeding habitats in coastal Kenya and to understand household mosquito management behaviors and their behavioral determinants. The field team conducted entomological surveys in 444 households and semi-structured interviews with 35 female caregivers and 37 children in Kwale County, coastal Kenya, between May and December 2016. All potential mosquito habitats with or without water were located, abundances of mosquito immatures measured and their characteristics recorded. Interviews explored household mosquito management behaviors and their behavioral determinants. 2,452 container mosquito habitats were counted containing 1,077 larvae and 390 pupae, predominantly Aedes species. More than one-third of the positive containers were found outside houses in 1 of the 10 villages. Containers holding water with no intended purpose contained 55.2% of all immature mosquitoes. Containers filled with rainwater held 95.8% of all immature mosquitoes. Interviews indicated that households prioritize sleeping under bednets as a primary protection against mosquito-borne disease because of concern about night-time biting, malaria-transmitting Anopheles mosquitoes. Respondents had limited knowledge about the mosquito life cycle, especially with respect to day-time biting, container-breeding Aedes mosquitoes. Therefore, respondents did not prioritize source reduction. Most mosquitoes breed in containers that have no direct or immediate purpose ("no-purpose containers"). These containers may be left unattended for several days allowing rainwater to collect, and creating ideal conditions for mosquito breeding. An intervention that requires little effort and targets only the most productive containers could effectively reduce mosquito indices and, relatedly, mosquito-borne disease risk

Larval source reduction with a purpose: Designing and evaluating a household- and school-based intervention in coastal Kenya

BackgroundSince Aedes aegypti mosquitoes preferentially breed in domestic containers, control efforts focus on larval source reduction. Our objectives were to design and test the effectiveness of a source reduction intervention to improve caregiver knowledge and behaviors in coastal Kenya.Methodology/principal findingsWe conducted a cluster-randomized controlled trial with 261 households from 5 control villages and 259 households from 5 intervention villages. From each household, one child (10-16 years old) and his or her primary caregiver participated in the intervention. We assessed caregiver knowledge and behavior at baseline, as well as 3 and 12 months after the intervention. We assessed household entomological indices at baseline and 12 months after the intervention to avoid seasonal interference. We conducted qualitative interviews with 34 caregivers to understand barriers and facilitators to change. We counted and weighed containers collected by children and parents during a community container clean-up and recycling event. After 12 months, caregiver knowledge about and self-reported behavior related to at least one source reduction technique was more than 50 percentage points higher in the intervention compared to control arm (adjusted risk differences for knowledge: 0.69, 95% CI [0.56 to 0.82], and behavior: 0.58 [0.43 to 0.73]). Respondents stated that other family members' actions were the primary barriers to proper container management. The number of containers at households did not differ significantly across arms even though children and parents collected 17,200 containers (1 ton of plastics) which were used to planted 4,000 native trees as part of the community event.Conclusions/significanceOur study demonstrates that source reduction interventions can be effective if designed with an understanding of the social and entomological context. Further, source reduction is not an individual issue, but rather a social/communal issue, requiring the participation of other household and community members to be sustained

Enhanced Inactivation of <i>Bacillus subtilis</i> Spores during Solar Photolysis of Free Available Chlorine

Aqueous free available chlorine (FAC) can be photolyzed by sunlight and/or artificial UV light to generate various reactive oxygen species, including HO^• and O­(³P). The influence of this chemistry on inactivation of chlorine-resistant microorganisms was investigated using <i>Bacillus subtilis</i> endospores as model microbial agents and simulated and natural solar radiation as light sources. Irradiation of FAC solutions markedly enhanced inactivation of <i>B. subtilis</i> spores in 10 mM phosphate buffer; increasing inactivation rate constants by as much as 600%, shortening inactivation curve lag phase by up to 73% and lowering <i>CT</i>s required for 2 log₁₀ inactivation by as much as 71% at pH 8.0 and 10 °C. Similar results were observed at pH 7.4 and 10 °C in two drinking water samples with respective DOC concentrations and alkalinities of 0.6 and 1.2 mg C/L and 81.8 and 17.1 mg/L as CaCO₃. Solar radiation alone did not inactivate <i>B. subtilis</i> spores under the conditions investigated. A variety of experimental data indicate that the observed enhancements in spore inactivation can be attributed to the concomitant attack of spores by HO^• and O₃, the latter of which was found to accumulate to micromolar concentrations during simulated solar irradiation of 10 mM phosphate buffer (pH 8, 10 °C) containing [FAC]₀ = 8 mg/L as Cl₂

Making the invisible visible: Developing and evaluating an intervention to raise awareness and reduce lead exposure among children and their caregivers in rural Bangladesh

Lead exposure is harmful at any time in life, but pre-natal and early childhood exposures are particularly detrimental to cognitive development. In Bangladesh, multiple household-level lead exposures pose risks, including turmeric adulterated with lead chromate and food storage in lead-soldered cans. We developed and evaluated an intervention to reduce lead exposure among children and their caregivers in rural Bangladesh. We conducted formative research to inform theory-based behavioral recommendations. Lead exposure was one of several topics covered in the multi-component intervention focused on early child development. Community health workers (CHWs) delivered the lead component of the intervention during group sessions with pregnant women and mother-child dyads (&lt;15 months old) in a cluster-randomized trial. We administered household surveys at baseline (control n&nbsp;=&nbsp;301; intervention n&nbsp;=&nbsp;320) and 9 months later at endline (control n&nbsp;=&nbsp;279; intervention n&nbsp;=&nbsp;239) and calculated adjusted risk and mean differences for primary outcomes. We conducted two qualitative assessments, one after 3 months and a second after 9 months, to examine the feasibility and benefits of the intervention. At endline, the prevalence of lead awareness was 52 percentage points higher in the intervention arm compared to the control (adjusted risk difference: 0.52 [95% CI 0.46 to 0.61]). Safe turmeric consumption and food storage practices were more common in the intervention versus control arm at endline, with adjusted risk differences of 0.22 [0.10 to 0.32] and 0.13 [0.00 to 0.19], respectively. Semi-structured interviews conducted with a subset of participants after the intervention revealed that the perceived benefit of reducing lead exposure was high because of the long-term negative impacts that lead can have on child cognitive development. The study demonstrates that a group-based CHW-led intervention can effectively raise awareness about and motivate lead exposure prevention behaviors in rural Bangladesh. Future efforts should combine similar awareness-raising efforts with longer-term regulatory and structural changes to systematically and sustainably reduce lead exposure

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on caregiver mental health and the child caregiving environment in a low-resource, rural context.

Early child development has been influenced directly and indirectly by the COVID-19 pandemic, and these effects are exacerbated in contexts of poverty. This study estimates effects of the pandemic and subsequent population lockdowns on mental health, caregiving practices, and freedom of movement among female caregivers of children 6-27&nbsp;months (50% female), in rural Bangladesh. A cohort (N&nbsp;=&nbsp;517) was assessed before and during the pandemic (May-June, 2019 and July-September, 2020). Caregivers who experienced more food insecurity and financial loss during the pandemic reported larger increases in depressive symptoms (0.26 SD, 95% CI 0.08-0.44; 0.21 SD, 0.04-0.40) compared to less affected caregivers. Stimulating caregiving and freedom of movement results were inconsistent. Increases in depressive symptoms during the pandemic may have consequences for child development