Balancing Act: Unveiling Public Perspectives on Taming Invasive Aquatic Plants

Aquatic invasive species threaten U.S. freshwater bodies throughout the country. One of the most prevalent and prevailing of these is hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillate), which spans from Florida all the way up to Maine, and as far west as California [2]. The state of Florida alone spent $125 million from 2008 – 2015 to manage aquatic invasive species,$66 million of which went toward managing hydrilla [1]. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is estimated to spend $15 million annually on managing hydrilla [3]. This submerged weed is primarily managed through cost effective, safe aquatic herbicides and more costly mechanical harvesting. Due to the prevalence of hydrilla, understanding stakeholder perceptions regarding its management is critical to its successful control. This infographic displays Florida’s stakeholder perceptions around aquatic herbicide and mechanical harvesting usage, which can be utilized as a model for other states as well. Data analysis of 3,000 survey responses concluded that a majority of stakeholders are concerned about both the use of aquatic herbicides and mechanical harvesting. However, they were more concerned about aquatic herbicide application than employing mechanical harvesting. Respondents’ main concern over aquatic herbicide use was the accumulation of chemicals in the lakes upon which it was applied; the main concern over mechanical harvesting was the cost of harvesting operations. When asked what management practice they would prefer FWC to use, a majority of respondents indicated that FWC should use both aquatic herbicides and mechanical harvesting

Balancing Act: Unveiling Public Perspectives on Taming Invasive Aquatic Plants

Aquatic invasive species threaten U.S. freshwater bodies throughout the country. One of the most prevalent and prevailing of these is hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillate), which spans from Florida all the way up to Maine, and as far west as California [2]. The state of Florida alone spent $125 million from 2008 – 2015 to manage aquatic invasive species,$66 million of which went toward managing hydrilla [1]. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is estimated to spend $15 million annually on managing hydrilla [3]. This submerged weed is primarily managed through cost effective, safe aquatic herbicides and more costly mechanical harvesting. Due to the prevalence of hydrilla, understanding stakeholder perceptions regarding its management is critical to its successful control. This infographic displays Florida’s stakeholder perceptions around aquatic herbicide and mechanical harvesting usage, which can be utilized as a model for other states as well. Data analysis of 3,000 survey responses concluded that a majority of stakeholders are concerned about both the use of aquatic herbicides and mechanical harvesting. However, they were more concerned about aquatic herbicide application than employing mechanical harvesting. Respondents’ main concern over aquatic herbicide use was the accumulation of chemicals in the lakes upon which it was applied; the main concern over mechanical harvesting was the cost of harvesting operations. When asked what management practice they would prefer FWC to use, a majority of respondents indicated that FWC should use both aquatic herbicides and mechanical harvesting

Sequence variants affecting eosinophil numbers associate with asthma and myocardial infarction

To access publisher full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links fieldEosinophils are pleiotropic multifunctional leukocytes involved in initiation and propagation of inflammatory responses and thus have important roles in the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases. Here we describe a genome-wide association scan for sequence variants affecting eosinophil counts in blood of 9,392 Icelanders. The most significant SNPs were studied further in 12,118 Europeans and 5,212 East Asians. SNPs at 2q12 (rs1420101), 2q13 (rs12619285), 3q21 (rs4857855), 5q31 (rs4143832) and 12q24 (rs3184504) reached genome-wide significance (P = 5.3 x 10(-14), 5.4 x 10(-10), 8.6 x 10(-17), 1.2 x 10(-10) and 6.5 x 10(-19), respectively). A SNP at IL1RL1 associated with asthma (P = 5.5 x 10(-12)) in a collection of ten different populations (7,996 cases and 44,890 controls). SNPs at WDR36, IL33 and MYB that showed suggestive association with eosinophil counts were also associated with atopic asthma (P = 4.2 x 10(-6), 2.2 x 10(-5) and 2.4 x 10(-4), respectively). We also found that a nonsynonymous SNP at 12q24, in SH2B3, associated significantly (P = 8.6 x 10(-8)) with myocardial infarction in six different populations (6,650 cases and 40,621 controls)

Sequence variants affecting eosinophil numbers associate with asthma and myocardial infarction

Eosinophils are pleiotropic multifunctional leukocytes involved in initiation and propagation of inflammatory responses and thus have important roles in the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases. Here we describe a genome-wide association scan for sequence variants affecting eosinophil counts in blood of 9,392 Icelanders. The most significant SNPs were studied further in 12,118 Europeans and 5,212 East Asians. SNPs at 2q12 (rs1420101), 2q13 (rs12619285), 3q21 (rs4857855), 5q31 (rs4143832) and 12q24 (rs3184504) reached genome-wide significance (P = 5.3 x 10(-14), 5.4 x 10(-10), 8.6 x 10(-17), 1.2 x 10(-10) and 6.5 x 10(-19), respectively). A SNP at IL1RL1 associated with asthma (P = 5.5 x 10(-12)) in a collection of ten different populations (7,996 cases and 44,890 controls). SNPs at WDR36, IL33 and MYB that showed suggestive association with eosinophil counts were also associated with atopic asthma (P = 4.2 x 10(-6), 2.2 x 10(-5) and 2.4 x 10(-4), respectively). We also found that a nonsynonymous SNP at 12q24, in SH2B3, associated significantly (P = 8.6 x 10(-8)) with myocardial infarction in six different populations (6,650 cases and 40,621 controls)