Clinostomum marginatum metacercaria: Incidence in Smallmouth Bass from a North Arkansas Stream and in vitro Oxygen Consumption Studies

Small mouth bass (Micropterus dolomieui) captured from Crooked Creek (Marion Co., Arkansas) in the summers of 1977 and 1987 were found to have a high incidence of infection with the metacercaria of Clinostomum marginatum (yellow grub). Of 41 fish collected in 1977, 32 (78%) were found infected with metacercariae with some fish containing large numbers of parasites. The number of larvae per fish ranged from 1 to 184, with an average of 23.2 ± 38 per smallmouth. Eighty-six percent of the bass collected in 1987 were found positive for C. marginatum. The number of metacercariae per fish ranged from 1 to 227 with an average of 32.7 ± 54 per fish. Fish from both collection groups ranged in size from 12 to 34 cm. No significant correlation could be found between the number of metacercariae per fish and the length of the host. Using metacercariae removed from host tissue, the effect on oxygen consumption by glucose, serotonin and insulin, singularly or in combination, was measured by manometric methods. Glucose alone did not stimulate oxygen utilization, serotonin alone and with glucose was stimulatory, and insulin with glucose also increased oxygen consumption

Ground-based photometric surveillance of the passive geodetic satellite

Ground-based photometry of Passive Geodetic Earth Orbiting Satellite /PAGEOS

Use of Irradiated and Formalin-fixed Trichomonas vaginalis to Examine Protective Immune Responses in the Mouse Intraperitoneal Model

Gamma irradiated Trichomonas vaginalis was used to initiate a protective immune response in mice by intraperitoneal inoculation using host mortality as the measure of virulence. Irradiated trichomonads of a virulent strain gave some immune protection but no more so than the use of formalin-fixed, virulent trichomonads. A formalin-fixed virulent strain combined with complete Freund\u27s adjuvant (CFA) gave complete protection. Metabolically produced antigens do not appear to be important in conferring protective immunity in these experiments. A common laboratory strain of T. vaginalis (ATCC 30001) was used as an avirulent control. It gave no protection against a virulent strain. Combining CFA with ATCC 30001 (avirulent) gave partial protection indicating that a protective antigen is present, but needed an immune stimulant to be detected. IgG analysis corresponded to the mortality results with the avirulent strain being the weakest responder and the strongest being the formalin-fixed virulent strain with CFA. Western blot analysis indicated a band of about 31-kDa that was present using the protocols that showed from partial to complete protection. This band was not present using the avirulent strain but appeared with the addition of CFA. These results indicated that a 31-kDa protein is present in the avirulent strain but it requires an immune stimulant to be revealed. Whether this antigen confers protective immunity or not in the mouse intraperitoneal model is an open question

Distribution of Clinostomum marginatum (Yellow Grub) Metacercaria in Smallmouth Bass Populations from Crooked Creek in North Central Arkansas

Four hundred thirty-three smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieui) were collected from ten sites on Crooked Creek in North Central Arkansas from just below the city of Harrison to the White River in the summers of 1988-90. Necropsy of these hosts for yellow grub (Clinostomum marginatum) metacercariae showed a range of mean abundance (average/fish) from 1.4 ±1.9 (SD) at a far up stream site to 105 ± 368 at the White River juncture. An increasing mean abundance of C. marginatum was seen from the uppermost sites of the creek downstream to the White River. Relating stream mileage with mean abundance gave a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.78, with P= \u3c0.01. Maximum abundance (maximum number of parasites in a single host from a site) ranged from 7 to 2500 and also showed a positive correlation with stream mileage (r=0.77,P=\u3c0.01). Prevalence (% fish infected) at the different sites ranged from 61 to 91% but showed no significant correlation with stream distance. The increasingly heavier infections seen in the downstream sites are not due to poor water quality but probably to the combination of the greater presence of the definitive host, the great blue heron, and large intermediate host (smallmouth) populations

Evaluation and comparison of a flumethrin-imidacloprid collar and repeated monthly treatments of fipronil/(s)-methoprene to control flea, Ctenocephalides f. felis, infestations on cats for eight months

Citation: Dryden, M. W., Smith, V., Davis, W. L., Settje, T., & Hostetler, J. (2016). Evaluation and comparison of a flumethrin-imidacloprid collar and repeated monthly treatments of fipronil/(s)-methoprene to control flea, Ctenocephalides f. felis, infestations on cats for eight months. Parasites & Vectors, 9, 6. doi:10.1186/s13071-016-1575-5Background: This controlled laboratory study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of the 10 % imidacloprid/4.5 % flumethrin collar (Seresto (R), Bayer Animal Health) against fleas (Ctenocephalides f. felis) on cats, when compared to fipronil (9.8 % w/w)/(s)-methoprene (11.8 % w/w) topical spot-on formulation (Frontline (R) Plus for Cats and Kittens, Merial). Methods: Thirty cats were randomized into three groups of ten animals based on pre-treatment flea counts: Group 1: imidacloprid/flumethrin collar; Group 2: fipronil/(s)-methoprene topical spot-on and Group 3: non-treated controls. The imidacloprid/flumethrin collars were applied one time on Day 0, while the fipronil/(s)-methoprene spot-on was administered every 30 days from Day 0 through Day 210. Cats were infested with 100 fleas on study days 0, 7, 14, 29, 59, 89, 119, 149, 179, 209 and 239. All flea counts were conducted by combing to remove fleas on post-treatment days 2, 8, 15, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180, 210 and 240. Results: The efficacy of the imidacloprid/flumethrin collar ranged from 98.2 to 100 % for eight months. The efficacy of fipronil/(s)-methoprene spot-on ranged from 68.2 to 99.9 %. Efficacy was 98.2 %) efficacy against fleas on cats for the entire 8 month study. Monthly applications of fipronil/(s)-methoprene (Frontline (R) Plus for Cats and Kittens, Merial) generally had high, but variable (68.2 to 99.9 %) efficacy over the course of the eight month study. Based on the very high residual efficacy achieved by the imidacloprid/flumethrin collar in this study, veterinarians should expect that this collar will control and eliminate existing flea infestations on cats and in their in-home premises as long as every flea infested host is treated

Airborne multiwavelength High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL-2) observations during TCAP 2012 : Vertical profiles of optical and microphysical properties of a smoke/urban haze plume over the northeastern coast of the US

© Author(s) 2014. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.We present measurements acquired by the world's first airborne 3 backscatter (β) + 2 extinction (α) High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL-2). HSRL-2 measures particle backscatter coefficients at 355, 532, and 1064 nm, and particle extinction coefficients at 355 and 532 nm. The instrument has been developed by the NASA Langley Research Center. The instrument was operated during Phase 1 of the Department of Energy (DOE) Two-Column Aerosol Project (TCAP) in July 2012. We observed pollution outflow from the northeastern coast of the US out over the western Atlantic Ocean. Lidar ratios were 50-60 sr at 355 nm and 60-70 sr at 532 nm. Extinction-related Ångström exponents were on average 1.2-1.7, indicating comparably small particles. Our novel automated, unsupervised data inversion algorithm retrieved particle effective radii of approximately 0.2 μm, which is in agreement with the large Ångström exponents. We find good agreement with particle size parameters obtained from coincident in situ measurements carried out with the DOE Gulfstream-1 aircraft.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Imaging gravity waves in lower stratospheric AMSU-A radiances, Part 2: Validation case study

Two-dimensional radiance maps from Channel 9 (~60&ndash;90 hPa) of the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU-A), acquired over southern Scandinavia on 14 January 2003, show plane-wave-like oscillations with a wavelength &lambda;_<i>h</i> of ~400&ndash;500 km and peak brightness temperature amplitudes of up to 0.9 K. The wave-like pattern is observed in AMSU-A radiances from 8 overpasses of this region by 4 different satellites, revealing a growth in the disturbance amplitude from 00:00 UTC to 12:00 UTC and a change in its horizontal structure between 12:00 UTC and 20:00 UTC. Forecast and hindcast runs for 14 January 2003 using high-resolution global and regional numerical weather prediction (NWP) models generate a lower stratospheric mountain wave over southern Scandinavia with peak 90 hPa temperature amplitudes of ~5&ndash;7 K at 12:00 UTC and a similar horizontal wavelength, packet width, phase structure and time evolution to the disturbance observed in AMSU-A radiances. The wave&apos;s vertical wavelength is ~12 km. These NWP fields are validated against radiosonde wind and temperature profiles and airborne lidar profiles of temperature and aerosol backscatter ratios acquired from the NASA DC-8 during the second SAGE III Ozone Loss and Validation Experiment (SOLVE II). Both the amplitude and phase of the stratospheric mountain wave in the various NWP fields agree well with localized perturbation features in these suborbital measurements. In particular, we show that this wave formed the type II polar stratospheric clouds measured by the DC-8 lidar. To compare directly with the AMSU-A data, we convert these validated NWP temperature fields into swath-scanned brightness temperatures using three-dimensional Channel 9 weighting functions and the actual AMSU-A scan patterns from each of the 8 overpasses of this region. These NWP-based brightness temperatures contain two-dimensional oscillations due to this resolved stratospheric mountain wave that have an amplitude, wavelength, horizontal structure and time evolution that closely match those observed in the AMSU-A data. These comparisons not only verify gravity wave detection and horizontal imaging capabilities for AMSU-A Channel 9, but provide an absolute validation of the anticipated radiance signals for a given three-dimensional gravity wave, based on the modeling of Eckermann and Wu (2006)

Modeling regional aerosol variability over California and its sensitivity to emissions and long-range transport during the 2010 CalNex and CARES campaigns

Abstract. The performance of the Weather Research and Forecasting regional model with chemistry (WRF-Chem) in simulating the spatial and temporal variations in aerosol mass, composition, and size over California is quantified using measurements collected during the California Nexus of Air Quality and Climate Experiment (CalNex) and the Carbonaceous Aerosol and Radiative Effects Study (CARES) conducted during May and June of 2010. The extensive meteorological, trace gas, and aerosol measurements collected at surface sites and along aircraft and ship transects during CalNex and CARES were combined with operational monitoring network measurements to create a single dataset that was used to evaluate the one configuration of the model. Simulations were performed that examined the sensitivity of regional variations in aerosol concentrations to anthropogenic emissions and to long-range transport of aerosols into the domain obtained from a global model. The configuration of WRF-Chem used in this study is shown to reproduce the overall synoptic conditions, thermally-driven circulations, and boundary layer structure observed in region that controls the transport and mixing of trace gases and aerosols. However, sub-grid scale variability in the meteorology and emissions as well as uncertainties in the treatment of secondary organic aerosol chemistry likely contribute to errors at a primary surface sampling site located at the edge of the Los Angeles basin. Differences among the sensitivity simulations demonstrate that the aerosol layers over the central valley detected by lidar measurements likely resulted from lofting and recirculation of local anthropogenic emissions along the Sierra Nevada. Reducing the default emissions inventory by 50% led to an overall improvement in many simulated trace gases and black carbon aerosol at most sites and along most aircraft flight paths; however, simulated organic aerosol was closer to observed when there were no adjustments to the primary organic aerosol emissions. The model performance for some aerosol species was not uniform over the region, and we found that sulfate was better simulated over northern California whereas nitrate was better simulated over southern California. While the overall spatial and temporal variability of aerosols and their precursors were simulated reasonably well, we show cases where the local transport of some aerosol plumes were either too slow or too fast, which adversely affects the statistics regarding the differences between observed and simulated quantities. Comparisons with lidar and in-situ measurements indicate that long-range transport of aerosols from the global model was likely too high in the free troposphere even though their concentrations were relatively low. This bias led to an over-prediction in aerosol optical depth by as much as a factor of two that offset the under-predictions of boundary-layer extinction resulting primarily from local emissions. Lowering the boundary conditions of aerosol concentrations by 50% greatly reduced the bias in simulated aerosol optical depth for all regions of California. This study shows that quantifying regional-scale variations in aerosol radiative forcing and determining the relative role of emissions from local and distant sources is challenging during "clean" conditions and that a wide array of measurements are needed to ensure model predictions are correct for the right reasons. In this regard, the combined CalNex and CARES datasets are an ideal testbed that can be used to evaluate aerosol models in great detail and develop improved treatments for aerosol processes