Effect of composting and soil type on dissipation of veterinary antibiotics in land-applied manures

The objective of this study was to determine the fate of commonly used veterinary antibiotics in their naturally excreted form when manure-based amendments are applied to soil. Beef cattle were administered sulfamethazine, tylosin, and chlortetracycline and dairy cows were treated with pirlimycin according to standard animal production practice. The resulting manure was composted for 42 days under static or turned conditions and applied at agronomic N rates to sandy, silt, and silty clay loam soils and compared with amendment with corresponding raw manures in sacrificial microcosms over a 120-day period. Antibiotic dissipation in the raw manure-amended soils followed bi-phasic first order kinetics. The first phase half-lives for sulfamethazine, tylosin, chlortetracycline, and pirlimycin ranged from 6.0 to 18 days, 2.7 to 3.7 days, 23 to 25 days, and 5.5 to 8.2 days, respectively. During the second phase, dissipation of sulfamethazine was negligible, while the half-lives for tylosin, chlortetracycline, and pirlimycin ranged from 41 to 44 days, 75 to 144 days, and 87 to 142 days, respectively. By contrast, antibiotic dissipation in the compost-amended soils followed single-phase first order kinetics with negligible dissipation of sulfamethazine and half-lives of tylosin and chlortetracycline ranging from 15 to 16 days and 49 to 104 days, respectively. Pirlimycin was below the detection limit in the compost-amended soils. After incubating 120-days, antibiotics in compost-amended soils (up to 3.1 ug/kg) were significantly lower than in the manure-amended soils (up to 19 ug/kg; p<0.0001), with no major effect of soil type on the dissipation. Risk assessment suggested that manure composting can reduce antibiotic resistance selection potential in manure-amended soils

Excretion of Antibiotic Resistance Genes by Dairy Calves Fed Milk Replacers with Varying Doses of Antibiotics

Elevated levels of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in soil and water have been linked to livestock farms and in some cases feed antibiotics may select for antibiotic resistant gut microbiota. The purpose of this study was to examine the establishment of ARGs in the feces of calves receiving milk replacer containing no antibiotics versus subtherapeutic or therapeutic doses of tetracycline and neomycin. The effect of antibiotics on calf health was also of interest. Twenty-eight male and female dairy calves were assigned to one of the three antibiotic treatment groups at birth and fecal samples were collected at weeks 6, 7 (prior to weaning), and 12 (5 weeks after weaning). ARGs corresponding to the tetracycline (tetC, tetG, tetO, tetW, and tetX), macrolide (ermB, ermF), and sulfonamide (sul1, sul2) classes of antibiotics along with the class I integron gene, intI1, were monitored by quantitative polymerase chain reaction as potential indicators of direct selection, co-selection, or horizontal gene transfer of ARGs. Surprisingly, there was no significant effect of antibiotic treatment on the absolute abundance (gene copies per gram wet manure) of any of the ARGs except ermF, which was lower in the antibiotic-treated calf manure, presumably because a significant portion of host bacterial cells carrying ermF were not resistant to tetracycline or neomycin. However, relative abundance (gene copies normalized to 16S rRNA genes) of tetO was higher in calves fed the highest dose of antibiotic than in the other treatments. All genes, except tetC and intI1, were detectable in feces from 6 weeks onward, and tetW and tetG significantly increased (P < 0.10), even in control calves. Overall, the results provide new insight into the colonization of calf gut flora with ARGs in the early weeks. Although feed antibiotics exerted little effect on the ARGs monitored in this study, the fact that they also provided no health benefit suggests that the greater than conventional nutritional intake applied in this study overrides previously reported health benefits of antibiotics. The results suggest potential benefit of broader management strategies, and that cost and risk may be avoided by minimizing incorporation of antibiotics in milk replacer

Integrating Through-Wafer Interconnects with Active Devices and Circuits

Through wafer interconnects (TWIs) enable vertical stacking of integrated circuit chips in a single package. A complete process to fabricate TWIs has been developed and demonstrated using blank test wafers. The next step in integrating this technology into 3D microelectronic packaging is the demonstration of TWIs on wafers with preexisting microcircuitry. The circuitry must be electrically accessible from the backside of the wafer utilizing the TWIs; the electrical performance of the circuitry must be unchanged as a result of the TWI processing; and the processing must be as cost effective as possible. With these three goals in mind, several options for creating TWIs were considered. This paper explores the various processing options and describes in detail, the final process flow that was selected for testing, the accompanying masks that were designed, the actual processing of the wafers, and the electrical test results

Recent Advances in High Density Area Array Interconnect Bonding for 3D Integration

The demand for more complex and multifunctional micro systems with enhanced performance characteristics for military applications is driving the electronics industry toward the use of best-of-breed materials and device technologies. Threedimensional (3-D) integration provides a way to build complex microsystems through bonding and interconnection of individually optimized device layers without compromising system performance and fabrication yield. Bonding of device layers can be achieved through polymer bonding or metal-metal interconnect bonding with a number of metalmetal systems. RTI has been investigating and characterizing Cu-Cu and CulSn-Cu processes for high density area array imaging applications, demonstrating high yield bonding between sub-I5 11m pads on large area array configurations. This paper will review recent advances in the development of high yield, large area array metal-metal interconnects which enable 3-D integration of heterogeneous materials (e.g. HgCdTe with silicon) and heterogeneous fabrication processes (e.g. infrared emitters or microbolometers with ICs) for imaging and scene projector applications

Factors Influencing Physician Treatment Strategies in Crotaline Snake Envenomation

BACKGROUND: Crotaline snake envenomation is a potentially serious medical condition that affects thousands of Americans each year. There continues to be variation in treatment practices by physicians in the United States despite guidelines establishing the use of antivenom and supportive care as the mainstays for treating crotaline snake envenomation. METHODS: This study sought to determine associations between physician treatment strategies, snake identification (ID), venom effects, bite location and patient presentation. A cross-sectional review of electronic medical records (EMR) for patients diagnosed with venomous snake bites from July 1, 2014 to August 31, 2019 was completed. Data collected from the EMR included: patient demographics, transfer information, length of hospital and ICU stays, snake ID, bite site, progression of local tissue effects, additional clinical and lab results, patient comorbidities and complications, and provider treatment strategy. RESULTS: Of the 83 patients who met inclusion criteria, 68 patients (81.9%) received antivenom. None of the 15 patients who were under observation (no antivenom) for treatment went to the ICU. These patients experienced the shortest hospital stays (H(2)=16.76, p<0.001). Hospital stays were longest for patients envenomated by an identified rattlesnake or cottonmouth compared to patients envenomated by an unknown snake or copperhead (H(2)=14.32, p<0.05). Rattlesnake envenomations used more vials of antivenom than copperhead envenomations (H(2)=8.76, p=0.01). In a regression model of treatment strategy, progression of local tissue effects was the only statistically significant predictor of receiving antivenom while other independent variables including snake ID, patient age, hemotoxicity, systemic symptoms, site of the snakebite, and patient comorbidities were not significant predictors. Lastly, there was a statistically significant association between treatment strategy and opioid prescription, with 77.9% of patients who received antivenom also receiving an opioid for pain management vs. 33.3% of patients under observation (no antivenom) who received opioids (Fisher Exact Probability Test, p=0.001). CONCLUSION: Envenomated patients are likely to be treated with antivenom if there was progression of local tissue effects. For patients in this study who were bitten by copperheads and unknown snakes, close observation without antivenom administration had favorable outcomes including shorter hospital stays and likely decreased hospital costs.N

Emotional communication in HIV care : an observational study of patients’ expressed emotions and clinician response

Emotional support is essential to good communication, yet clinicians often miss opportunities to provide empathy to patients. Our study explores the nature of emotional expressions found among patients new to HIV care, how HIV clinicians respond to these expressions, and predictors of clinician responses. Patient-provider encounters were audio-recorded, transcribed, and coded using the VR-CoDES. We categorized patient emotional expressions by intensity (subtle 'cues' vs. more explicit 'concerns'), timing (initial vs. subsequent), and content (medical vs. non-medical). Emotional communication was present in 65 of 91 encounters. Clinicians were more likely to focus specifically on patient emotion for concerns versus cues (OR 4.55; 95% CI 1.36, 15.20). Clinicians were less likely to provide space when emotional expressions were repeated (OR 0.32; 95% CI 0.14, 0.77), medically-related (OR 0.36; 95% CI 0.17, 0.77), and from African American patients (OR 0.42; 95% CI 0.21, 0.84). Potential areas for quality improvement include raising clinician awareness of subtle emotional expressions, the emotional content of medically-related issues, and racial differences in clinician response

Combined effects of composting and antibiotic administration on cattle manure-borne antibiotic resistance genes

Background: Research is needed to delineate the relative and combined effects of different antibiotic administration and manure management practices in either amplifying or attenuating the potential for antibiotic resistance to spread. Here we carried out a comprehensive parallel examination of the effects of small-scale (>55⁰C ×3 days) static and turned composting of manures from dairy and beef cattle collected during standard antibiotic administration (cephapirin/pirlimycin or sulfamethazine/chlortetracycline/tylosin, respectively), versus from untreated cattle, on “resistomes” (total antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) determined via shotgun metagenomic sequencing), bacterial microbiota, and indicator ARGs enumerated via quantitative polymerase chain reaction. To gain insight into the role of the thermophilic phase, compost was also externally-heated to >55⁰C ×15 days. Results: Progression of composting with time and succession of the corresponding bacterial microbiota was the overarching driver of the resistome composition (ANOSIM; R = 0.424, p = 0.001, respectively) in all composts at small scale. Reduction in relative abundance (16S rRNA gene normalized) of total ARGs in finished compost (day 42) versus day 0 was noted across all conditions (ANOSIM; R = 0.728, p = 0.001), except when externally-heated. Sul1, intI1, beta lactam ARGs, and plasmid-associated genes increased in all finished composts as compared to the initial condition. External heating more effectively reduced certain clinically-relevant ARGs (blaOXA, blaCARB), fecal coliforms, and resistome risk scores, which take into account putative pathogen annotations. When manure was collected during antibiotic administration, taxonomic composition of the compost was distinct according to nonmetric multidimensional analysis and tet(W) decayed faster in the dairy manure with antibiotics condition and slower in the beef manure with antibiotics condition. Conclusions: This comprehensive, integrated study revealed that composting had a dominant effect on corresponding resistome composition, while little difference was noted as a function of collecting manure during antibiotic administration. Reduction in total ARGs, tet(W), and resistome risk suggested that composting reduced some potential for antibiotic resistance to spread, but the increase and persistence of other indicators of antibiotic resistance were concerning. Results indicate that composting guidelines intended for pathogen reduction do not necessarily provide a comprehensive barrier to ARGs or their mobility prior to land application and additional mitigation measures should be considered

Entanglements of North Atlantic right whales increase as their distribution shifts in response to climate change: The need for a new management paradigm [poster]

Presented at 2019: World Marine Mammal Science Conference, Barcelona, Spain, December 9-12, 2019.Detection rate of severely injured or entangled NARWs began to increase around 2004 - 2007.We thank the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium for data curation and dissemination, and the Atlantic Large Whale Disentanglement Network for entanglement sighting information