An Update on the Science of Acidification in the Adirondack Park

This paper provides a review of the science pertaining to all aspects of acidification in the Adirondack Park, updating an earlier review of the science (Cook et al. 2002). The review supports an ongoing social science investigation into the willingness to pay for ecological improvements that would result from reduced acid deposition. This paper builds a bridge between the physical science and social science by providing the background that will allow researchers to accurately summarize the crucial elements of ecological status and improvement in a stated preference survey.acid rain, acidification, stated preference, willingness to pay, benefit estimation

The incidence of malaria in travellers to South-East Asia: is local malaria transmission a useful risk indicator?

BACKGROUND: The presence of ongoing local malaria transmission, identified though local surveillance and reported to regional WHO offices, by S-E Asian countries, forms the basis of national and international chemoprophylaxis recommendations in western countries. The study was designed to examine whether the strategy of using malaria transmission in a local population was an accurate estimate of the malaria threat faced by travellers and a correlate of malaria in returning travellers. METHODS: Malaria endemicity was described from distribution and intensity in the local populations of ten S-E Asian destination countries over the period 2003-2008 from regionally reported cases to WHO offices. Travel acquired malaria was collated from malaria surveillance reports from the USA and 12 European countries over the same period. The numbers of travellers visiting the destination countries was based on immigration and tourism statistics collected on entry of tourists to the destination countries. RESULTS: In the destination countries, mean malaria rates in endemic countries ranged between 0.01 in Korea to 4:1000 population per year in Lao PDR, with higher regional rates in a number of countries. Malaria cases imported into the 13 countries declined by 47% from 140 cases in 2003 to 66 in 2008. A total of 608 cases (27.3% Plasmodium falciparum (Pf)) were reported over the six years, the largest number acquired in Indonesia, Thailand and Korea. Four countries had an incidence > 1 case per 100,000 traveller visits; Burma (Myanmar), Indonesia, Cambodia and Laos (range 1 to 11.8-case per 100,000 visits). The remaining six countries rates were 1 case per 100,000 visits to consider targeted malaria prophylaxis recommendations to minimize use of chemoprophylaxis for low risk exposure during visits to S-E Asia. Policy needs to be adjusted regularly to reflect the changing risk

Sars - uusiin uhkiin valmistautumista

Kansainvälisen sars-epidemian aiheuttama toiminta Suomessa antoi arvokasta kokemusta odottamattomien tartuntatautiuhkien torjumiseen ja korosti varautumisen merkitystä. Uusien tutkimustietojen tulkinta, niiden käytäntöön soveltaminen, suositusten ja ohjeiden päivittäminen sekä viestintä yleisölle olivat suuri haaste viranomaisille. Avainasemassa ovat tapausten varhainen tunnistaminen torjuntatoimien käynnistämiseksi, tehokas koordinaatio terveydenhuollon organisaatioiden kesken, hyvä eri hallinnonalojen organisaatioiden välinen yhteistyö ja tiedottaminen. Tartuntatautien käytettävissä olevat resurssit ovat riittämättömiä laajan, äkillisen epidemian torjuntaan ja niitä tulisi selvästi vahvistaa olemassa olevissa organisaatioissa

Natural climate solutions

Our thanks for inputs by L. Almond, A. Baccini, A. Bowman, S. CookPatton, J. Evans, K. Holl, R. Lalasz, A. Nassikas, M. Spalding, M. Wolosin, and expert elicitation respondents. Our thanks for datasets developed by the Hansen lab and the NESCent grasslands working group (C. Lehmann, D. Griffith, T. M. Anderson, D. J. Beerling, W. Bond, E. Denton, E. Edwards, E. Forrestel, D. Fox, W. Hoffmann, R. Hyde, T. Kluyver, L. Mucina, B. Passey, S. Pau, J. Ratnam, N. Salamin, B. Santini, K. Simpson, M. Smith, B. Spriggs, C. Still, C. Strömberg, and C. P. Osborne). This study was made possible by funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Woodbury was supported in part by USDA-NIFA Project 2011-67003-30205 Data deposition: A global spatial dataset of reforestation opportunities has been deposited on Zenodo (https://zenodo.org/record/883444). This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1710465114/-/DCSupplemental.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The low and declining risk of malaria in travellers to Latin America: is there still an indication for chemoprophylaxis?

A comparison was made between local malaria transmission and malaria imported by travellers to identify the utility of national and regional annual parasite index (API) in predicting malaria risk and its value in generating recommendations on malaria prophylaxis for travellers

Inter-Individual Variability and Conspecific Densities: Consequences for Population Regulation and Range Expansion

The presence of conspecifics can strongly modulate the quality of a breeding site. Both positive and negative effects of conspecifics can act on the same individuals, with the final balance between its costs and benefits depending on individual characteristics. A particular case of inter-individual variation found in many avian species is chromatic variability. Among birds, plumage coloration can co-vary with morphology, physiology and behavior as well as with age. These relationships suggest that cost-benefit balances of conspecific presence may be different for individuals with different colorations. We investigated whether inter-individual variability affects population regulation and expansion processes by analyzing potential differences in density-dependent productivity and settlement patterns in relation to plumage coloration in a population of a long-lived avian species recently undergoing a notable increase in numbers and distribution range. Our results show strong variation in the effect of density on productivity of breeding pairs depending on plumage coloration of their members. Productivity of dark birds decreased along the breeding density gradient while that of lighter breeders remained unchanged with conspecific density. In a similar way, our results showed an uneven occupation of localities by individuals with different plumage coloration in relation to local densities, with the breeding of lighter harriers more aggregated than that of dark-brown ones. At a population scale, darker birds had higher probability of colonization of the most isolated, empty sites. Explanations for species range expansion and population regulation usually make the inferred assumption that species traits are similar among individuals. However, in most species, there could be individual variation in niche requirements or dispersal propensities among individuals with different traits. Our results contribute to the growing appreciation that the individual traits, but not the average trait at the level of species, are important during population regulation and expansion processes

Haste Makes Waste: Accelerated Molt Adversely Affects the Expression of Melanin-Based and Depigmented Plumage Ornaments in House Sparrows

. Costly life-history events are adaptively separated in time, thus, when reproduction is extended, the time available for molt is curtailed and, in turn, molt rate is accelerated.We experimentally accelerated the molt rate by shortening the photoperiod in order to test whether this environmental constraint is mirrored in the expression of plumage ornaments. Sparrows which had undergone an accelerated molt developed smaller badges and less bright wing-bars compared to conspecifics that molted at a natural rate being held at natural-like photoperiod. There was no difference in the brightness of the badge or the size of the wing-bar.These results indicate that the time available for molt and thus the rate at which molt occurs may constrain the expression of melanin-based and depigmented plumage advertisements. This mechanism may lead to the evolution of honest signaling if the onset of molt is condition-dependent through the timing of and/or trade-off between breeding and molt

Travelers' health problems and behavior : prospective study with post-travel follow-up

Background: The annual number of international tourist arrivals has recently exceeded one billion, yet surprisingly few studies have characterized travelers' behavior, illness, and risk factors in a prospective setting. Particularly scarce are surveys of data spanning travel, return, and follow-up of the same cohort. This study examines behavior and illness among travelers while abroad, after return home, and at follow-up. Patterns of behavior connected to type of travel and illness are characterized so as to identify risk factors and provide background data for pre-travel advice. Methods: Volunteers to this prospective cohort study were recruited at visits to a travel clinic prior to departure. Data on the subjects' health and behavior were collected by questionnaires before and after journeys and over a three-week follow-up. In addition, the subjects were asked to fill in health diaries while traveling. Results: The final study population consisted of 460 subjects, 79 % of whom reported illness during travel or on arrival: 69 % had travelers' diarrhea (TD), 17 % skin problems, 17 % fever, 12 % vomiting, 8 % respiratory tract infection, 4 % urinary tract infection, 2 % ear infection, 4 % gastrointestinal complaints other than TD or vomiting, and 4 % other symptoms. Of all subjects, 10 % consulted a doctor and 0.7 % were hospitalized; 18 % took antimicrobials, with TD as the most common indication (64 %). Ongoing symptoms were reported by 25 % of all travelers upon return home. During the three-week follow-up (return rate 51 %), 32 % of respondents developed new-onset symptoms, 20 % visited a doctor and 1.7 % were hospitalized. Factors predisposing to health problems were identified by multivariable analysis: certain regions (Southern Asia, South-Eastern Asia, and Eastern Africa), female gender, young age, and long travel duration. Conclusions: Despite proper preventive measures like vaccinations, malaria prophylaxis, and travel advice, the majority of our subjects fell ill during or after travel. As the symptoms mostly remained mild, health care services were seldom needed. Typical traveler profiles were identified, thereby providing a tool for pre-travel advice. The finding that one third reported new-onset illness during follow-up attests to the importance of advising clients on potential post-travel health problems already during pre-travel visits.Peer reviewe