A landscape of disgust Weinstein, Sara B; Buck, Julia C; Young, Hillary S
Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science),
2018-Mar-16, 2018-03-16, 20180316, Volume:
359, Issue:
6381
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Parasite avoidance behavior affects ecology and evolution in ways similar to predator avoidance
A rancid meal, a moist handshake, a pile of feces: These phenomena elicit disgust and avoidance that ...protect humans from our most pervasive consumer—infectious agents. This avoidance is not specific to humans. Various animals alter their behavior to avoid infection (
1
). For instance, Poirotte
et al.
recently showed that mandrills avoid parasite-contaminated feces and refrain from grooming infected individuals (
2
). These primates' nuanced ability to detect and alter their behavior in response to differential exposure risk suggests close parallels to the “landscape of fear” elicited by predators (see the figure), with perceived peaks and valleys driven by parasite abundance and exposure risk.
This review describes the sources, fate, and transport of perfluorocarboxylates (PFCAs) in the environment, with a specific focus on perfluorooctanoate (PFO). The global historical industry-wide ...emissions of total PFCAs from direct (manufacture, use, consumer products) and indirect (PFCA impurities and/or precursors) sources were estimated to be 3200−7300 tonnes. It was estimated that the majority (∼80%) of PFCAs have been released to the environment from fluoropolymer manufacture and use. Although indirect sources were estimated to be much less important than direct sources, there were larger uncertainties associated with the calculations for indirect sources. The physical−chemical properties of PFO (negligible vapor pressure, high solubility in water, and moderate sorption to solids) suggested that PFO would accumulate in surface waters. Estimated mass inventories of PFO in various environmental compartments confirmed that surface waters, especially oceans, contain the majority of PFO. The only environmental sinks for PFO were identified to be sediment burial and transport to the deep oceans, implying a long environmental residence time. Transport pathways for PFCAs in the environment were reviewed, and it was concluded that, in addition to atmospheric transport/degradation of precursors, atmospheric and ocean water transport of the PFCAs themselves could significantly contribute to their long-range transport. It was estimated that 2−12 tonnes/year of PFO are transported to the Artic by oceanic transport, which is greater than the amount estimated to result from atmospheric transport/degradation of precursors.
We report the best limit on coherent elastic scattering of electron antineutrinos emitted from a nuclear reactor off germanium nuclei. The measurement was performed with the CONUS detectors ...positioned at 17.1 m from the 3.9 GW_{th} reactor core of the nuclear power plant in Brokdorf, Germany. The antineutrino energies of less than 10 MeV assure interactions in the fully coherent regime. The analyzed dataset includes 248.7 kg d with the reactor turned on and background data of 58.8 kg d with the reactor off. With a quenching parameter of k=0.18 for germanium, we determined an upper limit on the number of neutrino events of 85 in the region of interest at 90% confidence level. This new CONUS dataset disfavors quenching parameters above k=0.27, under the assumption of standard-model-like coherent scattering of the reactor antineutrinos.
We quantify global emissions of C4–C14 perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acid (PFCA) homologues during the life-cycle of products based on perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), ...perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride (POSF), and fluorotelomer compounds. We estimate emissions of 2610–21400 tonnes of C4–C14 PFCAs in the period from 1951 to 2015, and project 20–6420 tonnes to be emitted from 2016 to 2030. The global annual emissions steadily increased in the period 1951–2002, followed by a decrease and then another increase in the period 2002–2012. Releases from fluoropolymer production contributed most to historical PFCA emissions (e.g. 55–83% in 1951–2002). Since 2002, there has been a geographical shift of industrial sources (particularly fluoropolymer production sites) from North America, Europe and Japan to emerging Asian economies, especially China. Sources differ between PFCA homologues, sometimes considerably, and the relative contributions of each source change over time. For example, whereas 98–100% of historical (1951–2002) PFOA emissions are attributed to direct releases during the life-cycle of products containing PFOA as ingredients or impurities, a much higher historical contribution from PFCA precursor degradation is estimated for some other homologues (e.g. 9–78% for PFDA). We address the uncertainties of the PFCA emissions by defining a lower and a higher emission scenario, which differ by approximately a factor of eight.
Display omitted
•A global emission inventory for individual C4–C14 PFCA homologues is developed.•Emissions from PFOA-, PFNA-, POSF- and fluorotelomer-based products are quantified.•The relative contribution of each source is homologue- and time-dependent.•The majority of industrial PFCA sources are now based in Asia, especially China.
This Critical Review reviews the origin and chemical and rheological complexity of radioactive waste at the U.S. Department of Energy Hanford Site. The waste, stored in underground tanks, was ...generated via three distinct processes over decades of plutonium extraction operations. Although close records were kept of original waste disposition, tank-to-tank transfers and conditions that impede equilibrium complicate our understanding of the chemistry, phase composition, and rheology of the waste. Tank waste slurries comprise particles and aggregates from nano to micro scales, with varying densities, morphologies, heterogeneous compositions, and complicated responses to flow regimes and process conditions. Further, remnant or changing radiation fields may affect the stability and rheology of the waste. These conditions pose challenges for transport through conduits or pipes to treatment plants for vitrification. Additionally, recalcitrant boehmite degrades glass quality and the high aluminum content must be reduced prior to vitrification for the manufacture of waste glass of acceptable durability. However, caustic leaching indicates that boehmite dissolves much more slowly than predicted given surface normalized rates. Existing empirical models based on ex situ experiments and observations generally only describe material balances and have not effectively predicted process performance. Recent advances in the areas of in situ microscopy, aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy, theoretical modeling across scales, and experimental methods for probing the physics and chemistry at mineral–fluid and mineral–mineral interfaces are being implemented to build robustly predictive physics-based models.
Tactics of resource use for reproduction are an important feature of life-history strategies. A distinction is made between ‘capital’ breeders, which finance reproduction using stored energy, and ...‘income’ breeders, which pay for reproduction using concurrent energy intake. In reality, vertebrates use a continuum of capital-to-income tactics, and, for many species, the allocation of capital towards reproduction is a plastic trait. Here, we review how trophic interactions and the timing of life-history events are influenced by tactics of resource use in birds and mammals. We first examine how plasticity in the allocation of capital towards reproduction is linked to phenological flexibility via interactions between endocrine/neuroendocrine control systems and the sensory circuits that detect changes in endogenous state, and environmental cues. We then describe the ecological drivers of reproductive timing in species that vary in the degree to which they finance reproduction using capital. Capital can be used either as a mechanism to facilitate temporal synchrony between energy supply and demand or as a means of lessening the need for synchrony. Within many species, an individual's ability to cope with environmental change may be more tightly linked to plasticity in resource allocation than to absolute position on the capital-to-income breeder continuum.
This article is part of the themed issue ‘Wild clocks: integrating chronobiology and ecology to understand timekeeping in free-living animals’.
Perchlorate is a water-soluble contaminant found throughout the United States and many other countries. Perchlorate competitively inhibits iodide uptake at the sodium/iodide symporter, reducing ...thyroid hormone synthesis, which can lead to hypothyroidism and metabolic syndromes. Chronic perchlorate exposure induces hepatic steatosis and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in developing threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). We hypothesized that perchlorate would also induce zebrafish (Danio rerio) to develop phenotypes consistent with NAFLD and to accumulate lipids throughout the body. We exposed zebrafish embryos to four concentrations of perchlorate treated water (10μg/L, 10mg/L, 30mg/L, and 100mg/L) and a control (0mg/L) over the course of 133 days. Adult zebrafish were euthanized, sectioned, H&E and Oil Red-O stained, and analyzed for liver morphology and whole body lipid accumulation. In a representative section of the liver, we counted the number of lipid droplets and measured the area of each droplet and the total lipid area. For whole body analysis, we calculated the ratio of lipid area to body area within a section. We found that zebrafish exposed to perchlorate did not differ in any measured liver variables or whole body lipid area when compared to controls. In comparison to stickleback, we see a trend that control stickleback accumulate more lipids in their liver than do control zebrafish. Differences between the species indicate that obesogenic effects due to perchlorate exposure are not uniform across fish species, and likely are mediated by evolutionary differences related to geographic location. For example, high latitude fishes such as stickleback evolved to deposit lipid stores for over-winter survival, which may lead to more pronounced obesogenic effects than seen in tropical fish such as zebrafish.
CONUS is a novel experiment aiming at detecting elastic neutrino–nucleus scattering in the almost fully coherent regime using high-purity germanium (Ge) detectors and a reactor as antineutrino ...source. The detector setup is installed at the commercial nuclear power plant in Brokdorf, Germany, at a short distance to the reactor core to guarantee a high antineutrino flux. A good understanding of neutron-induced backgrounds is required, as the neutron recoil signals can mimic the predicted neutrino interactions. Especially events correlated with the reactor thermal power are troublesome. On-site measurements revealed such a correlated, highly thermalized neutron field with a maximum fluence rate of
(
745
±
30
)
cm
-
2
day
-
1
. These neutrons, produced inside the reactor core, are reduced by a factor of
∼
10
20
on their way to the CONUS shield. With a high-purity Ge detector without shield the
γ
-ray background was examined including thermal power correlated
16
N
decay products and neutron capture
γ
-lines. Using the measured neutron spectrum as input, Monte Carlo simulations demonstrated that the thermal power correlated field is successfully mitigated by the CONUS shield. The reactor-induced background contribution in the region of interest is exceeded by the expected signal by at least one order of magnitude assuming a realistic ionization quenching factor.
We examined the seasonal changes of the cecal microbiota of captive arctic ground squirrels (Urocitellus parryii) by measuring microbial diversity and composition, total bacterial density and ...viability, and short-chain fatty acid concentrations at four sample periods (summer, torpor, interbout arousal, and posthibernation). Abundance of Firmicutes was lower, whereas abundances of Bacteroidetes, Verrucomicrobia, and Proteobacteria were higher during torpor and interbout arousal than in summer. Bacterial densities and percentages of live bacteria were significantly higher in summer than during torpor and interbout arousal. Likewise, total short-chain fatty acid concentrations were significantly greater during summer than during torpor and interbout arousal. Concentrations of individual short-chain fatty acids varied across sample periods, with butyrate concentrations higher and acetate concentrations lower during summer than at all other sample periods. Characteristics of the gut community posthibernation were more similar to those during torpor and interbout arousal than to those during summer. However, higher abundances of the genera Bacteroides and Akkermansia occurred during posthibernation than during interbout arousal and torpor. Collectively, our results clearly demonstrate that seasonal changes in physiology associated with hibernation and activity affect the gut microbial community in the arctic ground squirrel. Importantly, similarities between the gut microbiota of arctic ground squirrels and thirteen-lined ground squirrels suggest the potential for a core microbiota during hibernation.
A
bstract
The measurements of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CE
ν
NS) experiments have opened up the possibility to constrain neutrino physics beyond the standard model of elementary ...particle physics. Furthermore, by considering neutrino-electron scattering in the keV-energy region, it is possible to set additional limits on new physics processes. Here, we present constraints that are derived from Conus germanium data on beyond the standard model (BSM) processes like tensor and vector non-standard interactions (NSIs) in the neutrino-quark sector, as well as light vector and scalar mediators. Thanks to the realized low background levels in the C
onus
experiment at ionization energies below 1 keV, we are able to set the world’s best limits on tensor NSIs from CE
ν
NS and constrain the scale of corresponding new physics to lie above 360 GeV. For vector NSIs, the derived limits strongly depend on the assumed ionization quenching factor within the detector material, since small quenching factors largely suppress potential signals for both, the expected standard model CE
ν
NS process and the vector NSIs. Furthermore, competitive limits on scalar and vector mediators are obtained from the CE
ν
NS channel at reactor-site which allow to probe coupling constants as low as 5 ∙ 10
−
5
of low mediator masses, assuming the currently favored quenching factor regime. The consideration of neutrino-electron scatterings allows to set even stronger constraints for mediator masses below ∼ 1 MeV and ∼ 10 MeV for scalar and vector mediators, respectively.
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