The implications of climate change for Veterinary Services
Revista científica y técnica - Oficina internacional de epizootias/Scientific and technical review - International Office of Epizootics/Revue scientifique et technique - Office international des épizooties,
08/2021
Journal Article
Mining in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region (AOSR) has contributed extensively to increased exposure of wildlife to naturally occurring polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs), yet little is known about ...the toxicity of PACs to wildlife in this region. We identified reproductive and developmental changes in tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) breeding in close proximity to mining-related activities in the AOSR, and determined these changes in relation to the birds' exposure and accumulation of 41 PACs (parent-, alkylated-PAHs), dibenzothiophenes (DBTs; previously published), diet (carbon (δ13C), nitrogen (δ15N)), volatile organic compounds, and weather variables. Tree swallow pairs (N = 43) were compared among mining-related (OS1, OS2) and reference (REF1, REF2) sites. At OS2, clutch initiation was slightly advanced (2012) but reproductive success (65%) was much lower than at the other sites (≥ 79%). Fledgling production by each pair was influenced by the timing of clutch initiation (years combined); in a highly inclement brood rearing period (2013), additional influences included the nestlings' exposure to ΣDBTs, accumulation of C1-naphthalene, the trophic position of the prey in their diet (δ15N), and record-breaking rainfall. Nestlings at OS2 were significantly lighter at day (d) 9 and d14, and in poorer body condition (d9). Nestling body mass was influenced by multiple stressors that varied by site: mass of younger nestlings (d9) was related to dietary source (δ13C; e.g., wetlands, terrestrial fields), exposure and/or accumulation of C1-phenanthrenes, C2-fluorenes, Σalkyl-PAHs and ΣDBTs, while for older nestlings (d14), body mass was related to sex, hatch date and/or rainfall during brood rearing. The swallows' exposure and accumulation of parent-PACs, alkyl-PACs and DBTs, the timing of hatching, their diet and exposure to highly inclement rains, contributed to their reproductive and developmental changes.
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•Reproductive, developmental changes evident in tree swallows in Athabasca Oil Sands.•Annual variation in clutch initiation, fledgling numbers, reproductive success, growth.•Nestlings lighter and in poorer body condition at one of two mining-impacted sites.•Changes related to multiple stressors included birds' exposure, accumulation of PACs.•Other contributing influences were diet, timing of hatching, highly inclement weather.
Reproductive and developmental changes were evident in tree swallows in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region, with some nestlings lighter and in poorer condition; these changes were influenced by multiple stressors including the birds' exposure and accumulation of specific PACs, their diet, when they hatched, and inclement weather.
The ALICE data acquisition system Carena, F.; Carena, W.; Chapeland, S. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
03/2014, Volume:
741
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
In this paper we describe the design, the construction, the commissioning and the operation of the Data Acquisition (DAQ) and Experiment Control Systems (ECS) of the ALICE experiment at the CERN ...Large Hadron Collider (LHC).
The DAQ and the ECS are the systems used respectively for the acquisition of all physics data and for the overall control of the experiment. They are two computing systems made of hundreds of PCs and data storage units interconnected via two networks. The collection of experimental data from the detectors is performed by several hundreds of high-speed optical links.
We describe in detail the design considerations for these systems handling the extreme data throughput resulting from central lead ions collisions at LHC energy. The implementation of the resulting requirements into hardware (custom optical links and commercial computing equipment), infrastructure (racks, cooling, power distribution, control room), and software led to many innovative solutions which are described together with a presentation of all the major components of the systems, as currently realized. We also report on the performance achieved during the first period of data taking (from 2009 to 2013) often exceeding those specified in the DAQ Technical Design Report.
In the Canadian Athabasca Oil Sands Region (AOSR), nestling tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) raised near mining-related activities accumulated greater concentrations of polycyclic aromatic ...compounds (PACs) that contributed to their poorer condition, growth, and reproductive success. Here, we report changes in thyroid function of the same 14 day old (do) nestlings (N ≤ 68) at these mining-related sites (OS1, OS2) compared to reference nestlings (REF1), and in relation to multiple environmental stressors that influence avian thyroid function. Thyroid function was compromised for OS1 nestlings but generally comparable between OS2 and REF1 chicks. In 2012, circulating total triiodothyronine (TT3) and thyroxine (TT4) were similar among all nestlings. The OS1 chicks had more active thyroid glands based on histological endpoints. Hepatic T4 outer-ring deiodinase (T4-ORD) activity was suppressed in OS1 and OS2 chicks. Despite inter-annual differences, OS1 chicks continued experiencing compromised thyroid function with significantly higher circulating TT4 and more active thyroid glands in 2013. The OS2 chicks had less active thyroid glands, which conceivably contributed to their suppressed growth (previously reported) relative to the heavier OS1 nestlings with more active thyroid glands. Thyroid gland activity was more influenced by the chicks’ accumulation of (muscle), than exposure (feces) to naphthalene, C2-naphthalenes, and C1-fluorenes. Of four major volatile organic contaminants, sulfur dioxide (SO2) primarily influenced thyroid gland activity and structure, supporting previous findings with captive birds. When collectively considering environmental-thyroidal stressors, chicks had a greater thyroidal response when they experienced colder temperatures, accumulated more C2-naphthalenes, and consumed aquatic-emerging insects with higher PAC burdens than terrestrial insects (carbon (δ13C)). We hypothesize that the more active thyroid glands and higher circulating TT4 of the OS1 chicks supported their growth and survival despite having the highest PAC burdens, whereas the lack of thyroid response in the OS2 chicks combined with high PAC burdens, contributed to their smaller size, poorer condition and poorer survival.
•Compromised thyroid function in tree swallow chicks evident in Canadian Oil Sands.•Increased thyroid activity, variably increased plasma T4 & suppressed liver enzymes.•Multiple environmental stressors compromise thyroid function of tree swallow chicks.•Greater thyroid response with more C2-naphthalenes, aquatic-based diet, when colder.•Normal thyroid function did not support growth, survival of chicks with high PACs.
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