Ascaris is a genus of parasitic nematodes that can cause infections in humans and pigs. During 2010-2013, we identified 14 cases of ascariasis in persons who had contact with pigs in Maine, USA. ...Ascaris spp. are important zoonotic pathogens, and prevention measures are needed, including health education, farming practice improvements, and personal and food hygiene.
The methylated form of mercury, MeHg, is a neurotoxin that bioaccumulates and biomagnifies through aquatic food webs, reaching high concentrations in top trophic species. Many seabird species are ...wide-ranging and feed on forage fish, so they can be used as sentinel species to assess the level of mercury in pelagic or coastal food webs because they integrate the signal from large areas and from lower trophic levels. The Gulf of Maine provides habitat for many seabirds, including endangered roseate terns (Sterna dougalii), common terns (Sterna hirundo), and the southernmost breeding population of black guillemots (Cepphus grylle). Hg levels were assessed in down of newly hatched chicks of three seabird species to determine pre-hatching Hg exposure. Stable isotopes (δ15N, δ13C) in down and chick contour feathers grown after hatching were used as indicators of adult female diet in the period before laying the egg (down) and pre-fledging chick diet (contour feathers). Black guillemot down THg concentrations were 10.07 ± 2.88 μg/g (mean ± 1SD), 5.5× higher than common tern down (1.82 ± 0.436 μg /g), and 7.4× higher than roseate tern down (1.37 ± 0.518 μg/g). Black guillemots also had higher down feather δ15N values (15.1 ± 0.52 ‰) compared to common (13.0 ± 0.72 ‰) or roseate terns (12.8 ± 0.25 ‰), and in black guillemot down feathers, higher Hg concentrations were correlated with δ15N, an indicator of trophic level. Repeated testing of the same tissue types across multiple years is needed to monitor THg exposure for seabirds in the Gulf of Maine; additionally, monitoring species composition and Hg presence in prey species of the black guillemot population would help to determine the source of high THg concentrations in this species.The methylated form of mercury, MeHg, is a neurotoxin that bioaccumulates and biomagnifies through aquatic food webs, reaching high concentrations in top trophic species. Many seabird species are wide-ranging and feed on forage fish, so they can be used as sentinel species to assess the level of mercury in pelagic or coastal food webs because they integrate the signal from large areas and from lower trophic levels. The Gulf of Maine provides habitat for many seabirds, including endangered roseate terns (Sterna dougalii), common terns (Sterna hirundo), and the southernmost breeding population of black guillemots (Cepphus grylle). Hg levels were assessed in down of newly hatched chicks of three seabird species to determine pre-hatching Hg exposure. Stable isotopes (δ15N, δ13C) in down and chick contour feathers grown after hatching were used as indicators of adult female diet in the period before laying the egg (down) and pre-fledging chick diet (contour feathers). Black guillemot down THg concentrations were 10.07 ± 2.88 μg/g (mean ± 1SD), 5.5× higher than common tern down (1.82 ± 0.436 μg /g), and 7.4× higher than roseate tern down (1.37 ± 0.518 μg/g). Black guillemots also had higher down feather δ15N values (15.1 ± 0.52 ‰) compared to common (13.0 ± 0.72 ‰) or roseate terns (12.8 ± 0.25 ‰), and in black guillemot down feathers, higher Hg concentrations were correlated with δ15N, an indicator of trophic level. Repeated testing of the same tissue types across multiple years is needed to monitor THg exposure for seabirds in the Gulf of Maine; additionally, monitoring species composition and Hg presence in prey species of the black guillemot population would help to determine the source of high THg concentrations in this species.
Several studies have documented fish populations changing in response to long-term warming. Over the past decade, sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Maine increased faster than 99% of the global ...ocean. The warming, which was related to a northward shift in the Gulf Stream and to changes in the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation and Pacific Decadal Oscillation, led to reduced recruitment and increased mortality in the region's Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) stock. Failure to recognize the impact of warming on cod contributed to overfishing. Recovery of this fishery depends on sound management, but the size of the stock depends on future temperature conditions. The experience in the Gulf of Maine highlights the need to incorporate environmental factors into resource management.
The cresting wave Oppenheim, Noah G.; Wahle, Richard A.; Brady, Damian C. ...
Ecological applications,
December 2019, Letnik:
29, Številka:
8
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Adding to the challenge of predicting fishery recruitment in a changing environment is downscaling predictions to capture locally divergent trends over a species’ range. In recent decades, the ...American lobster (Homarus americanus) fishery has shifted poleward along the northwest Atlantic coast, one of the most rapidly warming regions of the world’s oceans. Building on evidence that early post-settlement life stages predict future fishery recruitment, we describe enhancements to a forecasting model that predict landings using an annual larval settlement index from 62 fixed sites among 10 study areas from Rhode Island, USA to New Brunswick, Canada. The model is novel because it incorporates local bottom temperature and disease prevalence to scale spatial and temporal changes in growth and mortality. For nine of these areas, adding environmental predictors significantly improved model performance, capturing a landings surge in the eastern Gulf of Maine, and collapse in southern New England. On the strength of these analyses, we project landings within the next decade to decline to near historical levels in the Gulf of Maine and no recovery in the south. This approach is timely as downscaled ocean temperature projections enable decision makers to assess their options under future climate scenarios at finer spatial scales.
•Pseudo-nitzschia species composition in the Gulf of Maine (GOM) followed consistent biogeography in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.•In 2016 there was an anomalous P. australis bloom and ...never-before-seen domoic acid (DA) concentrations for the GOM.•DA concentrations are roughly proportional to total cell concentrations and the relative abundance of DA-producing Pseudo-nitzschia species, and are dependent on species’ cellular DA concentrations.•According to statistical analysis, variability in species abundance or pDA concentrations cannot be explained by the presence/absence of one biogeochemical factor.•The origin of P. australis cells to the GOM may be either remote or local and more research is necessary.
The toxic diatom genus Pseudo-nitzschia is a growing presence in the Gulf of Maine (GOM), where regionally unprecedented levels of domoic acid (DA) in 2016 led to the first Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning closures in the region. However, factors driving GOM Pseudo-nitzschia dynamics, DA concentrations, and the 2016 event are unclear. Water samples were collected at the surface and at depth in offshore transects in summer 2012, 2014, and 2015, and fall 2016, and a weekly time series of surface water samples was collected in 2013. Temperature and salinity data were obtained from NERACOOS buoys and measurements during sample collection. Samples were processed for particulate DA (pDA), dissolved nutrients (nitrate, ammonium, silicic acid, and phosphate), and cellular abundance. Species composition was estimated via Automated Ribosomal Intergenic Spacer Analysis (ARISA), a semi-quantitative DNA finger-printing tool. Pseudo-nitzschia biogeography was consistent in the years 2012, 2014, and 2015, with greater Pseudo-nitzschia cell abundance and P. plurisecta dominance in low-salinity inshore samples, and lower Pseudo-nitzschia cell abundance and P. delicatissima and P. seriata dominance in high-salinity offshore samples. During the 2016 event, pDA concentrations were an order of magnitude higher than in previous years, and inshore-offshore contrasts in biogeography were weak, with P. australis present in every sample. Patterns in temporal and spatial variability confirm that pDA increases with the abundance and the cellular DA of Pseudo-nitzschia species, but was not correlated with any one environmental factor. The greater pDA in 2016 was caused by P. australis – the observation of which is unprecedented in the region – and may have been exacerbated by low residual silicic acid. The novel presence of P. australis may be due to local growth conditions, the introduction of a population with an anomalous water mass, or both factors. A definitive cause of the 2016 bloom remains unknown, and continued DA monitoring in the GOM is warranted.
Chronic pain is currently a significant health problem in the United States. A comprehensive strategy is needed to increase prevention of chronic pain and to improve care for chronic pain patients. ...However, development of a successful strategy relies, in part, on a better understanding of the demographics and socioeconomics of patients living with chronic pain conditions. The current study was designed to understand the burden of chronic pain in the state of Maine by identifying the prevalence of chronic pain and its relationship with selected demographic and socioeconomic factors in Maine.
The Maine All Payer Claims Database (MEAPCD) (2006-2011) was used in the secondary data analysis to assess the demographic characteristics (such as age, sex, insurance type, and county of residence) of chronic pain patients in Maine. Chronic pain patients were identified based on the presence of pre-identified chronic pain-associated ICD-9 code(s) and opioid prescription information. Potential associations between the prevalence of chronic pain and a number of socioeconomic factors were determined by comparisons to Maine Census data.
More women in the state were identified as having chronic pain across all counties and all age groups (> 10 years old). Surprisingly, the majority of chronic pain patients were identified based on the diagnostic code criteria and not the opioid prescription criteria. A greater utilization of public health insurance was seen within the chronic pain patients. At the county level, although neither education level nor income were associated with the prevalence of chronic pain, these factors significantly correlated with the usage of public health insurance.
Further detailed characterization of the chronic pain patient population in the state of Maine, using multiple data sources, can help design population-targeted strategies to prevent and manage chronic pain.
Jamestown Canyon virus (JCV) is a mosquito-borne arbovirus that circulates in North America. We detected JCV in 4 pools of mosquitoes collected from midcoastal Maine, USA, during 2017-2019. ...Phylogenetic analysis of a JCV sequence obtained from Aedes cantator mosquitoes clustered within clade A, which also circulates in Connecticut, USA.
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