Snake Fungal Disease in Free-Ranging Northern Pine Snakes () in New Jersey: Lesions, Severity of Sores and Investigator's Perceptions.

, the fungus causing snake fungal disease (SFD), has been identified in northern pine snakes () in New Jersey. In this paper, we (1) review the positivity rate of SFD on different locations on snakes' bodies, (2) determine the relationship between the sores and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) positivity rates, and (3) explore the relationship between the investigators' clinical evaluation of the severity of sores, their evaluation of the likelihood of the sores being positive, and the qPCR positivity of SFD for the sores. Swabbing the sores was more effective at determining whether the snakes tested positive for than ventrum swabbing alone.

Prevalence of Ophidiomyces ophidiicola and epizootiology of snake fungal disease in free-ranging Northern Pine Snakes (Pituophis melanoleucus melanoleucus) in New Jersey.

Snake fungal disease, caused by Ophidiomyces ophidiicola, is recognized as a potential concern for North American snakes. We tested skin swabs from Northern Pine Snakes (Pituophis melanoleucus melanoleucus) in the New Jersey pinelands for the presence of O. ophidiicola before emergence from hibernation.

Combining surface and soil environmental DNA with artificial cover objects to improve terrestrial reptile survey detection.

Reptiles are increasingly of conservation concern due to their susceptibility to habitat loss, emerging disease, and harvest in the wildlife trade. However, reptile populations are often difficult to monitor given the frequency of crypsis in their life history. This difficulty has left uncertain the conservation status of many species and the efficacy of conservation actions unknown.

Evaluation of indoor PM concentrations in a Native American Community: a pilot study.

Background: Indoor air pollution is associated with adverse health effects; however, few studies exist studying indoor air pollution on the Navajo Nation in the southwest U.S., a community with high rates of respiratory disease.

Soil Reservoir Dynamics of , the Causative Agent of Snake Fungal Disease.

Wildlife diseases pose an ever-growing threat to global biodiversity. Understanding how wildlife pathogens are distributed in the environment and the ability of pathogens to form environmental reservoirs is critical to understanding and predicting disease dynamics within host populations. Snake fungal disease (SFD) is an emerging conservation threat to North American snake populations.

Glassy carbon microelectrode arrays enable voltage-peak separated simultaneous detection of dopamine and serotonin using fast scan cyclic voltammetry.

Progress in real-time, simultaneous in vivo detection of multiple neurotransmitters will help accelerate advances in neuroscience research. The need for development of probes capable of stable electrochemical detection of rapid neurotransmitter fluctuations with high sensitivity and selectivity and sub-second temporal resolution has, therefore, become compelling. Additionally, a higher spatial resolution multi-channel capability is required to capture the complex neurotransmission dynamics across different brain regions.

Follow-up ecological studies for cryptic species discoveries: Decrypting the leopard frogs of the eastern U.S.

Cryptic species are a challenge for systematics, but their elucidation also may leave critical information gaps about the distribution, conservation status, and behavior of affected species. We use the leopard frogs of the eastern U.S.

A comparison of high-frequency jet ventilation and synchronised intermittent mandatory ventilation in preterm lambs.

Purpose: Synchronised intermittent mandatory ventilation (SIMV) and high-frequency jet ventilation (HFJV) are accepted ventilatory strategies for treatment of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in preterm babies. We hypothesised that SIMV and HFJV both facilitate adequate oxygenation and ventilation but that HFJV is associated with less lung injury.

Results: There were no differences in arterial oxygenation or partial pressure of carbon dioxide despite lower mean airway pressure during SIMV for most of the study.

Possible health impacts of naturally occurring uptake of aristolochic acids by maize and cucumber roots: links to the etiology of endemic (Balkan) nephropathy.

Aristolochic acids (AAs) are nephrotoxic and carcinogenic derivatives found in several Aristolochia species. To date, the toxicity of AAs has been inferred only from the effects observed in patients suffering from a kidney disease called "aristolochic acid nephropathy" (AAN, formerly known as "Chinese herbs nephropathy"). More recently, the chronic poisoning with Aristolochia seeds has been considered to be the main cause of Balkan endemic nephropathy, another form of chronic renal failure resembling AAN.

High positive end-expiratory pressure during high-frequency jet ventilation improves oxygenation and ventilation in preterm lambs.

Increasing positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) is advocated to recruit alveoli during high-frequency jet ventilation (HFJV), but its effect on cardiopulmonary physiology and lung injury is poorly documented. We hypothesized that high PEEP would recruit alveoli and reduce lung injury but compromise pulmonary blood flow (PBF). Preterm lambs of anesthetized ewes were instrumented, intubated, and delivered by cesarean section after instillation of surfactant.

Navajo coal combustion and respiratory health near Shiprock, New Mexico.

Indoor air pollution has been identified as a major risk factor for acute and chronic respiratory diseases throughout the world. In the sovereign Navajo Nation, an American Indian reservation located in the Four Corners area of the USA, people burn coal in their homes for heat. To explore whether/how indoor coal combustion might contribute to poor respiratory health of residents, this study examined respiratory health data, identified household risk factors such as fuel and stove type and use, analyzed samples of locally used coal, and measured and characterized fine particulate airborne matter inside selected homes.

The role of lecithin cholesterol acyltransferase and organic substances from coal in the etiology of Balkan endemic nephropathy: a new hypothesis.

Balkan endemic nephropathy (BEN) occurs in Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia. BEN has been characterized as a chronic, slowly progressive renal disease of unknown etiology. In this study, we examined the influence of soluble organic compounds in drinking water leached from Pliocene lignite from BEN-endemic areas on plasma lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) activity.

Evaluating nephrotoxicity of high-molecular-weight organic compounds in drinking water from lignite aquifers.

High-molecular-weight organic compounds such as humic acids and/or fulvic acids that are naturally mobilized from lignite beds into untreated drinking-water supplies were suggested as one possible cause of Balkan endemic nephropathy (BEN) and cancer of the renal pelvis. A lab investigation was undertaken in order to assess the nephrotoxic potential of such organic compounds using an in vitro tissue culture model. Because of the infeasibility of exposing kidney tissue to low concentrations of organics for years in the lab, tangential flow ultrafiltration was employed to hyperconcentrate samples suitable for discerning effects in the short time frames necessitated by tissue culture systems.

A 30-year follow-up of residual effects on New Zealand School Dental Nurses, from occupational mercury exposure.

This paper reports possible residual adverse effects from occupational mercury exposure in dentistry, Thirty years ago, the all-women exposed group worked with both silver and copper amalgam filling material without protective gloves or a ventilation system, resulting in chronic mercury exposure. The aim of the study was to test the null hypothesis in a survey of general and reproductive health, and a battery of nine neurobehavioral tests. The population was the 115 graduates of one school for dental nurses from 1968 to 1971.

Possible linkages between lignite aquifers, pathogenic microbes, and renal pelvic cancer in northwestern Louisiana, USA.

In May and September, 2002, 14 private residential drinking water wells, one dewatering well at a lignite mine, eight surface water sites, and lignite from an active coal mine were sampled in five Parishes of northwestern Louisiana, USA. Using a geographic information system (GIS), wells were selected that were likely to draw water that had been in contact with lignite; control wells were located in areas devoid of lignite deposits. Well water samples were analyzed for pH, conductivity, organic compounds, and nutrient and anion concentrations.

Composition and diversity patterns in metazoan parasite communities and anthropogenic disturbance in stream ecosystems.

The composition and diversity of metazoan parasite communities in naturally depauperate ecosystems are rarely studied. This study describes the composition of helminth endoparasite communities infecting fish that are part of naturally acidic stream ecosystems in the coastal-plains region of the State of New Jersey (USA) known as the Pinelands, and compares the diversity of parasites between six streams that differ in anthropogenic disturbance. A total of 514 fish were examined representing 6 species native but restricted to the Pinelands region, 5 species native and widespread throughout the region and State, and 6 species introduced to the Pinelands and State.

Precipitation and the occurrence of lyme disease in the northeastern United States.

The occurrence of Lyme disease is a growing concern in the United States, and various studies have been performed to understand the factors related to Lyme disease occurrence. In the United States, Lyme disease has occurred most frequently in the northeastern United States. Positive correlations between the number of cases of Lyme disease reported in the northeastern United States during the 1992-2002 period indicate that late spring/early summer precipitation was a significant climate factor affecting the occurrence of Lyme disease.

Geographic information systems and spatial analysis of adult Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) in the Middle Atlantic region of the U.S.A.

In the Middle Atlantic region of the U.S.A.

Landscape changes in the Mullica River basin of the Pinelands National Reserve, New Jersey, USA.

In 1979, the Pinelands Commission was established as a regional land-use planning and regulatory agency charged with the implementation of a Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP) for the Pinelands National Reserve (New Jersey, USA). The CMP was created to balance land preservation and development interests in the Reserve. Because water-quality degradation from developed and agricultural landscapes is associated with changes in the composition of biological communities, monitoring landscape changes provides one of the most direct measures of the impact of land-use policies on the Pinelands ecosystem.

Detection of pathogenic Leptospira spp. infections among mammals captured in the Peruvian Amazon basin region.

To identify potential zoonotic reservoirs of pathogenic leptospires in the Peruvian Amazon basin, wild mammals were trapped from July 1997 to December 1998 near the city of Iquitos. After extraction of nucleic acids from animal kidneys, DNA of pathogenic leptospires was identified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays using one of two primer sets, one amplifying a region of the 23S rRNA gene, and the other amplifying a gene fragment specific for Leptospira spp (G1/G2 primers). Overall, 29% (40 of 136) of the mammals tested showed evidence of renal infection by Leptospira spp.

Experimental yellow fever virus infection in the Golden Hamster (Mesocricetus auratus). I. Virologic, biochemical, and immunologic studies.

This report describes the clinical laboratory findings in golden hamsters experimentally infected with yellow fever (YF) virus. An accompanying paper describes the pathologic findings. Following intraperitoneal inoculation of a virulent strain of YF virus, hamsters developed a high-titered viremia (up to 109/mL) lasting 5--6 days and abnormal liver function tests.