Metal forms and dynamics in urban stormwater runoff: New insights from diffusive gradients in thin-films (DGT) measurements.

Stormwater runoff typically contains significant quantities of metal contaminants that enter urban waterways over short durations and represent a potential risk to water quality. The origin of metals within the catchment and processes that occur over the storm can control the partitioning of metals between a range of different forms. Understanding the fraction of metals present in a form that is potentially bioavailable to aquatic organisms is useful for environmental risk assessment.

Growth Performance and Plasma Metabolites of Grazing Beef Cattle Backgrounded on Buffel or Buffel- Mixed Pastures.

Dietary crude protein and dry matter digestibility are among the major factors limiting feed intake and weight gain of cattle grazing native and improved pastures in the subtropics of Northern Australia during the dry season. Incorporating a suitable legume into grasses improves pasture quality and cattle weight gain, but only a limited number of legume pastures can establish and persist in cracking clay soils. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of inclusion in buffel grass () pastures on the plasma metabolite profile and growth performance of grazing beef cattle during the dry season.

Toward a Global Understanding of Chemical Pollution: A First Comprehensive Analysis of National and Regional Chemical Inventories.

Chemicals, while bringing benefits to society, may be released during their lifecycles and possibly cause harm to humans and ecosystems. Chemical pollution has been mentioned as one of the planetary boundaries within which humanity can safely operate, but is not comprehensively understood. Here, 22 chemical inventories from 19 countries and regions are analyzed to achieve a first comprehensive overview of chemicals on the market as an essential first step toward a global understanding of chemical pollution.

Role-Emerging Clinical Placements in a Community-Based HIV Organization - Opportunities for Interprofessional Collaboration: A Case Report.

We describe the development, implementation, and outcomes of role-emerging (RE) clinical placements at Positive Living Niagara (PLN), a community-based HIV organization (CBHIVO), for two second-year, entry-level Master of Science (Physiotherapy) (MSc[PT]) students from McMaster University. A national, not-for-profit organization Realize, conducted outreach to identify CBHIVOs interested in developing physiotherapy (PT) student placements. PLN responded to the outreach and worked with McMaster's MSc(PT) programme and Realize to establish two part-time RE PT student placements.

Unmet basic needs negatively affect health-related quality of life in people aging with HIV: results from the Positive Spaces, Healthy Places study.

Background: Basic needs (e.g., food security and stable housing) are important determinants of health and well-being, yet their impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in the context of HIV and aging has not been systematically investigated.

Elevated Mortality and Associated Social Determinants of Health in a Community-Based Sample of People Living with HIV in Ontario, Canada: Findings from the Positive Spaces, Healthy Places (PSHP) Study.

We examined social determinants of health associated with all-cause mortality among 602 people living with HIV/AIDS in Ontario, Canada. Mortality status was verified at 1-, 3-, and 5-year follow-up visits with information obtained from proxies (family members, partners, and friends), obituaries, and local AIDS memorial lists. Of the 454 people for whom mortality information was available, 53 individuals died yielding a crude mortality rate of 22.

Ecological Risk Assessment of Nano-enabled Pesticides: A Perspective on Problem Formulation.

Plant protection products containing nanomaterials that alter the functionality or risk profile of active ingredients (nano-enabled pesticides) promise many benefits over conventional pesticide products. These benefits may include improved formulation characteristics, easier application, better targeting of pest species, increased efficacy, lower application rates, and enhanced environmental safety. After many years of research and development, nano-enabled pesticides are starting to make their way into the market.

Food insufficiency, housing and health-related quality of life: results from the Positive Spaces, Healthy Places study.

Studies of people living with HIV who are homeless or unstably housed show a high prevalence of food insufficiency (>50%) and associated poor health outcomes; however, most evidence is in the form of cross-sectional studies. To better understand this issue, we conducted a longitudinal study to examine the impact of food insufficiency and housing instability on overall physical and mental health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among people living with HIV in Ontario. Six hundred and two adults living with HIV were enrolled in the Positive Spaces, Healthy Places study and followed from 2006 to 2009.

Predicting aquifer response time for application in catchment modeling.

It is well established that changes in catchment land use can lead to significant impacts on water resources. Where land-use changes increase evapotranspiration there is a resultant decrease in groundwater recharge, which in turn decreases groundwater discharge to streams. The response time of changes in groundwater discharge to a change in recharge is a key aspect of predicting impacts of land-use change on catchment water yield.

Using MODFLOW 2000 to model ET and recharge for shallow ground water problems.

In environments with shallow ground water elevation, small changes in the water table can cause significant variations in recharge and evapotranspiration fluxes. Particularly, where ground water is close to the soil surface, both recharge and evapotranspiration are regulated by a thin unsaturated zone and, for accuracy, must be represented using nonconstant and often nonlinear relationships. The most commonly used ground water flow model today, MODFLOW, was originally designed with a modular structure with independent packages representing recharge and evaporation processes.

Influence of pasture and concentrates in the diet of grazing dairy cows on the fatty acid composition of milk.

In five short-term experiments conducted in Victoria in 1997 and 1998, grazing dairy cows were given either pasture alone or pasture supplemented with high-energy concentrates, and the fatty acid profiles of milk fat were measured. We established the effects of these feeds on some aspects of milk fat of importance for human nutrition, but we specifically focused on the hypothesis that conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) concentrations in milk fat increase as pasture intake increases, and decrease as more concentrates are fed. In agreement with previous research, feeding fresh pasture alone resulted in high concentrations (1.

Variations in stream water uptake by Eucalyptus camaldulensis with differing access to stream water.

The stable isotopes H and O were used to determine the water sources of Eucalyptus camaldulensis at three sites with varying exposure to stream water, all underlain by moderately saline groundwater. Water uptake patterns were a function of the long-term availability of surface water. Trees with permanent access to a stream used some stream water at all times.

Sources of water used by riparian Eucalyptus camaldulensis overlying highly saline groundwater.

Water sources of Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehn. trees were investigated on a semiarid floodplain in south-eastern Australia. The trees investigated ranged in distance from 0.