Validation of Diagnostic Methods for European Foulbrood on Commercial Honey Bee Colonies in the United States.

One of the most serious bacterial pathogens of Western honey bees (Apis mellifera Linnaeus [Hymenoptera: Apidae]) is Melissococcus plutonius, the cause of the disease European foulbrood. Because European foulbrood is highly variable, with diverse outcomes at both the individual and colony levels, it is difficult to diagnose through visual inspection alone. Common lab diagnostic techniques include microscopic examination and molecular detection through PCR.

Apparent half-lives of dioxins, furans, and polychlorinated biphenyls as a function of age, body fat, smoking status, and breast-feeding.

Objective: In this study we reviewed the half-life data in the literature for the 29 dioxin, furan, and polychlorinated biphenyl congeners named in the World Health Organization toxic equivalency factor scheme, with the aim of providing a reference value for the half-life of each congener in the human body and a method of half-life estimation that accounts for an individual's personal characteristics.

Data Sources And Extraction: We compared data from >30 studies containing congener-specific elimination rates. Half-life data were extracted and compiled into a summary table.