The morphological characteristics of starch granules preserved on ancient ground stone tools can reveal which plant species were processed and consumed and even infer tool function. Bedrock metates are commonly associated with the processing of localized seasonal resources, providing potential evidence for past human lifeways, including foods collected and processed, social gatherings, settlement patterns, land investment, and territorial behavior. In contrast to ground stone artifacts preserved in a buried context that have been studied extensively, limited starch research has been conducted on the potential for environmental contamination of open-air bedrock mortars and metates exposed to natural erosional elements. This project examines the residue samples of bedrock metates from three archaeological sites in southern Oregon in the United States to compare the starch yields of extraneous material cleaned from the grinding surface to those extracted from interstitial matrices deeper within the bedrock. Significantly greater number of starch granules were recovered from deep within the cracks and crevices than from the surface. Our study suggests that environmental contamination can be managed if separate surface and control samples are collected and analyzed in conjunction with the interstitial samples. Examining the potential for environmental contamination on exposed grinding surfaces is crucial for confidence in starch granule results and improving our understanding of human dietary behavior.

Recently, there have been epidemics of human cystic echinococcosis (CE) and alveolar echinococcosis (AE) in Kyrgyzstan. This study investigated 2 districts for the presence of Echinococcus granulosus s.l. and Echinococcus multilocularis eggs; species identity was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction in dog feces and the level of environmental contamination with parasite eggs in 2017–2018 was also investigated. In the Alay district 5 villages with a high reported annual incidence of AE of 162 cases per 100 000 and 5 villages in the Kochkor district which had a much lower incidence of 21 cases per 100 000 were investigated. However, the proportion of dog feces containing E. granulosus s.l. eggs was ~4.2 and ~3.5% in Alay and Kochkor respectively. For E. multilocularis, the corresponding proportions were 2.8 and 3.2%. Environmental contamination of Echinococcus spp. eggs was estimated using the McMaster technique for fecal egg counts, weight and density of canine feces. The level of environmental contamination with E. multilocularis eggs was similar at 4.4 and 5.0 eggs per m2 in Alay and Kochkor respectively. The corresponding values for E. granulosus s.l. were 8.3 and 7.5 eggs per m2. There was no association between village or district level incidence of human AE or CE and the proportion of dog feces containing eggs of Echinococcus spp. or the level of environmental contamination. Increased contamination of taeniid eggs occured in the autumn, after the return of farmers with dogs from summer mountain pastures.

With the recent introductions of glyphosate- and dicamba-tolerant crops, such as soybean and cotton, there will be an increase in POST-applied tank-mixtures of these two herbicides. However, few studies have been conducted to evaluate drift from dicamba applications. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of dicamba with and without glyphosate sprayed through standard and air induction flat-fan nozzles on droplet spectrum and drift potential in a low-speed wind tunnel. Two standard (XR and TT) and two air induction (AIXR and TTI) 110015 nozzles were used. The applications were made at 276 kPa pressure in a 2.2 ms−1 wind speed. Herbicide treatments evaluated included dicamba alone at 560 gaeha−1 and dicamba+glyphosate at 560+1,260 gaeha−1. The droplet spectrum was measured using a laser diffraction system. Artificial targets were used as drift collectors, positioned in a wind tunnel from 2 to 12 m downwind from the nozzle. Drift potential was determined using a fluorescent tracer added to solutions, quantified by fluorimetry. Dicamba droplet spectrum and drift depended on the association between herbicide solution and nozzle type. Dicamba alone produced coarser droplets than dicamba+glyphosate when sprayed through air induction nozzles. Drift decreased exponentially as downwind distance increased and it was reduced using air induction nozzles for both herbicide solutions.

Toxocara species infect a wide range of companion, domestic and wild animals as definitive and paratenic hosts, via multiple routes of transmission, producing long-lived tissue-inhabiting larvae and resistant eggs that can survive in the external environment. Therefore Toxocara and the disease it causes in humans, toxocariasis, represents an ideal aetiological agent for the development of the one health approach. However, despite increasing awareness of the public health significance of toxocariasis, gaps in our understanding of certain key aspects of the parasite's biology and epidemiology remain. These gaps hinder our ability to integrate research effort within the veterinary, medical and environmental disciplines. This review will highlight key deficits in our understanding of nine dimensions of Toxocara epidemiology and discuss a potential scenario to develop a more integrated, one health approach to improve our understanding of the prevention and control of this complex and cryptic zoonosis.

A pen infection-transmission experiment was conducted to elucidate the role of pathogen strain and environmental contamination in transmission of Escherichia coli O157:H7 (ECO157) in cattle. Five steers were inoculated with a three-strain mixture of ECO157 and joined with five susceptible steers in each of two experimental replicates. Faecal and environmental samples were monitored for ECO157 presence over 30 days. One ECO157 strain did not spread. Transmission rates for the other two strains were estimated using a generalized linear model developed based on a modified ‘Susceptible–Infectious–Susceptible’ mathematical model. Transmission rates estimated for the two strains (0·11 and 0·14) were similar. However, the rates significantly (P = 0·0006) increased 1·5 times for every 1-unit increase in the level of environmental contamination measured as log10 c.f.u. Depending on the level of environmental contamination, the estimated basic reproduction numbers varied from <1 to 8. The findings indicate the importance of on-farm measures to reduce environmental contamination for ECO157 control in cattle that should be validated under field conditions.

The levels and distribution of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners were analysed in fourteen soil and eight lichen (Usnea aurantiaco-atra) samples from King George Island, West Antarctica. A total of 32 PCB congeners were found in five soil samples collected in 2006, and the mean concentration of total PCBs was 20.4 pg g-1 dry weight (range, 8.0−33.8 pg g-1 dry weight). The most abundant PCB isomers in soil samples were di-, tri-, and penta-CBs, which accounted for more than 75% of the total residues. Twelve dioxin-like PCBs were also detected in nine soil and eight lichen samples, and the levels of dioxin-like PCBs were 5-fold higher in lichens than in soil. PCBs were detected at very low levels in most soil and lichen samples. The highest congener concentrations were found for PCB 118 (6.63 and 21.93 pg g-1 in soil and lichen, respectively) among dioxin-like PCBs. PCB levels in air samples were highly correlated with those in soil and lichen samples, as were PCB levels in soil and lichen samples collected at the same site. Long-range atmospheric transport is thought to be the main source of PCBs on King George Island. However, PCB levels in soil and lichen samples were also apparently influenced by local sources of PCBs.

Parasite-host systems often include an obligatory environmental stage in the parasite life-cycle, which can be transmitted between successive populations. Complexity even increases if immunity only gradually develops upon re-infection. For a better understanding of such systems we study Eimeria spp. in chickens, a protozoan parasite transmitted through oocysts on the floor. This paper deals with dynamics within and between successive cohorts of chickens by coupling a within-host description of the parasite life-cycle (with immunity) to re-uptake of oocysts from the environment. First the initial environmental oocyst level is related to the maximum infection load within a cohort, as a measure of production damage, from which we conclude that minimum damage levels can be observed with intermediate oocyst levels. Then we relate the initial to the final oocyst level of a cohort, and study the dynamics between cohorts in relation to an oocyst cleaning efficiency after each cohort. The resulting unstable dynamics lead to the conclusion that it will often be impossible to minimize damage by repeatedly cleaning with the same effort: it may be necessary to artificially increase oocyst levels in the shed before each chicken cohort.

Les techniques employées pour quantifier les émetteurs bêta purs (3H, 14C, 90Sr, 36Cl, 63Ni…) dans les matrices environnementales sont basées sur une sélectivité physico-chimique de l’élément suivi d’une mesure par scintillation liquide ou comptage proportionnel. Nous avons étudié une configuration de mesure simple, basée sur des détecteurs silicium minces (PIPS), afin d’obtenir une sélectivité spectrométrique couplée ou non à une sélectivité physico-chimique. La quantification de sources pures montre que les limites de détection sont du même ordre de grandeur que celles obtenues par les méthodes conventionnelles avec l’avantage de préciser la présence d’interférents résiduels. De même, pour des mesures de surveillance ou de contrôle réglementaire, excluant une préparation chimique importante, la contribution des radionucléides naturels est souvent à la base de la mise en œuvre de mesures complémentaires. Cette contribution des naturels peut être observée afin d’exclure la nécessité de ces mesures complémentaires même si les seuils globaux réglementaires sont dépassés.