Describing Human–Wildlife Interaction from a European Perspective

European researchers from both the natural and social sciences show growing interest in studying interactions between society and wildlife. A wealth of theoretical frameworks, concepts, and methods are used, but an integration of perspectives is lacking. This research note summarizes results from two workshops that included 63 delegates from 25 European countries, as well as a follow-up survey of 41 respondents. Two main theoretical approaches to the study of human–wildlife interactions were identified. One approach focuses on the collective societal level relying on theories of governance, social representation, deliberative procedures, and commons theory. The other approach targets individuals or groups, and is based on theories such as the cognitive hierarchy, theory of reasoned action, and theory of planned behavior. Interdisciplinary collaboration is needed to identify the best options for wildlife conservation and management in a more politically integrated Europe.     

Determination of biogenic amines in aerobically stored beef using high-performance thin-layer chromatography densitometry

The aim of this study was to develop a high-performance thin-layer chromatography densitometry method to simultaneously evaluate levels of different biogenic amines (BAs) in beef stored aerobically at 4°C. Steaks from M. longissimus thoracis et lumborum muscles were overwrapped with polyvinyl chloride film and stored for 0, 4, 7, and 10 days. For this purpose, the solvent system and pH for the derivatization of BAs with dansyl chloride were optimized. Moreover, this method was also validated for linearity, limits of detection and quantification, precision, and recovery. As found using this method in beef samples, spermine content decreased significantly after 7 days of storage, and tyramine and cadaverine were not detected until day 10.     

Biodegradation of estrogens in stream water

Estrogens of human and animal origin that reach the aquatic environment may enter human or animal organism and act as endocrine disruptors.To investigate the persistency of estrogens in laboratory experiments, estrone respectively 17beta-estradiol were added to stream water sampled from river Spree in Berlin. The concentration of estrone and 17beta-estradiol was quantified using enzyme-immuno-assay. The estrone concentration decreased to less than 5 % of the starting concentration at storage temperature of 5 degrees C within 56 days and at storage temperature of 20 degrees C within 14 days. If the estrone were added to autoclaved stream water, no biodegradation was observed. Biodegradation was enhanced when activated sludge was added. Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas fluorenscens and Aeromonas hydrophila in monoculture did not degrade estrone in autoclaved stream water.The concentrations of 17beta-estradiol and estrone decreased similarly.The logistic function proved to be suitable to describe the course of time for the decrease of concentration.     

Cardiovascular effects of acute pulmonary obstruction in horses with recurrent airway obstruction

BACKGROUND: Recurrent airway obstruction (RAO) is common in horses. Although pulmonary artery (PA) pressure increases during RAO, cardiac function in horses with RAO has received limited attention. HYPOTHESIS: The purpose of this study was to noninvasively determine the cardiovascular effects of acute pulmonary obstruction (APO) in horses with RAO and their reversibility. ANIMALS: Five geldings with RAO, inducible by exposure to moldy hay, were studied. METHODS: Pulmonary mechanics, echocardiography, serum troponin I concentrations, arterial blood gases, and hematocrit were obtained before and after 7 days of APO. Heart rate, PA diameter and flow characteristics, right and left ventricular luminal dimensions and wall thicknesses, global cardiac performance, and evidence of myocardial damage were evaluated. Pulmonary mechanics and echocardiography were reevaluated during remission. RRESULTS: Severe, transient APO did not induce chronic cor pulmonale in horses, because cardiac anatomy and function were normal between episodes. An acute episode of APO produced anatomical and functional cardiac changes in both the right and left heart (including increased PA diameter, abnormal septal motion, and decreased left ventricular diameter and estimated stroke volume), possibly because of the development of pulmonary hypertension, without apparent myocardial damage. The decrease in stroke volume was offset by the increase in heart rate. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: With APO of 7 days' duration, cardiovascular abnormalities and the functional airway changes that produce them are reversible when the offending allergens are removed.     

Effect of two wheat genotypes and Swedish environment on falling number, amylase activities, and protein concentration and composition

Variation in falling number, amylase activities, protein concentration and composition were investigated in two wheat cultivars grown in Sweden over two seasons, in four locations, with four N fertilizer rates, with and without fungicide treatment. The results showed that;

Mercury in the Swedish environment — Recent research on causes,consequences and corrective methods

During the last decade a new pattern of Hg pollution has been discerned, mostly in Scandinavia and North America. Fish from low productive lakes, even in remote areas, have been found to have a high Hg content. This pollution problem cannot be connected to single Hg discharges but is due to more widespread air pollution and long-range transport of pollutants. A large number of waters are affected and the problem is of a regional character. The national limits for Hg in fish are exceeded in a large number of lakes. In Sweden alone, it has been estimated that the total number of lakes exceeding the blacklisting limit of 1 mg Hg kg-1 in 1-kg pike is about 10 000. The content of Hg in fish has markedly increased in a large part of Sweden, exceeding the estimate background level by about a factor of 2 to 6. Only in the northernmost part of the country is the content in fish close to natural values. There is, however, a large variation of Hg content in fish within the same region, which is basically due to natural conditions such as the geological and hydrological properties of the drainage area. Higher concentrations in fish are mostly found in smaller lakes and in waters with a higher content of humic matter. Since only a small percentage of the total flow of Hg through a lake basin is transferred into the biological system, the bioavailability and the accumulation pattern of Hg in the food web is of importance for the Hg concentrations in top predators like pike. Especially, the transfer of Hg to low trophic levels seems to be a very important factor in determining the concentration in the food web. The fluxes of biomass through the fish community appear to be dominated by fluxes in the pelagic food web. The Hg in the lake water is therefore probably more important as a secondary source of Hg in pike than is the sediment via the benthic food chain. Different remedy actions to reduce Hg in fish have been tested. Improvements have been obtained by measures designed to reduce the transport of Hg to the lakes from the catchment area, eg. wetland liming and drainage area liming, to reduce the Hg flow via the pelagic nutrient chains, eg. intensive fishing, and to reduce the biologically available proportion of the total lake dose of Hg, eg. lake liming with different types of lime and additions of selenium. The length of time necessary before the remedy gives result is a central question, due to the long half-time of Hg in pike. In general it has been possible to reduce the Hg content in perch by 20 to 30% two years after treatments like lake liming, wetland liming, drainage area liming and intensive fishing. Selenium treatment is also effective, but before this method can be recommended, dosing problems and questions concerning the effects of selenium on other species must be evaluated. Regardless how essential these kind of remedial measures may be in a short-term perspective, the only satisfactory long-term alternative is to minimize the Hg contamination in air, soil and water. Internationally, the major sources of Hg emissions to the atmosphere are chlor-alkali factories, waste incineration plants, coal and peat combustion units and metal smelter industries. In the combustion processes without flue gas cleaning systems, probably about 20 to 60% of the Hg is emitted in divalent forms. In Sweden, large amounts of Hg were emitted to the atmosphere during the 50s and 60s, mainly from chlor-alkali plants and from metal production. In those years, the discharges from point sources were about 20 to 30 t yr 1. Since the end of the 60s, the emission of Hg has been reduced dramatically due to better emission control legislation, improved technology, and reduction of polluting industrial production. At present, the annual emissions of Hg to air are about 3.5 t from point sources in Sweden. In air, more than 95% of Hg is present as the elemental Hg form, HgO⁰. The remaining non-elemental (oxidized) form is partly associated to particles with a high wash-out ratio, and therefore more easily deposited to soils and surface waters by precipitation. The total Hg concentration in air is normally in the range 1 to 4 ng m-3. In oceanic regions in the southern hemisphere, the concentration is generally about 1 ng m^?3, while the corresponding figure for the northern hemisphere is about 2 ng m-3. In remote continental regions, the concentrations are mainly about 2 to 4 ng m^?3. In precipitation, Hg concentrations are generally found in the range 1 to 100 ng L^?1. In the Nordic countries, yearly mean values in rural areas are about 20 to 40 ng L^?1 in the southern and central parts, and about 10 ng L^?1 in the northern part. Accordingly, wet deposition is about 20 (10 to 35) g km^?2 yr^?1 in southern Scandinavia and 5 (2 to 7) in the northern part. Calculations of Hg deposition based on forest moss mapping techniques give similar values. The general pattern of atmospheric deposition of Hg with decreasing values from the southwest part of the country towards the north, strongly suggests that the deposition over Sweden is dominated by sources in other European countries. This conclusion is supported by analyses of air parcel back trajectories and findings of significant covariations between Hg and other long range transported pollutants in the precipitation. Apart from the long range transport of anthropogenic Hg, the deposition over Sweden may also be affected by an oxidation of elemental Hg in the atmosphere. Atmospheric Hg deposited on podzolic soils, the most common type of forest soil in Sweden, is effectively bound in the humus-rich upper parts of the forest soil. In the Tiveden area in southern Sweden, about 75 to 80% of the yearly deposition is retained in the humus layer, chemically bound to S or Se atoms in the humic structure. The amount of Hg found in the B horizon of the soils is probably only slightly influenced by anthropogenic emissions. In the deeper layers of the soil, hardly any accumulation of Hg takes place. The dominating horizontal flow in the soils takes place in the uppermost soil layers (0 to 20 cm) during periods of high precipitation and high groun water level in the soils. The yearly transport of Hg within the soils has been calculated to be about 5 to 6 g km^?2. The specific transport of total Hg from the soil system to running waters and lakes in Sweden is about 1 to 6 g km^?2 yr¹. The transport of Hg is closely related to the transport of humic matter in the water. The main factors influencing the Hg content and the transport of Hg in run-off waters from soils are therefore the Hg content in soils, the transport of humic matter from the soils and the humus content of the water. Other factors, for example acidification of soils and waters, are of secondary importance. Large peatlands and major lake basins in the catchment area reduce the out-transport of Hg from such areas. About 25 to 75% of the total load of Hg of lakes in southern and central Sweden originates from run-off from the catchment area. In lakes where the total load is high, the transport from run-off is the dominating pathway. The total Hg concentrations in soil solution are usually in the range 1 to 50, in ground water 0.5 to 15 and in run-off and lake water 2 to 12 ng L^?1, respectively. The variation is largely due to differences in the humus content of the waters. In deep ground water with a low content of humic substances, the Hg concentration is usually below 1 ng L^?1. The present amount and concentrations of Hg in the mor layer of forest soils are affected by the total anthropogenic emissions of Hg to the atmosphere, mainly during this century. Especially in the southern part of Sweden and in the central part along the Bothnian coast, the concentrations in the mor layer are markedly high. In southern areas the anthropogenic part of the total Hg content is about 70 to 90%. Here, the increased content in these soils is mainly caused by long-range transport and emissions from other European countries, while high level areas in the central parts are markedly affected by local historical emissions, mainly from the chlor-alkali industry. When comparing the input/output fluxes to watersheds it is evident that the present atmospheric deposition is much higher than the output via run-off waters, on average about 3 to 10 times higher, with the highest ration in the southern parts of Sweden. Obviously, Hg is accumulating in forest soils in Sweden at the present atmospheric deposition rate and, accordingly, the concentrations in forest soils are still increasing despite the fact that the emissions of Hg have drastically been reduced in Sweden during the last decades. The increased content of Hg in forest soils may have an effect on the organisms and the biological processes in the soils. Hg is by far the most toxic metal to microorganisms. In some regions in Sweden, the content of Hg in soils is already today at a level that has been proposed as a critical concentration. To obtain a general decrease in the Hg content in fish and in forest soils, the atmospheric deposition of Hg has to be reduced. The critical atmospheric load of Hg can be defined as the load where the input to the forest soils is less than the output and, consequently, where the Hg content in the top soil layers and the transport of Hg to the surface waters start to decrease. A reduction by about 80% of the present atmospheric wet deposition has to be obtained to reach the critical load for Scandinavia.     

Residue analysis of tetracyclines and their metabolites in eggs and in the environment by HPLC coupled with a microbiological assay and tandem mass spectrometry

Tetracyclines are widely used in farm animals. This can cause drug residues in products of animal origin and, after excretion of these substances, in animal slurry and in soil fertilized with that slurry. In this paper, we present a method based on a microbiological assay coupled with HPLC for the detection of oxytetracycline, tetracycline, and chlortetracycline in eggs. After a simple liquid extraction of the samples and HPLC separation, fractions were collected on microtiter plates, and the tetracyclines were analyzed using the Staphylococcus aureus assay. This method was able to identify residues of tetracyclines in eggs at a level set by regulatory agencies (i.e., 200 microg/kg). In addition, it was shown that the described microbiological method can be used as a screening assay for the detection of tetracyclines and possible biologically active metabolites in animal slurry and soil samples. Employing the same extraction procedure, it was demonstrated that LC-MS-MS allowed the quantification of 20-400 microg/kg in eggs with recoveries ranging from 71 to 109% and RSDs of 3-15%.     

CD46 in meningococcal disease

The human-specific bacterial pathogen Neisseria meningitidis is a major cause of sepsis and/or meningitis. The pili of N. meningitidis interact with CD46, a human cell-surface protein involved in regulation of complement activation. Transgenic mice expressing human CD46 were susceptible to meningococcal disease, because bacteria crossed the blood-brain barrier in these mice. Development of disease was more efficient with piliated bacteria after intranasal, but not intraperitoneal, challenge of CD46 transgenic mice, suggesting that human CD46 facilitates pilus-dependent interactions at the epithelial mucosa. Hence, the human CD46 transgenic mice model is a potentially useful tool for studying pathogenesis and for vaccine development against meningococcal disease.     

Preparation of protein-steroid conjugates and antisera against oestradiol-17

A conjugate of oestradiol-17β and bovine serum albumin (BSA) has been prepared by the mixed anhydride method. The conjugate was characterized by u.v.-analyses and immunoelectrophoresis, and the number of moles of oestradiol-17β per mole of BSA was found to be 25. The conjugate was used for immunization of two sheep and one rabbit in order to elict antisera against oestradiol-17β. Antibodies could be detected in all three animals after 5–16 weeks depending on the route of immunization. The antiserum from one sheep could be used in a radioimmunoassay system for oestradiol-17β in a dilution of 1:5000 and was found to cross-react with oestrone and oestradiol-17α to a lesser extent than another antiserum against oestradiol-17β.     

Studies of Coxiella burnetii infections in dairy herds with special regard to infections in men

Investigations of 1167 dairy cows out of 105 herds with fertility disorders on secretion of Coxiella burnetii (C. burnetii) by the genitals as well as serological studies of these animals using ELISA demonstrated that C. burnetii infections are significantly associated with abortions but not with repeated inseminations without success or vaginal excretions. The demonstration of an increased risk of infections for persons caring for those dairy herds could be shown by a total of 253 serological studies. A comparison of these studies of farmers caring for dairy herds suffering from abortions a seroprevalence of > or = 20% showed that these persons revealed significantly more frequent antibodies against C. burnetii than farmers of the group compared with. Further studies showed that in herds suffering from abortions a seroprevalence of > or = 20% means an additional risk of infections of farmers. Vice versa abortions of the cows in herds with a seroprevalence of > or = 20% imply an additional infectious risk.