Fallout from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant accident resulted in a 3000-km2 radioactive contamination plume. Here, we model the progressive dilution of the radiocesium contamination in 327 sediment samples from two neighboring catchments with different timing of soil decontamination. Overall, we demonstrate that there has been a ~90% decrease of the contribution of upstream contamin...

Mercury contamination of local fish stocks has become an escalating problem in the United States. Federal and state governments increasingly have issued fish consumption advisories to warn individuals of the risks of eating specific species of fish in particular quantities from individual bodies of water. Some indigenous groups in the United States who rely on these fisheries for subsistence an...

We estimated direct medical and nonmedical costs associated with a false diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) caused by laboratory cross-contamination of Mycobacterium tuberculosis cultures in Massachusetts in 1998 and 1999. For three patients who received misdiagnoses of active TB disease on the basis of laboratory cross-contamination, the costs totaled U.S. dollars 32618. Of the total, 97% was attr...

Solid waste management has moved to the forefront of the environmental agenda. Nations are considering restrictions on packaging and controls on products in order to reduce solid waste generation rates. Local and regional governments are requiring wastes to be separated for recycling, and some have even established mandatory recycling targets. However, industrial and everyday activities continu...

Background. A study aimed at determining the prevalence and predictors of parasitic contamination of fruits and vegetables collected from local markets in Jimma Town, Ethiopia, was conducted between April and May 2013. Methods. A total of 360 samples of fruits and vegetables were examined by sedimentation concentration after washing using normal saline. Results. The overall prevalence of parasi...

There are many potential risks to human health from heavy metal contamination of vegetables resulting from wastewater irrigated sites. This study was carried out to assess the concentration of chromium (Cr) and the risk to human health by chromium through the intake of locally grown vegetables collected from wastewater irrigated agricultural fields. Twenty-seven samples of 9 (nine) different ty...

Depending on such factors as the intensity and duration of the exposure, and the genetic diversity and connectedness of the starting population, exposure to elevated metal concentrations can result in population level alterations such as demographic bottlenecks or metal-induced selection. These processes can be revealed using a population genetic approach, and have important implications with r...

Trimming procedures are an important part of the sequence analysis pipeline in an EST Sequencing Project. In general, trimming is done in several phases, each one detecting and removing some kind of undesirable artifact, such as low quality sequence, vectors or adapters sequence, and contamination. However, this strategy often results in a phase being unable to recognize its target because part...

The 1986 Chernobyl fallout had dramatic consequences for traditional reindeer husbandry in central and southern Norway, and also for many farmers in these areas. In end July 1986 the Government therefore passed a principal resolution stating that every producer should be economically compensated for all losses due to measures introduced by the authorities because of the Chernobyl deposition. By...

Trace element concentrations in blood plasma or serum have been assayed by numerous investigators using a variety of analytical techniques. For several elements, figures obtained in different centers are widely disparate. Impressive evidence has accumulated that a great deal of the inconsistencies should be ascribed to unsuspected contamination of the samples with exogenous material during thei...