The seasonal occurrence of organic contaminants, many of which are potential endocrine disruptors, entering the Potomac River, USA, watershed was investigated using a two-pronged approach during the fall of 2005 and spring of 2006. Passive samplers (semipermeable membrane device and polar organic chemical integrative sampler [POCIS]) were deployed in tandem at sites above and below wastewater t...

The aim of this study is to describe and understand the seasonal and inter-annual physical and biological dynamics of the inner and mid shelves of the Southwestern Buenos Aires Province (Argentina). We used chlorophyll-a (chl-a) concentrations and inherent optical properties (IOPs), derived from ocean color products between 2002 and 2010, as a proxy for the physical and biological parameters of...

In this paper, we consider the decision-making and coordination mechanism of a seasonal product supply chain channel with a low season and a high season, where the price of the final product is strictly regulated, and the raw material is subject to price cap regulation in the high season. The optimal decision-making and profit under decentralized and centralized cases are derived for the low se...

Campylobacter was isolated from retail meat samples collected during the fiscal year 2009 in Japan. The higher percentages of contamination of chicken products were observed from June (39.3%) to November (83.3%). However, the highest number of human campylobacteriosis cases was reported in June in the Infectious Agents Surveillance Report. The chicken isolates with distinct clusters IVb and I, ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Aflatoxin M1, in milk and dairy products, is classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as human carcinogens (class 2B). The aim of this study was to evaluate aflatoxin M1 contamination level in dairy products from Iranshahr city, Iran, using ELISA technique. MATERIALS AND METHODS In our study, 87 samples of milk, white cheese, yoghurt, and butter wer...

BACKGROUND Light severely affects the occurrence of seasonal affective disorder (SAD). AIMS To compare the prevalence of SAD in persons with severe visual impairment and persons with full sight, and in persons with severe visual impairment with or without light perception. METHOD This cross-sectional study assessed the Global Seasonality Score (GSS) and the prevalence of SAD among 2781 pers...

BACKGROUND Much research has been devoted to the determination of optimal vaccination strategies for seasonal influenza epidemics. However, less attention has been paid to whether this optimization can be achieved within the context of viral drift. METHODS We developed a mathematical model that links different intra-seasonal dynamics of vaccination and infection to investigate the effect of v...

Lake Pavin is a deep meromictic lake. Its water column is divided into two parts: the mixolimnion, which is subjected to mixing during seasonal overturns; and the monimolimnion which remains unmixed. Using high precision and high frequency temperature and conductivity profiles along with continuous temperature measurements, this study reveals the presence of a sublacustrine, intermittent cold s...

Seasonally driven cycles of incidence have been consistently observed for a range of directly transmitted pathogens. Though frequently observed, the mechanism of seasonality for directly transmitted human pathogens is rarely well understood. Despite significant annual variation in magnitude, measles outbreaks in Niger consistently begin in the dry season and decline at the onset of the seasonal...