Public perceptions of Florida red tide risks.

This research integrates theoretical frameworks of risk perception, social amplification of risk, and the role of place-specific contexts in order to explore the various perceptions surrounding Florida red tides. Florida red tides are naturally occurring events that are increasing in frequency, duration, and severity. This has implications for public health, the local economy, and ecosystem health. While many of the negative impacts of Florida red tides are not easily controlled, some of the secondary impacts may be mitigated through individuals' responses. However, public perception and consequent reactions to Florida red tides have not been investigated. This research uses questionnaire surveys, and semi-structured interviews, to explore the various perceptions of the risk surrounding red tides. Surveys and interviews were conducted along two Florida west coast beaches. The results indicate that the underlying foundations of the social amplification of the risk framework are applicable to understanding how individuals form perceptions of risk relative to red tide events. There are key differences between the spatial locations of individuals and corresponding perceptions, indicating that place-specific contexts are essential to understanding how individuals receive and interpret risk information. The results also suggest that individuals may be lacking efficient and up-to-date information about Florida red tides and their impacts because of inconsistent public outreach. Overall, social and spatial factors appear to be influential as to whether individuals amplify or attenuate the risks associated with Florida red tides.

Cumulative dietary energy intake determines the onset of puberty in female rats.

Laboratory animal diets for studies to determine the endocrine-disrupting potential of chemicals are under scrutiny because they can affect both assay control values and assay sensitivity. Although phytoestrogen content is important, we have previously shown that a phytoestrogen-rich diet and a phytoestrogen-free diet were equally uterotrophic to rats and advanced vaginal opening (VO) when compared with the standard diet RM1. Abolition of the effects by the gonadotrophin-releasing hormone antagonist Antarelix indicated that these effects were mediated through the hypothalamus-pituitary-reproductive organ axis. In the present study, we investigated the relationship between cumulative energy intake and sexual maturation in female rats. Infant formula (IF) at different concentrations and synthetic diets, with a wide range of metabolizable energy (ME) values, were used to modulate energy intake. Increasing energy intake was associated with an increase in uterine weight (absolute and adjusted for body weight) for both IF and the synthetic diets. In both cases, the increased uterine weight was directly proportional to energy intake. Body weight was unaffected by IF consumption but, in the case of the diets, was increased proportionally with energy consumption. Antarelix abolished the uterine weight increases with both formula and the diets, whereas body weight was unaffected. The mean day of VO was also advanced by high-ME diets and IF, whereas body weight at VO was unaffected. VO occurred at an energy intake of approximately 2,300 kJ/rat determined by measuring total food intake from weaning to VO, indicating that this cumulative energy intake was the trigger for puberty. ME is therefore a critical factor in the choice of diets for endocrine disruption studies.

Cross-cultural and site-based influences on demographic, well-being, and social network predictors of risk perception in hazard and disaster settings in Ecuador and Mexico: predictors of risk perception in hazard and disaster settings in Ecuador and Mexico.

Although virtually all comparative research about risk perception focuses on which hazards are of concern to people in different culture groups, much can be gained by focusing on predictors of levels of risk perception in various countries and places. In this case, we examine standard and novel predictors of risk perception in seven sites among communities affected by a flood in Mexico (one site) and volcanic eruptions in Mexico (one site) and Ecuador (five sites). We conducted more than 450 interviews with questions about how people feel at the time (after the disaster) regarding what happened in the past, their current concerns, and their expectations for the future. We explore how aspects of the context in which people live have an effect on how strongly people perceive natural hazards in relationship with demographic, well-being, and social network factors. Generally, our research indicates that levels of risk perception for past, present, and future aspects of a specific hazard are similar across these two countries and seven sites. However, these contexts produced different predictors of risk perception-in other words, there was little overlap between sites in the variables that predicted the past, present, or future aspects of risk perception in each site. Generally, current stress was related to perception of past danger of an event in the Mexican sites, but not in Ecuador; network variables were mainly important for perception of past danger (rather than future or present danger), although specific network correlates varied from site to site across the countries.

Maternal recognition and health care-seeking behavior for acute respiratory infection in children in a rural Ecuadorian county.

OBJECTIVES: To identify the factors which determine timely health care-seeking behaviors for childhood ARIs. METHODS: A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to a non-random purposive sample of 91 female caregivers (age 18-57 years), and was analyzed using SPSS. In addition, six focus group discussions with female caregivers and 25 in-depth interviews with members from the health care setting were conducted. RESULTS: The primary obstacles reported for timely health care-seeking among survey respondents were money for medicines (n=29, 32%), transportation fares (n=19, 21%), and restrictive hours of the health centers (n=13, 14%). The median household salary reported was $100 per month. There was an overall lack of recognition of the biomedical signs and symptoms of serious lower respiratory infections independent of socioeconomic status. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the study findings, the following recommendations are offered: (1) public health campaigns need to better address appropriate home health care management of childhood health and illness to improve maternal health-seeking behavior for ARIs; (2) provincial health authorities need to adhere to regular hours of operation, expand clinic hours and increase staff; (3) health posts should establish better policies for disbursement of antibiotics and ensure that patients follow prescribed regimens; and (4) through partnerships with economic development organizations and the private sector, there will be increased employment opportunities.

Neoplastic pathology in male Sprague-Dawley rats fed AIN-93M diet ad libitum or at restricted intakes.

The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of age and long-term dietary reduction on neoplastic diseases in rats fed the AIN-93M purified diet. Second, pathologic profiles are critical to comprehensive dietary evaluation. Male Sprague-Dawley rats assigned to 2 groups, ad libitum (AL) and dietary restricted (DR), were fed the AIN-93M (casein protein) diet free choice and reduced in amount by 31%, respectively. At 58 weeks of age, the predominant types of lesions in AL and DR rats were pituitary and skin tumors. At 114 weeks of age, the most common lesions were pituitary, adrenal gland, skin, mammary, brain, and pancreatic tumors and mononuclear cell leukemia. However, DR had no significant effect on these lesions. Primary findings demonstrate that DR significantly reduced the total number of tumors per rat and incidence of benign and primary tumors (all organs) but did not reduce the incidence of malignant tumors (all organs). Dietary restriction increased the percentage of unknown deaths. These results may explain why survival rates for AL and DR rats were not significantly different at 114 weeks (43.3 vs 57.5%, respectively). These findings differ from previous studies using NIH-31 cereal diet (Aging Clin Exp Res 2001;13:263; J Nutr 2002;132:101; Aging Clin Exp Res 2003;16(6):68; Aging Clin Exp Res 2004;16:448) where neoplastic lesions rather than nonneoplastic lesions were linked to a significant increase in survival rate among cohorts of DR-fed rats (J Nutr 2002;132:101). Factors such as diet composition and digestibility, although not independent of body weight, may have contributed to differences in rat mortality and may affect humans in a similar manner.

The effectiveness of street sweepers in removing pollutants from road surfaces in Florida.

To test the effectiveness of street sweepers in the sandy-surfaced, subtropical Florida Peninsula, a controlled experiment was set up to compare the effectiveness of two different sweeper types in removing sediments, heavy metals, and organic constituents from a paved surface. Both a rotary brush and a regenerative air sweeper were tested on an asphalt roadway. The results indicate that rotary brush sweepers are more effective in removing total sediment loads from roads in this type of environment. However, the chemical analyses proved somewhat inconclusive. Each sweeper was effective in removing particular chemicals off streets, but neither sweeper proved better in all categories. Nevertheless, the rotary brush sweeper was most effective in removing the total sediment load off streets and is therefore recommended for use in areas covered with coarse sediments in the local drainage basin.

Community resilience and volcano hazard: the eruption of Tungurahua and evacuation of the faldas in Ecuador.

Official response to explosive volcano hazards usually involves evacuation of local inhabitants to safe shelters. Enforcement is often difficult and problems can be exacerbated when major eruptions do not ensue. Families are deprived of livelihoods and pressure to return to hazardous areas builds. Concomitantly, prevailing socio-economic and political conditions limit activities and can influence vulnerability. This paper addresses these issues, examining an ongoing volcano hazard (Tungurahua) in Ecuador where contextual realities significantly constrain responses. Fieldwork involved interviewing government officials, selecting focus groups and conducting surveys of evacuees in four locations: a temporary shelter, a permanent resettlement, with returnees and with a control group. Differences in perceptions of risk and health conditions, and in the potential for economic recovery were found among groups with different evacuation experiences. The long-term goal is to develop a model of community resilience in long-term stress environments.

Use of remote sensing techniques to determine the effects of grazing on vegetation cover and dune elevation at Assateague Island National Seashore: impact of horses.

The effects of grazing by feral horses on vegetation and dune topography at Assateague Island National Seashore were investigated using color-infrared imagery, lidar surveys, and field measurements. Five pairs of fenced and unfenced plots (300 m2) established in 1993 on sand flats and small dunes with similar elevation, topography, and vegetation cover were used for this study. Color-infrared imagery from 1998 and field measurements from 2001 indicated that there was a significant difference in vegetation cover between the fenced and unfenced plot-pairs over the study period. Fenced plots contained a higher percentage of vegetation cover that was dominated by American beachgrass (Ammophila breviligulata). Lidar surveys from 1997, 1999, and 2000 showed that there were significant differences in elevation and topography between fenced and unfenced plot-pairs. Fenced plots were, on average, 0.63 m higher than unfenced plots, whereas unfenced plots had generally decreased in elevation after establishment in 1993. Results demonstrate that feral horse grazing has had a significant impact on dune formation and has contributed to the erosion of dunes at Assateague Island. The findings suggest that unless the size of the feral horse population is reduced, grazing will continue to foster unnaturally high rates of dune erosion into the future. In order to maintain the natural processes that historically occurred on barrier islands, much larger fenced exclosures would be required to prevent horse grazing.