Potential exposure of pollinators to neonicotinoid insecticides from the use of insecticide seed treatments in the mid-southern United States.

Research was done during 2012 to evaluate the potential exposure of pollinators to neonicotinoid insecticides used as seed treatments on corn, cotton, and soybean. Samples were collected from small plot evaluations of seed treatments and from commercial fields in agricultural production areas in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee. In total, 560 samples were analyzed for concentrations of clothianidin, imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, and their metabolites. These included pollen from corn and cotton, nectar from cotton, flowers from soybean, honey bees, Apis mellifera L., and pollen carried by foragers returning to hives, preplanting and in-season soil samples, and wild flowers adjacent to recently planted fields. Neonicotinoid insecticides were detected at a level of 1 ng/g or above in 23% of wild flower samples around recently planted fields, with an average detection level of about 10 ng/g. We detected neonicotinoid insecticides in the soil of production fields prior to planting at an average concentration of about 10 ng/g, and over 80% of the samples having some insecticide present. Only 5% of foraging honey bees tested positive for the presence of neonicotinoid insecticides, and there was only one trace detection (< 1 ng/g) in pollen being carried by those bees. Soybean flowers, cotton pollen, and cotton nectar contained little or no neonicotinoids resulting from insecticide seed treatments. Average levels of neonicotinoid insecticides in corn pollen ranged from less than 1 to 6 ng/g. The highest neonicotinoid concentrations were found in soil collected during early flowering from insecticide seed treatment trials. However, these levels were generally not well correlated with neonicotinoid concentrations in flowers, pollen, or nectar. Concentrations in flowering structures were well below defined levels of concern thought to cause acute mortality in honey bees. The potential implications of our findings are discussed.

Comprehensive Survey of Area-Wide Agricultural Pesticide Use in Southern United States Row Crops and Potential Impact on Honey Bee Colonies.

Honey bees forage across a large area, continually scouting the local landscape for ephemeral food resources. Beekeepers often rely on flowering plants in and around irrigated farmland to maintain their colonies during dry seasons, despite the potential risk of pesticide exposure. Recent declines in pollinator abundance and diversity have focused attention on the role of pesticides and their effects on honey bee health. This investigation examined two types of landscapes within a two-mile (3.2 km) radius of honey bee colonies: an intensive agricultural setting and a rural setting without intensive agriculture. More than 10,000 acres of agricultural land was surveyed to quantify the area of cultivated crops and the area treated with pesticides, including seed treatments and foliar applications of insecticides. Samples of honey, bee bread (stored pollen), beeswax, and adult bees were collected from hives in both landscape types and screened for pesticide residues to determine if foraging bees were transporting pesticides to hives. Some samples of bee bread and honey did contain pesticide residues, but these were below known lethal dose (LD50) levels for honey bees. Beeswax samples contained the highest levels of contamination, but most were still relatively low. Samples were screened for 174 common agricultural pesticides and metabolites, but only 26 compounds were detected during the two-year study. These included one defoliant, one insect growth regulator, five herbicides, six fungicides, six insecticides never used in beekeeping, and five insecticides/miticides and their metabolites, which are used in beekeeping and for various other agricultural purposes, as well as two miticides exclusively used by beekeepers to control Varroa destructor. Bee colonies foraging in agricultural landscapes are potentially exposed to numerous pesticide applications. While the residues detected in this study did not pose an acute lethal risk to adult honey bees, this study did not measure sublethal effects on bee colony health or performance, which merit further investigation.

Quality of life of lumbar stenosis-treated patients in whom the X STOP interspinous device was implanted.

OBJECT: This study was conducted to compare the quality of life (QOL) in patients with neurogenic intermittent claudication (NIC) secondary to lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS). Using the 36-Item Short Form (SF-36) questionnaire, the authors compared the results obtained in patients treated with the X STOP Interspinous Process Decompression (IPD) System with those obtained in patients who underwent nonoperative therapies. METHODS: Patients with LSS were enrolled in a prospective 2-year multicenter study and randomized either to the X STOP or nonoperative group. The SF-36 survey was used to assess the QOL before treatment and at 6 weeks, 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years posttreatment. An analysis of variance was used to compare individual pre- and posttreatment mean SF-36 domain scores between the two groups and within each treatment group. At all posttreatment time points, the authors observed the following: (1) mean domain scores in X STOP-treated patients were significantly greater than those in patients treated nonoperatively, with the exception of the mean General Health (GH), Role Emotional, and Mental Component Summary scores at 2 years; and (2) mean posttreatment domain scores documented in X STOP-treated patients were significantly greater than mean pretreatment scores, with the exception of mean GH scores at 6, 12, and 24 months. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study demonstrate that the X STOP device is significantly more effective than nonoperative therapy in improving the QOL in patients with LSS. The results are comparable with those reported in other studies involving traditional decompressive techniques for LSS and suggest that the X STOP implant can provide an effective treatment compared with nonoperative and conventional surgical therapies.

Postoperative Complications Within the First Year After Extreme Lateral Interbody Fusion: Experience of the First 108 Patients.

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective chart review. OBJECTIVE: To determine complications within the first year after undergoing extreme lateral interbody fusion (XLIF). SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: There are a growing but limited number of reports in the literature regarding early postoperative complications after XLIF. METHODS: We performed a retrospective chart review of perioperative complications of a case series of the first 108 patients to undergo XLIF at our institution between 2007 and 2009. We also recorded estimated blood loss, surgical time, and hospital length of stay for each procedure. RESULTS: There were 25 complications (23%) overall in patients who underwent the XLIF procedure. Four patients (3.7%) experienced major complications including: vertebral body fracture, contralateral nerve root injury, dense quadriceps paresis, and persistent stenosis. Three of these patients underwent revision surgery. There were 21 minor (19.4%) complications the vast majority of which consisted of approach-related thigh pain and/or paresthesias that all ultimately resolved. CONCLUSIONS: Transient ipsilateral thigh numbness, pain, and/or hip flexor weakness is a frequent postoperative finding most commonly when the L4-L5 level is instrumented. Dense femoral nerve palsy is a debilitating complication that may occur despite intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring. It should be noted that this retrospective study may underreport the true incidence of complications among these patients.

Age at onset of major depressive disorder predicts reductions in NK cell number and activity.

BACKGROUND: Major depressive disorder (MDD) has been associated with altered immunologic parameters including reductions in natural killer cell activity (NKCA). It remains largely unknown, however, whether alterations in immune function characterize homogeneous sub-groups of MDD. The present study addressed the question of whether age at onset of index episode and/or duration of the present episode of MDD predicted alterations in NKCA and NK cell number. METHODS: Participants met DSM-IV criteria for MDD. Age at onset of MDD, duration of the present episode, demographics, and comorbidity were obtained by SCID for all subjects (n = 36). Severity and symptom pattern of MDD was assessed by the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. NKCA was measured using a standard chromium-release cytotoxicity assay and NK number assessed by flow cytometry. RESULTS: Age at onset of MDD significantly predicted variance in NK cell number and NKCA. Consistent with previous studies, sleep disturbance and psychomotor retardation possessed significant explanatory power for variance in NK cell number and NKCA, respectively. LIMITATIONS: Measures of age at onset of MDD and duration of the present episode were obtained by self-report and thus recall bias may attenuate the reliability of the present findings. The present study design also precludes conclusions regarding the temporal association between alterations in NK cells and MDD. CONCLUSIONS: We propose that immunologic alterations, characterized by a suppression of NKCA and NK cell number concomitant with proinflammatory processes, may constitute an immunologic phenotype unique to early-age-onset depression and may be salient factors in the pathogenesis of depression.

New Program and Directions at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

The Trade Act of 1988 created the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) from the National Bureau of Standards (NBS). In addition to explicitly defining and reconfirming the traditional measurement services, the law assigned new responsibilities to NIST to assist U.S. industry in capitalizing on new technologies developed in the U.S. scientific and technical community at a faster rate. This article decribes the new programs being established at NIST to comply with this mandate and the new organizational unit at NIST that brings together the traditional services and these new programs.

Fibular allograft after anterior cervical corpectomy: long term follow-up.

The purpose of this study was to provide clinical and radiographic evaluation after a minimum of two years in patients who had an anterior cervical corpectomy and a fibular allograft strut. Nineteen patients returned for a follow-up visit which included independent radiographic evaluation as well as completing a Visual Analogue Scale and Oswestry and Short-Form 36 questionnaires. The categories of fusion were as follows: 1) definitely fused (84%) 2) questionably fused (11%) 3) definitely not fused (5%). The average VAS was 29 mm (range 0-85). The Oswestry Back Scores showed relatively low levels of significant pain with an average score of 29 (range 0-73). Anterior cervical corpectomy followed by an allograft fibular strut provides for relatively high rates of arthrodesis without severe loss of height or sagittal alignment at long term radiographic follow-up.

A multicenter, prospective, randomized trial evaluating the X STOP interspinous process decompression system for the treatment of neurogenic intermittent claudication: two-year follow-up results.

STUDY DESIGN: A randomized, controlled, prospective multicenter trial comparing the outcomes of neurogenic intermittent claudication (NIC) patients treated with the interspinous process decompression system (X STOP) with patients treated nonoperatively. OBJECTIVE: To determine the safety and efficacy of the X STOP interspinous implant. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Patients suffering from NIC secondary to lumbar spinal stenosis have been limited to a choice between nonoperative therapies and decompressive surgical procedures, with or without fusion. The X STOP was developed to provide an alternative therapeutic treatment. METHODS.: 191 patients were treated, 100 in the X STOP group and 91 in the control group. The primary outcomes measure was the Zurich Claudication Questionnaire, a patient-completed, validated instrument for NIC. RESULTS: At every follow-up visit, X STOP patients had significantly better outcomes in each domain of the Zurich Claudication Questionnaire. At 2 years, the X STOP patients improved by 45.4% over the mean baseline Symptom Severity score compared with 7.4% in the control group; the mean improvement in the Physical Function domain was 44.3% in the X STOP group and -0.4% in the control group. In the X STOP group, 73.1% patients were satisfied with their treatment compared with 35.9% of control patients. CONCLUSIONS: The X STOP provides a conservative yet effective treatment for patients suffering from lumbar spinal stenosis. In the continuum of treatment options, the X STOP offers an attractive alternative to both conservative care and decompressive surgery.