Fossil Carychiidae (Eupulmonata, Ellobioidea) from the Lower Pleistocene Nashua Formation of Florida, with the description of a new species.

Recent fossil shell mining for a new rail line in the Orlando area of Orange County, Florida has uncovered two species of the ellobioid genus Carychium O. F. Müller, 1773 in a bed of freshwater marl from the Lower Pleistocene Nashua Formation. To taxonomically interpret these finds, the well-preserved shells were imaged via high-resolution X-ray tomography (micro-CT) to view significant internal diagnostic characters such as the columellar configuration and the degree of lamellar sinuosity and their relationship in context to the entire shell. The image data are compared to that of type material and extant and fossil Carychium species inhabiting the SE USA, Mexico, Central America, and Jamaica. Based on these results, the species Carychiumfloridanum G. H. Clapp, 1918 and Carychiumnashuaensesp. nov. are identified from fossil shells dating from the Early Pleistocene. This work documents the first fossil members of C.floridanum and the first fossil Carychium from the SE USA.

Perinatal Health Outcomes Across Rural and Nonrural Counties Within a Single Health System Catchment.

Background: Perinatal health outcomes are influenced by a variety of socioeconomic, behavioral, and economic factors that reduce access to health services. Despite these observations, rural communities continue to face barriers, including a lack of resources and the fragmentation of health services. Objective: To evaluate patterns in health outcomes, health behaviors, socioeconomic vulnerability, and sociodemographic characteristics across rural and nonrural counties within a single health system catchment area. Methods: Socioeconomic vulnerability metrics, health care access as determined by licensed provider metrics, and behavioral data were obtained from FlHealthCHARTS.gov and the County Health Rankings. County-level birth and health data were obtained from the Florida Department of Health. The University of Florida Health Perinatal Catchment Area (UFHPCA) was defined as all Florida counties where ≥5% of all infants were delivered at Shands Hospital between June 2011 and April 2017. Results: The UFHPCA included 3 nonrural and 10 rural counties that represented more than 64,000 deliveries. Nearly 1 in 3 infants resided in a rural county, and 7 out of 13 counties did not have a licensed obstetrician gynecologist. Maternal smoking rates (range 6.8%-24.8%) were above the statewide rate (6.2%). Except for Alachua County, breastfeeding initiation rates (range 54.9%-81.4%) and access to household computing devices (range 72.8%-86.4%) were below the statewide rate (82.9% and 87.9%, respectively). Finally, we found that childhood poverty rates (range 16.3%-36.9%) were above the statewide rate (18.5%). Furthermore, risk ratios suggested negative health outcomes for residents of counties within the UFHPCA for each measure, except for infant mortality and maternal deaths, which lacked sample sizes to adequately test. Conclusions: The health burden of the UFHPCA is characterized by rural counties with increased maternal death, neonatal death, and preterm birth, as well as adverse health behaviors that included increased smoking during pregnancy and lower levels of breastfeeding relative to nonrural counties. Understanding perinatal health outcomes across a single health system has potential to not only estimate community needs but also facilitate planning of health care initiatives and interventions in rural and low-resource communities.

The epidemiology, demographics, and comorbidities of pulmonary and extra-pulmonary non-tuberculous mycobacterial infections at a large central Florida Academic Hospital.

RATIONALE: In the United States, non-tuberculous mycobacterium (NTM) infections are considered an important cause of morbidity and mortality, especially in people with progressive lung disease. The state of Florida has an extremely high incidence and prevalence of NTM disease which is likely a rapidly emerging infection in the state due to environmental and demographic factors. OBJECTIVES: Adjemian et al. [1] To determine the burden of NTM disease of patients admitted to a large Central Florida academic center, Falkinham [2] to identify the most common risk factors associated with developing NTM disease in this area, and Sfeir et al. [4] to categorize antimicrobial susceptibilities and genetic resistance markers. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective case review from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2017 in a large university-associated metropolitan hospital in west-central Florida. NTM infections were identified using TheraDoc® during the study period with the inclusion criteria of any inpatient admission, culture confirmed NTM at any site, and age ≥ 12 years. Demographic variables (including residential zip code) and comorbidity data (including solid organ transplant status, HIV status and subsequent testing results, intrinsic pulmonary disease, and cancer diagnosis of any site) were collected for each patient. Microbiologic data collected included NTM species/subspecies, anatomic location of specimen collection, antimicrobial susceptibility including minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). All collected data were analyzed within Stata/IC14.2. Geospatial relationships between zip codes, diagnosis type, and co-morbidities were computed using Arc GIS Pro. RESULTS: Our results demonstrated that a substantial number of our inpatient cases with NTM were of the M. abscessus group, and with M. avium complex and M. fortuitum also representing the pathogen in numerous cases. Novel findings included compilation of the first hospital wide comprehensive NTM resistance plot to our knowledge. Our results did show a concordance with previous data with expected predominance of NTM inpatient cases in Caucasian males with pre-existing pulmonary disease, though additional work could be done with isolates within the transplant and immunosuppressed populations. CONCLUSIONS: Our data set demonstrates the most common species/subspecies of NTM infections and their associated conditions seen at our central Florida hospital, and includes an antimicrobial sensitivity analysis in toto. This could be insight into the possible prevalence of NTM in the area, and provides the foundation for future studies on both the acquisition and prevention for NTM infections in central Florida.

Exploration of the effects of storm surge on the extent of saltwater intrusion into the surficial aquifer in coastal east-central Florida (USA).

Climate change such as altered frequency and intensity of storm surge from tropical cyclones can cause saltwater intrusion into coastal aquifers. In this study, a reference SEAWAT model and a diagnostic SEAWAT model are developed to simulate the temporal variation of surficial aquifer total dissolved solids (TDS) concentrations after the occurrence of a storm surge for exploration of the effects of storm surge on the extent of saltwater intrusion into the surficial aquifer in coastal east-central Florida (USA). It is indicated from the simulation results that: (1) rapid infiltration and diffusion of overtopping saltwater resulting from storm surge could cause a significant and rapid increase of TDS concentrations in the surficial aquifer right after the occurrence of storm surge; (2) rapid infiltration of freshwater from rainfall could reduce surficial aquifer TDS concentrations beginning from the second year after the occurrence of storm surge in that the infiltrated rainwater could generate an effective hydraulic barrier to impede further inland migration of saltwater and provide a downgradient freshwater discharge for saltwater dilution and flushing counteracting the effects of storm surge on the extent of saltwater intrusion; and (3) infiltrated rainwater might take approximately eight years to dilute and flush the overwhelming majority of infiltrated saltwater back out to the surrounding waterbodies, i.e., the coastal lagoons and the Atlantic Ocean.

Assessing the "superposed" effects of storm surge from a Category 3 hurricane and continuous sea-level rise on saltwater intrusion into the surficial aquifer in coastal east-central Florida (USA).

Saltwater intrusion into the surficial aquifer in coastal east-central Florida (USA) due to the effects of storm surges from tropical cyclones and continuous sea-level rise is a detrimental issue resulting in groundwater quality deterioration and bio-diverse ecosystem degradation. In this study, groundwater flow and salinity transport models using SEAWAT are developed for quantifying the "superposed" effects of storm surge (SS) from a Category 3 hurricane (Hurricane Jeanne which hit the Florida Atlantic coast on September 24-27, 2004) and continuous sea-level rise (SLR) on saltwater intrusion (SWI) into the surficial aquifer in coastal east-central Florida from the year of 2004 to 2024, and the simulated time-variant extent of SS- and SLR-induced landward migration of saline groundwater is compared for determination of whether the effects of SS from a Category 3 hurricane or continuous SLR on SWI are more significant. Results indicate that (1) the effects of SS are more significant than the effects of SLR within the first 12, 10, or 9 years after its occurrence date if sea level rises in low, mid, or high rate; (2) the effects of SS are more significant than the effects of SLR if SS occurs at least once within its return period (8-12 years); and (3) the maximum effects of SS are "equivalent" to the effects of the 95-year SLR, 45-year SLR, or 28-year SLR if sea level rises to 0.3 m in low, mid, or high rate. The outcome of this study warns public to pay more attention to the detrimental "superposed" effects of SS and SLR on SWI into the surficial aquifer in coastal east-central Florida.

Survival of Overwintering Aedes albopictus Eggs Under Natural Conditions In North-Central Florida.

Aedesalbopictus mosquitoes overwinter as eggs in north-central Florida. Knowledge of this species' overwintering survival rate is of great interest to local mosquito control districts. In this study, field-collected Ae. albopictus eggs were exposed to natural conditions during winter 2016-17 in Gainesville, FL, to determine the overwintering survival rate. Individual strips of germination paper containing eggs of this species were collected from ovitraps in November 2016 then later clipped to the inner edge of empty flowerpots and placed in the Department of Public Works compound, City of Gainesville, in December. Egg strips that remained outdoors were later brought back to the laboratory and hatched in late March 2017. Significant differences were found among the 5 ambient environmental exposure methods (configurations) in terms of egg survival rate, egg collapsed rate, and egg unaccounted rate, whereas no significant difference was observed on the egg intact rate. Egg strips stored in flowerpots with the drainage hole sealed had the highest survival rate (18.3%), whereas eggs stored in an open covered area had the least survival rate (2.4%). The effect of different storage conditions on the survivorship of overwintering Ae. albopictus eggs in north-central Florida is discussed.

Assessing the effects of rainfall, groundwater downward leakage, and groundwater head differences on the development of cover-collapse and cover-suffosion sinkholes in central Florida (USA).

Cover-collapse and cover-suffosion sinkholes are widely distributed in central Florida (USA) karst terrains and have been recognized as the primary geo-hazard threatening human lives and destroying infrastructure. Previous studies indicated that the development of cover-collapse and cover-suffosion sinkholes in central Florida might be related to hydrologic/hydrogeologic conditions such as rainfall, groundwater downward leakage and groundwater hydraulic head differences (groundwater level differences between the water tables in unconfined aquifer and the potentiometric levels in confined aquifer). Here, a case study in central Florida urban areas is conducted to quantify the effects of rainfall, groundwater downward leakage and groundwater head differences on the development of cover-collapse and cover-suffosion sinkholes in central Florida with a focus on the timing of their occurrences. Results indicate that heavy rainfall/storm(s) and rapid increase of head differences within a relatively short period of time are major factors affecting the timing of sinkhole occurrences, and the spatial variation of groundwater downward leakage rate can be used to generate sinkhole susceptibility zonation maps for serving as a useful indicator of the likelihood of sinkhole development at certain areas. Results caution that the groundwater pumping and mining dewatering rate should be setup properly and the starting time of groundwater pumping and/or mining dewatering should be selected carefully in central Florida, i.e., the activities should be put into abeyance after a heavy rainfall/storm(s) to reduce the probability of sinkhole occurrences.

Assessing sea-level rise impact on saltwater intrusion into the root zone of a geo-typical area in coastal east-central Florida.

Saltwater intrusion (SWI) into root zone in low-lying coastal areas can affect the survival and spatial distribution of various vegetation species by altering plant communities and the wildlife habitats they support. In this study, a baseline model was developed based on FEMWATER to simulate the monthly variation of root zone salinity of a geo-typical area located at the Cape Canaveral Barrier Island Complex (CCBIC) of coastal east-central Florida (USA) in 2010. Based on the developed and calibrated baseline model, three diagnostic FEMWATER models were developed to predict the extent of SWI into root zone by modifying the boundary values representing the rising sea level based on various sea-level rise (SLR) scenarios projected for 2080. The simulation results indicated that the extent of SWI would be insignificant if SLR is either low (23.4cm) or intermediate (59.0cm), but would be significant if SLR is high (119.5cm) in that infiltration/diffusion of overtopping seawater in coastal low-lying areas can greatly increase root zone salinity level, since the sand dunes may fail to prevent the landward migration of seawater because the waves of the rising sea level can reach and pass over the crest under high (119.5cm) SLR scenario.