scholarly journals Ecology of Powassan Virus in the United States

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 2317
Author(s):  
Erin M. Hassett ◽  
Saravanan Thangamani
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
The United States ◽  
Habitat Destruction ◽  
Eastern United States ◽  
Neurological Damage ◽  
Vector Species ◽  
Zoonotic Viruses ◽  
Powassan Virus ◽  
Species Vector

Zoonotic viruses threaten the lives of millions of people annually, exacerbated by climate change, human encroachment into wildlife habitats, and habitat destruction. The Powassan virus (POWV) is a rare tick-borne virus that can cause severe neurological damage and death, and the incidence of the associated disease (Powassan virus disease) is increasing in the eastern United States. The mechanisms by which POWV is maintained in nature and transmitted to humans are complex and only partly understood. This review provides an overview of what is known about the vector species, vector-host transmission dynamics, and environmental and human-driven factors that may be aiding the spread of both the vector and virus.

scholarly journals Powassan Virus Disease in the United States, 2006–2016

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 286-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth R. Krow-Lucal ◽  
Nicole P. Lindsey ◽  
Marc Fischer ◽  
Susan L. Hills
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
The United States ◽  
Powassan Virus

System-wide seismic vulnerability of aging multiple-span multiple-girder bridges in low-to-moderate seismic hazard regions

2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1626-1651
Author(s):  
John E Lens M.EERI ◽  
Mandar M Dewoolkar ◽  
Eric M Hernandez M.EERI
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Seismic Hazard ◽  
Cross Sections ◽  
Seismic Vulnerability ◽  
Time History ◽  
The United States ◽  
National Database ◽  
Eastern United States ◽  
Girder Bridges ◽  
The Status

This article describes the approach, methods, and findings of a quantitative analysis of the seismic vulnerability in low-to-moderate seismic hazard regions of the Central and Eastern United States for system-wide assessment of typical multiple span bridges built in the 1950s through the 1960s. There is no national database on the status of seismic vulnerability of bridges, and thus no means to estimate the system-wide damage and retrofit costs for bridges. The study involved 380 nonlinear analyses using actual time-history records matched to four representative low-to-medium hazard target spectra corresponding with peak ground accelerations from approximately 0.06 to 0.3 g. Ground motions were obtained from soft and stiff site seismic classification locations and applied to models of four typical multiple-girder with concrete bent bridges. Multiple-girder bridges are the largest single category, comprising 55% of all multiple span bridges in the United States. Aging and deterioration effects were accounted for using reduced cross-sections representing fully spalled conditions and compared with pristine condition results. The research results indicate that there is an overall low likelihood of significant seismic damage to these typical bridges in such regions, with the caveat that certain bridge features such as more extensive deterioration, large skews, and varied bent heights require bridge-specific analysis. The analysis also excludes potential damage resulting from liquefaction, flow-spreading, or abutment slumping due to weak foundation or abutment soils.

Force, Fraud, and Coercion—What Do They Mean? A Study of Victimization Experiences in a New Destination Latino Sex Trafficking Network

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 456-476 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren Copley Sabon
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Social Constructionism ◽  
Sex Trafficking ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Forces ◽  
Eastern United States ◽  
Latina Immigrants ◽  
Strict Interpretation ◽  
New Destination

In response to increasing Latino new destination migration in the United States, Latino sex trafficking networks have emerged in many of these areas. This article examines victimization experiences of Latina immigrants trafficked by a regional network operating in the Eastern United States drawn from law enforcement records and interviews with legal actors involved in the criminal case. The stories shared with law enforcement by the Latina victims gives insight into their lives, experiences in prostitution, and the operation of a trafficking/prostitution network (all lacking in the literature). Through the analytical frame of social constructionism, this research highlights how strict interpretation of force, fraud, coercion, and agency used to define “severe forms of trafficking” in the TVPA limits its ability to recognize many victimization experiences in trafficking situations at the hands of traffickers. The forms of coercion used in the criminal enterprise under study highlights the numerous ways it can be wielded (even without a physical presence) and its malleability as a concept despite legal definitional rigidity. The lack of legal recognition of the plurality of lived experiences in which agency and choice can be mitigated by social forces, structural violence, intersectional vulnerabilities, and the actions of others contributes to the scholarly critique of issues prosecuting trafficking cases under the TVPA and its strict legal definitions.

scholarly journals Meteorological Conditions Associated with Increased Incidence of West Nile Virus Disease in the United States, 2004–2012

2015 ◽  
Vol 92 (5) ◽  
pp. 1013-1022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Micah B. Hahn ◽  
Roger S. Nasci ◽  
Mark J. Delorey ◽  
Rebecca J. Eisen ◽  
Andrew J. Monaghan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
West Nile Virus ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
The United States ◽  
Meteorological Conditions ◽  
West Nile

Effects of temporal variations in seismicity on seismic hazard

1981 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 321-334
Author(s):  
Robin K. McGuire ◽  
Theodore P. Barnhard
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Seismic Hazard ◽  
Seismic Activity ◽  
Time Window ◽  
Hazard Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Temporal Variations ◽  
Seismogenic Zone ◽  
Eastern United States ◽  
Ground Shaking

abstract The accuracy of stationary mathematical models of seismicity for calculating probabilities of damaging shaking is examined using the history of earthquakes in China from 1350 A.D. to 1949 A.D. During this time, rates of seismic activity varied periodically by a factor of 10. Probabilities of damaging shaking are calculated in 62 cities in North China using 50 yr of earthquake data to estimate seismicity parameters; the probabilities are compared to statistics of damaging shaking in the same cities for 50 yr following the data window. These comparisons indicate that the seismic hazard analysis is accurate if: (1) the maximum possible earthquake size in each seismogenic zone is determined from the entire seismic history rather than from a short-time window; and (2) the future seismic activity can be estimated accurately. The first condition emphasizes the importance of realistically estimating the maximum possible size of earthquakes on faults. The second indicates the need to understand possible trends in seismic activity where these exist, or to develop an earthquake prediction capability with which to estimate future activity. Without the capability of estimating future seismicity, stationary models provide less accurate but generally conservative indications of seismic ground-shaking hazard. In the United States, the available earthquake history is brief but gives no indication of changing rates of activity. The rate of seismic strain release in the Central and Eastern United States has been constant over the last 180 yr, and the geological record of earthquakes on the southern San Andreas Fault indicates no temporal trend for large shocks over the last 15 centuries. Both observations imply that seismic activity is either stationary or of such a long period that it may be treated as stationary for seismic hazard analyses in the United States.

The Origins of Western Dermatology

2010 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 255-266
Author(s):  
J. Barrie Ross
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
The United States ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Eastern United States ◽  
The West ◽  
Defining Moments ◽  
Late Eighteenth Century ◽  
Late Eighteenth

Objective: On the premise that historical background makes the present more understandable, this review covers the origins of Western dermatology from its Greek and Roman origins through the Middle Ages to the defining moments in the late eighteenth century. Background and Conclusion: The development of major European centers at this time became the background for future centers in the eastern United States in the midnineteenth century and, finally, to the West Coast of the United States and Canada by the midtwentieth century.

scholarly journals Long-term trends and drought: spatiotemporal variation in juvenile sex ratios of North American ducks

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sage Ellis ◽  
Madeleine Lohman ◽  
James Sedinger ◽  
Perry Williams ◽  
Thomas Riecke
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
North American ◽  
Sex Ratios ◽  
Survival Rates ◽  
The United States ◽  
Avian Communities ◽  
Eastern United States ◽  
Bird Populations ◽  
Long Term Trends

Sex ratios affect population dynamics and individual fitness, and changing sex ratios can be indicative of shifts in sex-specific survival at different life stages. While climate- and landscape-change alter sex ratios of wild bird populations, long-term, landscape scale assessments of sex ratios are rare. Further, little work has been done to understand changes in sex ratios in avian communities. In this manuscript, we analyse long-term (1961-2015) data on five species of ducks across five broad climatic regions of the United States to estimate the effects of drought and long-term trends on the proportion of juvenile females captured at banding. As waterfowl have a 1:1 sex ratio at hatch, we interpret changes in sex ratios of captured juveniles as changes in sex-specific survival rates during early life. Seven of twelve species-region pairs exhibited evidence for long-term trends in the proportion of juvenile females at banding. The proportion of juvenile females at banding increased for duck populations in the western United States and typically declined for duck populations in the eastern United States. We only observed evidence for an effect of drought in two of the twelve species-region pairs, where the proportion of females declined during drought. As changes to North American landscapes and climate continue and intensify, we expect continued changes in sex-specific juvenile survival rates. More broadly, we encourage further research examining the mechanisms underlying long-term trends in juvenile sex ratios in avian communities.

scholarly journals A Historical and Contemporary Discussion of the Tourism Industry in the Appalachian Region of the United States, with an analysis on its economic and sociological effects

Perceptions ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick Tarpey
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Service Industries ◽  
Ethnic Composition ◽  
Easy Access ◽  
Eastern United States ◽  
Appalachian Region ◽  
Unique Region ◽  
Appalachian Regional Commission

Appalachia is defined as a roughly 1,000-mile long region in the eastern United States nestled in and around the Appalachian mountains. It is roughly 205,000 square miles and contains all or parts of twelve states: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Ohio. The area was  home to about 25 million people as of the 2010 census. It is important to note that the region has struggled with outmigration since the 1930s beginning with the onset of the Great Depression. (Appalachian Regional Commission 2017). Historically, Appalachia has been known as a unique region in the United States. Beginning with roots as a common settlement region for fiery Scotch-Irish immigrants in the 1700s, continued by earning a reputation as a center for moonshine production during the 1930s, and now known as a region where the wealthy buy their second and third homes, the region has consistently been able to craft its own, particular culture. With a population that is 42% rural (compared to a 20% rural population for the entire U.S.) and overwhelmingly Scotch-Irish in ethnic composition, the area differs from the mainstream US. Beset by poverty, the region needs tourism to be a viable industry in many of its locales. A population that is relatively low in educational achievement (Appalachia as whole averages a 22% college completion rate per county compared with a US rate of 29% per county) and does not have easy access to intellectual resources in many places needs a stable, job-providing industry (Appalachian Regional Commission 2017). The area once had a legacy in the mining and forestry industries, but according to the Appalachian Regional Commission, that era has passed and people now rely on a rebirth of manufacturing, service industries, and tourism to provide jobs (2017). Fortunately, the situation in Appalachia has improved since 1960, as the number of economically distressed counties in the region has declined from 295 in 1960 to 91 in 2014 (Appalachian Regional Commission 2017). The poverty rate of 17.1% is slightly above the national average of 14.3% (Appalachian Regional Commission 2017). The region has come to increasingly depend on the tourism industry to fill an economic void as gaps in basic services and the continual draining of potential intellectual capital from population loss continue to plague the area. This paper will examine contemporary perspectives  on tourism in the Appalachian region and analyze their economic and sociological effects.

scholarly journals Descriptions of Chestnut Cultivars for Nut Production in the Eastern and Midwestern United States

HortScience ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Ronald S. Revord ◽  
J. Michael Nave ◽  
Ronald S. Revord ◽  
J. Michael Nave ◽  
Gregory Miller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
The United States ◽  
Castanea Dentata ◽  
Eastern United States ◽  
University Of Missouri ◽  
Chinese Chestnut ◽  
Nut Production ◽  
The University ◽  
On Farm

The Chinese chestnut (Castanea mollissima Blume) and other Castanea species (Castanea spp. Mill.) have been imported and circulated among growers and scientists in the United States for more than a century. Initially, importations of C. mollissima after 1914 were motivated by efforts to restore the American chestnut [Castanea dentata (Marsh.) Borkh.], with interests in timber-type characters and chestnut blight resistance. Chestnut for orchard nut production spun off from these early works. Starting in the early 20th century, open-pollinated seeds from seedlings of Chinese chestnut and other Castanea species were distributed widely to interested growers throughout much of the eastern United States to plant and evaluate. Germplasm curation and sharing increased quite robustly through grower networks over the 20th century and continues today. More than 100 cultivars have been named in the United States, although a smaller subset remains relevant for commercial production and breeding. The University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry curates and maintains a repository of more than 60 cultivars, and open-pollinated seed from this collection has been provided to growers since 2008. Currently, more than 1000 farms cultivate seedlings or grafted trees of the cultivars in this collection, and interest in participatory on-farm research is high. Here, we report descriptions of 57 of the collection’s cultivars as a comprehensive, readily accessible resource to support continued participatory research.

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