Investigation of a Potential Relationship Between Wild Bird Populations and Human Lyme Disease Rate in Connecticut from 1991-2002

Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease in North America. Borrelia burgdorferi, is the pathogen, and the black-legged tick carries the bacteria and spreads it when feeding on the blood of animals and humans. At least 70 passerine species and one species of woodpecker in North American are parasitized by immature black-legged ticks. This hypothesis predicts that there would be a positive relationship between Lyme disease rates and bird numbers that infected with the pathogen, and there would be no relationship between Lyme disease rate and bird numbers that not known to be infected with the pathogen. The study depended on the North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) to get bird species for 14 routes across Connecticut, and on the Connecticut DHS to get Lyme disease rates for the time period of the study (1991-2002). The range of years was from 1991 to 2002 because of a change in how Lyme disease cases were reported starting in 2003. The bird data were: one group that included all 17 bird species that carry the pathogen, two species separately that are known to become infected by Lyme pathogen (American Robin and Gray Catbird), and a control species not known to carry the pathogen (American Redstart). The study found significant positive relationships between bird numbers and human Lyme disease rate in two routes for the SCLP group, one route for American Robin, three routes for Gray Catbird, and two routes for American Redstart. Only Gray Catbird had a significant negative relationship with human Lyme disease rate in one route. Based on the positive relationships that appeared for American Redstart, the control species, and the few significant relationships for birds known to carry the pathogen, the study rejected the hypothesis that there is a strong relationship between numbers of birds that could be infected with B. burgdorferi and the rate of Lyme disease in people as measured by the methods used in this study.

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Investigation of A Potential Relationship Between Wild Bird Populations and Human Lyme Disease Rate in Connecticut from 1991-2002

Journal of agricultural, environmental and veterinary sciences - مجلة العلوم الزراعية والبيئية والبيطرية ◽

10.26389/ajsrp.a261216 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Tamam Al- Ali

Keyword(s):

Lyme Disease ◽

North American ◽

Negative Relationship ◽

Bird Species ◽

Disease Rate ◽

Positive Relationships ◽

American Robin ◽

American Redstart ◽

Disease Rates ◽

Gray Catbird

Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease in North America. Borrelia burgdorferi, is the pathogen, and the black-legged tick carries the bacteria and spreads it when feeding on the blood of animals and humans. At least 70 passerine species and one species of woodpecker in North American are parasitized by immature black-legged ticks. This hypothesis predicts that there would be a positive relationship between Lyme disease rates and bird numbers that infected with the pathogen, and there would be no relationship between Lyme disease rate and bird numbers that not known to be infected with the pathogen. I depended on the North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) to get bird species for 14 routes across Connecticut, and on the Connecticut DHS to get Lyme disease rates for the time period of the study (1991-2002). My bird data were: one group that included all 17 bird species that carry the pathogen, two species separately that are known to become infected by Lyme pathogen (American Robin and Gray Catbird), and a control species not known to carry the pathogen (American Redstart). I found significant positive relationships between bird numbers and human Lyme disease rate in two routes for the SCLP group, one route for American Robin, three routes for Gray Catbird, and two routes for American Redstart. Only Gray Catbird had a significant negative relationship with human Lyme disease rate in one route. Based on the positive relationships that appeared for American Redstart, the control species, and the few significant relationships for birds known to carry the pathogen, I reject the hypothesis that there is a strong relationship between numbers of birds that could be infected with B. burgdorferi and the rate of Lyme disease in people as measured by the methods used in this study.

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PSII-17 Program Chair Poster Pick: Effect of ruminal protozoa on methane emissions in ruminants – a meta-analysis

Journal of Animal Science ◽

10.1093/jas/skaa278.698 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 98 (Supplement_4) ◽

pp. 397-398

Author(s):

Xiaoxia Dai ◽

Kenneth Kalscheur ◽

Pekka Huhtanen ◽

Antonio Faciola

Keyword(s):

Dairy Cows ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Random Effect ◽

Negative Relationship ◽

Small Ruminants ◽

Methane Emissions ◽

Mitigation Strategies ◽

Positive Relationships ◽

Ruminal Fermentation ◽

The Relationship

Abstract The effects of ruminal protozoa (RP) concentration on methane emissions from ruminants were evaluated in a meta-analysis using 67 publications reporting data from 85 in vivo experiments. Experiments included in the database reported methane emissions (g/kg DMI) and RP (log10 cells/mL) from the same group of animals. Quantitative data including diet chemical composition, ruminal fermentation, total tract digestibility, and milk production; and qualitative information including methane mitigation strategies, animal type, and methane measurement methods were also collected. The studies were conducted in dairy cows (51%), beef steers (32%) and small ruminants (32%). 70% of the studies reported a reduction in methane emissions. Supplemental lipids reduced methane emissions 95% of the time. The relationship between methane emissions and RP concentration was evaluated as a random coefficient model with the experiment as a random effect and weighted by the inverse pooled SEM squared, including the possibility of covariance between the slope and the intercept. A quadratic effect of RP concentration on methane emissions was detected: CH4= -28.8 + 12.2 × RP-0.64 × RP2. To detect potential interfering factors in the relationship, the influence of several qualitative and quantitative factors were separately tested. Acetate, butyrate, and isobutyrate molar proportions had positive relationships with methane emissions and influenced the relationship between RP concentration and methane emissions, where the presence of ruminal fermentation variables reduced the effects of RP concentration in methane emissions. Total tract digestibility of DM, OM, and CP had negative relationships while NDF digestibility had a positive relationship with methane emissions; however, they only changed the magnitude of intercept and slope of RP and RP2 for the relationship. For dairy cows, milk fat and protein concentrations had positive relationships and milk yield had a negative relationship with methane emissions and changed the magnitude of intercept and slope of RP and RP2 for the relationship.

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Facultative brood parasitism by an American Robin (Turdus migratorius) in the nest of a Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)

The Wilson Journal of Ornithology ◽

10.1676/1559-4491-132.1.202 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 132 (1) ◽

pp. 202

Author(s):

Lucas J. Redmond

Keyword(s):

Brood Parasitism ◽

Turdus Migratorius ◽

American Robin ◽

Dumetella Carolinensis ◽

Gray Catbird

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Pentosan levels in Australian and North American feed wheats

Australian Journal of Agricultural Research ◽

10.1071/ar9950389 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 46 (2) ◽

pp. 389 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

M Wootton ◽

L Acone ◽

RBH Wills

Keyword(s):

North American ◽

Negative Relationship ◽

Metabolizable Energy ◽

Positive Correlation ◽

The North ◽

Current Thinking ◽

Apparent Metabolizable Energy

Pentosan levels in 19 Australian and 12 North American wheats, predominantly of feed grade, were determined. Values were not significantly different between wheats from the two regions and ranged from 5.4 to 7.2% in the Australian and from 5.5 to 6.5% in the North American samples. Apparent metabolizable energy (AME) values for the Australian wheats, when used in poultry rations, showed a positive correlation with pentosan levels, which is counter to current thinking that suggests a negative relationship. These results imply that any difference between feed wheats from the two regions with respect to AME in poultry rations cannot be attributed to pentosan content.

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Heterogeneity of Major Proteins in Lyme Disease Borreliae: A Molecular Analysis of North American and European Isolates

The Journal of Infectious Diseases ◽

10.1093/infdis/152.3.478 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 152 (3) ◽

pp. 478-484 ◽

Cited By ~ 177

Author(s):

A. G. Barbour ◽

R. A. Heiland ◽

T. R. Howe

Keyword(s):

Lyme Disease ◽

Molecular Analysis ◽

North American

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Quantification of 27 yolk steroid hormones in seven shrubland bird species: interspecific patterns of hormone deposition and links to life history, development, and predation risk

Canadian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1139/cjz-2017-0351 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 97 (1) ◽

pp. 1-12 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

L. Merrill ◽

S.J. Chiavacci ◽

R.T. Paitz ◽

T.J. Benson

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Predation Risk ◽

Steroid Hormones ◽

High Performance ◽

Bird Species ◽

Principal Component ◽

Interspecific Variation ◽

American Robin ◽

Nestling Development ◽

Yolk Steroids

Steroid hormones play critical organizational and activational roles during vertebrate development, impacting everything from sexual differentiation to metabolic activity. For oviparous species such as birds, these hormones are transferred from female to egg during follicle maturation, and differences in relative and absolute concentrations of the steroid hormones may reflect differences in life history, developmental, and ecological conditions. Prior work on yolk steroid hormones has focused on a handful of candidate hormones (e.g., testosterone, androstenedione, and corticosterone), but we used high-performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectroscopy (LC–MS–MS) to quantify 27 yolk steroids from the eggs of seven shrubland bird species (American Robin, Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766; Brown-headed Cowbird, Molothrus ater (Boddaert, 1783); Brown Thrasher, Toxostoma rufum (Linnaeus, 1758); Eastern Towhee, Pipilo erythrophthalmus (Linnaeus, 1758); Field Sparrow, Spizella pusilla (A. Wilson, 1810); Gray Catbird, Dumetella carolinensis (Linnaeus, 1766); Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758)). In addition to comparing steroid profiles across species, we conducted exploratory analyses to determine how the hormones clustered using a principal component (PC) approach and if PCs were correlated with aspects of egg resources (relative egg size, proportion yolk), life-history traits (embryonic and nestling development speed), and nest-predation risk (daily survival rate (DSR)). We documented substantial interspecific variation in both absolute and proportional endocrine profiles. PCAs indicated that glucocorticoids generally clustered together (PC1), but other classes of steroids did not. PC2 and PC3 strongly covaried with egg resources, DSR, and development speed, suggesting that they reflect adaptive patterns of maternal hormone deposition.

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Recent variations and regional relationships in Northern Hemisphere snow cover

Annals of Glaciology ◽

10.1017/s0260305500015627 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 21 ◽

pp. 71-76 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

David A. Robinson ◽

Allan Frei ◽

Mark C. Serreze

Keyword(s):

Snow Cover ◽

Northern Hemisphere ◽

North American ◽

Positive Relationships ◽

The Past ◽

Positive Correlations

An analysis of snow-cover variability over Northern Hemisphere land masses reveals a continuation of the subnormal coverage that began in the late 1980s (relative to the 1972–present interval). While the 1994 snow year (September 1993–August 1994) exhibited a return to near-normal hemispheric extent, only three months during this period had above-normal coverage. Only 11 of the past 88 months (through October 1994) have been above the norm. Deficits have been most common in spring, over both the Eurasian and North American continents. This is a hemisphere-wide situation; positive correlations are identified between hemispheric and regional snow extents in spring, as well as in fall and winter. A number of significant associations are also recognized between regions during these three seasons; however, it is uncommon to see more than 50% of the variance in one region explained by another. These correlations are most common between adjacent regions, but some are found between regions on different continents. Only in spring are significant positive relationships between non-adjacent regions on the same continent observed.

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