Harm to the Well-being of the Udder at the Level of Dairy Farms of Sidi Mhamed Benali Wilaya of Relizane (Algeria)

Background: Among the dairy cattle production problems in Algeria, mastitis rank first in terms of socio-economic impact. Our aim is to identify the state of well-being of the udder in order to manage and control mastitis related problems. Methods: The pH analysis of 177 cow milk samples was performed at two farms located in the Sidi Mhamed Benali region in northwest Algeria associated with an assessment (of the udder’s cleanliness degree, the udder’s position, the teat’s hyperkeratosis lesion and the ITH) out over a period of one year (2020-2021). Result: Analysis of mean (of cleanliness, udder position and ITH) between cold and warm season were significantly different at a value of [(4.11; 2.75); (5.19; 4.11); (56.96; 73.76)] respectively. The paper test revealed that the health of the udder is influenced by any variation in cleanliness and the ITH whose correlation coefficient is equal to 0.72 leading to the appearance of subclinical mastitis during the cold season. While during the hot season the bad milking procedure is incriminated in the appearance of hyperkeratosis lesion at a mean value equal to 1 (smooth ring stage) inducing the appearance of clinical mastitis with p less than 0.05, moreover the cows in first lactation are the most influenced by these elicited factors. In conclusion, monitoring and evaluating the well-being of the udder around the parturition is a tool that allows better prevention of mastitis.

Evaluation of Soil Water Content Using SWAT for Southern Saskatchewan, Canada

Soil water content (SWC) is one of the most important hydrologic variables; it plays a decisive role in the control of various land surface processes. We simulated SWC using a Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model in southern Saskatchewan. SWC was calibrated using measured data and Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) Level-4 for the surface (0–5 cm) SWC for hydrological response units (HRU) at daily and monthly (warm season) intervals for the years 2015 to 2020. We used the SUFI-2 technique in SWAT-CUP, and observed daily instrumented streamflow records, for calibration (1995 to 2004) and validation (2005–2010). The results reveal that the SWAT model performs well with a monthly PBIAS < 10% and Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NS) and R2 ≥ 0.8 for calibration and validation. The correlation coefficient between ground measurement with SMAP and SWAT products are 0.698 and 0.633, respectively. Moreover, SMAP data of surface SWC coincides well with measurements in terms of both amount and trend compared with the SWAT product. The highest r value occurred in July when the mean r value in SWAT and SMAP were 0.87 to 0.84, and then in June for r value of 0.75. In contrast, the lowest values were in April and May (0.07 and 0.04, respectively) at the beginning of the growing season in southern Saskatchewan. Furthermore, calibration in the SWAT model is based on a batch form whereby parameters are adjusted to corresponding input by modifying simulations with observations. SWAT underestimates the abrupt increase in streamflow during the snowmelt months (April and May). This study achieved the objective of developing a SWAT model that simulates SWC in a prairie watershed, and, therefore, can be used in a subsequent phase of research to estimate future soil moisture conditions under projected climate changes.

Anomalous Arctic Sea Ice Melting Linked to Recent Warming Amplification

This study investigates the mechanism of seasonal sea ice variation and recent warming amplification. Seasonal temperature changes in the vertical structure reveal that the autumn and winter seasons are warming more than summer. The thermodynamic processes of sea-ice-air interactions via the heat flux component have been studied. The summer Arctic Sea ice has receded by half (∼52%), producing excessive heat. This sea ice loss plays a significant role in determining the heat exchange between the ocean and atmosphere in the following season. During a warm season, the ocean heats up due to incident solar radiation. As a result, delayed ice growth and atmospheric warming occur. Sea ice and heat flux feedbacks explain a large part of Arctic atmospheric warming. These abrupt changes are closely coupled to accelerated Arctic Sea ice loss and atmospheric warming, which are still uncertain.

Case-Crossover Spatial Lag Grid Differences Between Aerosol Optical Depth-PM2.5 and Respiratory-Cardiovascular Emergency Department Visits and Inpatient Hospitalizations in Baltimore, Maryland, USA: Identification of Homogeneous Spatial Areas

Optimal use of aerosol optical depth (AOD)-PM2.5 fused surfaces in epidemiologic studies requires homogeneous temporal and spatial fused surfaces. No analytic method is currently available to evaluate the spatial dimension. The temporal case-crossover design was modified to assess the association between Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) lag grids and four respiratory-cardiovascular hospital events. The maximum number of adjacent lag grids with the expo-sure-health outcome association determined the size of the homogeneous spatial area. The largest homogeneous spatial area included 5 grids (720 km2) and the smallest 2 grids (288 km2). PMC and PMCK analyses of ED asthma, IP asthma, IP MI, and IP HF were significantly higher in rural grids without air monitors than in urban with air monitors at lag grids 0, 1, and 01. Grids without air monitors had higher AOD-PM2.5 concentration levels, poverty percent, population density, and environmental hazards than grids with air monitors. ED asthma, IP MI, and HF PMCK ORs were significantly higher during the warm season than during the cold season at lag grids 0, 1, 01, and 04. The possibility of elevated fine PM and other demographic and environmental risk factors contributing to elevated respiratory-cardiovascular diseases in persons residing in rural areas was discussed.

Observed and Projected Scaling of Daily Extreme Precipitation with Dew Point Temperature at Annual and Seasonal Scales across the Northeast United Sates

This study investigates how extreme precipitation scales with dew point temperature across the Northeast U.S., both in the observational record (1948-2020) and in a set of downscaled climate projections in the state of Massachusetts (2006-2099). Spatiotemporal relationships between dew point temperature and extreme precipitation are assessed, and extreme precipitation – temperature scaling rates are evaluated on annual and seasonal scales using non-stationary extreme value analysis for annual maxima and partial duration series, respectively. A hierarchical Bayesian model is then developed to partially pool data across sites and estimate regional scaling rates, with uncertainty. Based on the observations, the estimated annual scaling rate is 5.5% per °C, but this varies by season, with most non-zero scaling rates in summer and fall and the largest rates (∼7.3% per °C) in the summer. Dew point temperatures and extreme precipitation also exhibit the most consistent regional relationships in the summer and fall. Downscaled climate projections exhibited different scaling rates compared to the observations, ranging between -2.5 and 6.2% per °C at an annual scale. These scaling rates are related to the consistency between trends in projected precipitation and dew point temperature over the 21st century. At the seasonal scale, climate models project larger scaling rates for the winter compared to the observations (1.6% per °C). Overall, the observations suggest that extreme daily precipitation in the Northeast U.S. only thermodynamic scales with dew point temperature in the warm season, but climate projections indicate some degree of scaling is possible in the cold season under warming.

Diverse Heat Tolerance of the Yeast Symbionts of Platycerus Stag Beetles in Japan

The genus Platycerus (Coleoptera: Lucanidae) is a small stag beetle group, which is adapted to cool-temperate deciduous broad-leaved forests in East Asia. Ten Platycerus species in Japan form a monophyletic clade endemic to Japan and inhabit species-specific climatic zones. They are reported to have co-evolutionary associations with their yeast symbionts of the genus Sheffersomyces based on host cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) and yeast intergenic spacer (IGS) phylogenies. Here we examined the heat tolerances of the yeast colonies isolated from the mycangia of 37 females belonging ten Japanese Platycerus species. The upper limits of growth and survival temperatures of each colony were decided by cultivating it at ten temperature levels between 17.5 and 40°C. Although both temperatures varied during 25.0–31.25°C, the maximum survival temperatures (MSTs) were a little higher than the maximum growth temperatures (MGTs) in 16 colonies. Pearson’s correlations between these temperatures and environmental factors (elevation and 19 bioclimatic variables from Worldclim database) of host beetle collection sites were calculated. These temperatures were significantly correlated with elevation negatively, the maximum temperature of the warmest month (Bio5) positively, and some precipitative variables, especially in the warm season (Bio12, 13, 16, 18) negatively. Sympatric Platycerus kawadai and Platycerus albisomni share the same lineage of yeast symbionts that exhibit the same heat tolerance, but the elevational lower range limit of P. kawadai is higher than that of P. albisomni. Based on the field survey in their sympatric site, the maximum temperature of host wood of P. kawadai larvae is higher about 2–3°C than that of P. albisomni larvae in the summer, which may restrict the elevational range of P. kawadai to higher area. In conclusion, it is suggested that the heat tolerance of yeast symbionts restricts the habitat range of their host Platycerus species or/and that the environmental condition that host Platycerus species prefers affect the heat tolerance of its yeast symbionts.

An anomalous atmospheric river linked to the late June 2021 western North America heatwave

Atmospheric rivers (ARs) are long and narrow bands of enhanced water vapour flux concentrated in the lower troposphere. Many studies have documented the important role of cold-season ARs in producing heavy precipitation and triggering extreme flooding in many parts of the world. However, relatively little research has been conducted on the warm-season ARs and their impacts on extreme heatwave development. Here we show an anomalous warm-season AR moving across the North Pacific and its interaction with the western North American heatwave in late June 2021. We call it an “oriental express’’ to highlight its capability to transport tropical moisture to the west coast of North America from sources in Southeast Asia. Its landfall over the Alaska Panhandle lasted for more than two days and resulted in significant spillover of moisture into western Canada. We provide evidence that the injected water vapour was trapped under the heat dome and may have formed a positive feedback mechanism to regulate the heatwave development in western North America.

Alternative Nesting Strategies of Polistine Wasps in a Subtropical Locale

Phylogenetic studies suggest that historically all paper wasps (Vespidae: Polistinae) in North America have tropical origins, but some species have adapted to survive temperate conditions. Subtropical climates, which are intermediate between temperate and tropical, allow a unique opportunity to study ancestral traits which can be retained or lost within populations, and ultimately elucidate the process of social wasp evolution. We investigated the phenology of paper wasps at study sites in subtropical Baton Rouge, USA, through nest searching and monitoring of nest parameters throughout the warm season (March–October). Across the year, two periods of nest initiation occurred: from March–May (early season nests, i.e., before the summer solstice), and from July–September (late season nests, after the solstice). We observed 240 Polistes nests from six species, of which 50.8% were initiated in early season and 49.2% in late season. In contrast, Mischocyttarus mexicanus rarely built late season nests and had longer early season colony duration than Polistes bellicosus and P. dorsalis, which built more nests in the late season than early. Across all species, late season nests had significantly shorter colony duration (~87.6 days) than early season nests (~166 days), and only P. bellicosus had fewer adults at peak population in late season nests than in early season nests. Results indicate both a bivoltine colony cycle in Polistes of subtropical climates, as well as differences in nesting strategies between genera.