Higher Intake Rates Research Articles

Azaspiracid-59 accumulation and transformation in mussels (Mytilus edulis) after feeding with Azadinium poporum (Dinophyceae)

Azaspiracid-59 (AZA-59) was detected in plankton in coastal waters of the Pacific Northwest USA. Given that bivalves metabolize and transform accumulated phycotoxins, a strain of Azadinium poporum isolated from the coast of Washington State that is a known producer of AZA-59 was used in a controlled feeding experiment with mussels (Mytilus edulis) to assess AZA-59 accumulation rates and transformation into shellfish metabolites. Mussels started feeding immediately after the addition of A. poporum. Mussels were generally healthy during the entire experimental exposure of 18 days with prevailingly high rates of clearance (ca 100 mL per mussel and hour) and ingestion. Mussel were extracted after different exposure times and were analyzed by liquid chromatography coupled with low- and high-resolution mass spectrometry. In the course of the experiment a number of putative AZA-59 metabolites were detected including hydroxyl and carboxy analogs that corresponded with previously reported mussel metabolites of AZA-1. A significant formation of 3-OH fatty acid acyl esters relative to free AZAs was observed through the time course of the study, with numerous fatty acid ester variants of AZA-59 confirmed. These results illustrate the potential for metabolism of AZA59 in shellfish and provide important information for local AZA monitoring and toxicity testing along the Northern Pacific US coast.

ClickHouse - Lightning Fast Analytics for Everyone

Over the past several decades, the amount of data being stored and analyzed has increased exponentially. Businesses across industries and sectors have begun relying on this data to improve products, evaluate performance, and make business-critical decisions. However, as data volumes have increasingly become internet-scale, businesses have needed to manage historical and new data in a cost-effective and scalable manner, while analyzing it using a high number of concurrent queries and an expectation of real-time latencies (e.g. less than one second, depending on the use case). This paper presents an overview of ClickHouse, a popular open-source OLAP database designed for high-performance analytics over petabyte-scale data sets with high ingestion rates. Its storage layer combines a data format based on traditional log-structured merge (LSM) trees with novel techniques for continuous transformation (e.g. aggregation, archiving) of historical data in the background. Queries are written in a convenient SQL dialect and processed by a state-of-the-art vectorized query execution engine with optional code compilation. ClickHouse makes aggressive use of pruning techniques to avoid evaluating irrelevant data in queries. Other data management systems can be integrated at the table function, table engine, or database engine level. Real-world benchmarks demonstrate that ClickHouse is amongst the fastest analytical databases on the market.

Adaptive and Robust Query Execution for Lakehouses at Scale

Many organizations have embraced the "Lakehouse" data management paradigm, which involves constructing structured data warehouses on top of open, unstructured data lakes. This approach stands in stark contrast to traditional, closed, relational databases and introduces challenges for performance and stability of distributed query processors. Firstly, in large-scale, open Lakehouses with uncurated data, high ingestion rates, external tables, or deeply nested schemas, it is often costly or wasteful to maintain perfect and up-to-date table and column statistics. Secondly, inherently imperfect cardinality estimates with conjunctive predicates, joins and user-defined functions can lead to bad query plans. Thirdly, for the sheer magnitude of data involved, strictly relying on static query plan decisions can result in performance and stability issues such as excessive data movement, substantial disk spillage, or high memory pressure. To address these challenges, this paper presents our design, implementation, evaluation and practice of the Adaptive Query Execution (AQE) framework, which exploits natural execution pipeline breakers in query plans to collect accurate statistics and re-optimize them at runtime for both performance and robustness. In the TPC-DS benchmark, the technique demonstrates up to 25× per query speedup. At Databricks, AQE has been successfully deployed in production for multiple years. It powers billions of queries and ETL jobs to process exabytes of data per day, through key enterprise products such as Databricks Runtime, Databricks SQL, and Delta Live Tables.

Apache TsFile: An IoT-Native Time Series File Format

The proliferation of the Internet of Things (IoT) has led to an exponential increase in time series data, distributed and applied in various contexts, demanding a dedicated storage solution. Based on our observations and analysis of IoT production systems, we have characterized 3 requirements for time series data: (1) a close association with devices and sensors, (2) continually synchronizing between cloud-edge, and (3) requiring the ability for high ingestion and low latency access on big volume data. Despite the growing trend, current time series database systems lack a standardized file format, and existing open file formats do not adequately leverage the unique characteristics of IoT time series data. In this paper, we introduce Apache TsFile, a specialized file format tailored for IoT time series data. TsFile organizes data by devices, creating indexes based on device-related information. Our experiments demonstrate the efficiency of TsFile in achieving high data ingestion rates, minimizing latency, and optimizing data compactness.

The trophic strategy of the European honey‐buzzard Pernis apivorus during breeding: extravagant specialization or ingenious solution?

This article provides insight into the trophic strategy of a little‐known top predator and allows for a better understanding of the selective pressures that shape its diet. We studied the diet of European honey‐buzzards, a raptor specialized in consuming social wasp brood. The ratio of predator to prey biomasses is one of the highest among raptors. Considering the prey size and ingestion rate hypothesis, we investigated the honey‐buzzard's preferences for native and exotic eusocial vespid species. We also described other prey items in the diet and how diet changes throughout the breeding season. We installed trail cameras in 24 honey‐buzzard nests in north‐western Spain in 2018–2021. We estimated the proportion and daily rate of delivery of native common‐wasps, invasive Asian‐hornets, reptiles, and birds and the honey‐buzzard's preferences for vespid species. We performed LMMs, GLMMs, and CLMMs to analyse relationships between response variables and predictors. Honey‐buzzards mainly consumed vespids (82% of prey). Common‐wasps and Asian‐hornets were almost the only two vespids consumed. The invasive hornet was the second most consumed prey, but common‐wasps were preferred. Vespids became more important as the age and number of nestlings increased. Our results suggest that this diet is the adaptive result of the conflict between being a median‐sized insect‐eating nidicolous raptor and collecting enough morsels for the growth of its nestlings. This would allow them to deliver a relatively large amount of biomass to the nest with a high ingestion rate. We discussed implications of our findings for the management of the invasive wasp.

Hermes, a low-latency transactional storage for binary data streams from remote devices

In many contexts where data is streamed on a large scale, such as video surveillance systems, there is a dual requirement: secure data storage and continuous access to audio and video content by third parties, such as human operators or specific business logic, even while the media files are still being collected. However, using transactions to ensure data persistence often limits system throughput and latency. This paper presents a solution that enables both high ingestion rates with transactional data persistence and near real-time, low-latency access to the stream during collection. This immediate access enables the prompt application of specialized data engineering algorithms during data acquisition. The proposed solution is particularly suitable for binary data sources such as audio and video recordings in surveillance systems, and it can be extended to various big data scenarios via well-defined general interfaces. The scalability of the approach is based on the microservice architecture. Preliminary results obtained with Apache Kafka and MongoDB replica sets show that the proposed solution provides up to 3 times higher throughput and 2.2 times lower latency compared to standard multi-document transactions.

Dynamics of leaching of POPs and additives from plastic in a Procellariiform gastric model: Diet- and polymer-dependent effects and implications for long-term exposure.

Procellariiform seabirds are known to have high rates of plastic ingestion. We investigated the bioaccessibility of plastic-associated chemicals [plastic additives and sorbed persistent organic pollutants (POPs)] leached from plastic over time using an in vitro Procellariiform gastric model. High-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), commonly ingested by Procellariiform seabirds, were manufactured with one additive [decabrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE-209) or bisphenol S (BPS)]. HDPE and PVC added with PBDE-209 were additionally incubated in salt water with 2,4,4'-trichloro-1,1'-biphenyl (PCB-28) and 2,2',3,4,4',5'-hexachlorobiphenyl (PCB-138) to simulate sorption of POPs on plastic in the marine environment. Our results indicate that the type of plastic (nature of polymer and additive), presence of food (i.e., lipids and proteins) and gastric secretions (i.e., pepsin) influence the leaching of chemicals in a seabird. In addition, 100% of the sorbed POPs were leached from the plastic within 100 hours, while only 2-5% of the additives were leached from the matrix within 100 hours, suggesting that the remaining 95% of the additives could continue to be leached. Overall, our study illustrates how plastic type, diet and plastic retention time can influence a Procellariform's exposure risk to plastic-associated chemicals.

A mixed-methods comparison of gender differences in alcohol consumption and drinking characteristics among patients in Moshi, Tanzania.

Excessive alcohol use stands as a serious threat to individual and community well-being, having been linked to a wide array of physical, social, mental, and economic harms. Alcohol consumption differs by gender, a trend seen both globally and in Moshi, Tanzania, a region with especially high rates of intake and few resources for alcohol-related care. To develop effective gender-appropriate treatment interventions, differences in drinking behaviors between men and women must be better understood. Our study aims to identify and explore gender-based discrepancies in alcohol consumption among Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center (KCMC) patients. A systematic random sampling of adult patients presenting to KCMC's Emergency Department (ED) or Reproductive Health Center (RHC) was conducted from October 2021 until May 2022. Patients answered demographic and alcohol use-related questions and completed brief surveys, including the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT). Through purposeful sampling, 19 individuals also participated in in-depth interviews (IDIs) that focused on identifying gender differences in alcohol use. Quantitative data was analyzed in RStudio through descriptive frequencies, proportions, ANOVA, and Chi-squared tests, while IDIs were analyzed in Nvivo following a grounded theory approach. During the 8-month data collection timeline, 676 patients were enrolled. Men and women patients at KCMC's ED and RHC were found to have significant differences in their alcohol use behaviors. For our quantitative data, this included lower average AUDIT scores among women (average [SD] AUDIT scores were 6.76 [8.16] among ED men, 3.07 [4.76] among ED women, and 1.86 [3.46] among RHC women). A subsequent IDI analysis revealed greater social restrictions around women's drinking and more secretive alcohol use behaviors for where and when women would drink. For men, excess drinking was normalized within Moshi, tied to men's social interactions with other men, and generally motivated by stress, social pressure, and despair over lack of opportunity. Significant gender differences in drinking behaviors were found, primarily influenced by sociocultural norms. These dissimilarities in alcohol use suggest that future alcohol-related programs should incorporate gender in their conceptualization and implementation.

Enabling Timely and Persistent Deletion in LSM-Engines

Data-intensive applications have fueled the evolution of log-structured merge (LSM) based key-value engines that employ the out-of-place paradigm to support high ingestion rates with low read/write interference. These benefits, however, come at the cost of treating deletes as second-class citizens . A delete operation inserts a tombstone that invalidates older instances of the deleted key. State-of-the-art LSM-engines do not provide guarantees as to how fast a tombstone will propagate to persist the deletion . Further, LSM-engines only support deletion on the sort key. To delete on another attribute (e.g., timestamp), the entire tree is read and re-written, leading to undesired latency spikes and increasing the overall operational cost of a database. Efficient and persistent deletion is key to support: (i) streaming systems operating on a window of data, (ii) privacy with latency guarantees on data deletion, and (iii) en masse cloud deployment of data systems. Further, we document that LSM-based key-value engines perform suboptimally in the presence of deletes in a workload. Tombstone-driven logical deletes, by design, are unable to purge the deleted entries in a timely manner, and retaining the invalidated entries perpetually affects the overall performance of LSM-engines in terms of space amplification, write amplification, and read performance. Moreover, the potentially unbounded latency for persistent deletes brings in critical privacy concerns in light of the data privacy protection regulations, such as the right to be forgotten in EU’s GDPR, the right to delete in California’s CCPA and CPRA, and deletion right in Virginia’s VCDPA. Toward this, we introduce the delete design space for LSM-trees and highlight the performance implications of the different classes of delete operations. To address these challenges, in this article, we build a new key-value storage engine, Lethe + , that uses a very small amount of additional metadata, a set of new delete-aware compaction policies, and a new physical data layout that weaves the sort and the delete key order. We show that Lethe + supports any user-defined threshold for the delete persistence latency offering higher read throughput (1.17× -1.4×) and lower space amplification (2.1× -9.8×), with a modest increase in write amplification (between 4% and 25%) that can be further amortized to less than 1%. In addition, Lethe + supports efficient range deletes on a secondary delete key by dropping entire data pages without sacrificing read performance or employing a costly full tree merge.

Effects of grazing management and concentrate supplementation on intake and milk production of dairy cows grazing orchardgrass

In pasture-based dairy systems, grazing management strategies have focused mainly on achieving a high herbage harvest per hectare, whereas strategies oriented to maximizing the intake rate of herbage have been recently explored. The objectives of the study were (i) to evaluate the herbage nutritional value, intake and milk production per animal and per hectare of mid-lactation Holstein dairy cows grazing orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata) in response to grazing management strategies that prioritize either herbage harvest per hectare or herbage intake rate, and (ii) to assess whether concentrate supplementation affects this response. The experiment was conducted in Uruguay using twenty-four mid-lactation Holstein dairy cows grazing orchardgrass under rotational stocking over an 81-day period. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement consisting of two grazing management strategies [i.e. “high intake rate” (HIR) with pre- and post-grazing sward target heights of 21 and 13 cm, respectively, vs. “high herbage harvest per hectare” (HHH) with a pre-grazing target of 3.5–4 leaves per tiller and a post-grazing target of minimum leaf area corresponding to sward heights between 7 and 11 cm] in combination with concentrate supplementation levels of 0 (CS0) or 4 (CS4) kg of dry matter/cow per day. Sward height, number of leaves, herbage morphological and chemical composition, body weight (BW), body condition score (BCS), feed intake, and milk production per cow and per hectare were measured. Statistical analyses were performed using linear mixed models. Compared to cows under HHH, cows under HIR grazed herbage with greater nutritional value and achieved a greater feed intake and greater milk production per cow (P < 0.05), regardless of concentrate supplementation level. Conversely, under HHH milk production per hectare was marginally greater (P < 0.10) and milk solids production per hectare was greater (P < 0.05). Yet, cows under HHH lost BCS when were managed without supplementation (P < 0.05). In conclusion, HIR grazing management is an effective option for grazing dairy production systems that seek to maximize individual productivity of high-producing cows. On the other hand, HHH grazing strategies remain relevant to dairy farm businesses in which profit is driven by production per hectare. Yet, high producing dairy cows under this strategy are likely to lose BCS if not supplemented.

Evaluation of Factors contributing to high Alcoholism among Youths in Adumi Village, Arua District Uganda

High rate of alcoholic intake and abuse has become a global epidemic among Youths especially the under aged people. Adumi is a village in Arua district of Uganda. This study was conducted to ascertain the factors that contributed to alcoholism among youths. Youths aged 16 to 17 have the second highest rate (16.4%) of current alcohol abuse in the surveyed countries, and although consumption of alcoholic beverages is illegal for people under 18 years of age. 10.4 million current drinkers were aged 12 to 20 and of this group, nearly half 5.1 million engage in binge drinking, including 2.3 million who would also be classified as heavy drinkers. This study used a descriptive research design with both qualitative and quantitative methods. A sample of 50 respondents were sampled using questionnaires. The data was collected and analyzed using Microsoft excel and then presented using tables and figures. The major factors contributing to alcoholism among the youths in Adumi village were found to be, lack of full time employment leading to idleness of the youths, Peer group influence, easy accessibility, availability and affordability of alcohol in Adumi village without no restrictions. Physical and emotional stress resulting from poor conditions of living leading to psychiatric conditions such as anxiety and depression, chaotic home environments and child negligence leading to school dropouts. Lack of information about the disadvantages of alcoholism from the community development officers and policies to prevent the vice in the study area and the district at large. The government and other stakeholders such as Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and CBOs should establish youth livelihood programs to combat idleness among the youths and should put in place bylaws on the time of opening bars and also the age of people allowed to drink and make sure that these bylaws are strictly enforced. Keywords: Alcoholism, Adumi Village, Youths, Abuse and Drinkers.

Microplastics in biotic and abiotic compartments of high-mountain lakes from Alps

Microplastic (MP) pollution is a major environmental concern for mountain ecosystem and for high-mountain lakes in particular, which are recognized indicators of global change. In this study, the presence of MPs was assessed in abiotic (water and sediment) and biotic (zooplankton, tadpoles, fish) compartments of two high-mountain lakes (Upper Lake Balma and Lower Lake Balma) in the Cottian Alps (northwest Italy). No MPs were found in water and zooplankton samples, whereas the mean MPs in sediment samples was 1.33 ± 0.67 items/m3 and 1.75 ± 0.62 items/m3 in Lower and Upper Lake Balma, respectively. The mean MPs in tadpoles of Rana temporaria was 0.33 ± 0.58 items/individual and 0.66 ± 0.58 items/individual in Lower and Upper Lake Balma, respectively. The mean number of MPs items found in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of fish (Salvelinus fontinalis) was considerably higher in specimens from the Lower (0.45 items/g GIT) than in those from the Upper Lake (0.20 items/g GIT). There was a negative relationship between fish size (weight and age) and MPs abundance in the GIT of fish, indicating that young fish accumulated more MP items probably due to the high prey ingestion rate compared to adults. The same MPs color (blue, white, black), shape (fibers and fragments), and chemical type (polypropylene and polyethylene) were found in the compartments of both lakes. Our findings suggest the use of S. fontinalis as an indicator of MP pollution in high-mountain lakes. Further studies are needed to better understand the sources and the effects of MPs in these remote ecosystems.

Microzooplankton as a food source for the scyphozoan &lt;i&gt;Aurelia coerulea&lt;/i&gt;: growth and feeding responses of the polyp stage in field assemblages

To evaluate the growth and feeding responses of the polyp stage of the moon jellyfish Aurelia coerulea to natural microzooplankton assemblages, bud production among A. coerulea polyps was monitored in field bottle incubation experiments using fractionated field seawater (<200-µm fraction) in summer. During this incubation period, feeding rates were measured twice by examining changes in the abundance of various microzooplankton taxa over two days. The number of buds increased with incubation period, reaching a mean of 5.8–9.3 buds per polyp after 16 days, at which point the carbon content of the new buds and the mother polyp was estimated to be 1.3–2.5 times higher than the carbon content of the initial polyp. Using these carbon content estimates, I calculated specific growth rates of 0.1–0.2 d−1 during the first 10 days. The results of the present feeding experiments suggest that polyps utilize diverse groups of microzooplankton and achieve relatively high carbon ingestion rates from ciliates, dinoflagellates, molluscs, and copepod nauplii. Total microzooplankton ingestion rates were estimated to be 4.05 and 3.27 µgC polyp−1 d−1 in the two experiments, respectively. These findings show that natural microzooplankton assemblages play a role as prey of polyps and can promote asexual reproduction of polyps under natural summer conditions.

Outdoor Atmospheric Micro-/Nanomineral-Mediated Organochlorine Pesticides in Sichuan Basin, China: Adsorption, Occurrence, and Risk Assessment.

Atmospheric micro-/nanominerals play an important role in the adsorption, enrichment, and migration of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs). In the present study, the correlations between OCPs and minerals in outdoor atmospheric dustfall were investigated, and the correlations were used to speculate the source of p,p'-(dicofol+dichlorobenzophenone [DBP]), which is the sum of p,p'-dicofol and p,p'-DBP. Atmospheric dustfall samples were collected from 53 sites in the Chengdu-Deyang-Mianyang economic region in the Sichuan basin. In this region, 24 OCPs were analyzed by gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The average concentration of 24 OCPs was 51.2 ± 27.4 ng/g. The results showed that the concentration of Σ24 OCPs in urban areas was higher than that in suburban areas (p < 0.05). Minerals in atmospheric dustfall were semiquantitatively analyzed by X-ray diffraction. The primary minerals were quartz, calcite, and gypsum. A Spearman correlation analysis of OCPs and minerals showed that low-volatility OCPs could be adsorbed by minerals in atmospheric dustfall. A density functional theory simulation verified that p,p'-(dicofol+DBP) in atmospheric dustfall was primarily derived from the p,p'-dicofol adsorbed by gypsum. Isomeric ratio results suggested that the samples had weathered lindane and chlordane profiles and confirmed that residents in the Sichuan basin used technical dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane. Finally, the OCPs were evaluated to determine the potential risk of cancer in adults and children from OCP exposure. Exposure to OCPs via atmospheric dustfall was safe for adults. The cancer risk for children exposed to OCPs was slightly lower than the threshold value (10-6 ) under a high dust ingestion rate, which poses a concern. Environ Toxicol Chem 2023;42:594-604. © 2022 SETAC.

Higher ingestion rates and importance of ciliates in the diet of a large, subarctic copepod revealed by larger volume incubations

AbstractDespite ecological importance, the feeding ecology of the large calanoid copepod, Neocalanus cristatus is little known, as its ingestion rate under experimental conditions consistently falls short of its metabolic demand. The conventional incubation bottle size (~ 2 liters) used in previous studies may have affected its feeding behavior. Here, we examined the effect of bottle size (2.4 vs. 13liters) and copepod density on the feeding of N. cristatus Stage C5. Under similar copepod density (0.4 ind. L−1) ingestion rates decreased significantly for tests conducted in small bottles and thus, small bottles inhibited copepod feeding. In experiments with large bottles, ingestion rates were highest in the single‐individual treatments (1 ind. 13 L−1), decreasing exponentially to &lt; 1% of the maximum ingestion rate with increasing copepod densities (up to 20 ind. 13 L−1). Considerable food limitation occurred in the higher copepod density treatments with lower initial prey allocation per individual. Moreover, in the single‐individual treatments, clearance rates on naked ciliates (11–20 L ind.−1 d−1) were remarkably higher than in multiple‐individual treatments. Grazer–grazer interaction, thus, interfered with copepod feeding on microzooplankton in multiple‐individual treatments. The ingestion rate in the single‐individual treatments (62–102 μgC ind.−1 d−1) exceeded the daily metabolic requirement; feeding rates noted in previous studies were, thus, underestimations, affected by bottle size and copepod mutual interference. Efficient feeding by N. cristatus on naked ciliates emphasizes the importance of the ciliate‐copepod link in the grazing food chain in the subarctic Pacific.

Effect of Additional Progesterone Treatment During Intravaginal Progesterone Priming in AnestrousEwes

Oestrus induction with intravaginal progesterone is the most preferred method in anoestrus sheep. In previous studies it was argued that the decrease in the progesterone level before the sponge is removed reduces the efficiency. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that additional progesterone treatment during the progesterone priming in anestrous ewes could increase the reproductive efficiency of the induction. The study conducted on 261 Kangal sheep, which were pregnant in autumn and gave birth in spring and breastfed their lambs for about 60-75 days. All animals included in the study were randomly divided into 3 different groups as P-7 (n = 86), P-8 (n = 80) and control (n = 95). At the beginning of the study a progesterone impregnated sponge was placed to all ewes (Day 0). During sponge treatment, an injection of progesterone was given to P-7 and P-8 group 7 and 8 days after the was sponge placed, respectively. As for control group, no additional progesterone was given during sponge treatment. All groups received 500 IU pregnant mare serum gonadotropin at the sponge withdrawal. Ram was introduced to all ewes the 10th days of the study. There was no difference between the groups in terms of estrus rate (P = 0.28), pregnancy rate (P = 0.32) and multiple pregnancy rates (P = 0.38) (P = 0.28). We considered that the main reason for unexpected low progesterone concentration at the end of the treatment might be the result of high feed intake and metabolic rate. On the other hand, this additional dose could be caused by an excessive increase in progesterone levels in the sheep, which could be the reason for the decrease in reproductive parameters. Additional progesterone support during progesteronebased synchronization yielded acceptable results. However, progesterone can be administered in injection form in the earlier days of synchronization or before sponge insertion to obtain better results.

Dopamine promotes head direction plasticity during orienting movements

In neural networks that store information in their connection weights, there is a tradeoff between sensitivity and stability1,2. Connections must be plastic to incorporate new information, but if they are too plastic, stored information can be corrupted. A potential solution is to allow plasticity only during epochs when task-specific information is rich, on the basis of a ‘when-to-learn’ signal3. We reasoned that dopamine provides a when-to-learn signal that allows the brain’s spatial maps to update when new spatial information is available—that is, when an animal is moving. Here we show that the dopamine neurons innervating the Drosophila head direction network are specifically active when the fly turns to change its head direction. Moreover, their activity scales with moment-to-moment fluctuations in rotational speed. Pairing dopamine release with a visual cue persistently strengthens the cue’s influence on head direction cells. Conversely, inhibiting these dopamine neurons decreases the influence of the cue. This mechanism should accelerate learning during moments when orienting movements are providing a rich stream of head direction information, allowing learning rates to be low at other times to protect stored information. Our results show how spatial learning in the brain can be compressed into discrete epochs in which high learning rates are matched to high rates of information intake.

Model-based predictions of soil and dust ingestion rates for U.S. adults using the stochastic human exposure and dose simulation soil and dust model

BackgroundAdults can be exposed to chemicals through incidental ingestion of soil and dust, either through hobbies, occupations, or behaviors that increase contact with soil or dust (e.g., cleaning or renovating). However, few data describing these ingestion rates are available. ObjectiveOur objective was to use the Stochastic Human Exposure and Dose Simulation Soil and Dust (SHEDS-Soil/Dust) model to estimate distributions of soil and dust ingestion rates for adults (≥21 years old) with varying degrees of soil and dust contact. MethodsWe parameterized SHEDS-Soil/Dust to estimate soil and dust ingestion rates for several categories of adults: adults in the general population; adults with moderate (higher) soil exposure (represented by hobbyists, such as gardeners, with increased soil contact); adults with high soil exposure (represented by occupationally exposed individuals, such as landscapers); and individuals who have high dust exposure (e.g., are in contact with very dusty indoor environments). ResultsTotal soil plus dust ingestion for adults in the general population was 7 mg/day. Hobbyists or adults with moderate soil exposure averaged 33 mg/day and occupationally exposed individuals averaged 123 mg/day. Total soil plus dust ingestion for adults in the high dust exposure scenario was 25 mg/day. Results were driven by time spent in contact with soil and, thus, warmer seasons (e.g., summer) were associated with higher ingestion rates than colder seasons (e.g., winter). SignificanceThese results provide modeled estimates of soil and dust ingestion rates for adults for use in decision making using real-world exposure considerations. These modeled estimates suggest that soil and dust ingestion is a potential concern for adults who spend a higher amount of time interacting with either soil or dusty environments. Impact statementThe parameterization of real-world scenarios within the application of SHEDS-Soil/Dust model to predict soil and dust ingestion rates for adults provides estimates of soil and dust ingestion rates useful for refining population-based risk assessments. These data illuminate drivers of exposure useful for both risk management decisions and designing future studies to improve existing tracer methodologies.

Increasing Engagement in Kitten Fostering Programs: Lessons Learned From High Kitten Intake Zip Codes in Los Angeles County.

The goal of the current study was to identify ways to increase awareness and engagement in kitten fostering programs (KFPs) among residents of areas with a high intake of kittens to animal shelters in Southern California (i.e., Los Angeles County). Specifically, we aimed to understand residents': (1) awareness of KFPs and kitten overpopulation issues, (2) interest in fostering kittens with an animal welfare organization, (3) concerns about fostering, (4) perceived ability to meet common KFP requirements, and (5) perceptions of potential KFP marketing/messaging and communication methods. Participants included 283, predominantly Hispanic/Latinx adults aged 18 years or older who resided in Los Angeles County and who lived in one of 12 zip codes with a high rate of kitten shelter intake. Survey results indicated that more than one quarter of participants had engaged in fostering on their own without an animal shelter or rescue program. One-third of the total sample, and more than two-thirds of participants who had already fostered cats and kittens on their own, were open to fostering kittens in partnership with an animal shelter. A majority of individuals who were interested in fostering had not seen advertising for fostering programs; Spanish-language participants were significantly less likely than expected to have encountered program advertisements. The most prevalent concerns about fostering in our sample were centered on the time (79%), cost (78%), and space (77%) required to engage in fostering. Text, email, social media, and mail were among the most preferred methods for marketing and communication, with some variation between Spanish and English language respondents. Opportunities for increasing engagement included, but were not limited to, improving the promotion of program advertisements using animal-welfare and cost-focused messaging approaches and improving the dissemination and marketing of Spanish-language materials. Providing community members with realistic expectations of the time, resources, and support they will get from animal welfare organizations may improve engagement in KFPs, as well as identifying alternative resources and supports (e.g., transportation, in-home veterinary visits) to assist community members in serving animals in their community.

CTENOPHORA &lt;i&gt;MNEMIOPSIS LEIDYI&lt;/i&gt; A. AGASSIZ, 1865 POPULATION AND ITS PRESSURE ON ZOOPLANKTON IN OPEN AREAS OF THE BLACK SEA IN JULY - AUGUST 2017

The research both of the quantity and size structure of the invader Mnemiopsis leidyi (A. Agassiz 1865), as well as the mesozooplankton abundance, species diversity, the food spectrum, trophic relations, and predatory impact by M. leidyi on prey populations in the western and eastern sectors of the open Black Sea was carried out in July - August 2017. M. leidyi biomass varied from 92 to 250 g m during the period of maximum seasonal development. The food spectrum of M. leidyi was dominated by copepods Acartia spp. and Calanus euxinus (Hulsemann 1984). A clear spatial difference in the quantity of M. leidyi and zooplankton, the intensity of food consumption and predatory impact was observed. In the western offshore part of the sea, the high food ingestion rate by M. leidyi (the mean specific daily ration was 45.50±8.31% С) and intensive predatory impact on zooplankton (up to ~50% of Acartia sp. biomass) resulted in the strong decrease in mesozooplankton biomass. In contrast, in the eastern sector M. leidyi predation had no effect on zooplankton community maintaining daily grazing of ~6% Acartia spp. biomass.