Toxoplasmosis caused by the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii occurs worldwide. Infections range from asymptomatic to life-threatening. T. gondii infection is acquired either via bradyzoites in meat or via oocysts in the environment, but the relative importance of these path ways and the different sources remains unclear. In this study, possible risk factors for toxoplasmosis in the Netherlands were investigated. A case–control study was conducted including persons with recent infection and individuals with a negative test result for IgM and IgG for T. gondii between July 2016 and April 2021. A total of 48 cases and 50 controls completed the questionnaire. Food history and environmental exposure were compared using logistic regression. Consumption of different meats was found to be associated with recent infection. In the multivariable model, adjusted for age, gender, and pregnancy, consumption of large game meat (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 8.2, 95% confidence interval 1.6–41.9) and sometimes (aOR 4.1, 1.1–15.3) or never (aOR 15.9, 2.2–115.5) washing hands before food preparation remained. These results emphasize the value of the advice to be careful with the consumption of raw and undercooked meat. Good hand hygiene could also be promoted in the prevention of T. gondii infection.

Sex differences in the incidence of infections may indicate different risk factors and behaviour but have not been analysed across pathogens. Based on 3.96 million records of 33 pathogens in Germany, notified from 2001 to 2013, we applied Poisson regression to generate age-standardised incidence rate ratios and assessed their distribution across age and sex. The following trends became apparent: (a) pathogens with male incidence preponderance at infant and child age (meningococcal disease (incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 1.19, 95% CI 1.03–1.38, age = 0–4); influenza (IRR = 1.09, 95% CI 1.06–1.13, age = 0–4)), (b) pathogens with sex-switch in incidence preponderance at puberty (e.g. norovirus (IRR = 1.10, 95% CI 1.02–1.19 in age = 5–14, IRR = 0.96, 95% CI 0.93–0.99, age ⩾ 60), (c) pathogens with general male incidence preponderance (bacterial/parasitic infections with campylobacter, Yersinia and Giardia), (d) pathogens with male incidence preponderance at juvenile and adult age (sexually transmitted or vector-borne infections (combined-IRR = 2.53, 95% CI 2.36–2.71, age = 15–59), (e) pathogens with male preponderance at older age (tick-borne encephalitis - IRR = 2.75, 95% CI 1.21–6.24, listeriosis - IRR = 2.06, 95% CI 1.38–3.06, age ⩾ 60). Risk factor concepts only partly serve to interpret similarities of grouped infections, i.e. transmission-related explanations and sex-specific exposures not consistently explain the pattern of food-borne infections (b). Sex-specific differences in infectious disease incidence are well acknowledged regarding the sexually transmitted diseases. This has led to designing gender-specific prevention strategies. Our data suggest that for infections with other transmission routes, gender-specific approaches can also be of benefit and importance.

Wheat that emerged with alfalfa seeded in the field in late August grew for 20 days after planting without suppressing the alfalfa but reduced yields if allowed to grow with alfalfa for 30 or more days. Uncontrolled wheat reduced the first cutting yield of alfalfa by 80% or more. Sethoxydim at 0.4 kg ai/ha, fluazifop at 0.2 kg ai/ha, and haloxyfop at 0.2 kg ai/ha controlled wheat selectively in alfalfa. Herbicides applied 20 days after seeding protected alfalfa from suppression by wheat. Control of wheat was equal when herbicides were applied 30 days after seeding, but in 1 of 2 yr, the wheat had suppressed the alfalfa enough to reduce yields the following May.

Although livestock production accounts for a sizeable share of global greenhouse gas emissions, numerous technical options have been identified to mitigate these emissions. In this review, a subset of these options, which have proven to be effective, are discussed. These include measures to reduce CH4 emissions from enteric fermentation by ruminants, the largest single emission source from the global livestock sector, and for reducing CH4 and N2O emissions from manure. A unique feature of this review is the high level of attention given to interactions between mitigation options and productivity. Among the feed supplement options for lowering enteric emissions, dietary lipids, nitrates and ionophores are identified as the most effective. Forage quality, feed processing and precision feeding have the best prospects among the various available feed and feed management measures. With regard to manure, dietary measures that reduce the amount of N excreted (e.g. better matching of dietary protein to animal needs), shift N excretion from urine to faeces (e.g. tannin inclusion at low levels) and reduce the amount of fermentable organic matter excreted are recommended. Among the many ‘end-of-pipe’ measures available for manure management, approaches that capture and/or process CH4 emissions during storage (e.g. anaerobic digestion, biofiltration, composting), as well as subsurface injection of manure, are among the most encouraging options flagged in this section of the review. The importance of a multiple gas perspective is critical when assessing mitigation potentials, because most of the options reviewed show strong interactions among sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The paper reviews current knowledge on potential pollution swapping, whereby the reduction of one GHG or emission source leads to unintended increases in another.

The technique of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) offers a complementary tool for studying long-lived radionuclides in nuclear astrophysics: (1) as a tool for investigating nucleosynthesis in the laboratory; and (2) via a direct search of live long-lived radionuclides in terrestrial archives as signatures of recent nearby supernova-events. A key ingredient to our understanding of nucleosynthesis is accurate cross-section data. AMS was applied for measurements of the neutron-induced cross sections 13C(n,γ) and 14N(n,p), both leading to the long-lived radionuclide 14C. Solid samples were irradiated at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology with neutrons closely resembling a Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution for kT = 25 keV, and with neutrons of energies between 123 and 178 keV. After neutron activation the amount of 14C nuclides in the samples was measured by AMS at the VERA (Vienna Environmental Research Accelerator) facility. Both reactions, 13C(n,γ)14C and 14N(n,p)14C, act as neutron poisons in s-process nucleosynthesis. However, previous experimental data are discordant. The new data for both reactions tend to be slightly lower than previous measurements for the 25 keV Maxwell–Boltzmann energy distribution. For the higher neutron energies no previous data did exist for 13C(n,γ), but model calculations indicated a strong resonance structure between 100 and 300 keV which is confirmed by our results. Very limited information is available for 14N(n,p) at these energies. Our new data at 123 and 178 keV suggest lower cross sections than expected from previous experiments and data evaluations.

The Atlantic spotted dolphin, Stenella frontalis, presents two geographically isolated populations in the western South Atlantic. This note reports on a 350 km northward extension range of the southern population. The sighted group of 80 animals was in waters 66 m deep and 75 nautical miles distant from the coast. The record was observed during a dedicated cetacean survey in Brazilian waters in the spring of 2008 and supports a discontinuous distribution along the coast of Brazil.

The franciscana dolphin has been considered the most threatened small cetacean in the south-western Atlantic Ocean due to gillnet by-catch. The estimation of the species' abundance has been recommended as the highest research priority. A line transect aerial survey to estimate franciscana abundance in Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil, was carried out in February 2004. The overall surveyed area comprised 13,341 km2 and at least 20 transect lines. Abundance was estimated using distance sampling methods and assuming g(0) = 0.304. The corrected density is 0.51 franciscanas/km2, resulting in an abundance estimation of 6839 franciscanas (CV = 32%; 95% CI = 3709–12,594) for the surveyed area in Rio Grande do Sul. To improve this estimate: (a) perception bias should be determined; (b) the parameters influencing availability bias should be identified and quantified; and (c) survey sample size should be increased. While the lack of data to correct for perception bias and group size underestimation in this aerial survey is likely to yield an underestimate of franciscana abundance, the use of surfacing and diving time data from boat and land-based surveys to correct for availability bias is likely to cause its overestimation. Alternative values of the g0 group-size estimates and rates of increase were incorporated in the analyses, creating 240 different estimates of annual increment for this franciscana population. Even in the most optimistic scenario, the annual increment of franciscanas is not sustainable with the current levels of by-catch in Rio Grande do Sul, and fishery management to reduce by-catch must be initiated promptly.

The patterns of habitat use by the franciscana dolphins (Pontoporia blainvillei) along its distribution are poorly known. This study investigates the patterns of habitat use with respect to depth for 181 individuals of different age, size, gender and reproductive condition off Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil. The results reveal that franciscanas are very homogeneously distributed according to depth. Individuals from all lengths utilize nearly the entire range of depths of the surveyed area. Larger or older animals do not use deeper waters than younger animals, indicating that body size and age are not limiting factors for franciscanas that occupy deeper or offshore waters. Gestation seems to not cause a change in the distribution of females. Although the sex-ratio of the overall data did not vary from 1:1 in different depth intervals, a small-scale comparison between the northern and southern coast demonstrated the existence of some kind of sexual segregation. Franciscana by-catch in Rio Grande do Sul is not sustainable and it is agreed that management procedures are needed. Nevertheless, the available data on species distribution do not allow the designing of a protected area in order to minimize the by-catches of a particular sex/reproductive class.

Presently, there is no information about the functionality of the immune system in the franciscana dolphin (Pontoporia blainvillei), a small dolphin from southern Brazil. As in the case of the franciscana, the population of southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) which inhabits Brazilian waters has not yet been surveyed in what concerns MHC expression. For the first time it was possible to observe the DQB gene expression in skin of these two species of cetacean using RT-PCR. Skin pieces of the animals were collected to RNA extraction. The fragment corresponding to DQB exon 2 was amplified, cloned and sequenced. A total of five alleles were found, one to franciscana and four to southern right whale. The observed dN/dS ratio of 2.77 (P = 0.03) suggests that this gene is under balancing selection pressure (positive Darwinian selection). The sequences indicate that, in both species analysed, the DQB gene is functional.

This article derives the transient behavior of the stochastic process X(t) for which in earlier articles it was proven that for α<1, the process (X(t))1/(1−α) (approximately, under low drop probability or ECN marking probability) describes the behavior of the congestion windows in certain transport protocols in the so-called TCP paradigm. The transient distribution is found explicitly and is particularly transparent for moments like E[(X(t))k |X(0)]. The purpose of this article is to be part of the mathematical foundation when comparing the many protocols in the TCP paradigm.

Hybrid orientation substrates make it possible to have a CMOS technology in which nFETs are on (100) Si (the Si orientation in which electron mobility is the highest) and pFETs are on (110)-oriented Si (the Si orientation in which hole mobility is the highest). This talk will describe a new amorphization/templated recrystallization (ATR) method for fabricating bulk hybrid orientation substrates. In a preferred version of this method, a silicon layer with a (110) orientation is directly bonded to a Si base substrate with a (100) orientation. Si regions selected for an orientation change are amorphized by ion implantation and then recrystallized to the (100) orientation of the base substrate. After an overview of the ATR technique and its various implementations, we will describe some of the scientifically interesting materials and integration challenges encountered while reducing it to practice.

The feasibility of an experimental method for investigations of the particle flux to an absorbing surface in turbulent flows is demonstrated in a Lagrangian as well as an Eulerian representation. A laboratory experiment is carried out, where an approximately homogeneous and isotropic turbulent flow is generated by two moving grids. The simultaneous trajectories of many small approximately neutrally buoyant polystyrene particles are followed in time. In a Lagrangian analysis, we select one of these as the centre of a ‘sphere of interception’, and obtain estimates for the time variation of the statistical average of the inward particle flux through the surface of this moving sphere. The variation of the flux with the radius in the sphere of interception, as well as the variation with basic flow parameters is described well by a simple model, in particular for radii smaller than a characteristic length scale for the turbulence. The Eulerian counterpart of the problem is analysed as well, and the two results compared. Applications of the problem to, for instance, the question of the feeding rate of micro-organisms in turbulent marine environments are pointed out.