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Zhang XJ, Chen C, Ding JQ, Hou A, Li Y, Niu ZB, Su XY, Xu YJ, Laws EA. The 2007 water crisis in Wuxi, China: analysis of the origin. JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 2010; 182:130-135. [PMID: 20591562 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2010.06.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 160] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2010] [Revised: 05/31/2010] [Accepted: 06/01/2010] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
An odorous tap water crisis that affected two million residents for several days occurred in Wuxi, China in the summer of 2007. Volatile sulfide chemicals including methyl thiols, dimethyl sulfide, dimethyl disulfide, and dimethyl trisulfide were the dominant odorous contaminants in Lake Taihu and in tap water during the crisis. These contaminants originated from the decomposition of a massive cyanobacterial bloom that was triggered by illegal industrial discharges and inadequately regulated domestic pollution. A specific emergency drinking water treatment process was quickly developed using a combination of potassium permanganate oxidation and powdered activated carbon adsorption. The emergency treatment process removed the odor from the tap water and solved the crisis successfully in several days. This experience underscores the suggestion that a combination of stresses associated with eutrophication and industrial and domestic wastewater discharges can push an aquatic system to the tipping point with consequences far more severe than would occur if the system were subjected to each stress separately.
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Bienfang PK, Defelice SV, Laws EA, Brand LE, Bidigare RR, Christensen S, Trapido-Rosenthal H, Hemscheidt TK, McGillicuddy DJ, Anderson DM, Solo-Gabriele HM, Boehm AB, Backer LC. Prominent human health impacts from several marine microbes: history, ecology, and public health implications. Int J Microbiol 2010; 2011:152815. [PMID: 20976073 PMCID: PMC2957129 DOI: 10.1155/2011/152815] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2010] [Revised: 07/23/2010] [Accepted: 07/25/2010] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
This paper overviews several examples of important public health impacts by marine microbes and directs readers to the extensive literature germane to these maladies. These examples include three types of dinoflagellates (Gambierdiscus spp., Karenia brevis, and Alexandrium fundyense), BMAA-producing cyanobacteria, and infectious microbes. The dinoflagellates are responsible for ciguatera fish poisoning, neurotoxic shellfish poisoning, and paralytic shellfish poisoning, respectively, that have plagued coastal populations over time. Research interest on the potential for marine cyanobacteria to contribute BMAA into human food supplies has been derived by BMAA's discovery in cycad seeds and subsequent implication as the putative cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/parkinsonism dementia complex among the Chamorro people of Guam. Recent UPLC/MS analyses indicate that recent reports that BMAA is prolifically distributed among marine cyanobacteria at high concentrations may be due to analyte misidentification in the analytical protocols being applied for BMAA. Common infectious microbes (including enterovirus, norovirus, Salmonella, Campylobacter, Shigella, Staphylococcus aureus, Cryptosporidium, and Giardia) cause gastrointestinal and skin-related illness. These microbes can be introduced from external human and animal sources, or they can be indigenous to the marine environment.
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Enger SC, Johnsen V, Samuelsen A, Laws EA. The effect of clofibrate on glucose tolerance, insulin secretion, triglycerides and fibrinogen in patients with coronary heart disease. ACTA MEDICA SCANDINAVICA 2009; 201:563-6. [PMID: 327758 DOI: 10.1111/j.0954-6820.1977.tb15748.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
The effects of clofibrate treatment have been monitored in a double-blind cross-over study conducted in 16 male patients with coronary heart disease. Most had latent diabetes mellitus with elevated and delayed insulin release after i.v. glucose administration. Blood glucose and insulin levels were measured during repeated i.v. glucose tolerance tests in each patient and serum triglyceride and plasma fibrinogen were estimated at intervals. Clofibrate treatment significantly lowered fasting blood glucose levels (p less than 0.01) and improved the glucose tolerance (p less than 0.01). Fasting plasma insulin levels and those at 30 min after glucose loading were reduced (p less than 0.05). Serum triglycerides (p less than 0.01) and plasma fibrinogen levels (p less than 0.05) were lowered during the treatment period. The change in k-value (glucose utilization) did not correlate to changes in triglyceride or fibrinogen. This study confirms the beneficial effect of clofibrate therapy on abnormal glucose tolerance observed by other workers. It is suggested that clofibrate acts by reducing peripheral insulin resistance.
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Pierce BA, Laws EA. APPLICATIONS OF A NEW RADIOTRACER METHOD FOR INVESTIGATING PRAWN (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) ECOLOGY AND DIGESTIVE PHYSIOLOGY. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2009. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-7345.1982.tb00010.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
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Costa-Pierce BA, Clay L, Malecha SR, Laws EA. POLYCULTURE OF CHINESE CARPS AND PRAWNS AT COMMERCIAL DENSITIES AND REDUCED FEEDING RATES I. WATER AND SEDIMENT MICROBIAL ECOLOGY. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2009. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-7345.1984.tb00172.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Laws EA, Fleming LE, Stegeman JJ. Centers for Oceans and Human Health: contributions to an emerging discipline. Introduction. Environ Health 2008; 7 Suppl 2:S1. [PMID: 19025672 PMCID: PMC2586714 DOI: 10.1186/1476-069x-7-s2-s1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
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Moore SK, Trainer VL, Mantua NJ, Parker MS, Laws EA, Backer LC, Fleming LE. Impacts of climate variability and future climate change on harmful algal blooms and human health. Environ Health 2008; 7 Suppl 2:S4. [PMID: 19025675 DOI: 10.1186/1476•069x•7•s2•s4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
Anthropogenically-derived increases in atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations have been implicated in recent climate change, and are projected to substantially impact the climate on a global scale in the future. For marine and freshwater systems, increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases are expected to increase surface temperatures, lower pH, and cause changes to vertical mixing, upwelling, precipitation, and evaporation patterns. The potential consequences of these changes for harmful algal blooms (HABs) have received relatively little attention and are not well understood. Given the apparent increase in HABs around the world and the potential for greater problems as a result of climate change and ocean acidification, substantial research is needed to evaluate the direct and indirect associations between HABs, climate change, ocean acidification, and human health. This research will require a multidisciplinary approach utilizing expertise in climatology, oceanography, biology, epidemiology, and other disciplines. We review the interactions between selected patterns of large-scale climate variability and climate change, oceanic conditions, and harmful algae.
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Moore SK, Trainer VL, Mantua NJ, Parker MS, Laws EA, Backer LC, Fleming LE. Impacts of climate variability and future climate change on harmful algal blooms and human health. Environ Health 2008; 7 Suppl 2:S4. [PMID: 19025675 PMCID: PMC2586717 DOI: 10.1186/1476-069x-7-s2-s4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 146] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Anthropogenically-derived increases in atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations have been implicated in recent climate change, and are projected to substantially impact the climate on a global scale in the future. For marine and freshwater systems, increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases are expected to increase surface temperatures, lower pH, and cause changes to vertical mixing, upwelling, precipitation, and evaporation patterns. The potential consequences of these changes for harmful algal blooms (HABs) have received relatively little attention and are not well understood. Given the apparent increase in HABs around the world and the potential for greater problems as a result of climate change and ocean acidification, substantial research is needed to evaluate the direct and indirect associations between HABs, climate change, ocean acidification, and human health. This research will require a multidisciplinary approach utilizing expertise in climatology, oceanography, biology, epidemiology, and other disciplines. We review the interactions between selected patterns of large-scale climate variability and climate change, oceanic conditions, and harmful algae.
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Hou A, Laws EA, Gambrell RP, Bae HS, Tan M, Delaune RD, Li Y, Roberts H. Pathogen indicator microbes and heavy metals in Lake Pontchartrain following Hurricane Katrina. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2006; 40:5904-10. [PMID: 17051777 DOI: 10.1021/es060946u] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
Storm surge and several breaches of the New Orleans, Louisiana levee system caused flooding of more than 80% of the city following Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. Most of the floodwaters pumped out of the city were discharged to Lake Pontchartrain. Lake water and sediment samples were collected during September 19 to October 9, 2005 to determine the possible impact of the dewatering operation on Lake Pontchartrain. Surface water E. coli and enterococcus counts were high at stations near the mouth of the 17th Street Canal (geometric means = 6.0 x 10(3) CFU/100 mL and 1.7 x 10(2) CFU/100 mL, respectively) but decreased by factors of 40 and 5, respectively, at stations 5 km from the mouth of the canal. Priority heavy metal concentrations were generally undetectable or below U.S. EPA criterion maximum and criterion continuous concentrations. Surface sediments near the mouth of the canal contained generally higher concentrations of enterococcus, E. coli, and Al-normalized metals than points further from the canal. The impact of the discharged floodwaters on heavy metal concentrations and indicator organism counts in the water column of Lake Pontchartrain appears to have been small and short-lived. Historically, however, the canal has been a significant contributor of pollutants to the sediments.
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Laws EA, Stevens RM, Lipscomb WN. Comparison of diborane molecular properties from minimum basis set and extended Slater orbital wave functions. J Am Chem Soc 2002. [DOI: 10.1021/ja00768a011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Lipscomb WN, Stevens RM, Switkes E, Laws EA. Self-consistent-field studies of the electronic structures of cyclopropane and benzene. J Am Chem Soc 2002. [DOI: 10.1021/ja00740a005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Laws EA, Popp BN, Cassar N, Tanimoto J. 13C discrimination patterns in oceanic phytoplankton: likely influence of CO2 concentrating mechanisms, and implications for palaeoreconstructions. FUNCTIONAL PLANT BIOLOGY : FPB 2002; 29:323-333. [PMID: 32689479 DOI: 10.1071/pp01183] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
The isotopic composition of organic carbon buried in marine sediments is an appealing proxy for palaeo CO2 concentrations due to the well-documented effect of CO2 concentrations on carbon fractionation by phytoplankton. However, a number of factors, in addition to CO2 concentrations, influence this fractionation. Included among these factors are cell geometry, in particular surface/volume ratios, growth rate, and the presence of CO2 concentrating mechanisms. Other potentially confounding factors are calcification, diagenesis, and the nature of the growth-rate-limiting factor, e.g. light vs nutrients. Because of these confounding factors, palaeoreconstructions based on the isotopic composition of organic carbon (δ13C) will almost certainly have to be based on the isotopic signatures of organic compounds that can be associated with a single species, or group of physiologically similar species. Long-chain alkenones produced by certain species of coccolithophores may provide a suitable diagnostic marker. By combining the δ13C of the alkenone carbon with the δ13C of coccolith carbon and the Sr/Ca ratio of the coccoliths, it is possible to calculate the extent of carbon fractionation (εp) and estimate growth rates. However, active transport of inorganic carbon tends to make εp insensitive to CO2 concentrations when the ratio of growth rate to CO2 concentration exceeds 0.285/rkg mol-1d-1, where r is the effective spherical radius of the cell in microns. Palaeo CO2 concentrations calculated from alkenone and coccolith δ13C data capture the gross features of CO2 concentrations in the Vostok ice core, but explain only 30-35% of the variance in the latter. The absence of a higher correlation may in part reflect the impact of active transport, particularly during glacial times. The impact of active transport may have been less severe prior to the Pleistocene, since CO2 concentrations are believed to have been higher than present-day values during most of Phanerozoic time.
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Berner RA, Petsch ST, Lake JA, Beerling DJ, Popp BN, Lane RS, Laws EA, Westley MB, Cassar N, Woodward FI, Quick WP. Isotope fractionation and atmospheric oxygen: implications for phanerozoic O(2) evolution. Science 2000; 287:1630-3. [PMID: 10698733 DOI: 10.1126/science.287.5458.1630] [Citation(s) in RCA: 162] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Models describing the evolution of the partial pressure of atmospheric oxygen over Phanerozoic time are constrained by the mass balances required between the inputs and outputs of carbon and sulfur to the oceans. This constraint has limited the applicability of proposed negative feedback mechanisms for maintaining levels of atmospheric O(2) at biologically permissable levels. Here we describe a modeling approach that incorporates O(2)-dependent carbon and sulfur isotope fractionation using data obtained from laboratory experiments on carbon-13 discrimination by vascular land plants and marine plankton. The model allows us to calculate a Phanerozoic O(2) history that agrees with independent models and with biological and physical constraints and supports the hypothesis of a high atmospheric O(2) content during the Carboniferous (300 million years ago), a time when insect gigantism was widespread.
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Bidigare RR, Fluegge A, Freeman KH, Hanson KL, Hayes JM, Hollander D, Jasper JP, King LL, Laws EA, Milder J, Millero FJ, Pancost R, Popp BN, Steinberg PA, Wakeham SG. Consistent fractionation of 13C in nature and in the laboratory: growth-rate effects in some haptophyte algae. GLOBAL BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES 1997; 11:279-292. [PMID: 11540616 DOI: 10.1029/96gb03939] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
The carbon isotopic fractionation accompanying formation of biomass by alkenone-producing algae in natural marine environments varies systematically with the concentration of dissolved phosphate. Specifically, if the fractionation is expressed by epsilon p approximately delta e - delta p, where delta e and delta p are the delta 13C values for dissolved CO2 and for algal biomass (determined by isotopic analysis of C37 alkadienones), respectively, and if Ce is the concentration of dissolved CO2, micromole kg-1, then b = 38 + 160*[PO4], where [PO4] is the concentration of dissolved phosphate, microM, and b = (25 - epsilon p)Ce. The correlation found between b and [PO4] is due to effects linking nutrient levels to growth rates and cellular carbon budgets for alkenone-containing algae, most likely by trace-metal limitations on algal growth. The relationship reported here is characteristic of 39 samples (r2 = 0.95) from the Santa Monica Basin (six different times during the annual cycle), the equatorial Pacific (boreal spring and fall cruises as well as during an iron-enrichment experiment), and the Peru upwelling zone. Points representative of samples from the Sargasso Sea ([PO4] < or = 0.1 microM) fall above the b = f[PO4] line. Analysis of correlations expected between mu (growth rate), epsilon p, and Ce shows that, for our entire data set, most variations in epsilon p result from variations in mu rather than Ce. Accordingly, before concentrations of dissolved CO2 can be estimated from isotopic fractionations, some means of accounting for variations in growth rate must be found, perhaps by drawing on relationships between [PO4] and Cd/Ca ratios in shells of planktonic foraminifera.
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DiTullio GR, Laws EA. Impact of an atmospheric-oceanic disturbance on phytoplankton community dynamics in the North Pacific Central Gyre. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 1991. [DOI: 10.1016/0198-0149(91)90029-f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Laws EA. Photosynthetic quotients, new production and net community production in the open ocean. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 1991. [DOI: 10.1016/0198-0149(91)90059-o] [Citation(s) in RCA: 347] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Laws EA, DiTullio GR, Carder KL, Betzer PR, Hawes S. Primary production in the deep blue sea. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 1990. [DOI: 10.1016/0198-0149(90)90001-c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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Laws EA, DiTullio GR, Betzer PR, Karl DM, Carder KL. Autotrophic production and elemental fluxes at 26°N, 155°W in the North Pacific subtropical gyre. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 1989. [DOI: 10.1016/0198-0149(89)90021-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Laws EA, Jones D, Karl DM. Method for Assessing Heterogeneity in Turnover Rates within Microbial Communities. Appl Environ Microbiol 1986; 52:866-74. [PMID: 16347178 PMCID: PMC239129 DOI: 10.1128/aem.52.4.866-874.1986] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
A method is presented for determining both the average turnover rate and the standard deviation of the average turnover rate of the adenine nucleotide (AN) pool within a population of microorganisms. The method requires the calculation of the initial slope and curvature of a plot of AN specific activity versus time following the introduction of [
3
H]adenine. An analysis of noise-corrupted data indicated that the method is capable of detecting a lack of uniformity in the turnover rate when the coefficient of variation of the turnover rate exceeds 39%. An analysis of field data revealed a significant lack of uniformity in the turnover rates of microbial communities in a marine sediment sample and freshwater pond but no significant nonuniformity in the turnover rates of microbial communities in a seawater sample and in a second freshwater pond. Although the method has been applied only to the analysis of AN turnover rates, it is applicable to any intracellular pool for which a suitable radioactive precursor exists.
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Laws EA, Taguchi S, Hirata J, Pang L. Continued studies of high algal productivities in a shallow flume. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 1986. [DOI: 10.1016/0144-4565(86)90019-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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Laws EA, Jones DR, Terry KL, Hirata JA. Modifications in recent models of phytoplankton growth: Theoretical developments and experimental examination of predictions. J Theor Biol 1985. [DOI: 10.1016/s0022-5193(85)80109-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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