The wild life of ticks: Using passive surveillance to determine the distribution and wildlife host range of ticks and the exotic Haemaphysalis longicornis, 2010-2021.

BACKGROUND: We conducted a large-scale, passive regional survey of ticks associated with wildlife of the eastern United States. Our primary goals were to better assess the current geographical distribution of exotic Haemaphysalis longicornis and to identify potential wild mammalian and avian host species. However, this large-scale survey also provided valuable information regarding the distribution and host associations for many other important tick species that utilize wildlife as hosts. METHODS: Ticks were opportunistically collected by cooperating state and federal wildlife agencies. All ticks were placed in the supplied vials and host information was recorded, including host species, age, sex, examination date, location (at least county and state), and estimated tick burden. All ticks were identified to species using morphology, and suspect H. longicornis were confirmed through molecular techniques. RESULTS: In total, 1940 hosts were examined from across 369 counties from 23 states in the eastern USA. From these submissions, 20,626 ticks were collected and identified belonging to 11 different species. Our passive surveillance efforts detected exotic H. longicornis from nine host species from eight states. Notably, some of the earliest detections of H. longicornis in the USA were collected from wildlife through this passive surveillance network. In addition, numerous new county reports were generated for Amblyomma americanum, Amblyomma maculatum, Dermacentor albipictus, Dermacentor variabilis, and Ixodes scapularis. CONCLUSIONS: This study provided data on ticks collected from animals from 23 different states in the eastern USA between 2010 and 2021, with the primary goal of better characterizing the distribution and host associations of the exotic tick H. longicornis; however, new distribution data on tick species of veterinary or medical importance were also obtained. Collectively, our passive surveillance has detected numerous new county reports for H. longicornis as well as I. scapularis. Our study utilizing passive wildlife surveillance for ticks across the eastern USA is an effective method for surveying a diversity of wildlife host species, allowing us to better collect data on current tick distributions relevant to human and animal health.

Continuation Versus Discontinuation of Buprenorphine in the Perioperative Setting: A Retrospective Study.

Background Buprenorphine use continues to grow for the management of opioid use disorder (OUD) and chronic pain management. In the face of this increase in use, perioperative buprenorphine management continues to have conflicting recommendations with no consensus on optimal management. We examined the effects of holding versus continuing perioperative buprenorphine in patients on chronic buprenorphine therapy to seek an answer to whether it should be continued or discontinued in the perioperative period. Methods Patients who were included in the study had surgery from 2011 to 2020 and had received buprenorphine within 30 days prior to their surgery, were admitted postoperatively for at least 48 hours, went to the postanesthesia care unit (PACU) immediately after surgery, and were successfully extubated. For these 275 patients, the included factors were age, gender, primary surgical service, anesthesia type, postoperative opioid use, preoperative regional block performed, and inpatient pain service (IPS) consultation. The analysis included differences between patients who had continued versus discontinued buprenorphine either preoperatively or postoperatively. Results A total of 275 patients were treated within 30 days of surgery with buprenorphine; of these, 147 (53.4%) patients continued buprenorphine, and 128 (46.6%) discontinued buprenorphine preoperatively. For patients who discontinued buprenorphine preoperatively, the mean days stopped before surgery was 3.5 days. Patients continuing buprenorphine preoperatively had a significantly lower postoperative opioid requirement. In addition, patients were significantly younger and more likely to be female and had fewer IPS consultations than those who discontinued buprenorphine. Buprenorphine was restarted postoperatively for 143 (52%) patients and held for 132 (48%) postoperatively. Conclusions The use of buprenorphine perioperatively was associated with significantly reduced oral morphine equivalent (OME) requirements postoperatively. Further research is needed to give definitive recommendations for whether to continue or discontinue buprenorphine prior to surgery.

Procalcitonin Levels in COVID-19 Patients Are Strongly Associated with Mortality and ICU Acceptance in an Underserved, Inner City Population.

Background and Objectives: This study aimed to identify demographic and clinical factors at the time of critical care consultation associated with mortality or intensive care unit acceptance in a predominantly Afro-Caribbean population during the first wave of the COVID19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: This retrospective, single-center observational cohort study included 271 COVID19 patients who received a critical care consult between March 11 and April 30, 2020 during the first wave of the COVID19 pandemic at State University of New York Downstate Health Sciences University. Results: Of the 271 patients with critical care consults, 33% survived and 67% expired. At the bivariate level, age, blood urea nitrogen, and blood neutrophil percentage were significantly associated with mortality (mean age: survivors, 61.62 ± 1.50 vs. non-survivors, 68.98 ± 0.85, p < 0.001). There was also a significant association between neutrophil% and mortality in the univariate logistic regression model (quartile 4 vs. quartile 1: odd ratio 2.73, 95% confidence interval (1.28-5.82), p trend = 0.044). In the multivariate analyses, increasing levels of procalcitonin and C-reactive protein were significantly associated with mortality, adjusting for age, sex, and race/ethnicity (for procalcitonin quartile 4 vs. quartile 1: odds ratio 5.65, 95% confidence interval (2.14-14.9), p trend < 0.001). In contrast, higher platelet levels correlated with significantly decreased odds of mortality (quartile 4 vs. quartile 1, odds ratio 0.47, 95% CI (0.22-0.998), p trend = 0.010). Of these factors, only elevated procalcitonin levels were associated with intensive care unit acceptance. Conclusions: Procalcitonin showed the greatest magnitude of association with both death and likelihood of intensive care unit acceptance at the bivariate level. Our data suggests that procalcitonin reflects pneumonia severity during COVID-19 infection. Thus, it may help the intensivist identify those COVID19 patients who require intensive care unit level care.

A multi-seasonal study investigating the phenology, host and habitat associations, and pathogens of Haemaphysalis longicornis in Virginia, U.S.A.

Understanding the abiotic and biotic variables affecting tick populations is essential for studying the biology and health risks associated with vector species. We conducted a study on the phenology of exotic Haemaphysalis longicornis (Asian longhorned tick) at a site in Albemarle County, Virginia, United States. We also assessed the importance of wildlife hosts, habitats, and microclimate variables such as temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed on this exotic tick's presence and abundance. In addition, we determined the prevalence of infection with selected tick-borne pathogens in host-seeking H. longicornis. We determined that the seasonal activity of H. longicornis in Virginia was slightly different from previous studies in the northeastern United States. We observed nymphal ticks persist year-round but were most active in the spring, followed by a peak in adult activity in the summer and larval activity in the fall. We also observed a lower probability of collecting host-seeking H. longicornis in field habitats and the summer months. In addition, we detected H. longicornis on several wildlife hosts, including coyote (Canis latrans), eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus), raccoon (Procyon lotor), Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), woodchuck (Marmota monax), and a Peromyscus sp. mouse. This latter record is the first detection of a larval H. longicornis on a North American rodent host important to the enzootic maintenance of tick-borne pathogens of humans and animals. Finally, we continued to detect the exotic piroplasm parasite, Theileria orientalis Ikeda, in H. longicornis as well as other pathogens, including Rickettsia felis, Anaplasma phagocytophilum (AP-1), and a Hepatozoon sp. previously characterized in Amblyomma americanum. These represent some of the first detections of arthropod-borne pathogens native to the United States in host-seeking H. longicornis. These data increase our understanding of H. longicornis biology in the United States and provide valuable information into the future health risks associated with this tick and pathogens.

Temperature, emergence phenology and consumption drive seasonal shifts in fish growth and production across riverscapes.

Changes in biophysical conditions through time generate spatial and temporal variability in habitat quality across landscapes. For river ecosystems, researchers are increasingly able to characterize spatial and temporal patterns in habitat conditions, referred to as shifting habitat mosaics, yet rarely demonstrate how this translates into corresponding biological processes such as organism growth and production. We assessed spatial patterns and processes determining seasonal changes in juvenile Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha size, growth and production over 30-40 km in two NE Oregon subbasins. We quantified seasonal patterns of growth by combining estimated emergence dates and body size distributions in July and September. We then used analysis of bioenergetics, empirical fish diets and spatial models incorporating temperature, habitat and population density to evaluate mechanisms driving spatiotemporal patterns of growth. Lastly, we quantified seasonal contributions to individual fish growth and to total production as a function of position within the stream network. Spatial heterogeneity in incubation temperatures corresponded to later estimated emergence timing with distance upstream in both subbasins. During spring, estimated growth rates decreased with distance upstream, and coupled with emergence patterns, resulted in pronounced longitudinal gradients in body size by July. During summer, spatial patterns of growth reversed, with greater diet ration sizes and growth efficiencies upstream than downstream. These opposing spatiotemporal patterns of emergence timing and seasonal growth rates produced longitudinal gradients in the proportion of fish growth achieved in spring versus summer, with up to 80% of an individual's growth occurring in spring at downstream sites but as low as 10% at upstream sites. Coupling longitudinal patterns of fish density and growth revealed that in one subbasin the majority (65%) of total production occurred in spring, while in the other, in which fish were concentrated in headwaters, the majority (60%) of production occurred in summer. While recent work has emphasized inter-annual shifts in fish production across large spatial scales, this study demonstrates that longitudinal gradients of fish growth and production can reverse across seasons, and reveals important contributions of warmer, downstream habitats to overall production that occurred during cooler times of the year.

Surveys for ticks on wildlife hosts and in the environment at Asian longhorned tick (Haemaphysalis longicornis)-positive sites in Virginia and New Jersey, 2018.

Haemaphysalis longicornis, the Asian longhorned tick (ALT), is native to eastern Asia, but it has become invasive in several countries, including Australia, New Zealand and recently in the eastern United States (US). To identify wild mammal and avian host species in the US, we conducted active wildlife surveillance in two states with known ALT infestations (Virginia and New Jersey). In addition, we conducted environmental surveys in both states. These surveillance efforts resulted in detection of 51 ALT-infested individuals from seven wildlife species, including raccoon (Procyon lotor), Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana), red fox (Vulpes vulpes), woodchuck (Marmota monax), eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus), striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis) and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). We found ALT in the environment in both states and also collected three native tick species (Amblyomma americanum, Dermacentor variablis and Ixodes scapularis) that are vectors of pathogens of public health and veterinary importance. This study provides important specific information on the wildlife host range of ALT in the US.

Tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion is a predictor of mortality for septic shock.

BACKGROUND: Cardiac dysfunction is a common sequela in patients with sepsis and multi-organ dysfunction. Echocardiography is commonly used in the investigation of circulatory failure. AIMS: We aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of echocardiographic parameters in patients with septic shock. METHODS: This study was a retrospective trial. We included patients who were admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) with septic shock. The patients' echocardiograms, clinical data and outcomes were obtained from their medical records. Associations between echocardiogram variables and mortality were assessed using logistic regression, controlled for age, sex, body mass index and the interval between the ICU admission and echocardiogram. The utility of statistically significant echocardiogram variables to predict mortality were assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. RESULTS: The outcomes presented that tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) was statistically significantly associated with both ICU (P = 0.02) and 90-day (P = 0.001) mortality. From the ROC curves, TAPSE emerged a significant and moderate predictor for 90-day (area under curve (AUC) = 0.69, 95% CI = 0.565-0.814) and in-ICU mortality (AUC = 0.762, 95% CI = 0.652-0.871). The optimal cut-off for TAPSE was 2.1 cm for both 90-day mortality (sensitivity of 80% and specificity and 58%) and in-ICU mortality (sensitivity of 69% and specificity of 77%). CONCLUSIONS: TAPSE was associated with increased mortality in those with sepsis and suspicion of cardiac dysfunction. This is a hypothesis generating article that an association may be present and requires significant more work with expansion to the entire population base.

Theileria orientalis Ikeda in host-seeking Haemaphysalis longicornis in Virginia, U.S.A.

The Asian longhorned tick, Haemaphysalis longicornis, has recently become established in the United States. In East Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, the native and previously introduced ranges, this tick is a vector of an important pathogen of cattle, Theileria orientalis. In 2017, the pathogenic Ikeda genotype of T. orientalis was associated with cattle mortalities in Virginia and in 2018 the exotic H. longicornis was detected at this same site. To investigate the possible role of this exotic tick in the epidemiology of theileriosis in Virginia, we tested host-seeking H. longicornis for piroplasm infections. We document the detection of exotic Theileria orientalis Ikeda genotype in 12.7 % (15/118) environmentally collected H. longicornis using both the 18S rRNA and major piroplasm surface protein (MPSP) gene targets. This is the first detection of a pathogen in H. longicornis in its introduced range in the United States and offers new insight into the animal health risks associated with the introduction of this exotic tick species to North America.

Molecular Characterization of Haemaphysalis Species and a Molecular Genetic Key for the Identification of Haemaphysalis of North America.

Haemaphysalis longicornis (Acari: Ixodidae), the Asian longhorned tick, is native to East Asia, but has become established in Australia and New Zealand, and more recently in the United States. In North America, there are other native Haemaphysalis species that share similar morphological characteristics and can be difficult to identify if the specimen is damaged. The goal of this study was to develop a cost-effective and rapid molecular diagnostic assay to differentiate between exotic and native Haemaphysalis species to aid in ongoing surveillance of H. longicornis within the United States and help prevent misidentification. We demonstrated that restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) targeting the 16S ribosomal RNA and the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) can be used to differentiate H. longicornis from the other Haemaphysalis species found in North America. Furthermore, we show that this RFLP assay can be applied to Haemaphysalis species endemic to other regions of the world for the rapid identification of damaged specimens. The work presented in this study can serve as the foundation for region specific PCR-RFLP keys for Haemaphysalis and other tick species and can be further applied to other morphometrically challenging taxa.

Can stream and riparian restoration offset climate change impacts to salmon populations?

Understanding how stream temperature responds to restoration of riparian vegetation and channel morphology in context of future climate change is critical for prioritizing restoration actions and recovering imperiled salmon populations. We used a deterministic water temperature model to investigate potential thermal benefits of riparian reforestation and channel narrowing to Chinook Salmon populations in the Upper Grande Ronde River and Catherine Creek basins in Northeast Oregon, USA. A legacy of intensive land use practices in these basins has significantly reduced streamside vegetation and increased channel width across most of the stream network, resulting in water temperatures that far exceed the optimal range for salmon growth and survival. By combining restoration scenarios with climate change projections, we were able to evaluate whether future climate impacts could be offset by restoration actions. A combination of riparian restoration and channel narrowing was predicted to reduce peak summer water temperatures by 6.5 °C on average in the Upper Grande Ronde River and 3.0 °C in Catherine Creek in the absence of other perturbations. These results translated to increases in Chinook Salmon parr abundance of 590% and 67% respectively. Although projected climate change impacts on water temperature for the 2080s time period were substantial (i.e., median increase of 2.7 °C in the Upper Grande Ronde and 1.5 °C in Catherine Creek), we predicted that basin-wide restoration of riparian vegetation and channel width could offset these impacts, reducing peak summer water temperatures by about 3.5 °C in the Upper Grande Ronde and 1.8 °C in Catherine Creek. These results underscore the potential for riparian and stream channel restoration to mitigate climate change impacts to threatened salmon populations in the Pacific Northwest.

Evidence for orbital order and its relation to superconductivity in FeSe0.4Te0.6.

The emergence of nematic electronic states accompanied by a structural phase transition is a recurring theme in many correlated electron materials, including the high-temperature copper oxide- and iron-based superconductors. We provide evidence for nematic electronic states in the iron-chalcogenide superconductor FeSe0.4Te0.6 from quasi-particle scattering detected in spectroscopic maps. The symmetry-breaking states persist above T c into the normal state. We interpret the scattering patterns by comparison with quasi-particle interference patterns obtained from a tight-binding model, accounting for orbital ordering. The relation to superconductivity and the influence on the coherence length are discussed.

Bedrock displacements in Greenland manifest ice mass variations, climate cycles and climate change.

The Greenland GPS Network (GNET) uses the Global Positioning System (GPS) to measure the displacement of bedrock exposed near the margins of the Greenland ice sheet. The entire network is uplifting in response to past and present-day changes in ice mass. Crustal displacement is largely accounted for by an annual oscillation superimposed on a sustained trend. The oscillation is driven by earth's elastic response to seasonal variations in ice mass and air mass (i.e., atmospheric pressure). Observed vertical velocities are higher and often much higher than predicted rates of postglacial rebound (PGR), implying that uplift is usually dominated by the solid earth's instantaneous elastic response to contemporary losses in ice mass rather than PGR. Superimposed on longer-term trends, an anomalous 'pulse' of uplift accumulated at many GNET stations during an approximate six-month period in 2010. This anomalous uplift is spatially correlated with the 2010 melting day anomaly.