Combining potential and realized distribution modeling of telemetry data for a bycatch risk assessment.

Establishing marine species distributions is essential for guiding management and can be estimated by identifying potential favorable habitat at a population level and incorporating individual-level information (e.g., movement constraints) to inform realized space use. In this research, we applied a combined modeling approach to tracking data of adult female and juvenile South American sea lions (Otaria flavescens; n = 9) from July to November 2011 to make habitat predictions for populations in northern Chile. We incorporated topographic and oceanographic predictors with sea lion locations and environmentally based pseudo-absences in a generalized linear model for estimating population-level distribution. For the individual approach, we used a generalized linear mixed-effects model with a negative exponential kernel variable to quantify distance-dependent movement from the colony. Spatial predictions from both approaches were combined in a bivariate color map to identify areas of agreement. We then used a GIS-based risk model to characterize bycatch risk in industrial and artisanal purse-seine fisheries based on fishing set data from scientific observers and artisanal fleet logs (2010-2015), the bivariate sea lion distribution map, and criteria ratings of interaction characteristics. Our results indicate population-level associations with productive, shallow, low slope waters, near to river-mouths, and with high eddy activity. Individual distribution was restricted to shallow slopes and cool waters. Variation between approaches may reflect intrinsic factors restricting use of otherwise favorable habitat; however, sample size was limited, and additional data are needed to establish the full range of individual-level distributions. Our bycatch risk outputs identified highest risk from industrial fisheries operating nearshore (within 5 NM) and risk was lower, overall, for the artisanal fleet. This research demonstrates the potential for integrating potential and realized distribution models within a spatial risk assessment and fills a gap in knowledge on this species' distribution, providing a basis for targeting bycatch mitigation outreach and interventions.

Unlatching school bus seat belt buckles: Considerations for young passengers.

Automobile seat belts reduce the risk of injuries and fatalities resulting from a crash. As seat belts become more prevalent on large school buses, characterizing the capabilities of children to operate the unlatching mechanism of a seat belt is crucial to ensure the post-crash safety of young passengers. This study evaluated the strength capabilities of children and their abilities to unlatch a school bus seat belt when a school bus is in both the upright and rolled-over orientations. Push force exertions on a seat belt buckle push button were measured and compared to the seat belt assembly release force requirements specified in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 209. Results of the study suggested that children do not have the strength to exert the maximum force of 133 N to release a seat belt assembly as specified in FMVSS No. 209; however, most children could unlatch a typical school bus seat belt assembly in the upright and rolled-over orientations.

Multi-sensor integration for an assessment of underwater radiated noise from common vessels in San Francisco Bay.

There is growing evidence that smaller vessels not required to broadcast data via the Automatic Identification System (AIS) contribute significant noise to urbanized coastal areas. The Marine Monitor (M2), a vessel tracking system that integrates AIS data with data collected via marine radar and high-definition camera, was employed to track all vessel types (regardless of AIS data availability) in a region of San Francisco Bay (SFB) where high-speed ferry, recreational, and commercial shipping traffic are common. Using a co-located hydrophone, source levels (SL) associated with 565 unique vessel passages were calculated and resultant cumulative daily sound exposure levels across the study area were modeled. Despite large ships primarily having the highest SLs, ferries and motorized recreational craft contributed noise to the largest area in two frequency bands of interest. The M2 provided data without the need for an on-site observer and enabled a systematic analysis of all relevant vessel types which showed that non-AIS vessels should not be excluded from consideration, especially in a highly urbanized estuary like SFB. This research provides an assessment of underwater radiated noise from all common vessel types in SFB suitable for informing habitat quality and threat evaluation for local cetacean species.

Increasing evacuation flow through school bus emergency roof hatches.

Emergency escape roof hatches are used to evacuate school buses in rolled-over orientations. In the United States, the minimum opening size of a roof hatch is defined by Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) no. 217. With the prevalence of rising obesity rates among children, the minimum roof hatch opening size may not be large enough to accommodate larger passengers. Post-accident conditions such as injuries, disorientation, and exit obstructions may also prevent unobstructed passage for egress within acceptable time limits. The purpose of this study was to redesign and fabricate a roof hatch with a larger opening and evaluate its egress characteristics for a range of typical school bus passengers. The larger roof hatch opening allows greater evacuation flow rates, and is almost functionally equivalent to the evacuation flow rate of the front door on an upright school bus.

Automated monitoring of mouse feeding and body weight for continuous health assessment.

Routine health assessment of laboratory rodents can be improved using automated home cage monitoring. Continuous, non-stressful, objective assessment of rodents unaware that they are being watched, including during their active dark period, reveals behavioural and physiological changes otherwise invisible to human caretakers. We developed an automated feeder that tracks feed intake, body weight, and physical appearance of individual radio frequency identification-tagged mice in social home cages. Here, we experimentally induce illness via lipopolysaccharide challenge and show that this automated tracking apparatus reveals sickness behaviour (reduced food intake) as early as 2-4 hours after lipopolysaccharide injection, whereas human observers conducting routine health checks fail to detect a significant difference between sick mice and saline-injected controls. Continuous automated monitoring additionally reveals pronounced circadian rhythms in both feed intake and body weight. Automated home cage monitoring is a non-invasive, reliable mode of health surveillance allowing caretakers to more efficiently detect and respond to early signs of illness in laboratory rodent populations.

Use of an Argentine Ant, Linepithema humile, Semiochemical to Deliver an Acute Toxicant.

The Argentine ant, Linepithema humile, is an invasive nuisance, agricultural, and ecological pest from South America. In the United States, its primary distribution is in California and the Southeast. The structural pest control industry responds to property owner complaints when this ant's populations become problematic and a persistent nuisance. Actions taken to control Argentine ants in the urban and suburban environment are typically complaint-driven, and often involve the application of insecticide sprays applied to the outdoor environment by professional pest managers. In California, and elsewhere, spray treatments of various residual insecticides by property owners and pest management professionals has resulted in significant runoff and in subsequent surface water contamination. As a result, an immediate need exists to develop alternative methods of ant control targeted at reducing environmental contamination. The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential for the development of an alternative method of toxicant delivery focused on the Argentine ant's behavior modifying cuticular chemistry. In short, methanol and hexane washes of Argentine ant pupae applied to paper dummies were handled significantly more by worker ants than the paper dummies that did not contain the solvent extracts. Additionally, paper wicks soaked in a methylene chloride wash from Argentine ant cadavers, air dried, and then treated with fipronil, were removed by worker ants and placed on a midden pile at the same rate (≈86% to 99% removal at 1 h) as untreated and fipronil-treated ant cadavers. The paper wicks that did not contain the methylene chloride extract were ignored by the worker ants. After three days, the mortality of the ants exposed to the fipronil-treated wicks or the ant cadavers were dose-related. In conclusion, our study suggests that there is potential for the use of ant semiochemicals for the delivery of acute toxicants.

Changes of Seed Weight, Fatty Acid Composition, and Oil and Protein Contents from Different Peanut FAD2 Genotypes at Different Seed Developmental and Maturation Stages.

The level of oleic acid in peanut seed is one of the most important factors in determining seed quality and is controlled by two pairs of homeologous genes ( FAD2A and FAD2B). The genotypes of eight F8 breeding lines were determined as AABB, aaBB, AAbb, and aabb by real-time polymerase chain reaction and sequencing. Fresh seeds were collected from five seed developmental stages and, after drying, were used for chemical analysis. Our results showed that (1) as seeds developed, seed weight, oil content, and oleic acid level significantly increased, whereas four other fatty acid levels decreased, but protein content and another four fatty acid levels did not significantly change, (2) FAD2A/ FAD2B significantly affected fatty acid profiles but not oil and protein contents, and (3) the data were consistent across 2 years. The variability of seed quality traits revealed here will be useful for peanut breeders, farmers, processers, and consumers.

A Functional Data Analysis of Spatiotemporal Trends and Variation in Fine Particulate Matter.

In this paper we illustrate the application of modern functional data analysis methods to study the spatiotemporal variability of particulate matter components across the United States. The approach models the pollutant annual profiles in a way that describes the dynamic behavior over time and space. This new technique allows us to predict yearly profiles for locations and years at which data are not available and also offers dimension reduction for easier visualization of the data. Additionally it allows us to study changes of pollutant levels annually or for a particular season. We apply our method to daily concentrations of two particular components of PM2.5 measured by two networks of monitoring sites across the United States from 2003 to 2015. Our analysis confirms existing findings and additionally reveals new trends in the change of the pollutants across seasons and years that may not be as easily determined from other common approaches such as Kriging.

Evaluation of different testing methods for identification of RhIG in red blood cell antibody detection.

BACKGROUND: RhIG has had great success in protecting fetuses from potential harm; however, little work has been done to demonstrate how long RhIG reactivity is detected in the mother after administration when using common red blood cell antibody detection methods. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: A retrospective investigation was performed examining positive antibody identification panels due to RhIG. These panels were run on solid-phase (SP) testing. The time to a positive result, length of detection, and positive strength of reactivity (PSR) were evaluated. Additionally, a comparative study was performed evaluating how sensitive SP, gel (GT), and tube testing (TT) were at detecting RhIG using serially diluted plasma samples spiked with different RhIG formulas. RESULTS: Retrospectively, most antibody identification panels by SP were positive 3.5 months after RhIG administration and demonstrated a strong PSR. The longest recorded positive panel was present at 4.5 months. RhIG administered intramuscularly could not be detected until several hours after injection. The comparative study showed that SP was the most sensitive method while GT and TT were comparable to one another in detecting RhIG. SP also recorded strong PSR at very low concentrations of RhIG. GT and TT recorded weak PSR even with higher concentrations of RhIG. CONCLUSION: SP is the most sensitive testing method and has the ability to detect RhIG 4 to 5 months after administration. TT and GT have the ability to detect RhIG up to 3 to 4 months after administration. Different RhIG formulas may show slightly different lengths of detection.

Balance and exposure to an elevated sloped surface.

Fall injuries and fatalities exceed 50 billion dollars annually. One half of fatal falls are from pitched roof settings. Falls from elevation in an occupational setting have been documented to be a significant issue in today's workforce. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of exposure to inclined surfaces on flat surface balance at varying heights above the ground. Thirty participants, 10 male college students (inexperienced), 10 female college students (inexperienced) and 10 male roofers (experienced) between age 19 and 50 years participated in this study. Participants walked for 20 min on an elevated roof segment (9-14 feet above ground level) and a ground level roof segment (0-5 feet above ground level) on separate days. Results indicated a significant difference for all groups in sway velocity over time at both levels (elevated and ground) and from eyes open to eyes closed conditions at both levels (p<0.05). Statistical analysis revealed that roofers had significantly less increase in sway velocity, post exposure than that of the inexperienced group (p<0.05). These findings provide practical information to employers and employees during the construction of structures that employ a pitched roof design. The implication of these findings include the knowledge that an individual is less stable directly after performing roofing tasks on a pitched roof setting, and should be afforded ample time to recover before moving into activities that would place them at a higher risk of injury from falls.

Energy reallocation to breeding performance through improved nest building in laboratory mice.

Mice are housed at temperatures (20-26 °C) that increase their basal metabolic rates and impose high energy demands to maintain core temperatures. Therefore, energy must be reallocated from other biological processes to increase heat production to offset heat loss. Supplying laboratory mice with nesting material may provide sufficient insulation to reduce heat loss and improve both feed conversion and breeding performance. Naïve C57BL/6, BALB/c, and CD-1 breeding pairs were provided with bedding alone, or bedding supplemented with either 8 g of Enviro-Dri, 8 g of Nestlets, for 6 months. Mice provided with either nesting material built more dome-like nests than controls. Nesting material improved feed efficiency per pup weaned as well as pup weaning weight. The breeding index (pups weaned/dam/week) was higher when either nesting material was provided. Thus, the sparing of energy for thermoregulation of mice given additional nesting material may have been responsible for the improved breeding and growth of offspring.

Comprehension of hazard communication: effects of pictograms on safety data sheets and labels.

INTRODUCTION: The United Nations has proposed the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals to make hazard communication more uniform and to improve comprehension. METHOD: Two experiments were conducted to test whether the addition of hazard and precautionary pictograms to safety data sheets and product labels would improve the transfer of information to users compared to safety data sheets and product labels containing text only. Additionally, naïve users, workers, and experts were tested to determine any potential differences among users. RESULTS: The effect of adding pictograms to safety data sheets and labels was statistically significant for some conditions, but was not significant across all conditions. One benefit of the addition of pictograms was that the time to respond to the survey questions decreased when the pictograms were present for both the SDS and the labels. GHS format SDS and labels do provide benefits to users, but the system will need further enhancements and modifications to continue to improve the effectiveness of hazard communication. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: The final rule to modify the HCS to include the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) for the Classification and Labelling of Chemicals announced by OSHA (2012b) will change the information content of every chemical SDS and label used in commerce. This study suggests that the inclusion of GHS hazard pictograms and precautionary pictograms to SDS and labels may benefit the user.

Potassium changes associated with blood transfusion in pediatric patients.

Storing packed red blood cells (pRBCs) increases the potassium concentration. This effect is characterized in citrate phosphate dextrose/citrate phosphate dextrose adenine units but not published for Adsol (AS-5) units. The change in whole-blood potassium concentration in pediatric patients during routine transfusion is also poorly characterized. In this study, pediatric patients undergoing transfusion had pre- and posttransfusion whole-blood potassium measurements. The pRBC unit transfused and the unit's segment were sampled, with potassium concentration measured. In addition, potassium concentration in AS-5 units was measured over 42 days of storage. Unit extracellular potassium increased in AS-5 units after day 7 at 0.83 mmol/L/d. The mean change in patient potassium concentration was 0.08 mmol/L (range, -0.5 to 0.5 mmol/L). No correlation with unit age or unit potassium concentration was identified with change in patient whole-blood potassium concentration. The lack of clinical effect on patient potassium does not support the use of "fresh" pRBC units with routine pediatric transfusion.

Oil, fatty acid, flavonoid, and resveratrol content variability and FAD2A functional SNP genotypes in the U.S. peanut mini-core collection.

Peanut seeds contain high amounts of oil and protein as well as some useful bioactive phytochemicals which can contribute to human health. The U.S. peanut mini-core collection is an important genetic resource for improving seed quality and developing new cultivars. Variability of seed chemical composition within the mini-core was evaluated from freshly harvested seeds for two years. Oil, fatty acid composition, and flavonoid/resveratrol content were quantified by NMR, GC, and HPLC, respectively. Significant variability was detected in seed chemical composition among accessions and botanical varieties. Accessions were further genotyped with a functional SNP marker from the FAD2A gene using real-time PCR and classified into three genotypes with significantly different O/L ratios: wild type (G/G with a low O/L ratio <1.7), heterozygote (G/A with O/L ratio >1.4 but <1.7), and mutant (A/A with a high O/L ratio >1.7). The results from real-time PCR genotyping and GC fatty acid analysis were consistent. Accessions with high amounts of oil, quercetin, high seed weight, and O/L ratio were identified. The results from this study may be useful not only for peanut breeders, food processors, and product consumers to select suitable accessions or cultivars but also for curators to potentially expand the mini-core collection.

Impact of nesting material on mouse body temperature and physiology.

In laboratories, mice are housed at 20-24 °C, which is below their lower critical temperature (≈30 °C). Thus, mice are potentially cold stressed, which can alter metabolism, immune function, and reproduction. These physiological changes reflect impaired wellbeing, and affect scientific outcomes. We hypothesized that nesting material would allow mice to alleviate cold stress by controlling their thermal microenvironment, thus insulating them, reducing heat loss and thermogenic processes. Naïve C57BL/6, CD-1, and BALB/c mice (24 male and 24 female/strain in groups of 3) were housed in standard cages at 20 °C either with or without 8 g nesting material for 4 weeks. Core body temperature was followed using intraperitoneal radio telemetry. The thermal properties of the nests were assessed using a thermal imaging camera, and related to nest quality. Higher scoring nests were negatively correlated with the mean radiated temperature and were thus more insulating. No effects of nesting material on body temperature were found. CD-1 mice with nesting material had higher end body weights than controls. No effect was seen in the other two strains. Mice with the telemetry implant had larger spleens than controls, possibly indicating an immune response to the implant or low level infection from the surgery. BALB/c mice express less mRNA for the UCP1 protein than mice without nesting material. This indicates that BALB/c's with nesting material do not utilize their brown fat to create heat as readily as controls. Nests can alleviate thermal discomfort by decreasing the amount of radiated heat and reduce the need for non-shivering thermogenesis. However, different strains appear to use different behavioral (through different primary modes of behavioral thermoregulation) and physiological strategies (utilizing thermogenesis to different degrees) to maintain a constant body temperature under cool standard laboratory ambient temperatures.

Assessment of oil content and fatty acid composition variability in two economically important Hibiscus species.

The Hibiscus genus encompasses more than 300 species, but kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) and roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) are the two most economically important species within the genus. Seeds from these two Hibiscus species contain a relatively high amount of oil with two unusual fatty acids: dihydrosterculic and vernolic acids. The fatty acid composition in the oil can directly affect oil quality and its utilization. However, the variability in oil content and fatty acid composition for these two species is unclear. For these two species, 329 available accessions were acquired from the USDA germplasm collection. Their oil content and fatty acid composition were determined by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and gas chromatography (GC), respectively. Using NMR and GC analyses, we found that Hibiscus seeds on average contained 18% oil and seed oil was composed of six major fatty acids (each >1%) and seven minor fatty acids (each <1%). Hibiscus cannabinus seeds contained significantly higher amounts of oil (18.14%), palmitic (20.75%), oleic (28.91%), vernolic acids (VA, 4.16%), and significantly lower amounts of stearic (3.96%), linoleic (39.49%), and dihydrosterculic acids (DHSA, 1.08%) than H. sabdariffa seeds (17.35%, 18.52%, 25.16%, 3.52%, 4.31%, 44.72%, and 1.57%, respectively). For edible oils, a higher oleic/linoleic (O/L) ratio and lower level of DHSA are preferred, and for industrial oils a high level of VA is preferred. Our results indicate that seeds from H. cannabinus may be of higher quality than H. sabdariffa seeds for these reasons. Significant variability in oil content and major fatty acids was also detected within both species. The variability in oil content and fatty acid composition revealed from this study will be useful for exploring seed utilization and developing new cultivars in these Hibiscus species.

Heat or insulation: behavioral titration of mouse preference for warmth or access to a nest.

In laboratories, mice are housed at 20-24°C, which is below their lower critical temperature (≈30°C). This increased thermal stress has the potential to alter scientific outcomes. Nesting material should allow for improved behavioral thermoregulation and thus alleviate this thermal stress. Nesting behavior should change with temperature and material, and the choice between nesting or thermotaxis (movement in response to temperature) should also depend on the balance of these factors, such that mice titrate nesting material against temperature. Naïve CD-1, BALB/c, and C57BL/6 mice (36 male and 36 female/strain in groups of 3) were housed in a set of 2 connected cages, each maintained at a different temperature using a water bath. One cage in each set was 20°C (Nesting cage; NC) while the other was one of 6 temperatures (Temperature cage; TC: 20, 23, 26, 29, 32, or 35°C). The NC contained one of 6 nesting provisions (0, 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10g), changed daily. Food intake and nest scores were measured in both cages. As the difference in temperature between paired cages increased, feed consumption in NC increased. Nesting provision altered differences in nest scores between the 2 paired temperatures. Nest scores in NC increased with increasing provision. In addition, temperature pairings altered the difference in nest scores with the smallest difference between locations at 26°C and 29°C. Mice transferred material from NC to TC but the likelihood of transfer decreased with increasing provision. Overall, mice of different strains and sexes prefer temperatures between 26-29°C and the shift from thermotaxis to nest building is seen between 6 and 10 g of material. Our results suggest that under normal laboratory temperatures, mice should be provided with no less than 6 grams of nesting material, but up to 10 grams may be needed to alleviate thermal distress under typical temperatures.

Algorithmic and consultative integration of transfusion medicine and coagulation: a personalized medicine approach with reduced blood component utilization.

BACKGROUND: Therapy customized for the individual patient defines personalized medicine. Current transfusion therapy is performed primarily using general guidelines such as keeping the platelet count at >100,000/µL, the INR at ≤ 1.7 and fibrinogen at >100mg/dL for patients undergoing surgery. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this report is to provide an algorithmic and consultative approach for the delivery of personalized and targeted blood component, blood derivative, and recombinant therapies in order to minimize unnecessary exposure to such therapies and to deliver an optimal risk-benefit ratio for a particular patient. METHODS: The initiative involved a step-wise process that included: 1. establishing "triggers" to alert and permit the clinical pathologist to intervene in the utilization of blood components for a given patient in the context of the blood bank inventory; 2. developing algorithms for the assessment of the patient's procoagulant/anticoagulant status so that appropriate blood component, derivative, and/or recombinant therapies could be instituted while minimizing the risk of thrombophilia; 3. a real time assessment and interpretation of the coagulation data so that dialogue between the pathologist and the patient's clinical team could be effected 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; and 4. monitoring the outcome of these efforts by comparing blood component utilization prior to or during development, early implementation and following full implementation of the program. RESULTS: "Triggers" (i.e., administration of six units of fresh frozen plasma [FFP] or ten units of cryoprecipitate or two single donor [apheresis] platelets in a 24-hour period) were approved. A diagnostic and therapeutic algorithm was constructed, with multidisciplinary input to assist in defining the coagulopathy contributing to the patient's microvascular bleeding in the adult cardiac surgery/cardiac intensive care unit (CICU) and the adult intensive care unit (AICU). Monitoring of utilization, prior to or during development, early implementation and following full implementation of this initiative, revealed a decline in the number of units of FFP, cryoprecipitate and single donor (apheresis) platelets administered. CONCLUSION: We report on the successful development of a model - based on the algorithmic and consultative integration of transfusion medicine and coagulation - that customizes blood component, derivative, and recombinant therapies appropriate for an individual patient's need, resulting in targeted transfusion therapy and associated with reduced blood component utilization.

Screening of the entire USDA castor germplasm collection for oil content and fatty acid composition for optimum biodiesel production.

Castor has tremendous potential as a feedstock for biodiesel production. The oil content and fatty acid composition in castor seed are important factors determining the price for production and affecting the key fuel properties of biodiesel. There are 1033 available castor accessions collected or donated from 48 countries worldwide in the USDA germplasm collection. The entire castor collection was screened for oil content and fatty acid composition by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and gas chromatography (GC), respectively. Castor seeds on the average contain 48.2% oil with significant variability ranging from 37.2 to 60.6%. Methyl esters were prepared from castor seed by alkaline transmethylation. GC analysis of methyl esters confirmed that castor oil was composed primarily of eight fatty acids: 1.48% palmitic (C16:0), 1.58% stearic (C18:0), 4.41% oleic (C18:1), 6.42% linoleic (C18:2), 0.68% linolenic (C18:3), 0.45% gadoleic (C20:1), 84.51% ricinoleic (C18:1-1OH), and 0.47% dihydroxystearic (C18:0-2OH) acids. Significant variability in fatty acid composition was detected among castor accessions. Ricinoleic acid (RA) was positively correlated with dihydroxystearic acid (DHSA) but highly negatively correlated with the five other fatty acids except linolenic acid. The results for oil content and fatty acid composition obtained from this study will be useful for end-users to explore castor germplasm for biodiesel production.

HIV and hepatocellular and esophageal carcinomas related to consumption of mycotoxin-prone foods in sub-Saharan Africa.

BACKGROUND: Promotion of the HIV epidemic by aflatoxin is postulated but not yet established. Sub-Saharan populations commonly consume food contaminated by mycotoxins, particularly aflatoxins (predominantly found in peanut, maize, rice, and cassava) and fumonisins, which occur primarily in maize. Aflatoxin promotes hepatocellular cancer, and fumonisin may promote esophageal cancer. OBJECTIVES: This analysis was undertaken to test the hypotheses that consumption of mycotoxin-prone staple foods is 1) related to the incidence of HIV infection in Africa and 2) related to "signature" cancer rates confirming exposure to aflatoxins and fumonisins. DESIGN: World Health Organization data for causes of death and the Food and Agriculture Organization per capita consumption data for commodities in sub-Saharan Africa were used. Per capita Gross Domestic Product and the percentage of Muslims (%Muslim) were the socioeconomic data sets exploited. Relations between causes of mortality, consumption of mycotoxin-prone foods, and socioeconomic variables were evaluated. Models for HIV transmission as a function of maize consumption and %Muslim were estimated. RESULTS: HIV and esophageal cancer deaths were significantly related to maize but were inversely related to %Muslim and rice consumption. HIV infections were minimized (74 compared with 435/100,000 people; odds ratio: 2.41; 95% CI: 1.73, 3.24; P < or = 0.0001) by the combination of low maize consumption and above-median % Muslim. Hepatocellular cancer deaths were positively related to rice but negatively related to maize consumption. CONCLUSIONS: HIV transmission frequency is positively associated with maize consumption in Africa. The relation between cancer and food suggests that fumonisin contamination rather than aflatoxin is the most likely factor in maize promoting HIV. Changes to the quality of maize may avoid up to 1,000,000 transmissions of HIV annually.