Sulfurihydrogenibium yellowstonense sp. nov., an extremely thermophilic, facultatively heterotrophic, sulfur-oxidizing bacterium from Yellowstone National Park, and emended descriptions of the genus Sulfurihydrogenibium, Sulfurihydrogenibium subterraneum and Sulfurihydrogenibium azorense.
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A novel thermophilic, sulfur-oxidizing Gram-negative bacterium, designated strain SS-5T, was isolated from the Calcite Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park, USA. The cells were motile rods (1.2-2.8 microm long and 0.6-0.8 microm wide). The new isolate was a facultative heterotroph capable of using elemental sulfur or thiosulfate as an electron donor and O2 (1-18 %; optimum 6 %, v/v) as an electron acceptor. Hydrogen did not support growth. The isolate grew autotrophically with CO2. In addition, strain SS-5T utilized various organic carbon sources such as yeast extract, tryptone, sugars, amino acids and organic acids. Growth was observed between 55 and 78 degrees C (optimum 70 degrees C; 3.5 h doubling time), pH 6.0 and 8.0 (optimum pH 7.5), and 0 and 0.6 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum 0 %). The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 32 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence indicated that the isolate was a member of the genus Sulfurihydrogenibium. On the basis of the physiological and molecular characteristics of the new isolate, we propose the name Sulfurihydrogenibium yellowstonense sp. nov. with SS-5T (=JCM 12773T=OCM 840T) as the type strain. In addition, emended descriptions of the genus Sulfurihydrogenibium, Sulfurihydrogenibium subterraneum and Sulfurihydrogenibium azorense are proposed. (+info)
Transient floral change and rapid global warming at the Paleocene-Eocene boundary.
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Rapid global warming of 5 degrees to 10 degrees C during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) coincided with major turnover in vertebrate faunas, but previous studies have found little floral change. Plant fossils discovered in Wyoming, United States, show that PETM floras were a mixture of native and migrant lineages and that plant range shifts were large and rapid (occurring within 10,000 years). Floral composition and leaf shape and size suggest that climate warmed by approximately 5 degrees C during the PETM and that precipitation was low early in the event and increased later. Floral response to warming and/or increased atmospheric CO2 during the PETM was comparable in rate and magnitude to that seen in postglacial floras and to the predicted effects of anthropogenic carbon release and climate change on future vegetation. (+info)
Wyoming physicians are significant providers of safety net care.
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BACKGROUND: This study describes the contributions of family and general practice physicians from Wyoming to the health care safety net. METHODS: We surveyed family and general practice physicians in Wyoming about provider demographics, practice composition, and policies for treating the underinsured or uninsured. Two-tailed chi(2) tests and limited logistic regressions were used to test for differences among characteristics of safety net providers. RESULTS: From a 50% response rate, 61% made less than the national mean family physician income (USD$130,000), and women are less likely than men to make this mean income, even when controlling for hours worked (OR, 0.09; CI, 0.009, 0.862). Close to two thirds claimed bad debt of over USD $10,000, and 29.3% noted forgiven debt of over USD $10,000. Physicians with less income than the prior year were more likely to decrease their charity care. CONCLUSIONS: Wyoming family and general practice physicians provide significant amounts of informal safety net care, which is threatened by income loss. Thoughtful public policy is needed to ensure that vulnerable rural Americans have access to care that is not tied to the financial well being of their health care providers. (+info)
A virus reveals population structure and recent demographic history of its carnivore host.
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Directly transmitted parasites often provide substantial information about the temporal and spatial characteristics of host-to-host contact. Here, we demonstrate that a fast-evolving virus (feline immunodeficiency virus, FIV) can reveal details of the contemporary population structure and recent demographic history of its natural wildlife host (Puma concolor) that were not apparent from host genetic data and would be impossible to obtain by other means. We suggest that rapidly evolving pathogens may provide a complementary tool for studying population dynamics of their hosts in "shallow" time. (+info)
Hypothermia-related deaths--United States, 1999-2002 and 2005.
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Hypothermia, defined as a core body temperature of <95 degrees F (<35 degrees C), is preventable. Excessive exposure to cold temperatures leads to potentially fatal central nervous system depression, arrhythmias, and renal failure. Advanced age, chronic medical conditions, substance abuse, and homelessness are among risk factors for hypothermia-related death. This report describes three hypothermia-related deaths that occurred during 2005 and reviews CDC data on hypothermia-related deaths during 1999-2002 in the United States. Public health strategies should target U.S. populations at increased risk for exposure to excessive cold and recommend behavior modification (e.g., dressing warmly, modifying activity levels, or avoiding alcohol) to help reduce mortality and morbidity from hypothermia. (+info)
Morphological and molecular systematics of Rocky Mountain alpine Laccaria.
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The alpine zone is comprised of habitats at elevations above treeline, and macromycetes play important ecological roles as decomposers and mycorrhizal symbionts here as elsewhere. Laccaria is an important group of ectomycorrhizal basidiomycetes widely used in experimental and applied research. A systematic study of alpine Laccaria species using morphological, cultural and molecular (ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer) data revealed five taxa in the Rocky Mountain alpine zone: L. laccata var. pallidifolia, L. nobilis (the first published report for arctic-alpine habitats), L. pumila, L. montana and L. pseudomontana (a newly described taxon similar to L. montana with more ellipsoidal, finely echinulate basidiospores). All occur in the southern Rocky Mountains of Colorado; however, only L. pumila and L. montana were found on the Beartooth Plateau in the northern Rocky Mountains of Montana and Wyoming. All are associated with dwarf and shrub Salix species, with L. laccata var. pallidifolia also associated with Dryas octopetala and Betula glandulosa. Maximum-parsimony phylogenetic analysis of rDNA-ITS sequences for 27 Laccaria accessions supports the morphological species delineations. (+info)
Mechanistic home range models capture spatial patterns and dynamics of coyote territories in Yellowstone.
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Patterns of space-use by individuals are fundamental to the ecology of animal populations influencing their social organization, mating systems, demography and the spatial distribution of prey and competitors. To date, the principal method used to analyse the underlying determinants of animal home range patterns has been resource selection analysis (RSA), a spatially implicit approach that examines the relative frequencies of animal relocations in relation to landscape attributes. In this analysis, we adopt an alternative approach, using a series of mechanistic home range models to analyse observed patterns of territorial space-use by coyote packs in the heterogeneous landscape of Yellowstone National Park. Unlike RSAs, mechanistic home range models are derived from underlying correlated random walk models of individual movement behaviour, and yield spatially explicit predictions for patterns of space-use by individuals. As we show here, mechanistic home range models can be used to determine the underlying determinants of animal home range patterns, incorporating both movement responses to underlying landscape heterogeneities and the effects of behavioural interactions between individuals. Our analysis indicates that the spatial arrangement of coyote territories in Yellowstone is determined by the spatial distribution of prey resources and an avoidance response to the presence of neighbouring packs. We then show how the fitted mechanistic home range model can be used to correctly predict observed shifts in the patterns of coyote space-use in response to perturbation. (+info)
Beyond compliance: environmental health problem solving, interagency collaboration, and risk assessment to prevent waterborne disease outbreaks.
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A systems approach to environmental health problem solving was used to investigate two waterborne norovirus outbreaks in Wyoming and can serve in the development of improved prevention strategies. An interagency collaboration to prevent waterborne disease involving local, state, and federal partners was designed to coordinate response to outbreak investigations. Improved risk assessment and reporting procedures were also integrated to ensure better availability of necessary data. Public health entities should implement sustainable intersectoral interventions to prevent waterborne disease that not only improve regulatory compliance but also have a positive impact on community health outcomes. Collaborative preventive health and water system protection activities should receive priority attention for implementation in state and local jurisdictions. (+info)