3,144 results on '"Western Hemisphere"'
Search Results
2. Biomass burning in the Neotropics is exposing migrating birds to elevated fine particulate matter concentrations.
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La Sorte, Frank A., Zuckerberg, Benjamin, Lepczyk, Christopher A., Aronson, Myla F. J., and Horton, Kyle G.
- Subjects
- *
BIOMASS burning , *PARTICULATE matter , *LIFE cycles (Biology) , *POLLUTION , *SPRING , *WINTER , *BIRD populations - Abstract
Aim: A unique risk faced by nocturnally migrating birds is the disorienting influence of artificial light at night (ALAN). ALAN originates from anthropogenic activities that can generate other forms of environmental pollution, including the emission of fine particulate matter (PM2.5). PM2.5 concentrations can display strong seasonal variation whose origin can be natural or anthropogenic. How this variation affects seasonal associations with ALAN and PM2.5 for nocturnally migrating bird populations has not been explored. Location: Western Hemisphere. Time Period: 2021 Major Taxa Studied: Nocturnally migrating passerine (NMP) bird species. Methods: We combined monthly estimates of PM2.5 and ALAN with weekly estimates of relative abundance for 164 NMP species derived using observations from eBird. We identified groups of species with similar associations with monthly PM2.5. We summarized their shared environmental, geographical, and ecological attributes. Results: PM2.5 was lowest in North America, especially at higher latitudes during the boreal winter. PM2.5 was highest in the Amazon Basin, especially during the dry season (August–October). ALAN was highest within eastern North America, especially during the boreal winter. For NMP species, PM2.5 associations reached their lowest levels during the breeding season (<10 μg/m3) and highest levels during the nonbreeding season, especially for long‐distance migrants that winter in Central and South America (~20 μg/m3). Species that migrate through Central America in the spring encountered similarly high PM2.5 concentrations. ALAN associations reached their highest levels for species that migrate (~12 nW/cm2/sr) or spend the nonbreeding season (~15 nW/cm2/sr) in eastern North America. Main Conclusions: We did not find evidence that the disorienting influence of ALAN enhances PM2.5 exposure during stopover in the spring and autumn for NMP species. Rather, our findings suggest biomass burning in the Neotropics is exposing NMP species to consistently elevated PM2.5 concentrations for an extended period of their annual life cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
3. Species traits drive responses of forest birds to agriculturally‐modified habitats throughout the annual cycle.
- Author
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Binley, Allison D., Bennett, Joseph R., Schuster, Richard, Rodewald, Amanda D., La Sorte, Frank A., Fink, Daniel, Zuckerberg, Benjamin, and Wilson, Scott
- Subjects
- *
FOREST birds , *BIRD habitats , *LAND cover , *FARMS , *HABITAT modification , *AGRICULTURE - Abstract
The conversion of forest to agriculture is considered one of the greatest threats to avian biodiversity, yet how species respond to habitat modification throughout the annual cycle remains unknown. We examined whether forest bird associations with agricultural habitats vary throughout the year, and if species traits influence these relationships. Using data from the eBird community‐science program, we investigated associations between agriculturally‐modified land cover and the occurrence of 238 forest bird species based on three sets of avian traits: migratory strategy, dietary guild, and foraging strategy. We found that the influence of agriculturally‐modified land cover on species distributions varied widely across periods and trait groups but highlighting several broad findings. First, migratory species showed strong seasonal differences in their response to agricultural land cover while resident species did not. Second, there was a migratory strategy by season interaction; Neotropical migrants were most negatively influenced by agricultural land cover during the breeding period while short‐distance migrants were most negatively influenced during the non‐breeding period. Third, regardless of season, some dietary (e.g. insectivores) and foraging guilds (e.g. bark foragers) consistently responded more negatively to agricultural land cover than others (e.g. omnivores and ground foragers, respectively). Fourth, there were greater differences among dietary guilds in their responses to agricultural land cover during the breeding period than during the non‐breeding period, perhaps reflecting how different habitat and ecological requirements enhance the susceptibility of some guilds during reproduction. These results suggest that management efforts across the annual cycle may be oversimplified and thus ineffective when based on broad ecological generalisations that are static in space and time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2023
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4. Western Hemisphere quality and production capacity of soybean protein
- Author
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Anibal Cerrudo, Jill Miller-Garvin, and Seth L. Naeve
- Subjects
grain composition ,amino acid profile ,essentials amino acids ,crude protein ,spatial pattern ,Western Hemisphere ,Nutrition. Foods and food supply ,TX341-641 ,Food processing and manufacture ,TP368-456 - Abstract
Soybean’s protein concentration and amino acid profile vary geographically due to genotype and environment. We used 1817 on-farm grain samples from the United States, Brazil, and the Southern Cone to assess soybean protein variability in the Western Hemisphere, which accounts for 85% of global production. Our analysis found consistent spatial patterns for protein concentration and amino acid composition, with differences in protein concentration of up to 5.4% among regions. While there was a negative correlation between protein concentration and the abundance of critical amino acids (lysine, cysteine, threonine, methionine, and tryptophane), their amount per ton of grain increased with protein concentration. Our findings can guide market and industry in benchmarking soybean protein quality across the Western Hemisphere, which according to our projection could supply close to 120 million metric tons of protein and 17 million metric tons of the most critical amino acids annually by 2030.
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- 2023
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5. Slavery in Dutch Guiana and the Dutch Colonial Ethos
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Andrey A. Boltaevskiy and Stanislav A. Agureev
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colonialism ,slavery ,neocolonialism ,netherlands guiana ,suriname ,brutality ,lawlessness ,western hemisphere ,segregation ,evolution ,History (General) and history of Europe ,Social Sciences - Abstract
The subject of this article is the economic system that has developed in the Netherlands Guiana, based on forced slave labor. The degree of cruelty of this system over the past centuries has been mythologized by both contemporaries of the events and later researchers. Today in Netherlands, at the highest official level, the era of colonial slavery has been condemned but at the same time it was recognized as a part of national history, which is largely due to the influential Caribbean community. However, the attitude towards this topic in society remains extremely polarized, becoming the subject of manipulation by populist and nationalist forces. The work is based on a wide range of foreign sources and research; the methodological basis includes the historical, genetic and comparative methods. The scientific novelty of the article is connected with the poor study of the topic in domestic science. A comparative study of the situation of slaves in the Western Hemisphere has shown that toughness was not unique to the Dutch colonial ethos. The high mortality and hardships of slaves in the Netherlands Guiana and the Caribbean are due to the specifics of sugar plantations, and not to a greater degree of racism compared to Iberoamerica. The author draws attention to the gradual progressive evolution of all slavery regimes on the American continent.
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- 2022
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6. México en las Conferencias Americanas del Trabajo del periodo de entreguerras: Santiago de Chile y La Habana (1936-1939).
- Author
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Herrera León, Fabián
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INTERWAR Period (1918-1939) ,MATURATION (Psychology) ,DEVELOPMENTAL psychology - Abstract
Copyright of Revista de Indias is the property of Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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- 2023
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7. PRIORITIZING REGIONAL WILDLIFE CONSERVATION BY REJUVENATING THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE CONVENTION ON NATURE PROTECTION.
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Streeter, Shade, Hunter, David, and Snape III, William
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- *
WILDLIFE conservation , *NATURE conservation , *BIODIVERSITY , *REGIONAL cooperation - Abstract
The article underscores the urgent need to revive the Western Hemisphere Convention on Nature Protection and Wildlife Preservation. It emphasizes the enduring relevance of this 1940 convention in safeguarding the shared biodiversity and habitats of the Western Hemisphere. It further advocates for cross-regional cooperation among nations, stressing the importance of scientific knowledge sharing and collaborative conservation efforts.
- Published
- 2023
8. Seasonal associations with light pollution trends for nocturnally migrating bird populations.
- Author
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La Sorte, Frank A., Horton, Kyle G., Johnston, Alison, Fink, Daniel, and Auer, Tom
- Subjects
BIRD populations ,LIGHT pollution ,NUMBERS of species ,SCIENCE databases ,PASSERIFORMES - Abstract
Artificial light at night (ALAN) is adversely affecting natural systems worldwide, including the disorienting influence of ALAN on nocturnally migrating birds. Understanding how ALAN trends are developing across species' seasonal distributions will inform mitigation efforts, such as Lights Out programs. Here, we intersect ALAN annual trend estimates (1992–2013) with weekly estimates of relative abundance for 42 nocturnally migrating passerine bird species that breed in North America using observations from the eBird community science database for the combined period 2005–2020. We use a cluster analysis to identify species with similar weekly associations with ALAN trends. Our results identified three prominent clusters. Two contained species that occurred in northeastern and western North America during the breeding season. These species were associated with moderate ALAN levels and weak negative ALAN trends during the breeding season, and low ALAN levels and strong positive ALAN trends during the nonbreeding season. The difference between the breeding and nonbreeding seasons was lower for species that occurred in northern South America and greater for species that occurred in Central America during the nonbreeding season. For species that occurred in South America during the nonbreeding season, positive ALAN trends increased in strength as species migrated through Central America, especially in the spring. The third cluster contained species whose associations with positive ALAN trends remained high across the annual cycle, peaking during migration, especially in the spring. These species occurred in southeastern North America during the breeding season where they were associated with high ALAN levels, and in northern South America during the nonbreeding season where they were associated with low ALAN levels. Our findings suggest reversing ALAN trends in Central America during migration, especially in the spring, would benefit the most individuals of the greatest number of species. Reversing ALAN trends in southeastern North America during the breeding season and Central America during the nonbreeding season would generate the greatest benefits outside of migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
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9. Seasonal associations with light pollution trends for nocturnally migrating bird populations
- Author
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Frank A. La Sorte, Kyle G. Horton, Alison Johnston, Daniel Fink, and Tom Auer
- Subjects
community science ,eBird ,light pollution ,nocturnal migration ,seasonal bird migration ,Western Hemisphere ,Ecology ,QH540-549.5 - Abstract
Abstract Artificial light at night (ALAN) is adversely affecting natural systems worldwide, including the disorienting influence of ALAN on nocturnally migrating birds. Understanding how ALAN trends are developing across species' seasonal distributions will inform mitigation efforts, such as Lights Out programs. Here, we intersect ALAN annual trend estimates (1992–2013) with weekly estimates of relative abundance for 42 nocturnally migrating passerine bird species that breed in North America using observations from the eBird community science database for the combined period 2005–2020. We use a cluster analysis to identify species with similar weekly associations with ALAN trends. Our results identified three prominent clusters. Two contained species that occurred in northeastern and western North America during the breeding season. These species were associated with moderate ALAN levels and weak negative ALAN trends during the breeding season, and low ALAN levels and strong positive ALAN trends during the nonbreeding season. The difference between the breeding and nonbreeding seasons was lower for species that occurred in northern South America and greater for species that occurred in Central America during the nonbreeding season. For species that occurred in South America during the nonbreeding season, positive ALAN trends increased in strength as species migrated through Central America, especially in the spring. The third cluster contained species whose associations with positive ALAN trends remained high across the annual cycle, peaking during migration, especially in the spring. These species occurred in southeastern North America during the breeding season where they were associated with high ALAN levels, and in northern South America during the nonbreeding season where they were associated with low ALAN levels. Our findings suggest reversing ALAN trends in Central America during migration, especially in the spring, would benefit the most individuals of the greatest number of species. Reversing ALAN trends in southeastern North America during the breeding season and Central America during the nonbreeding season would generate the greatest benefits outside of migration.
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
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10. Landscape transformations produce favorable roosting conditions for turkey vultures and black vultures.
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Hill, Jacob E., Kellner, Kenneth F., Kluever, Bryan M., Avery, Michael L., Humphrey, John S., Tillman, Eric A., DeVault, Travis L., and Belant, Jerrold L.
- Subjects
- *
VULTURES , *CORAGYPS atratus , *LANDSCAPES - Abstract
Recent increases in turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) and black vulture (Coragyps atratus) populations in North America have been attributed in part to their success adapting to human-modified landscapes. However, the capacity for such landscapes to generate favorable roosting conditions for these species has not been thoroughly investigated. We assessed the role of anthropogenic and natural landscape elements on roosting habitat selection of 11 black and 7 turkey vultures in coastal South Carolina, USA using a GPS satellite transmitter dataset derived from previous research. Our dataset spanned 2006–2012 and contained data from 7916 nights of roosting. Landscape fragmentation, as measured by land cover richness, influenced roosting probability for both species in all seasons, showing either a positive relationship or peaking at intermediate values. Roosting probability of turkey vultures was maximized at intermediate road densities in three of four seasons, and black vultures showed a positive relationship with roads in fall, but no relationship throughout the rest of the year. Roosting probability of both species declined with increasing high density urban cover throughout most of the year. We suggest that landscape transformations lead to favorable roosting conditions for turkey vultures and black vultures, which has likely contributed to their recent proliferations across much of the Western Hemisphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
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11. The President's News Conference in Woodside, California.
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FENTANYL , *ARTIFICIAL intelligence ,CHINA-United States relations - Abstract
The article offers information on the U.S. President Joe Biden's news conference in Woodside, California. It discusses that the U.S. and China restarting cooperation on counternarcotics, specifically targeting the flow of fentanyl chemical ingredients & pill presses from China to the Western Hemisphere; military-to-military contacts between the U.S. and China are being reassumed to prevent misunderstandings and miscalculations; and risk and safety issues associated with artificial intelligence.
- Published
- 2023
12. Twenty Years After UNSCR 1325: Equal Access to Military Education in the Western Hemisphere?
- Author
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Cornelia Weiss and Eva María Rey Pinto
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Military Education ,Women ,Equality ,Western Hemisphere ,Barriers ,Military Science - Abstract
Twenty years after the unanimous adoption of UNSCR 1325 and the beginning of the women, peace and security agenda, the UN Security Council, for the first time, explicitly addressed equal access to education for uniformed female personnel. On August 28, 2020, the UN Security Council issued resolution 2538, and with it, the need by Member States to provide equal access to education, training and capacity building to all uniformed women. This paper explores the importance of providing equal access to education for uniformed women, it identifies barriers erected against women’s access to education in the defense sector in the Western Hemisphere, and it recommends proactive measures to eliminate barriers. This research is supported by a review of primary and secondary sources, autoethnography, and an analysis of data from countries such as the United States, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Peru, and Brazil.
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- 2020
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13. PIRATES ON THE HIGH SEAS: AN INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSE TO EXPANDING U.S. JURISDICTION IN TROUBLED WATERS.
- Author
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LLOYD, MARSHALL B. and SUMMERS, ROBERT L.
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REGIONALISM (International organization) , *POLITICAL science , *DRUG laws , *IMPUNITY - Abstract
Collective efforts among governments and regional organizations is a vital part of the fight against piracy that represents a security threat to all nationstates with respect to freedom to navigate the high seas. This paper provides a concise overview of piracy, contemporary maritime drug laws, and cases among the circuit courts to illustrate the procedural concerns that affect fundamental constitutional principles of jurisdiction. A possible solution to existing substantive and procedural due process issues is establishment of a regional judicial institution with broad powers to preside over criminal prosecutions that include maritime crimes. The suggestion may be a viable means to resolve some concerns with respect to jurisdictional principles, regional stability, and the need for a comprehensive, coordinated response within the Western Hemisphere. Establishing a tribunal to preside over enforcement practices alleviates dependency on the existing legal framework that may not fully resolve jurisdictional issues associated with maritime drug trafficking. In addition, a regional tribunal minimizes the need for the United States to function as the only viable, sovereign nation-state in the Americas to ensure that pirates engaged in illicit trades are not roaming the high seas with impunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2020
14. Global warming hiatus contributed weakening of the Mascarene High in the Southern Indian Ocean.
- Author
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P.J., Vidya, Ravichandran, M., Subeesh, M. P., Chatterjee, Sourav, and M., Nuncio
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- *
GLOBAL warming , *SEA level - Abstract
The Mascarene High (MH) is a semi-permanent subtropical high-pressure zone in the South Indian Ocean. Apart from its large influence on African and Australian weather patterns, it also helps in driving the inter-hemispheric circulation between the Indian Ocean in the south and subcontinental landmass in the north. Using observations and reanalysis products, this study for the first time investigates recent warming trend observed in the MH region during the Global Warming Hiatus (GWH) period (1998–2016). Significant positive trends are observed in sea surface temperature (SST), sea surface height (SSH) and oceanic heat content (OHC) during this period in the MH region. Mixed layer heat budget analysis reveals the dominant role of heat advection in the observed warming trend. During the GWH period, stronger zonal currents advect the warm waters from the Western Pacific (WP) towards the MH region via the Indonesian Throughflow (ITF). This warming in the MH reduces the sea level pressure therein and establishes a weak pressure gradient between the MH and the northern hemisphere landmass. This in-turn weakens the cross-equatorial winds in the western Indian Ocean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2020
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15. How to celebrate 24 new year's eves in a single year!
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Smarandache, Florentin
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NEW Year - Abstract
In this paper we explain how a person can celebrate 24 New Year Eves in a single year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2020
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16. Linking 13C-based estimates of land and ocean sinks with predictions of carbon storage from CO2 fertilization of plant growth
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Randerson, James T, Thompson, Mathew V, and Field, Christopher B
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boreal forest ,carbon cycle ,fire ,organic matter ,regrowth ,soil drainage ,soil temperature ,Alaska ,North America ,United States ,Western Hemisphere ,World ,Picea ,Picea mariana - Abstract
The residence times of carbon in plants, litter, and soils are required for partitioning land and ocean sinks using measurements of atmospheric δ13C and also for estimating terrestrial carbon storage in response to net primary production (NPP) stimulation by elevated levels of atmospheric CO2. While 13C-based calculations of the land sink decline with increasing estimates of terrestrial carbon residence times (through the fossil fuel-induced isotopic disequilibrium term in equations describing the global atmospheric budgets of 13CO2 and CO2), estimates of land sinks based on CO2 fertilization of plant growth are directly proportional to carbon residence times. Here we used a single model of terrestrial carbon turnover, the Carnegie–Ames–Stanford Approach (CASA) biogeochemical model, to simultaneously estimate 1984–1990 terrestrial carbon storage using both approaches. Our goal was to identify the fraction of the 13CO2-based land sink attributable to CO2fertilization. Uptake from CO2 fertilization was calculated using a β factor of 0.46 to describe the response of NPP to increasing concentrations of atmospheric CO2 from 1765 to 1990. Given commonly used parameters in the 13C-based sink calculation and assuming a deforestation flux of 0.8 Pg C/y, CO2 fertilization accounts for 54% of the missing terrestrial carbon sink from 1984 to 1990. CO2 fertilization can account for all of the missing terrestrial sink only when the terrestrial mean residence time (MRT) and the land isodisequilibrium forcing are greater than many recent estimates.
- Published
- 1999
17. The 'War on Drugs' Concept as the Basis for Combating Drugs in the Western Hemisphere.
- Author
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Eremin, Arkadiy Alekseevich and Petrovich-Belkin, Oleg Konstantinovich
- Subjects
DRUG control ,DRUG traffic ,PREVENTION of drug trafficking ,COCAINE industry - Abstract
The article attempts to critically evaluate a controversial transnational phenomenon in the Western hemisphere, known as the 'War on Drugs'. Started by Richard Nixon to regain the support of his electorate, it has continued to dominate anti-drug policies in the Americas until now. In this article, the authors conduct a thorough analysis of all the traits of this concept in relation to the effectiveness and capability of limiting drug production and supply as well as countering drug-related organized crime. It also describes the role and place of the 'War on Drugs' in the structure of modern academic knowledge. In the attempt to assess the outcomes of the implementation of coercive tactics typical for the 'War on Drugs', the article also tries to answer the essential question of whether traditionally harsh methods of this concept were truly meant to be aimed at suppressing transnational drug trade or were merely a way for political elites to meet certain personal agenda. The paper recommends several potential changes that are necessary to be introduced to successfully relaunch and reestablish the system of combating illicit drug trade in the Western hemisphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
18. On Rehumanizing Pleistocene People of the Western Hemisphere
- Author
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Bonnie L. Pitblado
- Subjects
Western hemisphere ,Archeology ,History ,Geography ,Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous) ,Pleistocene ,Museology ,Archaeology - Abstract
Since the emergence of the niche in Folsom, New Mexico, in the late 1920s, peopling archaeology has sought to understand the earliest human occupants of the Western Hemisphere. Three generations of practitioners have made great strides in the techno-environmental arena. However, we have largely failed to tap into PaleoIndigenous intellectual, emotional, and social lives—the very domains that made Ice Age people as fully human as we are. As a result, our interpretations of those pioneering populations could often apply as readily to a colony of ants or a herd of wildebeest as they do to living, breathing, thinking, dreaming, loving, striving human ancestors. This article first explores the reasons for our failure to fully actualize First Peoples, identifying and implicating a feedback loop that includes practitioner homogeneity (we have always been and continue to be disproportionately white men of European descent); our predominantly positivist worldview; our language, training, and practice; and even the limited nature of the material record we study. This article also, however, highlights the ways that an important minority of peopling scholars have sought to access the humanity of PaleoIndigenous people. By more consistently mobilizing our own human capacity to creatively interrogate the deep past, we will produce scholarship that more consistently recognizes the capacity of the people who lived it and, just as importantly, respects those living today.
- Published
- 2021
19. Preliminary analysis and evaluation of BDS-2/BDS-3 precise point positioning
- Author
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Boxiao Ju, Yan Chen, Weiping Jiang, Peng Yuan, Hua Chen, and Xuexi Liu
- Subjects
Western hemisphere ,Dilution of precision ,Atmospheric Science ,Satellite navigation system ,Aerospace Engineering ,Astronomy and Astrophysics ,Asia pacific region ,Geodesy ,Precise Point Positioning ,Preliminary analysis ,Root mean square ,Geophysics ,Space and Planetary Science ,General Earth and Planetary Sciences ,Eastern Hemisphere ,Mathematics - Abstract
Precise point positioning (PPP) is a very important function of satellite navigation system. In this contribution, the combination of BDS-2 and BDS-3 PPP is researched. To begin with, the frequency and application of BDS-2 and BDS-3 are introduced. Then, the principle of BDS-2 and BDS-3 combined PPP, the generation and estimation method of inter-system bias (ISB) are elaborated. Finally, the global satellite visibility of BDS-2 and BDS-3, the global Position Dilution of Precision (PDOP) value and the results of BDS-2/BDS-3 PPP are analyzed based on the 51-day data of 30 stations from multi-GNSS experiment (MGEX) network in 2020. The experimental results show that: (1) The number of visible satellites of BDS-2 in Asia Pacific region is 8–15, while the number of visible satellites in most parts of the western hemisphere is less than 4; the number of visible satellites of BDS-3 in the eastern hemisphere is 8–14, while the number of visible satellites in the western hemisphere is 7–11; BDS-3 is more evenly distributed in the world than BDS-2, but the number of satellites in the eastern hemisphere is also slightly more than that in the western hemisphere. (2) The root mean square (RMS) of BDS-2/BDS-3 static PPP in the East (E), North (N) and Up (U) directions are 1.0 cm, 0.6 cm and 1.7 cm respectively; the positioning accuracy of BDS-2/BDS-3 PPP in the E, N and U directions are improved by 16.7%, 14.3% and 10.5% respectively compared with BDS-3 PPP. The RMS of BDS-2/BDS-3 kinematic PPP in the E, N and U directions are 2.0 cm, 1.3 cm and 4.1 cm respectively; the positioning accuracy of BDS-2/BDS-3 PPP in the E, N and U directions are improved by 33.3%, 38.1% and 29.3% respectively compared with BDS-3 PPP. (3) Compared with BDS-3 static PPP, the convergence time of BDS-2/BDS-3 are shortened by 6.1%, 11.5%, 10.1% and 10.3% in the E, N, U and three dimensional (3D) directions respectively. Compared with BDS-2, the convergence time of BDS-3 is shortened by more than 50%. The convergence time of BDS-2/BDS-3 kinematic PPP in the E, N, U and 3D directions is shorter than BDS-3 by 31.1%, 43.8%, 38.1% and 34.6% respectively; the convergence time of BDS-3 is shorter than BDS-2 by 61.1%, 59.7%, 60.9% and 57.1% respectively. In brief, the success of BDS-3 global networking has greatly promoted the positioning performance of the entire BDS system.
- Published
- 2021
20. Rubella Eradication: Not Yet Accomplished, but Entirely Feasible
- Author
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Stanley A. Plotkin
- Subjects
Supplement Articles ,medicine.disease_cause ,Antibodies, Viral ,Rubella ,Measles ,Virus ,Global Burden of Disease ,Rubella vaccine ,eradication ,medicine ,Immunology and Allergy ,measles ,Humans ,Disease Eradication ,Western hemisphere ,Congenital rubella syndrome ,business.industry ,rubella ,congenital ,virus diseases ,Infant ,Rubella virus ,medicine.disease ,Virology ,Infectious Diseases ,AcademicSubjects/MED00290 ,Measles vaccine ,business ,Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine ,medicine.drug - Abstract
Rubella virus is the most teratogenic virus known to science and is capable of causing large epidemics. The RA 27/3 rubella vaccine, usually combined with measles vaccine, has eliminated rubella and congenital rubella syndrome from much of the world, notably from the Western Hemisphere. Except in immunosuppressed individuals, it is remarkably safe. Together with rubella vaccine strains used in China and Japan, eradication of the rubella virus is possible, indeed more feasible than eradication of measles or mumps.
- Published
- 2021
21. Chikungunya fever: Atypical and lethal cases in the Western hemisphere
- Author
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Jaime R. Torres, Códova G. Leopoldo, Julio S. Castro, Libsen Rodríguez, Víctor Saravia, Joanne Arvelaez, Antonio Ríos-Fabra, María A. Longhi, and Melania Marcano
- Subjects
Chikungunya fever ,Severe ,Hemorrhagic fever ,Western hemisphere ,Infectious and parasitic diseases ,RC109-216 - Abstract
A large epidemic of Chikungunya fever currently affects the Caribbean, Central and South America. Despite a high number of reported cases, little is known on the occurrence of severe clinical complications. We describe four Venezuelan patients with a severe and/or lethal course who exhibit unusual manifestations of the disease. Case 1 describes a 75 year-old man with rapid onset of septic shock and multi-organ failure. Cases 2 and 3 describe two patients with rapid aggressive clinical course who developed shock, severe purpuric lesions and a distinct area large of necrosis in the nasal region. Case 4 depicts a splenectomized woman with shock, generalized purpuric lesions, bullous dermatosis and acronecrosis of an upper limb. Chikungunya fever in the Western hemisphere may also associate with atypical and severe manifestations. Some patients experience a life-threatening, aggressive clinical course, with rapid deterioration and death due to multisystem failure.
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
22. Seasonal associations with novel climates for North American migratory bird populations.
- Author
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La Sorte, Frank A., Fink, Daniel, and Johnston, Alison
- Subjects
- *
CLIMATE change , *MIGRATORY birds , *BIRD populations , *BIRD classification , *BIRD ecology - Abstract
Abstract: Determining the implications of global climate change for highly mobile taxa such as migratory birds requires a perspective that is spatiotemporally comprehensive and ecologically relevant. Here, we document how passerine bird species that migrate within the Western Hemisphere (
n =- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
23. Origins and spread of fluted-point technology in the Canadian Ice-Free Corridor and eastern Beringia.
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Smith, Heather L. and Goebel, Ted
- Subjects
- *
ARCHAEOLOGY , *MORPHOMETRICS , *PHYLOGENY , *PLEISTOCENE Epoch - Abstract
Fluted projectile points have long been recognized as the archaeological signature of early humans dispersing throughout the Western Hemisphere; however' we still lack a clear understanding of their appearance in the interior "Ice-Free Corridor" of western Canada and eastern Beringia. To solve this problem' we conducted a geometric morphometric shape analysis and a phylogenetic analysis of technological traits on fluted points from the archaeological records of northern Alaska and Yukon' in combination with artifacts from further south in Canada' the Great Plains' and eastern United States to investigate the plausibility of historical relatedness and evolutionary patterns in the spread of fluted-point technology in the latest Pleistocene and earliest Holocene. Results link morphologies and technologies of Clovis, certain western Canadian, and northern fluted points, suggesting that fluting technology arrived in the Arctic from a proximate source in the interior Ice-Free Corridor and ultimately from the earliest populations in temperate North America, complementing new genomic models explaining the peopling of the Americas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
24. Grover Cleveland's Administration: Prequel to America's Rise?
- Author
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Schake, Kori
- Subjects
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PRESIDENTIAL administrations , *FREE trade , *INTERNATIONALISM - Abstract
In considering Grover Cleveland's life and thought, the author contends that this Democratic president was profoundly conservative. In fact, he meets the criteria for “conservative internationalism,” as defined by Henry Nau. Cleveland was an advocate of solid currency, the government not spending more than it takes in, big business not “railroading” the little guy. And, he fought impediments to free trade, domestically and internationally. Finally, while cautious about American commitments abroad, Grover Cleveland defended an assertive U.S. policy throughout the Western Hemisphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
25. The Role of Synoptic Waves in the Formation and Maintenance of the Western Hemisphere Circulation Pattern.
- Author
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Tan, Xin, Bao, Ming, Hartmann, Dennis L., and Ceppi, Paulo
- Subjects
- *
ATMOSPHERIC circulation , *EDDIES , *TELECONNECTIONS (Climatology) , *ROSSBY waves - Abstract
Previous studies have demonstrated that the NAO, the leading mode of atmospheric low-frequency variability over the North Atlantic, could be linked to northeast Pacific climate variability via the downstream propagation of synoptic waves. In those studies, the NAO and the northeast Pacific climate variability are considered as two separate modes that explain the variance over the North Atlantic sector and the east Pacific-North American sector, respectively. A newly identified low-frequency atmospheric regime-the Western Hemisphere (WH) circulation pattern-provides a unique example of a mode of variability that accounts for variance over the whole North Atlantic-North American-North Pacific sector. The role of synoptic waves in the formation and maintenance of the WH pattern is investigated using the ECMWF reanalysis datasets. Persistent WH events are characterized by the propagation of quasi-stationary Rossby waves across the North Pacific-North American-North Atlantic regions and by associated storm-track anomalies. The eddy-induced low-frequency height anomalies maintain the anomalous low-frequency ridge over the Gulf of Alaska, which induces more equatorward propagation of synoptic waves on its downstream side. The eddy forcing favors the strengthening of the midlatitude jet and the deepening of the mid-to-high-latitude trough over the North Atlantic, whereas the deepening of the trough over eastern North America mostly arises from the quasi-stationary waves propagating from the North Pacific. A case study for the 2013/14 winter is examined to illustrate the downstream development of synoptic waves. The roles of synoptic waves in the formation and maintenance of the WH pattern and in linking the northeast Pacific ridge anomaly with the NAO are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
26. First Report of the Genus Telamoptilia from the Western Hemisphere with Descriptions of Two New Species (Gracillariidae).
- Author
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Davis, Donald R and Davis, Mignon M.
- Subjects
- *
GRACILLARIIDAE , *INSECT larvae , *CLASSIFICATION of insects , *LEAFMINERS - Abstract
The genus Telamoptilia (Acrocercopinae) is reported from the Western Hemisphere for the first time. Two new species, Telamoptilia hibiscivora, from the eastern United States, and T. pavoniae , from western Cuba, are described and illustrated. The larvae initially begin as serpentine leafminers and eventually form mostly full depth blotch leafmines on Malvaceae. Telamoptilia hibiscivora mines the leaves of Hibiscus moscheutos L. and the lavae of T. pavoniae mine Pavonia fructicosa (Mill.), Malvaceae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
27. Making Peace: Next Steps in Colombia.
- Author
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Cantey, Seth and Correa, Ricardo
- Subjects
- *
INSURGENCY , *POLITICAL science - Abstract
After a brief history of the longest-running insurgency in the Western Hemisphere, this article contextualizes recent developments in the transition of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to legal politics in Colombia. The authors also provide policy recommendations for the US Department of Defense. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
28. How Columbus sickened the New World.
- Subjects
- *
DISEASES & history - Abstract
Takes a look at why Native Americans were so vulnerable to the diseases European settlers brought with them to the New World, why they lacked immunity, and why native North Americans had no deadly diseases to infect Europeans. Why disease travelled farther and faster than those who brought it to America; The domestication of animals and evolution of diseases; Lack of crowd diseases in the New World before Columbus arrived. INSET: Replaying the tape of American history..
- Published
- 1992
29. Lenghu on the Tibetan Plateau as an astronomical observing site
- Author
-
Zhengzhou Yan, Bo Zhang, Jun Pan, Fan Yang, Xiaodian Chen, Nian Liu, Fei He, Kun Wang, Anbing Ren, Licai Deng, Jian-Feng Tian, Chunguang Zhang, Qi-Li Liu, and Zhiquan Luo
- Subjects
Western hemisphere ,geography ,Multidisciplinary ,Plateau ,geography.geographical_feature_category ,Precipitable water ,Desert climate ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Elevation ,Context (language use) ,Article ,Astronomical instrumentation ,Altitude ,Sky ,Astronomy and astrophysics ,Physical geography ,Geology ,media_common - Abstract
On Earth’s surface, there are only a handful of high-quality astronomical sites that meet the requirements for very large next-generation facilities. In the context of scientific opportunities in time-domain astronomy, a good site on the Tibetan Plateau will bridge the longitudinal gap between the known best sites1,2 (all in the Western Hemisphere). The Tibetan Plateau is the highest plateau on Earth, with an average elevation of over 4,000 metres, and thus potentially provides very good opportunities for astronomy and particle astrophysics3–5. Here we report the results of three years of monitoring of testing an area at a local summit on Saishiteng Mountain near Lenghu Town in Qinghai Province. The altitudes of the potential locations are between 4,200 and 4,500 metres. An area of over 100,000 square kilometres surrounding Lenghu Town has a lower altitude of below 3,000 metres, with an extremely arid climate and unusually clear local sky (day and night)6. Of the nights at the site, 70 per cent have clear, photometric conditions, with a median seeing of 0.75 arcseconds. The median night temperature variation is only 2.4 degrees Celsius, indicating very stable local surface air. The precipitable water vapour is lower than 2 millimetres for 55 per cent of the night., The results of site testing at a local summit near Lenghu Town in Qinghai Province on the Tibetan Plateau indicate that the site is suitable as an astronomical observing site.
- Published
- 2021
30. Argentyńsko-amerykańska współpraca militarna w okresie dyktatury wojskowej w Argentynie w latach 1976-1983
- Author
-
Magdalena Lisińska
- Subjects
Western hemisphere ,Military junta ,General Earth and Planetary Sciences ,General Environmental Science - Abstract
U.S.‑Argentine military cooperation during the Last Dictatorship, 1976‑1983 The article analyses U.S.‑Argentine military cooperation in the years 1976‑1983. At the time Argentina was ruled by the authoritarian military junta. The first part of the paper presents the broader context of the Argentine‑American cooperation: the circumstances of the seizure of power by the generals in Argentina, characteristics of the Argentine regime, the U.S. response to the 1976 Argentine coup d’état, and the U.S. changing attitude towards the military junta. The second part of the article focuses on the analysis of the U.S. military assistance to Argentina: loans for the purchase of arms, direct financial assistance and signed contracts. The third part of the article elaborates on the two countries’ shared commitment in Central America subregion.
- Published
- 2021
31. Genomic signatures of admixture and selection are shared among populations of Zaprionus indianus across the western hemisphere
- Author
-
Daniel R. Matute, Aaron A. Comeault, and Andreas F. Kautt
- Subjects
Western hemisphere ,Range (biology) ,Introduced species ,Genomics ,Biology ,Biological Evolution ,Zaprionus indianus ,Evolutionary biology ,Africa ,Genetics ,Animals ,Humans ,Drosophilidae ,Eastern Hemisphere ,Introduced Species ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Selection (genetic algorithm) ,Local adaptation - Abstract
Introduced species have become an increasingly common component of biological communities around the world. A central goal in invasion biology is therefore to identify the demographic and evolutionary factors that underlie successful introductions. Here we use whole genome sequences, collected from populations in the native and introduced range of the African fig fly, Zaprionus indianus, to quantify genetic relationships among them, identify potential sources of the introductions, and test for selection at different spatial scales. We find that geographically widespread populations in the western hemisphere are genetically more similar to each other than to lineages sampled across Africa, and that these populations share a mixture of alleles derived from differentiated African lineages. Using patterns of allele-sharing and demographic modelling we show that Z. indinaus have undergone a single expansion across the western hemisphere with admixture between African lineages predating this expansion. We also find support for selection that is shared across populations in the western hemisphere, and in some cases, with a subset of African populations. This suggests either that parallel selection has acted across a large part of Z. indianus's introduced range; or, more parsimoniously, that Z. indianus has experienced selection early on during (or prior-to) its expansion into the western hemisphere. We suggest that the range expansion of Z. indianus has been facilitated by admixture and selection, and that management of this invasion could focus on minimizing future admixture by controlling the movement of individuals within this region rather than between the western and eastern hemisphere.
- Published
- 2021
32. Identification of TB space-time clusters and hotspots in Ouest département, Haiti, 2011–2016
- Author
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J. M. Louis-Jean, M. Richard, Amber Dismer, N. Dear, David L. Fitter, Macarthur Charles, N. Barthelemy, and W. Morose
- Subjects
Western hemisphere ,Space time clusters ,Tb control ,business.industry ,Health Policy ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,Spatial clustering ,Medicine ,business ,Metropolitan area ,Cartography - Abstract
BACKGROUND: Haiti has the highest incidence rate of TB in the Western Hemisphere, with an estimated 170 cases per 100,000 in 2019. Since 2010, control efforts have focused on targeted case-finding activities in urban areas, implementation of rapid molecular diagnostics at high-volume TB centers, and improved reporting. TB analyses are rarely focused on lower geographic units; thus, the major goal was to determine if there were focal areas of TB transmission from 2011 to 2016 at operational geographic levels useful for the National TB Control Program (PNLT).METHODS: We created a geocoder to locate TB cases at the smallest geographic level. Kulldorff’s space-time permutation scan, Anselin Moran’s I, and Getis-Ord Gi* statistics were used to determine the spatial distribution and clusters of TB.RESULTS: With 91% of cases linked using the geocoder, TB clusters were identified each year. Getis-Ord Gi* analysis revealed 14 distinct spatial clusters of high incidences in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area. One hundred retrospective space-time clusters were detected.CONCLUSION: Our study confirms the presence of TB hotspots in the Ouest département, with most clusters in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area. Results will help the PNLT and its partners better design case-finding strategies for these areas.
- Published
- 2021
33. RETAILING IN BANGLADESH: EVOLUTION AND EXPANSION
- Author
-
Mohammed Tareque Aziz
- Subjects
Western hemisphere ,business.industry ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Institution ,Cyclical theory ,Business ,Destinations ,Conflict theories ,Human resources ,Clothing ,Industrial organization ,Front (military) ,media_common - Abstract
Clothing manufacturers in Bangladesh are known around the world for their low prices. As a destination for clothing sourcing from foreign retailers, it offers low labor costs and a large pool of human resources. This makes Dhaka a sourcing hub for global apparel buyers and retailers. Major clothing retailers in top urban destinations across the Western Hemisphere exclusively display these products in front of their customers.In an effort to develop a theoretical framework to explain Bangladesh's retail industry, three main theories can be outlined. Essentially, these theories propose that as a result of external forces (such as environment or conflict), a retail institution will develop into another type or a new type will develop because of a need, conflict, or other factors. When explaining the international expansion of Bangladeshi retailers, we intended to look at three specific theoretical frameworksie; Environmental theory, Cyclical theory and Conflict theory. The article has gone through available literatures to establish relationships between there interrelated theories and justify their selection to explain the evolution and expansion of retail industry in Bangladesh.
- Published
- 2021
34. Flea beetles of the West Indies: the genus Hemilactica Blake, 1937 (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Galerucinae, Alticini)
- Author
-
Alexander S. Konstantinov
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,Flea ,Insecta ,Arthropoda ,Beetle diversity ,Chrysomeloidea ,010607 zoology ,Zoology ,Alticini ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,Genus ,Animalia ,lectotype designation ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Neotropical Region ,West indies ,Western hemisphere ,Flea beetle ,new species ,biology ,Chrysomelidae ,Rugosa ,Dominican Republic ,Galerucinae ,biology.organism_classification ,Biota ,Coleoptera ,Geography ,QL1-991 ,Key (lock) ,Animal Science and Zoology - Abstract
The West Indian flea beetle genus Hemilactica Blake, 1937 is reviewed. Two new species, both from the Dominican Republic are described and illustrated: H. erwinisp. nov. and H. sierramatringarciasp. nov. In addition, images of the holotypes of H. portoricensis Blake, H. pulchella Blake, and H. rugosa Blake are provided. Lactica megaspila (Blake) is transferred to Hemilactica. A lectotype of H. quatuordecimpunctata (Suffrian, 1868) is designated and illustrated, and a key to the Hemilactica species and a key for identification of Hemilactica and related genera occurring in the Western Hemisphere are provided.
- Published
- 2021
35. The Discovery of African Dust Transport to the Western Hemisphere and the Saharan Air Layer: A History
- Author
-
Anthony C. Delany, Joseph M. Prospero, Audrey C. Delany, and Toby N. Carlson
- Subjects
Saharan Air Layer ,Western hemisphere ,Atmospheric Science ,Climatology ,Environmental science - Abstract
There is great interest in wind-borne mineral dust because of the role that dust plays in climate by modulating solar radiation and cloud properties. Today, much research focuses on North Africa because it is Earth’s largest and most persistently active dust source. Moreover, this region is expected to be greatly impacted by climate change, which would affect dust emission rates. Interest in dust was stimulated over 50 years ago when it was discovered that African dust was frequently transported across the Atlantic in great quantities. Here we report on the initial discovery of African dust in the Caribbean Basin. We show that there were three independent “first” discoveries of African dust in the 1950s through the 1960s. In each case, the discoverers were not seeking dust but, rather, they had other research objectives. The meteorological context of African dust transport was first elucidated in 1969 with the characterization of the Saharan air layer (SAL) and its role in effecting the efficient transport of African dust over great distances to the Western Hemisphere. The link between dust transport and African climate was established in the 1970s and 1980s when dust transport to the Caribbean increased greatly following the onset of severe drought in the Sahel. Here we chronicle these events and show how they contributed to our current state of knowledge.
- Published
- 2021
36. Relationship between Boreal Summer Circulation Trend and Destructive Stationary–Transient Wave Interference in the Western Hemisphere
- Author
-
Dong Wan Kim and Sukyoung Lee
- Subjects
Western hemisphere ,Atmospheric Science ,Circulation (fluid dynamics) ,Climatology ,Environmental science ,Transient waves ,Interference (genetic) ,Boreal summer - Abstract
This study examines the role of the latent heating in exciting the upper-level circulation anomaly, which destructively interferes with the climatological stationary wave in the Western Hemisphere during boreal summer. This destructive interference pattern closely resembles the circulation trend that is known to be responsible for surface heat extreme trends. To investigate the mechanism behind this circulation anomaly, daily stationary–transient wave interference and related meteorological variables are analyzed using reanalysis data for the period of 1979–2017. Numerical model simulations forced by reanalysis heating anomalies indicate that the destructive interference pattern is most effectively excited by latent heating anomalies over the North Pacific Ocean and eastern Canada. The North Pacific heating anomaly drives circulation anomalies that not only resemble the destructive interference pattern, but also transport moisture into eastern Canada. The resulting latent heating over eastern Canada drives circulation that further reinforces the destructive interference pattern, which includes a prominent high pressure system over Greenland. Tropical heating also plays a role in driving the destructive interference pattern. On intraseasonal time scales, the destructive interference pattern is preceded by suppressed Indo–western Pacific heating and enhanced North American monsoon heating. On decadal time scales, both heating centers have strengthened, but the trend of the North American monsoon heating was greater than that of the Indo–western Pacific heating. These uneven heating trends help to explain the resemblance between the destructive interference pattern and the circulation trend over the Western Hemisphere.
- Published
- 2021
37. DIPLOMACY ON TRIAL: JUSTICE, U.S. FOREIGN POLICY, AND THE PURSUIT OF PROSECUTION AGAINST LATIN AMERICAN OFFICIALS
- Author
-
Nieto-Gomez, Rodrigo, Darnton, Christopher N., National Security Affairs (NSA), Lee, Alex W., Nieto-Gomez, Rodrigo, Darnton, Christopher N., National Security Affairs (NSA), and Lee, Alex W.
- Abstract
Reissued 25 Apr 2022 with text correction to page 41., Since the inception of the U.S. War on Drugs in the 1970s, the United States has faced the challenge of balancing the interests of justice and diplomacy when dealing with Latin American government officials corrupted by the illicit drug trade. This thesis identifies, categorizes, and assesses examples of U.S. responses to this challenge into a range of options that the United States can take to pursue prosecution against wanted Latin American officials. These options, which range from the least forceful option of foreign prosecution to the most forceful option of using military intervention, each contain different tradeoffs between the reward of prosecuting a high-level actor and the risk of damaging bilateral cooperation. This thesis finds that the United States commonly conducts and should continue to conduct “arrests of opportunity,” which refers to when U.S. law enforcement officials arrest wanted Latin American officials after they enter a U.S. jurisdiction, because it balances legal pragmatism with respecting foreign sovereignty. Additionally, the United States also has an option to “turn a blind eye,” or take no prosecutorial option at all, but this option is a decision best made behind closed doors with serious consideration given to potential political consequences., Captain, United States Air Force, Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.
- Published
- 2022
38. Hemisphere View: Sun Low Clouds.
- Subjects
INTERNATIONAL trade ,EXPORTS ,BUSINESS conditions - Abstract
The article reports on the trade relations of the U.S. with countries in the Western Hemisphere. The customers in this region of the world purchase half of all the U.S.'s commercial exports suppliers in Canada and Latin America. It is believed that by the year 1975 business will be doubled. A brief information on the business conditions in these countries is also presented including Canada, Mexico and Brazil. The U.S. is making more than half of the commercial exports to these countries.
- Published
- 1954
39. First record of Tomostele musaecola (Morelet, 1860) (Gastropoda: Eupulmonata: Streptaxidae) from the Dominican Republic and its current distribution in the Western Hemisphere
- Author
-
Sara Mateo, Altagracia Espinosa-Jorge, and Oniel Alvarez-Abreu
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,Western hemisphere ,Urban park ,Current distribution ,biology ,Ecology ,010604 marine biology & hydrobiology ,biology.organism_classification ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,Geography ,Gastropoda ,Eupulmonata ,Alien species ,Streptaxidae - Abstract
The presence of alien mollusc species in an ecosystem has a negative impact on the endemic mollusc fauna and can result in economic losses. The West African land snail Tomostele musaecola (Morelet) was previously recorded from numerous localities in the Western Hemisphere. In this paper, we provide a new locality of this malacophagous snail in the Dominican Republic. The species is recorded from an urban park named Parque Ecológico Las Caobas in the province of San Cristóbal. In order to update the current distribution of T. musaecola in the Americas we examined the literature and the online database of the Invertebrate Zoology Collection of the Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH); when available, citizen science data were also used. A map is provided to illustrate the current distribution of the species in the Americas. The total number of records in the Western Hemisphere is 51, and 26 of them are part of this review. More studies are needed on the interaction of this species with the native land snails. Trade and planting of ornamental species in urban parks facilitate the establishment and expansion of alien molluscs.
- Published
- 2021
40. Framing the Nation, Claiming the Hemisphere
- Author
-
Heide, Markus
- Subjects
Western hemisphere ,Early U.S. ,Cosmopolitanism ,Imperialism ,Nationalism ,Travel writing ,bic Book Industry Communication::2 Language qualifiers::2A Indo-European languages::2AB English ,bic Book Industry Communication::H Humanities::HB History ,bic Book Industry Communication::1 Geographical Qualifiers::1K The Americas::1KL Latin America ,bic Book Industry Communication::D Literature & literary studies::DS Literature: history & criticism::DSB Literary studies: general ,bic Book Industry Communication::D Literature & literary studies::DS Literature: history & criticism::DSB Literary studies: general::DSBH Literary studies: from c 1900 -::DSBH5 Literary studies: post-colonial literature ,bic Book Industry Communication::2 Language qualifiers::2A Indo-European languages::2AB English::2ABM American English - Abstract
Travel reports have shaped the emergence of early U.S. culture and its “geographical imagination” (David Harvey). Framing the Nation, Claiming the Hemisphere examines the trans-national imagination in travel reports by American authors written between 1770 and 1830. Its range is from John and William Bartram’s pre-revolutionary travelogues and Jonathan Carver’s exploratory report on his journey in the Great Lakes region (1778), to Olaudah Equiano’s The Interesting Narrative (1789), to early nineteenth-century reports, such as Anne Newport Royall’s Sketches of History, Life, and Manners, in the United States (1826) and William Duane’s A Visit to Colombia (1826). The chapters of the monograph concentrate on writing about journeys to the North American ‘interior‘, the Caribbean, Latin America, and Africa. The primary sources were written between the beginning of the struggle against British rule, following the end of the French and Indian War, and the beginning of Andrew Jackson’s presidency. The decades between 1770 and 1830 were times of shifting colonial boundaries, nation-building, and emergent discourses of collective identification in North America. The study reads travel writing in the context of the identity-generating discourses of nation-building, imperialism, anti-colonialism, and cosmopolitanism. In contrast to scholarship that engages a notion of Americanness based primarily on ‘domestic’ outlooks and experiences such as westward expansion (the frontier), the study highlights the function of categories such as the outside world, neighboring nations, and colonial empires in the emergence of U.S. national literary imagination. How does a shift in focus from a discursive ‘domestication’ of North American space to an interest in the Othering of what lies beyond national borders affect the understanding of the emergent national self? These are the kind of questions that begin by seeing the transnational as a fundamental element of national emergence. The monograph ultimately works to demonstrate how travel writing – with very few exceptions – supports and affirms processes of nation-building. Thus, the national narrative evolves from representations of contact scenarios in North America, in the transatlantic world, and around the globe. Without ignoring the roles of national mythology, the analysis concentrates on the continual co-existence of fluid notions of both ‘home’ and ‘abroad’ in times of shifting geographical borders. From such a perspective, travel writing not only contributes to shaping the national imagination and its conceptions of superiority but is also complicit in territorial expansionism and its subjugation of conquered peoples and their respective cultural histories. The present study emphasizes the significance of accounts of non-voluntary movement that embrace captivity narratives, slave narratives, sailor narratives, and reports by individuals who had access to neither publishing nor public culture. Accounts by such authors have often been published posthumously, promoted by printers, professional authors, or scholars. The central focus of analysis, however, examines how American self-fashioning and self-positioning in the world appear in the travel writing of the period. The trans-national imagination engages in a symbolic construction both of the collective national ‘Self’ and of the outside world as the nation’s ‘Other.’ Travel writing functions as a tool in the nation-building process of the United States: a tool that reflects the mindset of the time, a tool that imagines a national community, and a tool that shapes the mindset of a people. The study maintains that travel writing, as a literary format, negotiates the triangular relationship between American post-revolutionary nation-building, continued European colonial expansion in the Americas, and the ongoing existence of indigenous nations. Underlying each of the readings is a common thesis that travel writing defines and negotiates borders, limits, and territorial expansion, and that it does so within the parameters of nation-building.
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
41. Fear thy neighbor: Spillovers from economic policy uncertainty
- Author
-
Francesco Grigoli, Nina Biljanovska, and Martina Hengge
- Subjects
Western hemisphere ,Private consumption ,Variables ,Economic policy ,media_common.quotation_subject ,05 social sciences ,Geography, Planning and Development ,Economic agents ,Development ,Investment (macroeconomics) ,Econometric model ,Politics ,Real gross domestic product ,Spillover effect ,Rest (finance) ,0502 economics and business ,Economics ,General Earth and Planetary Sciences ,050207 economics ,China ,General Environmental Science ,media_common ,050205 econometrics - Abstract
High levels of economic policy uncertainty in various parts of the world revamped the de- bate about its impact on economic activity. With increasingly stronger economic, fi nancial, and political ties among countries, economic agents have more reasons to be vigilant of for- eign economic policy. Employing heterogeneous panel structural vector autoregressions, this paper tests for spillovers from economic policy uncertainty on other countries' economic ac- tivity. Furthermore, using local projections, the paper zooms in on shocks originating in the United States, Europe, and China. Our results suggest that economic policy uncertainty re- duces growth in real output, private consumption, and private investment, and that spillovers from abroad account for about two-thirds of the negative effect. Moreover, uncertainty in the United States, Europe, and China reduces economic activity in the rest of the world, with the effects being mostly felt in Europe and the Western Hemisphere.
- Published
- 2021
42. NUIST ESM v3 Data Submission to CMIP6
- Author
-
Yan Bao, Young-Min Yang, Qiong He, Jian Cao, Libin Ma, Fei Liu, Hua Deng, Juan Li, Haikun Zhao, Bo Wang, Bin Wang, and Jing Chai
- Subjects
Western hemisphere ,Atmospheric Science ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,Northern Hemisphere ,Tropics ,010502 geochemistry & geophysics ,Data submission ,01 natural sciences ,Climatology ,Paleoclimatology ,Environmental science ,Eastern Hemisphere ,Precipitation ,Southern Hemisphere ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences - Abstract
This paper introduces the experimental designs and outputs of the Diagnostic, Evaluation and Characterization of Klima (DECK), historical, Scenario Model Intercomparison Project (MIP), and Paleoclimate MIP (PMIP) experiments from the Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology Earth System Model version 3 (NESM3). Results show that NESM3 reasonably simulates the modern climate and the major internal modes of climate variability. In the Scenario MIP experiment, changes in the projected surface air temperature (SAT) show robust “Northern Hemisphere (NH) warmer than Southern Hemisphere (SH)” and “land warmer than ocean” patterns, as well as an El Niño-like warming over the tropical Pacific. Changes in the projected precipitation exhibit “NH wetter than SH” and “eastern hemisphere gets wetter and western hemisphere gets drier” patterns over the tropics. These precipitation patterns are driven by circulation changes owing to the inhomogeneous warming patterns. Two PMIP experiments show enlarged seasonal cycles of SAT and precipitation over the NH due to the seasonal redistribution of solar radiation. Changes in the climatological mean SAT, precipitation, and ENSO amplitudes are consistent with the results from PMIP4 models. The NESM3 outputs are available on the Earth System Grid Federation nodes for data users.
- Published
- 2021
43. Coccidioidomycosis: a review
- Author
-
Rasha Kuran, Rupam Sharma, Arash Heidari, Isabel Fong, and Royce H. Johnson
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Antifungal Agents ,Clinical Sciences ,030106 microbiology ,Review ,Asymptomatic ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,Vaccine Related ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Biodefense ,publishing ,medicine ,Animals ,Humans ,pneumonia ,Disseminated disease ,030212 general & internal medicine ,General Clinical Medicine ,Western hemisphere ,Coccidioidomycosis ,business.industry ,Prevention ,Integumentary disease ,General Medicine ,medicine.disease ,Dermatology ,Miscellaneous ,Infectious Diseases ,Emerging Infectious Diseases ,Arthroconidium ,medicine.symptom ,Infection ,business ,Pneumonia (non-human) ,Meningitis - Abstract
Coccidioidomycosis is a fungal infection of the Western hemisphere that is endemic to the soil in areas with limited rainfall. Human and animal infections result with inhalation of arthroconidia. Most often, this is an asymptomatic event. When illness occurs, it is primarily a pneumonic presentation. A small minority of infections eventuate in disseminated disease. Predominately, this presents as meningitis or osteoarticular or integumentary disease. Treatment may not be required for the mildest illness. Azoles are commonly prescribed. Severe infections may require amphotericin B.
- Published
- 2021
44. Twenty Years After UNSCR 1325: Equal Access to Military Education in the Western Hemisphere?
- Author
-
Eva María Rey Pinto and Cornelia Weiss
- Subjects
Western hemisphere ,021110 strategic, defence & security studies ,Member states ,Political science ,05 social sciences ,0211 other engineering and technologies ,0507 social and economic geography ,Capacity building ,Autoethnography ,02 engineering and technology ,Security council ,Public administration ,050703 geography - Abstract
Twenty years after the unanimous adoption of UNSCR 1325 and the beginning of the women, peace and security agenda, the UN Security Council, for the first time, explicitly addressed equal access to education for uniformed female personnel. On August 28, 2020, the UN Security Council issued resolution 2538, and with it, the need by Member States to provide equal access to education, training and capacity building to all uniformed women. This paper explores the importance of providing equal access to education for uniformed women, it identifies barriers erected against women’s access to education in the defense sector in the Western Hemisphere, and it recommends proactive measures to eliminate barriers. This research is supported by a review of primary and secondary sources, autoethnography, and an analysis of data from countries such as the United States, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Peru, and Brazil.
- Published
- 2020
45. Суринамские мароны: исторические особенности формирования этносоциальной группы во фронтирном обществе
- Author
-
Andrey A. Boltaevskiy
- Subjects
Western hemisphere ,History ,lcsh:History (General) and history of Europe ,Compromise ,media_common.quotation_subject ,суринам ,рабство ,нидерланды ,Maroon ,Creolization ,плантации ,lcsh:Social Sciences ,lcsh:H ,lcsh:D ,Active phase ,Ethnography ,мароны ,Ethnology ,креолы ,сегрегация ,media_common ,борьба - Abstract
The subject of this research is the historical features of the formation of the Surinamese Maroons. The arrival of Europeans in the Western Hemisphere contributed to radical socio-demographic changes, including as a result of the massive import of African slaves. Escapes from plantations became one of the common forms of resistance by slaves, during which Maroon communities arose in various regions of America (Brazil, Mexico, Suriname, Jamaica). Surinamese Maroons who managed to adapt to new conditions during the first half of the 18th century turned out to be a serious obstacle to the development of the plantation economy, forcing the slave owners to agree to compromise agreements. The author, based on a wide range of foreign sources and research, carries out a historical and ethnographic review of the origin and active phase of the formation of the ethnosocial group of Surinamese Maroons, seeks to show the features of the socio-cultural environment, as well as the contradictions between Maroons, Indians and Europeans. The territorial and geographical features of Suriname led to a much smaller scale of hostilities by the Maroons compared to the Jamaican Maroons, who were in a limited island space. The study analyzed the distinctive features of the Maroon communities. The confrontation between the Maroons and the colonialists ended at the beginning of the 19th century as a result of the gradual creolization of the African mass of slaves, but its consequences have not been overcome until the present day.
- Published
- 2020
46. Establishment of Eichlinia gen.n. for the Western hemisphere Melittiini (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae), with a catalogue of the genus
- Author
-
Oleg G. Gorbunov
- Subjects
Lepidoptera genitalia ,Western hemisphere ,biology ,Genus ,Insect Science ,Melittiini ,Zoology ,biology.organism_classification ,Sesiidae ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics - Published
- 2020
47. Rapid colorimetric detection of Zika virus from serum and urine specimens by reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP).
- Author
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Calvert, Amanda E., Biggerstaff, Brad J., Tanner, Nathan A., Lauterbach, Molly, and Lanciotti, Robert S.
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ZIKA virus infections , *URINALYSIS , *COLORIMETRIC analysis , *GENE amplification , *DIAGNOSTIC imaging , *DIAGNOSIS - Abstract
Zika virus (ZIKV) has emerged as a major global public health concern in the last two years due to its link as a causative agent of human birth defects. Its rapid expansion into the Western Hemisphere as well as the ability to be transmitted from mother to fetus, through sexual transmission and possibly through blood transfusions has increased the need for a rapid and expansive public health response to this unprecedented epidemic. A non-invasive and rapid ZIKV diagnostic screening assay that can be performed in a clinical setting throughout pregnancy is vital for prenatal care of women living in areas of the world where exposure to the virus is possible. To meet this need we have developed a sensitive and specific reverse transcriptase loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assay to detect ZIKV RNA in urine and serum with a simple visual detection. RT-LAMP results were shown to have a limit of detection 10-fold higher than qRT-PCR. As little as 1.2 RNA copies/μl was detected by RT-LAMP from a panel of 178 diagnostic specimens. The assay was shown to be highly specific for ZIKV RNA when tested with diagnostic specimens positive for dengue virus (DENV) and chikungunya virus (CHIKV). The assay described here illustrates the potential for a fast, reliable, sensitive and specific assay for the detection of ZIKV from urine or serum that can be performed in a clinical or field setting with minimal equipment and technological expertise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2017
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48. The signature of human pressure history on the biogeography of body mass in tetrapods.
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Rapacciuolo, Giovanni, Marin, Julie, Costa, Gabriel C., Helmus, Matthew R., Behm, Jocelyn E., Brooks, Thomas M., Hedges, S. Blair, Radeloff, Volker C., Young, Bruce E., Graham, Catherine H., and Lyons, Kathleen
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BIOGEOGRAPHY , *BODY mass index , *TETRAPODS , *ANIMAL communities , *SPATIAL variation - Abstract
Aim Examining the biogeography of body size is crucial for understanding how animal communities are assembled and maintained. In tetrapods, body size varies predictably with temperature, moisture, productivity seasonality and topographical complexity. Although millennial-scale human pressures are known to have led to the extinction of primarily large-bodied tetrapods, human pressure history is often ignored in studies of body size that focus on extant species. Here, we analyse 11,377 tetrapod species of the Western Hemisphere to test whether millennial-scale human pressures have left an imprint on contemporary body mass distributions throughout the tetrapod clade. Location Western Hemisphere. Time period Contemporary. Major taxa studied Tetrapods (birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles). Methods We mapped the distribution of assemblage-level median tetrapod body mass at a resolution of 110 km across the Western Hemisphere. We then generated multivariate models of median body mass as a function of temperature, moisture, productivity seasonality and topographical complexity, as well as two variables capturing the history of human population density and human-induced land conversion over the past 12,000 years. We controlled for both spatial and phylogenetic autocorrelation effects on body mass-environment relationships. Results Human pressures explain a small but significant portion of geographical variation in median body mass that cannot be explained by ecological constraints alone. Overall, the median body mass of tetrapod assemblages is lower than expected in areas with a longer history of high human population density and land conversion, but there are important differences among tetrapod classes. Main conclusions At this broad scale, the effect of human pressure history on tetrapod body mass is low relative to that of ecology. However, ignoring spatial variation in the history of human pressure is likely to lead to bias in studies of the present-day functional composition of tetrapod assemblages, at least in areas that have long been influenced by humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2017
- Full Text
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49. The Equivalent Barotropic Structure of Waves in the Tropical Atmosphere in the Western Hemisphere.
- Author
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Yang, Gui-Ying and Hoskins, Brian J.
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ROSSBY waves , *ATMOSPHERIC circulation , *BAROTROPIC equation , *BAROCLINICITY , *ATMOSPHERIC waves , *ZONAL winds ,TROPICAL climate - Abstract
Tropical waves are generally considered to have a baroclinic structure. However, analysis of ERA-Interim and NOAA OLR data for the period 1979-2010 shows that in the equatorial and Northern Hemisphere near-equatorial regions in the tropical Western Hemisphere (WH), westward- and eastward-moving transients, with zonal wavenumbers 2-10 and periods of 2-30 days, have little tilt in the vertical and can be said to be equivalent barotropic. The westward-moving transients in the equatorial region have large projections onto the westward mixed Rossby-gravity (WMRG) wave and those in the near-equatorial region project onto the gravest Rossby wave and also the WMRG. The eastward-moving transients have large projections onto the Doppler-shifted eastward-moving versions of these waves. To examine how such equivalent barotropic structures are possible in the tropics, terms in the vorticity equation are analyzed. It is deduced that waves must have westward intrinsic phase speeds and can exist in the WH with its large westerly vertical shear. Throughout the depth, the advection of vorticity by the zonal flow and the β term are large and nearly cancel. In the upper troposphere the zonal advection by the strong westerly flow wins and the residual is partially balanced by vortex shrinking associated with divergence above a region of ascent. Below the region of ascent the β term wins and is partially balanced by vortex stretching associated with the convergence. An equivalent barotropic structure is therefore maintained in a similar manner to higher latitudes. The regions of ascent are usually associated with deep convection and, consistently, WH waves directly connected to tropical convection are also found to be equivalent barotropic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
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50. Zika Virus infection of rhesus macaques leads to viral persistence in multiple tissues.
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Hirsch, Alec J., Smith, Jessica L., Haese, Nicole N., Broeckel, Rebecca M., Parkins, Christopher J., Kreklywich, Craig, DeFilippis, Victor R., Denton, Michael, Smith, Patricia P., Messer, William B., Colgin, Lois M. A., Ducore, Rebecca M., Grigsby, Peta L., Hennebold, Jon D., Swanson, Tonya, Legasse, Alfred W., Axthelm, Michael K., MacAllister, Rhonda, Wiley, Clayton A., and Nelson, Jay A.
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ZIKA virus infections , *MICROCEPHALY , *FETAL abnormalities , *LABORATORY monkeys - Abstract
Zika virus (ZIKV), an emerging flavivirus, has recently spread explosively through the Western hemisphere. In addition to symptoms including fever, rash, arthralgia, and conjunctivitis, ZIKV infection of pregnant women can cause microcephaly and other developmental abnormalities in the fetus. We report herein the results of ZIKV infection of adult rhesus macaques. Following subcutaneous infection, animals developed transient plasma viremia and viruria from 1–7 days post infection (dpi) that was accompanied by the development of a rash, fever and conjunctivitis. Animals produced a robust adaptive immune response to ZIKV, although systemic cytokine response was minimal. At 7 dpi, virus was detected in peripheral nervous tissue, multiple lymphoid tissues, joints, and the uterus of the necropsied animals. Notably, viral RNA persisted in neuronal, lymphoid and joint/muscle tissues and the male and female reproductive tissues through 28 to 35 dpi. The tropism and persistence of ZIKV in the peripheral nerves and reproductive tract may provide a mechanism of subsequent neuropathogenesis and sexual transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
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