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PubMedDate not supplied

[Study of yeast flora of medical interest on the beach of Saint Anne in Guadeloupe].

An investigation of the yeast flora of medical interest was performed in sand and sea water of Sainte-Anne beach, in Guadeloupe. Yeast species of the genera: Candida, Torulopsis, Trichosporon, have been isolated, concurrently in those two environments; some of them were found in very close proportions. From this part, the authors consider the eventuality of a same source for these yeasts. The absence of Candida albicans corroborate the hypothesis in the preliminary study of the margin origin of the isolated yeasts.

Bathing Beaches↗
PubMed2001

Readiness to change sun-protective behaviour.

The incidence of malignant melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers has increased rapidly in Sweden during the last 20 years. The best-known way to revert this trend is primary prevention. Matching health messages to readiness to change in the population may enhance the effect of community-based prevention. The aims of this study were to investigate readiness to change sun-protective behaviour in two groups (visitors to mobile screening units and beach-goers) and to test a single-item algorithm in assessing the stage of change in sun-protective behaviour. Seven hundred and forty-two visitors to the mobile screening units and 202 individuals on nearby beaches answered a short questionnaire. The assessment of readiness to change was based on stages of change in sun-protective behaviour modified from the Transtheoretical Model of Behaviour Change. As expected, the visitors to the screening units were more often in action/maintenance stages than the beach group for most sun-protective behaviours. In conclusion, the single-item algorithm method appears to be sensitive to assess readiness to change sun-protective behaviour, based on the Transtheoretical Model of Behaviour Change. This method can be incorporated into population surveys and may aid in developing successful skin cancer prevention programmes.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Molecular and physiological evaluation of subtropical environmental isolates of Acanthamoeba spp., causal agent of Acanthamoeba keratitis.

Previous molecular examination of Acanthamoeba spp. has resulted in the determination of distinct genotypes in this genus (designated T1-T12, T14). Genotype T4 has been responsible for the majority of cases of Acanthamoeba keratitis. Here we examine the relative abundance of environmental T4 isolates on beaches and ask whether they have temperature and salinity tolerances that could enhance pathogenicity. Twenty-four Acanthamoeba strains were isolated from beach sand (n = 20), soil (n = 3), and tap water (n = 1) in south Florida. Phylogenetic analysis identified 19 of 24 isolates as T4, the Acanthamoeba keratitis-associated genotype. The remaining isolates were genotype T5 (4) and T11 (1). Nearly all beach isolates were genotype T4, whereas the tap water and soil isolates were mostly T5. All amoebae grew at 0, 1.0, and 2.0% salt and 19 of 20 beach isolates also grew at 3.2%. No soil or tap-water acanthamoebae reproduced at 3.2%. All isolates grew at 37 degrees C and two (T5) at 42 degrees C. Little correlation existed between beach location, salt-tolerance, and genetic relatedness. Overall, the large majority of environmental isolates obtained were genotype T4, suggesting it may be the most common genotype in this environment and could be a potential source of Acanthamoeba keratitis infections.

Acanthamoeba↗
PubMed2006

Characterization and source of oil contamination on the beaches and seabird corpses, Sable Island, Nova Scotia, 1996-2005.

During April 1996-May 2005, 2343 oiled seabird corpses were recorded in beach surveys conducted on Sable Island, Nova Scotia. One hundred eighty-three samples of oil were collected from the beaches and from the feathers of bird corpses. Gas chromatographic (GC/FID) analysis was used to identify generic oil type and likely marine source. During this period, at least 74 marine oil discharge events were probably responsible for beached pelagic tar and contamination of seabird corpses found on Sable Island, of which 77.0% were crude oils, 14.9% were fuel oils, and 8.1% were bilge oil mixtures. While fuel and bilge oils may be discharged by all vessel and platform types, crude oil discharges are associated with tanker operations. This study demonstrates that oiling of the sea from tankers remains a serious wildlife issue in the Northwest Atlantic.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Mechanisms of enrichment of natural radioactivity along the beaches of the Camargue, France.

A field study was carried out along the Golfe du Lion, that focussed on the beaches of the Camargue, to locate the main areas where enriched U and Th are found, and to better understand the processes that concentrate radioactivity on beaches. Indeed enriched areas are observed on some Camargue beaches, where high-dose rates are recorded due to excess U and Th activity (>1000 Bq kg(-1)). The coastline was mapped by means of an aerial gamma survey and the results indicated that the main actinides deposits occurred in the Camargue area. This concentrating effect is possibly due to a greater sedimentary contribution from the River Rhone relative to other minor Mediterranean rivers. Across the along-shore profile, the variability in actinides observed at the eastern part of Beauduc spit is mainly explained by variations in heavy and light mineral contents. Such variability can be accounted for by redistribution of the sand caused by erosion/deposition processes occurring in the eastern part of the spit. Further parameters such as grain size and heavy minerals content were studied in connection with the distribution of U, Th and (40)K in the field at a more localised level (i.e. across-shore beach profile). The <200-micro m fraction contains more than 50% of the radioactivity and heavy minerals (especially zircon) are the main contributors to the high levels of external radiation. Therefore the enriched areas, where U and Th exceed 1000 Bq kg(-1), presumably result from the sorting of sand grains according to their size and density.

Background Radiation↗
PubMed2006

Regional public health cost estimates of contaminated coastal waters: a case study of gastroenteritis at southern California beaches.

We present estimates of annual public health impacts, both illnesses and cost of illness, attributable to excess gastrointestinal illnesses caused by swimming in contaminated coastal waters at beaches in southern California. Beach-specific enterococci densities are used as inputs to two epidemiological dose-response models to predict the risk of gastrointestinal illness at 28 beaches spanning 160 km of coastline in Los Angeles and Orange Counties. We use attendance data along with the health cost of gastrointestinal illness to estimate the number of illnesses among swimmers and their likely economic impact. We estimate that between 627,800 and 1,479,200 excess gastrointestinal illnesses occur at beaches in Los Angeles and Orange Counties each year. Using a conservative health cost of gastroenteritis, this corresponds to an annual economic loss of dollars 21 or dollars 51 million depending upon the underlying epidemiological model used (in year 2000 dollars). Results demonstrate that improving coastal water quality could result in a reduction of gastrointestinal illnesses locally and a concurrent savings in expenditures on related health care costs.

Bathing Beaches↗
PubMed2003

Sanitary quality of marine sediments and sands from an Italian beach.

Microbiological surveys were carried out on marine sands and sediments collected at a sandy beach along a coastal area close to Rome, Italy. Low densities of faecal indicator bacteria were recovered, and among them enterococci outnumbered the coliforms. The group of staphylococci was in a fairly constant concentration throughout the period of sampling. Some statistically significant correlations were calculated between yeasts and moulds, Escherichia coli and enterococci and between the latter and Clostridium spores. The data obtained could be a reference point for further studies.

Bacteria↗
PubMed2006

Risk factors for water sports-related cervical spine injuries.

BACKGROUND: To examine risk factors associated with water sports-related cervical spine injuries (WSCSI). METHODS: A retrospective analysis of all patients admitted for WSCSI from 1993 to 1997 was performed. The severity of cervical spine injury was assessed by review of medical records and imaging studies. Mechanisms of injury and activities at the time of injury were noted to determine risk factors for cervical spine injuries caused by wave forced impacts (WFI) from activities such as bodysurfing and body boarding. These risks were compared with injuries incurred by shallow water dives (SWD). RESULTS: One hundred patients were analyzed (mean age, 36 years old); 89% were male, 62% were nonresidents of Hawaii, and 75% had a large build. Patients without radiographic evidence of fractures, subluxations, and/or dislocations (n = 26) were significantly older (48 versus 32 years old, p < 0.0001) with a higher rate of pre-existing cervical spine abnormalities (65% versus 15%, p < 0.0001) compared with the remainder of patients (n = 74). Seventy-seven percent of WFI involved nonresidents. The mean age of WFI patients was significantly older than patients involved in SWD (42 versus 25 years). Ninety-six percent of wave-related accidents occurred at moderately to severely rated shorebreak beaches. CONCLUSIONS: Wave forced impacts of the head with the ocean bottom typically occurred at moderate to severe shorebreaks, and involved inexperienced, large-build males in their 40s. Spinal stenosis and degenerative spondylosis may increase the risk of cervical spine injury associated with WFI due to the increased risk of neck hyperextension and hyperflexion impacts inherent to this activity.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Bacteriological water quality along the Tijuana-Ensenada, Baja California, México shoreline.

This survey was part of a Binational Program (Mexico-United States) in microbiological water quality, with a goal to assess the shoreline bacteriological water quality from Tijuana to Ensenada, Mexico. Samples were collected at 29 sites (19 beaches and 10 outfalls), from the United States border to Punta Banda, Baja California, during summer (1998) and winter (1999). Total coliforms, fecal coliforms and enterococci were used as bacterial indicators. Standard methods were used for total and fecal coliforms, while the Enterolert quick method (IDEXX) was used for the enterococci. Compared with outfalls, the beaches exceeded water quality standards by a small percent, 25.3% in summer and 17% in winter. For outfalls, the percentage of shoreline that exceeded bacterial indicator thresholds had a minor value in summer (32.7%) than in winter (50%). Sites near wastewater discharges had the lowest quality and did not meet the microbiological water quality criteria for recreational use.

Bathing Beaches↗
PubMed2004

Experimental study on pollutant movement in surf zone.

The experiments on pollutant movement in surf zone were conducted on the two gentle beaches (with slope of 1:100 and 1:40, respectively), for diverse wave cases. The movement contours and direction of pollutants, under the action of regular and random waves with diverse wave amplitudes, were provided and studied in this paper. It was shown that, due to complicated hydrodynamics in surf zone, the pollutant movement state is quite complicated and different from that in pure current zone.

Bathing Beaches↗
PubMed2005

Concentration of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in beached resin pellets: variability among individual particles and regional differences.

Concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in beached resin pellets were examined to reveal variability between individual particles and differences among beaches. Fifty-five resin pellets from a beach in Tokyo were individually analyzed for PCBs, and showed concentrations ranging from <28 to 2,300 ng/g. This indicates that concentrations are highly variable between particles. Among several characters, discoloration (e.g., yellowing) had a positive relationship with PCB concentration: discolored pellets contained more PCBs than others on most of the beaches sampled. Given the color-selective ingestion of food by some organisms, this may be ecotoxicologically important. Measurements of samples from 47 beaches in Japan showed regional differences in PCB concentrations in resin pellets consistent with those in mussels. Sporadic high concentrations of PCBs were also found in pellets from remote islands, suggesting that resin pellets could be the dominant route of exposure to the contaminants at remote sites. The similarity of PCB concentrations between resin pellets and mussels suggests a potential use of resin pellets to monitor pollution in seawater.

Bathing Beaches↗
PubMed2003

Contact and the ecology of racial division: some varieties of informal segregation.

The analysis of contact between groups must proceed from an uncomfortable realization. Notwithstanding its formal abolition in many societies, segregation remains pervasive as an informal mechanism for ordering and defining social relations. Social psychologists' tendency to investigate contact under 'optimal' conditions may obscure this fact. This article discusses an observational study that attempted to chart some varieties of informal segregation on an 'open' beach in post-apartheid South Africa. The study used a novel methodology to plot the ecology of racial distribution within this public setting over time. The analysis, which included measures of dissimilarity (D) and exposure (P), indicated that processes of segregation operated in various ways to limit the opportunities for racial contact. Follow-up interviews conducted with 'white' holiday-makers suggested that such processes embodied shared assumptions about the 'proper' socio-spatial organization of race relations. Some implications for research on the contact hypothesis are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Evaluation of a rapid, quantitative real-time PCR method for enumeration of pathogenic Candida cells in water.

Quantitative PCR (QPCR) technology, incorporating fluorigenic 5' nuclease (TaqMan) chemistry, was utilized for the specific detection and quantification of six pathogenic species of Candida (C. albicans, C. tropicalis, C. krusei, C. parapsilosis, C. glabrata and C. lusitaniae) in water. Known numbers of target cells were added to distilled and tap water samples, filtered, and disrupted directly on the membranes for recovery of DNA for QPCR analysis. The assay's sensitivities were between one and three cells per filter. The accuracy of the cell estimates was between 50 and 200% of their true value (95% confidence level). In similar tests with surface water samples, the presence of PCR inhibitory compounds necessitated further purification and/or dilution of the DNA extracts, with resultant reductions in sensitivity but generally not in quantitative accuracy. Analyses of a series of freshwater samples collected from a recreational beach showed positive correlations between the QPCR results and colony counts of the corresponding target species. Positive correlations were also seen between the cell quantities of the target Candida species detected in these analyses and colony counts of Enterococcus organisms. With a combined sample processing and analysis time of less than 4 h, this method shows great promise as a tool for rapidly assessing potential exposures to waterborne pathogenic Candida species from drinking and recreational waters and may have applications in the detection of fecal pollution.

Bathing Beaches↗
PubMed2006

Inter-seasonal maintenance of individual nest site preferences in hawksbill sea turtles.

Within a single population of hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata), we found a behavioral polymorphism for maternal nest site choice with respect to beach microhabitat characteristics. Some females preferred to nest in littoral forest and in places with overstory vegetation cover, and others preferred to nest in more open, deforested areas. Nest site choice was consistent within and between nesting seasons two years apart. This was not a result of females simply returning to the same location along the shoreline; beach sections used by individual turtles varied between seasons. Nest site choice was not influenced by changes in beach environment (e.g., beach width and foliage cover) or by changes in females' reproductive output (e.g., clutch size), suggesting that fidelity to particular microhabitats is a major determinant of the observed nesting patterns. Because hawksbills exhibit temperature-dependent sex determination, if the behavioral polymorphism in nest site choice has a genetic basis, as is plausible, then this would have implications for sex ratio evolution and offspring survival. By taking an individual-based approach to the study of maternal behavior we reveal previously overlooked individual variation and hope to provide some impetus for more detailed studies of nest site choice.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Field observations of dilution on the Ipanema Beach outfall.

Field observations of the Ipanema Beach, Rio de Janeiro, ocean sewage outfall are presented. Measurements of dilution and other wastefield characteristics were obtained by adding dye tracer to the effluent and measuring in-situ. Simultaneous measurements of oceanographic conditions were made by Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers, thermistor strings, and profiling instruments. Four experiments were performed, two during unstratified conditions when the plume was surfacing, and two during conditions of strong stratification when the plume was submerged. The minimum dilution varied from 30 to 130. The measurements reflect the worst case conditions as the campaigns were all made for weak currents.

Algorithms↗
PubMed1993

Ecology of the biting midge Leptoconops albiventris in French Polynesia. II. Location of breeding sites and larval microdistribution.

The habitat of the immature stages of Leptoconops albiventris de Meijere (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) was found to be in beach sand located above the high tide level near creeping vegetation. The immatures were restricted to a narrow strip and most occurred in the upper 6 cm of sand. Within a given breeding site, larvae were aggregated in their distribution. Eggs were layed on the bare sand surface, from which the larvae apparently dispersed to the plant-covered sand and to deeper strata, before returning to the surface for pupation and emergence. The nature of these breeding sites suggests that it is possible to control L. albiventris populations. Recovery of immature stages from sand samples by a flotation method is described.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Are strandline meiofaunal assemblages affected by a once-only mechanical beach cleaning? Experimental findings.

The increasing usage of sandy beaches as recreational resources has forced regional authorities of many tourist countries to remove all litter of fabricated origin and natural wrack from the beach. Consequently, a variety of heavy equipment has been developed during the last decades and is now used almost daily at many beaches. A field experiment, following a 'before-after-control-impact' (BACI) design, was conducted at the strandline of De Panne (Belgium) to investigate the impacts of mechanical beach cleaning on the strandline-associated meiofaunal assemblages, focussing on the free-living nematodes. Natural strandline assemblages were exposed to a one-off 5 cm deep mechanical beach cleaning and observed for 24 h. Differences between cleaned plots and those from control plots in terms of decreased percentage of organic matter, decreased total abundance and changed community structure were noticed from immediately after the experimental cleaning onwards and recovered to initial values after the following high water. Any impacts due to cleaning on species richness, Pielou's evenness and taxonomic diversity were shown to be minor in relation to the daily changes. Recolonization in the cleaned sediments is assumed to occur from the underlying sediments initiated by the elevated water table during the rising tide.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1988

Drowning and near-drowning on Australian beaches patrolled by life-savers: a 10-year study, 1973-1983.

Resuscitation report-forms of the Surf Life-Saving Association of Australia, for the period 1973-1983, were analysed. During this period there were 262 immersion victims at beaches that were patrolled by life-savers. Of these, 162 victims survived, some of whom received expired-air resuscitation (n = 61) or cardiopulmonary resuscitation (n = 29). Among those who drowned, none was younger than five years of age. Vomiting and regurgitation were major problems during resuscitation. Respiratory and cardiopulmonary arrest occurred after apparently-successful rescue; this highlights the necessity for the close observation of victims and the early administration of oxygen to all immersion victims. Resuscitation in deep water has been shown to be effective, and instruction in these techniques is now standard teaching within the Surf Life-Saving Association of Australia.

Adolescent↗