The Amish and Hutterites are U.S. agricultural populations whose lifestyles are remarkably similar in many respects but whose farming practices, in particular, are distinct; the former follow traditional farming practices whereas the latter use industrialized farming practices. The populations also show striking disparities in the prevalence of asthma, and little is known about the immune responses underlying these disparities.
Evaporative deposition from a sessile drop is a simple and appealing way to deposit materials on a surface. In this work, we deposit living, motile colloidal particles (bacteria) on mica from drops of aqueous solution. We show for the first time that it is possible to produce a continuous variation in the deposition pattern from ring deposits to cellular pattern deposits by incremental changes in surface wettability which we achieve by timed exposure of the mica surface to the atmosphere. We show that it is possible to change the contact angle of the drop from less than 5 degrees to near 20 degrees by choice of atmospheric exposure time. This controls the extent of drop spreading, which in turn determines the architecture of the deposition pattern.
The characterization and remediation of contaminated sites are complex endeavors fraught with numerous challenges. One particular challenge that is receiving increased attention is the development and encouragement of full participation by communities and community members affected by a given site in all facets of decision-making. Many disciplines have been grappling with the challenges associated with environmental and risk communication, public participation in environmental data generation, and decision-making and increasing community capacity. The concepts and methods developed by these disciplines are reviewed, with a focus on their relevance to the specific dynamics associated with environmental contamination sites. The contributions of these disciplines are then synthesized and integrated to help develop Environmental Research Translation (ERT), a proposed framework for environmental scientists to promote interaction and communication among involved parties at contaminated sites. This holistic approach is rooted in public participation approaches to science, which includes: a transdisciplinary team, effective collaboration, information transfer, public participation in environmental projects, and a cultural model of risk communication. Although there are challenges associated with the implementation of ERT, it is anticipated that application of this proposed translational science method could promote more robust community participation at contaminated sites. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
