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Sampling can be a significant source of error in the measurement process. The characterization and cleanup of hazardous waste sites require data that meet site-specific levels of acceptable quality if scientifically supportable decisions are to be made. In support of this effort, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is investigating methods that relate sample characteristics to analytical performance. Predicted uncertainty levels allow appropriate study design decisions to be made, facilitating more timely and less expensive evaluations. Gy sampling theory can predict a significant fraction of sampling error when certain conditions are met. We report on several controlled studies of subsampling procedures to evaluate the utility of Gy sampling theory applied to laboratory subsampling practices. Several sample types were studied and both analyte and non-analyte containing particles were shown to play important roles affecting the measured uncertainty.Gy sampling theory was useful in predicting minimum uncertainty levels provided the theoretical assumptions were met. Predicted fundamental errors ranged from 46 to 68% of the total measurement variability. The study results also showed sectorial splitting outperformed incremental sampling for simple model systems and suggested that sectorial splitters divide each size fraction independently. Under the limited conditions tested in this study, incremental sampling with a spatula produced biased results when sampling particulate matrices with grain sizes about 1 mm. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article presents a study which evaluates a pentachlorophenol (PCP) immunoassay for environmental water samples analysis. The study uses the immunoassay analysis compared to gas chromatography (GC) utilizing the approach indentified in U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Method 604. Results show that immunoassay results utilizing extraction approach had bigger variability compared to GC results.

This article describes a case of Cryptococcus gattii infection in a 12-year-old neutered male cat in Alaska. The cat traveled to Anchorage, Alaska from San Diego County, California with its owner in August 2003. In September 2010, the cat was brought to a veterinary clinic in Anchorage because of facial pruritis and excoriation. The case suggests that the incubation period for the disease could be greater than eight years.

We describe the pathology of natural infection with highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) virus of Eurasian lineage Goose/Guangdong clade 2.3.4.4b in 67 wild terrestrial mammals throughout the United States during April 1‒July 21, 2022. Affected mammals include 50 red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), 6 striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis), 4 raccoons (Procyon lotor), 2 bobcats (Lynx rufus), 2 Virginia opossums (Didelphis virginiana), 1 coyote (Canis latrans), 1 fisher (Pekania pennanti), and 1 gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus). Infected mammals showed primarily neurologic signs. Necrotizing meningoencephalitis, interstitial pneumonia, and myocardial necrosis were the most common lesions; however, species variations in lesion distribution were observed. Genotype analysis of sequences from 48 animals indicates that these cases represent spillover infections from wild birds.