Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Lake Water Quality and ALS Spatial Clusters

有一个广泛的科学共识，即一些疾病受到环境的影响。最近的研究表明，湖泊中的有害藻类与一些疾病有关。该项目将研究湖泊水质、有害藻类和肌萎缩侧索硬化症(ALS)之间的关系，ALS也称为Lou Gehrig病。一个由地理学家、神经学家、流行病学家和统计学家组成的跨学科团队将合作，评估藻类水平和水质如何以及在什么条件下影响ALS的发病率，ALS是一种知之甚少的疾病。这项工作将有助于疾病生态学的研究，并向关注健康后果的广泛受众提供信息，包括公共卫生和环境机构、医疗中心、那些可能暴露于风险因素的人和财产所有者。肌萎缩侧索硬化症(ALS)是一种进展性、致命性疾病，平均预期寿命为两到五年。大约90%的ALS病例没有已知的遗传原因，通常被称为散发性ALS(SALS)。尽管最近关于肌萎缩侧索硬化症的遗传学有了许多发现，但SALS的病因学或病因来源在很大程度上仍不清楚。SALS很可能是潜在的遗传易感性与环境暴露于一种或多种毒素相结合的结果。最近的研究表明，湖泊水质与肌萎缩侧索硬化症的高发病率之间存在联系，[藻类]氰基毒素β-甲氨基丙氨酸(BMAA)是一个潜在的触发因素。这项研究的首要目标是描述SALS发生率与有利于蓝藻生长的湖泊水质参数之间的关系。多尺度卫星遥感图像将用于绘制新英格兰北部淡水湖的水质属性图，包括蓝藻、藻蓝蛋白、叶绿素-a和总氮。已完成问卷调查的肌萎缩侧索硬化症数据库，包括关于住宅史和相关风险因素的信息，将被纳入空间分析框架，可推广到其他类似的淡水/住宅系统。将进行生态流行病学模拟，以检验湖泊状况、风险因素和SALS之间的关系。这项工作将开发评估应激源反应关系的工具，提高对SALS的理解。研究结果将有助于确定潜在的因果因素以及对其进行远程监测的方法和手段，从而有助于量化淡水水生生态系统在人类健康风险中的作用。

There is broad scientific consensus that some diseases are influenced by the environment. Recent work has suggested that harmful algae in lakes are linked to some illnesses and diseases. This project will study relationships among lake water quality, harmful algae, and Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. An interdisciplinary team of geographers, neurologists, epidemiologists, and statisticians will collaborate to assess how and under what conditions algal levels and water quality impact ALS incidence, a very poorly understood disease. This work will contribute to research on disease ecology as well as inform a wide audience concerned with health outcomes including public health and environmental agencies, medical centers, those potentially exposed to the risk factors, and property owners.Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive, fatal disease with an average life expectancy of two to five years from time of diagnosis. Approximately 90% of ALS cases have no known genetic cause and are commonly known as sporadic ALS (sALS). Despite many recent discoveries about the genetics of ALS, the etiology or causal origins of sALS remain largely unknown. It is most likely that sALS results from a combination of underlying genetic susceptibility coupled with environmental exposure to one or more toxins. Recent work has shown linkages between lake water quality and high ALS incidence, with the [algal] cyanotoxin beta methyl-amino-alanine (BMAA) as a potential trigger. The overarching goal of this study is to characterize the relationship between sALS incidence and lake water quality parameters that favor cyanobacteria growth. Multi-scale satellite remote sensing imagery will be used to map lake water quality attributes including cyanobacteria, phycocyanin, chlorophyll-a, and total nitrogen in freshwater lakes in northern New England. An ALS database with completed questionnaire surveys, including information on residential history and related risk factors, will be integrated into a spatial analysis framework that will be generalizable to other similar freshwater / residential systems. Eco-epidemiological modeling will be conducted to test the relationships among lake conditions, risk factors, and sALS. This work will develop tools for assessing stressor response relationships improve understanding of sALS. The results will assist in identifying potential causal factors as well as and means by which they may be remotely monitored, thereby contributing to the quantification of the role of freshwater aquatic ecosystems in human health risk.