Twitter is what is commonly described as a "microblogging" social media application. Users can post comments, thoughts, or opinions on various topics as well as share visual media. Bruns (2012) has further highlighted how Twitter incorporates the use of hashtags as a means of structuring the broad range of debates. Speaking to its societal function, Twitter can be understood as "an awareness system that allows for an immediate, fast, and widespread dissemination of information" (Maireder & Ausserhofer, 2012, p. 306), one which "contributes to a broadening of public debate" (Larsson & Moe, 2011, p. 741) on various issues. In relation to political communication, Twitter is increasingly being used within the sociopolitical domain as a channel through which to circulate information during political campaigns and as a gauge of public opinion (Chadwick,
The waterborne enteric parasites, Giurdia spp. and Cryptosporidium spp., have been found in a large percentage of North American s u r f m waters [3]. Water samples collected from different watersheds located in the province of British Columbia (SC) in westem Canada were examined for G h d i u cysts and Ctyptosporidium oocysts. Two of these watersheds @MID and VID) are adjacently located with similar topographical features.Both serve rural agricultural communities which are active in cattle ranching. The aims of this study were to determine the sources of parasite contamination as well as the impact of watershed management practices on parasite levels in surface water sources for drinking water.MATERIALS AND METHODS. Large volume (greater than 140 L) raw water samples were collected as previously described using yamwound polypropylene cartridge filters with a nominal porosity of 1 pm [l] Filter fibres were hand-washed and eluted material was sedimented by cenhifugation at 1,050 x g. Sediments were filtered through 25 mm, 0.45 pn pore size cellulose acetate membranes (Sartorius). Giurdia cysts and Cryptosporidium oocysts were detected by W microscopy after indirect immunoflourescence staining using the Hydrofluor Combo kit (Meridian Diagnostics Inc.). Parasite indentification was confirmed by examining for characteristic internal morphology using differential interference contrast optics. The water sampling sites and the characteristics of each watershed studied are listed in Table 1. Cattle fecal samples were collected in SAF (sodium acetate, acetic acid and formalin) parasite preservative and were processed using standard parasitological methods including stained preparations and concentration techniques [2]. Data was a n a l y d using the Bartlds Test and the F-test to determine homogeneity of variance and the two-sample t-test used for normally distributed data whereas nonparametric results from the Wilcoxon's TwoSample Test were reported for data with inequal variances. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. The geometric mean concentrations of Giurdiu cysts and Cryptosporidium oocysts present in raw water samples collected from 4 d;fferent watersheds are presented in Table 1. The highest parasite levels were found in an unprotected watershed @MID) located in an agricultud area A large proportion of water samples collected from the BMID intake were Giurdiu cyst positive (24 of 27) with cyst concentrations ranging from 4.6 to 1,880.0 cysts/lOO L and Cryptosporidium oocyst positive (14 of 27) with oocysts levels ranging from 1.7 to 44.3 oocysts/lOO L. Giurdiu cysts were not detected in water samples collected from a lake source located at the headwaters but were found in water samples collected from 6 of 9 (67%) creeks which adjoin the main surface supply. Sampling in one of these creeks which runs through an area of intensive ranching activity, showed that levels of both Giurdiu spp. and Ctpbqoridium spp. were significantly higher (~4.05) downstream (0.6 -42.9 cySts/lOO L and 1.4 -300.0 oocySts/lOO L) than upstream (0.5 -34....
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