The helminths of 1,579 arctic foxes from St. Lawrence Island were investigated by standard methods. The foxes, obtained mainly during the winter from fur trappers, harbored 22 species of hel minths. Four of those were trematodes, viz., Maritrema afanassjewi Belopol'skaia, 1952, Orthosplanchnus pygmaeus Iurakhno, 1967, Plagiorchis elegans (Rudolphi, 1802 and Alaria marcianae (LaRue, 1917), each of which occurred in a single host. Two spe cies of cestodes, Diphyllobothrium dendriticum (Nitzsch, 1824) and Mesocestoides kirbyi Chandler, 1940, were uncommon (in 2.7 and 1.3 % of the foxes, respectively). Taenia polyacantha Leuckart, 1856 and Echinococcus multilocularis Leuckart, 1863 were pre sent in about 80 % of the foxes, and Taenia crassiceps (Zeder, 1800) in less than 10 %. The specimens of Taenia spp. from the autumn-winter sample were usually destrobilate. In about 2 % of the foxes, acanthocephalans of six species occurred. Four of those, of the genus Corynosoma Lühe, 1904, were common in marine mammals of the region; a fifth, Corynosoma clavatum Goss, 1940, has been reported previously only from marine birds of the Sou thern Hemisphere; and the sixth, Polymorphus cf. minutus (Goeze, 1782), has been found widely in waterfowl of the Northern Hemis phere. Of the nematodes, Sobolophyme baturini Petrov, 1930, Cylicospirura felineus (Chandler, 1925), and Physaloptera sp. were rare (with each in only one to three foxes). Trichinella nativa Boev et Britov, 1972 and Crenosoma vulpis (Dujardin, 1844) were uncommon (1.5 and 4 %, respectively). The nematodes most often present were Toxascaris leonina (von Linstow, 1902) (89 %) and Uncinaria stenocephala (Railliet, 1884) (40 %). Several of the rare to uncommon helminths probably were transported to the island by foxes immigrating from the adjacent continents via the pack ice.

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Eight species of intestinal helminths were obtained from 38 arctic foxes, Alopex lagopus (L.), from two localities in Greenland (Thule Air Base and Søndre Strømfjord), viz., Echinoparyphium sp., 13%; Plagiorchis elegans (Rudolphi, 1802), 45%; Cryptocotyle concavum (Creplin, 1825), <3%; Diphyllobothrium dendriticum (Nitzsch, 1824), 10%; Taenia ovis krabbei Moniez, 1879, 13%; Mesocestoides lineatus (Goeze, 1782), 13%; Toxascaris leonina (von Linstow, 1902), 39%; and Uncinaria stenocephala (Railliet, 1884), <3%. New host and geographic records are reported. Cestodes for which rodents are obligatory intermediate hosts were not recorded, suggesting that the series of foxes was drawn from local populations inhabiting the western coast of Greenland. Helminth–host interactions are briefly discussed.

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To ensure the safe supply of drinking water, the quality needs to be monitored online in real time. The consequence of inadequate monitoring can result in substantial health risks and economic and reputational damages. Therefore, Vitens, the largest drinking water company of the Netherlands, set a goal to explore and invest in the development of intelligent water supply by implementing a smart water grid. To enable this, Vitens has allocated a designated part of their distribution network to be a demonstration network for online water quality monitoring, the Vitens Innovation Playground (VIP). In the VIP, a network of 44 Optiqua EventLab sensors has been installed. EventLab utilizes refractive index as a generic parameter for continuous real-time monitoring of changes in water quality. The EventLab units in the network transmit their data by GPRS to Optiqua servers where the data are processed using event detection algorithms. Deployed as an online sensor network, it allows early detection and rapid response, as well as accurate location of the spread of a contamination within the distribution network. The use of the EventLab sensor network under operational conditions in the VIP is described and its effectiveness is demonstrated by the detection of two water quality events.