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Environmental DNA (eDNA) is useful for delimiting species ranges in aquatic systems, whereby water samples are screened for the presence of DNA from a single species. However, DNA from many species is collected in every sample, and high-throughput sequencing approaches allow for more passive surveillance where a community of species is identified. In this study, we use active (targeted) and passive molecular surveillance approaches to detect species in the Muskingum River Watershed in Ohio, USA. The presence of bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis) eDNA in the Muskingum River Watershed was confirmed with active surveillance using digital droplet polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR). The passive surveillance method detected the presence of eDNA from northern snakehead (Channa argus), which was further confirmed with active ddPCR. Whereas active surveillance may be more sensitive to detecting rare DNA, passive surveillance has the capability of detecting unexpected invasive species. Deploying both active and passive surveillance approaches with the same eDNA samples is beneficial for invasive species management. L'ADN environnemental (ADNe) est utile pour delimiter les aires de repartition d'especes dans des systemes aquatiques en analysant des echantillons d'eau pour verifier la presence d'ADN d'especes precises. De l'ADN de nombreuses especes est toutefois preleve dans chaque echantillon et des approches de sequencage a haut debit permettent une plus grande surveillance passive dans les cas ou une communaute d'especes est identifiee. Nous utilisons des approches de surveillance moleculaire active (ciblee) et passive pour determiner si des especes sont presentes dans le bassin versant de la riviere Muskingum (Ohio, Etats-Unis). La presence d'ADNe de carpe a grosse tete (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis) dans ce bassin versant a ete confirmee par la surveillance active reposant sur la RCP numerique a gouttelettes (<< ddPCR >>). La methode de surveillance passive a permis de deceler la presence d'ADNe de poisson a tete de serpent du Nord (Channa argus), ce qui a ete corrobore par la methode active de ddPCR. Si la surveillance active peut s'averer plus sensible pour detecter des ADN rares, la surveillance passive peut quant a elle permettre de deceler la presence d'especes envahissantes non attendues. L'utilisation d'approches de surveillance active et passive pour les memes echantillons d'ADNe est une approche utile pour la gestion des especes envahissantes. [Traduit par la Redaction], Introduction Environmental DNA (eDNA) surveillance is a valuable tool used to screen for rare species, particularly in aquatic environments (Ficetola et al. 2008; Rees et al. 2014). It offers many [...]

Predicting where species invasions will occur remains a substantial challenge in ecology, but identifying factors that ultimately constrain the distribution of potential invaders could facilitate successful prediction. Whereas ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is recognized as an important factor controlling species distribution and community composition, the role of UVR in a habitat invasibility context has not been explored. Here we examine how underwater UVR can regulate warm-water fish invasion. In Lake Tahoe, California and Nevada, USA, established populations of exotic bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus) are currently limited to turbid, low-UVR embayments. An in situ incubation experiment that manipulated incident UVR exposure of larval bluegill, combined with an assessment of UVR exposure levels in nearshore habitats around Lake Tahoe, demonstrates that UVR can mediate habitat invasibility. Our findings suggest that the susceptibility to invasion by UVR sensitive species may increase in transparent aquatic systems threatened by declining water quality, and they highlight the importance of abiotic factors as regulators of invasion risk in ecosystems. Key words: abiotic factors; aquatic invasion; bluegill sunfish; DNA dosimeters; habitat invasibility; Lake Tahoe, USA; Lepomis macrochirus; ultraviolet radiation.

The study aims to evaluate the prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) among larger-size National Football League (NFL) players currently playing. The results indicate that larger or increased size measured by the body mass index (BMI) was associated with a higher risk of CVD, as can be seen in the case of larger-sized football players.

It has been a mainstay of administrative modernization theory that improved public service efficiency and financial accountability produces the useful by-product of trust in governmental institutions. But that trust appears to be ever more elusive. Various factors have been identified as significant to declining trust; for example, levels of information provided to the service user, quality of management, and openness in handling mistakes. In this contribution, I build on quantitative data taken from a March 2003 mass survey of British citizens to define 'reflexive trust' as a testable hypothesis that explains why the administrative modernization agenda has contributed to lower levels of trust in government. 'Reflexive trust' describes citizens' reaction to the accountability confusion of decentralized mixed-economy service provision. As British New Public Management reforms have made service providers more accountable, so service users have learned to 'play the game.' Instead of simply trusting or distrusting decentralized providers to perform their duties, citizens are developing game-playing skills to bargain, conspire against, and deceive these agencies of national government. Seen in this light, administrative modernization produces the unintended consequence of challenging democratic leadership. KEYWORDS: modernization; new public management; public administration; trust

Universal rotavirus vaccination could be cost-effective, especially if the cost of the vaccine could be brought under $10 a dose. Researchers estimated the cost and benefits of a national program to vaccinate all infants against rotavirus at 2, 4, and 6 months. The program would prevent about 1 million cases of diarrhea, avoid 34,000 hospitalizations and 227,000 physician visits in the first 5 years. At $20 per dose, the program would cost $289 million but would save only $182 million in direct medical costs. However, savings to society from lost caregiver earnings would total $296 million. At $9 a dose, direct health care savings would pay for the program., Context.--Rotavirus is the most common cause of severe diarrhea in children, and a live, oral vaccine may soon be licensed for prevention. Objective.--To estimate the economic impact of a national rotavirus immunization program in the United States. Design.--Cost-effectiveness was analyzed from the perspectives of the health care system and society. A decision tree used estimates of disease burden, costs, vaccine coverage, efficacy, and price obtained from published and unpublished sources. Intervention.--The proposed vaccine would be administered to infants at ages 2, 4, and 6 months as part of the routine schedule of childhood immunizations. Main Outcome Measures.--Total costs, outcomes prevented, and incremental cost-effectiveness. Results.--A routine, universal rotavirus immunization program would prevent 1.08 million cases of diarrhea, avoiding 34 000 hospitalizations, 95 000 emergency department visits, and 227 000 physician visits in the first 5 years of life. At $20 per dose, the program would cost $289 million and realize a net loss of $107 million to the health care system--$103 per case prevented. The program would provide a net savings of $296 million to society. Threshold analysis identified a break-even price per dose of $9 for the health care system and $51 for the societal perspective. Greater disease burden and greater vaccine efficacy and lower vaccine price increased cost- effectiveness. Conclusions.--A US rotavirus immunization program would be cost- effective from the perspectives of society and the health care system, although the cost of the immunization program would not be fully offset by the reduction in health care cost of rotavirus diarrhea unless the price fell to $9 per dose. JAMA. 1998;279:1371-1376

How to Get Your Sermon Heard: Preaching to Win Minds and Hearts. By William Hethcock. Sewanee, Tenn.: Plateau Books, 2012. ISBN: 978-0-9814-79545, 330 pages. Paper. $25.00. Hethcock's How to Get [...]

The Underground Church: Reclaiming the Subversive Way of Jesus. By Robin Meyers. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2012. ISBN-13: 978-1-1180-6159-6. xiv and 263 pages. Cloth. $24.95. How should Christians in the U.S. [...]

Objective: Estimate the economic impact of introducing inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) into the Australian childhood immunisation schedule to eliminate vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis (VAPP). Methods: Cost-effectiveness of two different four-dose IPV schedules (monovalent vaccine and IPV-containing combination vaccine) compared with the current four-dose oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) schedule for Australian children through age six years. Model used estimates of VAPP incidence, costs, and vaccine utilisation and price obtained from published and unpublished sources. Main outcome measures were total costs, outcomes prevented, and incremental cost-effectiveness, expressed as net cost per case of VAPP prevented. Results: Changing to an IPV-based schedule would prevent 0.395 VAPP cases annually. At $20 per dose for monovalent vaccine and $14 per dose for the IPV component in a combination vaccine, the change would incur incremental, annual costs of $19.5 million ($49.3 million per VAPP case prevented) and $6.7 million ($17.0 million per VAPP case prevented), respectively. Threshold analysis identified break-even prices per dose of $1 for monovalent and $7 for combination vaccines. Conclusions: Introducing IPV into the Australian childhood immunisation schedule is not likely to be cost-effective unless it comes in a combined vaccine with the IPV-component price below $10. Implications: More precise estimates of VAPP incidence in Australia and IPV price are needed. However, poor cost-effectiveness will make the decision about switching from OPV to IPV in the childhood schedule difficult.

Preaching and the Personal. Edited by J. Dwayne Howell. Cambridge: Lutterworth, 2014. ISBN: 978-1-6109-78262, xii and 158 pages. Paper. $20.00. This collection offers a valuable resource for those wondering how [...]

Preaching in Hitler's Shadow: Sermons of Resistance in the Third Reich. Edited by Dean G. Stroud. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2013. ISBN: 978-0-80286902-9, xii and 203 pages. Paper. $20.00. This impressive [...]

Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works Volume 11: Ecumenical, Academic, and Pastoral Work, 1931-1932. By Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2012. ISBN-13: 978-0-8006-9838-6. xxii & 612 pages. Cloth. $60.00. This volume of the Dietrich [...]

Sacred Word, Broken Word: Biblical Authority and the Dark Side of Scripture. By Kenton L. Sparks. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2012. ISBN: 0-8028-67189, xii and 180 pages. Paper. $20.00. In Sacred [...]

Bonheoffer: A Brief Overview of the Life and Writings of Dietrich Bonheoffer. By John W. Matthews. Minneapolis: Lutheran University Press, 2011. ISBN: 978-1-9326-8865-8, 100 pages. Paper. $15.00. John Matthews provides [...]

There is mutual distrust between politicians and voters in the UK. It is now time to try to establish a modern democracy in which the political process is based on trust.