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Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are opportunistic human pathogens. Several species of NTM, including members of the Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC), can cause potentially life-threatening pulmonary infections that are difficult to treat [...]

ABSTRACT The Eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, is a sensitive bio-indicator of environmental changes ranging from tidal flux to heavy-metal pollution. Extreme fluctuations in dissolved oxygen levels are well documented in [...]

Byline: Richard L. Wallace (1), Kathryn A. Semmens (1) Keywords: Marine Mammal Commission; Marine Mammal Protection Act; Policy-oriented professionalism; Pragmatism; Problem orientation; Regulatory agencies Abstract: In the pantheon of U.S. environmental law, only one federal statute--the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972--has created an independent oversight agency with explicit authority to conduct appraisals of and make recommendations on all regulatory agency actions under the law. That agency, the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission, is the subject of our analysis. Using a semi-structured survey and participant observation, we assess the commission's operations under its legislative mandate, using criteria from the literature on policy-oriented professionalism. Our findings indicate a dichotomy between the Commission's oversight of other agencies' marine mammal programs and the manner in which it self-evaluates, learns, and evolves on the basis of its experience, with strongly pragmatic approaches to its appraisal of other agencies' programs, contrasted with weak appraisal of its own operations. Author Affiliation: (1) Environmental Studies Program, Ursinus College, 601 E. Main Street, Collegeville, PA, 19426, USA Article History: Registration Date: 06/10/2009 Online Date: 05/11/2009

To the Editor: Mycobacterium abscessus is a ubiquitous, rapidly growing mycobacteria (RGM) found in water supplies, soil, and dust. M. abscessus is considered the most pathogenic and difficult to treat [...]

ABSTRACT Anoxic water events in conjunction with summer high temperatures are thought to be one of the causes of declines in natural oyster reefs on the eastern shore of Mobile [...]

Research has been conducted on water-based metalworking fluids' mycobacteria causing outbreaks of hypersensitivity pneumonitis. The study of mycobacterial isolates from different plants with reported hypersensitivity pneumonitis cases has been carried out in an effort to determine whether those plants have been colonized with a single strain, and the results are described.

Abstract The Tasmanian tiger, or thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus), is a wolf-like carnivorous marsupial last reported in the 1930s in Tasmania, an island state of Australia. Although the species is likely [...]

Abstract Conserving endangered species is a technical task, but it is also highly value laden. Yet the value dimension of conservation is often overlooked or ignored by most participants. Values--the [...]

Abstract Endangered species recovery requires the confluence of technical skills, most often represented by biology and ecology and their many adjuncts, and social and organizational skills. Over the history of [...]

Abstract The work and role of professionals who carry out endangered species conservation is changing, as society itself changes. Knowing about the range of standpoints a professional can assume in [...]

Abstract Conservation biologists often take the view that their role is simply to provide biological information to policy makers and resource managers, not to engage in the overall conservation process [...]

Abstract Biologists often take a technical biological view of species recovery, overlooking the necessity of attending to the human factor. The Hawaiian monk seal (Monachus schauinslandi) and Yellowstone grizzly bear [...]

Abstract Diverse methods may be required to understand and solve conservation problems in species recovery. These problems are usually multi-faceted. Endangered species recovery is a biological challenge, but it also [...]

Abstract Addressing endangered species problems successfully is a complex task that involves knowledge of the problem itself and its context. Problem-solving decisions and on-the-ground management are complicated and affected by [...]

Like most wild living resources, fish present a complex management challenge. Given the failure of command and control regulatory regimes to protect fisheries, scholars and practitioners have advocated the use of property rights to rectify the fisheries crisis. This meta analysis argues that property rights can be used constructively as a regulatory measure in the sustainable management of fisheries, and perhaps in other areas of resource management. However, the use of property rights to resolve resource problems is context dependent, and no single regulatory option or policy is appropriate for the multi-faceted and highly variable world of fisheries management. This paper characterizes and contrasts three regulatory regimes in fisheries management in the United States, while drawing from lessons learned worldwide about fisheries regulation. The paper defines the conditions where property rights might be used appropriately-property `rights' -- as well as where property rights might be used inappropriately -- property `wrongs.'

This article examines the effect of sweetness, surface characteristics, and food deprivation on patterns of object retrieval in rats to investigate hoarding behavior. Findings indicate that rats displayed a preference for retrieving sweet objects with hard surfaces over food pellets that was only reversed under conditions of significant food deprivation

Evaluation is critical to improving the effectiveness and efficiency of conservation programs. The examples of different types of conservation program evaluations, including moderated workshops and case-study analysis, and advice on logistics and organization of the review, emphasizing the importance of the evaluation process itself are provided.

Research shows that use of an unapproved adrenal cortex extract (ACE) resulted in the largest outbreak of Mycobacterium abscessus infections during 1995-96 in the United States. Data reveal that 148 persons purchased unapproved ACE in 30 states and 87 suffered postinjection abscesses., An unlicensed injectable medicine sold as adrenal cortex extract (ACE*) and distributed in the alternative medicine community led to the largest outbreak of Mycobacterium abscessus infections reported in the United [...]

It is a real pleasure to be able to give an unconditionally warm welcome to the first volume of the Routledge History of Philosophy, (B)From the Beginning to Plato(1) edited [...]

Ancient Greek poet Lucretius, like many of his contemporaries, was fascinated by the power of magnets as well as broader poetic and scientific philosophies of attraction and repulsion. Magnetite and its power were so unusual to the ancients that many misconceptions and legends arose after its discovery. Some believed the mineral made iron move and the iron had virtually no part in the phenomenon. Others believed it possessed magical powers and one could determine a spouse's fidelity by placing a magnet under a pillow.

A new cheap and fast variety of miniature direct drive DC motor actuators for robotics has low friction, no gear backlash, does not need limit switches for safety and produces a medium torque at a high torque to weight ratio. Standard links made of simple geometric forms permit the making of a variety of mechanisms for applications such as camera pointing and robotic hands and legs. Advances in permanent magnets and other motor materials may help overcome the problems of overheating and underpowering.

A pan-tilt mechanism is a computer-controlled actuator designed to point an object such as a camera sensor. For applications in active vision, a pan-tilt mechanism should be accurate, fast, small, inexpensive and have low power requirements. We have designed and constructed a new type of actuator meeting these requirements, which incorporates both pan and tilt into a single, two-degree-of-freedom device. The spherical pointing motor (SPM)(1) consists of three orthogonal motor windings in a permanent magnetic field, configured to move a small camera mounted on a gimbal. It is an absolute positioning device and is run open-loop. The SPM is capable of panning and tilting a load of 15 grams, for example a CCD image sensor, at rotational velocities of several hundred degrees per second with a repeatability of .15[degrees]. We have also built a miniature camera consisting of a single CCD sensor chip and miniature lens assembly that fits on the rotor of this motor. In this paper, we discuss the theory of the SPM, which includes its basic electromagnetic principles, and derive the relationship between applied currents and resultant motor position. We present an automatic calibration procedure and discuss open- and closed-loop control strategies. Finally, we present the physical characteristics and results of our prototype.

To the Editor: Mycobacterium mageritense is one of the rapidly growing mycobacteria (RGM). It was first isolated in Spain in 1987, described as a new species in 1997 by Domenech [...]