The Ecology of the Raccoon (\u3cem\u3eProcyon lotor\u3c/em\u3e) in Cades Coves, Great Smoky Mountains National Park

From September 1979 through September 1980, 288 captures of 153 raccoons were made in Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee. Fourteen raccoons were equipped with radio-transmitters to monitor movements, activity patterns, and denning behavior. Measurements, blood samples, and ectoparasites were taken from all animals. Population density was estimated to be 1 raccoon/17 ha with sex and age ratios indicating a stable population. Parturition occurred in early June with a mean litter size of 2.8 young. Average longevity of raccoons was 30 months with a maximum longevity of approximately 86 months. There were indications of increased male mortality in the older age classes. Telemetric monitoring indicated an activity peak around 2100 hours. Seasonal and annual home ranges of males were significantly larger than those of females with extensive seasonal home range overlap among both sexes. Extensive reuse of day bed sites was observed for both sexes with rock and tree dens being the favored types. Day bed selection was not based upon the frequency of particular day bed types or tree species occurring with the animals home range. Variability in seasonal temperatures of different bed types indicated that micro-climatic regimes may contribute to differential seasonal use of day beds. Given a choice, raccoons appear to select a variety of day bed types throughout the year. Plasma protein concentrations were significantly lower in young, nonreproductive raccoons. Red blood cell counts and hemoglobin concentrations in females, and red blood cell counts eosinophil levels and males, were elevated during the reproductive period. Of 117 raccoons, 3 had antibody titers to canine hepatitis virus, and 2 had titers to canine parvovirus. Of 148 raccoons, 73% were positive for blood microfilariae with all but one containing Tetrapetalonema llewellyni. Seventy-four percent of 385 ticks collected were Dermacentor variabilis with the remainder being Ixodes sp. The Cades Cove raccoon population appeared to be healthy and stable and showed characteristics that may be indicative of a relatively natural, undisturbed population

Municipal debt/intergovernmental fiscal relations: a study of options and guidelines in the financing of local public goods and services

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of City and Regional Planning, 1969.Vita.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 247-259).by Alan Rabinowitz.Ph.D

Ramrod: an experimental multi-microprocessor

The computer architect of the 80's races apparently intractable dilemma: Computer manufacturers have to contend with the soaring costs incurred in producing custom-made chips, and would prefer to use commercially-available, state-of-the art, large-scale integrated circuits. Product users, however demand highly reliable, realistically- priced systems which are nevertheless flexible enough to meet changing needs

Successful use of axonal transport for drug delivery by synthetic molecular vehicles

We report the use of axonal transport to achieve intraneural drug delivery. We constructed a novel tripartite complex of an axonal transport facilitator conjugated to a linker molecule bearing up to a hundred reversibly attached drug molecules. The complex efficiently enters nerve terminals after intramuscular or intradermal administration and travels within axonal processes to neuron cell bodies. The tripartite agent provided 100-fold amplification of saturable neural uptake events, delivering multiple drug molecules per complex. _In vivo_, analgesic drug delivery to systemic and to non-targeted neural tissues was greatly reduced compared to existing routes of administration, thus exemplifying the possibility of specific nerve root targeting and effectively increasing the potency of the candidate drug gabapentin 300-fold relative to oral administration

Assessing the umbrella value of a range-wide conservation network for Jaguars (Panthera onca)

Umbrella species are employed as conservation short-cuts for the design of reserves or reserve networks. However, empirical data on the effectiveness of umbrellas is equivocal, which has prevented more widespread application of this conservation strategy. We perform a novel, large-scale evaluation of umbrella species by assessing the potential umbrella value of a jaguar (Panthera onca) conservation network (consisting of viable populations and corridors) that extends from Mexico to Argentina. Using species richness, habitat quality, and fragmentation indices of similar to 1500 co-occurring mammal species, we show that jaguar populations and corridors overlap a substantial amount and percentage of high-quality habitat for co-occurring mammals and that the jaguar network performs better than random networks in protecting high-quality, interior habitat. Significantly, the effectiveness of the jaguar network as an umbrella would not have been noticeable had we focused on species richness as our sole metric of umbrella utility. Substantial inter-order variability existed, indicating the need for complementary conservation strategies for certain groups of mammals. We offer several reasons for the positive result we document, including the large spatial scale of our analysis and our focus on multiple metrics of umbrella effectiveness. Taken together, our results demonstrate that a regional, single-species conservation strategy can serve as an effective umbrella for the larger community and should help conserve viable populations and connectivity for a suite of co-occurring mammals. Current and future range-wide planning exercises for other large predators may therefore have important umbrella benefits

Efficacy, safety and tolerability of escitalopram in doses up to 50 mg in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD): an open-label, pilot study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Escitalopram is licensed for use at doses up to 20 mg but is used clinically at higher doses. There is limited published data at higher doses and none in the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This open-label, pilot study was designed to investigate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of escitalopram in doses up to 50 mg in MDD. It was conducted in 60 primary care patients with MDD who had not responded to adequate treatment with citalopram. Patients were treated with escalating doses of escitalopram up to 50 mg for up to 32 weeks until they achieved remission (Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale [MADRS] ≤8) or failed to tolerate the dose.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Forty-two patients (70%) completed the study. Twenty-one patients (35%) achieved remission with 8 of the 21 patients (38%) needing the 50 mg dose to achieve remission. Median time to remission was 24 weeks and median dose in remission was 30 mg. No significant safety issues were identified although tolerability appeared to decline above a dose of 40 mg with 26% of patients unable to tolerate 50 mg. Twelve (20%) patients had adverse events leading to discontinuation. The most common adverse events were headache (35%), nausea, diarrhoea and nasopharyngitis (all 25%). Minor mean weight gain was found during the study, which did not appear to be dose-related. Half of the patients who completed the study chose to continue treatment with escitalopram rather than taper down the dose at 32 weeks.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Dose escalation with escitalopram above 20 mg may have a useful role in the management of patients with MDD, although further studies are needed to confirm this finding.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>ClinicalTrials.gov: <a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00785434">NCT00785434</a></p

Tri-partite complex for axonal transport drug delivery achieves pharmacological effect.

BACKGROUND: Targeted delivery of pharmaceutical agents into selected populations of CNS (Central Nervous System) neurons is an extremely compelling goal. Currently, systemic methods are generally used for delivery of pain medications, anti-virals for treatment of dermatomal infections, anti-spasmodics, and neuroprotectants. Systemic side effects or undesirable effects on parts of the CNS that are not involved in the pathology limit efficacy and limit clinical utility for many classes of pharmaceuticals. Axonal transport from the periphery offers a possible selective route, but there has been little progress towards design of agents that can accomplish targeted delivery via this intraneural route. To achieve this goal, we developed a tripartite molecular construction concept involving an axonal transport facilitator molecule, a polymer linker, and a large number of drug molecules conjugated to the linker, then sought to evaluate its neurobiology and pharmacological behavior. RESULTS: We developed chemical synthesis methodologies for assembling these tripartite complexes using a variety of axonal transport facilitators including nerve growth factor, wheat germ agglutinin, and synthetic facilitators derived from phage display work. Loading of up to 100 drug molecules per complex was achieved. Conjugation methods were used that allowed the drugs to be released in active form inside the cell body after transport. Intramuscular and intradermal injection proved effective for introducing pharmacologically effective doses into selected populations of CNS neurons. Pharmacological efficacy with gabapentin in a paw withdrawal latency model revealed a ten fold increase in half life and a 300 fold decrease in necessary dose relative to systemic administration for gabapentin when the drug was delivered by axonal transport using the tripartite vehicle. CONCLUSION: Specific targeting of selected subpopulations of CNS neurons for drug delivery by axonal transport holds great promise. The data shown here provide a basic framework for the intraneural pharmacology of this tripartite complex. The pharmacologically efficacious drug delivery demonstrated here verify the fundamental feasibility of using axonal transport for targeted drug delivery.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are