NMFS / Interagency Working Group Evaluation of CITES Criteria and Guidelines.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: At present, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) criteria used to assess whether a population qualifies for inclusion in the CITES Appendices relate to (A) size of the population, (B) area of distribution of the population, and (C) declines in the size of the population. Numeric guidelines are provided as indicators of a small population (less than 5,000 individuals), a small subpopulation (less than 500 individuals), a restricted area of distribution for a population (less than 10,000 km2), a restricted area of distribution for a subpopula-tion (less than 500 km2), a high rate of decline (a decrease of 50% or more in total within 5 years or two generations whichever is longer or, for a small wild population, a decline of 20% or more in total within ten years or three generations whichever is longer), large fluctuations (population size or area of distribution varies widely, rapidly and frequently, with a variation greater than one order of magnitude), and a short-term fluctuation (one of two years or less). The Working Group discussed several broad issues of relevance to the CITES criteria and guidelines. These included the importance of the historical extent of decline versus the recent rate of decline; the utility and validity of incorporating relative population productivity into decline criteria; the utility of absolute numbers for defining small populations or small areas; the appropriateness of generation times as time frames for examining declines; the importance of the magnitude and frequency of fluctuations as factors affecting risk of extinction; and the overall utility of numeric thresh-olds or guidelines

Environmental and Health Impacts of Air Pollution in China: The Perception of Undergraduate Students

Abstract. The environmental and health impacts of China's air pollution are well researched and documented. Investigated to a lesser extend however, is the perception of Chinese citizens about how severe these very present consequences are. For that matter, it is equally little researched how foreigners perceive the same consequences as compared to Chinese citizens. This study was conducted to attain insight as to how Chinese students perceive the impacts of air pollution in China as compared to American students. Study groups of anonymous university students in China and American students of HampdenSydney College took surveys which were analyzed by U-tests to determine differences in opinion. It was found that both study groups agreed air pollution in China is a major problem and threat to the environment, but American students were significantly more in agreement with the statements. However, the groups clearly disagreed about government intervention with American students feeling that the government was not properly handling the issue or properly informing the public about its severity. _______________________________________________________________________

The calculation of the cardiac troponin T 99th percentile of the reference population is affected by age, gender, and population selection: A multicenter study in Italy.

Background: The aim of this study is to determine the 99th upper-reference limit (URL) for cardiac troponin T (cTnT) in Italian apparently healthy subjects. Methods: The reference population was selected from 5 cities: Bolzano (n = 290), Milano (CAMELIA-Study, n = 287), Montignoso (MEHLP-Study, n = 306), Pisa (n = 182), and Reggio Calabria (MAREA-Study, n = 535). Subjects having cardiac/systemic acute/chronic diseases were excluded. Participants to MEHLP project underwent cardiac imaging investigation. High-sensitive cTnT was measured with Cobas-e411 (Roche Diagnostics). Results: We enrolled 1600 healthy subjects [54.6%males; age range 10–90 years; mean (SD): 36.4 (21.2) years], including 34.6% aged b20 years, 54.5% between 20 and 64 years, and 10.9% over 65 years. In the youngest the 99th URL was 10.9 ng/L in males and 6.8 ng/L in females; in adults 23.2 ng/L and 10.2 ng/L; and in elderly 36.8 ng/L and 28.6 ng/L. After the exclusion of outliers the 99th URL values were significantly decreased (P b 0.05) in particular those of the oldest (13.8 ng/L and 14 ng/L). MEHLP participants were divided in healthy and asymptomatic, according to known cardiovascular risk factors (HDL, LDL, glucose, C-reactive protein): the 99th URL of cTnT values of these subgroups was significantly different (19.5 vs. 22.7, P b 0.05). Conclusions: 99th URL of cTnT valueswas strongly affected by age, gender, selection of subjects and the statistical evaluation of outliers

Quantum computing in optical microtraps based on the motional states of neutral atoms

We investigate quantum computation with neutral atoms in optical microtraps where the qubit is implemented in the motional states of the atoms, i.e., in the two lowest vibrational states of each trap. The quantum gate operation is performed by adiabatically approaching two traps and allowing tunneling and cold collisions to take place. We demonstrate the capability of this scheme to realize a square-root of swap gate, and address the problem of double occupation and excitation to other unwanted states. We expand the two-particle wavefunction in an orthonormal basis and analyze quantum correlations throughout the whole gate process. Fidelity of the gate operation is evaluated as a function of the degree of adiabaticity in moving the traps. Simulations are based on rubidium atoms in state-of-the-art optical microtraps with quantum gate realizations in the few tens of milliseconds duration range.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, for animations of the gate operation, see http://www.itp.uni-hannover.de/~eckert/na/index.htm

Proposta di una “checklist” per il prelievo di sangue venoso

The collection of venous blood is central in clinical laboratory activity. Although there is widespread perception that this practice is simple and free of complications and side effects, it is undeniable that the vast majority of laboratory errors arises from ignorance, incompetence or negligence during venipuncture. It has hence become advisable to prepare a document in simplified form of checklist, consisting of a concise but comprehensive list of activities to be completed or verified in order to prevent errors during venous blood collection. In the intention of authors, this synthetic checklist is a modular tool, adaptable to different local contexts, it can be easily and gradually implemented, it is supported by scientific evidence and consensus of experts and created with the support of different healthcare professionals and it is adherent to the best practices and requires minimal resources for implementation. It is reasonable to assume that this checklist may be able to withstand system and individual changes, strengthening the standards for safety of both operators and patients, limiting potential failure patterns. We hope that the checklist may be implemented in all healthcare facilities where routine venous blood collection is performed, after adaptation to suit characteristics of local organization

Raccomandazioni per l’identificazione e la gestione dei risultati critici nei laboratori clinici

Critical results (also known as panic or alarm results) identify a laboratory test result associated with a serious risk for the patient's health, requiring immediate communication to the physician to establish appropriate therapeutic interventions. The adoption of an efficient procedure for the communication of critical values/results is crucial for clinical, ethical, organizational reasons, because it is a requirement for laboratory accreditiation and because of potential legal consequences related to the lack of notification of harmful laboratory results. In 2008, the Italian Society of Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine (SIBioC) published its first consensus-based recommendation for the detection and management of critical values in clinical laboratories, with the aim to improve the implementation of standardized and universally accepted procedures, promoting an essential policy toward rational and efficient solutions to this issue. These new recommendations represent a complete review of the first document. Using the same consensus conference method between experts of scientific societies, the main aspects of clinical risk, patient safety and legal liability of health care workers were re-considered. The SIBioC and the Italian Society of Laboratory Medicine (SIPMeL), Intersociety Study Group on Standardization of extra-analytical variability of laboratory results, together with the Italian Society of Ergonomics and Human Factors (SIE) collaboration, issued the present join document

Seroepidemiologic Study of Human Infections with Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiae in North Carolina

Increasing entomologic and epidemiologic evidence suggests that spotted fever group rickettsiae (SFGR) other than Rickettsia rickettsii are responsible for spotted fever rickettsioses in the United States. A retrospective seroepidemiologic study was conducted on stored acute- and convalescent-phase sera that had been submitted for Rocky Mountain spotted fever testing to the North Carolina State Laboratory of Public Health. We evaluated the serologic reactivity of the paired sera to R. rickettsii, Rickettsia parkeri, and Rickettsia amblyommii antigens. Of the 106 eligible pairs tested, 21 patients seroconverted to one or more antigens. Cross-reactivity to multiple antigens was observed in 10 patients, and seroconversions to single antigens occurred in 11 patients, including 1 against R. rickettsii, 4 against R. parkeri, and 6 against R. amblyommii. Cross-absorption of cross-reactive sera and/or Western blots identified two presumptive cases of infection with R. parkeri, two presumptive cases of infection with R. rickettsii, and one presumptive case of infection with R. amblyommii. These findings suggest that species of SFGR other than R. rickettsii are associated with illness among North Carolina residents and that serologic testing using R. rickettsii antigen may miss cases of spotted fever rickettsioses caused by other species of SFGR

Creative Role Identity: Implications for Self-Concept, Depression, and Anxiety

Creativity is most often referred to in the context of artistic domains and yet, in reality, creativity influences all alternative thought processes and innovative thinking. Researchers in the field of psychology have paid little attention to research within the realm of creativity, although this trend is changing. In particular, prior research has noted that creative artists tend to have higher rates of depression and anxiety than their non-artist counterparts. Understanding contributing factors to these high rates may prevent, or direct more appropriate interventions that reduce anxiety and depression in artists. The purpose of this study was to explore how the extent to which the artist is enmeshed with the art form influences the development of self-concept, anxiety and depression. Another aim of this study was to expand on the existing body of literature via exploration of differences between artists and non-artist groups by hypothesizing that artists would be more at risk for anxiety, depression, impaired creative self-efficacy, and impaired creative self-concept. Seventeen artists and 17 non-artists participated in this study via convenience sampling. Study findings indicated that, while artists and non-artists differ with respect to creative self-concept and creative role identity, they were not significantly different in terms of self-efficacy, depression, and anxiety. Further, contrary to the stated hypotheses, creative role identity was not significantly correlated with depression, anxiety, or creative self-concept. Creative role identity was, however, significantly correlated with self-efficacy; the implication of which may be that creative artists with strong creative role identities may better identify their creative potential, lending to increased resilience