scholarly journals Host Bloodmeal Identification in Cave-Dwelling Ornithodoros turicata Dugès (Ixodida: Argasidae), Texas, USA

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel E. Busselman ◽  
Mark F. Olson ◽  
Viridiana Martinez ◽  
Edward Davila ◽  
Cierra Briggs ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
San Antonio ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
The United States ◽  
Pathogen Transmission ◽  
Soft Tick ◽  
Post Feeding ◽  
Sequencing Method ◽  
Black Vulture ◽  
Host Blood ◽  
Host Associations

Tick-host bloodmeal associations are important factors when characterizing risks of associated pathogen transmission and applying appropriate management strategies. Despite their biological importance, comparatively little is known about soft tick (Argasidae) host associations in the United States compared to hard ticks (Ixodidae). In this study, we evaluated a PCR and direct Sanger sequencing method for identifying the bloodmeal hosts of soft ticks. We collected 381 cave-associated Ornithodoros turicata near San Antonio, Texas, USA, and also utilized eight colony-reared specimens fed artificially on known host blood sources over 1.5 years ago. We correctly identified the vertebrate host bloodmeals of two colony-reared ticks (chicken and pig) up to 1,105 days post-feeding, and identified bloodmeal hosts from 19 out of 168 field-collected soft ticks, including raccoon (78.9%), black vulture (10.5%), Texas black rattlesnake (5.3%), and human (5.3%). Our results confirm the retention of vertebrate blood DNA in soft ticks and advance the knowledge of argasid host associations in cave-dwelling O. turicata.

scholarly journals Exploring the Use of Ecosystem Services Conceptual Models to Account for the Benefits of Public Lands: An Example from National Forest Planning in the United States

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 267
Author(s):  
Lydia Olander ◽  
Katie Warnell ◽  
Travis Warziniack ◽  
Zoe Ghali ◽  
Chris Miller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Public Lands ◽  
The United States ◽  
Forest Planning ◽  
National Forest ◽  
Planning Team ◽  
National Forest Planning

A shared understanding of the benefits and tradeoffs to people from alternative land management strategies is critical to successful decision-making for managing public lands and fostering shared stewardship. This study describes an approach for identifying and monitoring the types of resource benefits and tradeoffs considered in National Forest planning in the United States under the 2012 Planning Rule and demonstrates the use of tools for conceptualizing the production of ecosystem services and benefits from alternative land management strategies. Efforts to apply these tools through workshops and engagement exercises provide opportunities to explore and highlight measures, indicators, and data sources for characterizing benefits and tradeoffs in collaborative environments involving interdisciplinary planning teams. Conceptual modeling tools are applied to a case study examining the social and economic benefits of recreation on the Ashley National Forest. The case study illustrates how these types of tools facilitate dialog for planning teams to discuss alternatives and key ecosystem service outcomes, create easy to interpret visuals that map details in plans, and provide a basis for selecting ecosystem service (socio-economic) metrics. These metrics can be used to enhance environmental impact analysis, and help satisfy the goals of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the 2012 Planning Rule, and shared stewardship initiatives. The systematic consideration of ecosystem services outcomes and metrics supported by this approach enhanced dialog between members of the Forest planning team, allowed for a more transparent process in identification of key linkages and outcomes, and identified impacts and outcomes that may not have been apparent to the sociologist who is lacking the resource specific expertise of these participants. As a result, the use of the Ecosystem Service Conceptual Model (ESCM) process may result in reduced time for internal reviews and greater comprehension of anticipated outcomes and impacts of proposed management in the plan revision Environmental Impact Statement amongst the planning team.

scholarly journals Widespread detection of antibodies to Leptospira in feral swine in the United States

2014 ◽  
Vol 143 (10) ◽  
pp. 2131-2136 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. PEDERSEN ◽  
K. L. PABILONIA ◽  
T. D. ANDERSON ◽  
S. N. BEVINS ◽  
C. R. HICKS ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Domestic Animals ◽  
Pathogen Transmission ◽  
Geographical Range ◽  
Crop Damage ◽  
Feral Swine ◽  
Livestock Predation

SUMMARYAs feral swine continue to expand their geographical range and distribution across the United States, their involvement in crop damage, livestock predation, and pathogen transmission is likely to increase. Despite the relatively recent discovery of feral swine involvement in the aetiology of a variety of pathogens, their propensity to transmit and carry a wide variety of pathogens is disconcerting. We examined sera from 2055 feral swine for antibody presence to six serovars of Leptospira that can also infect humans, livestock or domestic animals. About 13% of all samples tested positive for at least one serovar, suggesting that Leptospira infection is common in feral swine. Further studies to identify the proportion of actively infected animals are needed to more fully understand the risk they pose.

Cyber Place Management and Crime Prevention: The Effectiveness of Cybersecurity Awareness Training Against Phishing Attacks

2021 ◽  
pp. 104398622110016
Author(s):  
Sinchul Back ◽  
Rob T. Guerette
Keyword(s):  
Crime Prevention ◽  
Research University ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Large Body ◽  
The United States ◽  
Place Management ◽  
Online Setting ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Virtual Domain ◽  
The Impact

Criminologists and crime prevention practitioners recognize the importance of geographical places to crime activities and the role that place managers might play in effectively preventing crime. Indeed, over the past several decades, a large body of work has highlighted the tendency for crime to concentrate across an assortment of geographic areas, where place management tends to be absent or weak. Nevertheless, there has been a paucity of research evaluating place management strategies and cybercrime within the virtual domain. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of place management techniques on reducing cybercrime incidents in an online setting. Using data derived from the information technology division of a large urban research university in the United States, this study evaluated the impact of an anti-phishing training program delivered to employees that sought to increase awareness and understanding of methods to better protect their “virtual places” from cybercrimes. Findings are discussed within the context of the broader crime and place literature.

APGAR STAMP

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 94 (4) ◽  
pp. 544-544
Author(s):  
L. J. Butterfield
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Annual Meeting ◽  
San Antonio ◽  
The United States ◽  
Press Conference ◽  
Postal Service ◽  
United States Postal Service ◽  
American Academy Of Pediatrics ◽  
One Year ◽  
United States Postal

On Monday, October 24, 1994 at 2:00 PM, a definitive stamp will be dedicated to Dr Virginia Apgar at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) annual meeting in Dallas. A definitive stamp lasts for years while the commemorative stamp is printed just one year. The United States Postal Service announced the 1994 stamp program on December 7, 1993 during a press conference at the National Postal Museum. Dr Apgar was nominated for a stamp in 1987 by the AAP. The initiative was spawned by the Perinatal Section at the 1985 annual meeting of the AAP in San Antonio.

Does the second wave of COVID-19 undermine corporate immunity? International evidence

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Huy Viet Hoang ◽  
Cuong Nguyen ◽  
Khanh Hoang
Keyword(s):  
Stock Returns ◽  
Stock Price ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
The United States ◽  
Least Square ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Second Wave ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThis study compares the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on stock returns in the first two waves of infection across selected markets, given built-in corporate immunity before the global outbreak.Design/methodology/approachThe data are collected from listed firms in five markets that have experienced the second wave of COVID-19 contagion, namely the United States (US), Australia, China, Hong Kong and South Korea. The period of investigation in this study ranges from January 24 to August 28, 2020 to cover the first two COVID-19 waves in selected markets. The study estimates the research model by employing the ordinary least square method with fixed effects to control for the heterogeneity that may confound the empirical outcomes.FindingsThe analysis reveals that firms with larger size and more cash reserves before the COVID-19 outbreak have better stock performance under the first wave; however, these advantages impede stock resilience during the second wave. Corporate governance practices significantly influence stock returns only in the first wave as their effects fade when the second wave emerges. The results also suggest that in economies with greater power distance, although stock price depreciation was milder in the first wave, it is more intense when new cases again surge after the first wave was contained.Practical implicationsThis paper provides practical implications for corporate managers, policymakers and governments concerning crisis management strategies for COVID-19 and future pandemics.Originality/valueThis study is the first to evaluate built-in corporate immunity before the COVID-19 shock under successive contagious waves. Besides, this study accentuates the importance of cultural understanding in weathering the ongoing pandemic across different markets.

Foreign Body Ingestion

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kunal Jajoo ◽  
Allison R Schulman
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Body ◽  
Foreign Bodies ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
The United States ◽  
Foreign Body Ingestion ◽  
Gi Tract ◽  
Food Bolus ◽  
Therapeutic Decisions ◽  
Food Bolus Impaction ◽  
Bolus Impaction

Foreign-body ingestion and food bolus impaction are common causes of esophageal obstruction, with an annual incidence of 13 cases per 100,000, and represent approximately 4% of all emergency endoscopies. Although the majority of foreign bodies that travel to the gastrointestinal (GI) tract will pass spontaneously, 10 to 20% must be removed endoscopically, and 1 to 5% will require surgery. Key diagnostic and therapeutic decisions are based on common factors, including the type of ingested object, number of objects, timing between ingestion and presentation, anatomic location of the object, and presence or absence of symptoms. Complications relating to foreign-body ingestion are typically uncommon; however, the associated morbidity may be severe and occasionally life threatening, and despite the fact that overall mortality has been extremely low, it has been estimated that up to 1,500 deaths occur annually in the United States as a result of foreign-body ingestion. The initial and follow-up management strategies are crucial to preventing morbidity. This review details the epidemiology, etiology and pathophysiology, diagnosis, management, and complications of foreign-body ingestion. Figures show examples of foreign bodies in the esophagus and stomach, three esophageal areas where a foreign body is likely to be impacted, examples of a meat bolus in the esophagus, radiograph of a patient who swallowed one nail and three batteries, and examples of linear erosions of the esophagus and stomach. Tables list the most common GI pathology predisposing individuals to esophageal foreign-body impaction, timing and management of food bolus impaction and foreign-body ingestion, endoscopic management strategies for food bolus impaction and ingested foreign bodies, and radiographic and surgical management strategies for monitoring progress of foreign-body passage through the GI tract. This review contains 5 highly rendered figures, 4 tables, and 78 references.

A Microcosting Study of Establishing a Baby Café® in Texas

2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rigoberto I. Delgado ◽  
Sara L. Gill
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
San Antonio ◽  
The United States ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Discounted Cost ◽  
Informal Interview ◽  
Resource Requirements ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Discounted Costs

Background: This article focuses on the costs of opening and running a Baby Café. A Baby Café is an intervention that focuses on providing peer-to-peer support for breastfeeding mothers. Research aim: This study aimed to estimate the costs of establishing and running a Baby Café. Methods: The authors used a microcosting approach to identifying costs using the case of a Baby Café located in San Antonio, Texas, and modeled after other existing cafés in the United States. They also used extensive literature review and conducted an informal interview with a manager of an existing Baby Café in the United States to validate our cost data. The cost analysis was done from the provider perspective. Results: Costs of starting a Baby Café were $36,000, whereas annual operating costs totaled $47,000. Total discounted costs for a 5-year period amounted to $250,000, resulting in a cost per Baby Café session of $521 and cost per mother of $104. Varying the number of sessions per week and number of mothers attending each session, the discounted cost per Baby Café session ranged between $460 and $740 and the cost per mother varied between $65 and $246. Conclusion: These findings can be used by policy makers and organizations to evaluate local resource requirements for starting a Baby Café. Further research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of this intervention against other breastfeeding promoting initiatives.

scholarly journals A FRESH LOOK AT KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES DURING THE CRISIS

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marharyta Chepeliuk
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
The United States ◽  
Office Work ◽  
Remote Work ◽  
High Recovery ◽  
The Social ◽  
Employment Rates ◽  
Near Future

The pandemic has enhanced the social function of digital technologies and services. It is solely through digital technology that a massive shift to remote work has been possible during the most difficult period of the pandemic. All over the world, the philosophy of office work is changing, and there is a transition to permanent and conditional-permanent remote work. For example, Transport Canada is planning to move to telecommuting as a key employment model for its employees. In the near future, telecommuting will continue for most of the 6,000 employees in the agency. In China, widespread use of WeChat, Tencent, and Ding digital working applications began in late January 2020, when isolation measures were introduced. In Switzerland, COOVID-19 Remote Work and Study Resources provides free resources for remote operation and distance learning. Zoom and Google Meet videoconferencing, remote workplaces, and new social platforms run remote work almost immediately, and this trend is likely to continue after the lifting of the quarantine. Trends in staff employment worldwide are rather mixed. According to LinkedIn, it is possible to track changes in the employment rates of seven key economies – Australia, China, France, Italy, Singapore, Great Britain and United States. In France and Italy, the decline was more pronounced at -70% and -64.5% respectively by mid-April 2020. Since then, employment has been gradually recovering, and most of the seven key economies for which these figures have been analysed tend to change by 0 per cent year on year. By July 1, 2020, China, France, and the United States had seen the largest rebound in relative recruitment – -6% or -7%. At the end of September 2020, the countries with a high recovery in employment were China (22 per cent), Brazil (13 per cent), Singapore (8 per cent) and France (5 per cent). In these economies, hiring so far seems to compensate for months in which no new personnel have been recruited, indicating some stabilization of the labor market.

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