scholarly journals This Old Herbarium: APHIS Compliance and Renovation Planning

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. e28122
Author(s):  
Erika Gardner
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Collection Management ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Climate Control ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
Inspection Service ◽  
Management Staff

With the continuous evolution of permitting regulations the Department of Botany at the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) in Washington D.C., invited an agent from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to discuss requirements for obtaining import permits for plant specimens. This meeting lead to the planning of restructuring existing procedures, workflows and modifications to the physical workspaces within our facilities. It also prompted the collection management staff to be well versed in the current regulations. APHIS requires individuals applying for a permit to submit a Standard Operational Procedure document (SOP) of their facilities. The APHIS agent will review the sterile entry procedures in the SOP and determine if the facility qualifies. Before we drafted our final SOP, we researched SOPs from other APHIS compliant herbaria. Most of the facilities at NMNH, constructed in 1910 and 1965, predates climate control and pest management best practice standards. After meeting with the APHIS agent, we reevaluated our packing and unpacking procedures. It was apparent that the frontline to combat pests should be as close to the shipping office entry point as possible. The ideal room is our drying room located next to the shipping office. Other room renovations where specimen processing occurs will be discussed in detail. PowerPoint is a major tool that helped with the visualization of the renovations. However, modifying and renovating spaces within the museum is not an easy feat because of the large scale coordinating efforts within the institution. Beyond the physical changes, there has been unexpected changes as to the role of collection staff in the permitting process. The APHIS requirements have created new challenges. Collection management staff are now sources of information about what collectors need to know before applying for a permit. Collection staff must also know about the various tools available for answering collectors’ questions, such as being well versed in the USDA Phytosanitary export database (PExD). Overall, new restrictions and guild lines create unexpected changes for the overall form and function of collection management.

scholarly journals How advocacy affects Twitter migraine conversations: A pilot cross-sectional survey of Northeast American “migraine” landscape on Twitter from May to June 2020

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 251581632097208
Author(s):  
Pengfei Zhang ◽  
Santosh Bhaskarabhatla
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Network Model ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
The United States ◽  
Closeness Centrality ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Annual Conference ◽  
Sources Of Information

Background: Twitter is a leading microblogging platform, with over 126 million daily active users as of 2019, which allows for large-scale analysis of tweets related to migraine. June 2020 encompassed the National Migraine and Headache Awareness Month in the United States and the American Headache Society’s virtual annual conference, which offer opportunities for us to study online migraine advocacy. Objective: We aim to study the content of individual tweets about migraine, as well as study patterns of other topics that were discussed in those tweets. In addition, we aim to study the sources of information that people reference within their tweets. Thirdly, we want to study how online awareness and advocacy movements shape these conversations about migraine. Methods: We designed a Twitter robot that records all unique public tweets containing the word “migraine” from May 8th, 2020 to June 23rd, 2020, within a 400 km radius of New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States. We built two network analysis models, one for the months of May 2020 and June 2020. The model for the month of May served as a control group for the model for the month of June, the Migraine Awareness Month. Our network model was developed with the following rule: if two hashtag topics co-exist in a single tweet, they are considered nodes connected by an edge in our network model. We then determine the top 30 most important hashtags in the month of May and June through applications of degree, between-ness, and closeness centrality. We also generated highly connected subgraphs (HCS) to categorize clusters of conversations within each of our models. Finally, we tally the websites referenced by these tweets during each month and categorized these websites according to the HCS subgroups. Results: Migraine advocacy related tweets are more popular in June when compared to May as judged by degree and closeness centrality measurements. They remained unchanged when judged by between-ness centralities. The HCS algorithm categorizes the hashtags into a large single dominant conversation in both months. In each of the months, advocacy related hashtags are apart of each of the dominant conversation. There are more hashtag topics as well as more unique websites referenced in the dominant conversation in June than in May. In addition, there are many smaller subgroups of migraine-related hashtags, and in each of these subgroups, there are a maximum of two websites referenced. Conclusion: We find a network analysis approach to be fruitful in the area of migraine social media research. Migraine advocacy tweets on Twitter not only rise in popularity during migraine awareness month but also may potentially bring in more diverse sources of online references into the Twitter migraine conversation. The smaller subgroups we identified suggest that there are marginalized conversations referencing a limited number of websites, creating a possibility of an “echo chamber” phenomenon. These subgroups provide an opportunity for targeted migraine advocacy. Our study therefore highlights the success as well as potential opportunities for social media advocacy on Twitter.

scholarly journals Processing of Biltong (Dried Beef) to Achieve USDA-FSIS 5-log Reduction of Salmonella without a Heat Lethality Step

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 791
Author(s):  
Caitlin E. Karolenko ◽  
Arjun Bhusal ◽  
Jacob L. Nelson ◽  
Peter M. Muriana
Keyword(s):  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Salmonella Enteritidis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Moisture Loss ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Log10 Reduction ◽  
Log Reduction ◽  
Salmonella Hadar ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Inspection Service

In the US, dried beef products (beef jerky) are a popular snack product in which the manufacture often requires the use of a heat lethality step to provide adequate reduction of pathogens of concern (i.e., 5-log reduction of Salmonella as recommended by the United States Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS)). Biltong, a South African-style dried beef product, is manufactured with low heat and humidity. Our objectives were to examine processes for the manufacture of biltong that achieves a 5-log reduction of Salmonella without a heat lethality step and with, or without, the use of additional antimicrobials. Beef pieces (1.9 cm × 5.1 cm × 7.6 cm) were inoculated with a 5-serovar mixture of Salmonella (Salmonella Thompson 120, Salmonella Heidelberg F5038BG1, Salmonella Hadar MF60404, Salmonella Enteritidis H3527, and Salmonella Typhimurium H3380), dipped in antimicrobial solutions (lactic acid, acidified calcium sulfate, sodium acid sulfate) or water (no additional antimicrobial), and marinaded while vacuum tumbling and/or while held overnight at 5 °C. After marination, beef pieces were hung in an oven set at 22.2 °C (72 °F), 23.9 °C (75 °F), or 25 °C (77 °F) depending on the process, and maintained at 55% relative humidity. Beef samples were enumerated for Salmonella after inoculation, after dip treatment, after marination, and after 2, 4, 6, and 8 days of drying. Water activity was generally <0.85 by the end of 6–8 days of drying and weight loss was as high as 60%. Trials also examined salt concentration (1.7%, 2.2%, 2.7%) and marinade vinegar composition (2%, 3%, 4%) in the raw formulation. Nearly all approaches achieved 5-log10 reduction of Salmonella and was attributed to the manner of microbial enumeration eliminating the effects of microbial concentration on dried beef due to moisture loss. All trials were run as multiple replications and statistical analysis of treatments were determined by repeated measures analysis of variance (RM-ANOVA) to determine significant differences (p < 0.05). We believe this is the first published report of a biltong process achieving >5.0 log10 reduction of Salmonella which is a process validation requirement of USDA-FSIS for the sale of dried beef in the USA.

Adoption Barriers in a High-Risk Agricultural Environment

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 30-46
Author(s):  
Shari R. Veil
Keyword(s):  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Diffusion Of Innovation ◽  
Radio Frequency Identification ◽  
The United States ◽  
Identification System ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Rfid Technology ◽  
Department Of Agriculture ◽  
Animal Identification ◽  
Inspection Service

To lessen the threat of an intentional or naturally occurring livestock disease, the Animal Plant Health Inspection Service of the United States Department of Agriculture introduced the National Animal Identification System (NAIS), encouraging the use of innovative tools such as radio frequency identification (RFID) tags to track cattle across the country. In this study, the author examines the barriers to adoption of NAIS and RFID technology as risk-reduction tools. Diffusion of innovation literature is used to analyze a case study of a state livestock association advocating the rejection of NAIS and RFID technology. Implications for the diffusion of risk reduction tools are provided.

Estimated Economic Losses Associated with the Destruction of Plants Due to Phytophthora ramorum Quarantine Efforts in Washington State

2007 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norman L. Dart ◽  
Gary A. Chastagner
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Washington State ◽  
Phytophthora Ramorum ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Department Of Agriculture ◽  
States Department ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Inspection Service

The number and retail value of plants destroyed in Washington State nurseries due to Phytophthora ramorum quarantine efforts was estimated using Emergency Action Notification forms (EANs) issued by the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service between 2004 and 2005. Data collected from EANs indicate that during this period 17,266 containerized nursery plants were destroyed at 32 nurseries, worth an estimated $423,043. The mean loss per nursery was estimated at $11,188 in 2004, $11,798 in 2005, and at $13,220 per nursery over the 2-year period. Accepted for publication 26 January 2007. Published 8 May 2007.

Adoption Barriers in a High-Risk Agricultural Environment

2011 ◽  
pp. 31-47
Author(s):  
Shari R. Veil
Keyword(s):  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Diffusion Of Innovation ◽  
Radio Frequency Identification ◽  
The United States ◽  
Identification System ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Rfid Technology ◽  
Department Of Agriculture ◽  
Animal Identification ◽  
Inspection Service

To lessen the threat of an intentional or naturally occurring livestock disease, the Animal Plant Health Inspection Service of the United States Department of Agriculture introduced the National Animal Identification System (NAIS), encouraging the use of innovative tools such as radio frequency identification (RFID) tags to track cattle across the country. In this study, the author examines the barriers to adoption of NAIS and RFID technology as risk-reduction tools. Diffusion of innovation literature is used to analyze a case study of a state livestock association advocating the rejection of NAIS and RFID technology. Implications for the diffusion of risk reduction tools are provided.

scholarly journals Experimental use of a Dot-Blot Assay to Measure Serologic Responses of Cattle Vaccinated with Brucella Abortus Strain RB51

1997 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 363-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. C. Olsen ◽  
M. G. Stevens ◽  
N. F. Cheville ◽  
G. Schurig
Keyword(s):  
Brucella Abortus ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Dot Blot ◽  
Department Of Agriculture ◽  
Specificity And Sensitivity ◽  
Colony Forming Units ◽  
Dot Blot Assay ◽  
Inspection Service ◽  
Experimental Use

Brucella abortus strain RB51 was recently approved as an official brucellosis calfhood vaccine for cattle by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service branch of the United States Department of Agriculture. Currently available serologic surveillance tests for B. abortus do not detect seroconversion following SRB51 vaccination. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a dot-blot assay using γ-irradiated strain RB51 bacteria for its specificity and sensitivity to detect antibody responses of cattle vaccinated with strain RB51. Dot-blot titers of sera at a recommended dosage (1010 colony-forming units) were similar to those of sera from cattle vaccinated with similar numbers of B. abortus strain 19 and greater ( P < 0.05) than titers of nonvaccinated cattle. In the first 12 weeks after vaccination with 1010 colony-forming units of strain RB51, the RB51 dot-blot assay had 100% specificity for titers of 80 or less and a 53% sensitivity for titers of 160 or greater. Sensitivity of the RB51 dot-blot assay peaked at 4 weeks after vaccination with 1010 colony-forming units of strain RB51. Dot-blot responses of sera from cattle vaccinated with a reduced dosage of strain RB51 (109 colony-forming units) did not differ ( P > 0.05) from titers of sera from nonvaccinated cattle. Following intraconjunctival challenge with B. abortus strain 2308, titers on the RB51 dot-blot assay did not differ ( P > 0.05) between nonvaccinated cattle and cattle vaccinated at calfhood with strain 19 or strain RB51.

Learnings from Large-Scale, Population-Level Implementation of Parenting Support

2017 ◽  
pp. 419-421
Author(s):  
Trevor G. Mazzucchelli
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Population Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Parenting Support ◽  
Scale Population ◽  
The Many ◽  
Learning Principles

There is considerable evidence supporting the efficacy and effectiveness of parenting interventions based on social learning principles for a range of social, emotional, and health problems, involving different types of families and through a variety of delivery systems. The challenge now is “going to scale” in order to have a positive impact at a population level. This chapter introduces three best practice exemplars that have taken place in the United States, Ireland, and Australia, where a full multilevel systems approach to parenting support has been applied and evaluated. These applications provide important lessons regarding the barriers and facilitators that can influence an initiative’s success and degree of impact. By illustrating how these approaches have involved different populations, behavioral targets, evaluation designs, and means of assessing outcome, they also hint at the many possibilities that are available in future dissemination efforts.

The SRC-II process

1981 ◽  
Vol 300 (1453) ◽  
pp. 129-139 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbines ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Coal Gasification ◽  
The United States ◽  
Electric Utility ◽  
Department Of Energy ◽  
Fuel Oil ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Selling Price ◽  
Home Heating

Extensive laboratory and pilot plant experimental work on the Solvent Refined Coal process by Gulf Oil Corporation over the past 18 years, sponsored by the Fossil Fuel Division of the United States Department of Energy and its predecessor agencies, has led to the development of an improved version of the process known as SRC-II. This work has shown considerable promise in recent years and plans are now being made to demonstrate the SRC-II process with commercial size equipment in a 6000 ton/day (5440 t/day) plant to be located near Morgantown, West Virginia. On the basis of recent economic studies, the products (both liquid and gas) from a future large-scale commercial plant are expected to have an overall selling price of $4.25-4.75/GJ (first quarter 1980 basis). The major product of the primary process is distillate fuel oil of less than 0.3 % sulphur for use largely as a non-polluting fuel for generating electrical power and steam, especially in the east where utilities and industry are currently using petroleum products. In such applications, SRC-II fuel oil is expected to be competitive with petroleum-derived fuels within the next decade. During this period, SRC-II fuel oil should be economically attractive compared with coal combustion with flue gas desulphurization in electric utility and industrial boilers, particularly in the major metropolitan areas. Naphtha produced by the SRC-II process can be upgraded to a high-octane unleaded gasoline to supplement petroleum-derived supplies. Significant quantities of pipeline gas are also produced at a cost that should be competitive with s.n.g. from direct coal gasification. Light hydrocarbons (ethane, propane) from the process may be effectively converted to ethylene. In addition, certain fractions of the fuel oil might also be used in medium-speed diesel engines and automotive gas turbines. For many of these applications, the fuel oil and other products from the SRC-II process would displace high-quality petroleum fractions, which could then be used for production of diesel fuels, jet fuels, home heating oil and gasoline by conventional refinery processes.

US Governmental Interagency Programs, Opportunities, and Collaboration

2008 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 447-453
Author(s):  
H. Chen ◽  
M. Perchonok
Keyword(s):  
Food Processing ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
The United States ◽  
Research Area ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Department Of Agriculture ◽  
Processing Technologies ◽  
Research Education ◽  
Basic And Applied Research ◽  
Inspection Service

Improving the quality, value, and safety of national food supplies is the common mission of several Federal agencies. Under different authorities, these agencies conduct basic and applied research, develop curriculum at higher educational institutions, and disseminate new scientific knowledge about food processing, formulation, and preservation to a broad range of stakeholders. Emerging food processing technologies, including various thermal and nonthermal processes, as well as chemical processes, have received increased attention and investment in recent years. Some agencies dealing with Emerging Technologies include the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), and Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS), and all of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The U.S. Army Natick Research Center of Department of Defense (DOD), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of Department of Human Health Service (DHHS) also are involved in this research area. These agencies have their vision, mission, strategic goals, and current programs and activities related to emerging food processing technologies. The synergy of effective collaboration and cooperation among all stakeholders is the key to generating an impact greater than the simple sum of all.

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