Endangered Species Act biennial report, status of recovery program / prepared by U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, Office of Protected Resources.

1994-1996

Fisheries of the United States / U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Commercial Fisheries.

2004

Fisheries of the United States / U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Commercial Fisheries.

1992

Uma estação biológica para o estudo dos mosquitos e dos outros animaes silvestres relacionados com a febre amarela

The outbreak of the jungle or forest yellow fever, through the adapta¬tion, quite recently of the yellow fever virus o the forest mosquitoes, brou¬ght the necessity of ecological researches on hese mosquitoes, as well as on the wild animals they bite, some of them being susceptible to the desease. This has been done by the special yellow fever Service of the State of Sao Paulo, in a special Biological Station in Perús, São Paulo, which has been built in the midst of the jungle. This station was made with plain materials, and covered with straw, but was confortable enough for the technical work, i nthe early months of 1938. During the months in which the investigations were being carried on, the following interesting results were obtained: 1. As we have already pointed out in other places, the forest mosquitoes biting us during daytime, are always new born insects, having not yet sucked blood, as it is the general rule with all mosquitoes, and therefore also, with the anopheles and stegomyia, and this explains why nobody gets malaria or yellow fever, transmitted by anofeles or by aedes aegypti during the day. We think therefore, the jungle yellow fever, got during daytime is not due to the infected jungle or forest mosquito biting, but to infection through the human skin coming into close contact with tre virus, which the forest mosquitoes lay with their dejections, on the leaves of the trees where they remain sitting du¬ring the day. 2. As it is the rule with anopheles, stegomyia and other mosquitoes, the insects once having sucked blood, take nocturnal habits and, therefore, bite us, only during the night, so it happens with the forest mosquito, and insects with developped eggs and blood in stomach have been caught within the sta¬tion house, during the night. During the day, these mosquitoes do not bite, but remain quite still on the leaves of the trees, in the damp parts of the woods. 3. Jungle or forest mosquitoes can easely bite wild animals, some with more avidity then ethers, as it has bee npointed out to the opossum (didei-phis) and other animals. They also bite birds having very thin skin and only exceptionally, cold bloods animals. 5. Is has hot been possible to ascertain how forest mosquitoes are able to live, from onde season to another, through winter, when temperature drops near and even below zero. They have not been found in holes of the terrain, of trees and of animals, as it is the rule in cold countries. During winter, in the forest, it is possible to find larvs in the holes of bambus and trees full of water. As wild animals do not harbour the yellow fever virus for a long time in their body, it is diffcult to explain how the desease lasts from one season to another. Many ecological features on the mosquito, remains yet to be explained and therefore it in necessary to go on with the investigations, in bio¬logical stations, such as that one built up in Perús, São Paulo.

Estudos dos agrupamentos vegetativos relacionados com as áreas onde foram efetuadas as pesquisas sôbre a febre amarela silvestre no Município de Passos, Estado de Minas Gerais

The work reported here was carried-out on the invitation of Dr. Henry Kumm, Director of the Rockefeller Foundation, and by appointment from Dr. Henrique Aragão, Director of the Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. It was done during the investigation of sylvan yellow fever, in June 1947, with a view to establishing the phyto-ecological conditions of the county of Passos. The pe¬riod was, however, too short for definite conclusions to be reached. Thanks are due to Dr. O. R. Causey, Chief of Research on Yellow Fever for transpor¬tation and other help. THE REGIONAL VEGETATION. Aerial photographs of the county of Passos shoto that it is covered by three great types of vegetation: Rain Forest, Secondary Pasture Land and Scrub.1 Detailed investigation, however, brings out the fact that these correspond to different seres; furthermore, each type presents not only the specific, characteristics of the biological form dominant for the climate, but also are at various stages, which express HABITATS differing from those of the normal sere. The phytogeographic survey of the region shows that most of it is now covered by secondary pasture land (disclimax) in which Melinis minutiflora, v. "fat grass" (fig. 1), predominates. The mosaic of Rain Forest and of small patches of Scrub reveals the effects of human intervention (BARRETO, H. L. de Mello 1); consequently, all the formations have to be regarded as secon¬dary, though some of them probably include relicts of the primitive climax (WARMING, E. 2). On close examination, the Scrub cannot be considered as the climax, because of the following facts: 1. In the zone of Rain-Forest stretches of forest are present in very varied topographic conditions and the reconstitution of the associations show that man has destroyed an ecological unit (fig. 2). 2. In the zone of Scrub the characteristic patches are small. The banks of rivers and brooks, the valleys and ravine and whatever the soil has retained some humidity, is being invaded fry Rain Forest, which seems to be growing under optimum conditions. The Scrub is thus limited to small belts on the calcareous mountains and on sandy soils with alcaline depths (pH abo¬ve 7) which do not retain enough moisture for the Rain Forest that is progres¬sively restricting the area occupied by Scrub. In view of the topographic and present climatic conditions the Rain Forest must consequently be regarded as the regional climax. The presence of ecologically contradictory elements and associations shows that the real problem is that of the fluctuations of the climate of Passos or even of Minas Geraes during the quaternary and recent periods (DAN-SEREAU, P. : 3), a subject on which little is known and which is tied to the evolution of the climate of Brazil (OLIVEIRA, E. : 4) . The transformation of Scrub into Rain Forest has been - observed by the author before, in other parts of Brazil (VELOSO, PL P.: 5) . It seems probable that the Rio Grande has also greatly influenced the change of the regional vegetation, by invading areas of Scrub and dislocating the limit of the Pluvial climate towards the Canastra Range, though there are remnants of Scrub (postclimax) transfor¬med into secondary open country (disclimax, fig. 5) by human devastation and the setting of fire to the land. VEGETATION GROUPS OF THE PLUVIAL TYPE. The map of the region also shows that at the present time the small patches of forest (whether devasted or intact) occupy the least accessible places, such as valleys, peaks and abrupt slopes (fig. 2). Even these are now being destroyed, so that in the near future this forested region will be en¬tirely reduced to poor pasture land unless energetic measures of conservation are undertaken in time. The Special Service for Prophylaxis against Yellow Fever installed two of their four Stations for the Capture of Mosquitos in this area, one of them at Batatal and the other at Cachoeira, which have separate formations each of them composed of several associations. Other vegetation formations were also analysed, from the synecological point of view, so as to ascertain of which degree of succession their associations belong. These phytosociological sur¬veys give an idea of the principal characteristics of each station. BATATAL FORMATION. The abrupt nature of the valley has rendered this location inappropriate for agricultural purposes since colonial times. The relict of the primitive forest climax saved by this circumstance has expanded gradually to zones whose paedologic conditions favour the eatablishment of mesophilous species. The aerial photograph shows two small stretches of forest, one apparently primi¬tive, the other composed of associations belonging to the subclimax of the subsere. CACHOEIRA FORMATION. Aerial photographs show that this station is crossed by a small river, which divides it into two separate parts. The first, which presents ecological conditions similar, though not identical to those of Batatal, is favoured by topography and apparently remains primitive forest. Though the topography of the other, on the whole, favours the establishment of groups belonging to the normal sere of the climax, is has been partly devastated recently and the aspect of the associations has been completely modified. It was is this part that the four posts for the capturing of mosquitos were set up. The first forest is favoured by deposition of organic matter, washed out from the nearby devasted areas by torrential rains, and thus provides, an appropriate HABITAT for the climax species with certain hygrophilous trends of the ecological quasiclimax type. This association seems to have reached a biological equilibrium, as the dominates. Gallesia gorarema and Cariniana legalis (fig. 10), present an optimum vitality with a vigorous habit and a normal evolutionary cycle. The Cariniantum legalis Gallesiosum equilibrium, corresponds however, to a provisory association, because if the moving of soil by torrential rains should cease it would become possible…

Hausman tests for inefficient estimators: application to demand for health care service (revised)

The Hausman (1978) test is based on the vector of differences of two estimators. It is usually assumed that one of the estimators is fully efficient, since this simplifies calculation of the test statistic. However, this assumption limits the applicability of the test, since widely used estimators such as the generalized method of moments (GMM) or quasi maximum likelihood (QML) are often not fully efficient. This paper shows that the test may easily be implemented, using well-known methods, when neither estimator is efficient. To illustrate, we present both simulation results as well as empirical results for utilization of health care services.

Technical innovations at the service of cheaper labour in pre-industrial Europe. The Enlightened agenda to transform the gender division of labour in silk manufacturing

In 1749, Jacques de Vaucanson patented his or tour pour tirer la soie or spindle for silk reeling. In that same year he presented his invention to the Academy of the Sciences in Paris, of which he was a member1. Jacques de Vaucanson was born in Grenoble, France, in 1709, and died in Paris in 1782. In 1741 he had been appointed inspector of silk manufactures by Louis XV. He set about reorganizing the silk industry in France, in considerable difficulty at the time due to foreign competition. Given Vaucanson’s position, his invention was intended to replace the traditional Piémontes method, and had an immediate impact upon the silk industry in France and all over Europe.

SGCE: Sistema de Gestió i Control d'Equips

Aquest projecte es presenta com una solució al problema aparegut per la implantació de l'estació clínica de treball, e-CAP, en els centres d'atenció primària del servei d'atenció primària de la població de l’Hospitalet del Llobregat. La solució desenvolupada és una aplicació Web que proporciona la funcionalitat requerida per a dur a terme el control de l'equip informàtic, així com la gestió de les incidències. Aquesta aplicació Web està enfocada al personal d'atenció a l'usuari dels centres anomenats anteriorment amb la supervisió del departament de Sistemes d'Informació de cada servei d'atenció primària.

Internet au service du patrimoine. Cartographie dynamique de l'inventaire des géotopes d'importance nationale

L'inventaire des géotopes d'importance nationale, aujourd'hui proche de son état final, est le fruit d'un long travail de sélection, de documentation ainsi que de définition et de numérisation des périmètres des sites initié dans les années 1990 par le groupe de travail pour la protection des géotopes en Suisse (Strasser et al. 1995, Berger et al. 2008). Il représente un outil au service de la diffusion et à la promotion du géopatrimoine suisse, auprès de la population en général et des professionnels des géosciences en particulier, dans un but de valorisation patrimoniale et de protection et par une sensibilisation à la valeur particulière et à la vulnérabilité des géotopes.¦C'est dans cet objectif qu'a été développée une interface cartographique rendant accessible sur Internet le contenu de cet inventaire. L'outil de web mapping utilisé - GoogleMaps API - permet en effet d'enrichir une interface de navigation intuitive de diverses fonctions additionnelles offertes par la cartographie sur internet (Kraak 2004, Plewe 2007). La carte n'est donc pas seulement une représentation de la réalité permettant la localisation de différents objets, mais également un outil de recherche thématique et spatiale ainsi qu'un index reliant chaque objet cartographié à diverses informations.¦Porte d'accès aux données des site à une échelle individuelle ou globale, mais aussi outil d'exploration, cette interface propose plusieurs niveaux d'utilisation, correspondant aux diverses interactions possibles avec ces données : naviguer et découvrir les sites, réaliser des sélections multiples, comparer les géotopes à d'autres données, comme l'inventaire fédéral des paysages. L'utilisateur peut ainsi produire à chaque fois la carte qui répond à ses besoins et à ses questions. En donnant à tous accès au contexte et aux particularités de chaque site par delà la globalité abstraite de l'inventaire, cette application se veut avant tout un outil au service de la médiation du géopatrimoine.

Helminth parasites of fishes from the hydroeletric power station of eletrosul (Brazil). I: Procamallanus petterae n. sp. and Spirocamallanus pintoi n. sp. (Nematoda, Camallanidae) from the reservoir of Salto Osório

Procamallanus petterae n. sp. from Plecostomus albopunctarus and Spirocamallanus pintoi n. sp. from Corydoras paleatus are described. procamallanus petterae n. sp. differs from all other species of the genus by having a buccal capsule without spiral bands, with five teeth-like structures on its base and four plate-like structures near the anterior margin; length ratio of oesophagus muscular/glandular 1:1.4; spicules short, 21µ m and 16µ m long and tails ending abruptly in a sharp point, in both sexes. Spirocamallanus pintoi n. sp. is characterized by having 6 to 8 spiral thickenings in the buccal capsule of male and 9 to 10 in female, occupying 2/3 of the length of the capsule; length of glandular oesophagus more than twice the muscular; spicules short, the right 94µ m and the left 82µ m long.

Trans-Atlantic Pedagogy for Teaching Pre-Service Teachers ICT: Bringing forward cultural issues

Projecte de recerca elaborat a partir d’una estada a la Universitat de Toronto, Canadà, des d’octubre del 2006 a febrer del 2007. El projecte Barchito és un projecte Interrnacional que va involucrar tres universitats: La Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, la Universitat de Toronto (Canadà) i la Universitat de Roosevelt (USA). El seu objectiu principal era posar en contacte estudiants de les tres universitats (de tres cursos diferents) per discutir al voltant de temes com ara l'ensenyament/aprenentatge i elements culturals de cada país. Aquest projecte presenta la natura de l'experiència des de la visió dels participants: alumnat i professorat. Superant diferències inicials de llengua, els participants van aprendre d'altra cultura, van aprendre sobre altres maneres d'ensenyar i van aprendre, en definitiva, sobre ells mateixos. L'eina d'aprenentatge col.laboratiu els va ajudar a sobrepassar el context immediat, emprant per això, l'eina tecnològica anomenada: Knowledge Forum.

Scheduled service versus personal transportation: the role of distance

This paper analyzes both theoretically and empirically the relationship between distance and frequency of scheduled transportation services. We study the interaction between a monopoly firm providing high-speed scheduled service and personal trans- portation (i.e., car). Most interestingly, the carrier chooses to increase frequency of service on longer routes when competing with personal transportation because provid- ing a higher frequency (at extra cost) it can also charge higher fares that can boost its profits. However, when driving is not a relevant option, frequency of service de- creases for longer flights consistently with prior studies. An empirical application of our analysis to the European airline industry con?rms the predictions of our theoretical model.