The Great Basin and Plateau encompass a vast region of western North America bracketed on the west by the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountains and the east by the Rocky Mountains (Figure 1). The region is diverse but characterized by ecologically limiting, generally more arid conditions, and higher elevations than other parts of North America. It is also characterized by a type of archaeology th...

Vinca rosea (fam. apocynaeceae) is a medicinal plant commonly grown in Indian gardens and a native of West Indies. Various parts of this plant have been reported to exert antidiabetic, hypotensive and antileukemic property (1-3). Significant hypoglycemic and antihyperglycemic activity of water soluble fraction of alcoholic extract of leaves of Vinca rosea in rats have already been reported by t...

In South America, a shift has been observed from high to intermediate endemicity for hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection in several countries, including Brazil, which has generally been explained by improvements in public health programs and sanitary conditions in most parts of these areas. A multicentric population-based study conducted in Brazilian capital cities classified the North, Northeast...

Psoquilla infuscata Badonnel, previously known from a single locality in coastal West Africa, is recorded from southern Mexico, Belize, Panamá, Suriname, and Perú. The original description is based entirely on macropterous females, while our material includes brachypterous forms of both sexes as well as macropterous specimens. Augmented descriptions of adults of this species and its only congen...

Human T cell lymphotrophic Virus 1 (HTLV-1) is endemic in the Caribbean, parts of South America, West Africa, Asia and Oceania but rare in North America. After a prolonged latency, HTLV-1 is associated with development of acute T cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL) in 2–5% of infected individuals and HTLV-1-associated myelopathy (HAM) in a smaller percentage. Screening tests do not distinguish between...

The permissible limit of arsenic content in drinking water is 0.05 ppm, whereas, in many parts of West Bengal the arsenic level in drinking water is 0.1 ppm, frequently 0.3 ppm and even 3.0 ppm, though rarely. In order to assess possible risk to brain function by drinking such water, rats were given arsenic mixed in drinking water at the above four concentrations for 40 days. There was increase...

This essay is rather different than most of the others in the volume, because it deals in the main with theory rather with practice. But abstract theory can have profound political implications. Empirical evidence that market-oriented systems work better than centrally planned ones is overwhelming. Yet it is always open to the would-be planner to argue that previous designs were flawed, whereas...