Wildlife as a source of microbial contamination is a food safety concern. Deer feces (scat) have been determined as a point source for Escherichia coli O157:H7 contamination of fresh produce. The ecological role of the scooped scarab (Onthophagus hecate (Panzer)), a generalist dung beetle species common in Maine blueberry fields, was explored as a biological control agent and alternatively as a...

Noninvasive faecal DNA sampling has the potential to provide a wealth of information necessary for monitoring and managing endangered species while eliminating the need to capture, handle or observe rare individuals. However, scoring problems, and subsequent genotyping errors, associated with this monitoring method remain a great concern as they can lead to misidentification of individuals and ...

A static analyzer such as ASTRÉE [CCF05, BCC10] is able to ensure safety of critical software, i.e. the absence of runtime overflows. But ASTRÉE is itself a very complex software and its full formal verification seems currently impossible. A more feasible alternative might be to make the analyzer produce a formally verifiable certificate. Such a certificate would summarize the proof of safety f...

The mink (Mustela vison) is often utilized as a sentinel species for ecological assessments at sites where contaminants of concern include dioxins and dioxin-like compounds. Utilizing mink scat as a nondestructive tool to determine internal exposure to dioxin-like compounds may allow for rapid, accurate estimates of exposure without the need to capture mink or their prey. To determine the relat...

OBJECTIVE To compare the results of two slings, Argus T® and Advance®, for the treatment of postprostatectomy urinary incontinence (PPUI). MATERIAL AND METHODS From December 2010 to December 2011, 22 patients with PPUI were randomized as follows: 11 (mean age 62.09(±5.30)) underwent treatment with Advance® and 11 (mean age 62.55(±8.54)) with Argus T®. All patients were evaluated preoperativel...

The results of an analysis are presented of some recent data on the reactions

A large number of takeoff tests have been made on a Comet aircraft with the object of (a) acquiring comprehensive data on undirected takeoffs ; (b) testing a SCAT takeoff director. SCAT is explained in detail and the aircraft installation and test method described. Tests to determine ground effect on lift and on the SCAT Lift Transducer are also described. Undirected and directed takeoffs are c...

Empirical studies suggest that changes in the density of top predators, such as carnivorous fish, freshwater food webs, strongly affect not only fish communities but also various primary and secondary consumers. Based on these findings, we explored how differences utilization (i.e., Northern Snakehead, Channa argus) by humans affected cladoceran community structure well settlement exotic specie...

BACKGROUND Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) is a hereditary genetic disease causing bilateral retinal degeneration. RP is a leading cause of blindness resulting in incurable visual impairment and drastic reduction in the Quality of life of the patients. Second Sight Medical Products Inc. developed Argus II, a retinal prosthesis system for treating RP. Argus II is the world's first ever-commercial impl...