ALBERT

Notes: Human intestinal in vitro organ culture was used to assess the tissue tropism of human isolates of Escherichia coli O103:H2 and O103:H- that express intimin ɛ. Both strains showed tropism for follicle associated epithelium and limited adhesion to other regions of the small and large intestine. This is similar to the tissue tropism shown by intimin γ enterohaemorrhagic (EHEC) O157:H7, but distinct from that of intimin α enteropathogenic (EPEC) O127:H6.

Notes: Extensive hydrodynamic testing was performed as part of a program to evaluate horizontal recirculation as a means of removing contaminants from thin, interbedded aquifers. Two test sites, each containing a pair of horizontal recirculation wells, were evaluated using various hydraulic tests. Results of these evaluations showed that ground water was intercepted more than 100 feet beyond the wells, and that the hydraulic gradient increased by more than two orders of magnitude. Aquifer heterogeneity, however, controlled the efficiency and uniformity of ground water flow. Heterogeneity was assessed with a variety of techniques. Bromide tracer tests and the colloidal borescope provided the most useful data. For example, at an uncontaminated site, the leading edge of the bromide tracer traversed the 100 feet between the injection and extraction wells in 21 hours, and the peak bromide concentration was observed in 2.6 days, compared with the four days predicted by a pumping test. The resulting maximum velocity calculation was consistent with measurements made with the borescope in preferential flow zones. Data obtained from a highly contaminated location indicated that assessments of aquifer heterogeniety are further complicated by the presence of DNAPL. Very low flow occurred in a highly contaminated zone, despite the fact that lithologic descriptions indicated that this region contained permeable sand and gravel.

Notes: This is an exclusive extract from The ValueReporting Revolution: Moving Beyond the Earnings Game, a new book published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., and written by four senior PricewaterhouseCoopers experts. In this extract they discuss the dilemma of risk management and risk reporting. They argue that there are difficulties in disclosing risk on the grounds that it causes problems with competitors and investors alike. There is also a lack of consensus of how market risk should be measured. They assess how to quantify operational risk and conclude that the gap between improving risk management techniques and risk disclosures needs to be closed.

Notes: The ability to satisfy customer demands while responding to relentless competitive pressure requires creative and often complex approaches to managing a firm's supply chain. Perhaps more than any other area, executive managers increasingly believe that a concept called globalization offers the best opportunity to achieve major performance gains. One area where many companies can begin to capture the benefits of globalization is global sourcing, which involves the worldwide integration of engineering, operations, and procurement centers within the upstream portion of a firm's supply chain. Unfortunately, capturing the benefits potentially offered by globalization is often limited by a lack of understanding concerning how to pursue this important topic. To help overcome this limitation this article presents a five-level continuum that illustrates the differences between international purchasing and global sourcing, examines the factors that are the most critical to global success, and concludes with a brief discussion of future global sourcing directions.

Notes: Outlines the total quality management approach used to develop and sustain an undergraduate curriculum in supply management. Illustrates the importance of identifying the primary customer, and using the customer's needs as the foundation for a curriculum. Examines the importance of empowering faculty and students to create leadership and advance the curriculum. Finally, discusses ways in which faculty, students and business leaders use these three elements to improve the curriculum.

Notes: This article explores the different approaches taken to environmental regulation of the small firm in the UK and The Netherlands and the relationship of such regulation with the attitudes of small business owner-managers. Using evidence from 40 interviews with businesses in both countries, we contrast the engagement and orientation of these enterprises with the business-environment agenda. In both countries, government rhetoric stresses the harmony between business and environmental objectives: on the ground, attitudes of owner-managers stress that these goals are far from complementary. In the UK, owner-managers feel that environmental issues are a legitimate area of concern, but government should take the lead in addressing business-environmental issues. Here, businesses are reacting to a policy context where environmental issues are seen as either a cost on the business, or presented as having simplistic win-win outcomes. Businesses themselves, however, perceive it very much as an additional burden. In The Netherlands, SMEs have been targeted by the State by joint regulation through legislation, licensing and voluntary initiatives. This results in generally higher levels of environmental care. Small firms in The Netherlands appear to have accepted the importance of this and their shared responsibility for environmental care. In view of the shifting business-environment policy debate in the UK, it is unlikely that the current reliance on voluntary initiatives and economic incentives will bear fruit. Different approaches may need, therefore, to be explored.

Notes: . Fish species around the world are parasitized by myxozoans of the genus Kudoa, several of which infect and cause damage of commercial importance. In particular, Kudoa thyrsites and Kudoa amamiensis infect certain cultured fish species causing damage to muscle tissue, making the fish unmarketable. Kudoa thyrsites has a broad host and geographic range infecting over 35 different fish species worldwide, while K. amamiensis has only been reported from a few species in Japanese waters. Through morphological and molecular analyses we have confirmed the presence of both of these parasites in eastern Australian waters. In addition, a novel Kudoa species was identified, having stellate spores, with one polar capsule larger than the other three. The SSU rDNA sequence of this parasite was 1.5% different from K. thyrsites and is an outlier from K. thyrsites representatives in a phylogenetic analysis. Furthermore, the spores of this parasite are distinctly smaller than those of K. thyrsites, and thus it is described as Kudoa minithyrsites n. sp. Although the potential effects of K. minithyrsites n. sp. on its fish hosts are unknown, both K. thyrsites and K. amamiensis are associated with flesh quality problems in some cultured species and may be potential threats to an expanding aquaculture industry in Australia.

Notes: . In the last few years two factors have helped to significantly advance our understanding of the Myxozoa. First, the phenomenal increase in fin fish aquaculture in the 1990s has lead to the increased importance of these parasites; in turn this has lead to intensified research efforts, which have increased knowledge of the development, diagnosis, and pathogenesis of myxozoans. The hallmark discovery in the 1980s that the life cycle of Myxobolus cerebralis requires development of an actinosporean stage in the oligochaete, Tubifex tubifex, led to the elucidation of the life cycles of several other myxozoans. Also, the life cycle and taxonomy of the enigmatic PKX myxozoan has been resolved: it is the alternate stage of the unusual myxozoan, Tetracapsula bryosahnonae, from bryozoans. The 18S rDNA gene of many species has been sequenced, and here we add 22 new sequences to the data set. Phylogenetic analyses using all these sequences indicate that:l) the Myxozoa are closely related to Cnidaria (also supported by morphological data); 2) marine taxa at the genus level branch separately from genera that usually infect freshwater fishes; 3) taxa cluster more by development and tissue location than by spore morphology; 4) the tetracapsulids branched off early in myxozoan evolution, perhaps reflected by their having bryozoan, rather than annelid hosts; 5) the morphology of actinosporeans offers little information for determining their myxosporean counterparts (assuming that they exist); and 6) the marine actinosporeans from Australia appear to form a clade within the platysporinid myxosporeans. Ribosomal DNA sequences have also enabled development of diagnostic tests for myxozoans. PCR and in situ hybridisation tests based on rDNA sequences have been developed for Myxobolus cerebralis, Ceratomyxa shasta, Kudoa spp., and Tetracapsula bryosalmonae (PKX). Lectin-based and antibody tests have also been developed for certain myxozoans, such as PKX and C. shasta. We also review important diseases caused by myxozoans, which are emerging or re-emerging. Epizootics of whirling disease in wild rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) have recently been reported throughout the Rocky Mountain states of the USA. With a dramatic increase in aquaculture of fishes using marine netpens, several marine myxozoans have been recognized or elevated in status as pathological agents. Kudoa thyrsites infections have caused severe post-harvest myoliquefaction in pen-reared Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), and Ceratomyxa spp., Sphaerospora spp., and Myxidium leei cause disease in pen-reared sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) and sea bream species (family Sparidae) in Mediterranean countries.

Notes: pH is a key environmental factor affecting the physiology, ecology and pathogenicity of the oral biofilms colonizing the hard tissues of the human mouth. Much attention has been focused on the production of organic acids through the metabolism of carbohydrates by pathogenic oral bacteria. Now, evidence is emerging that alkali generation, particularly through ammonia production from arginine and urea, plays major roles in pH homeostasis in oral biofilms and may moderate initiation and progression of dental caries. This short review highlights recent progress on understanding molecular genetic and physiologic aspects of ammonia generation by prominent oral bacteria.