Onward, Christian penguins: wildlife film and the image of scientific authority

Within US media reactions to March of the penguins, animal images became an arena for displaced conflicts of human interest. This paper examines an intermediary step through which the film became a medium for social disagreement: conflict over control of the cultural authority to interpret animal images. I analyze claims to the cultural honorific of science made within disputes over readings of the film as evidence for intelligent design (ID). I argue that published refutations of this reading were largely misguided in that they tended to group arguments-for-ID with a suite of social-allegorical readings of the film. By failing to address essential differences between interpretations, critics of the arguments-for-ID necessarily overlooked their problematic and unexamined claim that the film shares the cultural authority of science. Furthermore, where critics of the ID readings might have challenged this claim, they often replicated it instead. This overarching failure critically to assess the status of the film's scientific authority may have resulted from audience expectations about the genre of wildlife films, the advertising strategy of the film's US distributors, and structural ambiguities within the film concerning its status as a scientific representation.     

Ruminating on complexity: macroparasites of wildlife and livestock

Recent advances in ecology have improved our understanding of the role of parasites in the dynamics of wildlife populations. However, conditions that prevail in many wildlife systems, such as host movement, contact with livestock, and heterogeneity in the environment of the parasite outside of the host, have largely been ignored in existing models of macroparasite transmission. We need to refine these models if we are to stand a chance of developing effective parasite control strategies. New quantitative approaches enable us to address key complexities and make better use of scarce data, and these should enhance our efforts to understand and control emerging problems of interspecific parasite transmission.     

Development by design: mitigating wind development's impacts on wildlife in Kansas

Wind energy, if improperly sited, can impact wildlife through direct mortality and habitat loss and fragmentation, in contrast to its environmental benefits in the areas of greenhouse gas, air quality, and water quality. Fortunately, risks to wildlife from wind energy may be alleviated through proper siting and mitigation offsets. Here we identify areas in Kansas where wind development is incompatible with conservation, areas where wind development may proceed but with compensatory mitigation for impacts, and areas where development could proceed without the need for compensatory mitigation. We demonstrate that approximately 10.3 million ha in Kansas (48 percent of the state) has the potential to provide 478 GW of installed capacity while still meeting conservation goals. Of this total, approximately 2.7 million ha would require no compensatory mitigation and could produce up to 125 GW of installed capacity. This is 1,648 percent higher than the level of wind development needed in Kansas by 2030 if the United States is to get 20 percent of its electricity from wind. Projects that avoid and offset impacts consistent with this analysis could be awarded "Green Certification." Certification may help to expand and sustain the wind industry by facilitating the completion of individual projects sited to avoid sensitive areas and protecting the industry's reputation as an ecologically friendly source of electricity.     

Impact of war on conservation: Rwandan environment and wildlife in agony

Among the crucial problems that affect conservation in less developed countries are the high human pressure on natural habitats, poverty, low conservation education and lack of integration of local population. However, political and ethnic conflicts, which occur around the world and particularly in African countries, significantly affect all sectors of human society, the environment and wildlife. In this paper, we discuss the consequences of the Rwandan civil war of 1990–1994, recognized as one of the major tragedies of the 20th century, with a particular focus on protected areas and conservation bodies in the country.     

Fouling film development on antifouling paints with special reference to film thickness

The fouling of a range of antifouling paints is reported; these include soluble matrix, insoluble matrix and self-polishing antifouling paints. The antifouling paints were exposed for 12 months in Langstone Harbour, England. Colonization of samples taken after 1, 2, 4, 6 and 12 months was examined using a scanning electron microscope. Fouling film thicknesses, measured a light section microscope, after 6 and 12 months exposure are presented. Fouling films of various thickness and composition are illustrated by scanning electron micrographs. The performance of the different paints is compared and related to a non-toxic panel exposed for the same time period. Colonization was initially by bacteria, this developed to include diatoms and protozoa, further progression depended upon the antifouling paint concerned.     

Controlling vertebrate pests with fluoroacetate: lessons in wildlife management,bio-ethics,and co-evolution

The uses of sodium monofluoroacetate (compound 1080) as a vertebrate predacide in the USA and Australia are reviewed. The US applications centre on control of native species, while many of Australia's vertebrate pests are introduced species. This, coupled with the natural resistance of some Australian native fauna to 1080, has contributed to different patterns of use in both countries and different public attitudes to control programmes. The 1080 case corrects the omission of vertebrate pest control examples from the discussions of pest control in school biology texts, and highlights the interplay of economics, public opinion, bio-ethics, and biological principles in pest control programmes. Exercises on scientific vs emotive writing, data presentation, and co-evolution in Australia are suggested as possible curriculum extension exercises.     

Babesia argentina: Studies on the nature of an antigen associated with infection

A crude soluble haemagglutination antigen obtained from a mixture of Babesia argentina parasites and infected erythrocyte stromata contained fibrinogen. The fibrinogen was removed by precipitation in an initial attempt to purify the antigen. However, most if not all of the antigenic activity was located in the fibrinogen precipitate. After consideration of the evidence available, it was concluded that the antigen was either a babesial moiety complexed with fibrinogen or a fibrinogen molecule altered by the metabolic activity of the parasite.     

Molecular road ecology: exploring the potential of genetics for investigating transportation impacts on wildlife

Transportation infrastructures such as roads, railroads and canals can have major environmental impacts. Ecological road effects include the destruction and fragmentation of habitat, the interruption of ecological processes and increased erosion and pollution. Growing concern about these ecological road effects has led to the emergence of a new scientific discipline called road ecology. The goal of road ecology is to provide planners with scientific advice on how to avoid, minimize or mitigate negative environmental impacts of transportation. In this review, we explore the potential of molecular genetics to contribute to road ecology. First, we summarize general findings from road ecology and review studies that investigate road effects using genetic data. These studies generally focus only on barrier effects of roads on local genetic diversity and structure and only use a fraction of available molecular approaches. Thus, we propose additional molecular applications that can be used to evaluate road effects across multiple scales and dimensions of the biodiversity hierarchy. Finally, we make recommendations for future research questions and study designs that would advance molecular road ecology. Our review demonstrates that molecular approaches can substantially contribute to road ecology research and that interdisciplinary, long-term collaborations will be particularly important for realizing the full potential of molecular road ecology.     

Secretion: kiss and run caught on film

Recent results have provided graphic support for the hypothesis that vesicle secretion involves a 'kiss-and-run' mechanism. Evanescent field microscopy has shown that, during exocytosis, intravesicular markers escape without collapse of the vesicular membrane into the surface membrane and that the empty vesicle is immediately retrieved back into the cell.     

Improving on nature: antibiotics that target the ribosome

Antibiotic resistance, along with the resolution of antibiotic-ribosomal subunit complexes at the atomic level, has provided new insights into modifications of clinically relevant antimicrobials that target the ribosome. Modifications to the aminoglycoside or negamycin scaffolds have been reported in the past, but few derivatives appear to be greatly improved compared to their parent compound. Computational and/or traditional screening efforts have yielded novel compounds that bind to the decoding site of the small (30S) ribosomal subunit; naphthyridones appear to bind only in the presence of poly(U) and tRNA(Phe), whereas quinolines bind in a similar manner to aminoglycosides. Streptogramin B analogs were designed that have an amide replacement of the labile ester bond. The resultant molecules were not substrates for the inactivating lyase, but were no longer inhibitors of translation. The synthesis of 16-membered macrolides that are modified at the C6 position with peptidyl moieties as well as conjugates of chloramphenicol to either nucleotide groups or pyrene have been described, but no antibacterial activity has been reported. X-ray crystal structures are now available that can be used to improve on natural or synthetic antibiotics that bind to either the 30S or the 50S ribosomal subunit.