Mission impossible or mission accomplished: Do zoo organizational missions influence conservation practices?

Conservation is an important organizational focus for zoos and aquariums. Organizational identity theory predicts a relationship between what is central to organizations, such as their mission statements, and their strategic activities. Based on this theory, we tested how organizational missions relate to their conservation strategies and practices. Tax forms and websites provided data from 173 zoos and 38 aquariums in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums in North America. We analyzed conservation mission strength, organizational characteristics, and project features with dependent variables representing the depth of organizational conservation commitments: amount of grants zoos funded, number of partner organizations, and number of projects per zoo. On tax forms, the average amount of total conservation grants donated to partner organizations per zoo was over $650,000, while the average number of partners reported on the tax forms was two. The content analysis of websites revealed an average of 14 conservation partners and 10 projects per zoo. Negative binomial regression models were significant. The financial analysis revealed that only the number of zoo personnel, as a surrogate for organization size, significantly predicted the amount of zoos’ conservation grants. Website analyses found increasing budgets, organizational involvement, and geographic reach of the projects predicted increasing numbers of conservation projects and partnerships. However, our findings did not support the hypothesized relationship—strength of organizational mission did not predict strategy and activities. Zoos could do more to strategically activate their organizational identities and conservation missions to achieve their conservation goals.     

Ultrastructural Studies of Hepatitis A Virus by Electron Microscopy

Well-defined, core-like structures were visualized in hepatitis A virus particles by a modified microelectron microscopy technique.     

Proarrhythmia of azimilide and other class III antiarrhythmic agents in the adrenergically stimulated rabbit

The ventricular proarrhythmic actions of five class III antiarrhythmic agents were compared in the Carlsson rabbit model. In adrenergically stimulated anesthetized rabbits, azimilide, clofilium, dofetilide, sematilide, and d,l-sotalol caused premature ventricular contractions and nonsustained and sustained ventricular tachyarrhythmias (NSVT and SVT) at pharmacologically equivalent intravenous doses that increased QTc intervals 20% (ED20). There were no significant differences between agents in the percentage of rabbits with serious arrhyhthmias at the ED20 doses of 5.2, 0.033, 0.015, 0.66, and 2.8 mg/kg i.v., respectively. Proarrhythmia was dose-dependent. Linear regression analysis of arrhythmia score versus log dose estimated the NSVT doses as 6.2, 0.055, 0.0089, 1.5, and 5.7, respectively. Analysis of arrhythmia states during a 10-min window after infusion when QTc prolongation was 20% showed that the compounds differed significantly in the proportion of time treated rabbits spent in SVT and combined NSVT and SVT. Rabbits treated with azimilide spent significantly less time in SVT and combined NSVT and SVT, followed in order of increasing time by d,l-sotalol, sematilide, clofilium, and dofetilide.     

Phylogenetic studies of the genus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cebus</Emphasis>(Cebidae-Primates) using chromosome painting and G-banding

Background  

Chromosomal painting, using whole chromosome probes from humans and Saguinus oedipus, was used to establish karyotypic divergence among species of the genus Cebus, including C. olivaceus, C. albifrons, C. apella robustus and C. apella paraguayanus. Cytogenetic studies suggested that the species of this genus have conservative karyotypes, with diploid numbers ranging from 2n = 52 to 2n = 54.