Case study: Management system verification using responsible care® at Rohm & Haas: Lessons learned

In this article, Rohm & Haas' Responsible Care® implementation strategy and management system verification (MSV) experiences are detailed. Recommendations on how to strengthen the verification process are provided.     

Molecular Genetic Consequences of a Population Bottleneck Associated with Reintroduction of the Mauna Kea Silversword (Arg yroxiphium sandwicense ssp. sandwicense [Asteraceae])

The endangered Mauna Kea silversword (Argyroxiphium sandwicense ssp. sandwicense) has experienced a severe decline in distribution and abundance because of predation by alien ungulates. By the late 1970s only a small remnant natural population persisted on the Mauna Kea volcano on the Island of Hawaii. The Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Wildlife, initiated an outplanting program in the 1970s to promote recovery of A. sandwicense ssp. sandwicense. Intermittent outplanting since 1973 has generated an outplanted population of over 450 plants on Mauna Kea, but the program has unintentionally resulted in a major population bottleneck. All plants in the outplanted population appear to be first- or subsequent-generation offspring of only two maternal founders from the natural population. Genetic variation in the natural and outplanted populations was assessed for 90 random amplified polymorphic DNA loci. Eleven loci were detectably polymorphic in the natural population, whereas only three loci were detectably polymorphic in the outplanted population. Thus, the population bottleneck has been accompanied by a 73% reduction in the level of detectable polymorphism. In addition, for eight loci, the population bottleneck has resulted in the loss of the marker allele in the outplanted population. A management strategy involving manual pollen transfer has recently been implemented to incorporate additional founders from the natural population into the outplanting program. As a supplement to the outplanting program, the strategy also includes a program promoting direct seedling establishment following manual pollen transfer. Incorporating additional founders may serve to overcome the legacy of the population bottleneck, especially if founder representation can be equalized.     

Non-mosaic trisomy 20 presenting at 21 weeks' gestation as a thoraco-abdominal mass

Non-mosaic trisomy 20 is rare in fetuses surviving beyond the first trimester. We report a case of a fetus with non-mosaic trisomy 20 in amniotic fluid cultures obtained during the prenatal evaluation of an unusual thoraco-abdominal mass which was found at autopsy to be pulmonary sequestration. Gross inspection and autopsy of the fetus revealed multiple anomalies. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hereditary Blindness in a Captive Wolf (Canis lupus) Population: Frequency Reduction of a Deleterious Allele in Relation to Gene Conservation

Numerous cases of hereditary diseases and disorders have been reported in wild animals bred in captivity, but little attention has been paid to the particular genetic management problems that arise when such defects occur. These problems include the obstacle of eliminating the deleterious allele(s) without contemporary loss of genetic variability. In this paper we use the statistical methods of pedigree analysis to address questions regarding a previously presumed hereditary form of blindness observed in a captive wolf population bred for conservation purposes in Scandinavian zoos. The most likely mode of inheritance coincides with an autosomal recessive allele with either a full penetrance or a reduced penetrance of 0.6 (depending on the reliability of studbook records). Using these two models of inheritance, we calculate the probability of carrying the blindness allele for each living animal. Analysis of the effect of removing high-probability carriers on founder allele survival and level of inbreeding demonstrates that the frequency of the deleterious allele can be significantly reduced without seriously affecting founder allele survival or current degree of inbreeding in the wolf population.     

Efficiency of energy delivery systems: II. Estimating energy costs of capital equipment

Procedures are developed and summarized that allow the calculation of the energy required to manufacture and install capital equipment, such as the material needed for a coalfired power plant. Three methods are available, each with certain strengths and weaknessess The first uses both literature value and national manufacturing statistics, the second uses a previously developed technique that disaggregates energy use according to how much each industry buys from all other industries, and the third technique is based on the average national relation between energy use and dollar flow. The most important differences between estimates of energy use by the different techniques relates to the inclusion or exclusion of labor and indirect expenditures rather than to differences in the data bases of the three techniques.     

Energy vs the environment

Optimal development programs that explicitly account for the environment impacts of extracting energy resources are analyzed. Possibilities of storing the resources above ground once it has been extracted are examined When environmental disruption results from resource extraction, as in the case of strip mining or drilling for oil, then the socially optimal rates of resource consumption and extraction depend on the type and severity of the environmental impact and on the prospects of storing the resource above ground.