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Formal institutional ecosystems management has been in existence since the creation of the Yellowstone National Park in the United States of America in 1872. Subsequently, many countries, including Zambia have evolved both legislative and policy frameworks for protecting various ecosystems. This move implied creating institutions to manage such areas accompanied by a statute to police the given area. Offenders are punished for breaking the law that protects the given resource. The results from such actions have been a growing conflict between the local communities and the ecosystem or resource management institution. In order to create harmony, ecosystems managements, in some sectors have evolved new strategies of sharing management responsibilities and benefits with local communities. This specific resource is in the wildlife sector in Zambia. The need to balance management costs and the benefits from the ecosystem services thus arises. However, in order to strike a reasonable balance, consideration should be given to adopting additional management tools for evaluating ecosystems so that one can place an economic value on any given resource. The major tool that has seen wide application in Zambia has been the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). However, methods for carrying out economic evaluation of ecosystems exist and have been developed over the years elsewhere. They include the Travel Cost Method (TCM). This method uses a surrogate market to estimate a consumer surplus and is site specific. The second common method is the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) that solicits for a respondents willingness to pay (WTP) for an improvement to an environmental good or the willingness to accept (WTA) for a loss or partial loss of an environmental good using a hypothetical market. As a tool, the CVM can also be used in calculating a cost benefit analysis for a project in a given area and there by arriving at an economic decision. The method can also be used in a failed or derelict ecosystem reclamation and restoration efforts. Any conservation effort should consider the local community needs. Key words: Contingent valuation method (CVM), travel cost method (TCM), willingness to pay (WTP), willingness to accept (WTA), environmental impact assessment (EIA).

PubMedID: 28864648 Objective. To arrive at consensus for candidate outcomes for disease activity assessment in largevessel vasculitis (LVV) in clinical trials. Methods.A Delphi survey including 99 items was circulated among international experts for 3 rounds. Results. Fifty-seven items were accepted for both giant cell arteritis and Takayasu arteritis. Sixty-seven percent of experts voted to have a common approach for both diseases with additional disease-specific items such as weight loss, scalp tenderness/necrosis, morning stiffness, dizziness, visual symptoms, and imaging. Conclusion. This study highlights similarities and differences in experts' perspectives for assessing clinical activity in LVV and may guide a consensus-driven core set of validated outcomes. Copyright © 2017. All rights reserved. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases: U01 AR51874 04, U54 AR057319 National Center for Research Resources: U54 RR019497 Sponsored by the Vasculitis Clinical Research Consortium, which has received support from the US National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (U54 AR057319 and U01 AR51874 04), the National Center for Research Resources (U54 RR019497), and the Office of Rare Diseases Research. Additional support for the work of the OMERACT Vasculitis Working Group was received through a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute Pilot Project Grant. S.Z. Aydin, MD, Associate Professor, Division of Rheumatology, The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, University of Ottawa; H. Direskeneli, MD, Professor of Rheumatology, Division of Rheumatology, Marmara University Faculty of Medicine; P.A. Merkel, MD, MPH, Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology, Division of Rheumatology, and Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics, University of Pennsylvania. Address correspondence to Dr. P.A. Merkel, Section of Rheumatology, University of Pennsylvania, White Building, 5th Floor Penn, 3400 Spruce St., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA. E-mail: pmerkel@upenn.edu Accepted for publication June 3, 2017.

Contrasts the life-styles and values of Nisei and Sansei Japanese-Americans. (JM)

La sociologie amerieaine des relations ethniques, aux niveaux de la theorie et de la decision politique, est fondee sur l'experience de l'immigration europeenne et sur celle des rapports avec la population afro-americaine. Ces deux cas y ont introduit, respectivement, les notions de pluralisme et d'integration. L'examen des phenomenes du pluralisme et de l'assimilation chez les Chinois et les Japonais aux U.S.A., deux groupes raciaux defavorises, met en lumiere les conditions favorables a chacun de ces deux modes d'adaptation. La formation de eommunautes isolees et plutot autonomes par le groupe chinois n'est pas surtout due a une aversion hostile du milieu ambiant; elle resulte davantage de dettes contractees lors de I'emigration, de la repartition de la population selon le sexe, des attitudes a l'endroit du travail en milieu urbain et de conllits interpersonnels au sein du groupe. L'idee si repandue de l'assimilation facile du Japonais tiendrait, au contraire, au caractere volontaire de Iemigration de celui-ci, a son isolement et a sa segregation en milieu rural, a la possibilitye qu'il a de contracter un mariage endogame et a l'instabilite des controles communautaires importes du pays d'origine. Les personnes d'origines chinoise et japonaise nees aux U.S.A. ont maintenant de meilleures possibilityes que naguere de s'integrer a la societe globale. Certains Japano-Americains eprouvent pourtant une desillusion silen-cieuse face a la destruction inevitable des moeurs et de la culture japonaises. L'etude du contraste entre les communautes chinoise et japonaise d'Amerique devrait nous amener a modifier la theorie de Park sur le processus des relations raciales et a donner plus d'importance aux conditions qui permettent la surviv-ance des civilisations-meres dans un nouveau milieu.

Les etudes sur la societe secrete chinoise en Occident fournissent des materiaux pour le developpement d'une sociologie des activites secretes. En general ce sont des non-sociologues, avec des buts autres qu'academiques, qui se sont interesses a ces societes. Cependant beaucoup de donnees valables sont disponibles et peuvent faire 1'objet d'une analyse sociologique. Les paralleles entre les franc-macons occidentaux et les societes secretes chinoises suggerent la possibilitye de developper une typologie des societes secretes qui utilise comme criteres leurs attitudes vis-a-vis les normes de la societe dominante et le mode d'expression de ces attitudes. Un modele a quatre dimensions suggere que les distinctions conformite-alienation, instrumental- “expressif” caracterisent de telles societes. Quoique les rites des societes secretes se ressemblent, ils peuvent remplir des fonctions differentes selon les buts et les activites des societes. La societe secrete en Chine meme a ete un instrument de rebellion non-ideologique. Elle ne fut pas fortement revolutionnaire mais elle a attire des revolutionnaires. Les theories recentes de la sociologie politique sur le “brigandage social” et la rebellion non-ideologique pourraient etre confirmees ou modifyees par l‘etude des sources chinoises. Les Chinois a l'exterieur de l'Asie ont organise des societes secretes pour se proteger, pour s'entraider, pour fournir des biens et services illicites et pour exprimer leur interet dans l'avenir politique de la Chine. II semble que l'assimilation de ces Chinois met en danger la survie des societes secretes mais il faudrait plus de recherches sur ce sujet. Les donnees sur les societes secretes chinoises en Occident suggerent la necessite de modifier le modele de Freedman pour l'etude du changement dans les communautes chinoises hors de l'Asie.

Retrograde urethrography and voiding cystourethrography are the modalities of choice for imaging the urethra. Cross-sectional imaging modalities, including ultrasonography, magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, and computed tomography, are useful for evaluating periurethral structures. Retrograde urethrography is the primary imaging modality for evaluating traumatic injuries and inflammatory and stricture diseases of the male urethra. Sonourethrography plays an important role in the assessment of the thickness and length of bulbar urethral stricture. Although voiding cystourethrography is frequently used to evaluate urethral diverticula in women, MR imaging is highly sensitive in the demonstration of these entities. MR imaging is also accurate in the local staging of urethral tumors.