4+/-12.1, respectively. The post-course mean total knowledge score was 74.9+/-8.1, and the attitude score was 88.8+/-9.1 Improvement in knowledge and attitudes was significant (p<0.05).\n\nConclusion. Educational interventions for pharmacy students designed with careful attention to pedagogic principles can improve knowledge about evidence-based smoking-cessation strategies

and enhance positive attitudes to pharmacist roles in smoking cessation.”
“The current shortfall in effectiveness within conservation biology is illustrated by increasing interest in “evidence-based conservation,” whose proponents have identified the need to benchmark conservation initiatives against actions that lead to proven positive effects. The effectiveness of conservation policies, approaches,

and evaluation is under increasing scrutiny, and in these areas models MK-2206 order of Selleck BAY 80-6946 excellence used in business could prove valuable. Typically, conservation programs require years of effort and involve rigorous long-term implementation processes. Successful balance of long-term efforts alongside the achievement of short-term goals is often compromised by management or budgetary constraints, a situation also common in commercial businesses. “Business excellence” is an approach many companies have used over the past 20 years to ensure continued success. Various business excellence evaluations have been promoted that include concepts that could be adapted and applied in conservation programs. We describe a conservation excellence model that shows how scientific processes and results can be aligned with financial and organizational measures of success. We applied the model to two well-documented species conservation programs. In the first, the Po’ouli program, several aspects of improvement were identified, such as more authority for decision making in the

field and better integration of habitat management and population recovery processes. The second example, the black-footed ferret program, could have benefited from leadership effort to reduce bureaucracy and to encourage use of best-practice species recovery ASP2215 research buy approaches. The conservation excellence model enables greater clarity in goal setting, more-effective identification of job roles within programs, better links between technical approaches and measures of biological success, and more-effective use of resources. The model could improve evaluation of a conservation program’s effectiveness and may be used to compare different programs, for example during reviews of project performance by sponsoring organizations.”
“Octopus insularis inhabits shallow waters along the coast and oceanic islands of northeastern Brazil, where it is the main target of commercial fishing of octopuses. This study aims to investigate the hypothesis that the tropical O. insularis has a distinct gonadal development and reproductive features when compare to its congener O. vulgaris from the subtropical regions.