MODELING ALTERNATIVE POLICIES FOR GHG MITIGATION FROM FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURE

A key consideration for development of energy and climate policy affecting the forestry and agricultural sectors is that the selection of specific mechanisms implemented to achieve bioenergy production and/or greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation targets may have substantial effects on landowner incentives to adopt alternative practices. For instance, the prices of allowances and offsets are expected to diverge under some policies being considered where there is a binding cap on the quantity of offsets from the agricultural and forest sectors. In addition, provisions that limit or exclude specific practices from receiving carbon payments will affect the quantity and cost of GHG mitigation opportunities available. In this study, the recently updated Forest and Agriculture Sector Optimization Model with GHGs (FASOMGHG) was used to estimate GHG mitigation potential for private land in the contiguous U.S. under a variety of GHG price policies. Model scenarios suggest that U.S. forestry and agriculture could provide mitigation of 200 – 1000 megatons carbon dioxide equivalent per year (Mt CO2e/year) at carbon prices of $15 to$50/tCO2e. Binding limits on offsets have increasingly large effects on both the total magnitude and distribution of GHG mitigation across options over time. In addition, discounting or excluding payments for forest sinks can reduce annualized land-based mitigation potential 37-90 percent relative to the full eligibility scenario whereas discounting or excluding agricultural practices reduces mitigation potential by less than 10 percent.Climate policy, energy policy, FASOMGHG, GHG mitigation, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, C61, Q42, Q54,

Customizing graphical user interface technology for spacecraft control centers

The Transportable Payload Operations Control Center (TPOCC) project is applying the latest in graphical user interface technology to the spacecraft control center environment. This project of the Mission Operations Division's (MOD) Control Center Systems Branch (CCSB) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) has developed an architecture for control centers which makes use of a distributed processing approach and the latest in Unix workstation technology. The TPOCC project is committed to following industry standards and using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware and software components wherever possible to reduce development costs and to improve operational support. TPOCC's most successful use of commercial software products and standards has been in the development of its graphical user interface. This paper describes TPOCC's successful use and customization of four separate layers of commercial software products to create a flexible and powerful user interface that is uniquely suited to spacecraft monitoring and control

Determinants and Long‐Term Effects of Attendance Levels in a Marital Enrichment Program for African American Couples

Although most efficacious marital enrichment programs are multisession, few studies have explored whether outcomes differ according to session attendance, particularly among minority groups with lower than average participation in prevention programs. This study therefore investigates attendance levels and long‐term improvements in couple functioning among 164 couples participating in the Promoting Strong African American Families program. Structural equation models indicated session attendance predicted 2‐year changes for men\u27s reports of communication, commitment, and spousal support (marginally) but not for women\u27s. Individual and couple characteristics that predicted attendance levels were also identified. Results highlight distinct gender differences in the effects of sustained attendance as well as characteristics that provide early identifiers for African American couples at increased risk of low program attendance

Anxiety Mediates Perceived Discrimination and Health in African-American Women

We examined the mediational role of symptoms of anxiety in accounting for the association of discrimination and chronic health conditions among African-American women. Methods: Participants were 646 African-American women who completed self-report measures of perceived racial discrimination, symptoms of anxiety, and diagnosed chronic health problems. Results: We examined the mediation hypothesis using a path analytic procedure. Mediational analyses indicated that, above and beyond symptoms of depression, age, and education status, anxiety symptoms were associated with both racial discrimination (β = .03, SE = .01, p \u3c .001) and chronic health problems (β = .33, SE = .09, p \u3c .001) and significantly mediated the discrimination-health association (β = -.01, SE = .01, p = .16). Conclusions: These findings highlight the potentially vital role of symptoms of anxiety in the process that occurs from an individual\u27s perception of discrimination to reported chronic health outcomes. Future research expanding our understanding of the interconnection of psychosocial stressors, discrimination, and their biological sequelae is needed

Effects of Genotype and Child Abuse on DNA Methylation and Gene Expression at the Serotonin Transporter

Altered regulation of the serotonin transporter (SLC6A4) is hypothesized to be a key event in many forms of neuropsychiatric illness, yet our understanding of the molecular mechanisms through which changes in gene function could lead to illness remains incomplete. In prior studies, we and others have demonstrated that methylation of CpG residues in the promoter associated CpG island alters SLC6A4 gene expression, that the extent of that DNA methylation in child abuse is genotype dependent, and that adverse childhood experiences such as child sex abuse are related to methylation. However, we have not examined whether these effects are splice variant specific, whether the association of methylation to gene expression varies as a function of genotype, and whether methylation in other SLC6A4 gene regions are more likely candidates for GxE effects. In the current investigation we measured methylation in lymphoblast DNA from 158 female subjects in the Iowa Adoption Studies at 16 CpG residues spread across the SLC6A4 locus, and analyzed their relationship to gene expression for two SLC6A4 splice variants. Methylation of two CpG residues in the shore of the CpG island (cg22584138 and cg05951817), a location immediately upstream from exon 1A, predicted gene expression for the splice variant containing Exon 1A + 1B. Methylation at two residues in the CpG island itself (cg 25769822 and cg05016953) was associated with total SLC6A4 expression. Examination of these four CpG residues indicated that methylation of cg22584138 was influenced by both genotype and sex abuse, whereas methylation of cg05016953 was influenced only by sex abuse history. Factors influencing methylation at other CpG dinucleotide pairs were not identified. We conclude that methylation effects on transcription may vary as a function of underlying gene motif and splice variant, and that the shore of CpG islands, upstream of TSS, may be of particular interest in examining environmental effects on methylation

The Impact of Living in Housing With Care and Support on Loneliness and Social Isolation:Findings From a Resident-Based Survey

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Housing with care is often lauded as a way to combat loneliness and social isolation in later life. This study examined whether housing with care created better outcomes for residents in terms of loneliness and social isolation than they might expect if they were living in the community. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: A survey was distributed to residents of housing with care as part of the Diversity in Care Environments project. It was designed to enable comparison with the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Propensity score matching was applied to identify the effect of housing with care residence on loneliness and social isolation. RESULTS: People living in housing with care had lower levels of loneliness than would be expected if they lived in the general community, with an average treatment effect on the treated (ATT) of −0.407 (95% CI = −0.601, −0.214). In contrast, social isolation was found to be slightly higher for residents than would be expected if they were in the community (ATT = 0.134 [95% CI = 0.022, 0.247]). Higher social isolation appears driven by less frequent contact with friends and reduced organizational membership rather than any difference in contact with family and children. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Our research has shown a positive impact on subjective social experiences from housing with care residence, despite a slight increase in objective social isolation. The findings underscore the importance of looking at loneliness and social isolation as distinct concepts as well as the effectiveness of housing with care at improving later-life outcomes

Stress, relationship satisfaction, and health among African American women: Genetic moderation of effects

We examined whether romantic relationship satisfaction would serve as a link between early and later stressors which in turn would influence the Thyroid Function Index (TFI), an indicator of physiological stress response. Using the framework of genetic susceptibility theory combined with hypotheses derived from the vulnerability-stress-adaptation and stress-generation models, we tested whether the hypothesized mediational model would be conditioned by 5-HTTLPR genotype, with greater effects and stronger evidence of mediation among carriers of the “s” allele. In a sample of African American women in romantic relationships (n = 270), we found that 5-HTTLPR moderated each stage of the hypothesized mediational model in a “for better or for worse” manner. That is genetic polymorphisms function to exacerbate not only the detrimental impact of negative environments (i.e. “for worse effects”) but also the beneficial impact of positive environments (i.e. “for better effects”). The effect of early stress on relationship satisfaction was greater among carriers of the “short” allele than among those who did not carry the short allele, and was significantly different in both the “for better” and “for worse” direction. Likewise, the effect of relationship satisfaction on later stressors was moderated in a “for better” or “for worse” manner. Finally, impact on physiological stress, indexed using TFI level, indicated that the impact of later stressors on TFI level was greater in the presence of the short allele, and also followed a “for better” or “for worse” pattern. As expected, the proposed mediational model provided a better fit for “s” allele carriers

Prevention effects on trajectories of African American adolescents\u27 exposure to interparental conflict and depressive symptoms.

The present study investigates the trajectory of children\u27s exposure to interparental conflict during adolescence, its effects on adolescents\u27 psychological adjustment, as well as the ability of a family-centered prevention program to alter this trajectory. A total of 331 African American couples with an adolescent or preadolescent child participated in a randomized control trial of the Promoting Strong African American Families program, a newly developed program targeting couple and cocaregiving processes. Using a multi-informant, latent growth curve approach, child exposure to interparental conflict during adolescence was found to be stable over a period of 2 years among families in the control group, but significantly declined among families in the treatment condition. Rates of change were significantly different between intervention and control groups based on parents\u27 report of youth exposure to interparental conflict, but not for child\u27s report. Structural equation models found trajectory parameters of interparental conflict predicted changes in adolescent depressive symptoms, with increasing rates of changes in conflict associated with increases in adolescent internalizing symptoms over the 2-year duration of the study. Finally, a significant indirect effect was identified linking treatment, changes in parents\u27 reports of child exposure to interparental conflict, and adolescent depressive symptoms. The implications for research and intervention are discussed

Methylation array data can simultaneously identify individuals and convey protected health information: an unrecognized ethical concern

BACKGROUND: Genome-wide methylation arrays are increasingly used tools in studies of complex medical disorders. Because of their expense and potential utility to the scientific community, current federal policy dictates that data from these arrays, like those from genome-wide genotyping arrays, be deposited in publicly available databases. Unlike the genotyping information, access to the expression data is not restricted. An underlying supposition in the current nonrestricted access to methylation data is the belief that protected health and personal identifying information cannot be simultaneously extracted from these arrays. RESULTS: In this communication, we analyze methylation data from the Illumina HumanMethylation450 array and show that genotype at 1,069 highly informative loci, and both alcohol and smoking consumption information, can be derived from the array data. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that both potentially personally identifying information and substance-use histories can be simultaneously derived from methylation array data. Because access to genetic information about a database subject or one of their relatives is critical to the de-identification process, this risk of de-identification is limited at the current time. We propose that access to genome-wide methylation data be restricted to institutionally approved investigators who accede to data use agreements prohibiting re-identification