An Ecological Assessment for the Creation of the Kiwanis Environmental Education Preserve (KEEP)

The Kiwanis Club of Ann Arbor, a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation known for its thrift store sale and scholarships for high school students, envisioned a preserve to instill an environmental consciousness in young people in the Ann Arbor area. It is to this effect we conducted a thorough ecological evaluation of the urban forest situated within the 17-acre property belonging to the Kiwanis Club, utilizing field monitoring, geographical information systems, and hydrological modeling. This included an on-site investigation of the KEEP, surveying species of amphibians, mammals, and birds inhabiting the area from early spring through late fall of 2019. A vegetation assessment identified plant species and habitats with an overview of land cover development from 1960 through 2005 using aerial photographs. The water quality of the two on-site ponds, wetlands, and Honey Creek included measures of pH, oxidation-reduction potential, dissolved oxygen, specific conductance, temperature, and metals. Additional analysis characterized benthic macroinvertebrates. Finally, hydrological modeling was conducted to characterize the potential rerouting of stormwater runoff into the two ponds to improve water quality. The findings of this comprehensive environmental assessment of the KEEP natural areas showed: 1) A multitude of habitat types allow for a wide range of wildlife and vegetation diversity, including amphibians, birds, mammals, grasses, shrubs, and trees. 2) Some terrestrial habitats have degraded due to an influx of invasive, nonnative species; while others have not and remain high quality. 3) The two ponds and wetlands are severely degraded in terms of physicochemical characteristics due to inadequate water renewal combined with large inputs of natural organic matter, e.g., leaves, algae, and duckweed. This prevents sustainable macroinvertebrate and fish communities. 4) Stormwater runoff from the KEEP building and parking lot are substantial during three seasons of the year and could be routed into the ponds to increase water flushing and renewal, thus improving water quality and allowing for the establishment of benthic and fish communities. Given the above four findings, the proximity of the property to urban and rural populations and schools, and the vision of KEEP leadership, there is tremendous potential for the creation of a unique and valuable educational resource. We recommend three primary site restoration actions: 1) Replant a subset of areas dominated with invasive plants using native species; 2) Route site runoff to one or two of the ponds to improve pond habitat. The pond habitat could also be improved by clearing outflow channels of excessive vegetation that impedes flow and creating a “fish wintering hole” near pond inflows; and 3) Provide improved drainage of the water-saturated forest area created in the past by installing and removing dirt berms. In addition to these restoration activities, future studies should establish a strategy for education kiosk(s) and boardwalks with educational signage. This could include a smartphone software interface with the KEEP database for visitors to learn about the biodiversity and habitats of the KEEP and how they interact in urban-rural areas. Our efforts build a strong foundation for the actualization of the KEEP.Master of ScienceSchool for Environment and SustainabilityUniversity of Michiganhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154986/1/360 An Ecological Assessment for the Creation of the Kiwanis Environmental Education Preserve (KEEP).pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154986/2/360 Appendix A_360.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154986/3/360 Appendix B_360.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154986/4/360 Appendix C_360.pd

Storing and analyzing a genome on a blockchain

There are major efforts underway to make genome sequencing a routine part of clinical practice. A critical barrier to these is achieving practical solutions for data ownership and integrity. Blockchain provides solutions to these challenges in other realms, such as finance. However, its use in genomics is stymied due to the difficulty in storing large-scale data on-chain, slow transaction speeds, and limitations on querying. To overcome these roadblocks, we developed a private blockchain network to store genomic variants and reference-aligned reads on-chain. It uses nested database indexing with an accompanying tool suite to rapidly access and analyze the data

Public perceptions about risk and protective factors for cognitive health and impairment: a review of the literature

ABSTRACT Background: Preventing and/or delaying cognitive impairment is a public health priority. To increase awareness of and participation in behaviors that may help maintain cognitive function or reduce risk of impairment, we need to understand public perceptions about risk and protective factors. Methods: We conducted a scoping review of studies examining the public's perceptions about risk and protective factors related to cognitive health and impairment published since the 2007 National Public Health Road Map to Maintaining Cognitive Health . Results: A search of five databases yielded 1,115 documents published between June 2007 and December 2013. Initial review of abstracts identified 90 potentially eligible studies. After full-article review, 30 met inclusion criteria; four additional articles identified in reference lists also met inclusion criteria. Of the 34, 16 studies addressed Alzheimer's disease (AD) specifically, 15 dementia broadly, 5 mild to moderate cognitive impairment, and 8 normal functioning, with some content overlap. Across studies, respondents reported genetics ( n = 14 studies), older age ( n = 8), stress ( n = 7), brain/head injury ( n = 6), and mental illness/brain disease ( n = 6) as perceived risk factors for AD and dementia. Protective factors most commonly identified for maintaining cognitive health were intellectual/mental stimulation ( n = 13), physical activity ( n = 12), healthy diet ( n = 10), and social/leisure activities ( n = 10). Conclusions: Studies identified genetics and older age as key perceived risk factors more so than behaviors such as smoking. Individuals perceived that numerous lifestyle factors (e.g. intellectual stimulation, physical activity) could protect against cognitive impairment, AD, and/or dementia. Results can inform national and international education efforts about AD and other dementias

Southeastern Association of Law Libraries Annual Meeting

The 2009 SEAALL Annual Meeting was held in Athens Georgia, April 16-18, 2009

Modulation of the β-Catenin Signaling Pathway by the Dishevelled-Associated Protein Hipk1

BACKGROUND:Wnts are evolutionarily conserved ligands that signal through beta-catenin-dependent and beta-catenin-independent pathways to regulate cell fate, proliferation, polarity, and movements during vertebrate development. Dishevelled (Dsh/Dvl) is a multi-domain scaffold protein required for virtually all known Wnt signaling activities, raising interest in the identification and functions of Dsh-associated proteins. METHODOLOGY:We conducted a yeast-2-hybrid screen using an N-terminal fragment of Dsh, resulting in isolation of the Xenopus laevis ortholog of Hipk1. Interaction between the Dsh and Hipk1 proteins was confirmed by co-immunoprecipitation assays and mass spectrometry, and further experiments suggest that Hipk1 also complexes with the transcription factor Tcf3. Supporting a nuclear function during X. laevis development, Myc-tagged Hipk1 localizes primarily to the nucleus in animal cap explants, and the endogenous transcript is strongly expressed during gastrula and neurula stages. Experimental manipulations of Hipk1 levels indicate that Hipk1 can repress Wnt/beta-catenin target gene activation, as demonstrated by beta-catenin reporter assays in human embryonic kidney cells and by indicators of dorsal specification in X. laevis embryos at the late blastula stage. In addition, a subset of Wnt-responsive genes subsequently requires Hipk1 for activation in the involuting mesoderm during gastrulation. Moreover, either over-expression or knock-down of Hipk1 leads to perturbed convergent extension cell movements involved in both gastrulation and neural tube closure. CONCLUSIONS:These results suggest that Hipk1 contributes in a complex fashion to Dsh-dependent signaling activities during early vertebrate development. This includes regulating the transcription of Wnt/beta-catenin target genes in the nucleus, possibly in both repressive and activating ways under changing developmental contexts. This regulation is required to modulate gene expression and cell movements that are essential for gastrulation

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead