Evaluating Success for a Within-Mountain Range Transplant of Bighorn Sheep in Southwestern Montana

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (MFWP) performed a bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) transplant within the Madison Mountains of southwest Montana February 2015.  Once with 5 distinct wintering ranges, the herd since endured, and recovered from, several all-age die-offs.    As of 2013, one historic wintering area was overpopulated (>250 bighorn), one sparsely populated (~30 bighorn), and three historic wintering areas were left unoccupied: Indian Creek, Wolf Creek, and the Henry’s Mountains.  MFWP evaluated habitat and proposed to reintroduce bighorn from the overpopulated wintering range to either Wolf Creek or Indian Creek.  After the EA and public process concluded, Wolf Creek was the selected release site.  MFWP captured 52 bighorn from the overpopulated winter range using a drop-net, and moved them via trailer to the release site.  Ten of the released bighorns were fitted with LOTEK Lifecycle GPS collars, providing satellite location data once daily for up to 4 years.  Transplant success was mixed, with three collared bighorns immediately returning to their former range, three collared bighorns wintering at the sparsely populated intermediate range, and four collared bighorns remaining through winter and into summer at the reintroduction site.  One bighorn died shortly after release.  The four collared bighorns remaining at the release site explored Indian Creek through summer, then in July, 3 returned to their original range and 1 remained in the transplant area.  Of the 52 bighorns transplanted, approximately 10-15 remain in the Wolf Creek transplant range.  Subsequent transplants are planned to enhance the restoration of bighorn sheep in the Madison Range

Low-dose salinomycin induces anti-leukemic responses in AML and MLL

Development of anti-cancer drugs towards clinical application is costly and inefficient. Large screens of drugs, efficacious for non-cancer disease, are currently being used to identify candidates for repurposing based on their anti-cancer properties. Here, we show that low-dose salinomycin, a coccidiostat ionophore previously identified in a breast cancer screen, has anti-leukemic efficacy. AML and MLLr cell lines, primary cells and patient samples were sensitive to submicromolar salinomycin. Most strikingly, colony formation of normal hematopoietic cells was unaffected by salinomycin, demonstrating a lack of hemotoxicity at the effective concentrations. Furthermore, salinomycin treatment of primary cells resulted in loss of leukemia repopulation ability following transplantation, as demonstrated by extended recipient survival compared to controls. Bioinformatic analysis of a 17-gene signature identified and validated in primary MLLr cells, uncovered immunomodulatory pathways, hubs and protein interactions as potential transducers of low dose salinomycin treatment. Additionally, increased protein expression of p62/Sqstm1, encoded for by one of the 17 signature genes, demonstrates a role for salinomycin in aggresome/vesicle formation indicative of an autophagic response.Together, the data support the efficacy of salinomycin as an anti-leukemic at non-hemotoxic concentrations. Further investigation alone or in combination with other therapies is warranted for future clinical trial

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

Assign and Arrange : Methodologies of Presentation in Art and Dance

"Assign & Arrange: Methodologies of Presentation in Art and Dance aims to map the exchanges and transgressions between art and dance that characterize the manifold variety of relations between art and dance that can be observed today: dance performances taking place in art galleries or public spaces, for example, or visual artists developing specific presentational formats or exhibition displays that generate dimensions of dramaturgy and choreography for their visitors. Terms like mise-en-scène, situation, setting, choreography, and installation are being almost coevally used not only by theoreticians but also by contributors from both art and dance in order to define modes of presentation or to specify visitors’ aesthetic experience. Taking into account historical and current examples, and involving perspectives from art history, dance studies, and architecture, the book explores similarities and differences in the respective practices, as well as in the theoretical concepts they correspond with." -- Publisher's website

Health Benefits and Cost-Effectiveness of Primary Genetic Screening for Lynch Syndrome in the General Population

In current clinical practice, genetic testing to detect Lynch syndrome mutations ideally begins with diagnostic testing of an individual affected with cancer before offering predictive testing to at-risk relatives. An alternative strategy that warrants exploration involves screening unaffected individuals via demographic and family histories, and offering genetic testing to those individuals whose risks for carrying a mutation exceed a selected threshold. Whether this approach would improve health outcomes in a manner that is cost-effective relative to current standards of care has yet to be demonstrated. To do so, we developed a simulation framework that integrated models of colorectal and endometrial cancers with a 5-generation family history model to predict health and economic outcomes of 20 primary screening strategies (at a wide range of compliance levels) aimed at detecting individuals with mismatch repair gene mutations and their at-risk relatives. These strategies were characterized by (i) different screening ages for starting risk assessment and (ii) different risk thresholds above which to implement genetic testing. For each strategy, 100,000 simulated individuals, representative of the U.S. population, were followed from the age of 20, and the outcomes were compared with current practice. Findings indicated that risk assessment starting at ages 25, 30, or 35, followed by genetic testing of those with mutation risks exceeding 5%, reduced colorectal and endometrial cancer incidence in mutation carriers by approximately 12.4% and 8.8%, respectively. For a population of 100,000 individuals containing 392 mutation carriers, this strategy increased quality-adjusted life-years (QALY) by approximately 135 with an average cost-effectiveness ratio of $26,000 per QALY. The cost-effectiveness of screening for mismatch repair gene mutations is comparable to that of accepted cancer screening activities in the general population such as colorectal cancer screening, cervical cancer screening, and breast cancer screening. These results suggest that primary screening of individuals for mismatch repair gene mutations, starting with risk assessment between the ages of 25 and 35, followed by genetic testing of those whose risk exceeds 5%, is a strategy that could improve health outcomes in a cost-effective manner relative to current practice