Course-based campus environmental research projects

Campus administrators and faculty across the country are realizing the educational and economic value of campus greening. Many administrators have established clear environmental campus policies in an effort to recognize the economic value of green institutional operations and to respond to the need for adopting sustainable practices. Faculty and students have contributed to the green movement by integrating the physical campus into the educational process. At many institutions, students have led efforts to implement environmentally friendly, and in some cases, economically sensible practices particularly in the areas of energy conservation and waste management. Faculty and students have worked together on class projects and independent research to contribute to the greening movement. Many institutions have a legacy of environmental consciousness that began in the early 1970s. At Santa Clara University (SCU), in Santa Clara, California, greening has occurred more recently with the start of an Environmental Studies program in 1992 and a Campus Environmental Assessment in 1995. A strong driving force for greening of the campus has been student and faculty interest manifested primarily as course­based campus projects. This article discusses some outcomes of environmental research conducted by students and faculty in chemistry, biology and anthropology. Some avenues are suggested for enhancing the research experience and for incorporating significant findings into the University\u27s modus operandus

What Conservation Can Do For Community: Maximizing the Contributions of Adaptive Reuse Interventions to Community Development

Small population centres across southern Ontario are in a period of transition motivated by macro-level environmental, political, economic and socio-cultural trends. These trends strain municipal resources, services and infrastructure, and can result in disproportionate population change, poor youth retention, decreasing local services and higher costs of living (Duxbury, & Campbell, 2011). Given these pressures, municipalities are using community development (CD) to improve their economic, social and cultural conditions. Some are conserving and reusing their built resources to achieve sustainable CD that supports environmental, economic, social and cultural outcomes. The primary study objective is to create a model for maximizing the contributions of an adaptive reuse intervention (ARI) to CD that can be used by small population centres with historic physical assets. A mixed method research design is used, which involves concurrent collection of qualitative and quantitative data from questionnaires, secondary sources and observation. The study includes five case studies of former public sector building reuse in geographically distinct locations across southern Ontario. Each case is analyzed using a summative evaluation process, which includes description of ARI outputs and outcomes, illumination of factors that program outputs and outcomes can be plausibly attributed to, and determination of the impacts of identified factors beyond target objectives. ARI outputs and economic, social and cultural outcomes are evaluated against ARI objectives, and against city-wide CD objectives. A collective case study method is employed to highlight variations in ARI inputs, outputs and outcomes, and to illuminate factors that may influence an ARI’s contributions towards CD. Study results are synthesized to create a logic model that highlights resources and activities that may maximize the contributions of ARIs. The model visualizes relationships between ARI inputs, activities, outputs and outcomes, and acknowledges underlying assumptions and external influencing factors. The importance of human resources are evident within ARI inputs, activities, outputs and outcomes, which underscores the theoretical position that partnerships between stakeholders are essential for cultural heritage resource conservation projects (Macdonald, 2011). External factors are contextual and structural in nature and related to the characteristics of the municipality and adapted building. By providing a model of best practice this study contributes to discussions about processes that can foster sustainable CD in small population centres

Turn up, tune in, don’t drop out : the relationship between lecture attendance, use of lecture recordings, and achievement at different levels of study

Open Access via Springer CompactPeer reviewedPublisher PD

Long Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Supplementation in Infancy Reduces Heart Rate and Positively Affects Distribution of Attention

A double-blind, randomized, controlled, parallel-group prospective trial was conducted to determine whether a dose-response existed for four different levels of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) supplementation on the cognitive performance of infants. A total of 122 term infants were fed one of four different formulas varying in their DHA composition (0.00%, 0.32%, 0.64% and 0.96% of total fatty acids as DHA) from birth to 12 months. The three DHA-supplemented formulas also contained 0.64% of total fatty acids as arachidonic acid (ARA, 20:4n-6). Infants were tested at 4, 6, and 9 months of age on a visual habituation protocol that yielded both behavioral and psychophysiological indices of attention. Infants in all DHA+ARA-supplemented conditions had lower heart rates than those in the unsupplemented condition; there was no dose-response for this effect. The distribution of time that infants spent in different phases of attention (a cognitive index derived from the convergence of behavioral and cardiac responses) varied as a function of dosage. Infants supplemented at the two lower DHA doses spent proportionately more time engaged in active stimulus processing than infants fed the unsupplemented formula, while infants fed the highest dose were intermediate and did not differ from any other group

Combined point of care nucleic acid and antibody testing for SARS-CoV-2 following emergence of D614G Spike Variant

Rapid COVID-19 diagnosis in hospital is essential, though complicated by 30-50% of nose/throat swabs being negative by SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT). Furthermore, the D614G spike mutant now dominates the pandemic and it is unclear how serological tests designed to detect anti-Spike antibodies perform against this variant. We assess the diagnostic accuracy of combined rapid antibody point of care (POC) and nucleic acid assays for suspected COVID-19 disease due to either wild type or the D614G spike mutant SARS-CoV-2. The overall detection rate for COVID-19 is 79.2% (95CI 57.8-92.9%) by rapid NAAT alone. Combined point of care antibody test and rapid NAAT is not impacted by D614G and results in very high sensitivity for COVID-19 diagnosis with very high specificity

Multiorgan MRI findings after hospitalisation with COVID-19 in the UK (C-MORE): a prospective, multicentre, observational cohort study

Introduction: The multiorgan impact of moderate to severe coronavirus infections in the post-acute phase is still poorly understood. We aimed to evaluate the excess burden of multiorgan abnormalities after hospitalisation with COVID-19, evaluate their determinants, and explore associations with patient-related outcome measures. Methods: In a prospective, UK-wide, multicentre MRI follow-up study (C-MORE), adults (aged ≥18 years) discharged from hospital following COVID-19 who were included in Tier 2 of the Post-hospitalisation COVID-19 study (PHOSP-COVID) and contemporary controls with no evidence of previous COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid antibody negative) underwent multiorgan MRI (lungs, heart, brain, liver, and kidneys) with quantitative and qualitative assessment of images and clinical adjudication when relevant. Individuals with end-stage renal failure or contraindications to MRI were excluded. Participants also underwent detailed recording of symptoms, and physiological and biochemical tests. The primary outcome was the excess burden of multiorgan abnormalities (two or more organs) relative to controls, with further adjustments for potential confounders. The C-MORE study is ongoing and is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04510025. Findings: Of 2710 participants in Tier 2 of PHOSP-COVID, 531 were recruited across 13 UK-wide C-MORE sites. After exclusions, 259 C-MORE patients (mean age 57 years [SD 12]; 158 [61%] male and 101 [39%] female) who were discharged from hospital with PCR-confirmed or clinically diagnosed COVID-19 between March 1, 2020, and Nov 1, 2021, and 52 non-COVID-19 controls from the community (mean age 49 years [SD 14]; 30 [58%] male and 22 [42%] female) were included in the analysis. Patients were assessed at a median of 5·0 months (IQR 4·2–6·3) after hospital discharge. Compared with non-COVID-19 controls, patients were older, living with more obesity, and had more comorbidities. Multiorgan abnormalities on MRI were more frequent in patients than in controls (157 [61%] of 259 vs 14 [27%] of 52; p<0·0001) and independently associated with COVID-19 status (odds ratio [OR] 2·9 [95% CI 1·5–5·8]; padjusted=0·0023) after adjusting for relevant confounders. Compared with controls, patients were more likely to have MRI evidence of lung abnormalities (p=0·0001; parenchymal abnormalities), brain abnormalities (p<0·0001; more white matter hyperintensities and regional brain volume reduction), and kidney abnormalities (p=0·014; lower medullary T1 and loss of corticomedullary differentiation), whereas cardiac and liver MRI abnormalities were similar between patients and controls. Patients with multiorgan abnormalities were older (difference in mean age 7 years [95% CI 4–10]; mean age of 59·8 years [SD 11·7] with multiorgan abnormalities vs mean age of 52·8 years [11·9] without multiorgan abnormalities; p<0·0001), more likely to have three or more comorbidities (OR 2·47 [1·32–4·82]; padjusted=0·0059), and more likely to have a more severe acute infection (acute CRP >5mg/L, OR 3·55 [1·23–11·88]; padjusted=0·025) than those without multiorgan abnormalities. Presence of lung MRI abnormalities was associated with a two-fold higher risk of chest tightness, and multiorgan MRI abnormalities were associated with severe and very severe persistent physical and mental health impairment (PHOSP-COVID symptom clusters) after hospitalisation. Interpretation: After hospitalisation for COVID-19, people are at risk of multiorgan abnormalities in the medium term. Our findings emphasise the need for proactive multidisciplinary care pathways, with the potential for imaging to guide surveillance frequency and therapeutic stratification

THE DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL FLUORESCENT PROBES FOR THE INVESTIGATION OF MELANOSOME TRAFFICKING

Melanosomes are pigment cell-specific organelles in which melanin is produced and trafficked within the cell, before being transferred to neighbouring keratinocytes. Their production is essential for the protection of skin cells from UV radiation. Melanosomes are an ideal model for the study of vesicular transport, due to the ease with which they can be detected in darkly pigmented cells. Extensive research has identified the key proteins involved in melanogenesis, including Pmel17, TRP2 and Rab27A. However, melanosomal research thus far has been mostly static, using techniques such as electron microscopy. As a result, the dynamic movement of melanosomes both within melanocytes and during transfer to keratinocytes has not been observed. Here, the three melanosome-related proteins Rab27A, TRP2 and Pmel17 are fluorescently tagged and examined in SKMEL28 cells for their use in the observation of melanosome dynamics. Rab27A is implicated in the transport of mature pigmented melanosomes to the cell periphery. TRP2 is associated with early stage melanosomes and mediates pigmentation, while Pmel17 initiates melanosome maturation, forming fibrils onto which melanin is deposited. Novel fluorescent probes tdTomato-TRP2 and mNG-Pmel17 were designed, and the latter was determined to be the most effective for the visualisation of melanosomes. The mNG-Pmel17 fluorescent probe produced punctate structures in live cells, of a size consistent with melansomes. The probe co-localised with the actin cytoskeleton and was shown to be distinct from lysosomal compartments. Finally, mNG-Pmel17 is reported as a valuable tool for the evaluation of the effects of bioactive compounds of interest. The novel mNG-Pmel17 probe was shown to be a useful tool for dynamic melanosome observation, and may be used in further studies for the elucidation of the mechanism(s) of melanosome transfer to keratinocytes