Do air quality alerts reduce traffic? An analysis of traffic data from the Salt Lake City metropolitan area

posterThis research explores the unintended behavioral consequences on traffic volumes of the Air Quality Alert notification system in Salt Lake and Davis Counties, Utah

Mutations in a Guanylate Cyclase GCY-35/GCY-36 Modify Bardet-Biedl Syndrome–Associated Phenotypes in Caenorhabditis elegans

Ciliopathies are pleiotropic and genetically heterogeneous disorders caused by defective development and function of the primary cilium. Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS) proteins localize to the base of cilia and undergo intraflagellar transport, and the loss of their functions leads to a multisystemic ciliopathy. Here we report the identification of mutations in guanylate cyclases (GCYs) as modifiers of Caenorhabditis elegans bbs endophenotypes. The loss of GCY-35 or GCY-36 results in suppression of the small body size, developmental delay, and exploration defects exhibited by multiple bbs mutants. Moreover, an effector of cGMP signalling, a cGMP-dependent protein kinase, EGL-4, also modifies bbs mutant defects. We propose that a misregulation of cGMP signalling, which underlies developmental and some behavioural defects of C. elegans bbs mutants, may also contribute to some BBS features in other organisms

The impact of regional reconfiguration on the management of appendicitis.

Reconfiguration of surgical services in the Mid-West in 2009 resulted in a large increase in numbers of patients undergoing emergency surgery for appendicitis in University Hospital Limerick (UHL)

Quaking Aspen Regeneration Following Presribed Fire In Lassen Volcanic National Park, California, USA

Prescribed fire is commonly used for restoration, but the effects of reintroducing fire following a century of fire exclusion are unknown in many ecosystems. We assessed the effects of three prescribed fires, native ungulate browsing, and conifer competition on quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) regeneration in four small groves (0.5 ha to 3.0 ha) in Lassen Volcanic National Park, California, USA, over an 11 yr period. The effects of fire on aspen regeneration density and height were variable within and among sites. Post-fire aspen regeneration density generally decreased with greater conifer basal area (rs = −0.73), but there was a wide range of aspen regeneration densities (4000 to 36 667 stems ha-1) at transects with no live conifers post-fire. The height of aspen regeneration increased as a function of increasing years-since-fire (1 yr to 11 yr), but heavy browsing by mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus Rafinesque) may alter future growth trajectories. Median percent of aspen regeneration browsed was high in burned (91%) and unburned (81%) transects. Only 7% (282 stems ha-1 to 333 stems ha-1) of post-fire aspen regeneration in 11- year old burns exceeded the height necessary to escape mule deer browsing (150 cm). Browsing may also be altering aspen growth form, such that multi-stemmed aspen regeneration was positively associated with proportion of aspen regeneration browsed. These four case studies indicate that the effects of prescribed fires on quaking aspen in the southern Cascade Range of northern California were highly variable and, when coupled with biotic factors (such as deer browsing and competing vegetation) and varying fire severity, fire may either benefit or hasten the decline of small aspen groves