A partnership-based, whole-watershed approach to climate adaptation in Acadia National Park

Changes in climate and associated changes in seasonality, invasive plants and insects, and visitation are stressing ecosystems and infrastructure in Acadia National Park. Over the past five years, park staff and partners have begun taking an interdisciplinary, partnership-based approach to assessing baseline conditions, identifying stresses, developing climate change scenarios, and restoring the ecological and cultural integrity and resilience of whole watersheds. The approach contrasts with past resource management in which managers frequently tackled problems with minimal coordination between disciplines (e.g., water, wildlife, cultural resources, and maintenance) and locations. The result has been a series of projects that have begun to measurably improve the health of one of the park’s most visited and iconic watersheds: the Cromwell Brook watershed, which includes Sieur de Monts (Acadia began in 1916 as Sieur de Monts National Monument) and the Great Meadow, and whose namesake waterway flows through the gateway town of Bar Harbor. Projects (inside and out of the park) have included rehabilitating a historic spring pool, replacing undersized culverts with open-bottom bridges, removing a poorly sited septic system, removing invasive plants, restoring native wetland, establishing monitoring to assess changes in watershed health, and working with the town and other stakeholders to plan future projects that would further improve the health of Great Meadow and downstream areas in Bar Harbor. The combination of planning; monitoring; restoring healthy, functioning ecological communities; and minimizing stresses from human infrastructure and visitation offer the best chance of main- taining Acadia National Park for the enjoyment of future generations

Investigating the potential regulation of Asic2 by microRNAs

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory disease which causes neurodegeneration. It is a disease which affects mainly young adults, and symptoms become more aggressive over time. It is thought that mutations in a variety of genes may be a large contributor to the development of MS. Many Linkage and Genome Wide Association Studies have been performed to find genes which may be mis-expressed among different sections of the world’s population. Through one of these Genome Wide Associations a Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) was found in the 3’ UTR of the ACCN1 gene. This gene codes for Acid Sensing Ion Channel 2, a major ion channel predominantly found in cells within the Central Nervous System (CNS). As this channel is closely connected to systems in the CNS which are known to be affected in patients with MS, it was thought that the SNP should be investigated further. As the SNP was found in the 3’ UTR it was suggested that miRNAs may play a role. This study took on this suggestion and investigated the possibility of ACCN1 being controlled by a miRNA and whether this control was in any way affected by the SNP found. The initial experiment found that of the two variants, rs28936A was controlled more strongly by a miRNA than the variant rs28936G. Resequencing of the samples showed a further three SNPs in the same region. Several miRNA target sites were predicted that contained at least one of the SNPs, however none of these could be validated experimentally using luciferase essays. The three SNPs were tested individually using the same luciferase experiment but none were found to have a more significant effect over luciferase expression over the others. The results therefore indicate that all SNPs contribute to the reduction in miRNA binding. Further research is proposed to investigate in more detail, potential miRNA candidates. It was concluded from these results that the ACCN1 gene is being controlled by an unknown miRNA via binding to the 3’UTR, that the rs28936A variant is more strongly controlled by the miRNA and that of all SNPs found (including the two originals and three ‘new’ SNPs) none have a significantly stronger miRNA control than the other

Taking Control of Archdesc: Implementing Spaceport for Special Collections Finding Aids

This poster describes a project to develop Spaceport, a Python app that transforms EAD finding aids from ArchivesSpace into EADs for Virginia Heritage, HTML files for the JMU Libraries website, and MARCXML records for the catalog. It outlines the challenges and needs that led to Spaceport\u27s development and describes benefits experienced from its implementation

Understudied and Underfunded: Potential Causes of Mass Shootings and Implications for Counseling Research

Mass shootings are becoming more commonplace in our society. Despite this increase in frequency, research on mass violence has lagged behind due to halted federal research funding. Counselors and other mental health professionals find themselves at the forefront of this issue due to the contentious debate surrounding the intersection of mental health issues and mass shootings. The purpose of this article is to increase awareness of the cause of this dearth of research, examine what is currently known in the limited scholarly literature, and discuss what still needs to be explored. Implications for positive social change and advocacy efforts are also provided

Counseling Active-Duty Female Service Members who have Experienced Sexual Assault: A Guide for Professional Counselors

Sexual assault is a prevailing problem for active duty women in the United States military. We explore the unique nature of military culture and explain the military’s dual pathway process for reporting sexual assault. In addition, we describe, in depth, evidence-based theoretical approaches applicable for counselors to use in their work with female service members who are survivors of sexual assault. Finally, we discuss sexual assault resources available to military clients and the steps counselors can take to engage in advocacy for and with this population

School based sexual abuse prevention: Implications for professional school counselors

The purpose of this qualitative collective case study was to explore the experiences of four key internal stakeholders who are involved with a school-based child sexual abuse prevention program in a southeastern state in the United States. In order to explore the experiences of participants, in-depth, semistructured interviews were conducted. After the data were collected, transcribed, and coded by a qualified research team, three main themes emerged from this study. These themes highlighted the importance of school-based child sexual abuse prevention education, various program impacts resulting from child sexual abuse prevention and intervention within a school setting, and barriers to implementation of child sexual abuse prevention programs in school settings. Implications for professional school counselors, including how they can assist with the implementation of child sexual abuse prevention education, are discussed. Finally, inherent limitations to the research design and implications for future studies are addressed