Building Character Through 4-H School Partnerships

Since 1997, Ohio 4-H has participated in the Ohio Partnership for Character Education (OPCE) and conducted successful 4-H school character education programs. Three programs are highlighted in this article, along with four recommendations for future 4-H school character education partnerships: youth character education should be a priority need in communities served by the partnership; schools should be open to partnerships with community organizations; the wealth of character education curricula should be reviewed to select resources which meet local needs; and funding for the continuation of successful pilot programs should be secured early

Evaluation of soil carbon simulation in CMIP6 Earth system models

The response of soil carbon represents one of the key uncertainties in future climate change. The ability of Earth system models (ESMs) to simulate present-day soil carbon is therefore vital for reliably estimating global carbon budgets required for Paris Agreement targets. In this study CMIP6 ESMs are evaluated against empirical datasets to assess the ability of each model to simulate soil carbon and related controls: net primary productivity (NPP) and soil carbon turnover time (τs). Comparing CMIP6 with the previous generation of models (CMIP5), a lack of consistency in modelled soil carbon remains, particularly the underestimation of northern high-latitude soil carbon stocks. There is a robust improvement in the simulation of NPP in CMIP6 compared with CMIP5; however, an unrealistically high correlation with soil carbon stocks remains, suggesting the potential for an overestimation of the long-term terrestrial carbon sink. Additionally, the same improvements are not seen in the simulation of τs. These results suggest that much of the uncertainty associated with modelled soil carbon stocks can be attributed to the simulation of below-ground processes, and greater emphasis is required on improving the representation of below-ground soil processes in future developments of models. These improvements would help to reduce the uncertainty in projected carbon release from global soils under climate change and to increase confidence in the carbon budgets associated with different levels of global warming.</p

Age Differences in Driving-Specific Tests of Executive Function

The purpose of the present study was to examine age differences in executive function as measured by novel driving-specific tests of executive function using a novel driving simulator. Developmental changes in executive function have been implicated as possible contributing factors to elevated crash statistics for both older adult (over age 65) and adolescent (between age 15 and 20) populations, however for different reasons. Poorer older adult driving performance has been partially attributed to general age-related cognitive decline in executive function mediated by age-related frontal-lobe atrophy and neural disconnection. Immature executive function has been implicated in poorer adolescent driving performance and is thought to be expressed in situations where the developmentally high sensitivity of the socio-emotional reward system outcompetes the regulatory influence of the under developed executive system. Using a new, high fidelity, virtual reality driving simulator, we created drivingspecific tests to assess executive function. These operational tests employed driving-relevant stimuli, with driving-relevant challenges, that required drivingrelevant responses, in a driving-relevant context. Fifteen older adult and 20 adolescent drivers completed these driving-specific executive function tests. We hypothesized that poorer older adult driving performance would be reflected on these driving specific tests of executive function due to general cognitive decline and that, given the absence of social-emotional reward, adolescents would outperform older adults. Analyses of both bivariate correlations and group comparisons generally supported these predictions

Effector memory differentiation increases detection of replication-competent HIV-l in resting CD4+ T cells from virally suppressed individuals.

Studies have demonstrated that intensive ART alone is not capable of eradicating HIV-1, as the virus rebounds within a few weeks upon treatment interruption. Viral rebound may be induced from several cellular subsets; however, the majority of proviral DNA has been found in antigen experienced resting CD4+ T cells. To achieve a cure for HIV-1, eradication strategies depend upon both understanding mechanisms that drive HIV-1 persistence as well as sensitive assays to measure the frequency of infected cells after therapeutic interventions. Assays such as the quantitative viral outgrowth assay (QVOA) measure HIV-1 persistence during ART by ex vivo activation of resting CD4+ T cells to induce latency reversal; however, recent studies have shown that only a fraction of replication-competent viruses are inducible by primary mitogen stimulation. Previous studies have shown a correlation between the acquisition of effector memory phenotype and HIV-1 latency reversal in quiescent CD4+ T cell subsets that harbor the reservoir. Here, we apply our mechanistic understanding that differentiation into effector memory CD4+ T cells more effectively promotes HIV-1 latency reversal to significantly improve proviral measurements in the QVOA, termed differentiation QVOA (dQVOA), which reveals a significantly higher frequency of the inducible HIV-1 replication-competent reservoir in resting CD4+ T cells

Comparative analysis of influenza A(H3N2) virus hemagglutinin specific IgG subclass and IgA responses in children and adults after influenza vaccination

AbstractTwo different influenza vaccines are generally used in many countries; trivalent live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV3) and trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV3). Studies comparing the antibody response to IIV3 and LAIV3 commonly investigate the seroprotective response by hemagglutination-inhibition (HI) assay. However, there is limited data regarding comparative analysis of IgG subclass and IgA responses induced by LAIV3 and IIV3.Fifteen children <5years received 2 doses of LAIV3 while 14 children aged 10–17years received one dose. In addition, 15 adults were vaccinated with either intranasal LAIV3 or intramuscular IIV3. We analyzed the H3N2 humoral responses by HI assay and the hemagglutinin (HA) specific IgG1, IgG2, IgG3, IgG4 and IgA1 responses by ELISA. Furthermore, we investigated the avidity of induced IgG antibodies.Pre-existing seroprotective HI antibodies were present in adults (73%) previously vaccinated with IIV3. Vaccination resulted in a significant increase in HI titers in all groups, except LAIV3 vaccinated adults. Furthermore, a negative correlation between age and HI titers in LAIV3 vaccinated subjects was observed post-vaccination. LAIV3 in children and IIV3 in adults induced HA-specific IgG1, low IgG3 but no IgG2 or IgG4. Moreover, significant IgA1 responses were only induced in children. Interestingly, IIV3 and LAIV3 induced IgG antibodies with comparable and significantly augmented avidity post-vaccination in children and adults.Our results suggest that age and/or exposure history play a significant role in determining the antibody response.Clinical trial registry: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01003288 and NCT0186654

Spatial variation and antecedent sea surface temperature conditions influence Hawaiian intertidal community structure

Global sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are increasing, and in Hawaiʻi, rates of ocean warming are projected to double by the end of the 21st century. However, current nearshore warming trends and their possible impacts on intertidal communities are not well understood. This study represents the first investigation into the possible effects of rising SST on intertidal algal and invertebrate communities across the Main Hawaiian Islands (MHI). By utilizing citizen-science data coupled with high-resolution, daily SST satellite measurements from 12 intertidal sites across the MHI from 2004–2019, the response of intertidal algal and invertebrate abundance and community diversity to changes in SST was investigated across multiple spatial scales. Results show high rates of SST warming (0.40°C Decade-1) over this study’s timeframe, similar to predicted rates of warming for Hawaiʻi by the end of the 21st century. Changes in abundance and diversity in response to SST were variable among intertidal sites, but differences in antecedent SST among intertidal sites were significantly associated with community dissimilarity. In addition, a statistically significant positive relationship was found between SST and Simpson’s diversity index, and a significant relationship was also found between SST and the abundance of six dominant taxa. For five of these six dominant taxa, antecedent SSTs over the 6–12 months preceding sampling were the most influential for describing changes to abundance. The increase in community diversity in response to higher SSTs was best explained by temperatures in the 10 months preceding sampling, and the resultant decreased abundance of dominant turf algae. These results highlight rapidly warming nearshore SSTs in Hawaiʻi and the longer-term effects of antecedent SSTs as significant drivers of change within Hawaiian intertidal communities. Therefore, we suggest that future research and management should consider the possibility of lagging effects of antecedent SST on intertidal communities in Hawaiʻi and elsewhere

Narrative writing, reading and cognitive processes in middle childhood: what are the links?

This study investigated the relationship between measures of reading and writing, and explored whether cognitive measures known to be related to reading ability were also associated with writing performance in middle childhood. Sixty-Four children, aged between 8 years 9 months and 11 years 9 months, took part in a battery of writing, reading, and cognitive ability tasks. Reading fluency emerged as having a strong relationship to written language performance, after controlling for age and verbal reasoning. While children with reading difficulties were weak at spelling accuracy, they were otherwise found to produce written compositions of similar quality to typical readers. Boys produced less written text than girls, but did not demonstrate weaker written language abilities. Collectively the results demonstrate that writing skills can be separated into transcription and composition processes, and highlight the need for further research on the relationship between reading fluency and children’s writing

Prolonging the delivery of influenza virus vaccine improves the quantity and quality of the induced immune responses in mice

IntroductionInfluenza vaccines play a vital role in protecting individuals from influenza virus infection and severe illness. However, current influenza vaccines have suboptimal efficacy, which is further reduced in cases where the vaccine strains do not match the circulating strains. One strategy to enhance the efficacy of influenza vaccines is by extended antigen delivery, thereby mimicking the antigen kinetics of a natural infection. Prolonging antigen availability was shown to quantitatively enhance influenza virus-specific immune responses but how it affects the quality of the induced immune response is unknown. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate whether prolongation of the delivery of influenza vaccine improves the quality of the induced immune responses over that induced by prime-boost immunization.MethodsMice were given daily doses of whole inactivated influenza virus vaccine for periods of 14, 21, or 28 days; the control group received prime-boost immunization with a 28 days interval.ResultsOur data show that the highest levels of cellular and humoral immune responses were induced by 28 days of extended antigen delivery, followed by 21, and 14 days of delivery, and prime-boost immunization. Moreover, prolonging vaccine delivery also improved the quality of the induced antibody response, as indicated by higher level of high avidity antibodies, a balanced IgG subclass profile, and a higher level of cross-reactive antibodies.ConclusionsOur findings contribute to a better understanding of the immune response to influenza vaccination and have important implications for the design and development of future slow-release influenza vaccines