Introducing landscape character assessment and the ecosystem service approach to India: A case study

Landscape Character Assessment has provided the context for land use planning decisions and for identifying priorities for environmental restoration and enhancement in England since the 1990s. Increasing awareness of the importance of ecosystem services has led to the method being refined in order to enable informed management of change, with the inclusion of socioeconomic data and the identification of strategic management objectives providing an integrated approach to sustainable development in a changing This research, funded by the British Council UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI), was prompted by concerns expressed by ecologists about the increase in the extent of an invasive plant species, Prosopis juliflora, in the district of Kachchh, Gujarat. A combination of Landscape Character Assessment and participatory appraisal were used in order to produce a Natural Character Area profile for the coastal plain. The process revealed that concerns regarding the spread of Prosopis were outweighed by its socio-economic importance as a source of fuel, charcoal, honey and gum. Their most pressing concern was the impact of recent industrial development on the environment, in particular water abstraction and pollution, crop predation by livestock and increasing soil salinity

Assessing the Effect of Four Types of Direct Mail Messages to Promote the Uptake of Residential Lead Remediation Funds

Objective To examine the efficacy of direct mailing using four types of messaging on promoting the uptake of residential lead remediation (RLR) funds in Lancaster, PA, USA. Study design We designed a quasi-experiment to assess the effect of 4 RLR messages sent to households in Lancaster, PA by direct mail between September and December 2020: a brief flyer (F); a detailed brochure + the flyer (BF); a health infographic + the flyer (IF); and an application form + the flyer (AFF). Methods Mailers were sent to addresses in four census tracts; each census tract received a different message. Both English and Spanish versions were sent. The outcomes were the event rate defined as the number of phone call inquiries received, and the number of applications received. The association between type of messaging and household type (owner-vs renter-occupied) was assessed using a chi square test. Results The event rates for the renter-occupied households were lower than for owner-occupied households, regardless of treatment. The event rates for renter-occupied households in the F, BF, IF and AFF groups were 0.00%, 0.35%, 0.12% and 0.18% respectively compared to 0.93%, 0.45%, 0.86% and 1.32% for homeowners. More applications were received from homeowners, and the event rate of the owner-occupied households was significantly different from that of renter-occupied homes (p-value = 0.001). Conclusions Event rates and applications received were higher for owner-occupied households than they were for renter-occupied households. Direct mailing of RLR information is feasible especially if households at high risk for lead poisoning are targeted

A Role for Drosophila dFoxO and dFoxO 5′UTR Internal Ribosomal Entry Sites during Fasting

One way animals may cope with nutrient deprivation is to broadly repress translation by inhibiting 5′-cap initiation. However, under these conditions specific proteins remain essential to survival during fasting. Such peptides may be translated through initiation at 5′UTR Internal Ribosome Entry Sites (IRES). Here we show that the Drosophila melanogaster Forkhead box type O (dFoxO) transcription factor is required for adult survival during fasting, and that the 5′UTR of dfoxO has the ability to initiate IRES-mediated translation in cell culture. Previous work has shown that insulin negatively regulates dFoxO through AKT-mediated phosphorylation while dFoxO itself induces transcription of the insulin receptor dInR, which also harbors IRES. Here we report that IRES-mediated translation of both dFoxO and dInR is activated in fasted Drosophila S2 cells at a time when cap-dependent translation is reduced. IRES mediated translation of dFoxO and dInR may be essential to ensure function and sensitivity of the insulin signaling pathway during fasting

Psychophysiological effects of a web-based stress management system: A prospective, randomized controlled intervention study of IT and media workers [ISRCTN54254861]

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to assess possible effects on mental and physical well-being and stress-related biological markers of a web-based health promotion tool. METHODS: A randomized, prospectively controlled study was conducted with before and after measurements, involving 303 employees (187 men and 116 women, age 23–64) from four information technology and two media companies. Half of the participants were offered web-based health promotion and stress management training (intervention) lasting for six months. All other participants constituted the reference group. Different biological markers were measured to detect possible physiological changes. RESULTS: After six months the intervention group had improved statistically significantly compared to the reference group on ratings of ability to manage stress, sleep quality, mental energy, concentration ability and social support. The anabolic hormone dehydroepiandosterone sulphate (DHEA-S) decreased significantly in the reference group as compared to unchanged levels in the intervention group. Neuropeptide Y (NPY) increased significantly in the intervention group compared to the reference group. Chromogranin A (CgA) decreased significantly in the intervention group as compared to the reference group. Tumour necrosis factor α (TNFα) decreased significantly in the reference group compared to the intervention group. Logistic regression analysis revealed that group (intervention vs. reference) remained a significant factor in five out of nine predictive models. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that an automatic web-based system might have short-term beneficial physiological and psychological effects and thus might be an opportunity in counteracting some clinically relevant and common stress and health issues of today

Change & Maintaining Change in School Cafeterias: Economic and Behavioral-Economic Approaches to Increasing Fruit and Vegetable Consumption

Developing a daily habit of consuming fruits and vegetables (FV) in children is an important public-health goal. Eating habits acquired in childhood are predictive of adolescent and adult dietary patterns. Thus, healthy eating patterns developed early in life can protect the individual against a number of costly health deficits and may reduce the prevalence of obesity. At present, children in the United States (US) under-consume FV despite having access to them through the National School Lunch Program. Because access is an obstacle to developing healthy eating habits, particularly in low-income households, targeting children’s FV consumption in schools has the advantage of near-universal FV availability among more than 30 million US children. This chapter reviews economic and behavioral-economic approaches to increasing FV consumption in schools. Inclusion criteria include objective measurement of FV consumption (e.g., plate waste measures) and minimal demand characteristics. Simple but effective interventions include (a) increasing the variety of vegetables served, (b) serving sliced instead of whole fruits, (c) scheduling lunch after recess, and (d) giving children at least 25 minutes to eat. Improving the taste of FV and short-term incentivizing consumption of gradually increasing amounts can produce large increases in consumption of these foods. Low-cost game-based incentive program may increase the practicality of the latter strategy

Prediction and Testing of Biological Networks Underlying Intestinal Cancer

Colorectal cancer progresses through an accumulation of somatic mutations, some of which reside in so-called “driver” genes that provide a growth advantage to the tumor. To identify points of intersection between driver gene pathways, we implemented a network analysis framework using protein interactions to predict likely connections – both precedented and novel – between key driver genes in cancer. We applied the framework to find significant connections between two genes, Apc and Cdkn1a (p21), known to be synergistic in tumorigenesis in mouse models. We then assessed the functional coherence of the resulting Apc-Cdkn1a network by engineering in vivo single node perturbations of the network: mouse models mutated individually at Apc (Apc1638N+/−) or Cdkn1a (Cdkn1a−/−), followed by measurements of protein and gene expression changes in intestinal epithelial tissue. We hypothesized that if the predicted network is biologically coherent (functional), then the predicted nodes should associate more specifically with dysregulated genes and proteins than stochastically selected genes and proteins. The predicted Apc-Cdkn1a network was significantly perturbed at the mRNA-level by both single gene knockouts, and the predictions were also strongly supported based on physical proximity and mRNA coexpression of proteomic targets. These results support the functional coherence of the proposed Apc-Cdkn1a network and also demonstrate how network-based predictions can be statistically tested using high-throughput biological data