Incorporating Spatial Data and GIS to Improve SEA of Land use Plans: Opportunities and Limitations: Case Studies in the Republic of Ireland

This research aimed at establishing whether spatial data and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can contribute to Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). To achieve this, an integrated GISEA approach was developed and applied to a number of spatial planning SEAs in the Republic of Ireland. The practical applicability of the approach was examined, evaluating the potential benefits derived from using spatial data and GIS in SEA and assessing the potential barriers to an effective GIS use. The implementation of the SEA Directive incorporated a new dimension into plan-making by calling for the assessment of potential environmental effects that may derive from implementing a plan. The intrinsic spatial nature of land use plans poses specific requirements on the tools and assessment methods used. GIS – with their capacity to visually display and spatially assess information- have the potential to support SEA processes. Moreover, GIS tools can tackle the spatio-temporal dimensions that conventional assessment methods (e.g. matrices and checklists) fail to address. To explore the validity of these arguments, GISEA was applied to seven Irish development plans. These were supported by interviews with the planners and technicians involved, and through review of published SEA environmental reports. The case studies demonstrated that GIS can provide the mappable aspects of SEA; they facilitate the process by enhancing understanding of environmental and planning considerations, and improving the accuracy of assessments. These observations concur with published literature on the predicted benefits of applying GIS at various environmental assessment levels. Nevertheless, the results revealed that framework and procedural difficulties remain (e.g. institutional arrangements and technical data issues). These are more apparent at higher planning tiers and in certain SEA stages such as public participation. The contribution of GIS largely depends on scope for spatial information, availability and quality of relevant datasets, and willingness of involved organisations to facilitate data provision and disclosure. Therefore, formulation of spatially-specific land use plans and improved data accessibility and quality can contribute to an effective GIS use in SEA. Further research and practice are required to disclose the full potential of GISEA, but the work-placement aspect of this research has already had a direct impact on the level of GIS use in Irish SEA practice

The use of games in the class

This study focuses on how games can help children to learn a foreign language, why some scholars feel suspicious about their use, what aspects of games teachers consider that do not contribute to the students’ learning and improvement of a second language and how this could be solved

Unravelling the proteomic landscape in Interferon Stimulated Gene 15 deficient cancer cellular models

The Interferon Stimulated Gene 15 (ISG15) is a ubiquitin-like protein that can be found both conjugated to target proteins, in a process known as ISGylation, and in a non-conjugated “free” form where it can act as a cytokine. Even though ISG15 has been widely studied for its antiviral properties, recent research has implicated ISG15 in many more biological processes, including the development and progression of cancer. In this area, re search is divided between studies that suggest ISG15 is a tumour suppressor and immune system enhancer, and those that claim it relates to tumour aggressiveness and treatment resistance. The extensive number of modification targets and variety of roles of ISG15 makes it challenging to determine its molecular mechanisms in cancer. The aim of this study is to shed light on the role of this ubiquitin-like protein in cancer cell models and to provide insights into the mechanisms of action that leads to ISG15 function in interferon (IFN) resistance. Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) / Cas9 gene-editing technology was used to ablate ISG15 expression in a cervical cancer cellular model (SiHa cells). Once a stable knock-out was obtained, a variety of analysis were performed with and without interferon treatment to try to identify any biological difference between the wild type cells and the ISG15 deficient cells, including cell growth and cell cycle analysis and colony formation assays. After identifying ISG15 deficient cells as sensitive to IFNα treatment, which was confirmed in a variety of cellular models, three different proteomic approaches were used to try to address the proteomic landscape in two ISG15 deficient cell backgrounds in the presence and absence of IFNα treatment. a) First, a stable isotope labelling by amino acids in cell culture (SILAC) technique was used in wild-type (WT) and ISG15 deficient cervical cancer (SiHa) cells, either untreated or treated for 24 or 48 hours, to look at recently synthesised protein changes. Results showed significant increased expression of other ISGs like IFIT1 and MX1, but also of other less expected proteins such as NQO1, MT1G and MT1F, all of which are involved in oxidative stress response and detoxification. This was reflected in the analysis of the dysregulated biological processes performed with the identified targets, which revealed upregulated response to stress. This analysis also revealed upregulated processes related to antigen processing and presentation, downregulated processes related to response to wounding and wound healing and various dysregulated metabolic processes. b) Second, in order to find out what proteins and processes were commonly altered upon depletion of ISG15 in different cancer models, a steady state whole proteomics approach was used in ISG15 deficient patient-derived glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs). Again, the upregulation of a IFN stimulated signature was detected in the absence of ISG15, as well as processes related to the positive regulation of IFN production. Several metabolic processes were also found to be dysregulated, and processes related to antigen processing and presentation were also detected to be upregulated upon IFN treatment. c) Finally, as the previous results suggested the involvement of ISG15 in MHC class I antigen presentation, a state-of-the-art immunopeptidomic method was used to elute and analyse the peptides presented by MHC-I in ISG15 deficient versus wild-type GSCs in the presence or absence of IFNα treatment. The presentation of peptides derived from several proteins were found significantly altered in the absence of ISG15 (e.g. GAPDH), and peptide length distribution analysis suggested an increased and sustained expression of MHC-I presented peptides upon IFN treatment. Overall, results suggest that the loss of ISG15 results in an amplified IFN response promoting sensitivity, probably due to the loss of the role of ISG15 as a negative regulator of this pathway. At the same time, the absence of ISG15 seems to be involved with mitochondrial and metabolic dysregulation, as well as altered antigen peptide expression. Further researching these findings could be useful in the field of immune based and peptide targeted therapies

Technology-aided participative methods in environmental assessment: An international perspective

Provisions for citizen involvement in the assessment of potential environmental effects of certain plans, programmes and projects are present in current legislation. An international survey revealed that public participation is common practice in European and some other countries worldwide. However, a number of issues are observed to affect public involvement in EIA/SEA processes and expert opinion differs when evaluating the effectiveness of existing participative methods. Results suggest that technology-aided methods can improve traditional participation processes. In particular, GIS has the potential to increase community knowledge and enhance involvement by communicating information more effectively. Variable accessibility to technology and data quality remain issues. Combining technology with more conventional ways of gathering, evaluating and presenting data are seen as offering a solution to the need to promote the integration of public perceptions in environmental assessment procedures. Recommendations to improve current public participation methods and measures for making GIS available to the general public are provided

Monitoring implantable immunoisolation devices with intrinsic fluorescence of genipin

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149252/1/jbio201800170.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149252/2/jbio201800170_am.pd

Induction of CIITA by IFN-γ in macrophages involves STAT1 activation byJAK and JNK

The induction of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II proteins by interferon gamma (IFN-γ) in macrophages play an important role during immune responses. Here we explore the signaling pathways involved in the induction by IFN-γ of the MHC II transactivator (CIIta) required for MHC II transcriptional activation. Cyclophilin A (CypA) is required for IFN-γ-dependent induction of MHC II in macrophages, but not when it is mediated by GM-CSF. The effect of CypA appears to be specific because it does not affect the expression of other molecules or genes triggered by IFN-γ, such as FcγR, NOS2, Lmp2, and Tap1. We found that CypA inhibition blocked the IFN-γ-induced expression of CIIta at the transcriptional level in two phases. In an early phase, during the first 2 h of IFN-γ treatment, STAT1 is phosphorylated at Tyrosine 701 and Serine 727, residues required for the induction of the transcription factor IRF1. In a later phase, STAT1 phosphorylation and JNK activation are required to trigger CIIta expression. CypA is needed for STAT1 phosphorylation in this last phase and to bind the CIIta promoter. Our findings demonstrate that STAT1 is required in a two-step induction of CIIta, once again highlighting the significance of cross talk between signaling pathways in macrophages

Low surface expression of B7-1 (CD80) is an immunoescape mechanism of colon carcinoma

Artificially enforced expression of CD80 (B7-1) and CD86 (B7-2) on tumor cells renders them more immunogenic by triggering the CD28 receptor on T cells. The enigma is that such B7s interact with much higher affinity with CTLA-4 (CD152), an inhibitory receptor expressed by activated T cells. We show that unmutated CD80 is spontaneously expressed at low levels by mouse colon carcinoma cell lines and other transplantable tumor cell lines of various tissue origins. Silencing of CD80 by interfering RNA led to loss of tumorigenicity of CT26 colon carcinoma in immunocompetent mice, but not in immunodeficient Rag-/- mice. CT26 tumor cells bind CTLA-4Ig, but much more faintly with a similar CD28Ig chimeric protein, thus providing an explanation for the dominant inhibitory effects on tumor immunity displayed by CD80 at that expression level. Interestingly, CD80-negative tumor cell lines such as MC38 colon carcinoma and B16 melanoma express CD80 at dim levels during in vivo growth in syngeneic mice. Therefore, low CD80 surface expression seems to give an advantage to cancer cells against the immune system. Our findings are similar with the inhibitory role described for the dim CD80 expression on immature dendritic cells, providing an explanation for the low levels of CD80 expression described in various human malignancies

Plant-pollinator networks in semi-natural grasslands are resistant to the loss of pollinators during blooming of mass-flowering crops

Mass-flowering crops lead to spatial redistributions of pollinators and to transient shortages within nearby semi-natural grasslands, but the impacts on plant–pollinator interactions remain largely unexplored. Here, we characterised which pollinator species are attracted by oilseed rape and how this affected the structure of plant–pollinator networks in nearby grasslands. We surveyed 177 networks from three countries (Germany, Sweden and United Kingdom) in 24 landscapes with high crop cover, and compared them to 24 landscapes with low or no oilseed rape during and after crop blooming. On average 55% of grassland pollinator species were found on the crop, which attracted 8–35% of individuals away from grasslands. However, networks in the grasslands were resistant to these reductions, since mainly abundant and highly mobile species were attracted. Nonetheless, simulations indicated that network structural changes could be triggered if > 50% of individuals were attracted to the crop (a value well-above that found in our study system), which could affect community stability and resilience to further disturbance