Regional Invasive Species & Climate Change Management Challenge: Prioritizing range-shifting invasive plants High-impact species coming to the Northeast

Prevention of new invasions is a cost-effective way to manage invasive species and is most effective when emerging invaders are identified and prioritized before they arrive. Climate change is projected to bring nearly 100 new invasive plants to the Northeast. However, these plants are likely to have different types of impacts, making some a higher concern than others. Here, we summarize the results of original RISCC research that identifies high priority, range-shifting invasive plants based on their potential impacts

Regional Invasive Species & Climate Change Management Challenge: Double Trouble. Understanding risks from invasive species + climate change

Individually, invasive species and climate change are major threats to global ecosystems. Together they create new challenges for effective management. Before we can design management strategies to respond to this double trouble, we need to understand how these two forms of global change interact

Regional Invasive Species & Climate Change Management Challenge: Taking Action. Managing invasive species in the context of climate change

Climate change is likely to alter the timing and effect of invasive species management, as well as the suite of species we are managing. Despite concern about the effects of climate change, lack of information about how and when to take action is a barrier to climate-smart invasive species management. Here, we outline strategies for incorporating climate change into management along with examples of tools that can inform proactive decision-making

A Methodological Review of the Articles Publishes in Georgia Educational Researcher from 2003-2010

Methodological reviews, reviews that concentrate on research methods rather than research outcomes, have been used in a variety of fields to improve research practice, inform debate, and identify islands of practice. In this article, we report on the results of a methodological review of all of the articles published in Georgia Educational Researcher from 2003-2010. We examined the methodological characteristics, authorial characteristics, and methodological quality of those articles using quantitative content analysis. The major findings were that (a) the proportions of the type and traditions of articles published in Georgia Educational Researcher were similar to the proportions in education research articles in general, (b) case study research and correlational research were most prominent, (c) a few universities accounted for most of the articles published, (d) male and female authors’ articles were published in equitable proportions, and (e) there were no statistically significant differences in methodological quality between genders, university affiliations, types of research, or years of publication. We end with a few suggestions for improving the quality of qualitative research articles in the Georgia Educational Researcher

Regional Invasive Species & Climate Change Management Challenge: Gardening with climate-smart native plants in the Northeast

An estimated 80% of ornamental plants for sale are non-native. This means that the average yard does a poor job of supporting native flora and fauna. By shifting our plantings towards natives, we can dramatically increase the diversity of bees, butterflies, birds and other animals. In contrast, non-native plants do not support local food webs and can become invasive. Native plants increase biodiversity and reduce risks associated with invasive species, which supports resilient ecosystems in the face of climate change

Translational invasion ecology: bridging research and practice to address one of the greatest threats to biodiversity

Effective natural resource management and policy is contingent on information generated by research. Conversely, the applicability of research depends on whether it is responsive to the needs and constraints of resource managers and policy makers. However, many scientific fields including invasion ecology suffer from a disconnect between research and practice. Despite strong socio-political imperatives, evidenced by extensive funding dedicated to addressing invasive species, the pairing of invasion ecology with stakeholder needs to support effective management and policy is lacking. As a potential solution, we propose translational invasion ecology (TIE). As an extension of translational ecology, as a framework to increase collaboration among scientists, practitioners, and policy makers to reduce negative impacts of invasive species. As an extension of translational ecology, TIE is an approach that embodies an intentional and inclusive process in which researchers, stakeholders, and decision makers collaborate to develop and implement ecological research via joint consideration of the ecological, sociological, economic, and/or political contexts in order to improve invasive species management. TIE ideally results in improved outcomes as well as shared benefits between researchers and managers. We delineate the steps of our proposed TIE approach and describe successful examples of ongoing TIE projects from the US and internationally. We suggest practical ways to begin incorporating TIE into research and management practices, including supporting boundary-spanning organizations and activities, expanding networks, sharing translational experiences, and measuring outcomes. We find that there is a need for strengthened boundary spanning, as well as funding and recognition for advancing translational approaches. As climate change and globalization exacerbate invasive species impacts, TIE provides a promising approach to generate actionable ecological research while improving outcomes of invasive species management and policy decisions

Crystal structure of rhodopsin bound to arrestin by femtosecond X-ray laser.

G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) signal primarily through G proteins or arrestins. Arrestin binding to GPCRs blocks G protein interaction and redirects signalling to numerous G-protein-independent pathways. Here we report the crystal structure of a constitutively active form of human rhodopsin bound to a pre-activated form of the mouse visual arrestin, determined by serial femtosecond X-ray laser crystallography. Together with extensive biochemical and mutagenesis data, the structure reveals an overall architecture of the rhodopsin-arrestin assembly in which rhodopsin uses distinct structural elements, including transmembrane helix 7 and helix 8, to recruit arrestin. Correspondingly, arrestin adopts the pre-activated conformation, with a ∼20° rotation between the amino and carboxy domains, which opens up a cleft in arrestin to accommodate a short helix formed by the second intracellular loop of rhodopsin. This structure provides a basis for understanding GPCR-mediated arrestin-biased signalling and demonstrates the power of X-ray lasers for advancing the frontiers of structural biology

Towards an assessment of psychosocial work factors in a multi-level mental health intervention in the workplace: results from the MENTUPP pilot-study

Background Mental health in the workplace is a growing concern for enterprises and policy makers. MENTUPP is a multi-level mental health intervention implemented in small and medium size enterprises from three work sectors in nine countries. This pilot study aimed to evaluate the feasibility, delivery, and instruments for the MENTUPP intervention to inform the planning of a clustered randomized controlled trial. Methods We administered items from the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire and the Danish Work Environment Cohort Study measuring psychosocial workplace factors. The questionnaire was answered by 382 participants at baseline, of which 98 participants also answered after six months at follow-up. We calculated mean scores of 19 psychosocial factors at baseline and conducted repeated measures ANOVAs to assess differences in eight psychosocial factors at follow-up. We also examined whether outcomes differed between work sectors and job positions at follow-up. Results The construction sector and workers with no or a lower leadership role reported more negative working environment factors at baseline. We observed a statistically significant decline in social support from colleagues and social community at work, and a marginally significant decline in justice at work. For the rest of the constructs, we did not observe statistically significant changes. Conclusions We found significant differences in psychosocial work environment factors among work sectors and job positions at baseline. Contrary to our hypotheses, three psychosocial work environment factors decreased at follow-up. Possible explanations are the utilization of specific psychosocial factors as resources to cope with psychosocial stressors, high participant expectations that were not met by the intervention, insufficient time for structural changes, or the intervention prompting critical evaluations of the work environment. These findings will inform the design and implementation of the forthcoming clustered randomized controlled trial, where they will also be further investigated to validate their significance

Federating structural models and data:Outcomes from a workshop on archiving integrative structures

Structures of biomolecular systems are increasingly computed by integrative modeling. In this approach, a structural model is constructed by combining information from multiple sources, including varied experimental methods and prior models. In 2019, a Workshop was held as a Biophysical Society Satellite Meeting to assess progress and discuss further requirements for archiving integrative structures. The primary goal of the Workshop was to build consensus for addressing the challenges involved in creating common data standards, building methods for federated data exchange, and developing mechanisms for validating integrative structures. The summary of the Workshop and the recommendations that emerged are presented here