Field scale soil health scenarios. Vermont Payment for Ecosystem Services Technical Report #2

This report illustrates how changes in management on Vermont farms can influence soil health metrics at the field scale. We’ve used regionally relevant science-based scenarios to demonstrate how selected soil health metrics that are associated with ecosystem services could change on farms in response to management practices at the field scale. These field scale management scenarios demonstrate that many practices in use by farmers in Vermont can have positive impacts on the soil health indicators of interest to the Vermont Soil Health & Payment for Ecosystem Services Working Group. The scenarios document potential for tradeoffs among soil health properties. Specifically, some of the scenarios illustrate how bulk density and compaction can worsen in instances when other soil health properties improve. Long-term research that measures multiple indicators of soil health and ecosystem services on recommended soil health management practices in Vermont is needed to support the evidence-base for soil health and ecosystem services incentive programs

Measuring ecosystem services from soil health. Vermont Payment for Ecosystem Services Technical Research Report #1

There are a multitude of approaches to evaluating soil health and the soil processes influenced by soil health. As the state of Vermont explores innovative programs that compensate farmers for soil health and associated ecosystem services, the selection of soil health indicators and quantification methods is a foundational first step that influences other aspects of program design. What is measured determines the ecosystem services that can be inferred, the accuracy of data that informs decisions, and programmatic transaction costs. Simply put, what is measured matters. The PES Working Group identified organic matter, bulk density, aggregate stability, greenhouse gas flux from the soil surface and soil biodiversity as the soil health indicators that would be most closely related to the desired ecosystem services, and contracted with UVM to provide more information on the measurement considerations for these indicators. In this report, the available methods and costs of measurement for these soil health indicators are discussed in detail. In addition, modeling options are identified. Finally an index that could combine multiple soil health indicators is explored as an option. Overall, this foundational research identified the need for the PES program to integrate both soil health measurements with modeling to validate soil health. Costs for laboratory analysis and labor for these selected metrics were approximately $250 per field, and we identified three analytical laboratories that could provide the soil health analysis. The contents of this report are intended to support decision-making on the part of the Vermont Soil Health and Payment for Ecosystem Services Working Group about what will be measured in a PES, but do not constrain the group from adding other metrics should they so desire. This decision must balance accuracy and complexity with the cost of measuring the best indicators of performance. These decisions are foundational to other aspects of PES program design

The ClinGen Epilepsy Gene Curation Expert Panel—Bridging the divide between clinical domain knowledge and formal gene curation criteria

The field of epilepsy genetics is advancing rapidly and epilepsy is emerging as a frequent indication for diagnostic genetic testing. Within the larger ClinGen framework, the ClinGen Epilepsy Gene Curation Expert Panel is tasked with connecting two increasingly separate fields: the domain of traditional clinical epileptology, with its own established language and classification criteria, and the rapidly evolving area of diagnostic genetic testing that adheres to formal criteria for gene and variant curation. We identify critical components unique to the epilepsy gene curation effort, including: (a) precise phenotype definitions within existing disease and phenotype ontologies; (b) consideration of when epilepsy should be curated as a distinct disease entity; (c) strategies for gene selection; and (d) emerging rules for evaluating functional models for seizure disorders. Given that de novo variants play a prominent role in many of the epilepsies, sufficient genetic evidence is often awarded early in the curation process. Therefore, the emphasis of gene curation is frequently shifted toward an iterative precuration process to better capture phenotypic associations. We demonstrate that within the spectrum of neurodevelopmental disorders, gene curation for epilepsy-associated genes is feasible and suggest epilepsy-specific conventions, laying the groundwork for a curation process of all major epilepsy-associated genes

KCNQ2 R144 variants cause neurodevelopmental disability with language impairment and autistic features without neonatal seizures through a gain-of-function mechanism

Prior studies have revealed remarkable phenotypic heterogeneity in KCNQ2-related disorders, correlated with effects on biophysical features of heterologously expressed channels. Here, we assessed phenotypes and functional properties associated with KCNQ2 missense variants R144W, R144Q, and R144G. We also explored in vitro blockade of channels carrying R144Q mutant subunits by amitriptyline

Neurodevelopmental and Epilepsy Phenotypes in Individuals With Missense Variants in the Voltage-Sensing and Pore Domains of KCNH5

Background and Objectives KCNH5 encodes the voltage-gated potassium channel EAG2/Kv10.2. We aimed to delineate the neurodevelopmental and epilepsy phenotypic spectrum associated with de novo KCNH5 variants.Methods We screened 893 individuals with developmental and epileptic encephalopathies for KCNH5 variants using targeted or exome sequencing. Additional individuals with KCNH5 variants were identified through an international collaboration. Clinical history, EEG, and imaging data were analyzed; seizure types and epilepsy syndromes were classified. We included 3 previously published individuals including additional phenotypic details.Results We report a cohort of 17 patients, including 9 with a recurrent de novo missense variant p.Arg327His, 4 with a recurrent missense variant p.Arg333His, and 4 additional novel missense variants. All variants were located in or near the functionally critical voltage-sensing or pore domains, absent in the general population, and classified as pathogenic or likely pathogenic using the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics criteria. All individuals presented with epilepsy with a median seizure onset at 6 months. They had a wide range of seizure types, including focal and generalized seizures. Cognitive outcomes ranged from normal intellect to profound impairment. Individuals with the recurrent p.Arg333His variant had a self-limited drug-responsive focal or generalized epilepsy and normal intellect, whereas the recurrent p.Arg327His variant was associated with infantile-onset DEE. Two individuals with variants in the pore domain were more severely affected, with a neonatal-onset movement disorder, early-infantile DEE, profound disability, and childhood death.Discussion We describe a cohort of 17 individuals with pathogenic or likely pathogenic missense variants in the voltage-sensing and pore domains of Kv10.2, including 14 previously unreported individuals. We present evidence for a putative emerging genotype-phenotype correlation with a spectrum of epilepsy and cognitive outcomes. Overall, we expand the role of EAG proteins in human disease and establish KCNH5 as implicated in a spectrum of neurodevelopmental disorders and epilepsy.</p

Plasma lipid profiles discriminate bacterial from viral infection in febrile children

Fever is the most common reason that children present to Emergency Departments. Clinical signs and symptoms suggestive of bacterial infection are often non-specific, and there is no definitive test for the accurate diagnosis of infection. The 'omics' approaches to identifying biomarkers from the host-response to bacterial infection are promising. In this study, lipidomic analysis was carried out with plasma samples obtained from febrile children with confirmed bacterial infection (n = 20) and confirmed viral infection (n = 20). We show for the first time that bacterial and viral infection produces distinct profile in the host lipidome. Some species of glycerophosphoinositol, sphingomyelin, lysophosphatidylcholine and cholesterol sulfate were higher in the confirmed virus infected group, while some species of fatty acids, glycerophosphocholine, glycerophosphoserine, lactosylceramide and bilirubin were lower in the confirmed virus infected group when compared with confirmed bacterial infected group. A combination of three lipids achieved an area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of 0.911 (95% CI 0.81 to 0.98). This pilot study demonstrates the potential of metabolic biomarkers to assist clinicians in distinguishing bacterial from viral infection in febrile children, to facilitate effective clinical management and to the limit inappropriate use of antibiotics

How can students-as-partners work address challenges to student, faculty, and staff mental health and well-being?

Mental health has emerged as a critical area of attention in higher education, and educational research over the last 15 years has focused increasingly on emotions and wellbeing at all stages of education (Hill et al., 2021). While definitions of well-being vary, most are premised on “good quality of life” (Nair et al., 2018, p. 69). Within the last few years, we have experienced an intersection of several forces that undermine or threaten good quality of life. These include the uncertainties prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic (Hews et al., 2022, U.S. Surgeon General, n.d.), climate change (Charlson et al., 2021), racism and social injustices (Williams & Etkins, 2021), the cost-of-living crisis (Montacute, 2023), and the lack of motivation and higher incidence of mental health issues associated with growing concerns about job prospects and income (Chowdhury et al., 2022). This fifth iteration of Voices from the Field explores some of the ways in which students-as-partners work can address challenges to the mental health and well-being of students, faculty, and staff. This focus, proposed by members of the IJSaP Editorial Board, both responds to the intersecting realities named above and remains true to the goal of this section of the journal, which is to offer a venue for a wide range of contributors to address important questions around and aspects of students-as-partners work without going through the intensive submission, peer-review, and revision processes. The prompt we included in the call for this iteration of Voices was: “In what ways can students-as-partners work address challenges to the mental health and well-being of students, staff, and faculty posed by the current realities in the wider world (socio-political, environmental, economic, etc.) that affect higher education?

Plasma lipid profiles discriminate bacterial from viral infection in febrile children

Fever is the most common reason that children present to Emergency Departments. Clinical signs and symptoms suggestive of bacterial infection are often non-specific, and there is no definitive test for the accurate diagnosis of infection. The 'omics' approaches to identifying biomarkers from the host-response to bacterial infection are promising. In this study, lipidomic analysis was carried out with plasma samples obtained from febrile children with confirmed bacterial infection (n = 20) and confirmed viral infection (n = 20). We show for the first time that bacterial and viral infection produces distinct profile in the host lipidome. Some species of glycerophosphoinositol, sphingomyelin, lysophosphatidylcholine and cholesterol sulfate were higher in the confirmed virus infected group, while some species of fatty acids, glycerophosphocholine, glycerophosphoserine, lactosylceramide and bilirubin were lower in the confirmed virus infected group when compared with confirmed bacterial infected group. A combination of three lipids achieved an area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of 0.911 (95% CI 0.81 to 0.98). This pilot study demonstrates the potential of metabolic biomarkers to assist clinicians in distinguishing bacterial from viral infection in febrile children, to facilitate effective clinical management and to the limit inappropriate use of antibiotics

Plasma lipid profiles discriminate bacterial from viral infection in febrile children

Fever is the most common reason that children present to Emergency Departments. Clinical signs and symptoms suggestive of bacterial infection ar