Therapeutic Benefits of a Wilderness Therapy Program and a Therapeutic Community Program for Troubled Adolescents

Wilderness therapy is increasingly seen as a viable treatment alternative for troubled youth, yet there is a noticeable dearth of research comparing the effectiveness of wilderness therapy with more traditional treatment programs. To help address this research need, this study conducted an exploratory analysis of the therapeutic benefits of a wilderness therapy program, Wilderness Quest (WQ), compared to a therapeutic community program, Life-Line (LL). The WQ and LL programs both are based on a 12- step recovery philosophy and emphasize the integral role of the family in adolescent treatment. The study employed a qualitative methodology, beginning with an extended period of observation (approximately eight weeks) in each program. The primary data for the study came from follow-up surveys with youth and their parents which were conducted about 13-15 months after the time of enrollment. Twenty-one families were represented in the study (10 from the WQ program and 11 from the LL program). The WQ program was perceived to be a pivotal experience for many youth and the most common reported benefit was increased self-confidence. The most common reported benefit for youth in the LL program was a pivotal change in lifestyle, with groups and one-on-one talks with staff and peers being the most beneficial. The study discussed the subtle distinction found with the short-term wilderness program being a pivotal experience and the long-term therapeutic community program leading to pivotal change. The most common reported benefit for families in both programs was an increase in communication and closeness. In the follow-up behavior assessments there were no perceived differences between WQ and LL youth in areas of family relations, school/education, and job/work. There was a slight difference in peer relations with LL youth behaviors slightly more positive than WQ youth, and there was a notable difference in substance abuse with LL youth behaviors being more positive. The data also indicated that certain post-treatment factors were related to youth progress after leaving the programs, with aftercare and association with positive peers being the most important for WQ youth and program graduation and association with positive peers being the most important for LL youth. Interpretive models were developed to illustrate the developmental growth patterns of youth in the two programs

Reduced Lentivirus Susceptibility in Sheep with TMEM154 Mutations

Visna/Maedi, or ovine progressive pneumonia (OPP) as it is known in the United States, is an incurable slow-acting disease of sheep caused by persistent lentivirus infection. This disease affects multiple tissues, including those of the respiratory and central nervous systems. Our aim was to identify ovine genetic risk factors for lentivirus infection. Sixty-nine matched pairs of infected cases and uninfected controls were identified among 736 naturally exposed sheep older than five years of age. These pairs were used in a genome-wide association study with 50,614 markers. A single SNP was identified in the ovine transmembrane protein (TMEM154) that exceeded genome-wide significance (unadjusted p-value 3×10−9). Sanger sequencing of the ovine TMEM154 coding region identified six missense and two frameshift deletion mutations in the predicted signal peptide and extracellular domain. Two TMEM154 haplotypes encoding glutamate (E) at position 35 were associated with infection while a third haplotype with lysine (K) at position 35 was not. Haplotypes encoding full-length E35 isoforms were analyzed together as genetic risk factors in a multi-breed, matched case-control design, with 61 pairs of 4-year-old ewes. The odds of infection for ewes with one copy of a full-length TMEM154 E35 allele were 28 times greater than the odds for those without (p-value<0.0001, 95% CI 5–1,100). In a combined analysis of nine cohorts with 2,705 sheep from Nebraska, Idaho, and Iowa, the relative risk of infection was 2.85 times greater for sheep with a full-length TMEM154 E35 allele (p-value<0.0001, 95% CI 2.36–3.43). Although rare, some sheep were homozygous for TMEM154 deletion mutations and remained uninfected despite a lifetime of significant exposure. Together, these findings indicate that TMEM154 may play a central role in ovine lentivirus infection and removing sheep with the most susceptible genotypes may help eradicate OPP and protect flocks from reinfection

Evaluation of the Ovine \u3ci\u3eCallipyge\u3c/i\u3e Locus: II. Genotypic Effects on Growth, Slaughter, and Carcass Traits

A resource flock of 362 F2 lambs provided phenotypic and genotypic data to estimate effects of callipyge ( CLPG) genotypes on growth, slaughter, and carcass traits. Lambs were serially slaughtered in six groups at 3-wk intervals starting at 23 wk of age to allow comparisons at different end points. Probabilities of CLPG genotypes were calculated at a position 86 cM from the most centromeric marker of chromosome 18. A contrast of CLPG genotypic effects, based on the paternal polar over-dominance model, was used to evaluate callipyge and normal phenotypes. Relationships of traits with slaughter age, carcass weight, or 12th-rib fat depth for callipyge and normal phenotypic groups were estimated by regression. callipyge and normal lambs did not differ for growth traits measured from birth to slaughter. Callipyge lambs produced 55.9% of live weight as chilled carcass weight compared with 51.7% for normal lambs at the same mean live weight of 48.32 kg. Lighter pelt, kidney-pelvic fat, and liver weights contributed to this advantage of callipyge lambs for dressing percentage ( P \u3c .001). Estimated accretion rates of carcass protein at the mean slaughter age were 12.5 and 10.2 g/d for callipyge and normal carcasses, respectively. Corresponding values for carcass fat were 35.2 and 42.1 g/d. Compositional differences in favor of callipyge carcasses were detected at constant values of slaughter age, carcass weight, and 12th-rib fat depth. Callipyge carcasses had 2.56 kg greater fat-free lean and 1.39 kg less fat than normal carcasses at the same mean age of 214.9 d (P \u3c .001). The majority of these differences were established before the initial group was slaughtered and were maintained as age increased. Callipyge carcasses consisted of 24.3% fat and 71.3% fat-free lean, compared with 31.5 and 64.0% for normal carcasses at 25.6 kg of carcass weight. When evaluated at .49 cm of 12th-rib fat depth, callipyge lambs were 15.4 d older and produced 4.1 kg heavier carcasses with 4.3% less fat ( P \u3c .001). Effects of CLPG genotypic groups on carcass composition were greater than virtually all reported breed substitution effects. Use of the CLPG mutant allele in structured mating systems can dramatically increase production of lean lamb

Residents in Södra Jämtlandsfjällen : Attitudes toward windpower, national park designation and tourism development

Jämte skogs- och jordbruk samt gruvdrift har turism haft en central roll i utvecklingen av den svenska fjällregionen under de senaste hundra åren. En viktig aspekt vid utveckling av turism - speciellt inom olika naturområden - är att den sker med så liten negativ påverkan på miljön som möjligt. Ytterligare en viktig aspekt är lokalbefolkningens attityder. Den här rapporten studerar lokalbefolkningens attityder till vindkraft, förslag om nationalpark samt turismutveckling i Södra Jämtlandsfjällen.   Undersökningen omfattar boende i direkt anslutning till området (Ljungdalen, Storsjö, Vålådalen och delar av Undersåker). Resultaten visar att de flesta är positiva till vindkraft, medan nästan hälften är negativa till förslaget om att inrätta en nationalpark - varav merparten mycket negativa. Utveckling av turismen i området får stort stöd med 79 % som är ganska positiva eller mycket positiva till turismutveckling.  

Residents in Södra Jämtlandsfjällen : Attitudes toward windpower, national park designation and tourism development

Jämte skogs- och jordbruk samt gruvdrift har turism haft en central roll i utvecklingen av den svenska fjällregionen under de senaste hundra åren. En viktig aspekt vid utveckling av turism - speciellt inom olika naturområden - är att den sker med så liten negativ påverkan på miljön som möjligt. Ytterligare en viktig aspekt är lokalbefolkningens attityder. Den här rapporten studerar lokalbefolkningens attityder till vindkraft, förslag om nationalpark samt turismutveckling i Södra Jämtlandsfjällen.   Undersökningen omfattar boende i direkt anslutning till området (Ljungdalen, Storsjö, Vålådalen och delar av Undersåker). Resultaten visar att de flesta är positiva till vindkraft, medan nästan hälften är negativa till förslaget om att inrätta en nationalpark - varav merparten mycket negativa. Utveckling av turismen i området får stort stöd med 79 % som är ganska positiva eller mycket positiva till turismutveckling.  

Residents in Södra Jämtlandsfjällen : Attitudes toward windpower, national park designation and tourism development

Jämte skogs- och jordbruk samt gruvdrift har turism haft en central roll i utvecklingen av den svenska fjällregionen under de senaste hundra åren. En viktig aspekt vid utveckling av turism - speciellt inom olika naturområden - är att den sker med så liten negativ påverkan på miljön som möjligt. Ytterligare en viktig aspekt är lokalbefolkningens attityder. Den här rapporten studerar lokalbefolkningens attityder till vindkraft, förslag om nationalpark samt turismutveckling i Södra Jämtlandsfjällen.   Undersökningen omfattar boende i direkt anslutning till området (Ljungdalen, Storsjö, Vålådalen och delar av Undersåker). Resultaten visar att de flesta är positiva till vindkraft, medan nästan hälften är negativa till förslaget om att inrätta en nationalpark - varav merparten mycket negativa. Utveckling av turismen i området får stort stöd med 79 % som är ganska positiva eller mycket positiva till turismutveckling.  

Evaluation of the Ovine \u3ci\u3eCallipyge\u3c/i\u3e Locus: III. Genotypic Effects on Meat Quality Traits

A resource flock of 362 F2 lambs provided phenotypic and genotypic data to estimate effects of callipyge ( CLPG) genotypes (NN, NC, CN, and CC) on meat quality traits. The mutant allele is represented as C, the normal allele(s) as N, and the paternal allele of a genotype is given first. Lambs of each genotype born in 1994 and 1995 were serially slaughtered in six groups at 3-wk intervals starting at 23 wk of age. Warner-Bratzler shear force and subjective evaluation of marbling were collected during both years from longissimus. Calpastatin activity was measured on longissimus from the 1994 group, and ELISA quantification of calpastatin protein was obtained from the 1995 group. Significant additive and paternal polar overdominance effects on meat quality traits were detected. This is in contrast to previous research that detected only polar overdominance effects on slaughter and carcass traits in this population. The magnitude of genotypic effects on shear force differed significantly between years; however, additive ( P \u3c .01), paternal polar overdominance ( P \u3c .001), and maternal dominance ( P \u3c .01) effects adjusted for variation in carcass weight were detected within each year. Shear force data adjusted to the mean slaughter age or carcass weight indicated that the means and variances of CN and CC genotypes were greater than values of NC and NN. Shear force values were greatest for CN and were intermediate for CC. The difference in shear force (adjusted for variation in slaughter age) between homozygous genotypes (additive effect) was supported by calpastatin activity data with 2-df F-tests of 3.66 ( P \u3c .05) and 11.84 ( P \u3c .001) at d 0 and 7 postmortem, respectively. Corresponding values for the paternal polar overdominance effects on calpastatin activity were 53.80 ( P \u3c .001) and 87.43 ( P \u3c .001). Calpastatin ELISA data (d 0, adjusted for slaughter age) exhibited a paternal polar overdominance effect exclusively with a 2-df F-test of 57.63 ( P \u3c .001). Additive and paternal polar overdominance effects on marbling adjusted for slaughter age had F-tests of 6.41 ( P \u3c .01) and 93.29 ( P \u3c .001), respectively. Consequences of increased longissimus shear force must be addressed if the advantages of CN lambs for dressing percentage and carcass composition are to be realized. Further research is needed to establish whether selection targeted at changing the background genome can mitigate the negative effects of the C allele on meat tenderness

Evaluation of the Ovine \u3ci\u3eCallipyge\u3c/i\u3e Locus: I. Relative Chromosomal Position and Gene Action

Genotypic and phenotypic data were collected to estimate chromosomal position of the callipyge (CLPG) gene and to test gene action. Nine Dorset rams of extreme muscling phenotype and 114 Romanov ewes composed the grandparent generation of a resource flock of 362 F2 lambs segregating at the CLPG locus. The parent generation consisted of eight F2 sires and 138 F1 dams. The F2 lambs were serially slaughtered in six groups at 3-wk intervals starting at 23 wk of age to allow comparisons at different end points. A linkage group of 25 marker loci (mean of 708 informative meioses per marker) spanning 87.2 cM was developed and improved the previous known coverage and precision of marker order and interval distance from available maps of ovine chromosome 18. Probabilities of each CLPG genotype were calculated at 1-cM intervals (0 to 107 cM). Statistical models included effects of year, sex, sire, regressions on genotypic probabilities, and genotype-specific linear and quadratic regressions on appropriate covariates. Orthogonal contrasts of CLPG genotypic effects evaluated additive, maternal dominance, and paternally derived polar overdominance models of gene action. The most parsimonious model did not include the additive and maternal dominance genetic contrasts. From analyses of four key traits, a consensus for position of CLPG was obtained at 86 cM relative to the most centromeric marker. An F-test with 3 df representing polar overdominance was maximum at position 86 cM (F = 407.4; P \u3c .00001) with leg score as the dependent variable. These results are consistent with assignment of the CLPG locus to the telomeric region of chromosome 18 and support the polar overdominance model of gene action proposed by Cockett et al. (1996). Furthermore, recombinant individuals with definitive phenotypes confined the position of CLPG to a 3.9-cM interval, facilitating positional cloning experiments

A second-generation linkage map of the sheep genome

A genetic map of Ovis aries (haploid n = 27) was developed with 519 markers (504 microsatellites) spanning —3063 cM in 26 autosomal linkage groups and 127 cM (female specific) of the X Chromosome (Chr). Genotypic data were merged from the IMF flock (Crawford et al., Genetics 140, 703, 1995) and the USDA mapping flock. Seventy-three percent (370/504) of the microsatellite markers on the map are common to the USDA-ARS U.S. Meat Animal Research Center cattle linkage map, with 27 of the common markers derived from sheep. The number of common markers per homologous linkage group ranges from 5 to 22 and spans a total of 2866 cM (sex average) in sheep and 2817 cM in cattle. Marker order within a linkage group was consistent between the two species with limited exceptions. The reported translocation between the telomeric end of bovine Chr 9 (BTA 9) and BTA 14 to form ovine Chr 9 is represented by a 15-cM region containing 5 common markers. The significant genomic conservation of marker order will allow use of linkage maps in both species to facilitate the search for quantitative trait loci (QTLs) in cattle and sheep