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Beliefs about development versus environmental tradeoffs in the Puget Sound region

Using data from a phone survey of 1,980 Puget Sound residents conducted in 2012, this fact sheet outlines residents’ views about the importance of environmental protection as well as their opinions about energy development, protection of wild salmon, and land use regulation. Seventy-four percent of Puget Sound residents believe that protecting the environment should be a priority even if it means limiting economic growth. The majority of residents favor both increased use of renewable energy (82 percent) and protecting wild salmon (75 percent). Residents are more divided about curbing development, with those from rural areas being more apt to prioritize protecting private property rights over regulating land use. Read more about Communities and Coastal Restoration in the Puget Sound Region

Urban-rural differences in concern about the environment and jobs in the Puget Sound region

Using data from a phone survey of 1,980 Puget Sound residents conducted in 2012, this fact sheet examines the severity of different environmental problems and compares the strength of concern about the lack of jobs and beliefs about the environment. Too few jobs and the loss of wildlife habitat were the two community issues most likely to be ranked as important problems among residents of Puget Sound. Environmental concern is higher among urban than rural residents, while those in rural areas are more likely than urbanites to believe the lack of jobs is a threat to their community. Read more about Communities and Coastal Restoration in the Puget Sound Region

Public perceptions of environmental management in the Puget Sound region

Using data from a phone survey of 1,980 Puget Sound residents conducted in 2012, this fact sheet describes public perceptions of different environmental interventions. Puget Sound residents widely support a range of proposed interventions designed to protect and restore the marine environment. These proposals include restricting boating and shipping activities to protect marine mammals such as killer whales and sea lions; more strongly enforcing existing environmental rules and regulations; spending government money to restore the environment for fish and wildlife; and providing tax credits to businesses that voluntarily reduce their environmental impact. Residents are divided about whether existing environmental regulations have benefited their community. Read more about Communities and Coastal Restoration in the Puget Sound Region

Beliefs about Development Versus Environmental Tradeoffs in the Puget Sound Region

Policymakers face difficult decisions as they attempt to balance competing calls for increased developmentand environmental protection. In the Puget Sound region of Washington State, population growth and the needfor housing and energy have brought these types of tradeoffs to the forefront. Using data from a phone survey of 1,980 residents, researchers from the Carsey Institute and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries investigated public perceptions of environmental concerns across Puget Sound. This fact sheet outlines residents' views about the importance of environmental protection as well as their opinions about energy development, protection of wild salmon, and land use regulation

The Physiological Function of von Willebrand's Factor Depends on Its Tubular Storage in Endothelial Weibel-Palade Bodies

SummaryWeibel-Palade bodies are the 1–5 μm long rod-shaped storage organelles of endothelial cells. We have investigated the determinants and functional significance of this shape. We find that the folding of the hemostatic protein von Willebrand's factor (VWF) into tubules underpins the rod-like shape of Weibel-Palade bodies. Further, while the propeptide and the N-terminal domains of mature VWF are sufficient to form tubules, their maintenance relies on a pH-dependent interaction between the two. We show that the tubular conformation of VWF is essential for a rapid unfurling of 100 μm long, platelet-catching VWF filaments when exposed to neutral pH after exocytosis in cell culture and in living blood vessels. If tubules are disassembled prior to exocytosis, then short or tangled filaments are released and platelet recruitment is reduced. Thus, a 100-fold compaction of VWF into tubules determines the unique shape of Weibel-Palade bodies and is critical to this protein's hemostatic function

Household Food Strategies in Response to Seasonality and Famine

SUMMARY Rural families have a range of strategies with which to cope with seasonal and inter?seasonal fluctuations in food supply. For landed households the most important seasonal strategies include choice of cropping patterns to spread risks involving mixed cropping, cultivation of secondary crops, particularly root crops. Other seasonal coping mechanisms include sale of small assets and livestock, drawing down of stored product and cultivation of supportive social relationships. Off?farm income earning work provides one of the best buffers against seasonal stress. If a bad season stretches into a prolonged drought, or if there is a sudden drop in purchasing power, then these activities are further intensified, but families are forced into divesting resources: selling productive assets, constricting food intake, and migration. If investment in rural areas and food production recognised these strategies the severe impact of famine could be avoided. RESUME Stratégies des Familles pour la Production de Nourriture en Réponse aux Variations Saisonnières et à la Famine Les familles rurales ont toute une série de stratégies qui les aident à faire ux fluctuations saisonnières et inter?saisonnières de l'approvisionnement en nourriture. Pour les ménages propriétaires terriens, afin de diminuer les risques, les stratégies saisonnières les plus importantes comprennent le choix de l'échelonnement des récoltes nécessitant une culture mixte, la culture de plantes secondaires en particulier de plantes à racines. D'autres mécanismes saisonniers les aident à faire face au problème, tels la vente de petits biens et de bátail, la limitation des produits emmagasinés et l'entretien de relations sociales de soutien mutuel. Un travail salarié procurant un revenu indépendent de celui de la ferme est une des meilleures garantie contre les tensions saisonnières. Si une mauvaise saison se prolonge pour devenir une sécheresse ou qu'une baisse soudaine de pouvoir d'achat se produise, alors ces activités s'intensifient encore plus, mais les familles sont obligées d'avoir recours à des moyens dépréciatifs: vente de biens productifs, réduction des rations de nourriture, migration. Si les investissements dans les secteurs ruraux et de la production alimentaire tenaient compte de ces stratégies, l'effet désastreux de la famine pourrait être évité. RESUMEN Estrategias de alimentación hogareña para responder a la estacionalidad y el hambre Las familias rurales tienen una serie de estrategias para enfrentar las fluctuaciones estacionales e interestacionales de la disponibilidad de alimentos. Para los hogares con tierra, la más importante consiste en la elección de patrones de cultivos para dispersar los riesgos e incluye cultivos mixtos y producción de cultivos secundarios, especialmente raíces. Otro mecanismo estacional reside en la venta de pequeños bienes y animales, el uso de productos almacenados y el desarrollo de relaciones sociales de apoyo. El trabajo remunerado fuera de la granja constituye uno de los mejores amortiguadores en contra de la tensión estacional. Si una mala estación se prolonga en una sequía o si subitamente cae el poder de compra, las actividades mencionadas se intensifican aún más, pero las familias son forzadas a desinvertir recursos, debiendo vender bienes productivos, además de constreñir el consumo de alimentos y emigrar. Si la inversión en áreas rurales y en la producción de alimentos reconociese estas estrategias, el severo impacto del hambre podría evitarse

Vaginal progesterone prophylaxis for preterm birth (the OPPTIMUM study): a multicentre, randomised, double-blind trial

Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME) Programme, a Medical Research Council (MRC) and National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) partnership. The EME Programme is funded by the MRC and NIHR, with contributions from the Chief Scientist Office in Scotland and National Institute for Social Care and Research in Wales

In vitro activity of an aqueous allicin extract and a novel allicin topical gel formulation against Lancefield group B streptococci

Background: Studies have shown the efficacy of intra-partum antibiotics in preventing early-onset group B streptococcal sepsis. This approach results in a high intra-partum antibiotic use. Worryingly, the same antibiotics used in prophylaxis are also first-line treatment for neonatal sepsis, and antibiotic exposure in the peri-natal period has been shown to be a risk factor for late-onset serious bacterial infections and allergic disease. Antibiotic exposure in the peri-natal period is becoming a major public health issue; alternative strategies are needed. Garlic has been traditionally used to treat vaginal infections. Allicin is the main antibacterial agent isolated from garlic. Objectives: The aim of the study was to investigate the in vitro activity of a novel allicin extract in aqueous and gel formulation against 76 clinical isolates of Lancefield group B streptococci (GBS). Methods: MICs and MBCs of allicin were determined for 76 GBS isolates by agar dilution and microtitre plate methods. Killing kinetics were determined for a selected 16 of the 76 strains. Agar diffusion tests were compared for allicin liquid and gel (500 mg/L). Results and conclusions: MICs and MBCs of allicin liquid were 35 to 95 mg/L and 75 to 315 mg/L, respectively. Time/dose kill curves produced a 2–3 log reduction in cfu/mL within 3 h and no detectable growth at 8 and 24 h. A novel 500 mg/L allicin gel produced an average zone size of 23+-6 mm compared with 21+-6 mm for allicin in water. Aqueous allicin is bactericidal against GBS isolates and maintains activity in a novel gel formulation