Growing Farm to ISU: The first five months

Working together, ISU Dining and local producers seek to improve communications and sales of local food products

Using Emerging Technologies to Bolster Long-Term Monitoring of Wetlands

Freshwater wetlands support a disproportionately high diversity of species relative to other ecosystems and they are particularly vulnerable to climate change. Across Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, wetlands represent just 3% of the landscape, yet 70% of Wyoming bird species and all native amphibians in the region use wetlands for some stage of their life. The Greater Yellowstone Inventory and Monitoring Network has monitored amphibians in wetlands since 2006 and found that over 40% of the region’s isolated wetlands are dry in years with above average temperatures and reduced precipitation. Adding novel technologies to these monitoring efforts will increase our understanding of species diversity in wetlands susceptible to drying. We outfitted three wetland sites in Grand Teton National Park with acoustic (i.e., audible and ultrasonic) monitoring technology and wildlife camera traps in summer 2016. We collected data over a four-week period to test the efficacy of automated technology for wetland monitoring. Based on preliminary results from the ultrasonic monitoring and wildlife cameras, we detected four times more species with these tools, when compared to visual surveys of amphibians alone. Additionally, automated methods allowed us to detect species over a longer time window than feasible with visual surveys. We will continue our work in 2017, using environmental DNA, acoustic monitoring, and wildlife camera traps to capture information about a broader diversity of taxa using wetlands, to expand and enrich current monitoring efforts

Challenge of conducting a placebo-controlled randomized efficacy study for influenza vaccine in a season with low attack rate and a mismatched vaccine B strain: a concrete example

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Our aim was to determine the efficacy of a trivalent inactivated split virus influenza vaccine (TIV) against culture-confirmed influenza A and/or B in adults 18 to 64 years of age during the 2005/2006 season in the Czech Republic.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>6203 subjects were randomized to receive TIV (N = 4137) or placebo (N = 2066). The sample size was based on an assumed attack rate of 4% which provided 90% power to reject the hypothesis that vaccine efficacy (VE) was ≥ 45%. Cases of influenza like illness (defined as fever (oral temperature ≥37.8°C) plus cough and/or sore throat) were identified both by active (biweekly phone contact) and passive (self reporting) surveillance and nasal and throat swabs were collected from subjects for viral culture.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>TIV was well tolerated and induced a good immune response. The 2005/2006 influenza season was exceptionally mild in the study area, as it was throughout Europe, and only 46 culture-confirmed cases were found in the study cohort (10 influenza A and 36 influenza B). Furthermore among the B isolates, 35 were identified as B/Hong Kong 330/2001-like (B/Victoria/2/87 lineage) which is antigenically unrelated to the vaccine B strain (B/Yamagata/16/88 lineage). The attack rate in the vaccine group (0.7%) was not statistically significantly different from the attack rate in the placebo group (0.9%).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Due to the atypical nature of the influenza season during this study we were unable to assess TIV efficacy. This experience illustrates the challenge of conducting a prospective influenza vaccine efficacy trial during a single season when influenza attack rates and drift in circulating strains or B virus lineage match can be difficult to estimate in advance.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>Clinical trial registery: NCT00197223.</p

Adolescent pregnancies and girls' sexual and reproductive rights in the amazon basin of Ecuador: an analysis of providers' and policy makers' discourses

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Adolescent pregnancies are a common phenomenon that can have both positive and negative consequences. The rights framework allows us to explore adolescent pregnancies not just as isolated events, but in relation to girls' sexual and reproductive freedom and their entitlement to a system of health protection that includes both health services and the so called social determinants of health. The aim of this study was to explore policy makers' and service providers' discourses concerning adolescent pregnancies, and discuss the consequences that those discourses have for the exercise of girls' sexual and reproductive rights' in the province of Orellana, located in the amazon basin of Ecuador.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We held six focus-group discussions and eleven in-depth interviews with 41 Orellana's service providers and policy makers. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using discourse analysis, specifically looking for interpretative repertoires.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Four interpretative repertoires emerged from the interviews. The first repertoire identified was "sex is not for fun" and reflected a moralistic construction of girls' sexual and reproductive health that emphasized abstinence, and sent contradictory messages regarding contraceptive use. The second repertoire -"gendered sexuality and parenthood"-constructed women as sexually uninterested and responsible mothers, while men were constructed as sexually driven and unreliable. The third repertoire was "professionalizing adolescent pregnancies" and lead to patronizing attitudes towards adolescents and disregard of the importance of non-medical expertise. The final repertoire -"idealization of traditional family"-constructed family as the proper space for the raising of adolescents while at the same time acknowledging that sexual abuse and violence within families was common.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Providers' and policy makers' repertoires determined the areas that the array of sexual and reproductive health services should include, leaving out the ones more prone to cause conflict and opposition, such as gender equality, abortion provision and welfare services for pregnant adolescents. Moralistic attitudes and sexism were present - even if divergences were also found-, limiting services' capability to promote girls' sexual and reproductive health and rights.</p

Phytoplankton across Tropical and Subtropical Regions of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans

Postprint4,411

Caracterização da queixa escolar no Centro de Psicologia Aplicada da Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora

A queixa escolar vem se constituindo, historicamente, como um dos motivos mais frequentes de encaminhamentos de crianças para os serviços-escola de Psicologia, traduzindo, pela sua complexidade, um desafio para a formação e práticas no âmbito da psicologia escolar/educacional. Diante da necessidade de aperfeiçoar o atendimento à clientela e o processo de triagem, o presente estudo objetivou analisar os prontuários referentes à queixa escolar de pacientes atendidos no Centro de Psicologia Aplicada da Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brasil, num total de 1.590 documentos, no período de 1996 a 2009. Os resultados quanto à clientela evidenciaram a prevalência de meninos na faixa entre 9 e 13 anos de idade, com predomínio de encaminhamentos oriundos de escolas de periférias da cidade. Quanto à queixa, constatou-se expressiva coocorrência de problemas comportamentais e de aprendizagem. Os dados permitem uma reflexão crítica acerca da queixa escolar e de alguns fatores contextuais, bem como a necessidade de aperfeiçoamento da ficha de triagem