Developing Priorities for the Great Northern Landscape Conservation Cooperative: State Wildlife Action Plans (SWAP) as One Piece of Information

Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs) are public-private partnerships that focus on natural resource challenges which transcend political and jurisdictional boundaries and require a more holistic, collaborative, and adaptive approach to conservation that is firmly grounded in science and strives to ensure the sustainability of land, water, wildlife and cultural resources. The Great Northern LCC, covering Western Montana and parts of several other states and provinces, is nearing completion of a process that synthesizes conservation priorities among the 25 organizations represented on the Steering Committee and their partners. This Strategic Conservation Framework identifies priority species, ecosystems, and ecosystem processes across the landscape represented by the Great Northern LCC based on synthetic summarizations of five state-based Wildlife Action Plans, 40 other regional conservation planning documents, and focused interviews with key personnel across the region. Here we report on the process by which we analyzed data from the State Wildlife Action Plans (SWAPs) of ID, MT, OR, WA, and WY and from Strategic Habitat Conservation as one piece of information for strategic planning. Thirty-five species of greatest conservation need (as defined in the SWAPs) were identified as having commonality across the five states. The ranges of these species were then overlain and a map of areas with the greatest number of species of conservation need can be visualized across the Great Northern LCC

Prospectus, October 8, 2003

https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_2003/1024/thumbnail.jp

Prospectus, October 15, 2003

https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_2003/1025/thumbnail.jp

Prospectus, October 22, 2003

https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_2003/1026/thumbnail.jp

Prospectus, October 29, 2003

https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_2003/1027/thumbnail.jp

Rationale and study protocol for the \u27Active Teen Leaders Avoiding Screen-time\u27 (ATLAS) group randomized controlled trial: An obesity prevention intervention for adolescent boys from schools in low-income communities

Introduction The negative consequences of unhealthy weight gain and the high likelihood of pediatric obesity tracking into adulthood highlight the importance of targeting youth who are \u27at risk\u27 of obesity. The aim of this paper is to report the rationale and study protocol for the \u27Active Teen Leaders Avoiding Screen-time\u27 (ATLAS) obesity prevention intervention for adolescent boys living in low-income communities. Methods/design The ATLAS intervention will be evaluated using a cluster randomized controlled trial in 14 secondary schools in the state of New South Wales (NSW), Australia (2012 to 2014). ATLAS is an 8-month multi-component, school-based program informed by self-determination theory and social cognitive theory. The intervention consists of teacher professional development, enhanced school-sport sessions, researcher-led seminars, lunch-time physical activity mentoring sessions, pedometers for self-monitoring, provision of equipment to schools, parental newsletters, and a smartphone application and website. Assessments were conducted at baseline and will be completed again at 9- and 18-months from baseline. Primary outcomes are body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference. Secondary outcomes include BMI z-scores, body fat (bioelectrical impedance analysis), physical activity (accelerometers), muscular fitness (grip strength and push-ups), screen-time, sugar-sweetened beverage consumption, resistance training skill competency, daytime sleepiness, subjective well-being, physical self-perception, pathological video gaming, and aggression. Hypothesized mediators of behavior change will also be explored. Discussion ATLAS is an innovative school-based intervention designed to improve the health behaviors and related outcomes of adolescent males in low-income communities

Apolipoprotein E, especially apolipoprotein E4, increases the oligomerization of amyloid β peptide

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common progressive neurodegenerative disorder causing dementia. Massive deposition of amyloid β peptide (Aβ) as senile plaques in the brain is the pathological hallmark of AD, but oligomeric, soluble forms of Aβ have been implicated as the synaptotoxic component. The apolipoprotein E epsilon 4 (apoE ε4) allele is known to be a genetic risk factor for developing AD. However it is still unknown how apoE impacts the process of Aβ oligomerization. Here, we found that the level of Aβ oligomers in APOEε4/ε4 AD patient brains is 2.7 times higher than those in APOEε3/ε3 AD patient brains, matched for total plaque burden, suggesting that apoE4 impacts the metabolism of Aβ oligomers. To test this hypothesis, we examined apoE’s effect on Aβ oligomer formation. Using both synthetic Aβ and a split-luciferase method for monitoring Aβ oligomers, we observed that apoE increased the level of Aβ oligomers in an isoform dependent manner (E2 < E3 < E4). This effect appears to be dependent on the ApoE carboxy-terminal domain. Moreover, these results were confirmed using endogenous apoE isolated from the TBS-soluble fraction of human brain, which increased the formation of Aβ oligomers. Taken together, these data show that lipidated apoE, especially apoE4, increases Aβ oligomers in the brain. Higher levels of Aβ oligomers in the brains of APOEε4/ε4 carriers compared to APOEε3/ε3 carriers may increase the loss of dendritic spines and accelerate memory impairments, leading to earlier cognitive decline in AD

The Nutrition and Enjoyable Activity for Teen Girls (NEAT girls) randomized controlled trial for adolescent girls from disadvantaged secondary schools: rationale, study protocol, and baseline results

Background: Child and adolescent obesity predisposes individuals to an increased risk of morbidity and mortality from a range of lifestyle diseases. Although there is some evidence to suggest that rates of pediatric obesity have leveled off in recent years, this has not been the case among youth from low socioeconomic backgrounds. The purpose of this paper is to report the rationale, study design and baseline findings of a school-based obesity prevention program for low-active adolescent girls from disadvantaged secondary schools. Methods/Design: The Nutrition and Enjoyable Activity for Teen Girls (NEAT Girls) intervention will be evaluated using a group randomized controlled trial. NEAT Girls is a 12-month multi-component school-based intervention developed in reference to Social Cognitive Theory and includes enhanced school sport sessions, interactive seminars, nutrition workshops, lunch-time physical activity (PA) sessions, PA and nutrition handbooks, parent newsletters, pedometers for self-monitoring and text messaging for social support. The following variables were assessed at baseline and will be completed again at 12- and 24-months: adiposity, objectively measured PA, muscular fitness, time spent in sedentary behaviors, dietary intake, PA and nutrition social-cognitive mediators, physical self-perception and global self-esteem. Statistical analyses will follow intention-to-treat principles and hypothesized mediators of PA and nutrition behavior change will be explored. Discussion: NEAT Girls is an innovative intervention targeting low-active girls using evidence-based behavior change strategies and nutrition and PA messages and has the potential to prevent unhealthy weight gain and reduce the decline in physical activity and poor dietary habits associated with low socio-economic status. Few studies have reported the long-term effects of school-based obesity prevention programs and the current study has the potential to make an important contribution to the field

Genomic Analysis of the Hydrocarbon-Producing, Cellulolytic, Endophytic Fungus Ascocoryne sarcoides

The microbial conversion of solid cellulosic biomass to liquid biofuels may provide a renewable energy source for transportation fuels. Endophytes represent a promising group of organisms, as they are a mostly untapped reservoir of metabolic diversity. They are often able to degrade cellulose, and they can produce an extraordinary diversity of metabolites. The filamentous fungal endophyte Ascocoryne sarcoides was shown to produce potential-biofuel metabolites when grown on a cellulose-based medium; however, the genetic pathways needed for this production are unknown and the lack of genetic tools makes traditional reverse genetics difficult. We present the genomic characterization of A. sarcoides and use transcriptomic and metabolomic data to describe the genes involved in cellulose degradation and to provide hypotheses for the biofuel production pathways. In total, almost 80 biosynthetic clusters were identified, including several previously found only in plants. Additionally, many transcriptionally active regions outside of genes showed condition-specific expression, offering more evidence for the role of long non-coding RNA in gene regulation. This is one of the highest quality fungal genomes and, to our knowledge, the only thoroughly annotated and transcriptionally profiled fungal endophyte genome currently available. The analyses and datasets contribute to the study of cellulose degradation and biofuel production and provide the genomic foundation for the study of a model endophyte system

Clinical and molecular characterisation of KCNT1-related severe early onset epilepsy

Objective: To characterise the phenotypic spectrum, molecular genetic findings and functional consequences of pathogenic variants in early onset KCNT1-epilepsy. Methods: We identified a cohort of 31 patients with epilepsy of infancy with migrating focal seizures (EIMFS) and screened for variants in KCNT1 using direct Sanger sequencing, a multiple gene next generation sequencing panel and whole exome sequencing. Additional patients with non-EIMFS early onset epilepsy in whom we identified KCNT1 variants on local diagnostic multiple gene panel testing were also included. Where possible, we performed homology modelling to predict putative effects of variants on protein structure and function. We undertook electrophysiological assessment of mutant KCNT1 channels in a Xenopus oocyte model system. Results: We identified pathogenic variants in KCNT1 in 12 patients, four of which are novel. Most variants occurred de novo. Ten had a clinical diagnosis of EIMFS and the other two presented with early onset severe nocturnal frontal lobe seizures. Three patients had a trial of quinidine with good clinical response in one. Computational modelling analysis implicates abnormal pore function (F346L) and impaired tetramer formation (F502V) as putative disease mechanisms. All evaluated KCNT1 variants resulted in marked gain-of-function, with significantly increased channel amplitude and variable blockade by quinidine. Conclusions: Gain-of-function KCNT1 pathogenic variants cause a spectrum of severe focal epilepsies with onset in early infancy. Currently, genotype-phenotype correlations are unclear, though clinical outcome is poor for the majority of cases. Further elucidation of disease mechanisms may facilitate the development of targeted treatments, much needed for this pharmacoresistant genetic epilepsy