Net Gains: A Handbook for Network Builders Seeking Social Change

This handbook provides the growing number of people who are developing networks for social change with practical advice based on the experiences of network builders, case studies of networks small and large, local and international, and emerging scientific knowledge about "connectivity." It is intended to join, complement, and spur other efforts to capture and make widely available what is being learned in the business, government, and civil sectors about why and how to use networks, rather than solitary organizations, to generate large-scale impact

Immigrant Engagement in Public Open Space: Strategies for the New Boston

Today, almost 30% of Boston residents were born outside the United States and of these, nearly half came from Latin America, a quarter from Asia, and almost 10% from Africa. The future of the city's open space system - how much land is set aside, and how that land is designed, maintained, and used - will increasingly depend on the passion and commitment of families and communities who may not see themselves or their interests reflected in the city's public lands.In this paper, we consider some of the ways in which recent immigrants to Boston connect (and do not connect) to public parks and open spaces. Our goal is two-fold: to explore alternative ways of "seeing" and using parks and open spaces in different communities in the city, as well as to highlight specific strategies, both here and across the country, that successfully engage urban residents born outside the United States. If Boston's civic spaces are to be celebrated in the future as they have been in the past, they must come to reflect the new diversity of Boston's people. Our hope is that these stories and models will encourage more culturally resonant uses of parks and other public open spaces, and equip policy makers and environmental organizations to partner more fully with newcomer communities - in Boston and beyond

Network Evaluation in Practice: Approaches and Applications

As more funders support networks as a mechanism for social change, new and practical knowledge is emerging about how to build and support effective networks. Based on extensive review of different types of networks and their evaluations, and on interviews with funders, network practitioners, and evaluation experts, the authors have developed an accessible framework for evaluating networks. This article describes the evaluation framework and its three pillars of network assessment: network connectivity, network health, and network results. Also presented are case examples of foundationfunded network evaluations focused on each pillar, which include practical information on evaluation designs, methods, and results, as well as a final discussion of areas for further attention

Global Biomarker Implementation in the WHO’s World Health Survey Plus

Single page posterThe Global Health Biomarker Laboratory is collaborating with the World Health Organization to plan and implement the World Health Survey Plus (WHS+). The WHS+ is an expansion on the original World Health Survey, a project that was conducted in 69 countries with over 3,000 participants. The WHS+ is a flexible and comprehensive data collection system that provides countries with the ability to monitor progress towards health goals and provide high-quality, nationally-representative data on health, social, economic, and policy topics. This project aims to fill data gaps globally and improve health equity within and between countries. By developing protocols, training videos, and technical expertise on point-of-care biomarker implementation, our lab is at the forefront of implementing new point-of-care biomarker technologies; the biomarkers WHS+ is collecting are hemoglobin as an indicator of anemia, HbA1C and glucose as indicators of diabetes, and lipids as indicators of hypolipidemia and cardiovascular risk. Additionally, the survey is collecting anthropometrics, blood pressure, pulse, hand grip strength, walking speed, and cognitive function as direct measures of health. While we are currently in the early stages of planning and implementation, the WHS+ has the potential not only to help countries provide more equitable and sustainable healthcare and promote country-specific care-seeking behaviors, but also to further our global knowledge of healthcare and disease

The Pesticide Loss via Volatilisation (PLOVO) Model and an Environmental Fate Study of Chlorpyrifos

Pesticides are an important tool in modern crop management to ensure high quality and high yield food production. However, pesticide Volatilisation from agricultural fields can have a significant impact on non target, sensitive ecosystems, and can result in a loss of revenue for farmers. I further developed and validated the Pesticide Loss via Volatilisation (PLOVO) model. The model is based on multiphase partitioning, that describes pesticide Volatilisation loss from a planted agricultural field and predicts 24-hour cumulative percentage Volatilisation (CPV24h) losses. The model allows the user to adjust the chemical-physical properties of the pesticide, species-specific plant surface chemistry, plant size, soil type, and climatic conditions. An average equation for the plant-air partition coefficient (Kplant-air) was found and implemented in the model to describe the plant-surface chemistry interactions with pesticides. The model was used to address questions about how the volatilisation of pesticides from plants and soil contribute to the total volatilisation from a field, and how plant species and growth stage affect the amount of pesticide lost to the atmosphere. Results are displayed on chemical space diagrams for sets of hypothetical Kplant-air, soil-air (Ksoil-air) and water-air (Kwater-air) partition coefficient combinations under different environmental conditions and plant species and growth stage. We found that the CPV24h increased with increasing temperature, foliar intercept fraction and wind speed, and with decreasing plant size. Pesticides tended to volatilise more from plants than soil. CPV24h was highly varied between plant growth stage but was less varied between plant species. Our model is therefore a promising new screening assessment tool for pesticide Volatilisation from a planted agricultural field. Chlorpyrifos is a chlorinated organophosphorus pesticide that has caused concern over recent years due to its widespread global use and its non-specific toxicity. Chlorpyrifos is used as an insecticide to protect a wide variety of crops. Its mode of action targets the nervous system of an organism by inhibiting the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE). Studies have shown that low environmental doses of chlorpyrifos can cause detrimental effects on non-target organisms such as honey bees. In order to understand the risk of chlorpyrifos exposure posed to non-target organisms, we first must understand the fate of the insecticide in the environment. Thus, I conducted a field study where chlorpyrifos was applied to an agricultural field planted with Phacelia tanacetifolia. The concentration of chlorpyrifos was then monitored in soil and Phacelia leaves over the course of three weeks. The concentration of chlorpyrifos was greater in leaves than soil, and chlorpyrifos was lost (whether through volatilisation, degradation or another loss pathway) more rapidly from leaves than soil. The chlorpyrifos field study was also used to further test and validate the PLOVO model. I compared the predicted chlorpyrifos concentrations generated by the model to the measured chlorpyrifos concentrations from the field. I found that the model-generated concentrations did not agree with the measured concentrations in either soil or leaves. This is not to say that the model does not accurately predict the volatilisation of pesticides from a planted field in the first 24 hours, rather more information would be needed to extend the model to predict the total loss of a pesticide from leaves and soil over a longer time period. In order to extract chlorpyrifos from leaves and soils, I developed and optimised two selective pressurised liquid extraction (SPLE) methods. I utilised the fat absorbing properties of Florisil and the pigment absorbing properties of graphitised carbon black (GCB) to produce clean extracts for GC/MS analysis. The recovery of chlorpyrifos from soil and leaves was 92% and 79%, respectively. While these methods were optimised for the extraction of chlorpyrifos from soil and leaf matrices, it has the potential to be extended as a multi-residue method

Subtle deregulation of the Wnt-signalling pathway through loss of Apc2 reduces the fitness of intestinal stem cells

The importance of the Wnt-signaling pathway on the regulation and maintenance of the intesti- nal stem cell (ISC) population is well recognized. However, our current knowledge base is founded on models using systems of gross deregulation of the Wnt-signaling pathway. Given the importance of this signaling pathway on intestinal homeostasis, there is a need to explore the role of more subtle alterations in Wnt-signaling levels within this tissue. Herein, we have used a model of Apc2 loss to meet this aim. Apc2 is a homolog of Apc which can also form a destruction complex capable of binding b-catenin, albeit less efficiently than Apc. We show that systemic loss of Apc2 results in an increase in the number of cells displaying nuclear b-catenin at the base of the intestinal crypt. This subsequently impacts the expression levels of several ISC markers and the fitness of ISCs as assessed by organoid formation efficiency. This work pro- vides the first evidence that the function and fitness of ISCs can be altered by even minor mis- regulation of the Wnt-signaling pathway. Our data highlights the importance of correct maintenance of this crucial signaling pathway in the maintenance and function of the ISC popu- lation

Fate of the Organophosphate Insecticide, Chlorpyrifos, in Leaves, Soil, and Air Following Application

A field study was conducted to further our understanding about the fate and transport of the organophosphate insecticide, chlorpyrifos, and its degradation product, chlorpyrifos oxon. Leaf, soil and air sampling was conducted for 21 days after chlorpyrifos application to a field of purple tansy (Phacelia tanacetifolia). Air samples were collected using a high-volume air sampler (HVAS) and seven battery-operated medium-volume active air samplers placed around the field and on a 500-m transect extending away from the field. Chlorpyrifos was detected every day of the sampling period in all matrices, with concentrations decreasing rapidly after application. Chlorpyrifos oxon was only detected in air samples collected with the HVAS during the first three days after application. Wind direction played a significant role in controlling the measured air concentrations in near-field samples. The SCREEN3 model and chlorpyrifos’ Characteristic Travel Distance (CTD) were used to predict modelled chlorpyrifos concentrations in air along the transect. The concentration trend predicted by the SCREEN3 model was similar to that of measured concentrations whereas CTD-modelled concentrations decreased at a significantly slower rate, indicating that downwind chlorpyrifos concentrations in air were primarily controlled by air dispersion. The SCREEN3-predicted chlorpyrifos concentrations were \u3e5 times higher than measured concentrations, indicating that simple approaches for calculating accurate pesticide volatilization fluxes from agricultural fields are still needed. Finally, we found that measured concentrations in air on Days 0–2 at locations up to 500 m from the field were at levels considered concerning for human health

Catalytic stereoselective [2,3]-rearrangement reactions

The authors thank the Royal Society for a University Research Fellowship (A.D.S.), the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-20013) ERC Grant Agreement No. 279850 (J.E.T., T.H.W., K.K.), and the European Union (Marie Curie ITN ‘SuBiCat’ PITN-GA-2013-607044) (S.S.M.S.) for financial support.[2,3]-Sigmatropic rearrangement processes of allylic ylides or their equivalents can be applied to a variety of different substrates and generate products of wide interest and applicability to organic synthesis. This review describes the development and applications of stereoselective [2,3]-rearrangement reactions in which a sub-stoichiometric amount of a catalyst is used in either the formation of the reactive intermediate or the [2,3]-rearrangement step itself.PostprintPeer reviewe