Federal Land Management Agencies: Background on Land and Resources Management

This report provides an overview of how federal lands and resources are managed, the agencies that manage the lands, the authorities under which these lands are managed, and some of the issues associated with federal land management. The report is divided into nine sections

Grazing Fees: An Overview and Current Issues

This report briefly discusses charging fees for grazing private livestock on federal lands, which is a long-standing but contentious practice. Generally, livestock producers who use federal lands want to keep fees low, while conservation groups and others believe fees should be raised to approximate "fair market value.

Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies: FY2006 Appropriations

The annual consideration of appropriations bills (regular, continuing, and supplemental) by Congress is part of a complex set of budget processes that also encompasses the consideration of budget resolutions, revenue and debt-limit legislation, other spending measures, and reconciliation bills. This report is a guide to one of the regular appropriations bills that Congress considers each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies and the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies. It summarizes the status of the Interior and Related Agencies appropriations bill, its scope, major issues, funding levels, and related congressional activity, and is updated as events warrant

CRS Issue Briefs

This report discuses the 109th Congress's considering legislation and conducting oversight on issues involving recreation on federal lands, including traditional recreational pursuits and newer forms of motorized recreation. The Administration is addressing these issues through budgetary, regulatory, and other actions

CRS Issue Briefs

This report focuses on heritage areas designated by Congress, and related issues and legislation

A Robust Age Model for the Cryogenian Pocatello Formation of Southeastern Idaho (Northwestern USA) from Tandem in situ and Isotope Dilution U-Pb Dating of Volcanic Tuffs and Epiclastic Detrital Zircons

Tandem in situ and isotope dilution U-Pb analysis of zircons from pyroclastic volcanic rocks and both glacial and non-glacial sedimentary strata of the Pocatello Formation (Idaho, northwestern USA) provides new age constraints on Cryogenian glaciation in the North American Cordillera. Two dacitic tuffs sampled within glacigenic strata of the lower diamictite interval of the Scout Mountain Member yield high-precision chemical abrasion isotope dilution U-Pb zircon eruption and depositional ages of 696.43 ± 0.21 and 695.17 ± 0.20 Ma. When supplemented by a new high-precision detrital zircon maximum depositional age of ≤ 670 Ma for shoreface and offshore sandstones unconformably overlying the lower diamictite, these data are consistent with correlation of the lower diamictite to the early Cryogenian (ca. 717–660 Ma) Sturtian glaciation. These 670–675 Ma zircons persist in beds above the upper diamictite and cap dolostone units, up to and including a purported “reworked fallout tuff,” which we instead conclude provides only a maximum depositional age of ≤ 673 Ma from epiclastic volcanic detritus. Rare detrital zircons as young as 658 Ma provide a maximum depositional age for the upper diamictite and overlying cap dolostone units. This new geochronological framework supports litho- and chemostratigraphic correlations of the lower and upper diamictite intervals of the Scout Mountain Member of the Pocatello Formation with the Sturtian (716–660 Ma) and Marinoan (≤ 650–635 Ma) low-latitude glaciations, respectively. The Pocatello Formation thus contains a more complete record of Cryogenian glaciations than previously postulated

Federal Land Ownership: Acquisition and Disposal Authorities

This report describes the primary authorities of the following agencies for acquiring and disposing of federal land. These four federal agencies--the National Park Service (NPS), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and Bureau of Land Management (BLM), all in the Department of the Interior (DOI), and the U.S. Forest Service (FS) in the Department of Agriculture--administer about 95% of those lands

Childcare, choice and social class: Caring for young children in the UK

This paper draws on the results of two qualitative research projects examining parental engagements with the childcare market in the UK. Both projects are located in the same two London localities. One project focuses on professional middle class parents, and the other on working class families, and we discuss the key importance of social class in shaping parents' differential engagement with the childcare market, and their understandings of the role childcare plays in their children's lives. We identify and discuss the different "circuits" of care (Ball et al 1995) available to and used by families living physically close to each other, but in social class terms living in different worlds. We also consider parents' relationships with carers, and their social networks. We conclude that in order to fully understand childcare policies and practices and families' experiences of care, an analysis which encompasses social class and the workings of the childcare market is needed

dynamics of immune cell reconstitution in allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant patients receiving post transplant cyclophosphamide ptcy

In the setting of haploidentical hematopoietic cell transplantation (haplo-HCT), post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PTCy) selectively eliminates alloreactive T cells in-vivo, resulting in favorable graft versus host disease (GVHD), non-relapse mortality (NRM) and relapse outcomes. However, few studies have examined the impact of PTCy on immune reconstitution (IR). We quantified IR in 63 patients after haplo-HCT with PTCy, mofetil mycophenolate and tacrolimus (TAC) and compared results to 93 patients with 8/8 HLA matched related or unrelated donors (MD) receiving TAC, methotrexate and sirolimus for GVHD prophylaxis. Both groups received reduced intensity conditioning for hematologic malignancies. The median age of the Haplo-PTCy and MD cohorts was 55 and 57 years. Patient samples were analyzed using multi-color flow cytometry panels to characterize distinct lymphocyte populations. All IR values are expressed as median absolute cell count per μL. One month after HCT, recovery of all T cell subsets (CD3, CD4Tcon, Treg, CD8) was significantly reduced in the PTCy cohort compared to MD (Figure A, B, C). Recovery of CD4Tcon was also reduced at 2 and 3 months after PTCy (p NK cells were lower 1 month after PTCy (52.7 vs 91.1, p=0.08), but were significantly higher at 2, 3 and 6 months (153.4 vs 94.8, p=0.001, 153.7 vs 87.5, p=0.008, 180 vs 102, p=0.01, respectively, Figure D) compared to the MD cohort. Delayed NK cell recovery at 1 month after PTCy was due entirely to reduced numbers of CD56dim NK cells (Figure E). Subsequently recovery of CD56dim NK cells was similar in both cohorts. Recovery of CD56bright NK cells was significantly increased in the PTCy cohort (p Consistent with prior reports, 1 year cumulative incidence of extensive cGvHD was lower in the PTCy cohort compared to the MD cohort, 13% (5-26%, 95% CI) and 40% (30-50%, 95% CI) respectively, p=0.003, without increased NRM (p=0.28) or relapse (p=0.17). In summary, the effect of PTCy on IR was most pronounced 1 month after transplant with significantly delayed recovery of CD3, CD4Tcon, Treg, CD8 and CD56dim NK cells. Slow recovery of CD4Tcon persisted for 3 months and delayed recovery of Treg persisted for 1 year. Beginning 2 months after HCT, recovery of both CD56dim and CD56bright NK cells was more rapid in the PTCy cohort. Further studies will examine the effects of these differences in IR on clinical outcomes such as relapse, infections and GVHD

A Bortezomib-Based Regimen Offers Promising Survival and Graft-versus-Host Disease Prophylaxis in Myeloablative HLA-Mismatched and Unrelated Donor Transplantation: A Phase II Trial

AbstractHematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) recipients lacking HLA-matched related donors have increased graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and nonrelapse mortality (NRM). Bortezomib added to reduced-intensity conditioning can offer benefit in T cell–replete HLA-mismatched HSCT and may also benefit myeloablative conditioning (MAC) transplants. We conducted a phase II trial of short-course bortezomib plus standard tacrolimus/methotrexate after busulfan/fludarabine MAC in 34 patients with predominantly myeloid malignancies. Fourteen (41%) received 8/8 HLA-matched unrelated donor (MUD) and 20 (59%) received 7/8 HLA-mismatched related/unrelated donor peripheral blood stem cell grafts. Median age was 49 years (range, 21 to 60), and median follow-up was 25 months (range, 11 to 36). The regimen was well tolerated. No dose modifications were required. Neutrophil and platelet engraftment occurred at a median of 14 (range, 10 to 33) and 17 (range, 10 to 54) days, respectively. Median 30-day donor chimerism was 99% (range, 90 to 100), and 100-day grades II to IV and III to IV acute GVHD incidence was 32% and 12% respectively. One-year chronic GVHD incidence was 50%. Two-year cumulative incidence of both NRM and relapse was 16%. Two-year progression-free and overall survival rates were 70% and 71%, respectively. Outcomes were comparable to an 8/8 MUD MAC cohort (n = 45). Immune reconstitution was robust. Bortezomib-based MAC HSCT is well tolerated, with HLA-mismatched outcomes comparable with 8/8 MUD MAC HSCT, and is suitable for randomized evaluation. (clinicaltrials.gov: NCT01323920.