Assistive Technology User Groups and Early Childhood Educators

This article explores the potential of User Groups as a professional development venue for early childhood educators in developing operational and functional competence in using hardware and software components of an Assistive Technology (AT) Toolkit. User Groups are composed of varying numbers of participants having an interest in technology, and are led by one or more skilled facilitators who meet with participants across time to help them acquire and demonstrate new technology skill sets. A series of these groups were conducted with seven early education professionals serving young preschool children who were at risk or who had disabilities. The impact of these User Groups was examined using self-reports subsequent to User Group participation. Specific data were collected regarding the types of technologies that had been used, and the types of classroom instructional products that had been created and implemented in classrooms using the technologies. A discussion of the value of User Groups is presented

A novel application of satellite radar data: measuring carbon sequestration and detecting degradation in a community forestry project in Mozambique

Background: It is essential that systems for measuring changes in carbon stocks for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) projects are accurate, reliable and low cost. Widely used systems involving classifying optical satell

SUMO chain formation is required for response to replication arrest in S. pombe

SUMO is a ubiquitin-like protein that is post-translationally attached to one or more lysine residues on target proteins. Despite having only 18% sequence identity with ubiquitin, SUMO contains the conserved betabetaalphabetabetaalphabeta fold present in ubiquitin. However, SUMO differs from ubiquitin in having an extended N-terminus. In S. pombe the N-terminus of SUMO/Pmt3 is significantly longer than those of SUMO in S. cerevisiae, human and Drosophila. Here we investigate the role of this N-terminal region. We have used two dimensional gel electrophoresis to demonstrate that S. pombe SUMO/Pmt3 is phosphorylated, and that this occurs on serine residues at the extreme N-terminus of the protein. Mutation of these residues (in pmt3-1) results in a dramatic reduction in both the levels of high Mr SUMO-containing species and of total SUMO/Pmt3, indicating that phosphorylation of SUMO/Pmt3 is required for its stability. Despite the significant reduction in high Mr SUMO-containing species, pmt3-1 cells do not display an aberrant cell morphology or sensitivity to genotoxins or stress. Additionally, we demonstrate that two lysine residues in the N-terminus of S. pombe SUMO/Pmt3 (K14 and K30) can act as acceptor sites for SUMO chain formation in vitro. Inability to form SUMO chains results in aberrant cell and nuclear morphologies, including stretched and fragmented chromatin. SUMO chain mutants are sensitive to the DNA synthesis inhibitor, hydroxyurea (HU), but not to other genotoxins, such as UV, MMS or CPT. This implies a role for SUMO chains in the response to replication arrest in S. pomb

Larger and structurally complex woodland creation sites provide greater benefits for woodland plants

Reforestation initiatives are underway across the world. However, we know relatively little about the ecological consequences of creating and restoring forest ecosystems, and there is a lack of studies examining the drivers of species colonisation and establishment across appropriate temporal and spatial scales to inform conservation practice. Using data from a long‐term natural experiment (the WrEN project), we explore ground plant species occurrence and community composition in 102 woodland creation sites (10–160 years since planting), and 27 old growth woodlands (>250 years). We conducted field surveys to collect data on occurrence of plant species (classified into woodland specialist, woodland generalist, or non‐woodland) and used Structural Equation Modelling to investigate the influence of local (age, size, woodland structure) and landscape‐level (amount of surrounding woodland) attributes on species richness. Woodland generalists are readily colonising woodland creation sites to similar levels found in old growth woodlands. However, there were fewer woodland specialist and more non‐woodland plants in creation sites than in old growth. Specialists and generalists were more likely to be present in larger woodlands and those with higher variation in tree size (which was higher in older woodlands) and did not appear to be influenced by features of the surrounding landscape. Some plant communities in older creation sites (80–160 years) were similar to old growth, suggesting colonisation of a typical old growth flora over time; however, some sites were shifting away from this trajectory. Specialists are slow to colonise woodland creation sites and their occurrence was low relative to old growth woodlands even after >80 years. However, woodland management to increase structural complexity may enhance the establishment of woodland plants. The lack of influence of the surrounding landscape on species occurrence is likely due to most of the study sites being relatively isolated resulting in limited colonisation. This suggests that new woodlands need to be adjacent or very near to existing woodland to receive the benefits of increased colonisation. Our results highlight the importance of creating large and structurally complex woodlands, close to existing woodlands to facilitate the colonisation and establishment of woodland plants

Dnmt3a regulates emotional behavior and spine plasticity in the nucleus accumbens.

Despite abundant expression of DNA methyltransferases (Dnmts) in brain, the regulation and behavioral role of DNA methylation remain poorly understood. We found that Dnmt3a expression was regulated in mouse nucleus accumbens (NAc) by chronic cocaine use and chronic social defeat stress. Moreover, NAc-specific manipulations that block DNA methylation potentiated cocaine reward and exerted antidepressant-like effects, whereas NAc-specific Dnmt3a overexpression attenuated cocaine reward and was pro-depressant. On a cellular level, we found that chronic cocaine use selectively increased thin dendritic spines on NAc neurons and that DNA methylation was both necessary and sufficient to mediate these effects. These data establish the importance of Dnmt3a in the NAc in regulating cellular and behavioral plasticity to emotional stimuli

Larger and structurally complex woodland creation sites provide greater benefits for woodland plants

Reforestation initiatives are underway across the world. However, we know relatively little about the ecological consequences of creating and restoring forest ecosystems, and there is a lack of studies examining the drivers of species colonisation and establishment across appropriate temporal and spatial scales to inform conservation practice. Using data from a long-term natural experiment (the WrEN project), we explore ground plant species occurrence and community composition in 102 woodland creation sites (10–160 years since planting), and 27 old growth woodlands (>250 years). We conducted field surveys to collect data on occurrence of plant species (classified into woodland specialist, woodland generalist, or non-woodland) and used Structural Equation Modelling to investigate the influence of local (age, size, woodland structure) and landscape-level (amount of surrounding woodland) attributes on species richness. Woodland generalists are readily colonising woodland creation sites to similar levels found in old growth woodlands. However, there were fewer woodland specialist and more non-woodland plants in creation sites than in old growth. Specialists and generalists were more likely to be present in larger woodlands and those with higher variation in tree size (which was higher in older woodlands) and did not appear to be influenced by features of the surrounding landscape. Some plant communities in older creation sites (80–160 years) were similar to old growth, suggesting colonisation of a typical old growth flora over time; however, some sites were shifting away from this trajectory. Specialists are slow to colonise woodland creation sites and their occurrence was low relative to old growth woodlands even after >80 years. However, woodland management to increase structural complexity may enhance the establishment of woodland plants. The lack of influence of the surrounding landscape on species occurrence is likely due to most of the study sites being relatively isolated resulting in limited colonisation. This suggests that new woodlands need to be adjacent or very near to existing woodland to receive the benefits of increased colonisation. Our results highlight the importance of creating large and structurally complex woodlands, close to existing woodlands to facilitate the colonisation and establishment of woodland plants

Larger and structurally complex woodland creation sites provide greater benefits for woodland plants

Reforestation initiatives are underway across the world. However, we know relatively little about the ecological consequences of creating and restoring forest ecosystems, and there is a lack of studies examining the drivers of species colonisation and establishment across appropriate temporal and spatial scales to inform conservation practice. Using data from a long-term natural experiment (the WrEN project), we explore ground plant species occurrence and community composition in 102 woodland creation sites (10–160 years since planting), and 27 old growth woodlands (>250 years). We conducted field surveys to collect data on occurrence of plant species (classified into woodland specialist, woodland generalist, or non-woodland) and used Structural Equation Modelling to investigate the influence of local (age, size, woodland structure) and landscape-level (amount of surrounding woodland) attributes on species richness. Woodland generalists are readily colonising woodland creation sites to similar levels found in old growth woodlands. However, there were fewer woodland specialist and more non-woodland plants in creation sites than in old growth. Specialists and generalists were more likely to be present in larger woodlands and those with higher variation in tree size (which was higher in older woodlands) and did not appear to be influenced by features of the surrounding landscape. Some plant communities in older creation sites (80–160 years) were similar to old growth, suggesting colonisation of a typical old growth flora over time; however, some sites were shifting away from this trajectory. Specialists are slow to colonise woodland creation sites and their occurrence was low relative to old growth woodlands even after >80 years. However, woodland management to increase structural complexity may enhance the establishment of woodland plants. The lack of influence of the surrounding landscape on species occurrence is likely due to most of the study sites being relatively isolated resulting in limited colonisation. This suggests that new woodlands need to be adjacent or very near to existing woodland to receive the benefits of increased colonisation. Our results highlight the importance of creating large and structurally complex woodlands, close to existing woodlands to facilitate the colonisation and establishment of woodland plants