Effects of Detention for Flooding Mitigation under Climate Change Scenarios— Implication for Landscape Planning in the Charles River Watershed, Massachusetts, USA

Climate change has posed increased risks to environmental hazards (e.g., flooding, droughts, hurricanes) in addition to new challenges under climate change impacts (e.g., early snow melt, sea level rises, heat waves). Floods are omnipresent in almost every city in the United States and account for the most economic losses than any other single geophysical hazard (White and Haas 1975). Previous climate change studies have suggested promising trends of increasing temperature and changing precipitation patterns as well as increased intensity and duration of storm events that are likely to result in more flooding events in the Northeast region. Flooding mitigation strategies have been focusing on structured engineering solutions such as dams and dikes along streams and rivers since the late 1910s. In recent decades, in lieu of conventionally engineered infrastructure, scholars have called for “soft” strategies such as green infrastructure (Thomas and Littlewood 2010) and land use planning (Burby 1998; Godschalk 2004) for comprehensive hazard mitigation and stormwater management integrated into planning and design interventions for flooding mitigation. Stormwater detention is among the most prevalent stormwater management practices for flooding mitigation; however, the perceived benefits could be overestimated without empirical study (Beecham et al. 2005). In addition, planners are now facing challenges to cope with uncertainties from climate change impacts under a paradox between making room for water while managing growth in land use planning. For local planners and stakeholders to make adaptive land use decisions for climate change, this paper aims to answer two key questions: (1) to what degree and in what way does climate change have impacts on long-term flooding hazards? (2) how much detention area in the watershed would be needed for mitigating flooding hazards induced by climate change? And what do the results imply for innovations in landscape planning

Risk Communication and Climate Justice Planning: A Case of Michigan's Huron River Watershed

Communicating climate risks is crucial when engaging the public to support climate action planning and addressing climate justice. How does evidence-based communication influence local residents’ risk perception and potential behavior change in support of climate planning? Built upon our previous study of Climate Justice maps illustrating high scores of both social and ecological vulnerability in Michigan’s Huron River watershed, USA, a quasi-experiment was conducted to examine the effects of Climate Justice mapping intervention on residents’ perceptions and preparedness for climate change associated hazards in Michigan. Two groups were compared: residents in Climate Justice areas with high social and ecological vulnerability scores in the watershed (n=76) and residents in comparison areas in Michigan (n=69). Measurements for risk perception include perceived exposure, sensitivity, and adaptability to hazards. Results indicate that risk information has a significant effect on perceived sensitivity and level of preparedness for future climate extremes among participants living in Climate Justice areas. Findings highlight the value of integrating scientific risk assessment information in risk communication to align calculated and perceived risks. This study suggests effective risk communication can influence local support of climate action plans and implementation of strategies that address climate justice and achieve social sustainability in local communities

Targeted truncation of the ADAM17 cytoplasmic domain in mice results in protein destabilization and a hypomorphic phenotype

A disintegrin and metalloprotease 17 (ADAM17) is a cellsurface metalloprotease that serves as the principle sheddase for tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha), interleukin-6 receptor (IL6R), and several ligands of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), regulating these crucial signaling pathways. ADAM17 activation requires its transmembrane domain, but not its cytoplasmic domain, and little is known about the role of this domain in vivo. To investigate, we used CRISPR-Cas9 to mutate the endogenous Adam17 locus in mice to produce a mutant ADAM17 lacking its cytoplasmic domain (Adam17 Delta cyto). Homozygous Adam17 Delta cyto animals were born at a Mendelian ratio and survived into adulthood with slightly wavy hair and curled whiskers, consistent with defects in ADAM17/EGFR signaling. At birth, Adam17 Delta cyto mice resembled Adam17-/- mice in that they had open eyes and enlarged semilunar heart valves, but they did not have bone growth plate defects. The deletion of the cytoplasmic domain resulted in strongly decreased ADAM17 protein levels in all tissues and cells examined, providing a likely cause for the hypomorphic phenotype. In functional assays, Adam17 Delta cyto mouse embryonic fibroblasts and bone-marrow-derived macrophages had strongly reduced ADAM17 activity, consistent with the reduced protein levels. Nevertheless, ADAM17 Delta cyto could be stimulated by PMA, a well-characterized posttranslational activator of ADAM17, corroborating that the cytoplasmic domain of endogenous ADAM17 is not required for its rapid response to PMA. Taken together, these results provide the first evidence that the cytoplasmic domain of ADAM17 plays a pivotal role in vivo in regulating ADAM17 levels and function

The Paf oncogene is essential for hematopoietic stem cell function and development

The Paf oncogene is highly expressed in cycling hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and is required for the development of long-term HSCs