Nebraska Forest Service Annual Report 2013

Reducing Risks..................................2 The New Normal......................4 Damaging Outbreak..........................................5 Profitable Forests.............................................6 Community Participation..................................................8 Nebraska Champs.............................10 Preserving a Niobrara Gem..........................................................................11 Forestry Education........12 By the Numbers...................................14 Aging Like Fine Wine............................................15 Green Infrastructure................................16 Contributors: Jeanne Andelt Justin Evertson Dr. Mark Harrell Graham Herbst Christina Hoyt Dr. Scott J. Josiah Jessica Kelling Casey McCoy Troy Pabst Jeralyn Schluckebier Jay Seaton Adam Smith Laurie Stepanek Don Westove

ATM Deficiency -- A Multifaceted Defect in Lymphocyte Development

The generation of a functional antigen receptor gene in developing lymphocytes requires that the second exon be assembled through a process known as V(D)J recombination, a process that necessarily involves the generation and repair of DNA double-strand breaks made by the Rag endonuclease. Double strand breaks incurred during G1 of the cell cycle activate ATM, a PI3-kinase-like kinase that, in response to genotoxic DNA damage, is known to phosphorylate hundreds of proteins with unique and diverse functions. Notably, deficiencies in ATM lead to ataxia-telangiectasia, a syndrome characterized by lymphopenia, genomic instability and a predisposition to tumors involving antigen receptor loci suggesting that ATM likely plays a similar critical role downstream of Rag-mediated DNA DSBs during V(D)J recombination. In this body of work, I describe three distinct pathways activated by ATM in response to Rag DNA DSBs and how defects in these pathways would impair lymphocyte development and contribute to the phenotype of ATM-deficient mice and humans. First, ATM-deficient lymphocytes have a defect in the repair of Rag DNA DSBs characterized by an accumulation of unrepaired coding ends and an increase in aberrant hybrid joint formation during rearrangement by inversion. Furthermore, these coding ends drift apart and are frequently aberrantly resolved as translocations. We determine that ATM contributes to the repair of Rag DNA DSBs by maintaining the unrepaired ends in a stable post-cleavage complex possibly through the phosphorylation of components of the MRN complex. Secondly, in G1-phase lymphocytes, the ATM-dependent phosphorylation of histone H2AX inhibits the robust CtIP-dependent opening and resection of hairpin-sealed coding ends thereby preventing their aberrant resolution by alternative repair pathways. Finally, in response to Rag DSBs, through the activation of NFkB and other transcription factors, ATM activates a broad genetic program that transcends the canonical DNA damage response and includes genes whose known functions are integral to lymphocyte development. While this work has significantly increased our understanding of the cellular response to Rag DNA DSBs, given the diversity of the other known substrates of ATM, it seems likely that we have only begun to unravel the complexities of the ATM-deficient phenotype

Comparative measurements of air quality monitoring between RIVM, GGD Amsterdam and DCMR : Results 2010

Alleen digitaal beschikbaarIn het kader van de samenwerking tussen de luchtkwaliteits-meetnetten van het RIVM, de GGD Amsterdam en de DCMR Milieudienst Rijnmond vinden sinds enkele jaren tussen RIVM en de beide organisaties vergelijkende metingen plaats op meetlocaties in Amsterdam (RIVM-GGD) en Rotterdam (RIVM-DCMR): - Amsterdam: stikstofdioxide op locatie Overtoom - Rotterdam: stikstofdioxide en PM10 op locatie Bentinckplein/Statenweg. Deze hebben tot doel de vergelijkbaarheid van de resultaten van de verschillende meetinstanties vast te stellen; bij voldoende vergelijkbaarheid kunnen de instanties wederzijds gebruik maken van elkaars resultaten. Evaluatie van de resultaten van de vergelijkingen verricht in 2010 toont aan dat de resulterende meetonzekerheden in alle gevallen te voldoen aan de criteria gesteld in EU Richtlijn 2008/50/EC. Aangezien alle instanties een ISO 17025 accreditatie voeren voor de betreffende metingen mag ervan worden uitgegaan dat het kwaliteitsniveau en de vergelijkbaarheid zoals bepaald in deze vergelijkingen representatief zijn voor de andere meetlocaties van de netwerken. Dit impliceert dat de instanties in principe gebruik kunnen maken van elkaars meetgegevens voor de componenten waarvoor resultaten zijn vergeleken (DCMR en RIVM voor stikstofdioxide en PM10; GGD en RIVM voor stikstofdioxide).Within the frame of the cooperation between the air quality monitoring networks of RIVM, GGD Amsterdam and DCMR Environmental Protection Agency comparative measurements are performed between RIVM and both regional networks at locations in Amsterdam (RIVM-GGD) and Rotterdam (RIVM-DCMR): - Amsterdam: nitrogen dioxide at location Overtoom - Rotterdam: nitrogen dioxide and PM10 at location Bentinckplein/Statenweg. The purpose of these comparisons is demonstrating comparability of results obtained by the different networks. In case of sufficient comparability mutual use can be made of their results. All networks use the European Union reference methods for nitrogen dioxide and PM10. The evaluation involves comparison of hourly average results for nitrogen dioxide and of daily average results for PM10 by applying orthogonal regression analysis and by examination of differences between results as a function of measurement period and concentration level. Evaluation of the comparison between RIVM and DCMR for the year 2010 shows that for PM10 results agree almost on a "1 to 1" basis. The comparisons for nitrogen dioxide reveal an overall agreement of results averaged over the whole year to within ±1,6%. However, distinct differences can be observed in the relationships over the first and second half of 2010, with ratios of RIVM's results to those of the other networks increasing. Further, the relationship between results for DCMR and RIVM deviates markedly from the expected relationship y=x. Reasons for this may be differences in applied calibration procedures and handling of low measurement values. Evaluation further shows that the resulting measurement uncertainties in all cases are well within the criteria given in EU Directive 2008/50/EC. As all networks have an ISO 17025 accreditation for the measurements compared it may be assumed that the quality levels and, consequently, the comparability of the results determined in these comparisons are representative for the networks as a whole. Consequently, it should be possible for networks to make mutual use of results for the components compared (DCMR and RIVM for nitrogen dioxide and PM10; GGD and RIVM for nitrogen dioxide).Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu RIV

Executive Functioning and Aggression in a Forensic Psychiatric Population in PPC The Hague

Deze master-scriptie behelst een kwantitatief cross-sectioneel onderzoek naar agressie in een forensisch psychiatrische populatie (N= 40) die verblijft in het Penitentiair Psychiatrisch Centrum Den Haag. Er werd onderzocht of executief functioneren (onafhankelijke variabele) samenhangt met proactieve- en reactieve agressie (afhankelijke variabelen). Bovendien is nagegaan of deze samenhang werd gemodereerd door intelligentie. De doelstelling van dit onderzoek is zicht te krijgen op het executief functioneren, de subtypes van agressie en intelligentie in de PPC-populatie, teneinde adviezen te genereren voor verdere inrichting van de behandeling van agressieproblematiek in het PPC. Het executief functioneren gemeten met de D-KEFS Trail Making Test bleek significant lager (M = 8.80, SD = 3.07) en het executief functioneren gemeten met de D-KEFS Tower Test was significant hoger (M = 10.83, SD = 2.26) dan de normgegevens. De verschillende vormen van agressie zijn gemeten met de Reactive Proactive Questionnaire. Regressieanalyses geven aan dat verschillen in proactieve- en reactieve agressie niet verklaard worden door scores op de D-KEFS Trail Making Test en Tower Test. Intelligentie, gemeten met de Verkorte Groninger Intelligentie Test, blijkt geen modererende invloed te hebben in de relatie tussen executief functioneren en agressie. Beperkingen van het onderzoek zijn de kleine steekproef en de grote non-respons. Ook is het de vraag of afhankelijke variabelen goed geobjectiveerd zijn door zelfrapportage. Aanbevolen wordt om interventies binnen het PPC Den Haag toe te spitsen op het intelligentieniveau van de patiënten aangezien 53 % van de onderzoekspopulatie een IQ heeft dat past bij een licht verstandelijke beperking (IQ 50 - 85)

External Catheters and Reducing Adverse Effects in Female Inpatients

A literature review was performed between the months of August 2018 to December 2018 on ways to decrease unnecessary usage of Foley catheters. Ten articles were reviewed focusing on bed-bound, incontinent women. Research was performed for Spencer Hospital looking at the various ways to decrease the usage, decrease catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI’s), and decrease skin breakdown from incontinence. Through the research, it was found that a large proportion of catheters are used when they are unnecessary. Indwelling catheters present a large risk for CAUTI’s, or if there is not one used, then the risk for skin breakdown from incontinence is high. Results found the use of a physician reminder system helps to keep track of the usage of indwelling catheters and prevents them from being left in too long. A daily reminder system for bedside nurses is also recommended by the research. The literature review also found the use of PureWick External Female Catheters to be implemented in incontinent, bed-bound women. Research proves these devices provide more comfort, better sleep, less skin breakdown, and less CAUTI’s. In addition, these have proven to help in the healing process for women to regain control of their bladder. Keywords: urinary tract infection, catheter-associated urinary tract infection, urinary incontinence, indwelling catheters, straight-catheters, external female catheters, decubitus ulcers, skin breakdown, and bed-bound females, PureWic

Associations between lifestyle factors and multidimensional frailty:A cross-sectional study among community-dwelling older people

BACKGROUND: Multidimensional frailty, including physical, psychological, and social components, is associated to disability, lower quality of life, increased healthcare utilization, and mortality. In order to prevent or delay frailty, more knowledge of its determinants is necessary; one of these determinants is lifestyle. The aim of this study is to determine the association between lifestyle factors smoking, alcohol use, nutrition, physical activity, and multidimensional frailty. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in two samples comprising in total 45,336 Dutch community-dwelling individuals aged 65 years or older. These samples completed a questionnaire including questions about smoking, alcohol use, physical activity, sociodemographic factors (both samples), and nutrition (one sample). Multidimensional frailty was assessed with the Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI). RESULTS: Higher alcohol consumption, physical activity, healthy nutrition, and less smoking were associated with less total, physical, psychological and social frailty after controlling for effects of other lifestyle factors and sociodemographic characteristics of the participants (age, gender, marital status, education, income). Effects of physical activity on total and physical frailty were up to considerable, whereas the effects of other lifestyle factors on frailty were small. CONCLUSIONS: The four lifestyle factors were not only associated with physical frailty but also with psychological and social frailty. The different associations of frailty domains with lifestyle factors emphasize the importance of assessing frailty broadly and thus to pay attention to the multidimensional nature of this concept. The findings offer healthcare professionals starting points for interventions with the purpose to prevent or delay the onset of frailty, so community-dwelling older people have the possibility to aging in place accompanied by a good quality of life

Using genetic algorithms to uncover individual differences in how humans represent facial emotion

Emotional facial expressions critically impact social interactions and cognition. However, emotion research to date has generally relied on the assumption that people represent categorical emotions in the same way, using standardized stimulus sets and overlooking important individual differences. To resolve this problem, we developed and tested a task using genetic algorithms to derive assumption-free, participant-generated emotional expressions. One hundred and five participants generated a subjective representation of happy, angry, fearful and sad faces. Population-level consistency was observed for happy faces, but fearful and sad faces showed a high degree of variability. High test-retest reliability was observed across all emotions. A separate group of 108 individuals accurately identified happy and angry faces from the first study, while fearful and sad faces were commonly misidentified. These findings are an important first step towards understanding individual differences in emotion representation, with the potential to reconceptualize the way we study atypical emotion processing in future research