Mapping With the Land: Co-developing a Cumulative Impact Monitoring and Land Stewardship Framework with Sambaa K’e First Nation, Northwest Territories, Canada

Across the Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada, Indigenous populations are striving to achieve effective environmental protection, whilst navigating complex methods, policies, and research relationships within co-management contexts. This thesis seeks to identify how differing cultural systems, environmental change, and fractured partnerships may be unified to align with the needs of the Sambaa K’e First Nation (SKFN), a remote Dehcho Dene community. Indigenous methodologies guided co-development of research questions with SKFN leadership which yielded objectives a) develop a GIS-based method to manage, organize and mobilize cultural and environmental data; b) develop a new stewardship monitoring procedure so that users can apply the former while ‘With The Land” (WTL), and c) test new methods developed in (a) and (b). A mapping rubric developed by the NWT Geologic Survey’s Thermokarst Collective (TKC) working group was expanded to include themes related to biological, cultural, and socio-political change. Interviews, focus groups, and participant observation directed the collection of 195 GPS-link observations which centered Dene perspectives of space and place. This thesis provides SKFN with an improved operational procedure for data collection as well as a functional social framework adapted for the organization of grassroots, community based, intergenerational knowledge exchange. This produced the praxis, ‘Mapping with the Land,’ where youth and Elders are united through cumulative impact monitoring and cultural revitalization, with the assistance of GIS. This aims to increase communication and understanding between local, institutional, and government actors by bridging gaps in research capabilities, local capacity, and recognition of Dene Law

Intra and Inter-Rater Reliability and Convergent Validity of FIT-HaNSA in Individuals with Grade П Whiplash Associated Disorder

BACKGROUND: Whiplash-Associated Disorders (WAD) are common following a motor vehicle accident. The Functional Impairment Test - Hand, and Neck/Shoulder/Arm (FIT-HaNSA) assesses upper extremity physical performance. It has been validated in patients with shoulder pathology but not in those with WAD. OBJECTIVES: Establish the Intra and inter-rater reliability and the known-group and construct validity of the FIT-HaNSA in patients with Grade II WAD (WAD2). METHODS: Twenty-five patients with WAD2 and 41 healthy controls were recruited. Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS), Neck Disability Index (NDI), Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH), cervical range of motion (CROM), and FIT-HaNSA were completed at two sessions conducted 2 to 7 days apart by two raters. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were used to describe Intra and inter-rater reliability. Spearman rank correlation coefficients (ρ) were used to quantify the associations between scores of the FIT-HaNSA and other measures in the WAD2 group (convergent construct validity). RESULTS: The Intra and inter-ICCs for the FIT-HaNSA scores ranged from 0.88 to 0.89 in the control group and 0.78 to 0.85 in the WAD2 group. Statistically significant differences in FIT-HaNSA performance between the two groups suggested known group construct validity (P \u3c 0.001). The correlations between the NPRS, NDI, DASH, CROM and FIT-HaNSA were generally poor (ρ \u3c 0.4). CONCLUSION: The study results indicate that the total FIT-HaNSA score has good Intra and inter-rater reliability and the construct validity in WAD2 and healthy controls

Institutional Experience with Academic Reform: A Panel Discussion

This paper consists of the transcripts of a panel discussion focusing on athletic directors’, chancellors’, and presidents’ experiences with academic reform. The panel participants discuss a number of topics, including recent and past academic reform efforts, the process of implementing those initiatives, and the effects of those policies on student athletes and intercollegiate sport

Engagement in Music-Related Activities During the COVID-19 Pandemic as a Mirror of Individual Differences in Musical Reward and Coping Strategies

The COVID-19 pandemic and the measures taken to mitigate its impact (e.g., confinement orders) have affected people's lives in profound ways that would have been unimagable only months before the pandemic began. Media reports from the height of the pandemic's initial international surge frequently highlighted that many people were engaging in music-related activities (from singing and dancing to playing music from balconies and attending virtual concerts) to help them cope with the strain of the pandemic. Our first goal in this study was to investigate changes in music-related habits due to the pandemic. We also investigated whether engagement in distinct music-related activities (singing, listening, dancing, etc.) was associated with individual differences in musical reward, music perception, musical training, or emotional regulation strategies. To do so, we collected detailed (∼1 h long) surveys during the initial peak of shelter-in-place order implementation (May June 2020) from over a thousand individuals across different Countries in which the pandemic was especially devastating at that time: the USA, Spain, and Italy. Our findings indicate that, on average, people spent more time in music-related activities while under confinement than they had before the pandemic. Notably, this change in behavior was dependent on individual differences in music reward sensitivity, and in emotional regulation strategies. Finally, the type of musical activity with which individuals engaged was further associated with the degree to which they used music as a way to regulate stress, to address the lack of social interaction (especially the individuals more concerned about the risk of contracting the virus), or to cheer themselves up (especially those who were more worried about the pandemic consequences). Identifying which music-related activities have been particularly sought for by the population as a means for coping with such heightened uncertainty and stress, and understanding the individual differences that underlie said propensities are crucial to implementing personalized music-based interventions that aim to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms

Synthetic studies on guaipyridine alkaloids

The guaipyridines are a class of naturally occurring alkaloids isolated from plants native to the Pacific Islands and Southeast Asia. One member of this family, cananodine, has displayed potent in vitro cytotoxic effects against two different types of hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines. More recently discovered guaipyridine compounds, rupestines A-M, share structural similarities to cananodine and might possess similar anti-cancer properties. The potential medical benefits and the rare and interesting structure of the guaipyridines make them desirable and challenging synthetic targets. Two distinct synthetic routes were developed to access the guaipyridine core, and in doing so the total synthesis of cananodine and its diastereomers was accomplished. The initial route (epoxide-opening route) had previously been explored by the Vyvyan group (see Meyer, Ligon thesis; Yarbrough unpublished results) although room for improved efficiency and the final stereoselective hydrogenation reaction left significant work to be completed on this project. The critical Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling step involving a dienyl boronate ester and pyridyl triflate produced lower than desired yields, thus numerous combinations of coupling partners and reaction conditions were explored to improve the performance of this reaction. Once optimized conditions were developed, the sequence was continued and both enantiomers of the key 7-exo cyclization precursor was successfully isolated after base-promoted epoxide-opening. Exhaustive hydrogenation and reduction efforts of the remaining 1,1-disubstituted alkene provided a ~1:1 diastereomeric mixture of cananodine and its C5 epimer. The second route (intramolecular Heck cross-coupling route) to the guaipyridine skeleton is new to the Vyvyan lab and hinges on two key reaction steps. After preparation of picolyl bromide and tert-butyl hexenoate precursors, an alkylation reaction provided the carbon-backbone compound in satisfactory yields. Subsequent phenol deprotection and functionalization allowed for intramolecular Heck coupling between the 1,1-disubstituted side-chain alkene and a newly formed pyridyl triflate group provided the cyclized guaipyridine core compound in good yields

Eruptions at Lone Star geyser, Yellowstone National Park, USA: 2. Constraints on subsurface dynamics

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2014. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 119 (2014): 8688–8707, doi:10.1002/2014JB011526.We use seismic, tilt, lidar, thermal, and gravity data from 32 consecutive eruption cycles of Lone Star geyser in Yellowstone National Park to identify key subsurface processes throughout the geyser's eruption cycle. Previously, we described measurements and analyses associated with the geyser's erupting jet dynamics. Here we show that seismicity is dominated by hydrothermal tremor (~5–40 Hz) attributed to the nucleation and/or collapse of vapor bubbles. Water discharge during eruption preplay triggers high-amplitude tremor pulses from a back azimuth aligned with the geyser cone, but during the rest of the eruption cycle it is shifted to the east-northeast. Moreover, ~4 min period ground surface displacements recur every 26 ± 8 min and are uncorrelated with the eruption cycle. Based on these observations, we conclude that (1) the dynamical behavior of the geyser is controlled by the thermo-mechanical coupling between the geyser conduit and a laterally offset reservoir periodically filled with a highly compressible two-phase mixture, (2) liquid and steam slugs periodically ascend into the shallow crust near the geyser system inducing detectable deformation, (3) eruptions occur when the pressure decrease associated with overflow from geyser conduit during preplay triggers an unstable feedback between vapor generation (cavitation) and mass discharge, and (4) flow choking at a constriction in the conduit arrests the runaway process and increases the saturated vapor pressure in the reservoir by a factor of ~10 during eruptions.Funding for USGS team members was provided by the USGS Volcano Hazards Program. R. Sohn's participation was supported by the WHOI Green Technology Program. M. Manga, L. Karlstrom and M. Rudolph did receive salary from the National Science Foundation to spend time on this project.2015-06-0

Impaired in vivo binding of MeCP2 to chromatin in the absence of its DNA methyl-binding domain

MeCP2 is a methyl-CpG-binding protein that is a main component of brain chromatin in vertebrates. In vitro studies have determined that in addition to its specific methyl-CpG-binding domain (MBD) MeCP2 also has several chromatin association domains. However, the specific interactions of MeCP2 with methylated or non-methylated chromatin regions and the structural characteristics of the resulting DNA associations in vivo remain poorly understood. We analysed the role of the MBD in MeCP2-chromatin associations in vivo using an MeCP2 mutant Rett syndrome mouse model (Mecp2(tm1.1Jae)) in which exon 3 deletion results in an N-terminal truncation of the protein, including most of the MBD. Our results show that in mutant mice, the truncated form of MeCP2 (delta MeCP2) is expressed in different regions of the brain and liver, albeit at 50% of its wild-type (wt) counterpart. In contrast to the punctate nuclear distribution characteristic of wt MeCP2, delta MeCP2 exhibits both diffuse nuclear localization and a substantial retention in the cytoplasm, suggesting a dysfunction of nuclear transport. In mutant brain tissue, neuronal nuclei are smaller, and delta MeCP2 chromatin is digested faster by nucleases, producing a characteristic nuclease-resistant dinucleosome. Although a fraction of delta MeCP2 is found associated with nucleosomes, its interaction with chromatin is transient and weak. Thus, our results unequivocally demonstrate that in vivo the MBD of MeCP2 together with its adjacent region in the N-terminal domain are critical for the proper interaction of the protein with chromatin, which cannot be replaced by any other of its protein domains

L-Asparaginase II Produced by Salmonella Typhimurium Inhibits T Cell Responses and Mediates Virulence

SummarySalmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium avoids clearance by the host immune system by suppressing T cell responses; however, the mechanisms that mediate this immunosuppression remain unknown. We show that S. Typhimurium inhibit T cell responses by producing L-Asparaginase II, which catalyzes the hydrolysis of L-asparagine to aspartic acid and ammonia. L-Asparaginase II is necessary and sufficient to suppress T cell blastogenesis, cytokine production, and proliferation and to downmodulate expression of the T cell receptor. Furthermore, S. Typhimurium-induced inhibition of T cells in vitro is prevented upon addition of L-asparagine. S. Typhimurium lacking the L-Asparaginase II gene (STM3106) are unable to inhibit T cell responses and exhibit attenuated virulence in vivo. L-Asparaginases are used to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia through mechanisms that likely involve amino acid starvation of leukemic cells, and these findings indicate that pathogens similarly use L-asparagine deprivation to limit T cell responses