Anthropogenic modification of forests means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity.

Many global environmental agendas, including halting biodiversity loss, reversing land degradation, and limiting climate change, depend upon retaining forests with high ecological integrity, yet the scale and degree of forest modification remain poorly quantified and mapped. By integrating data on observed and inferred human pressures and an index of lost connectivity, we generate a globally consistent, continuous index of forest condition as determined by the degree of anthropogenic modification. Globally, only 17.4 million km2 of forest (40.5%) has high landscape-level integrity (mostly found in Canada, Russia, the Amazon, Central Africa, and New Guinea) and only 27% of this area is found in nationally designated protected areas. Of the forest inside protected areas, only 56% has high landscape-level integrity. Ambitious policies that prioritize the retention of forest integrity, especially in the most intact areas, are now urgently needed alongside current efforts aimed at halting deforestation and restoring the integrity of forests globally.

Boundary spanning at the science-policy interface: the practitioners' perspectives.

Cultivating a more dynamic relationship between science and policy is essential for responding to complex social challenges such as sustainability. One approach to doing so is to "span the boundaries" between science and decision making and create a more comprehensive and inclusive knowledge exchange process. The exact definition and role of boundary spanning, however, can be nebulous. Indeed, boundary spanning often gets conflated and confused with other approaches to connecting science and policy, such as science communication, applied science, and advocacy, which can hinder progress in the field of boundary spanning. To help overcome this, in this perspective, we present the outcomes from a recent workshop of boundary-spanning practitioners gathered to (1) articulate a definition of what it means to work at this interface ("boundary spanning") and the types of activities it encompasses; (2) present a value proposition of these efforts to build better relationships between science and policy; and (3) identify opportunities to more effectively mainstream boundary-spanning activities. Drawing on our collective experiences, we suggest that boundary spanning has the potential to increase the efficiency by which useful research is produced, foster the capacity to absorb new evidence and perspectives into sustainability decision-making, enhance research relevance for societal challenges, and open new policy windows. We provide examples from our work that illustrate this potential. By offering these propositions for the value of boundary spanning, we hope to encourage a more robust discussion of how to achieve evidence-informed decision-making for sustainability.

Unilateral ectopic insertion of the pectoralis minor: Clinical and functional significance.

During routine dissection of a 70-year-old female, we observed a unilateral ectopic insertion of the left pectoralis minor muscle. The tendon was cord-like and passed through a tendon sheath superior to the coracoid process to insert on the greater tubercle of the humerus. Additionally, an aponeurosis extended from the distal aspect of the muscle's tendon and passed medially to insert near the base of the coracoid process. This is the first report of an additional aponeurosis extending from the tendon of the pectoralis minor and attaching to the coracoid process. We also observed that the pectoralis minor tendon caused an unusually smooth deep indentation on the superior aspect of the coracoid process; considering its insertion on the humerus, we hypothesize that the muscle acted as an abductor of the shoulder along with the supraspinatus. The medial extension of an aponeurotic tendon from the pectoralis minor tendon near its insertion, to the base of the coracoid process further suggests that the muscle provided stability to the glenohumeral joint while acting as an abductor. Pectoralis minor variations have been described since 1897; however, few studies have demonstrated functional or clinical significance. The redundancy of the actions of this muscle along with its long tendon suggests a potential source for autograft.

A case of an extremely rare unilateral subscapular trunk and axillary artery variation in a male Caucasian: comparison to the prevalence within other populations.

A male Caucasian cadaver was found to have a large common trunk that branched off of the first part of the axillary artery of the left arm. This trunk gave rise to all but two arterial branches of the axillary region. The large common trunk first gave off a thoracoacromial artery followed by the main branch, the subscapular artery. The subscapular was the origin of the posterior circumflex humeral and lateral thoracic arteries immediately proximal to bifurcating into its two terminal branches, the circumflex scapular and thoracodorsal arteries. Only the superior thoracic and anterior circumflex humeral arteries arose directly from the axillary artery. Also found was a high origin of the radial artery, noteworthy by its serpentine route. In comparison, in the right arm, no variants appeared in the axillary, subscapular, or brachial arteries. A comparison with branching patterns of axillary arteries from demographically similar and dissimilar populations revealed the extreme rarity of this set of anomalies.

Dual engagement of 14-3-3 proteins controls signal relay from ASK2 to the ASK1 signalosome.

Faithful and efficient transmission of biological signals through mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways requires engagement of highly regulated cellular machinery in response to diverse environmental cues. Here, we report a novel mechanism controlling signal relay between two MAP3Ks, apoptosis signal-regulating kinase (ASK) 1 and ASK2. We show that ASK2 specifically interacts with 14-3-3 proteins through phosphorylated S964. Although a 14-3-3-binding defective mutant of ASK1 (S967A) has no effect on the ASK2/14-3-3 interaction, both overexpression of the analogous ASK2 (S964A) mutant and knockdown of ASK2 dramatically reduced the amount of ASK1 complexed with 14-3-3. These data suggest a dominant role of ASK2 in 14-3-3 control of ASK1 function. Indeed, ASK2 S964A-induced dissociation of 14-3-3 from ASK1 correlated with enhanced phosphorylation of ASK1 at T838 and increased c-Jun N-terminal kinase phosphorylation, the two biological readouts of ASK1 activation. Our results suggest a model in which upstream signals couple ASK2 S964 phosphorylation to the ASK1 signalosome through dual engagement of 14-3-3.

Selective DNA-mediated assembly of gold nanoparticles on electroded substrates.

Motivated by the technological possibilities of electronics and sensors based on gold nanoparticles (Au NPs), we investigate the selective assembly of such NPs on electrodes via DNA hybridization. Protocols are demonstrated for maximizing selectivity and coverage using 15mers as the active binding agents. Detailed studies of the dependences on time, ionic strength, and temperature are used to understand the underlying mechanisms and their limits. Under optimized conditions, coverage of Au NPs on Au electrodes patterned on silicon dioxide (SiO2) substrates was found to be approximately 25-35%. In all cases, Au NPs functionalized with non-complementary DNA show no attachment and essentially no nonspecific adsorption is observed by any Au NPs on the SiO2 surfaces of the patterned substrates. DNA-guided assembly of multilayers of NPs was also demonstrated and, as expected, found to further increase the coverage, with three deposition cycles resulting in a surface coverage of approximately 60%.

RGS14 is a bifunctional regulator of Galphai/o activity that exists in multiple populations in brain.

Members of the regulators of G protein signaling (RGS) family modulate Galpha-directed signals as a result of the GTPase-activating protein (GAP) activity of their conserved RGS domain. In addition to its RGS domain, RGS14 contains a Rap binding domain (RBD) and a GoLoco motif. To define the cellular and biochemical properties of RGS14 we utilized two different affinity purified antisera that specifically recognize recombinant and native RGS14. In brain, we observed two RGS14-like immunoreactive bands of distinct size (60 kDa and 55 kDa). Both forms are present in brain cytosol and in two, biochemically distinct, membrane subpopulations: one detergent-extractable and the other detergent-insensitive. Recombinant RGS14 binds specifically to activated Galphai/o, but not Galphaq/11, Galpha12/13, or Galphas in brain membranes. In reconstitution studies, we found that RGS14 is a non-selective GAP for Galphai1 and Galphao and that full-length RGS14 is an approximately 10-fold more potent stimulator of Galpha GTPase activity than the RGS domain alone. In contrast, neither full-length RGS14 nor the isolated RBD domain is a GAP for Rap1. RGS14 is also a highly selective guanine nucleotide dissociation inhibitor (GDI) for Galphai but not Galphao, and this activity is restricted to the C-terminus containing the GoLoco domain. These findings highlight previously unknown biochemical properties of RGS14 in brain, and provide one of the first examples of an RGS protein that is a bifunctional regulator of Galpha actions.

Absence of effect of varying Thr-Leu codon pairs on protein synthesis in a T7 system.

The over-represented threonine-leucine (Thr-Leu) codon pair ACG CUG has been previously reported to be inhibitory to translation compared to the synonymous under-represented Thr-Leu codon pair ACC CUG, in an E. coli system in which the codon pairs were located either 3 and 4, or 6 and 7, or 9 and 10 codons downstream from the initiating codon for the message [Irwin, B., Heck, J. D., and Hatfield, G. W. (1995) J. Biol. Chem. 270, 22801-22806]. In the work reported here, these synonymous codon pairs were tested in a T7 system, with the codon pairs located either 14 and 15, or 6 and 7 codons downstream from the AUG start codon. In contrast to the reported findings in the E. coli system, there was no difference found in translation between mRNAs containing the respective codon pairs in the T7 system. The reasons for the different findings remain unclear, but presumably are a consequence of differences between the E. coli and T7 systems used to assay gene expression. Nevertheless, as a result of this work, it appears that the effect of varying codon pairs reported in the E. coli system is not due to a difference in translational step times through the respective codon pairs, as previously proposed.

Reversal of inhibition by the T7 concatemer junction sequence on expression from a downstream T7 promoter.

We have previously reported that placement of the phage T7 concatemer junction (CJ) just upstream of another gene on a plasmid in a T7 system proved to be inhibitory to expression of the downstream gene. We had hypothesized that the inhibition was a result of a readthrough transcript of the CJ element interacting with the translation start region of the downstream gene; also that in the absence of a T7 termination signal, transcription continued around the plasmid multiple times ("rolling circle" transcription), always juxtaposing the inhibitory CJ sequence proximal to the downstream gene mRNA. Two strong predictions were made from this model: 1) that introduction of a spacer sequence between the CJ element and the downstream gene should alleviate the inhibition, and 2) that reintroduction of a T7 transcription terminator should prevent rolling circle transcription, thereby reversing the inhibition by allowing some transcripts to be generated originating from the downstream promoter that did not contain the inhibitory CJ element upstream. We report here that both of these predictions have been fulfilled. However, the reversal of inhibition was only partial in the construct where the T7 terminator was reintroduced, indicating that there remains a residual inhibitory effect of the CJ element on expression of the downstream gene. A possible explanation is that the CJ element, acting as a pause site for transcription, blocks access to the downstream T7 promoter, thereby reducing transcription from that promoter. If this explanation is correct, steric hindrance of transcription starts resulting from an upstream RNA polymerase pause site may represent a previously unrecognized mechanism of transcriptional control.

Phage-displayed peptides as biosensor reagents.

This study investigated the potential to utilize phage-displayed peptides as reagents in sensor applications. A library of random 12-mers displayed on phage was panned against staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB), a causative agent of food poisoning. Nine SEB binding phage clones were isolated, all of which share the consensus sequence Trp His Lys at their amino terminus. Binding of several of these phage was shown to be inhibited when they were assayed in a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) format with synthesized peptide corresponding to the peptide-encoding region of one of the clones. Whole phage were labeled with the dye Cy5, and incorporated into fluoroimmunoassays. Labeled phage were able to detect SEB down to a concentration of 1.4 ng/well in a fluorescence-based immunoassay. When incorporated into an automated fluorescence-based sensing assay, Cy5-labeled phage bound to probes coated with SEB generated a robust signal of about 10,000 pA, vs a signal of 1,000 pA using a control fiber coated with streptavidin. These results demonstrate the potential for development of phage-based sensor reagents.

Peripheral blood eosinophilia in association with sarcoidosis.

OBJECTIVES: To review retrospectively our experience with peripheral blood eosinophilia (PBE) in sarcoidosis and to analyze histologically lung biopsy specimens for the presence of lung tissue eosinophils. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We reviewed 140 cases of sarcoidosis diagnosed between May 1975 and January 1998. Ninety-five patients (66.3% women; 70.5% African American; mean age, 35.9 years) met the inclusion criteria. Transbronchial biopsy specimens from 82 patients were divided into 4 morphologic compartments: parenchyma, bronchial wall, parenchymal granulomas, and bronchial wall granulomas. Within compartments, up to 10 high-power fields were scored semiquantitatively for eosinophils, from 0 (none) to 4+ (numerous). RESULTS: Thirty-nine patients (41%) had PBE. Four had PBE greater than 10%. The highest eosinophil count (21%) occurred in 1 patient. Sixty-five (79%) of 82 patients had no or few (1+) eosinophils in lung tissue; 17 patients had eosinophils scored as 2+ or higher. There was no correlation between peripheral blood eosinophil count and presence of eosinophils in transbronchial biopsy specimens. Eosinophils were least conspicuous in parenchyma but evenly distributed in bronchial wall and parenchymal and bronchial wall granulomas. CONCLUSIONS: Peripheral blood eosinophilia occurs frequently in sarcoidosis. However, there appears to be no association between peripheral blood eosinophil count and presence of lung tissue eosinophils. Whether eosinophils participate in the pathogenesis of sarcoidosis requires further study.

Synthesis and biological activity of peptidyl aldehyde urokinase inhibitors.

Solid- and solution-phase synthesis of peptidomimetic inhibitors of urokinase-type plasminogen activator based on the sequence dSerAlaArg-al are described. The biological activities of these unique inhibitors are reported herein. Carbonate prodrugs were prepared and tested as potential drug delivery systems.

Guanylpiperidine peptidomimetics: potent and selective bis-cation inhibitors of factor Xa.

A novel series of rigid P3-guanylpiperidine peptide mimics 3-14 was designed as potential factor Xa and prothrombinase inhibitors. Incorporation into a P2-gly-P1-argininal motif led to highly potent and selective inhibitors. The synthesis and biological activities of these derivatives are reported herein.

Efficiencies of translation in three reading frames of unusual non-ORF sequences isolated from phage display.

An unusual nucleotide sequence, called H10, was previously isolated by biopanning with a random peptide library on filamentous phage. The sequence encoded a peptide that bound to the growth hormone binding protein. Despite the fact that the H10 sequence can be expressed in Escherichia coli as a fusion to the gene III minor coat protein of the M13 phage, the sequence contained two TGA stop codons in the zero frame. Several mutant derivatives of the H10 sequence carried not only a stop codon, but also showed frameshifts, either +1 or -1 in individual isolates, between the H10 start and the gene III sequences. In this work, we have subcloned the H10 sequence and three of its derivatives (one requiring a +1 reading frameshift for expression, one requiring a -1 reading frameshift, and one open reading frame) in gene fusions to a reporter beta-galactosidase gene. These sequences have been cloned in all three reading frames relative to the reporter. The non-open reading frame constructs gave (surprisingly) high expression of the reporter (10-40% of control vector expression levels) in two out of the three frames. A site-directed mutant of the TGA stop codon (to TTA) in the +1 shifter greatly reduced the frameshift and gave expression primarily in the zero frame. By contrast, a site-directed mutant of the TGA in the -1 shifter had little effect on the pattern of expression, and alteration of the first TGA (of two) in H10 itself paradoxically reduced expression by half. We believe these phenomena to reflect a translational recoding mechanism in which ribosomes switch reading frames or read past stop codons upon encountering a signal encoded in the nucleotide sequence of the mRNA, because both the open reading frame derivative (which has six nucleotide changes from parental H10) and the site-directed mutant of the +1 shifter, primarily expressed the reporter only in the zero frame.

Reproductive choices of women in families with haemophilia.

To assess women's experiences in pregnancy and attitudes towards their reproductive choices, a structured questionnaire was sent to all obligate and potential carriers of haemophilia (A and B), aged 14-60 years, registered with our haemophilia centre. One hundred and ninety-seven of 545 (36%) returned completed questionnaires. Clinical details, including type and severity of the disease in the family and results of DNA analysis for carrier detection, were obtained from patient notes. One hundred and sixty women had been pregnant at least once, of whom 36 (23%) had received a prenatal diagnostic test. Of the 41 women who had pregnancy terminations, haemophilia was the main reason in only 11 (27%) women. This decision was affected by the woman's religion and results of DNA studies. Living close to a haemophilia centre, proper counselling at the centre and awareness of the availability of prenatal diagnostic tests influenced the women's decision to become pregnant in 14% and 10% of first and subsequent pregnancies, respectively. These factors were considered more frequently in women with severe haemophilia in the family (P = 0.002) and in confirmed carriers of haemophilia (P = 0.04). When women made a conscious decision not to have children, the reasons were fear of passing haemophilia onto their child (44%), previous experience with haemophilia (6%) and the stress of going through prenatal tests (7%). Severity of the disease in the family, haemophilia diagnosis, results of DNA studies, religion and year of birth had no effect on this decision. Our data indicate that haemophilia and related factors in the family have an influence on women's reproductive choices.