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Con un enfoque comparativo se exploraron las condiciones en que surgieron y han perdurado las organizaciones sociales para la pesca ribereña, en la península de Baja California. En la actualidad operan más de trescientas, e incluyen cooperativas pesqueras, sociedades de producción rural y de solidaridad social y uniones de pescadores. Los factores que han contribuido a su formación son la lógica de los pescadores, los incentivos institucionales y los actores externos, y hay otros que parecen perjudicar su persistencia como los incentivos organizativos, inversión en capital fijo y social, la solidaridad social, como principio rector de sus actividades, y la capacidad de autogestión. La presente evaluación es un primer paso para entender las condiciones en las que estas organizaciones han participado y pueden hacerlo, para mejorar la gestión de los recursos pesqueros de la región.

Integration of fishers' knowledge into scientific-based fisheries management is difficult due to a history of distrust between fishers and scientists and institutional constraints that limit management to only the best scientific information available. A recent response to the Northeast U.S. fisheries crisis has been to include fishers in scientific research. Cooperative research, where fishers and scientists collaborate to produce knowledge for fisheries management, aims improve the knowledge base of fisheries management and integrate fishers and their knowledge into the science policy process, which together is expected to generate broader acceptance of scientific-based management. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted in the Northeast U.S., this paper discusses the value of cooperative research as a tool for managing the commons. Specifically, it focuses on the flow of knowledge and expertise between fishers and scientists. The flow of knowledge from fishers to science involves a process of translation, where fishers' knowledge is transformed (proven, verified, etc.) into scientific knowledge. This process enables the flow of fishers' knowledge into the science policy process. Knowledge and expertise also flow from scientists to fishers, where fishers gain understandings of the scientific research process. With this new expertise, fishers develop a greater capacity to participate in science and management discussions. The paper argues that 2-way knowledge flow between fishers and scientists, in particular flow that results in capacity building, can improve commons management through communication, translation, and conflict resolution. Finally, boundary spanners are identified as being critical to success in cooperative research.

Interactive virtual human (IVH) simulations offer a novel method for training skills involving person-to-person interactions. This article examines the effectiveness of an IVH simulation for teaching medical students to assess rare cranial nerve abnormalities in both individual and small-group learning contexts. Individual (n = 26) and small-group (n = 30) interaction with the IVH system was manipulated to examine the influence on learning, learner engagement, perceived cognitive demands of the learning task, and instructional efficiency. Results suggested the IVH activity was an equally effective and engaging instructional tool in both learning structures, despite learners in the group learning contexts having to share hands-on access to the simulation interface. Participants in both conditions demonstrated a significant increase in declarative knowledge post-training. Operation of the IVH simulation technology imposed moderate cognitive demand but did not exceed the demands of the task content or appear to impede learning.

As the magnitude, complexity, and urgency of many sustainability problems increase, there is a growing need for universities to contribute more effectively to problem solving. Drawing upon prior research on social-ecological systems, knowledge-action connections, and organizational innovation, we developed an integrated conceptual framework for strengthening the capacity of universities to help society understand and respond to a wide range of sustainability challenges. Based on experiences gained in creating the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions (Mitchell Center), we tested this framework by evaluating the experiences of interdisciplinary research teams involved in place-based, solutions-oriented research projects at the scale of a single region (i.e., the state of Maine, USA). We employed a multiple-case-study approach examining the experiences of three interdisciplinary research teams working on tidal energy development, adaptation to climate change, and forest vulnerability to an invasive insect. Drawing upon documents, observations, interviews, and other data sources, three common patterns emerged across these cases that were associated with more effective problem-solving strategies. First, an emphasis on local places and short-term dynamics in social-ecological systems research provides more frequent opportunities for learning while doing. Second, iterative stakeholder engagement and inclusive forms of knowledge co-production can generate substantial returns on investment, especially when researchers are dedicated to a shared process of problem identification and they avoid framing solutions too narrowly. Although these practices are time consuming, they can be accelerated by leveraging existing stakeholder relationships. Third, efforts to mobilize interdisciplinary expertise and link knowledge with action are facilitated by an organizational culture that emphasizes mutual respect, adaptability, and solutions. Participation of faculty associated with interdisciplinary academic programs, solutions-oriented fields, and units with partnership-oriented missions hastens collaboration within teams and between teams and stakeholders. The Mitchell Center also created a risk-tolerant culture that encouraged organizational learning. Solutions-focused programs at other universities can potentially benefit from the lessons we learned.

Scale mismatches result in incomplete or ambiguous feedback that impairs the ability to learn and adapt and, ultimately, to sustain natural resources. Our aim is to examine the sea urchin fishery in Maine, USA to better understand the multiscale, social, and biophysical conditions that are important for the design of institutions that might be able to sustain the resource. During the late 1980s and 1990s, the Maine sea urchin fishery was a classic gold rush fishery. In the beginning, the fishery was characterized by an abundant resource with little to no harvesting activity, followed by a period of rapid increase in landings and effort that led to a subsequent and persistent decline in the sea urchin population and a significant reduction in effort. We conducted semistructured interviews with scientists and experienced fishermen to understand the multiscale, social, and biophysical conditions that influence fishermen's harvesting strategies, and the implications of this for the design of institutions for successful resource management. The current co-management system includes an advisory body made up of industry members and scientists it also includes limited entry, and additional input control mechanisms. Many of these measures are implemented at a very broad scale; however, we find that the ecological conditions relevant to the sustainable processes occur at the scale of individual fishing sites or ledges, which is a much finer scale than current management. Therefore, the co-management system maintains an open access system and leaves few incentives for the development of sustainable harvesting strategies among fishermen. The clear suggestion is that the appropriate management system would be one that directly addresses the fine scale ecological and social dynamics within this fishery and gives fishermen property rights over individual ledges (for example, leases). After having briefly reviewed experiences in Canada and Chile, we found that knowledge of the coupled natural and human system at the fine scale is necessary if we are to assess the feasibility of area management in this fishery, because what works in one fishery does not necessarily work in another.

Achieving resource sustainability in complex social-ecological systems requires employing place-based management mechanisms congruent with the underlying temporal, spatial, and functional dynamics of the system in question. However, matching management to system dynamics can prove extremely challenging, as has been illustrated in Maine’s sea urchin fishery where fishery managers have struggled to resolve management spatial scale mismatch for over two decades. In Maine, the spatial scale of management far exceeds the relevant spatial dynamics of the urchin resource and leaves fine-scale urchin aggregations in a 'de facto 'open access state. These conditions facilitated the serial overharvest of urchin aggregations and resulted in the substantial loss of viable urchin habitat as overharvested areas transitioned to kelp-dominated ecosystem states that inhibit urchin recruitment. Although fishery actors contemplated adopting a number of fine-scale management alternatives to enhance social-ecological fit in the fishery, to date, no such alternatives have been employed. We adopted an ethnographic research approach and conducted semi-structured key informant interviews, document analysis of archived meeting minutes, and participant observation at co-management meetings and restoration events to explore these dynamics from the fishery’s incipience to the present. Following data analysis, we employed Ostrom’s social-ecological systems framework as a diagnostic tool to identify the factors that have influenced management spatial fit in the urchin fishery. Research findings suggest that a number of interacting variables, including harvesters’ heterogeneity and conflicting mental models of the SES, low levels of trust and social capital, and changes in the resource system following collapse impeded collective action necessary to support fine-scale management. However, changing leadership characteristics and increasing horizontal collaboration between harvesters and scientists have positively influenced governance outcomes in recent years and provide a window of opportunity to transition towards a more adaptive and collaborative governance arrangement conducive to addressing problems of fit in the urchin fishery.

Human papilloma virus-like particles (HPV VLP) serve as the basis of the current licensed vaccines for HPV. We have previously shown that encapsidation of DNA expressing the model antigen M/M2 from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in HPV pseudovirions (PsV) is immunogenic when delivered intravaginally. Because the HPV capsids confer tropism for basal epithelium, they represent attractive carriers for vaccination targeted to the skin using microneedles. In this study we asked: 1) whether HPV16 VLP administered by microneedles could induce protective immune responses to HPV16 and 2) whether HPV16 PsV-encapsidated plasmids delivered by microneedles could elicit immune responses to both HPV and the antigen delivered by the transgene. Mice immunized with HPV16 VLP coated microneedles generated robust neutralizing antibody responses and were protected from HPV16 challenge. Microneedle arrays coated with HPV16-M/M2 or HPV16-F protein (genes of RSV) were then tested and dose-dependent HPV and F-specific antibody responses were detected post-immunization, and M/M2-specific T-cell responses were detected post RSV challenge, respectively. HPV16 PsV-F immunized mice were fully protected from challenge with HPV16 PsV and had reduced RSV viral load in lung and nose upon intranasal RSV challenge. In summary, HPV16 PsV-encapsidated DNA delivered by microneedles induced neutralizing antibody responses against HPV and primed for antibody and T-cell responses to RSV antigens encoded by the encapsidated plasmids. Although the immunogenicity of the DNA component was just above the dose response threshold, the HPV-specific immunity was robust. Taken together, these data suggest microneedle delivery of lyophilized HPV PsV could provide a practical, thermostable combined vaccine approach that could be developed for clinical evaluation.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes recurrent infections throughout life. Vaccine development may depend upon understanding the molecular basis for induction of ineffective immunity. Because dendritic cells (DCs) are critically involved in early responses to infection, their interaction with RSV may determine the immunological outcome of RSV infection. Therefore, we investigated the ability of RSV to infect and activate primary mDCs and pDCs using recombinant RSV expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP). At a multiplicity of infection of 5, initial studies demonstrated ∼6.8% of mDC1 and ∼0.9% pDCs were infected. We extended these studies to include CD1c(-)CD141(+) mDC2, finding mDC2 infected at similar frequencies as mDC1. Both infected and uninfected cells upregulated phenotypic markers of maturation. Divalent cations were required for infection and maturation, but maturation did not require viral replication. There is evidence that attachment and entry/replication processes exert distinct effects on DC activation. Cell-specific patterns of RSV-induced maturation and cytokine production were detected in mDC1, mDC2, and pDC. We also demonstrate for the first time that RSV induces significant TIMP-2 production in all DC subsets. Defining the influence of RSV on the function of selected DC subsets may improve the likelihood of achieving protective vaccine-induced immunity.