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Media coverage of climate change can often leave the average person confused and unsure what to believe. However, as a trusted source of information and research, Extension has the opportunity to educate people about climate change and appropriate adaptation strategies in a scientific, unbiased way. This 5-page fact sheet outlines four challenges of climate change education. Written by Martha Monroe, Claire Layman Bode, and Mark A. Megalos, and published by the UF School of Forest Resources and Conservation, May 2015.

A simple way to facilitate discovery is through cooperative learning, in which learners work together to meet a shared goal with a leader guiding them to encourage group interactions. This 5-page fact sheet provides teaching techniques and applies cooperative learning to natural resources and environmental literacy in the context of 4-H. Written by Jessica McIntosh and Martha Monroe, and published by the UF Department of School of Forest Resources and Conservation, September 2014. FR322/FR390: Cooperative Learning for 4-H (ufl.edu)

A series of syntheses were commissioned by the USDA Forest Service to aid in fuels mitigation project planning. This synthesis focuses on how managers can most effectively communicate with the public about fuels management efforts. It summarizes what is known about the techniques of persuasive communication programs and provides an outline of the characteristics of such programs. Information is drawn from the fields of environmental communication and social marketing, as well as the natural hazards and risk communication literature.

This guide is adapted, with permission, from Give Water a Hand Action Guide, a youth program for local environmental action. ©1996. University of Wisconsin Board of Regents. For more information on Give Water A Hand call 1-800-WATER20.

Rodents collected from the Venezuelan llanos (plains) during field studies of viral hemorrhagic fever were tested for evidence of hantavirus infection. Hantavirus antibody was found in one (7.7%) of 13 Oryzomys bicolor , one (3.4%) of 29 Rattus rattus , 10 (6.0%) of 166 Sigmodon alstoni and one (2.2%) of 45 Zygodontomys brevicauda . Hantavirus-specific RNA was detected in lung tissues from four antibody-positive rodents: two S. alstoni from Portuguesa State and one S. alstoni each from Cojedes and Barinas States. A hantavirus isolate (herein identified as VHV-574) was recovered from lung tissue from a hantavirus RNA-positive S. Alstoni collected from Portuguesa State. The results of serological tests and analyses of small and medium RNA segment nucleotide sequence data indicated that VHV-574 represents a novel hantavirus (proposed name ‘Cano Delgadito’) that is distinct from all previously characterized hantaviruses. The results of analyses of nucleotide sequence data from the four hantavirus RNA-positive S. alstoni suggested that Cano Delgadito virus is widely distributed in the Venezuelan llanos .

Bayou hantavirus, previously implicated in human hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in Louisiana, was isolated from a rice rat (Oryzomys palustris) captured in Georgia. The presence of antibody among rice rats captured throughout the southeastern United States and the extent of diversity among the genetic variants of Bayou viruses suggest that the rice rat is the most likely natural reservoir of the virus and that both virus and host have probably co-evolved for some years.

This study reports completion of the genetic characterization of the entire genome of Sin Nombre (SN) virus (NMH10) detected in autopsy tissues from a patient who died of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). The large (L) genome segment was found to be 6,562 nucleotides in length and encoded a putative L polymerase that was 2,153 amino acids in length. No evidence of segment reassortment with other well-characterized hantaviruses was obtained. The sequence of the entire S, M, and L genome segments of SN virus (strain NMR11) isolated from a mouse (trapped in the residence of the patient infected with SN virus [NMH10]) by passage two times in Peromyscus maniculatus and then by five passages in E6 Vero cells was determined and compared with that of the virus detected in autopsy tissues. Only 16 nucleotide differences were detected between the virus genomes, and none of these resulted in virus protein amino acid substitutions. Determination of the exact 5'- and 3'-terminal sequences of all genome segments of SN virus and representatives of other serologic groups in the Hantavirus genus, family Bunyaviridae, showed the existence of conserved nucleotide domains that may be involved in important regulatory mechanisms, such as RNA encapsidation, polymerase binding, and control of transcription and replication.

Homeowners’ preferences for vegetation and defensible space near their homes were documented for wildfire-prone areas in Florida and Minnesota (USA) through 80 in-depth interviews and home site visits. The dominant preference for ‘natural’ landscapes was articulated as valuing vegetated views, wildlife, recreation, quiet, solitude, and privacy. Homeowners recognized wildfire risk but varied in their perceptions of effective wildfire prevention measures and willingness to take actions to reduce their risk. Most supported prescribed burns, especially if fire experts who understand the local ecology and fire behavior conduct the burns.

Human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBM) respond to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) with increased release of a plasminogen activator (PA) inhibitor. This response is dose dependent and parallels the LPS-induced expression of PBM tissue factor activity. The PA inhibitors of control and LPS-stimulated PBMs appear identical as both are identified by antibodies to PA inhibitor type 2 of human placenta, but not by antibodies to type 1 inhibitor of bovine aortic endothelial cells. The PA inhibitor is specific for urokinase type PA as determined by the 125I-fibrin plate assay, and direct cleavage of 125I- plasminogen; it does not effectively inhibit tissue-type PA. The inhibitor forms an active site-dependent complex with 125I-urokinase, which then demonstrates an increase in mol wt from 33 kd to 68 kd on reduced sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) polyacrylamide gels. PBMs neither secrete nor express active PA. Hence, the exposure of PBMs to LPS results in conditions highly favorable to fibrin deposition and persistence: increased procoagulant and antifibrinolytic activities, accompanied by no measurable PA. Such modulation of these effectors may be important in the pathogenesis of fibrin characteristically found in tissue lesions of endotoxin-initiated processes.

Platelet consumption is a prominent feature of disseminated intravascular coagulation. We investigated whether monocyte procoagulant activity (PCA) might play a role in platelet consumption associated with gram-negative septicemia. Human mononuclear cells exposed in vitro to lipopolysaccharide demonstrated parallel dose-dependent increases in PCA and ability to induce platelet aggregation. Induction of platelet aggregation required the generation of thrombin dependent on coagulation Factors VII, X, and II, and calcium. This is consistent with monocyte tissue factor initiating thrombin generation. A specific monoclonal antimonocyte antibody was used to identify monocytes via indirect immunofluorescence, and demonstrated that all monocytes were included in platelet aggregates. Mononuclear cells that did not express PCA did not induce platelet aggregation and monocytes were not surrounded by platelet clumps. These data suggest that monocytes induced to express tissue factor on their surface may be important mediators of endotoxin-induced platelet, as well as fibrinogen, consumption.

Learning by doing may not be the most effective strategy for teaching environmental problem-solving skills. A survey of Michigan educators indicates that of the teaching strategies listed, case studies and talking about what others do to solve environmental problems are the most important. The implications of building familiarity with environmental issues and solutions from a variety of examples are discussed, and an explanation for the reported low success of classroom action projects is presented.

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMs) produce both tissue factor and plasminogen activator inhibitor type 2 (PAI-2) in response to gram- negative bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The cellular roles in the tissue factor response have been previously elucidated, and we now report those roles in PAI-2 production. Monocytes are the only cells among LPS-stimulated PBMs that produce PAI-2 as assessed by measurement of PAI-2 activity and antigen. Concomitant immunohistochemistry demonstrated that monocytes contain PAI-2, with a greater number staining positively and more intensely after exposure to LPS. LPS- stimulated monocytes produced increased amounts of PAI-2 with or without addition of lymphocytes. Lymphocytes prestimulated with LPS and then washed did not induce PAI-2 production in monocytes to which they were added. Lipid X, a precursor in the biosynthetic pathway of lipid A and LPS, was able to inhibit LPS induction of monocyte PAI-2 in a dose- dependent manner. This inhibition was not due to cellular toxicity, the phospholipidlike nature of lipid X, interference with the PAI-2 assay, or monocyte production of a substance interfering with PAI-2. Lipid X was an effective inhibitor of PAI-2 production even when added up to 30 minutes after LPS.

Until now, there have been no measurements of the in vivo stability of red-blood-cell-bound C3d and C4d subfragments of the third and fourth components of human complement. We have recently described a radiolabeled antiantiglobulin method for measuring RBC-bound C3d and have demonstrated that small amounts of C3d are present on RBC of all normal subjects tested. In the present study, the method was applied to follow the increments above baseline of RBC-bound C3d and C4d produced by autotransfusing 3 normal volunteers with 160–200 ml of RBC strongly coated in vitro by C3d and C4d. Posttransfusion measurements were carried out over 21–34 days. Immediate and long-term in vivo survival of the transfused RBC was unimpaired by C3d and C4d coating. Of the bound C3d antigen, 85%–95% disappeared from circulating RBC in 5–8 days; the remainder disappeared more slowly, with half-times in the range of 8–29 days. C4d antigen disappeared substantially more slowly, describable by a single exponential function in 2 of the 3 subjects, with half-times in the range of 12–31 days. Recognition of the in vivo instability of RBC-bound C3d helps in interpreting steady-state and changing levels of RBC C3d coating in a variety of alloimmune and autoimmune disorders.

Labelled polyclonal IgG anti-C3d and monoclonal IgM and IgG anti-C3d antibodies (MAs) were employed at increasing antibody excess to measure the number of C3d molecules on human red blood cells (RBC) coated by complement in vitro and in vivo. Values for the number of C3d sites per cell determined with polyclonal anti-C3d were at least 4-fold higher than when MAs were used. The results suggest that the molar combining ratio for polyclonal anti-C3d with a single RBC-bound C3d fragment is more likely greater than 4.0 than 1.0 as previously assumed. Antiglobulin agglutination studies compared polyclonal and monoclonal anti-C3d antibodies against C3d-coated RBC from 27 patients with autoimmune hemolytic anemia. All four MAs showed striking prozones, requiring their use over a 25-fold higher range of dilutions than polyclonal anti-C3d. Polyclonal anti-C3d produced stronger agglutination reactions than any of the IgG MAs. Only the IgM MA produced agglutination as strong as, or stronger than, polyclonal anti-C3d. While IgM MA always gave the strongest MA agglutination reactions, no consistent ranking of the three IgG MAs was observed. Agglutination was not enhanced when all IgG MAs were combined; addition of IgG MAs to IGM MA reduced the strength of agglutination seen with IgM alone, suggesting blocking of IgM binding by competing IgG anti-C3d.