Influencing and improving the environmental performance of a large multi-national pharmaceutical company can be achieved with the help of electronic education tools, backed up by site champions and strong site teams. This paper describes the development of two of those education tools.

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We conducted a 456—d laboratory incubation of an old—growth coniferous forest soil to aid in the elucidation of C controls on N cycling processes in forest soils. Gross rates of N mineralization, immobilization, and nitrification were measured by 15N isotope dilution, and net rates N mineralization and nitrification were calculated from changes in KCl—extractable inorganic N and NO3—@ON pool sizes, respectively. Changes in the availability of C were assessed by monitoring rates of CO2 evolution and the sizes of extractable organic C and microbial biomass pools. Net and gross rates of N mineralization (r2 = 0.038, P = .676) and nitrification (r2 = 0.403, P = .125) were not significantly correlated over the course of the incubation, suggesting that the factors controlling N consumptive and productive processes do not equally affect these processes. A significant increase in the NO3— pool size (net nitrification) only occurred after 140 d, when the NO3— pool size increased suddenly and massively. However, gross nitrification rates were substantial throughout the entire incubation and were poorly correlated with these changes in NO3— pool sizes. Concurrent decreases in the microbial biomass suggest that large increases in NO3— pool sizes after prolonged incubation of coniferous forest soil may arise from reductions in the rate of microbial immobilization of NO3—, rather than from one of the mechanisms proposed previously (e.g., sequestering of NH4+ by microbial heterotrophs, the deactivation of allelopathic compounds, or large increases in autotrophic nitrifier populations). Strong correlations were found between rates of CO2 evolution and gross N mineralization (r2 = 0.974, P < .0001) and immobilization (r2 = 0.980, P < .0001), but not between CO2 evolution and net N mineralization rates. Microbial growth efficiency, determined by combining estimates of gross N immobilization, CO2 evolution, and microbial biomass C and N pool sizes, declined exponentially over the incubation. These results suggest the utilization of lower quality substrates as C availability declined during incubation. Results from this research indicate the measurement of gross rates of N transformations in soil provides a powerful tool for assessing C and N cycling relationships in forests.

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Inhibition of acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC), with its resultant inhibition of fatty acid synthesis and stimulation of fatty acid oxidation, has the potential to favorably affect the multitude of cardiovascular risk factors associated with the metabolic syndrome. To achieve maximal effectiveness, an ACC inhibitor should inhibit both the lipogenic tissue isozyme (ACC1) and the oxidative tissue isozyme (ACC2). Herein, we describe the biochemical and acute physiological properties of CP-610431, an isozyme-nonselective ACC inhibitor identified through high throughput inhibition screening, and CP-640186, an analog with improved metabolic stability. CP-610431 inhibited ACC1 and ACC2 with IC 50 s of ϳ50 nM. Inhibition was reversible, uncompetitive with respect to ATP, and non-competitive with respect to bicarbonate, acetyl-CoA, and citrate, indicating interaction with the enzymatic carboxyl transfer reaction. CP-610431 also inhibited fatty acid synthesis, triglyceride (TG) synthesis, TG secretion, and apolipoprotein B secretion in HepG2 cells (ACC1) with EC 50 s of 1.6, 1.8, 3.0, and 5.7 M, without affecting either cholesterol synthesis or apolipoprotein CIII secretion. CP-640186, also inhibited both isozymes with IC 50 s of ϳ55 nM but was 2-3 times more potent than CP-610431 in inhibiting HepG2 cell fatty acid and TG synthesis. CP-640186 also stimulated fatty acid oxidation in C2C12 cells (ACC2) and in rat epitrochlearis muscle strips with EC 50 s of 57 nM and 1.3 M. In rats, CP-640186 lowered hepatic, soleus muscle, quadriceps muscle, and cardiac muscle malonyl-CoA with ED 50 s of 55, 6, 15, and 8 mg/kg. Consequently, CP-640186 inhibited fatty acid synthesis in rats, CD1 mice, and ob/ob mice with ED 50 s of 13, 11, and 4 mg/kg, and stimulated rat whole body fatty acid oxidation with an ED 50 of ϳ30 mg/kg. Taken together, These observations indicate that isozyme-nonselective ACC inhibition has the potential to favorably affect risk factors associated with the metabolic syndrome.

a b s t r a c tIncreasingly, objectives for forests with moderate-or mixed-severity fire regimes are to restore successionally diverse landscapes that are resistant and resilient to current and future stressors. Maintaining native species and characteristic processes requires this successional diversity, but methods to achieve it are poorly explained in the literature. In the Inland Pacific US, large, old, early seral trees were a key historical feature of many young and old forest successional patches, especially where fires frequently occurred. Large, old trees are naturally fire-tolerant, but today are often threatened by dense understory cohorts that create fuel ladders that alter likely post-fire successional pathways. Reducing these understories can contribute to resistance by creating conditions where canopy trees will survive disturbances and climatic stressors; these survivors are important seed sources, soil protectors, and critical habitat elements. Historical timber harvesting has skewed tree size and age class distributions, created hard edges, and altered native patch sizes. Manipulating these altered forests to promote development of larger patches of older, larger, and more widely-spaced trees with diverse understories will increase landscape resistance to severe fires, and enhance wildlife habitat for underrepresented conditions.Closed-canopy, multi-layered patches that develop in hot, dry summer environments are vulnerable to droughts, and they increase landscape vulnerability to insect outbreaks and severe wildfires. These same patches provide habitat for species such as the northern spotted owl, which has benefited from increased habitat area. Regional and local planning will be critical for gauging risks, evaluating trade-offs, and restoring dynamics that can support these and other species. The goal will be to manage for heterogeneous landscapes that include variably-sized patches of (1) young, middle-aged, and old, closedcanopy forests growing in upper montane, northerly aspect, and valley bottom settings, (2) a similar diversity of open-canopy, fire-tolerant patches growing on ridgetops, southerly aspects, and lower montane settings, and (3) significant montane chaparral and grassland areas. Tools to achieve this goal http://dx

Forest ecosystems in the western United States evolved over many millennia in response to disturbances such as wildfires. Land use and management practices have altered these ecosystems, however, including fire regimes in some areas. Forest ecosystems are especially vulnerable to postfire management practices because such practices may influence forest dynamics and aquatic systems for decades to centuries. Thus, there is an increasing need to evaluate the effect of postfire treatments from the perspective of ecosystem recovery. We examined, via the published literature and our collective experience, the ecological effects of some common postfire treatments. Based on this examination, promising postfire restoration measures include retention of large trees, rehabilitation of firelines and roads, and, in some cases, planting of native species. The following practices are generally inconsistent with efforts to restore ecosystem functions after fire: seeding exotic species, livestock grazing, placement of physical structures in and near stream channels, ground-based postfire logging, removal of large trees, and road construction. Practices that adversely affect soil integrity, persistence or recovery of native species, riparian functions, or water quality generally impede ecological recovery after fire. Although research provides a basis for evaluating the efficacy of postfire treatments, there is a continuing need to increase our understanding of the effects of such treatments within the context of societal and ecological goals for forested public lands of the western United States.Gestión Post-Incendio en Terrenos Boscosos Públicos en el Oeste de E. U. A. Resumen: Los ecosistemas boscosos en el oeste de Estados Unidas evolucionaron a lo largo de muchos mile-nios en respuesta a perturbaciones tales como incendios naturales. Sin embargo, las prácticas de uso y gestión del suelo han alterado estos ecosistemas, incluyendo los regímenes de fuego en algunasáreas. Los ecosistemas boscosos son especialmente vulnerables a las prácticas de gestión post-incendio porque tales prácticas pueden influir en la dinámica del bosque y en los sistemas acuáticos de décadas hasta siglos. Por tanto, hay una mayor necesidad de evaluar el efecto de tratamientos post-incendio desde la perspectiva de la recuperación † † †email robert.beschta@oregonstate.edu ‡ ‡ ‡Current address: 958Postfire Management of Public Forests Beschta et al.del ecosistema. Examinamos, vía la literatura publicada y nuestra experiencia colectiva, los efectos ecológicos de algunos tratamientos post-incendio comunes. Con base en esa examinación, las medidas de restauración post-incendio prometedoras incluyen la retención deárboles grandes, la rehabilitación de guardarrayas y caminos y, en algunos casos, la siembra de especies nativas. Las siguientes generalmente son inconsistentes con los esfuerzos para restaurar funciones del ecosistema después del incendio: siembra de especies exóticas, pastoreo, colocación de estructuras físicas en y cerca del canal de arroyos, tala ...

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