FWC biologists began tracking the kittens’ mother in February. She was captured, collared and released. In May, they examined and marked her three kittens on private land in Lee County.

On Sept. 14, a mortality signal from the mother’s collar was detected during a routine telemetry flight. Her skeletal remains were located later that day. The cause of death is unknown.

Knowing orphaned kittens cannot survive long in the wild without their mother, biologists worked quickly to capture the kittens. Remote cameras and traps were set. Several days went by with no activity, and hope the kittens would be found alive was fading.

That is until Thursday. FWC biologists checked the cameras and found pictures of two panther kittens.

This morning, two kittens were trapped together in a single trap. It is believed that only two of the three kittens survived to this age. They were successfully rescued and transported via private plane to White Oak Conservation Center, where they will be raised and conditioned for a future return to the wild.

“Losing a mother panther in the prime of her life is tough,” said Darrell Land, FWC biologist and panther team leader. “But we hope we can finish the job she started by raising her kittens so they can be returned to the wild. With only 100-160 adult panthers remaining in South Florida, every individual is important.”

The public can support panther conservation efforts. Funds generated through the purchase of a panther license plate go directly to supporting the research and management of Florida panthers, including the care of these two kittens.

Most Floridians or visitors to the state will never get to see the reclusive long-tailed cat. But they can attend the first annual Florida Panther Festival on Saturday, Oct. 29, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at North Collier Regional Park in Naples. The purpose of the free festival is to raise awareness of the endangered Florida panther, while promoting safe coexistence of people, pets, livestock and panthers. To learn more about the panther, go to FloridaPantherNet.org.

September brings the change of seasons. Football players return to the gridiron. New television programs replace summer reruns. In Washington, legislators gear up for another season of legislative brinkmanship.

What distinguishes such brinkmanship from ordinary legislating? Hard deadlines.

Such deadlines force Congress to address policy issues that might otherwise languish due to partisan differences or legislative inertia.

Last spring, for example, the repeated threat of a government shutdown forced Congress to decide how much to spend on government agencies in fiscal 2011. This summer, the debt limit forced Republicans and Democrats to reach a budget compromise before Aug. 3, the day we would have discovered what happens if America can’t pay all its bills.

Hard deadlines thus can force Congress to address major issues. But they also invite that brinkmanship.

Like students who put off writing term papers until the night before they’re due, legislators often drag out negotiations until the very end. As we saw with the debt-limit debate, the ensuing uncertainty – will the United States really default? – can damage consumer, business, and international confidence. Hard deadlines also give leverage to those legislators who are least concerned about going over the brink.

So get ready for the new season. The fall legislative season is full of deadlines that could invite such brinkmanship. Here are five.
Number 1

The first up was the Federal Aviation Administration, whose short-term funding expired Sept. 16. Congress averted a partial shutdown by extending the agency’s funding for four months, avoiding the thousands of furloughs and layoffs that occurred when FAA funding briefly ran out in July.
Number 2

Second is for a much larger item: funding for highways and mass transit. Current authority for these programs expires on Sept. 30. If Congress doesn’t act by then, new federal spending on surface transportation projects will grind to a halt, putting tens of thousands of jobs at risk.

Number 3

Sept. 30 also marks the end of the fiscal year – an especially important deadline. Congress has made woefully little progress in deciding next year’s funding. So we again face the prospect of temporary funding bills being negotiated in the shadow of threatened government shutdowns.

Number 4
The fourth deadline comes on Nov. 23, the day the new “super committee” has to deliver a plan to address government debt and cut the deficit by at least $1.2 trillion over the next decade. If any seven committee members agree by that date, their plan will get special, expedited consideration in the House and Senate.

If the committee fails to reach agreement or Congress fails to enact it by Dec. 23, however, then automatic budget cuts go into effect for a range of programs, including defense, domestic programs, and Medicare, starting in 2013.
Number 5

A final deadline comes at the end of the year, when several economic initiatives are set to expire, including the 2 percent payroll tax holiday and extended unemployment insurance benefits.

Each of these deadlines will command congressional attention. The downside of inaction will be tangible and visible. With renewed concern about jobs, policymakers will feel extra pressure to continue any funding or tax cuts that can be directly linked to employment.

These deadline-driven policy issues will thus dominate the fall legislative season. That will leave little space for any new initiatives that don’t come with a deadline.

~ National report ranks Florida’s reading proficiency standards higher than the majority of other states ~

TALLAHASSEE – A new report from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) indicates that Florida has some of the strongest reading standards in the country. The Mapping State Proficiency Standards onto the NAEP Scales report compares each state’s reading and mathematics proficiency standards against national proficiency standards to see how closely they match up. According to the report, Florida’s eighth grade reading proficiency standards are the second highest in the nation, and only 12 states have higher proficiency standards in fourth grade.

“Florida set a high bar for reading very early on and this latest NAEP report helps to reflect the positive impact of that decision,” said Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson. “With our Next Generation reading standards now firmly in place we should expect even greater things in the years ahead.”

The report uses a method called “mapping” to take each state’s proficiency standards and place them on a common scale so they can be accurately compared. The common scale in this report is the NAEP reading and mathematics proficiency standards, widely considered the gold standard for the nation.

Florida experienced more moderate rankings in mathematics, primarily due to newly updated mathematics standards not being fully captured in this NAEP report. In fourth grade, Florida’s mathematics proficiency standards were ranked 15th in the nation, and its eighth grade ranking was 26th.

Florida continues to be a national leader in setting high standards for student achievement. Over the past several years the state has been involved in developing, adopting and implementing Next Generation curriculum standards designed to prepare students for college and career. Florida’s commitment to higher standards and increased expectations for students has resulted in significant academic progress as measured by both state and national assessments.

NIH-funded study finds dietary supplement does not alleviate BPH

Are These Berries the Cure for Prostate Problems?

Saw palmetto, a widely used herbal dietary supplement, does not reduce urinary problems associated with prostate enlargement any better than a placebo, according to research funded by the National Institutes of Health. The study was published Sept. 28 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Prostate enlargement, also called benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), can cause frequent urination, a weak or intermittent urine stream and an inability to empty the bladder completely. More than half of men in their 60s, and up to 90 percent in their 70s and 80s, have symptoms of BPH.

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) supported the study. All are part of the NIH.

According to Robert A. Star, M.D., director of the NIDDK’s Division of Kidney, Urologic and Hematologic Diseases, the current study met an important need for rigorous evaluation of standard and higher doses of saw palmetto. The trial also confirmed results of the earlier NIDDK- and NCCAM-sponsored Saw Palmetto Trial for Enlarged Prostates (STEP), which found that a standard daily dose of 320 milligrams provided no greater symptom relief than placebo.

“Investigators designed the current trial to determine whether daily doses of up to 960 milligrams — three times the standard daily dose — would prove better than a placebo at improving lower urinary tract symptoms in men due to BPH,” said Star. “We were disappointed to find that higher doses of saw palmetto did not improve symptoms more than placebo.”

Josephine P. Briggs, M.D., director of NCCAM, added that this study further illustrates the importance of conducting research on botanical products that are used extensively by the general public.

“This was a well-designed study that addressed limitations of earlier, smaller trials — it was a multicenter study with a larger sample size and tested different doses of a carefully analyzed saw palmetto product,” Briggs said. “The NIH is committed to bringing rigorous science to the study of natural products and to building the evidence base that can guide consumer decisions.”

The study was a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial conducted at 11 North American clinical sites from June 2008 to October 2010. A cohort of 369 men aged 45 years or older participated, each with a peak urine flow rate of at least four milliliters per second at the beginning of the study — which is less than normal. Also, all had an American Urological Association Symptom Index (AUASI) score of between eight and 24 — a lower score is better. The AUASI score ranges from zero to 35. Escalating doses of saw palmetto or placebo were given, starting at one, then two, and then three pills of 320 milligrams per day, with dose increases at 24 and 48 weeks.

The study measured the differences between the AUASI score at the start of the trial and after 72 weeks of treatment. Secondary measures included improvements in frequency, nocturia (nighttime urination), peak urine flow, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level, sexual function, incontinence and sleep quality.

Between baseline and 72 weeks, mean AUASI scores decreased from 14.4 to 12.2 points with saw palmetto extract and from 14.7 to 11.7 points with placebo. The group average change in AUASI score from baseline to 72 weeks between the saw palmetto and placebo groups was 0.79 points, favoring placebo. Saw palmetto was not more effective than placebo in reducing urinary symptoms for any of the secondary outcomes.

According to Joseph M. Betz, Ph.D., director of the Analytical Methods and Reference Materials program at ODS and a study co-author, the study used a very well-characterized saw palmetto product. Through batch testing, study investigators took extreme care to ensure that the composition of the supplement was consistent over the whole study.

“Saw palmetto and other herbs are often manufactured in different ways, so no two brands are likely to have the same composition,” Betz said.

Rottapharm/Madaus, Cologne, Germany, donated the saw palmetto extract and matching placebo used in the study.

New Understanding Into the Causes of ALS and Dementia

National Institutes of Health scientists and worldwide teams of researchers have identified the most common genetic cause known to date for two neurological diseases, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). The discovery offers clues to underlying mechanisms of these diseases, and may eventually contribute to the design and testing of possible therapies. The research results appeared online in Neuron on Sept. 21, 2011.

Researchers found that a mutation on a single gene, C9ORF72 on the short arm of chromosome 9, accounts for nearly 50 percent of the directly inherited, familial ALS and FTD in the Finnish population, and more than a third of familial ALS in other groups of European ancestry. The mutation, called a hexanucleotide repeat expansion, is an unusual one that involves repeating a DNA sequence over and over again. The researchers also found these mutations in Finnish people with the more common, sporadic form of ALS.

Bryan Traynor, M.D., of the Laboratory of Neurosciences at the NIH’s National Institute on Aging (NIA), led the NIH work with support from NIH’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). NIA and NINDS also funded work by a team from the Mayo Clinic in Florida, reported by Mayo investigator Rosa Rademakers, Ph.D., and colleagues, which independently identified the same repeat DNA sequence as a genetic cause of FTD/ALS.

“Identifying this defective gene common to both the inherited forms of ALS and FTD and the sporadic form of ALS provides important new insights into the development of these neurodegenerative diseases,” said NIA Director Richard J. Hodes, M.D. “We still have much to learn about the complex interplay between genetic risk for a disorder and the other factors that determine disease onset and progression. But finding these types of mutations is critically important to a better understanding of disease mechanisms so that we can ultimately target disease biology to develop therapeutics.”

“This finding highlights the importance of studying isolated populations with high rates of a specific disease. Finland has the highest rates of ALS in the world. By collecting virtually every case within the Finnish population, Traynor and colleagues were able to definitively show that this particular gene mutation plays a role in ALS development—a discovery relevant not just to that population, but critical to our basic understanding of the disorder,” said NINDS Director Story Landis, Ph.D.

Both ALS, often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease, and FTD are rapidly progressive, fatal neurological disorders that attack and kill brain cells, or neurons. People with ALS lose strength and the ability to move their arms, legs, and body, and eventually, the ability to breathe without support. About 5 percent of people with ALS have the directly inherited form of the disease. People with FTD develop erratic behavior, emotional problems, trouble communicating, or difficulty with walking and other basic movements. About 20 to 40 percent of those with FTD have a family history of the disorder. ALS and FTD can sometimes occur together in the same individual, but they also occur independently of each other.

There is growing scientific evidence that the pathologies of ALS and FTD somehow overlap. To date, a number of mutated genes have been identified as playing a role in the development of familial FTD and ALS, but not to the level of significance as the discovery of the 9p21 gene mutation. The five major genes previously identified for ALS account for approximately 25 percent of familial cases. The new discovery increases this figure to around 65 percent.

“Until now, the gene alteration responsible for the chromosome 9p-linked inherited forms of these diseases remained elusive,” said Traynor. “Investigators around the world worked together to identify a common genetic cause of these fatal disorders. At NIH, our state of the art DNA sequencing facilities enabled us to rapidly generate the data needed to identify this repeat expansion.”

The findings reported by Traynor and the team resulted from an international collaboration involving scientists in the United States, Canada and Europe. In the United States, participating institutions included the University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle; Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore; Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.; and the Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami. The European collaborators included Cardiff University School of Medicine, Wales; VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, and Erasmus MC – University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; University of Manchester and University College London, England; University of Oulu and University of Helsinki, Finland; the University of Toronto; University of Würzburg, Germany; and the University of Turin, Catholic University Rome, and the University of Modena Cagliari, Italy.

Research project will focus on doctors, communities and families to help children make healthy choices

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today launched a new effort to address childhood obesity using successful elements of both primary care and public health. Funding made available through the Affordable Care Act will support a four year Childhood Obesity Demonstration Project.  Supported by $25 million in funding awards, the project will build on existing community efforts and will work to identify effective health care and community strategies to support children’s healthy eating and active living and help combat childhood obesity.

The project will target children ages 2–12 years covered by the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which provides low cost health insurance to over 7 million children from working families.  Rates of childhood obesity are high overall, but for minority and low–income communities in particular, they are even higher. Using innovative approaches to reach low–income and minority families to tackle childhood obesity prevents the onset of many diseases associated with childhood obesity, including type 2 diabetes, asthma, and heart disease.

These innovative approaches include combining changes in preventive care at doctor visits with supportive changes in schools, child care centers, and community venues such as retail food stores and parks. Community health workers will provide a bridge between families and resources in their communities in order to inform and educate hard–to–reach, limited English proficiency, and minority communities about disease prevention (including obesity), health insurance enrollment opportunities, and disease management.  Overall, the grantees’ work will focus on strategies that improve children’s health behaviors by involving the children themselves, their parents and other family members and the communities in which they live.

“Over the last three decades, obesity rates among children and adolescents have nearly tripled,” said CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH.  “Obese children are more likely to have asthma, depression, diabetes, and other serious and costly health problems.  This project will help figure out ways our children can grow up to lead long, healthy and productive lives.”

The project grantees include three research facilities, each of which will receive approximately $6.2 million over four years, to identify effective childhood obesity prevention strategies. The evaluation center will receive about $4.2 million over four years and will determine successful strategies and share lessons and successes.

Research Facilities:

• University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
• San Diego State University
• Massachusetts State Department of Public Health

Evaluation Center:

• The University of Houston

At the end of the project in September 2015, CDC will disseminate the findings and provide recommendations for successful strategies to prevent obesity among underserved children throughout the United States.