A framework for evaluating the impact of the IUCN Red List of threatened species.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, a species extinction risk assessment tool, has been guiding conservation efforts for over 5 decades. It is widely assumed to have been instrumental in preventing species from moving closer to extinction and driving recoveries. However, the impact of the IUCN Red List in guiding conservation has not been evaluated.

Randomized controlled trial of REbeL: A peer education program to promote positive body image, healthy eating behavior, and empowerment in teens.

Short-term outcomes associated with participation in REbeL, a peer-led dissonance-based eating disorder prevention program for high school students, were evaluated. Seventy-one students across the three high schools were enrolled in the study (REbeL N = 48; Control N = 23) and were assessed on measures of eating attitudes and behaviors, body image, weight bias, self-esteem, empowerment, and mood at the beginning of the school year; 37 REbeL students and 20 control students completed assessments at the end of the school year. Mixed effects GLM compared groups on outcomes at the end of the academic year.

Physical activity and academic achievement across the curriculum: Results from a 3-year cluster-randomized trial.

We compared changes in academic achievement across 3years between children in elementary schools receiving the Academic Achievement and Physical Activity Across the Curriculum intervention (A+PAAC), in which classroom teachers were trained to deliver academic lessons using moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) compared to a non-intervention control. Elementary schools in eastern Kansas (n=17) were cluster randomized to A+PAAC (N=9, target ≥100min/week) or control (N=8). Academic achievement (math, reading, spelling) was assessed using the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-Third Edition (WIAT-III) in a sample of children (A+PAAC=316, Control=268) in grades 2 and 3 at baseline (Fall 2011) and repeated each spring across 3years.

Cognitive control in preadolescent children with risk factors for metabolic syndrome.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between cognitive control and metabolic syndrome (MetS) risk factors in preadolescent children while controlling for aerobic fitness and weight status.

Methods: Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted using aerobic fitness, demographic, and MetS risk-factor variables in a sample of 2nd- and 3rd-grade children (n = 139) who performed a modified version of a flanker task to assess cognitive control. Flanker performance was also compared between children that met no MetS risk-factor criteria (n = 70), and children who met 1 criterion or more (n = 69).

Physical activity and academic achievement across the curriculum (A + PAAC): rationale and design of a 3-year, cluster-randomized trial.

Background: Improving academic achievement and reducing the rates of obesity in elementary school students are both of considerable interest. Increased physical activity during academic instruction time during school offers a potential intervention to address both issues. A program titled "Physical Activity Across the Curriculum" (PAAC) was developed in which classroom teachers in 22 elementary schools were trained to deliver academic instruction using physical activity with a primary aim of preventing increased BMI.

A 6-month trial of resistance training with milk supplementation in adolescents: effects on body composition.

Fluid milk consumed in conjunction with resistance training (RT) provides additional protein and calcium, which may enhance the effect of RT on body composition. However, the literature on this topic is inconsistent with limited data in adolescents. Therefore, we examined the effects of a supervised RT program (6 mo, 3 d/ wk, 7 exercises, 40-85% 1-repetition maximum) with daily milk supplementation (24 oz/day, one 16-oz dose immediately post-RT) on weight, fat mass (FM), and fat-free mass (FFM) assessed via dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (baseline, 3 mo, 6 mo) in a sample of middle-school students who were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 supplement groups: milk, isocaloric carbohydrate (100% fruit juice), or water (control).

A cross-modal weapon focus effect: The influence of a weapon's presence on memory for auditory information.

To examine whether a weapon's presence impairs witnesses' memory for auditory information (as it impairs memory for visual information), we conducted two experiments in which undergraduates watched one version of a videotape depicting a male target who held either a weapon or a neutral object and conversed with a female character. The semantic content of his remarks was either easy or difficult to comprehend. The weapon's presence did not affect voice identification accuracy or memory for the target's vocal characteristics (e.

Phylogeography and history of giant Galápagos tortoises.

We examined the phylogeography and history of giant Galápagos tortoise populations based on mitochondrial DNA sequence data from 161 individuals from 21 sampling sites representing the 11 currently recognized extant taxa. Molecular clock and geological considerations indicate a founding of the monophyletic Galápagos lineage around 2-3 million years ago, which would allow for all the diversification to have occurred on extant islands. Founding events generally occurred from geologically older to younger islands with some islands colonized more than once.