UBC

• The United States Patent and Trademark Office also recently granted US Patent 11,905,317 directed to immunogenic compositions of matter that are being developed for treating AD.
• Protection for the immunogenic compositions of matter has also been obtained in Japan, Korea, India and Australia.
• Further, patent applications were also recently allowed in the U.S. and Japan for two other Aβ targets.
• “We are building a fortress of intellectual property protection around our novel approach to targeting toxic misfolded proteins to treat neurodegenerative diseases and these newly allowed patents validate that innovation in important geographies around the world,” stated Neil Warma, Chief Executive Officer of ProMIS Neurosciences.

• VANCOUVER, BC, Feb. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - Asep Medical Holdings Inc. ("Asep Inc." or the "Company") (CSE: ASEP) (OTCQB: SEPSF) (FSE: JJ8) is pleased to announce that its proprietary gene expression signature for sepsis can provide an improved assessment of the severity of appendicitis in children.
• The study found that the "diagnostic study of 71 patients with pediatric appendicitis using systems immunology methods revealed a mechanistic understanding of severe disease, indicating immune dysregulation similar to that observed in sepsis.
• The study concluded that early diagnostics and management strategies for pediatric PA should be informed by underlying immune dysregulation and similarities to sepsis.
• Based on the new potential benefits of this ER technology, we look forward to improving outcomes for children presenting with abdominal pain in the ER."

• Some Canadian scientists advocate for conservation efforts to focus on species unique to this country, while others argue for a more global focus.
• However, most ignore the fact that the U.S. – Canada border creates endangered species.
• We must consider the global context when designing Canadian endangered species, and biodiversity, protections.

Time for a chat about Chats

• Take the Yellow-breasted Chat, a charismatic warbler listed as Endangered under the (Canadian) federal Species at Risk Act (SARA).
• The Canadian fragment of the Southern Mountain subspecies survives in a handful of sites in B.C.
• According to the International Union for Conservation (IUCN) Red List, though, the global population is around 17 million across North America.

The federal Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) says the Southern Mountain subspecies “occurs at the northern edge of its range in Canada” as a peripheral to the huge American core population. In other words, the Yellow-breasted Chat is listed as endangered in Canada because, in 1846, the British accepted that the border with the U.S. should lie at the 49th parallel.

Endangered, or not?

• The question then is, should conservation efforts be dedicated to tiny Canadian populations of otherwise healthy species?
• Elder Richard Armstrong’s traditional story illuminates why the Chat, which his people call xʷaʔɬqʷiləm’ (whaa-th-quil lem), matters to the transboundary Nsyilxcən speaking Peoples.
• The First Nation’s special care for the Chat, in turn, makes it more likely that COSEWIC’s listing will help.
• Fourteen of those were, like the chat, ‘Least Concern’ globally, while just one bat species, Myotis lucifugus, was universally assessed as endangered.
• Another study scored 729 COSEWIC-listed species, subspecies and populations to assess the global context of these conservation measures.

Overcoming jurisdictional rarity

• I live in one of the skinny fragments of shrub steppe that snake up from the Columbia plateau in the U.S. through Osoyoos to Kamloops — an area which seems purpose-built for jurisdictional rarity.
• Take the burrowing owl, a ground-nesting raptor with a vexed facial expression.
• Meanwhile, the IUCN’s range map for the burrowing owl (Least Concern), stretches from Alberta to Argentina.
• Public information about endangered species dodges jurisdictional rarity, leaving decisions to scientists and bureaucrats.

Reframing the conversation

• Scientists may feel protective towards Canadian populations they know and love, but citizens won’t want limited resources wasted on conservation of un-endangered species.
• Scientific and political processes gummed up with peripheral species make it less likely that critically imperilled species will be saved.
• Where good reasons exist to protect peripheral species, those arguments should be public and open to debate.
• is considering, should require that peripheral species be identified transparently, using agreed definitions, as ‘endangered in B.C.’, or ‘threatened in Canada’.

Greg Garrard's research is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, grant no. 435-2020-1220. Sarah Raymond's research visit to UBC Okanagan was funded by UKRI-MITACS Globalink.

• She was unanimously supported to take over the reins from Hans Wortman, who will retire following an illustrious three-decade career in fibre-based packaging.
• Commenting on her appointment, Sarah Price said: "After an exciting year as Co-Chair, it is a great honour to continue the adventure with the 4evergreen alliance as Chair.
• On taking up his new role, Andreas Walser said: "I am eager to start as Co-Chair of the 4evergreen alliance.
• For additional information or interview requests, please reach out to the 4evergreen media officer Edward McCafferty at [email protected] or by phone 0032488890107.