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| 2. |
- Dufe, Veronica T, et al.
(author)
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A structural insight into the inhibition of human and Leishmania donovani ornithine decarboxylases by 1-amino-oxy-3-aminopropane.
- 2007
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In: Biochem J. - 1470-8728. ; 405:2, s. 261-268
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The critical role of polyamines in key processes such as cell growth, differentiation and macromolecular synthesis makes the enzymes involved in their synthesis potential targets in the treatment of certain types of cancer and parasitic diseases. Here we present a study on the inhibition of human and Leishmania donovani ODC (ornithine decarboxylase), the first committed enzyme in the polyamine biosynthesis pathway, by APA (1-amino-oxy-3-aminopropane). The present study shows APA to be a potent inhibitor of both human and L. donovani ODC with a K(i) value of around 1.0 nM. We also show that L. donovani ODC binds the substrate, the co-enzyme pyridoxal 5'-phosphate and the irreversible inhibitor alpha-difluoromethylornithine (a curative agent of West African sleeping sickness) with less affinity than human ODC. We have also determined the three-dimensional structure of human ODC in complex with APA, which revealed the mode of the inhibitor binding to the enzyme. In contrast with earlier reports, the structure showed no indication of oxime formation between APA and PLP (pyridoxal 5'-phosphate). Homology modelling suggests a similar mode of binding of APA to L. donovani ODC. A comparison of the ODC-APA-PLP structure with earlier ODC structures also shows that the protease-sensitive loop (residues 158-168) undergoes a large conformational change and covers the active site of the protein. The understanding of the structural mode of APA binding may constitute the basis for the development of more specific inhibitors of L. donovani ODC.
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| 3. |
- Lo, Veronica
(author)
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'Bonkers but good!' - Using illustration-based interview methods to understand land management and conservation visions
- 2023
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In: Landscape and Urban Planning. - 0169-2046 .- 1872-6062. ; 239
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Visions help to understand common ground and tensions among citizens and stakeholders, supporting inclusive land management and conservation solutions to the climate emergency and biodiversity crisis. With careful design and sufficient resource, it is possible to bring together communities and other stakeholders to share perspectives and deliberate desired futures, identifying more acceptable alternatives and avoiding costly delays. We evaluated researcher and participant experiences of illustration-based interviews to understand land management visions using four studies in Scotland, The Netherlands and Spain. These studies used STREAMLINE, a visual mixed-method interview format using thematic illustrated canvases designed to provide an inclusive and creative framing for participants to contemplate their desired future. Participants enjoyed the informal visual format, which reduced pressure, increased comfort through the research process, and helped their thinking and reflection about complex topics. They also valued being listened to and having the opportunity to share their views. Researchers appreciated the ability to triangulate rich qualitative data with a variety of quantitative measure through the mixed-method format and the flexibility to adapt the canvases to suit their research aims. Positive participant experience made facilitation easier and was stimulating for the researchers. The credibility and legitimacy of illustration-based interviews will ultimately depend on specific research design-decisions and testing, which can make the approach more resource intensive than conventional interviews. While organisational barriers should be considered realistically, illustration-based interviews can have high saliency by providing useful and usable insights that strengthen land management policy and planning.
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| 4. |
- Lo, Veronica
(author)
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Delineating participation in conservation governance: Insights from the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park (Spain)
- 2020
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In: Environmental Science and Policy. - : Elsevier BV. - 1462-9011 .- 1873-6416. ; 114, s. 486-496
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The active participation of local stakeholders in governing protected areas is increasingly recognized in biodi-versity conservation. While progress has been made in countries to facilitate inclusivity in conservation decision making, there is limited practical guidance of participatory mechanisms enabling stakeholder engagement. Disentangling formal and informal governance arrangements within protected areas illuminates how stakeholder participation in decision-making is shaped and potentially improved. Here, we provide an analytical framework characterising governance arrangements to examine the formal and informal mechanisms guiding stakeholder participation conservation decision-making in the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park (Spain). We conducted 76 semi-structured interviews and field observations with local stakeholders, and reviewed Park policy documents. Our findings reveal governance arrangements are contingent upon stakeholders' responsibility (shared vs. concentrated) and influence (equal vs. unequal), regardless of the (in)formality of decision making. We found four types of arrangements that characterise governance of Sierra de Guadarrama National Park-cooperative, consultative, informative, and prescriptive-and identified the mutually supportive role formal and informal mechanisms play in shaping participation. We argue stakeholders' responsibility and influence are key analytical axes to delineate participatory mechanisms in order to identify challenges and opportunities for more inclusive conservation. Our study provides analytical guidance that could be adapted and scaled up to other protected areas for understanding participation in conservation decision-making.
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| 5. |
- Lo, Veronica, et al.
(author)
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How stable are visions for protected area management? Stakeholder perspectives before and during a pandemic
- 2022
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In: People and Nature. - : Wiley. - 2575-8314. ; 4, s. 445-461
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Envisioning processes enable protected area managers to chart a course for future management to reach desired goals, but unexpected changes that could affect future visions are not usually considered. The global COVID-19 pandemic provided an opportunity to explore changes in stakeholder visions, the values that underpin the visions, and their perceptions of landscape changes and the underlying drivers (e.g. climate change, mass tourism and demographic trends).Through a mixed-methods approach in this post-evaluation study, we gathered comparative data on these issues from stakeholders in the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park, Spain, between July 2019 (pre-pandemic) and October 2020 (mid-pandemic).Our qualitative analysis demonstrates that pre-pandemic, differences in visions for protected area management were largely spurred by different perceptions of drivers of change, rather than differences in values or perceived landscape changes, which were similar across different vision themes.One year later, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of stakeholders reported that their values, visions and perceptions of drivers did not change despite this large-scale disturbance. Of the 20%-30% of stakeholders that did report changes, visions generally shifted towards greater prioritization of biodiversity and nature conservation as a result of heightened perceptions of the impacts of drivers of change associated with an increase in the numbers of park visitors. These drivers included mass tourism, mountain recreation, lack of environmental awareness, and change in values and traditions.Our findings reinforce the importance of adaptive and inclusive management of protected areas, including enhancing transparency and communications regarding factors driving change in the landscape, and integration of local and traditional knowledge and stakeholder perceptions of changes and drivers. Furthermore, management plans integrating stakeholder values have the potential to stay relevant even in the face of wildcard events such as a pandemic.To enhance the relevancy of visions and scenarios in conservation and land-use planning, scenario planning methodologies should more strongly consider different potential disturbances and how drivers of change in the near and far future can be affected by wildcard events such as a pandemic. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
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| 6. |
- Lo, Veronica, et al.
(author)
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Scientific and local ecological knowledge, shaping perceptions towards protected areas and related ecosystem services
- 2020
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In: Landscape Ecology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0921-2973 .- 1572-9761. ; 35, s. 2549-2567
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Context Most protected areas are managed based on objectives related to scientific ecological knowledge of species and ecosystems. However, a core principle of sustainability science is that understanding and including local ecological knowledge, perceptions of ecosystem service provision and landscape vulnerability will improve sustainability and resilience of social-ecological systems. Here, we take up these assumptions in the context of protected areas to provide insight on the effectiveness of nature protection goals, particularly in highly human-influenced landscapes. Objectives We examined how residents' ecological knowledge systems, comprised of both local and scientific, mediated the relationship between their characteristics and a set of variables that represented perceptions of ecosystem services, landscape change, human-nature relationships, and impacts. Methods We administered a face-to-face survey to local residents in the Sierra de Guadarrama protected areas, Spain. We used bi- and multi-variate analysis, including partial least squares path modeling to test our hypotheses. Results Ecological knowledge systems were highly correlated and were instrumental in predicting perceptions of water-related ecosystem services, landscape change, increasing outdoors activities, and human-nature relationships. Engagement with nature, socio-demographics, trip characteristics, and a rural-urban gradient explained a high degree of variation in ecological knowledge. Bundles of perceived ecosystem services and impacts, in relation to ecological knowledge, emerged as social representation on how residents relate to, understand, and perceive landscapes. Conclusions Our findings provide insight into the interactions between ecological knowledge systems and their role in shaping perceptions of local communities about protected areas. These results are expected to inform protected area management and landscape sustainability.
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| 7. |
- Lo, Veronica
(author)
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Visualizing stakeholders? willingness for collective action in participatory scenario planning
- 2023
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In: Ecology and Society. - 1708-3087. ; 28
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Participatory scenario planning is a powerful approach to guide diverse stakeholders in creating and reflecting on visions of plausible and desired futures. However, this process requires tools to guide collective action to implement such visions within management agendas. This study develops, applies, and analyzes a novel visual tool within a virtual participatory scenario planning process about the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park (Madrid, Spain). Building on the identification of stakeholders who might engage in scenario strategies, the visual tool guided them in defining tasks to be developed and envisioning their willingness to collaborate in their implementation. We qualitatively analyzed data from recordings, online field observations, a post-survey from the scenario planning process, and a successive policy workshop. Our findings show that the visual tool fosters dialogue between stakeholders to redistribute tasks for working together on needed strategies in the protected area while promoting reflection on their willingness to collaborate as a group to implement them. The visual tool provided graphic outcomes for nine strategies corresponding to pictures of who may or may not be willing to engage in implementing such strategies. We argue that the visual tool is a robust method that can complement participatory scenario planning processes by providing a useful starting point for creating action networks to incorporate the resulting scenario strategies into management agendas. We deliberate on the nature of the visual tool as a boundary object and discuss its role as a decision-support tool. In particular, we reflect on the potential contributions and limitations of the visual tool to four dimensions of participatory conservation governance during participatory scenario planning processes: inclusivity, integration, adaptation, and pluralism. Our study provides a practical orientation to adapt the tool to other contexts and knowledge co-creation processes.
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| 8. |
- Raymond, Christopher, et al.
(author)
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Inclusive conservation and the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework : Tensions and prospects
- 2022
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In: One Earth. - : Elsevier BV. - 2590-3330 .- 2590-3322. ; 5:3, s. 252-264
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The draft Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework commits to achievement of equity and justice outcomes and represents a “relational turn” in how we understand inclusive conservation. Although “inclusivity” is drawn on as a means to engage diverse stakeholders, widening the framing of inclusivity can create new tensions with regard to how to manage protected areas. We first offer a set of tensions that emerge in the light of the relational turn in biodiversity conservation. Drawing on global case examples applying multiple methods of inclusive conservation, we then demonstrate that, by actively engaging in the interdependent phases of recognizing hybridity, enabling conditions for reflexivity and partnership building, tensions can not only be acknowledged but softened and, in some cases, reframed when managing for biodiversity, equity, and justice goals. The results can improve stakeholder engagement in protected area management, ultimately supporting better implementation of global biodiversity targets.
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| 9. |
- Sjöberg, Veronica, et al.
(author)
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Effectiveness of the eVISualisation of physical activity and pain intervention (eVIS) in Swedish Interdisciplinary Pain Rehabilitation Programmes: study protocol for a registry-based randomised controlled clinical trial
- 2022
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In: BMJ open. - : BMJ. - 2044-6055. ; 12:4, s. e055071-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Living with chronic pain often involves negative consequences. Interdisciplinary Pain Rehabilitation Programmes (IPRP) is considered superior to single-treatment measures in patients with chronic pain. Despite this, effects emerge suboptimal and more than 20% of patients deteriorate in patient-reported physical health outcomes after IPRP. A novel e-Health intervention, eVISualisation (eVIS) of physical activity and pain, was systematically developed to facilitate individualisation of physical activity levels. By adding elements of data collection, visualisation and communication of objectively measured physical activity and patient-reported outcomes (pain intensity, interference of pain, pharmaceutical consumption) to existing treatment modalities in IPRP, the IPRP team acquires prerequisites to adapt advice and physical activity prescriptions and to evaluate set activity goals. The overall aim is twofold. First, the aim is to evaluate the feasibility of the subsequent registry-based randomised controlled clinical trial (R-RCT). Second, the aim is to prospectively evaluate the effectiveness of the eVIS-intervention as a supplement to IPRP on our defined primary (physical health) and secondary outcomes.Methods and analysisIn the R-RCT, recruitment of 400 patients with chronic pain will be performed at 15 IPRP units. A random allocation to either IPRP + eVIS or to control group that will receive IPRP only will be performed. Data from the initial 30 participants completing the study period (6 months) will be included in a pilot study, where key feasibility outcomes (recruitment, randomisation, implementation, treatment integrity, data collection procedure, preliminary outcome measures) will be evaluated. Outcome variables will be extracted from the web application Pain And TRaining ON-line (PATRON) and from six national registries. Multivariate statistics and repeated measure analyses will be performed. Quality-adjusted life years and incremental cost-effectiveness ratio will be calculated for cost-effectiveness evaluation.Ethics/disseminationThe Swedish Ethics Review Board granted approval (Dnr 2021/02109). Results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals.Trial registration numberNCT05009459. Protocol V.1.
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| 10. |
- Sjöberg, Veronica, et al.
(author)
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Wrist-Worn Activity Trackers in Laboratory and Free-Living Settings for Patients With Chronic Pain : Criterion Validity Study
- 2021
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In: JMIR mhealth and uhealth. - : JMIR Publications. - 2291-5222. ; 9:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Physical activity is evidently a crucial part of the rehabilitation process for patients with chronic pain. Modern wrist-worn activity tracking devices seemingly have a great potential to provide objective feedback and assist in the adoption of healthy physical activity behavior by supplying data of energy expenditure expressed as metabolic equivalent of task units (MET). However, no studies of any wrist-worn activity tracking devices & rsquo; have examined criterion validity in estimating energy expenditure, heart rate, or step count in patients with chronic pain.Objective: The aim was to determine the criterion validity of wrist-worn activity tracking devices for estimations of energy expenditure, heart rate, and step count in a controlled laboratory setting and free-living settings for patients with chronic pain.Methods: In this combined laboratory and field validation study, energy expenditure, heart rate, and step count were simultaneously estimated by a wrist-worn activity tracker (Fitbit Versa), indirect calorimetry (Jaeger Oxycon Pro), and a research-grade hip-worn accelerometer (ActiGraph GT3X) during treadmill walking at 3 speeds (3.0 km/h, 4.5 km/h, and 6.0 km/h) in the laboratory setting. Energy expenditure and step count were also estimated by the wrist-worn activity tracker in free-living settings for 72 hours. The criterion validity of each measure was determined using intraclass and Spearman correlation, Bland-Altman plots, and mean absolute percentage error. An analysis of variance was used to determine whether there were any significant systematic differences between estimations.Results: A total of 42 patients (age: 25-66 years; male: 10/42, 24%; female: 32/42, 76%), living with chronic pain (duration, in years: mean 9, SD 6.72) were included. At baseline, their mean pain intensity was 3.5 (SD 1.1) out of 6 (Multidimensional Pain Inventory, Swedish version). Results showed that the wrist-worn activity tracking device (Fitbit Versa) systematically overestimated energy expenditure when compared to the criterion standard (Jaeger Oxycon Pro) and the relative criterion standard (ActiGraph GT3X). Poor agreement and poor correlation were shown between Fitbit Versa and both Jaeger Oxycon Pro and ActiGraph GT3X for estimated energy expenditure at all treadmill speeds. Estimations of heart rate demonstrated poor to fair agreement during laboratory-based treadmill walks. For step count, the wrist-worn devices showed fair agreement and fair correlation at most treadmill speeds. In free-living settings; however, the agreement for step count between the wrist-worn device and waist-worn accelerometer was good, and the correlation was excellent.Conclusions: The wrist-worn device systematically overestimated energy expenditure and showed poor agreement and correlation compared to the criterion standard (Jaeger Oxycon Pro) and the relative criterion standard (ActiGraph GT3X), which needs to be considered when used clinically. Step count measured with a wrist-worn device, however, seemed to be a valid estimation, suggesting that future guidelines could include such variables in this group with chronic pain.
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