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Very little has been published reporting on long-term outcomes experienced by young adults (aged 19 to 34 years old) who participated in 4-H youth development programs. We adopted Gambone et al.'s (2002) framework advancing three long-term outcomes for early adulthood: economic stability, health and well-being, and community involvement. With cross-sectional survey methods, we compared long-term impacts between 693 California 4-H young adult alumni and 373 young adults in a U.S. general population sample who had not participated in 4-H. The results demonstrated that 4-H alumni report more positive long-term outcomes than the U.S. general population sample. The study contributes to the dearth of research around long-term outcomes, may be useful for marketing and funding, and will help better understanding the public value of Extension.

Strong communication skills are important in an individual's personal and professional life; however, research regarding what influences youth's public speaking self-efficacy is limited. To address this gap, we surveyed youth who participated in a statewide presentation event about their self-efficacy and sources of that self-efficacy. Results show mastery experiences have the greatest relationship to youth's public speaking confidence. Extension can strengthen youth's public speaking self-efficacy by increasing the number of presentation opportunities and by removing barriers from participating in existing presentation opportunities.

Public speaking is an essential skill for the workforce, yet many professionals lack confidence when speaking in front of an audience. While the 4-H Youth Development Program helps young people learn and practice public speaking, little is known about which specific 4-H activitiesfoster these skills. We conducted a study to explore 4-H members' public speaking confidence and to identify specific 4-H activities that bolster young people’s public speaking confidence. Quantitative and qualitative survey analyses revealed that, regardless of age, the longer 4-H members spend in the program, the more their self-confidence in public speaking improves. The 4-H program offers unique opportunities for public speaking at club meetings and formal presentations. There is room to expand these opportunities by offering youth more instructional “how to present” materials and increasing low-stakes speaking venues.

Introduction: Nucleic acid synthesis is a powerful tool that has revolutionized the life sciences. However, the misuse of synthetic nucleic acids could pose a serious threat to public health and safety. There is a need for international standards for nucleic acid synthesis screening to help prevent the misuse of this technology. Methods: We outline current barriers to the adoption of screening, which include the cost of developing screening tools and resources, adapting to existing commercial practices, internationalizing screening, and adapting screening to benchtop nucleic acid synthesis devices. To address these challenges, we then introduce the Common Mechanism for DNA Synthesis Screening, which was developed in consultation with a technical consortium of experts in DNA synthesis, synthetic biology, biosecurity, and policy, with the aim of addressing current barriers. The Common Mechanism software uses a variety of methods to identify sequences of concern, identify taxonomic best matches to regulated pathogens, and identify benign genes that can be cleared for synthesis. Finally, we describe outstanding challenges in the development of screening practices. Results: The Common Mechanism is a step toward ensuring the safe and responsible use of synthetic nucleic acids. It provides a baseline capability that overcomes challenges to nucleic acid synthesis screening and provides a solution for broader international adoption of screening practices. Conclusion: The Common Mechanism is a valuable tool for preventing the misuse of synthetic nucleic acids. It is a critical step toward ensuring the safe and responsible use of this powerful technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the challenges and limitations of using taxonomic lists in biosecurity regimes. While taxonomic lists are commonly used to regulate access to harmful organisms and toxins, they often lack specificity or clarity. Advances in biological engineering have further complicated the effectiveness of taxonomy-based control systems. The article suggests a more structured approach to designing biosecurity regimes, including understanding the goals of the regime, translating those goals into biological functions to be controlled, and identifying the most suitable tools for the job. It also proposes improvements to taxonomic lists, such as regular updates, inclusion of functional equivalence, consideration of ease of engineering, and clarification of language. Additionally, the article suggests alternative approaches, such as using reference databases and sequence-based methods, to better capture organisms that may pose harm. It emphasizes the need for improved sequence databases and the development of databases for known toxins and virulence factors. Ultimately, the article advocates for the development of more effective and tailored biosecurity tools. [Extracted from the article]