Caught in the Seamless Web: Does the Internet's Global Reach Justify Less Freedom of Speech?

A federal appellate court will decide this year whether French anti-discrimination law can restrict freedom of speech on U.S.-based websites that are accessible in France. A Paris court ruled in 2000 that the Yahoo! website violated French law because its users offered for sale certain Nazi artifacts. However, to force compliance with the order, French plaintiffs must seek enforcement from a U.S. court. In response, Yahoo! sought a declaratory ruling and a federal district court held that enforcing the French order would violate the First Amendment. The matter is now on appeal. The Yahoo! case presents the question of whether the Internet should be governed by myriad local censorship laws from around the world. U.S. courts have held uniformly that the Internet should receive the highest degree of First Amendment protection. They have been influenced profoundly by the medium's global reach and have invalidated most restrictions so as not to interrupt the "never-ending worldwide conversation" that the Internet makes possible. A contrary result in the Yahoo! case would embrace a very different philosophy -- that Internet speakers must "show their papers" at each nation's borders to ensure that their speech is acceptable to local authorities. Other nations may treat their citizens as fragile children if they wish, or worse, as enemies of the state. But U.S. courts should not permit the seeds of foreign censorship to be planted on U.S. soil by finding that such restrictions are enforceable here

Indian Meal Moth Survivability in Stored Corn With Different Levels of Broken Kernels

Survivability of Indian meal moth, Plodia interpunctella (Hübner) (Lepi-doptera: Pyralidae), larvae fed a standard laboratory diet and whole corn with 0, 5 to 7, and 100% broken corn kernels, was assessed under laboratory conditions at 28o C, 65% relative humidity, and 14:10 h (L:D) photoperiod. A conventional yellow dent corn hybrid (about 3.9% oil content, dry basis) and a high-oil corn hybrid (about 7.7% oil content, dry basis) were tested. Survivability was measured as the percentage of pre-pupae, pupae, and adults observed at the end of the rearing period. For the standard laboratory diet, a mean of 97.5% larvae survived. Percentage of larval survival increased as the percentage of broken corn increased. Mean percentages of larval survival for the conventional yellow dent corn were 6.7, 63.8, and 80.0 for 0, 7, and 100% broken kernels, respectively. The mean percentages of larval survival for the high-oil corn hybrid were 28.3, 81.3, and 100.0 for 0, 5, and 100% broken kernels, respectively. Larval growth rate for high-oil corn was faster than for conventional corn. Results indicate that cleaning corn before storage could reduce P. interpunctella problems

Brown Mid-Rib Corn Population Trial

Brown mid-rib (BMR) corn hybrids are of interest to many growers in the Northeast who would like to maximize milk production on homegrown forage. BMR corn has a naturally-occurring genetic mutation that leads to less lignin in the stalk and makes corn stover more digestible. Corn yields can be highly dependent on population, and it is generally recommended to plant BMR corn at lower populations than conventional silage corn. BMR corn has always been considered to be more prone to lodging due to its lower lignin content, and lower populations allow for less stress on each individual plant. However, optimal populations for the Northeast have yet to be developed. With this in mind, the University of Vermont Extension Northwest Crops & Soils Program conducted a field experiment in 2012 designed to evaluate the yield and quality performance of a BMR corn hybrid at three different populations. The data presented are only representative of one year, but this information can be combined with other research to aid in making agronomic decisions for BMR corn in the Northeast

MicroRNA detection on microsensor arrays by SPR imaging measurements with enzymatic signal enhancement.

We investigated sequence-specific and simultaneous microRNA (miRNA) detections by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) imaging measurements on SPR chips possessing an Au spot array modified with probe DNAs based on a miRNA-detection-selective SPR signal amplification method. MiRNAs were detected with the detection limit of the attomole level by SPR imaging measurements for different miRNA concentrations on a single chip. SPR signals were enhanced based on a combination process of sequence-specific hybridization of the miRNA to the probe DNAs, extension reaction of polyadenine (poly(A)) tails by poly(A) polymerase, binding of a ternary complex of T30-biotin/horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-biotin/streptavidin to the poly(A) tails, and the oxidation reaction of tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) on the HRP by providing a blue precipitate on the surface. This process sequence-specifically and dramatically amplified the SPR signals. This is a simple, cost-effective, and feasible signal amplification method based on the organic compound TMB instead of metal nanoparticles

Brown Mid-Rib Corn Population Trial

Brown mid-rib (BMR) corn hybrids are of interest to many growers in the Northeast who would like to maximize milk production on homegrown forage. BMR corn has a naturally-occurring genetic mutation that leads to less lignin in the stalk and makes corn silage more digestible. Corn yields can be highly dependent on population, and it is generally recommended to plant BMR corn at lower populations than conventional silage corn. BMR corn has always been considered to be more prone to lodging due to its lower lignin content, and lower populations allow for less stress on each individual plant. However, optimal populations for the Northeast have yet to be developed. With this in mind, University of Vermont Extension Northwest Crops & Soils Program conducted a field experiment in 2014 to evaluate the yield and quality performance of four BMR corn hybrids at three different populations. The data presented are only representative of one year, but this information can be combined with other research to aid in making agronomic decisions for BMR corn in the Northeast

Impact of Diet and Quality Grade on Shelf Life of Beef Steaks

Steers were fed a diet containing dry rolled corn, steam flaked corn, dry rolled corn with 30% dried distillers grains, or steam flaked corn with 30% dried distillers grains. Strip loins from upper 2/3 Choice and Select- grade carcasses were obtained to evaluate the effects of diet and quality grade on shelf life characteristics. Strip loins were aged for 2, 9, 16, or 23 days. Results suggest that steaks from cattle fed steam flaked corn (with or without dried distillers grains) and from cattle fed dried distillers grains (regardless of corn type) had higher levels of many unsaturated fatty acids, more discoloration, and greater lipid oxidation compared to the dry rolled corn treatments or the no dried distillers grains treatments, respectively. Feeding of dry rolled corn or diets without dried distillers grains maintained red color better during retail display. Choice- grade steaks had significantly higher levels of unsaturated fatty acids like 18:2 and total polyunsaturated fatty acids than Select- grade steaks but did not diff er in color stability or oxidation. These data indicate the longest shelf life will occur when cattle are fed diets containing dry rolled corn (versus steam flaked corn) or without dried distillers grains (versus with dried distillers grains) and that both steam flaked corn and distillers grains have a negative impact on shelf life. Quality grade did not affect color stability