Sensor-Based Soil Water Monitoring to More Effectively Manage Agricultural Water Resources in Coastal Plain Soils

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is widely grown in the United States with 5.7 million ha grown nationally and 1.2 million ha grown in the humid southeastern states in 2005. From 1969 to 2003, agricultural irrigated farmland acreage and total water applied increased by over 40% and 11% respectively to include a total of 55.3 million acres in 2002. Combined with recent and more frequent drought periods and legal water conflicts between states, there has been an increased interest in more effective southeastern water management, thus making the need to develop improved irrigation scheduling methods and enhanced water use efficiency of cotton cultivars. Several irrigation scheduling methods (soil moisture monitoring, pan evaporation, and climate based) tested at Clemson and elsewhere have shown that sensor-based irrigation significantly increased cotton yields and provided a monetary savings compared to other methods. There is however limited information on capacitance based soil moisture analysis techniques in the southeastern coastal plain soils and also limited locally developed crop coefficients used in scheduling the ET based treatments. The first objective of this study was to determine and improve the feasibility of utilizing sensor-based soil water monitoring techniques in Southeastern Coastal Plain soils to more effectively manage irrigation and increase water use efficiency of several cotton cultivars. The second objective was to develop two weighing lysimeters equipped with wireless data acquisition system to determine a crop coefficient for cotton under southeastern humid conditions. Two multi-sensor capacitance probes, AquaSpyTM and Sentek EnviroSCAN ® , were calibrated in this study. It was found that positive linear calibrations can be used to describe the relationship between the soil volumetric moisture content (VMC) and sensor readings found for both probes and that multi-sensor capacitance probes can be used to accurately measure volumetric soil moisture contents, if installed and calibrated properly. It was determined that a direct installation method should be used rather than a slurry mix method. The slurry method was found to overestimate the VMC in sandy soils. There were good correlations between In Season Estimated Yield (INSEY) as measured by the plant Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the VMC of the soil. Results showed that when separated by irrigation regime, the relationship between INSEY and VMC follows good linear correlations. This was due to the health of the plant and its dependency on soil moisture. There were strong correlations between irrigation depths applied and seed cotton yields. Highest water use efficiency values were 0.55kg seed cotton/m3 water applied in 2008 (0.55kg seed cotton/m3 ET) and 0.788kg/m3 water applied (0.66kg/m3 ET) in 2009. Two weighing lysimeters were constructed to provide cotton and reference ET measurements. Evaporation pan and weather data from a local station were also used to provide a basis for calculating ET. Because the Penman – Monteith (P – M) method is widely known and trusted, a set of crop coefficients were developed based on P – M and cotton lysimeter data and determined to be 0.91, 1.24, and 0.72 for the initial, mid, and end stages for a Delta Pine 0949 BSRF cultivar

Categorical Cell Decomposition of Quantized Symplectic Algebraic Varieties

We prove a new symplectic analogue of Kashiwara's Equivalence from D-module theory. As a consequence, we establish a structure theory for module categories over deformation quantizations that mirrors, at a higher categorical level, the Bialynicki-Birula stratification of a variety with an action of the multiplicative group. The resulting categorical cell decomposition provides an algebro-geometric parallel to the structure of Fukaya categories of Weinstein manifolds. From it, we derive concrete consequences for invariants such as K-theory and Hochschild homology of module categories of interest in geometric representation theory.Comment: Version 2. A number of minor edits and corrections. Comments welcom

Deficiency of G1 regulators P53, P21Cip1 and/or pRb decreases hepatocyte sensitivity to TGFbeta cell cycle arrest

TGFbeta is critical to control hepatocyte proliferation by inducing G1-growth arrest through multiple pathways leading to inhibition of E2F transcription activity. The retinoblastoma protein pRb is a key controller of E2F activity and G1/S transition which can be inhibited in viral hepatitis. It is not known whether the impairment of pRb would alter the growth inhibitory potential of TGFbeta in disease. We asked how Rb-deficiency would affect responses to TGFbeta-induced cell cycle arrest.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Niches for Species, a multi-species model to guide woodland management: An example based on Scotland's native woodlands

Designating and managing areas with the aim of protecting biodiversity requires information on species distributions and habitat associations, but a lack of reliable occurrence records for rare and threatened species precludes robust empirical modelling. Managers of Scotland’s native woodlands are obliged to consider 208 protected species, which each have their own, narrow niche requirements. To support decision-making, we developed Niches for Species (N4S), a model that uses expert knowledge to predict the potential occurrence of 179 woodland protected species representing a range of taxa: mammals, birds, invertebrates, fungi, bryophytes, lichens and vascular plants. Few existing knowledge-based models have attempted to include so many species. We collated knowledge to define each species’ suitable habitat according to a hierarchical habitat classification: woodland type, stand structure and microhabitat. Various spatial environmental datasets were used singly or in combination to classify and map Scotland’s native woodlands accordingly, thus allowing predictive mapping of each species’ potential niche. We illustrate how the outputs can inform individual species management, or can be summarised across species and regions to provide an indicator of woodland biodiversity potential for landscape scale decisions. We tested the model for ten species using available occurrence records. Although concordance between predicted and observed distributions was indicated for nine of these species, this relationship was statistically significant in only five cases. We discuss the difficulties in reliably testing predictions when the records available for rare species are typically low in number, patchy and biased, and suggest future model improvements. Finally, we demonstrate how using N4S to synthesise complex, multi-species information into an easily digestible format can help policy makers and practitioners consider large numbers of species and their conservation needs

UK landscape ecology: trends and perspectives from the first 25 years of ialeUK

Context The 25th anniversary of the founding of the UK chapter of the International Association for Landscape Ecology (ialeUK) was marked in 2017. Objectives To assess trends in UK landscape ecology research over ialeUK’s first 25 years, to compare these trends to changes elsewhere in the world, and to consider how ialeUK can continue to support landscape ecology research and practice. Methods A database of conference abstracts was compiled and examined in combination with a questionnaire that surveyed existing and former active members of ialeUK. Results Across 1992–2017 we observe noticeable trends including the declining roles of statutory bodies, the development of the ecosystem services concept, and a decrease in use of empirical methods. Analysis of questionnaire results highlighted four key areas: Developing new researchers; Facilitating conferences for networking, learning and discussion; Linking policy with practice; and Driving the continued growth of landscape ecology as a discipline. Challenges were also noted, especially regarding the adoption of a wider understanding of landscape ecological principles in management. Conclusions Increases in qualitative research, decreases in studies explicitly examining connectivity/fragmentation and an absence of landscape genetics studies in the UK are seemingly distinct from US landscape ecology and elsewhere around the world, based on published accounts. ialeUK has had success in increasing the role of landscape ecology in policy and practice, but needs to continue to aim for improved collaboration with other landscape-related professional bodies and contributions to wider sustainability agendas

"Utopian in the right sense": The Responsibility to Protect and the Logical Necessity of Reform

In this article I argue that the claims made about the efficacy of the Responsibility to Protect (RtoP) echo the pejorative conceptions of “utopianism” advanced by E. H. Carr and Ken Booth, in two ways: by virtue of RtoP’s supporter’s determination to claim “progress” in spite of countervailing empirical evidence, and the exaggerated importance supporters ascribe to institutionalization, which mistakenly conflates state support with a change in state behavior and interests. I argue that RtoP’s impact on the behavior of states has been, and will continue to be, limited and that while RtoP has garnered widespread support amongst states, this is due to it having been rendered largely impotent through a process of norm co-optation. While both Carr and Booth criticized a particular form of utopianism, I demonstrate that both also defended the articulation of normative prescriptions that are not immediately feasible; to this end, I conclude by suggesting a potential reform of the existing international legal order that meets Carr’s preference for normative thinking that is “utopian in the right sense”

Hemorrhagic stroke outcomes of KApSR patients with co-morbid diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease

Background: Vascular risk factors, such as diabetes mellitus (DM), are associated with poorer outcomes following many neurodegenerative diseases, including hemorrhagic stroke and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Combined AD and DM co-morbidities are associated with an increased risk of hemorrhagic stroke and increased Medicare costs. Therefore, we hypothesized that patients with DM in combination with AD, termed DM/AD, would have increased hemorrhagic stroke severity. Methods: Kentucky Appalachian Stroke Registry (KApSR) is a database of demographic and clinical data from patients that live in Appalachia, a distinct region with increased health disparities and stroke severity. Inpatients with a primary indication of hemorrhagic stroke were selected from KApSR for retrospective analysis and were separated into four groups: DM only, AD only, neither, or both. Results: Hemorrhagic stroke patients (2,071 total) presented with either intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), n=1,448, or subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), n=623. When examining all four groups, subjects with AD were significantly older (AD+, 80.9±6.6 yrs) (DM+/AD+, 77.4±10.0 yrs) than non AD subjects (DM-/AD-, 61.3±16.5 yrs) and (DM+, 66.0±12.5 yrs). A higher percentage of females were among the AD+ group and a higher percentage of males among the DM+/AD+ group. Interestingly, after adjusting for multiple comparison, DM+/AD+ subjects were ten times as likely to suffer a moderate to severe stroke based on a National Institute of Health Stroke (NIHSS) upon admission [odds ratio (95% CI)] compared to DM-/AD- [0.1 (0.02–0.55)], DM+ [0.11 (0.02–0.59)], and AD+ [0.09(0.01–0.63)]. The odds of DM+/AD+ subjects having an unfavorable discharge destination (death, hospice, long-term care) was significant (P Conclusions: In our retrospective analysis utilizing KApSR, regardless of adjusting for age, sex, and comorbidities, DM+/AD+ patients were significantly more likely to have had a moderate or severe stroke leading to an unfavorable outcome following hemorrhagic stroke

Persistence of apoptotic cells without autoimmune disease or inflammation in CD14−/− mice

Interaction of macrophages with apoptotic cells involves multiple steps including recognition, tethering, phagocytosis, and anti-inflammatory macrophage responses. Defective apoptotic cell clearance is associated with pathogenesis of autoimmune disease. CD14 is a surface receptor that functions in vitro in the removal of apoptotic cells by human and murine macrophages, but its mechanism of action has not been defined. Here, we demonstrate that CD14 functions as a macrophage tethering receptor for apoptotic cells. Significantly, CD14−/− macrophages in vivo are defective in clearing apoptotic cells in multiple tissues, suggesting a broad role for CD14 in the clearance process. However, the resultant persistence of apoptotic cells does not lead to inflammation or increased autoantibody production, most likely because, as we show, CD14−/− macrophages retain the ability to generate anti-inflammatory signals in response to apoptotic cells. We conclude that CD14 plays a broad tethering role in apoptotic cell clearance in vivo and that apoptotic cells can persist in the absence of proinflammatory consequences

Pulsed electromagnetic energy treatment offers no clinical benefit in reducing the pain of knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review

Background The rehabilitation of knee osteoarthritis often includes electrotherapeutic modalities as well as advice and exercise. One commonly used modality is pulsed electromagnetic field therapy (PEMF). PEMF uses electro magnetically generated fields to promote tissue repair and healing rates. Its equivocal benefit over placebo treatment has been previously suggested however recently a number of randomised controlled trials have been published that have allowed a systematic review to be conducted. Methods A systematic review of the literature from 1966 to 2005 was undertaken. Relevant computerised bibliographic databases were searched and papers reviewed independently by two reviewers for quality using validated criteria for assessment. The key outcomes of pain and functional disability were analysed with weighted and standardised mean differences being calculated. Results Five randomised controlled trials comparing PEMF with placebo were identified. The weighted mean differences of the five papers for improvement in pain and function, were small and their 95% confidence intervals included the null. Conclusion This systematic review provides further evidence that PEMF has little value in the management of knee osteoarthritis. There appears to be clear evidence for the recommendation that PEMF does not significantly reduce the pain of knee osteoarthritis