How Well is Urban Agriculture Growing in the Southern United States? Trends and Issues from the Perspective of Urban Planners Regulating Urban Agriculture

In this study, we evaluate urban agriculture trends in 55 cities in the Southern United States. Our research is important for three reasons. First, as the geographic scope of urban agriculture research is limited mostly to Northeast and West Coast cities, we focus on the South, the fastest-growing U.S. Census region. Second, despite rapid growth, this region has also experienced the highest rate of poverty and food insecurity. Third, we surveyed urban planners who regulate and monitor urban agriculture sites, develop urban agriculture policies and programs, and advise local decision-makers. The study documents Southern urban agriculture changes between 2000 and 2010. It also considers types of projects, implementation barriers, and strategies used to promote urban agriculture. A survey questionnaire was mailed to planning offi­cials in 153 Southern cities; 55 cities responded. Among respondents, 87% reported the existence of urban agriculture in their jurisdiction. Most Southern cities reporting urban agriculture experi­enced urban agriculture growth (69%), 21% reported decline, and 10% did not report a change. The most common projects included neighbor­hood gardens, school gardens, and community supported and entrepreneurial agriculture. Irrespec­tive of urban agriculture growth or decline, the responding cities relied on the same types of regul­atory and policy approaches. Only cities reporting growth in urban agriculture implemented programs to promote urban agricul­ture, including land acqui­sition, trusts, and inter­jurisdictional coordination. Land conversion and lack of economic sustaina­bility were cited as main barriers to urban agricul­ture. The findings suggest the need to further explore the impact of external factors on the effec­tiveness of urban agriculture regulations, policies and programs, and solutions to urban agriculture barriers

Essential and inessential elements of a standard basis

In this paper we introduce the concept of inessential element of a standard basis of I, where I is any homogeneous ideal of a polynomial ring. An inessential element is, roughly speaking, a form of the basis whose omission produces an ideal having the same saturation of I; it becomes useless in any dehomogenization of I with respect to a linear form. We study the properties of the basis linked to the presence of inessential elements and give some examples.Comment: 15 page

The primosomal protein DnaD inhibits cooperative DNA binding by the replication initiator DnaA in Bacillus subtilis

DnaA is an AAA+ ATPase and the conserved replication initiator in bacteria. Bacteria control the timing of replication initiation by regulating the activity of DnaA. DnaA binds to multiple sites in the origin of replication (oriC) and is required for recruitment of proteins needed to load the replicative helicase. DnaA also binds to other chromosomal regions and functions as a transcription factor at some of these sites. Bacillus subtilis DnaD is needed during replication initiation for assembly of the replicative helicase at oriC and during replication restart at stalled replication forks. DnaD associates with DnaA at oriC and at other chromosomal regions bound by DnaA. Using purified proteins, we found that DnaD inhibited the ability of DnaA to bind cooperatively to DNA and caused a decrease in the apparent dissociation constant. These effects of DnaD were independent of the ability of DnaA to bind or hydrolyze ATP. Other proteins known to regulate B. subtilis DnaA also affect DNA binding, whereas much of the regulation of Escherichia coli DnaA affects nucleotide hydrolysis or exchange. We found that the rate of nucleotide exchange for B. subtilis DnaA was high and not affected by DnaD. The rapid exchange is similar to that of Staphylococcus aureus DnaA and in contrast to the low exchange rate of Escherichia coli DnaA. We suggest that organisms in which DnaA has a high rate of nucleotide exchange predominantly regulate the DNA binding activity of DnaA and that those with low rates of exchange regulate hydrolysis and exchange.United States. Public Health Service (Grant GM41934

Library Liaisons Enhance Researcher Productivity by Use of a Common Bibliographic Management Software Interface to Deliver Current Awareness Information

Deliver quality-filtered full database records to faculty and staff in a customized format that can be easily imported into a common software interface. This allows both widespread individual and shared use of information for patient care, education, research, and publication

Librarians on Demand: Offering Instruction and Reference Services Anytime They Want It and Anywhere They Want It

The Robert W. Woodruff Library of the Atlanta University Center is privileged to be the sole library for four distinguished Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU): Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, Spelman College and the Interdenominational Theological Center. This role can also be a challenge when trying to reach students and faculty in all the campuses since the physical building of the library is not centrally located. With the help of technology and a few campus contacts, Woodruff librarians are taking their reference services to where the researchers are – on campus. Faculty and or campus staff select a time and day when student traffic would be high (usually the days when most classes are scheduled) and a location with high visibility, which include student centers, dorms and computer labs. Initially, student turnout was low but with time and more advertising, the number of reference interactions has increased. This presentation will illustrate the library’s need for this service, our approach to talking with campus contacts about the program and which aspects of the program has been successful and what can be improved

Fostering Prosocial Behaviors in Mexican and European American Adolescents Parenting and Gender Roles Considered

Presentation made at Latinos in the Heartland (11th : 2013 : Columbia, Mo.) and published in the annual conference proceedings.Research demonstrates that parents influence the prosocial development of their children (Carlo & De Guzman, 2006). Parents engage in a number of practices that socialize and shape the pro-social and moral tendencies of their children. Particular styles of parenting have been the focus of prior scholarly research, namely responsive and demanding parenting (Maccoby & Martin, 1983). Furthermore, there is research suggesting that parenting styles might be associated with prosocial behaviors in different ways across distinct ethnic groups (Carlo & DeGuzman, 2006). Cultural values might mediate the relations between parenting styles and pro-social behaviors (Carlo & DeGuzman, 2006), and that parenting styles might be related to different forms of helping (Carlo et al., in press). The current study will examine the relationship between parenting and pro-social behaviors and the moderating effect of gender roles. Participants included 314 Mexican American and European American adolescents (206 Mexican Americans, 50% girls, mean age = 10.97 years)

Information Needs of Users of the American Indian Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's (UNC) American Indian Center (AIC) serves the campus community, the Native peoples of the state, and the southeastern region of the United States. The purpose of this study was to better understand users' information needs using primarily qualitative methods. A survey was used to understand how users interact with the college culture center. Data about user information needs was collected via questionnaire using the online survey tool Qualtrics. This study will be of practical use to the AIC staff in helping them to understand users' information needs, including which needs are being met and which are not. This study gathered evidence of the value that the AIC adds to UNC and adds to the sparse literature regarding university culture centers.Master of Science in Library Scienc

The Impact of Naloxone Training and Education in the Community

The issue of opioid overdose has become a national crisis and is receiving a lot of attention in the media. In the state of Oklahoma, 388 people died from opioid overdose in 2017. Nationally, there were over 47,600 opioid-related drug overdose deaths in 2017

Characterisation of the carboxypeptidase G2 catalytic site and design of new inhibitors for cancer therapy

The enzyme carboxypeptidase G2 (CPG2) is used in antibody‐directed enzyme prodrug therapy (ADEPT) to catalyse the formation of an active drug from an inert prodrug. Free CPG2 in the bloodstream must be inhibited before administration of the prodrug in order to avoid a systemic reaction in the patient. Although a few small‐molecule CPG2 inhibitors have been reported, none has been taken forward thus far. This lack of progress is due in part to a lack of structural understanding of the CPG2 active site as well as the absence of small molecules that can block the active site whilst targeting the complex for clearance. The work described here aimed to address both areas. We report the structural/functional impact of extensive point mutation across the putative CPG2 catalytic site and adjacent regions for the first time, revealing that residues outside the catalytic region (K208A, S210A and T357A) are crucial to enzyme activity. We also describe novel molecules that inhibit CPG2 whilst maintaining the accessibility of galactosylated moieties aimed at targeting the enzyme for clearance. This work acts as a platform for the future development of high‐affinity CPG2 inhibitors that occupy new chemical space and will advance the safe application of ADEPT in cancer treatment