Date of Planting and Nitrogen Management for Winter Malt Barley Production in the Northeast, USA

There is an increasing market for locally grown malting barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) in the Northeast US. Malting barley must meet certain quality standards for acceptability in the brewing market. Up-to-date recommendations are needed regionally for adaptation to ongoing climate change. A two-year field experiment was conducted to assess the interactive influence of three dates of planting (5 September, 15 September, and 25 September), two levels of fall N (0 or 28 kg ha−1), and three levels of spring N (28, 50.5, and 73 kg ha−1). No significant difference was detected in grain yield amongst the treatments. The date of planting and fall N application mainly affected crop growth while spring N impacted grain quality. Delayed planting led to better winter survival and reduced lodging and foliar disease. Fall N application reduced winter survival for the early September planting but had minimal other agronomic impacts. An increased spring N application rate increased grain protein and lowered falling number, but there were no treatment differences in other quality parameters. Results indicated that late September planting, application of no fall N, and moderate spring N (28 kg ha−1) resulted in the highest agronomic N efficiency and grain quality for malting barley in Northeast

Date of planting and nitrogen management for malt barley production in the Northeast USA

There is an increasing market for locally grown malting barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) in the Northeast US. Malting barley must meet certain quality standards for acceptability in the brewing market. Up-to-date recommendations are needed regionally for adaptation to ongoing climate change. A two-year field experiment was conducted to assess the interactive influence of three dates of planting (5 Sept., 15 Sept, and 25 Sept.), two levels of fall N (0 or 28 kg ha-1), and three levels of spring N (28, 50.5, and 73 kg ha-1). No significant difference was detected in grain yield amongst the treatments. The date of planting and fall N application mainly affected crop growth while spring N impacted grain quality. Delayed planting led to better winter survival and reduced lodging and foliar disease. Fall N application reduced winter survival for the early September planting but had minimal other agronomic impacts. Increased spring N application rate increased grain protein and lowered falling number but there were no treatment differences in other quality parameters. Results indicated that late September planting, application of no fall N, and moderate spring N (28 kg ha-1) resulted in highest agronomic N efficiency and grain quality for malting barley in Northeast.https://scholarworks.umass.edu/data/1138/thumbnail.jp

The Ursinus Weekly, June 8, 1906

A dream of Heaven • The Baccalaureate sermon • Song recital • Class Day • The junior oratorical contest • Commencement • The Charmidean banquet • Society notes • Baseball • Alumni Day • Commencement game • Literary Supplement: A twentieth century renaissance; The college man in public life; Formation of the Schuylkill Valley; Does prevalence of natural science tend to check poetic spirit?; Janice Meredith and the modern girlhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/weekly/2983/thumbnail.jp

Estrogen protects against the synergistic toxicity by HIV proteins, methamphetamine and cocaine

BACKGROUND: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection continues to increase at alarming rates in drug abusers, especially in women. Drugs of abuse can cause long-lasting damage to the brain and HIV infection frequently leads to a dementing illness.To determine how these drugs interact with HIV to cause CNS damage, we used an in vitro human neuronal culture characterized for the presence of dopaminergic receptors, transporters and estrogen receptors. We determined the combined effects of dopaminergic drugs, methamphetamine, or cocaine with neurotoxic HIV proteins, gp120 and Tat. RESULTS: Acute exposure to these substances resulted in synergistic neurotoxic responses as measured by changes in mitochondrial membrane potential and neuronal cell death. Neurotoxicity occurred in a sub-population of neurons. Importantly, the presence of 17beta-estradiol prevented these synergistic neurotoxicities and the neuroprotective effects were partly mediated by estrogen receptors. CONCLUSION: Our observations suggest that methamphetamine and cocaine may affect the course of HIV dementia, and additionally suggest that estrogens modify the HIV-drug interactions

Kate 2008 Spring

Each year, kate seeks to: explore ideas about normative gender, sex, and sexuality work against oppression and hierarchies of power in any and all forms serve as a voice for race and gender equity as well as queer positivity encourage the silent to speak and feel less afraid build a zine and community that we care about and trusthttps://digitalcommons.otterbein.edu/kate/1008/thumbnail.jp

Traumatic imagery following glucocorticoid administration in earthquake-related post-traumatic stress disorder: A preliminary functional magnetic resonance imaging study

OBJECTIVE: Post-traumatic stress disorder involves excessive retrieval of traumatic memories. Glucocorticoids impair declarative memory retrieval. This preliminary study examined the effect of acute hydrocortisone administration on brain activation in individuals with earthquake-related post-traumatic stress disorder compared with earthquake-exposed healthy individuals, during retrieval of traumatic memories. METHOD: Participants exposed to earthquakes with ( n = 11) and without post-traumatic stress disorder ( n = 11) underwent two functional magnetic resonance imaging scans, 1-week apart, in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, counter-balanced design. On one occasion, they received oral hydrocortisone (20 mg), and on the other, placebo, 1 hour before scanning. Symptom provocation involved script-driven imagery (traumatic and neutral scripts) and measures of self-reported anxiety. RESULTS: Arterial spin labelling showed that both post-traumatic stress disorder and trauma-exposed controls had significantly reduced cerebral blood flow in response to retrieval of traumatic versus neutral memories in the right hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus, calcarine sulcus, middle and superior temporal gyrus, posterior cingulate, Heschl's gyrus, inferior parietal lobule, angular gyrus, middle occipital gyrus, supramarginal gyrus, lingual gyrus and cuneus, and the left prefrontal cortex. Hydrocortisone resulted in non-significant trends of increasing subjective distress and reduced regional cerebral blood flow in the left inferior frontal gyrus, left anterior cingulate gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, cerebellum, postcentral gyrus and right frontal pole, during the trauma script. CONCLUSION: Findings do not fit with some aspects of the accepted neurocircuitry model of post-traumatic stress disorder, i.e., failure of the medial prefrontal cortex to quieten hyperresponsive amygdala activity, and the potential therapeutic benefits of hydrocortisone. They do, however, provide further evidence that exposure to earthquake trauma, regardless of whether post-traumatic stress disorder eventuates, impacts brain activity and highlights the importance of inclusion of trauma-exposed comparisons in studies of post-traumatic stress disorder

Cholinergic modulation of disorder-relevant human defensive behaviour in generalised anxiety disorder

Drugs that are clinically effective against anxiety disorders modulate the innate defensive behaviour of rodents, suggesting these illnesses reflect altered functioning in brain systems that process threat. This hypothesis is supported in humans by the discovery that the intensity of threat-avoidance behaviour is altered by the benzodiazepine anxiolytic lorazepam. However, these studies used healthy human participants, raising questions as to their validity in anxiety disorder patients, as well as their generalisability beyond GABAergic benzodiazepine drugs. BNC210 is a novel negative allosteric modulator of the alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor and we recently used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging to show it reduced amygdala responses to fearful faces in generalised anxiety disorder patients. Here we report the effect of BNC210 on the intensity of threat-avoidance behaviour in 21 female GAD patients from the same cohort. We used the Joystick Operated Runway Task as our behavioural measure, which is a computerised human translation of the Mouse Defense Test Battery, and the Spielberger state anxiety inventory as our measure of state affect. Using a repeated-measures, within-subjects design we assessed the effect of BNC210 at two dose levels versus placebo (300 mg and 2000 mg) upon two types of threat-avoidance behaviour (Flight Intensity and Risk Assessment Intensity). We also tested the effects of 1.5 mg of the benzodiazepine lorazepam as an active control. BNC210 significantly reduced Flight Intensity relative to placebo and the low dose of BNC210 also significantly reduced self-reported state anxiety. Risk Assessment Intensity was not significantly affected. Results show both human defensive behaviour and state anxiety are influenced by cholinergic neurotransmission and there provide converging evidence that this system has potential as a novel target for anxiolytic pharmacotherapy