Management of Italian Ryegrass (Lolium perenne ssp. multiflorum) in Western Oregon with Preemergence Applications of Pyroxasulfone in Winter Wheat

Management of Italian ryegrass in cereal-based cropping systems continues to be a major production constraint in areas of the U.S.A., including the soft white winter wheat producing regions of the Pacific Northwest. Pyroxasulfone is a soil-applied herbicide with the potential to control broadleaf and grass weed species, including grass weed biotypes resistant to Group 1, 2 and 7 herbicides, in several crops for which registration has been completed or is pending including wheat, corn, sunflower, dry beans and soybeans. Field experiments were conducted during 2006-2009 near Corvallis, OR, to evaluate the potential for Italian ryegrass control in winter wheat with applications of pyroxasulfone. Application rates of PRE treatments ranged from 0.05-0.15 kg ai ha⁻¹. All treatments were compared to standard Italian ryegrass soil-applied herbicides used in winter wheat including diuron, flufenacet, and flufenacet + metribuzin. Visual evaluations of Italian ryegrass and ivyleaf speedwell control and winter wheat injury were made at regular intervals following applications. Winter wheat yields were quantified at grain maturity. Ivyleaf speedwell control was variable and Italian ryegrass control following pyroxasulfone applications ranged from 65 to 100% and was equal to control achieved with flufenacet and flufenacet + metribuzin treatments and greater than that achieved with diuron applications. Winter wheat injury from pyroxasulfone ranged 0 to 8% and was most associated with the 0.15 kg ha⁻¹ application rate. However, this early-season injury did not negatively impact winter wheat yield. Pyroxasulfone applied at the application rates and timings in these studies resulted in high levels of activity on Italian ryegrass and excellent winter wheat safety. Based on the results, pyroxasulfone has the potential to be used as a soil-applied herbicide in winter wheat for Italian ryegrass management and its utility for management of other important grass and broadleaf weeds of cereal-based cropping systems should be evaluated.This is the author's peer-reviewed final manuscript, as accepted by the publisher. The published article is copyrighted by the Weed Science Society of America and can be found at: http://wssajournals.org/loi/wete.Keywords: Crop safety, Soil-applied herbicide

New Approach to Teaching Japanese Pronunciation in the Digital Era - Challenges and Practices

Pronunciation has been a black hole in the L2 Japanese classroom on account of a lack of class time, teacher\u2019s confidence, and consciousness of the need to teach pronunciation, among other reasons. The absence of pronunciation instruction is reported to result in fossilized pronunciation errors, communication problems, and learner frustration. With an intention of making a contribution to improve such circumstances, this paper aims at three goals. First, it discusses the importance, necessity, and e ectiveness of teaching prosodic aspects of Japanese pronunciation from an early stage in acquisition. Second, it shows that Japanese prosody is challenging because of its typological rareness, regardless of the L1 backgrounds of learners. Third and finally, it introduces a new approach to teaching L2 pronunciation with the goal of developing L2 comprehensibility by focusing on essential prosodic features, which is followed by discussions on key issues concerning how to implement the new approach both inside and outside the classroom in the digital era

Nitrated α–Synuclein Immunity Accelerates Degeneration of Nigral Dopaminergic Neurons

The neuropathology of Parkinson's disease (PD) includes loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra, nitrated alpha-synuclein (N-alpha-Syn) enriched intraneuronal inclusions or Lewy bodies and neuroinflammation. While the contribution of innate microglial inflammatory activities to disease are known, evidence for how adaptive immune mechanisms may affect the course of PD remains obscure. We reasoned that PD-associated oxidative protein modifications create novel antigenic epitopes capable of peripheral adaptive T cell responses that could affect nigrostriatal degeneration.Nitrotyrosine (NT)-modified alpha-Syn was detected readily in cervical lymph nodes (CLN) from 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) intoxicated mice. Antigen-presenting cells within the CLN showed increased surface expression of major histocompatibility complex class II, initiating the molecular machinery necessary for efficient antigen presentation. MPTP-treated mice produced antibodies to native and nitrated alpha-Syn. Mice immunized with the NT-modified C-terminal tail fragment of alpha-Syn, but not native protein, generated robust T cell proliferative and pro-inflammatory secretory responses specific only for the modified antigen. T cells generated against the nitrated epitope do not respond to the unmodified protein. Mice deficient in T and B lymphocytes were resistant to MPTP-induced neurodegeneration. Transfer of T cells from mice immunized with N-alpha-Syn led to a robust neuroinflammatory response with accelerated dopaminergic cell loss.These data show that NT modifications within alpha-Syn, can bypass or break immunological tolerance and activate peripheral leukocytes in draining lymphoid tissue. A novel mechanism for disease is made in that NT modifications in alpha-Syn induce adaptive immune responses that exacerbate PD pathobiology. These results have implications for both the pathogenesis and treatment of this disabling neurodegenerative disease

Handoffs and transitions in critical care—understanding scalability: study protocol for a multicenter stepped wedge type 2 hybrid effectiveness-implementation trial

Abstract Background The implementation of evidence-based practices in critical care faces specific challenges, including intense time pressure and patient acuity. These challenges result in evidence-to-practice gaps that diminish the impact of proven-effective interventions for patients requiring intensive care unit support. Research is needed to understand and address implementation determinants in critical care settings. Methods The Handoffs and Transitions in Critical Care—Understanding Scalability (HATRICC-US) study is a Type 2 hybrid effectiveness-implementation trial of standardized operating room (OR) to intensive care unit (ICU) handoffs. This mixed methods study will use a stepped wedge design with randomized roll out to test the effectiveness of a customized protocol for structuring communication between clinicians in the OR and the ICU. The study will be conducted in twelve ICUs (10 adult, 2 pediatric) based in five United States academic health systems. Contextual inquiry incorporating implementation science, systems engineering, and human factors engineering approaches will guide both protocol customization and identification of protocol implementation determinants. Implementation mapping will be used to select appropriate implementation strategies for each setting. Human-centered design will be used to create a digital toolkit for dissemination of study findings. The primary implementation outcome will be fidelity to the customized handoff protocol (unit of analysis: handoff). The primary effectiveness outcome will be a composite measure of new-onset organ failure cases (unit of analysis: ICU). Discussion The HATRICC-US study will customize, implement, and evaluate standardized procedures for OR to ICU handoffs in a heterogenous group of United States academic medical center intensive care units. Findings from this study have the potential to improve postsurgical communication, decrease adverse clinical outcomes, and inform the implementation of other evidence-based practices in critical care settings. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04571749 . Date of registration: October 1, 2020