Best Management Practices for Corn Production in South Dakota: Seasonal Hazards—Frost, Hail, Drought, and Flooding

Conclusion: Weather conditions such as frost, hail, flood, or drought can severely reduce yields. Effects from these events are manageable to a certain extent, but loss can be expected when these events occur. The degree of loss depends on the severity of the event. Crop insurance has become a common component of corn production in the U.S.; the insurance provides the producer economic protection for uncontrollable events. Producers should consider crop insurance based on the consequences of crop loss

Laboratory Experiments on Astrophysical Dust Analogs at NASA/MSFC

No abstract availabl

Patients Reasons for Choosing Office-based Buprenorphine: Preference for Patient-Centered Care

Objectives - To explore HIV-infected patients\u27 attitudes about buprenorphine treatment in office-based and opioid treatment program (OTP) settings. Methods - We conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with 29 patients with co-existing HIV infection and opioid dependence seeking buprenorphine maintenance therapy in office-based and OTP settings. We used thematic analysis of transcribed audiorecorded interviews to identify themes. Results - Patients voiced a strong preference for office-based treatment. Four themes emerged to explain this preference. First, patients perceived the greater convenience of office-based treatment as improving their ability to address HIV and other healthcare issues. Second, they perceived a strong patient-focused orientation in patient-provider relationships underpinning their preference for office-based care. This was manifest as increased trust, listening, empathy, and respect from office-based staff and providers. Third, they perceived shared power and responsibility in officebased settings. Finally, patients viewed office-based treatment as a more supportive environment for sobriety and relapse prevention. This was partly due to strong therapeutic alliances with office-based staff and providers who prioritized a harm reduction approach, but also due to the perception that the office-based settings were safer for sobriety, compared with increased opportunities for purchasing and using illicit opiates in OTP settings. Conclusions - HIV-infected patients with opioid dependence preferred office-based buprenorphine because they perceived it as offering a more patient-centered approach to care compared with OTP referral. Office-based buprenorphine may facilitate engagement in care for patients with co-existing opioid dependence and HIV infection

Kidney cell electrophoresis in space flight: Rationale, methods, results and flow cytometry applications

Cultures of human embryonic kidney cells consistently contain an electrophoretically separable subpopulation of cells that produce high levels of urokinase and have an electrophoretic mobility about 85 percent as high as that of the most mobile human embryonic kidney cells. This subpopulation is rich in large epithelioid cells that have relatively little internal structure. When resolution and throughput are adequate, free fluid electrophoresis can be used to isolate a broad band of low mobility cells which also produces high levels of plasminogen activators (PAs). In the course of performing this, it was discovered that all electrophoretic subpopulations of cultured human embryonic kidney cells produce some PAs and that separate subpopulations produce high quantities of different types of PA's. This information and the development of sensitive assays for this project have provided new insights into cell secretion mechanisms related to fibrinolysis. These advances would probably not have been made without the NASA program to explore fundamental questions of free fluid electrophoresis in space

Extending the Functionality of Behavioural Change-Point Analysis with k-Means Clustering: A Case Study with the Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor)

We present a simple framework for classifying mutually exclusive behavioural states within the geospatial lifelines of animals. This method involves use of three sequentially applied statistical procedures: (1) behavioural change point analysis to partition movement trajectories into discrete bouts of same-state behaviours, based on abrupt changes in the spatiotemporal autocorrelation structure of movement parameters; (2) hierarchical multivariate cluster analysis to determine the number of different behavioural states; and (3) k-means clustering to classify inferred bouts of same-state location observations into behavioural modes. We demonstrate application of the method by analysing synthetic trajectories of known ‘artificial behaviours’ comprised of different correlated random walks, as well as real foraging trajectories of little penguins (Eudyptula minor) obtained by global-positioning-system telemetry. Our results show that the modelling procedure correctly classified 92.5% of all individual location observations in the synthetic trajectories, demonstrating reasonable ability to successfully discriminate behavioural modes. Most individual little penguins were found to exhibit three unique behavioural states (resting, commuting/active searching, arearestricted foraging), with variation in the timing and locations of observations apparently related to ambient light, bathymetry, and proximity to coastlines and river mouths. Addition of k-means clustering extends the utility of behavioural change point analysis, by providing a simple means through which the behaviours inferred for the location observations comprising individual movement trajectories can be objectively classified

Valproic acid enhances the efficacy of radiation therapy by protecting normal hippocampal neurons and sensitizing malignant glioblastoma cells

Neurocognitive deficits are serious sequelae that follow cranial irradiation used to treat patients with medulloblastoma and other brain neoplasms. Cranial irradiation causes apoptosis in the subgranular zone of the hippocampus leading to cognitive deficits. Valproic acid (VPA) treatment protected hippocampal neurons from radiation-induced damage in both cell culture and animal models. Radioprotection was observed in VPA-treated neuronal cells compared to cells treated with radiation alone. This protection is specific to normal neuronal cells and did not extend to cancer cells. In fact, VPA acted as a radiosensitizer in brain cancer cells. VPA treatment induced cell cycle arrest in cancer cells but not in normal neuronal cells. The level of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 was increased and the pro-apoptotic protein Bax was reduced in VPA treated normal cells. VPA inhibited the activities of histone deacetylase (HDAC) and glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK3β), the latter of which is only inhibited in normal cells. The combination of VPA and radiation was most effective in inhibiting tumor growth in heterotopic brain tumor models. An intracranial orthotopic glioma tumor model was used to evaluate tumor growth by using dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance (DCE MRI) and mouse survival following treatment with VPA and radiation. VPA, in combination with radiation, significantly delayed tumor growth and improved mouse survival. Overall, VPA protects normal hippocampal neurons and not cancer cells from radiation-induced cytotoxicity both in vitro and in vivo. VPA treatment has the potential for attenuating neurocognitive deficits associated with cranial irradiation while enhancing the efficiency of glioma radiotherapy

Effects of Food Availability and Administration of Orexigenic and Anorectic Agents on Elevated Ethanol Drinking Associated With Drinking in the Dark Procedures

Drinking in the dark (DID) procedures have recently been developed to induce high levels of ethanol drinking in C57BL/6J mice, which result in blood ethanol concentrations reaching levels that have measurable affects on physiology and/or behavior. The present study determined if increased ethanol drinking associated with DID procedures may be motivated by caloric need rather than by the post-ingestive pharmacological effects of ethanol. To this end, food availability was manipulated or mice were given peripheral administration of orexigenic or anorectic agents during DID procedures

Sequential Grazing of Cool- and Warm-Season Pastures

Pasture productivity in Iowa often is limited by low productivity of cool-season grasses during summer. This uneven seasonal distribution of forage production could be improved by including species in pasture systems that perform better under higher temperatures. Warm-season grasses produce most of their growth during summer when cool-season grasses are semi-dormant. By using cool-season and warm-season pastures in a sequential system, it should be possible to improve seasonal productivity

Complete Columbian mammoth mitogenome suggests interbreeding with woolly mammoths

Abstract Background Late Pleistocene North America hosted at least two divergent and ecologically distinct species of mammoth: the periglacial woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) and the subglacial Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi). To date, mammoth genetic research has been entirely restricted to woolly mammoths, rendering their genetic evolution difficult to contextualize within broader Pleistocene paleoecology and biogeography. Here, we take an interspecific approach to clarifying mammoth phylogeny by targeting Columbian mammoth remains for mitogenomic sequencing. Results We sequenced the first complete mitochondrial genome of a classic Columbian mammoth, as well as the first complete mitochondrial genome of a North American woolly mammoth. Somewhat contrary to conventional paleontological models, which posit that the two species were highly divergent, the M. columbi mitogenome we obtained falls securely within a subclade of endemic North American M. primigenius. Conclusions Though limited, our data suggest that the two species interbred at some point in their evolutionary histories. One potential explanation is that woolly mammoth haplotypes entered Columbian mammoth populations via introgression at subglacial ecotones, a scenario with compelling parallels in extant elephants and consistent with certain regional paleontological observations. This highlights the need for multi-genomic data to sufficiently characterize mammoth evolutionary history. Our results demonstrate that the use of next-generation sequencing technologies holds promise in obtaining such data, even from non-cave, non-permafrost Pleistocene depositional contexts.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/112426/1/13059_2011_Article_2544.pd

Perspectives on Extended-Release Naltrexone Induction among Patients Living with HIV and Opioid Use Disorder: A Qualitative Analysis

BACKGROUND: The CHOICES study randomized participants with HIV and opioid use disorder (OUD) to HIV clinic-based extended-release naltrexone (XR-NTX), which requires complete cessation of opioid use, versus treatment-as-usual (i.e., buprenorphine, methadone). Study participants randomized to XR-NTX were interviewed to assess their experiences with successful and unsuccessful XR-NTX induction. METHODS: Semi-structured qualitative interviews were completed with a convenience sample of study participants with HIV and OUD (n = 37) randomized to XR-NTX in five HIV clinics between 2018 and 2019. All participants approached agreed to be interviewed. Interviews were digitally recorded, professionally transcribed, and analyzed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Participants included women (43%), African Americans (62%) and Hispanics (16%), between 27 to 69 years of age. Individuals who completed XR-NTX induction (n = 20) reported experiencing (1) readiness for change, (2) a supportive environment during withdrawal including comfort medications, and (3) caring interactions with staff. Four contrasting themes emerged among participants (n = 17) who did not complete induction: (1) concern and anxiety about withdrawal including past negative experiences, (2) ambivalence about or reluctance to stop opioids, (3) concerns about XR-NTX effects, and (4) preferences for other medications. CONCLUSIONS: The results highlight opportunities to improve initiation of XR-NTX in high-need groups. Addressing expectations regarding induction may enhance XR-NTX initiation rates. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03275350. Registered September 7, 2017. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03275350?term=extended+release+naltrexone&cond=Opioid+Use