On-Farm Cover Crop Trials

Cover crops can benefit farmers by aiding in erosion control, increasing organic matter in the soil, and reducing nitrate losses into the surface waters. Cover crops also have been promoted to alleviate soil compaction and improve soil drainage. Legume cover crops can supply nitrogen to the following crop. Cover crops are an important practice in meeting Iowa’s nutrient reduction strategy goals. However, some research has indicated that planting corn following a rye cover crop can result in corn grain yield losses, especially if the cover crop is not killed at least two weeks prior to planting the corn

Selective rab11 transport and the intrinsic regenerative ability of CNS axons.

Neurons lose intrinsic axon regenerative ability with maturation, but the mechanism remains unclear. Using an in-vitro laser axotomy model, we show a progressive decline in the ability of cut CNS axons to form a new growth cone and then elongate. Failure of regeneration was associated with increased retraction after axotomy. Transportation into axons becomes selective with maturation; we hypothesized that selective exclusion of molecules needed for growth may contribute to regeneration decline. With neuronal maturity rab11 vesicles (which carry many molecules involved in axon growth) became selectively targeted to the somatodendritic compartment and excluded from axons by predominant retrograde transport However, on overexpression rab11 was mistrafficked into proximal axons, and these axons showed less retraction and enhanced regeneration after axotomy. These results suggest that the decline of intrinsic axon regenerative ability is associated with selective exclusion of key molecules, and that manipulation of transport can enhance regeneration

Political Contest and Oppositional Voices in Postconflict Democracy:The Impact of Institutional Design on Government–Media Relations

The media are considered to play a crucial democratic role in the public sphere through representing political issues to the public (Gelders et al. 2007); facilitating deliberation, public opinion formation and political participation (Habermas 1989); acting as the 'watchdog' of powerful societal institutions (Norris 2000); and in assisting in the development of civil society in politically fragile and divided contexts (Taylor 2000). Journalists are expected to perform their news reporting within the framework of public interest values, such as objectivity, impartiality, public service, autonomy, and a critical questioning of power (Street 2001). Yet, it is acknowledged that political, cultural, organisational, economic, and relational factors affect this journalistic ideal (Davis 2010). In deeply divided, post-conflict societies, ethno-political antagonisms are fundamental to almost all aspects of civic life, yet there is limited research into how government-media relations operate in such contexts. Most media-politics studies focus on Western majoritarian parliamentary or presidential systems - that is, any system that has clear ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ after elections - and where institutional factors are considered, the focus is largely on how party systems impact on journalism (e.g. Çarkoğlu et al. 2014; Hallin and Mancini 2004; Sheafer and Wolfsfeld 2009). This focus however, neglects important institutional variables, such as mandatory coalition, proportionality and special cross-community voting arrangements, which pertain in more constitutionally complex democracies and which may have a significant impact on media-politics relations

Recommendations of the task force on public policy

This is the published version, reproduced here with permission from the publisher. This article is also available electronically from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2741851/.The Task Force on Public Policy was established by the Association for Behavior Analysis to examine ways to encourage members to contribute to policymaking relevant to the public interest. Members discussed issues pertinent to this activity and summarized their discussion in a formal report.' Recommendations of the Task Force for conducting and disseminating policy research and for training, technical assistance, and other services supportive of behavior-analytic research in the public policy arena are presented here

Multi-Ancestry Genome-Wide Association Analyses Improve Resolution of Genes and Pathways Influencing Lung Function and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Risk

Lung-function impairment underlies chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and predicts mortality. In the largest multi-ancestry genome-wide association meta-analysis of lung function to date, comprising 580,869 participants, we identified 1,020 independent association signals implicating 559 genes supported by ≥2 criteria from a systematic variant-to-gene mapping framework. These genes were enriched in 29 pathways. Individual variants showed heterogeneity across ancestries, age and smoking groups, and collectively as a genetic risk score showed strong association with COPD across ancestry groups. We undertook phenome-wide association studies for selected associated variants as well as trait and pathway-specific genetic risk scores to infer possible consequences of intervening in pathways underlying lung function. We highlight new putative causal variants, genes, proteins and pathways, including those targeted by existing drugs. These findings bring us closer to understanding the mechanisms underlying lung function and COPD, and should inform functional genomics experiments and potentially future COPD therapies

Functional characterization of the YmcB and YqeV tRNA methylthiotransferases of Bacillus subtilis

Methylthiotransferases (MTTases) are a closely related family of proteins that perform both radical-S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) mediated sulfur insertion and SAM-dependent methylation to modify nucleic acid or protein targets with a methyl thioether group (–SCH3). Members of two of the four known subgroups of MTTases have been characterized, typified by MiaB, which modifies N6-isopentenyladenosine (i6A) to 2-methylthio-N6-isopentenyladenosine (ms2i6A) in tRNA, and RimO, which modifies a specific aspartate residue in ribosomal protein S12. In this work, we have characterized the two MTTases encoded by Bacillus subtilis 168 and find that, consistent with bioinformatic predictions, ymcB is required for ms2i6A formation (MiaB activity), and yqeV is required for modification of N6-threonylcarbamoyladenosine (t6A) to 2-methylthio-N6-threonylcarbamoyladenosine (ms2t6A) in tRNA. The enzyme responsible for the latter activity belongs to a third MTTase subgroup, no member of which has previously been characterized. We performed domain-swapping experiments between YmcB and YqeV to narrow down the protein domain(s) responsible for distinguishing i6A from t6A and found that the C-terminal TRAM domain, putatively involved with RNA binding, is likely not involved with this discrimination. Finally, we performed a computational analysis to identify candidate residues outside the TRAM domain that may be involved with substrate recognition. These residues represent interesting targets for further analysis

Functional characterization of the YmcB and YqeV tRNA methylthiotransferases of Bacillus subtilis

Methylthiotransferases (MTTases) are a closely related family of proteins that perform both radical-S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) mediated sulfur insertion and SAM-dependent methylation to modify nucleic acid or protein targets with a methyl thioether group (–SCH3). Members of two of the four known subgroups of MTTases have been characterized, typified by MiaB, which modifies N6-isopentenyladenosine (i6A) to 2-methylthio-N6-isopentenyladenosine (ms2i6A) in tRNA, and RimO, which modifies a specific aspartate residue in ribosomal protein S12. In this work, we have characterized the two MTTases encoded by Bacillus subtilis 168 and find that, consistent with bioinformatic predictions, ymcB is required for ms2i6A formation (MiaB activity), and yqeV is required for modification of N6-threonylcarbamoyladenosine (t6A) to 2-methylthio-N6-threonylcarbamoyladenosine (ms2t6A) in tRNA. The enzyme responsible for the latter activity belongs to a third MTTase subgroup, no member of which has previously been characterized. We performed domain-swapping experiments between YmcB and YqeV to narrow down the protein domain(s) responsible for distinguishing i6A from t6A and found that the C-terminal TRAM domain, putatively involved with RNA binding, is likely not involved with this discrimination. Finally, we performed a computational analysis to identify candidate residues outside the TRAM domain that may be involved with substrate recognition. These residues represent interesting targets for further analysis

Human Neural Stem Cells Differentiate and Promote Locomotor Recovery in an Early Chronic Spinal coRd Injury NOD-scid Mouse Model

Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) results in partial or complete paralysis and is characterized by a loss of neurons and oligodendrocytes, axonal injury, and demyelination/dysmyelination of spared axons. Approximately 1,250,000 individuals have chronic SCI in the U.S.; therefore treatment in the chronic stages is highly clinically relevant. Human neural stem cells (hCNS-SCns) were prospectively isolated based on fluorescence-activated cell sorting for a CD133(+) and CD24(-/lo) population from fetal brain, grown as neurospheres, and lineage restricted to generate neurons, oligodendrocytes and astrocytes. hCNS-SCns have recently been transplanted sub-acutely following spinal cord injury and found to promote improved locomotor recovery. We tested the ability of hCNS-SCns transplanted 30 days post SCI to survive, differentiate, migrate, and promote improved locomotor recovery.hCNS-SCns were transplanted into immunodeficient NOD-scid mice 30 days post spinal cord contusion injury. hCNS-SCns transplanted mice demonstrated significantly improved locomotor recovery compared to vehicle controls using open field locomotor testing and CatWalk gait analysis. Transplanted hCNS-SCns exhibited long-term engraftment, migration, limited proliferation, and differentiation predominantly to oligodendrocytes and neurons. Astrocytic differentiation was rare and mice did not exhibit mechanical allodynia. Furthermore, differentiated hCNS-SCns integrated with the host as demonstrated by co-localization of human cytoplasm with discrete staining for the paranodal marker contactin-associated protein.The results suggest that hCNS-SCns are capable of surviving, differentiating, and promoting improved locomotor recovery when transplanted into an early chronic injury microenvironment. These data suggest that hCNS-SCns transplantation has efficacy in an early chronic SCI setting and thus expands the "window of opportunity" for intervention

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy