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Trials were begun in 1989 at the Georgeson Botanical Garden (64°51’N, 147° 52’W, elevation 475 feet; 136 meters) to evaluate the hardiness and ornamental potential of trees, shrubs, and herbaceous perennial ornamentals. Woody ornamentals are tested for 10 years, and herbaceous perennials for five years. This report is the first summary of perennials that have survived the trial period with a winter hardiness rating between zero and 2.5. Each plant in the trial is evaluated annually for winter injury and rated on a scale of zero through four. A zero rating denotes no visible injury, and four is death. A score of 2.5 and lower indicates the plant grew well in the Garden. It may have shown symptoms of winter injury but recovered in subsequent seasons. The species and cultivars listed in Table 1 are recommended for further trial throughout Interior Alaska. Plants are grown on a south-facing slope in Fairbanks silt loam soil. The plots have been cultivated since about 1910. All plants receive full sun except those located in the shade house. Plants receive supplemental irrigation, mostly hand weeding, and an annual application of 500 lb per acre (560.5 kg/ha) 10-20-20S fertilizer. Lilies receive 1500 lb (1,681.5 kg/ha) per acre of the same fertilizer. No plant receives winter protection such as mulches, wind barriers or snow fences. Weather data are compiled annually from U.S. Weather Service station (elevation 475 feet; 136 meters) located approximately 350 feet (105 meters) west of the Garden. A summary of pertinent weather statistics is shown in Table 2

Characterization of wild and captive baboon gut microbiota and their antibiotic resistomes

Antibiotic exposure results in acute and persistent shifts in the composition and function of microbial communities associated with vertebrate hosts. However, little is known about the state of these communities in the era before the widespread introduction of antibiotics into clinical and agricultural practice. We characterized the fecal microbiota and antibiotic resistomes of wild and captive baboon populations to understand the effect of human exposure and to understand how the primate microbiota may have been altered during the antibiotic era. We used culture-independent and bioinformatics methods to identify functional resistance genes in the guts of wild and captive baboons and show that exposure to humans is associated with changes in microbiota composition and resistome expansion compared to wild baboon groups. Our results suggest that captivity and lifestyle changes associated with human contact can lead to marked changes in the ecology of primate gut communities.Environmental microbes have harbored the capacity for antibiotic production for millions of years, spanning the evolution of humans and other vertebrates. However, the industrial-scale use of antibiotics in clinical and agricultural practice over the past century has led to a substantial increase in exposure of these agents to human and environmental microbiota. This perturbation is predicted to alter the ecology of microbial communities and to promote the evolution and transfer of antibiotic resistance (AR) genes. We studied wild and captive baboon populations to understand the effects of exposure to humans and human activities (e.g., antibiotic therapy) on the composition of the primate fecal microbiota and the antibiotic-resistant genes that it collectively harbors (the “resistome”). Using a culture-independent metagenomic approach, we identified functional antibiotic resistance genes in the gut microbiota of wild and captive baboon groups and saw marked variation in microbiota architecture and resistomes across habitats and lifeways. Our results support the view that antibiotic resistance is an ancient feature of gut microbial communities and that sharing habitats with humans may have important effects on the structure and function of the primate microbiota

Ageism And The Baby Boomers: Issues, Challenges And The TEAM Approach

This paper considers the issues and challenges associated with ageism relating to the Baby Boomer generation in Corporate America.  Stereotypes about older workers are examined along with types of discrimination facing Boomers.  The TEAM approach is proposed to combat ageism in the workplace.  The strategy includes using intergenerational teams, education and training, awareness, accountability, and accommodation and mentoring as key components

Scotland Registry for Ankylosing Spondylitis (SIRAS) – Protocol

Funding SIRAS was funded by unrestricted grants from Pfizer and AbbVie. The project was reviewed by both companies, during the award process, for Scientific merit, to ensure that the design did not compromise patient safety, and to assess the global regulatory implications and any impact on regulatory strategy.Publisher PD

Power and resistance: Reflections on the rhetoric and reality of using participatory methods to promote student voice and engagement in higher education

The focus of this article is methods for facilitating student voice and engagement in higher education, specifically participatory methods. Across the student voice and engagement literature there is a growing emphasis on promoting collaborative partnerships between staff and students. However, there is a lack of detail and criticality with regards to (1) exactly how genuine partnerships can be achieved and (2) comparing the vision for and the reality of positioning ‘students as partners’ in the current higher education climate. In this article, we evaluate the potential of participatory methods to facilitate quality partnerships between staff and students. Drawing on our experiences of being involved in a participatory project in one higher education institution, we offer reflective narratives from three different partners who participated in the project: student, lecturer and researcher. We use these narratives to explore the nature of the partnerships between lecturers and students, focusing specifically on issues of resistance and power. We conclude by considering the implications for how we conceptualise and implement student voice and engagement projects in higher education

Planting Food or Fuel: Developing an Interdisciplinary Approach to Understanding the Role of Culture in Farmers’ Decisions to Grow Second-Generation Biofuel Feedstock Crops

Recent interest in biofuels as an alternative energy source has spurred considerable changes in agricultural practice worldwide. These changes will be more pronounced as second-generation biofuels, such as switch grass, gain prominence; this article examines the cultural factors associated with the decisions U.S. farmers face in targeting crops for fuel production instead of food. Through an interdisciplinary assessment of the dynamics of farmers' behavior, developed herein is a theoretical framework to analyze how farmers grapple with shifting expectations of their function.National Science Foundation EPS-0903806, KU-Transportation Research Institut

Gold nanoparticle interactions with endothelial cells cultured under physiological conditions

PEGylated gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have an extended circulation time after intravenous injection in vivo and exhibit favorable properties for biosensing, diagnostic imaging, and cancer treatment. No impact of PEGylated AuNPs on the barrier forming properties of endothelial cells (ECs) has been reported, but recent studies demonstrated that unexpected effects on erythrocytes are observed. Almost all studies to date have been with static-cultured ECs. Herein, ECs maintained under physiological cyclic stretch and flow conditions and used to generate a blood–brain barrier model were exposed to 20 nm PEGylated AuNPs. An evaluation of toxic effects, cell stress, the release profile of pro-inflammatory cytokines, and blood–brain barrier properties showed that even under physiological conditions no obvious effects of PEGylated AuNPs on ECs were observed. These findings suggest that 20 nm-sized, PEGylated AuNPs may be a useful tool for biomedical applications, as they do not affect the normal function of healthy ECs after entering the blood stream

Exome analysis of patients with concurrent pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (PIBD) and autoimmune disease

BACKGROUND: Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease (PIBD) is a chronic condition seen in genetically predisposed individuals. Genome-wide association studies have implicated >160 genomic loci in IBD with many genes coding for proteins in key immune pathways. This study looks at autoimmune disease burden in patients diagnosed with PIBD and interrogates exome data of a subset of patients. METHODS: Patients were recruited from the Southampton Genetics of PIBD cohort. Clinical diagnosis of autoimmune disease in these individuals was ascertained from medical records. For a subset of patients with PIBD and concurrent asthma, exome data was interrogated to ascertain the burden of pathogenic variants within genes implicated in asthma. Association testing was conducted between cases and population controls using the SKAT-O test. RESULTS: Forty-nine (28.3%) PIBD children (18.49% CD, 8.6% UC, and 21.15% IBDU patients) had a concurrent clinical diagnosis of at least one other autoimmune disorder; asthma was the most prevalent, affecting 16.2% of the PIBD cohort. Rare and common variant association testing revealed 6 significant genes (P < 0.05) before Bonferroni adjustment. Three of these genes were previously implicated in both asthma and IBD (ZPBP2 IL1R1, and IL18R1) and 3 in asthma only (PYHIN1, IL2RB, and GSTP1). CONCLUSIONS: One-third of our cohort had a concurrent autoimmune condition. We observed higher incidence of asthma compared with the overall pediatric prevalence. Despite a small sample size, SKAT-O evaluated a significant burden of rare and common mutations in 6 genes. Variant burden suggests that a systemic immune dysregulation rather than organ-specific could underpin immune dysfunction for a subset of patients

Deleterious coding variants in multi-case families with non-syndromic cleft lip and/or palate phenotypes

8 páginasNonsyndromic Cleft Lip and/or Palate (NSCLP) is regarded as a multifactorial condition in which clefting is an isolated phenotype, distinguished from the largely monogenic, syndromic forms which include clefts among a spectrum of phenotypes. Nonsyndromic clefting has been shown to arise through complex interactions between genetic and environmental factors. However, there is increasing evidence that the broad NSCLP classification may include a proportion of cases showing familial patterns of inheritance and contain highly penetrant deleterious variation in specific genes. Through exome sequencing of multi-case families ascertained in Bogota, Colombia, we identify 28 non-synonymous single nucleotide variants that are considered damaging by at least one predictive score. We discuss the functional impact of candidate variants identified. In one family we find a coding variant in the MSX1 gene which is predicted damaging by multiple scores. This variant is in exon 2, a highly conserved region of the gene. Previous sequencing has suggested that mutations in MSX1 may account for ~2% of NSCLP. Our analysis further supports evidence that a proportion of NSCLP cases arise through monogenic coding mutations, though further work is required to unravel the complex interplay of genetics and environment involved in facial clefting