The Origin and Significance of Reverse Zoning in Melilite from Allende Type B Inclusions

In many Type B Allende inclusions, melilite is reversely-zoned over restricted portions of each crystal. Textural relationships and the results of dynamic crystallization experiments suggest that the reverselyzoned intervals in these Type melilites result from the co-precipitation of melilite with clinopyroxene from a melt, prior to the onset of anorthite precipitation. When clinopyroxene begins to precipitate, the Al/Mg ratio of the melt rises, causing the crystallizing melilite to become more gehlenitic, an effect which is negated by crystallization of anorthite. Because the equilibrium crystallization sequence in these liquids is anorthite before pyroxene, melilite reverse zoning can occur only when anorthite nucleation is suppressed relative to pyroxene. This has been achieved in our experiments at cooling rates as low as 0.5°C/hour. Our experiments further indicate, however, that reverse zoning does not form at cooling rates ≥50°C/hour , probably because the clinopyroxene becomes too Al-rich to drive up the Al/Mg ratio of the liquid. Type inclusions with reversely-zoned melilites must have cooled at rates greater than those at which anorthite begins to crystallize before clinopyroxene but <50°C/hour. Such rates are far too slow for the Type droplets to have cooled by radiation into a nebular gas but are much faster than the cooling rate of the solar nebula itself. One possibility is that Type B's formed in local hot regions within the nebula, where their cooling rate was equal to that of their surrounding gas. Other possibilities are that their cooling rates reflect their movement along nebular temperature gradients or the influence of a heat source. The sun or viscous drag on inclusions as they moved through the nebular gas are potential candidates for such heat sources

Sustainable Agriculture Education and Civic Engagement: The Significance of Community-University Partnerships in the New Agricultural Paradigm

Universities and colleges across the United States are making innovative strides in higher education programming to catalyze a more sustainable era of agriculture. This is clearly exemplified through the formation of community-university partnerships as critical illustrations of civic engagement (CE) for sustainable agriculture (SA) education. This paper explores the praxis of CE for SA education by focusing on the ways in which five land-grant universities (LGUs) with undergraduate programs in SA have developed and put into practice community-university partnerships. Drawing upon these programs and supportive literature, this article specifically attempts to describe the role and significance of CE for SA education, emerging community-university partnership models and their implications for prompting food and agriculture sustainability, and student learning and program assessment outcomes. We also reveal the many challenges and opportunities encountered by stakeholders involved in the creation and continuation of these programs and their subsequent coursework. Conclusions offer real world recommendations for other faculty, staff, student, and community stakeholders to implement and generate action-oriented scholarship for and with communities as a viable thread of SA education

A Comprehensive Pediatric Asthma Management Program Reduces Emergency Department Visits and Hospitalizations

We evaluated the impact of a comprehensive pediatric asthma management program (the Children's Asthma Wellness Program, CAWP) on the frequency of emergency department (ED) visits and hospital admissions. The CAWP generally consisted of 4 clinic sessions over a 1-year period, but some patients attended fewer clinic sessions, and some required additional clinic sessions due to incomplete asthma control. Patients were evaluated and treated by pediatric pulmonologists, nurse asthma care coordinator/educator, and social worker. We retrospectively reviewed program results over an 8-year period (2005?2013). We compared ED visits and hospital admissions before and after participation in the CAWP. There were 254 children referred to the CAWP; 172 children were enrolled. Fifty-four children (31%) received >6 sessions due to incomplete asthma control. On average, children requiring additional clinic sessions were older and more likely to be African American, hold Medicaid insurance, and have severe asthma. We obtained a minimum of 1-year preprogram and 1-year postprogram administrative data for 86 children (50%). Using each participating child as his/her own control, we found that taking part in the program decreased the risk of ED visits to 0.26 times the preprogram rate (P?Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/140178/1/ped.2015.0561.pd

2015 Olympia oyster, Ostrea lurida, brooding results from northern Puget Sound

The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community recently began a restoration project to establish, expand, and research Olympia oyster, Ostrea lurida, populations on reservation tidelands. For our pilot project, we evenly distributed seeded cultch in two pocket estuaries in Similk and northern Skagit Bays during the summer of 2012 and spring of 2013. Subsequently, we initiated a long-term monitoring program that included measuring reproductive benchmarks to determine population expansion potential. While brooding data have been collected at one other site in northern Puget Sound (i.e. Fidalgo Bay), it is likely that oysters in pocket estuaries will be exposed to different environmental conditions than the Fidalgo Bay oysters. Our goal was to quantify the timing and environmental conditions for peak brooding of oysters in pocket estuaries. Brooding status was recorded from May to early September 2015 and water temperature was continuously logged at each of the two restoration sites. Our data clearly indicate that northern Puget Sound oysters located in pocket estuaries can begin brooding before May when daily minimum water temperatures reach 11°C, 2°C below the published thermal threshold. Managers and scientists working with native oysters in pocket estuaries should target early to mid-April as the optimal time for restoration expansion efforts

Developments in Agricultural Soil Quality and Health: Reflections by the Research Committee on Soil Organic Matter Management

The North Central Education and Research Activity Committee (NCERA-59) was formed in 1952 to address how soil organic matter formation and management practices affect soil structure and productivity. It is in this capacity that we comment on the science supporting soil quality and associated soil health assessment for agricultural lands with the goal of hastening progress in this important field. Even though the suite of soil quality indicators being applied by U.S. soil health efforts closely mirrors the “minimum data set” we developed and recommended in the mid-1990s, we question whether the methods or means for their selection and development are sufficient to meet current and emerging soil health challenges. The rush to enshrine a standard suite of dated measures may be incompatible with longer-term goals. Legitimate study of soil health considers soil change accrued over years to decades that influence on- and off-site function. Tailoring of methods to local conditions is needed to effectively apply and interpret indicators for different soil resource regions and land uses. Adherence to a set suite of methods selected by subjective criteria should be avoided, particularly when we do not yet have adequate data or agreed upon interpretive frameworks for many so-called “Tier 1” biological indicators used in soil health assessment. While pooling data collected by producer-groups is one of the most exciting new trends in soil health, standardizing methods to meet broad inventory goals could compromise indicator use for site or application-specific problem solving. Changes in our nation’s research landscape are shifting responsibility for soil stewardship from national and state government backed entities to public-private partnerships. As a result, it is critical to ensure that the data needed to assess soil health are generated by reproducible methods selected through a transparent process, and that data are readily available for public and private sector use. Appropriate methods for engagement need to be applied by public-private research partnerships as they establish and expand coordinated research enterprises that can deliver fact-based interpretation of soil quality indicators within the type of normative soil health framework conceived by USDA over 20 years ago. We look to existing examples as we consider how to put soil health information into the hands of practitioners in a manner that protects soils’ services

Developments in Agricultural Soil Quality and Health: Reflections by the Research Committee on Soil Organic Matter Management

The North Central Education and Research Activity Committee (NCERA-59) was formed in 1952 to address how soil organic matter formation and management practices affect soil structure and productivity. It is in this capacity that we comment on the science supporting soil quality and associated soil health assessment for agricultural lands with the goal of hastening progress in this important field. Even though the suite of soil quality indicators being applied by U.S. soil health efforts closely mirrors the “minimum data set” we developed and recommended in the mid-1990s, we question whether the methods or means for their selection and development are sufficient to meet current and emerging soil health challenges. The rush to enshrine a standard suite of dated measures may be incompatible with longer-term goals. Legitimate study of soil health considers soil change accrued over years to decades that influence on- and off-site function. Tailoring of methods to local conditions is needed to effectively apply and interpret indicators for different soil resource regions and land uses. Adherence to a set suite of methods selected by subjective criteria should be avoided, particularly when we do not yet have adequate data or agreed upon interpretive frameworks for many so-called “Tier 1” biological indicators used in soil health assessment. While pooling data collected by producer-groups is one of the most exciting new trends in soil health, standardizing methods to meet broad inventory goals could compromise indicator use for site or application-specific problem solving. Changes in our nation’s research landscape are shifting responsibility for soil stewardship from national and state government backed entities to public-private partnerships. As a result, it is critical to ensure that the data needed to assess soil health are generated by reproducible methods selected through a transparent process, and that data are readily available for public and private sector use. Appropriate methods for engagement need to be applied by public-private research partnerships as they establish and expand coordinated research enterprises that can deliver fact-based interpretation of soil quality indicators within the type of normative soil health framework conceived by USDA over 20 years ago. We look to existing examples as we consider how to put soil health information into the hands of practitioners in a manner that protects soils’ services

IRAK4 mediates colitis-induced tumorigenesis and chemoresistance in colorectal cancer

Aberrant activation of the NF-κB transcription factors underlies chemoresistance in various cancer types, including colorectal cancer (CRC). Targeting the activating mechanisms, particularly with inhibitors to the upstream IκB kinase (IKK) complex, is a promising strategy to augment the effect of chemotherapy. However, clinical success has been limited, largely because of low specificity and toxicities of tested compounds. In solid cancers, the IKKs are driven predominantly by the Toll-like receptor (TLR)/IL-1 receptor family members, which signal through the IL-1 receptor-associated kinases (IRAKs), with isoform 4 (IRAK4) being the most critical. The pathogenic role and therapeutic value of IRAK4 in CRC have not been investigated. We found that IRAK4 inhibition significantly abrogates colitis-induced neoplasm in APCMin/+ mice, and bone marrow transplant experiments showed an essential role of IRAK4 in immune cells during neoplastic progression. Chemotherapy significantly enhances IRAK4 and NF-κB activity in CRC cells through upregulating TLR9 expression, which can in turn be suppressed by IRAK4 and IKK inhibitors, suggesting a feed-forward pathway that protects CRC cells from chemotherapy. Lastly, increased tumor phospho-IRAK4 staining or IRAK4 mRNA expression is associated with significantly worse survival in CRC patients. Our results support targeting IRAK4 to improve the effects of chemotherapy and outcomes in CRC