FORESTRY FOR WILDLIFE HABITAT IMPROVEMENT. Nebraska Cooperative Extension Service EC 81-1747, EC 80-1747

Wildlife cannot exist without food and protective cover. Natural and planted woodlands contribute significantly to these essentials. This circular describes habitat needs of wildlife, recommends forestry practices for habitat improvement, and gives examples of practices to improve habitat for pheasant, quail, and deer. Variety, rather than uniformity of vegetation, benefits most wildlife species. Management which results in a diverse plant community with many stages of growth can increase the numbers and species of wildlife. Techniques which create improved conditions for woodland wildlife are fundamentally the same as those designed to grow good timber

Pathogenicity of a disease-associated human IL-4 receptor allele in experimental asthma

Polymorphisms in the interleukin-4 receptor α chain (IL-4Rα) have been linked to asthma incidence and severity, but a causal relationship has remained uncertain. In particular, a glutamine to arginine substitution at position 576 (Q576R) of IL-4Rα has been associated with severe asthma, especially in African Americans. We show that mice carrying the Q576R polymorphism exhibited intense allergen-induced airway inflammation and remodeling. The Q576R polymorphism did not affect proximal signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 6 activation, but synergized with STAT6 in a gene target– and tissue-specific manner to mediate heightened expression of a subset of IL-4– and IL-13–responsive genes involved in allergic inflammation. Our findings indicate that the Q576R polymorphism directly promotes asthma in carrier populations by selectively augmenting IL-4Rα–dependent signaling

Changing pattern in the basal ganglia: motor switching under reduced dopaminergic drive

Action selection in the basal ganglia is often described within the framework of a standard model, associating low dopaminergic drive with motor suppression. Whilst powerful, this model does not explain several clinical and experimental data, including varying therapeutic efficacy across movement disorders. We tested the predictions of this model in patients with Parkinson’s disease, on and off subthalamic deep brain stimulation (DBS), focussing on adaptive sensory-motor responses to a changing environment and maintenance of an action until it is no longer suitable. Surprisingly, we observed prolonged perseverance under on-stimulation, and high inter-individual variability in terms of the motor selections performed when comparing the two conditions. To account for these data, we revised the standard model exploring its space of parameters and associated motor functions and found that, depending on effective connectivity between external and internal parts of the globus pallidus and saliency of the sensory input, a low dopaminergic drive can result in increased, dysfunctional, motor switching, besides motor suppression. This new framework provides insight into the biophysical mechanisms underlying DBS, allowing a description in terms of alteration of the signal-to-baseline ratio in the indirect pathway, which better account of known electrophysiological data in comparison with the standard model

Identification and validation of suitable endogenous reference genes for gene expression studies in human peripheral blood

Background Gene expression studies require appropriate normalization methods. One such method uses stably expressed reference genes. Since suitable reference genes appear to be unique for each tissue, we have identified an optimal set of the most stably expressed genes in human blood that can be used for normalization. Methods Whole-genome Affymetrix Human 2.0 Plus arrays were examined from 526 samples of males and females ages 2 to 78, including control subjects and patients with Tourette syndrome, stroke, migraine, muscular dystrophy, and autism. The top 100 most stably expressed genes with a broad range of expression levels were identified. To validate the best candidate genes, we performed quantitative RT-PCR on a subset of 10 genes (TRAP1, DECR1, FPGS, FARP1, MAPRE2, PEX16, GINS2, CRY2, CSNK1G2 and A4GALT), 4 commonly employed reference genes (GAPDH, ACTB, B2M and HMBS) and PPIB, previously reported to be stably expressed in blood. Expression stability and ranking analysis were performed using GeNorm and NormFinder algorithms. Results Reference genes were ranked based on their expression stability and the minimum number of genes needed for nomalization as calculated using GeNorm showed that the fewest, most stably expressed genes needed for acurate normalization in RNA expression studies of human whole blood is a combination of TRAP1, FPGS, DECR1 and PPIB. We confirmed the ranking of the best candidate control genes by using an alternative algorithm (NormFinder). Conclusion The reference genes identified in this study are stably expressed in whole blood of humans of both genders with multiple disease conditions and ages 2 to 78. Importantly, they also have different functions within cells and thus should be expressed independently of each other. These genes should be useful as normalization genes for microarray and RT-PCR whole blood studies of human physiology, metabolism and disease.Boryana S Stamova, Michelle Apperson, Wynn L Walker, Yingfang Tian, Huichun Xu, Peter Adamczy, Xinhua Zhan, Da-Zhi Liu, Bradley P Ander, Isaac H Liao, Jeffrey P Gregg, Renee J Turner, Glen Jickling, Lisa Lit and Frank R Shar

FORESTRY FOR WILDLIFE HABITAT IMPROVEMENT. Nebraska Cooperative Extension Service EC 81-1747, EC 80-1747

Wildlife cannot exist without food and protective cover. Natural and planted woodlands contribute significantly to these essentials. This circular describes habitat needs of wildlife, recommends forestry practices for habitat improvement, and gives examples of practices to improve habitat for pheasant, quail, and deer. Variety, rather than uniformity of vegetation, benefits most wildlife species. Management which results in a diverse plant community with many stages of growth can increase the numbers and species of wildlife. Techniques which create improved conditions for woodland wildlife are fundamentally the same as those designed to grow good timber

G73-45 Managing Black Walnut Plantations for Timber (Revised March 1979)

A basic knowledge of tree needs and the application of simple management principles are required to produce quality black walnut timber. Black walnut (Juglans nigra) is a high value timber species. The only way to maximize profit from black walnut plantations is by good timber management. Management practices that increase growth, improve quality and reduce damage, substantially increase profit. A basic knowledge of tree needs and the application of simple management principles are required to produce quality black walnut timber. Protection, pruning and thinning are the major management activities

EC81-1747 Forestry for Wildlife Habitat Improvement

Extension Circular 81-1747: Forestry For Wildlife Habitat Improvement; Introduction, food, protective cover, woodland succession, wildlife and succession, management, management for timber, TSI for wildlife, woodland harvest, general woodland management for wildlife, management for specific species, and professional assistance. FYI inside cover has 80-174