WHAT THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSIONER SAID: THE FEDERAL REPORT CARD ON AGRICULTURE IN ONTARIO AND QUEBEC

On October 2nd, 2001 the federal environment commissioner released her annual report. In it, she offered an assessment of the environmental impact of agriculture in the Great Lakes basin and the federal government's role. Specifically, the environment commissioner addressed: * Manure and fertilizer management * Soil erosion * Environmental impact of farm programs * Federal role in sustainable agriculture. Based on environmental audits and other analyses, the commissioner presented the following conclusions: * There is a problem with the accumulation of soil nutrients as a result of manure and chemical fertilizer applications in the Great Lakes basin * Soil erosion is a continuing problem that is not receiving adequate attention or data collection * Agriculture and Agri-food Canada (AAFC) has not adequately taken account of the environmental impact of farm programs, and farm programs can have impacts that conflict with AAFC's stated environmental goals * AAFC has not appropriately targeted funding for the environment by region, and there is a greater need for cross-compliance in farm programs * Certain agricultural practices are unsustainable, and the framework to alter unsustainable farming practices is lacking. But are these conclusions warranted, given the mix of belief and credible evidence that typically permeates discussions of agriculture and the environment? In this special report, we provide a brief analysis of the Environment Commissioner's report as it relates to livestock and sustainability. Specifically, we clarify a misconception in the Commissioner's comparison between livestock waste and human waste, and discuss the sustainability of crop nutrients (loadings and uptake) in Ontario and Quebec as they relate to manure loadings and fertilizer use.Environmental Economics and Policy,

THE COMPETITIVENESS IMPACTS OF CANADA'S AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT REVIEW REGULATIONS; FINAL REPORT

Agricultural and Food Policy,

RESILIENCE ATTRIBUTES AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS, SLEEP DISTURBANCES AND MINDFULNESS

Australian university students report experiencing higher levels of psychological distress compared to other Australians, and are at increased risk of developing mental health problems. Psychological distress has been connected with poor academic performance, higher attrition rates and sleep disturbances. A protective factor associated with sleep-related selfregulation is mindfulness. Mindfulness based programs have shown benefits in stress reduction and resilience. Resilience is considered a protective factor that interacts with stressors to reduce the likelihood of negative outcomes. Resilience is also associated with positive social and personal well-being together with enhanced mental health and adjustment to university life. The current study examines the attributes of resilient university students, by comparing the differences between high and low resilient students on levels of reported psychological distress, sleep disturbances and mindfulness. A total of 89 university students participated in the study aged between 18 to 57 years. Results showed that university students with high levels of resilience reported significantly lower levels of psychological distress and significantly higher levels of mindfulness, compared to university students reporting low levels of resilience. There were no significant differences reported with regard to sleep disturbances. The findings add to extant knowledge of resilience and provide support for universities to develop strategies that promote resilience in university students to reduce the risk of students developing mental health problems, thus enabling students to flourish under academic pressures

Ablation of smooth muscle myosin heavy chain SM2 increases smooth muscle contractility and results in postnatal death in mice

The smooth muscle myosin heavy chains (SMHC) are motor proteins powering smooth muscle contraction. Alternate splicing of SHMC gene at the C-terminus produces SM1, and SM2 myosin isoforms; SM2 (200 kDa) contains a unique 9-amino-acid sequence at the carboxyl terminus, whereas SM1 (204 kDa) has a 43 amino acid non-helical tail region. To date the functional difference between C-terminal isoforms has not been established; therefore, we used an exon-specific gene targeting strategy and generated a mouse model specifically deficient in SM2. Deletion of exon-41 of the SMHC gene resulted in a complete loss of SM2 in homozygous (_SM2^-/-^_) mice, accompanied by a concomitant down-regulation of SM1 in bladders. While heterozygous (_SM2^+/-^_) mice appeared normal and fertile, _SM2^-/-^_ mice died within 30 days after birth. The peri-mortal _SM2^-/-^_ mice showed reduced body weight, distention of the bladder and alimentary tract, and end-stage hydronephrosis. Interestingly, strips from _SM2^-/-^_ bladders showed increased contraction to K^+^ depolarization or M3 receptor activation. These results suggest that SM2 myosin has a distinct functional role in smooth muscle, and the deficiency of SM2 increases smooth muscle contractility, and causes dysfunctions of smooth muscle organs, including the bladder that leads to the end-stage hydronephrosis and postnatal death

An enhanced CRISPR repressor for targeted mammalian gene regulation.

The RNA-guided endonuclease Cas9 can be converted into a programmable transcriptional repressor, but inefficiencies in target-gene silencing have limited its utility. Here we describe an improved Cas9 repressor based on the C-terminal fusion of a rationally designed bipartite repressor domain, KRAB-MeCP2, to nuclease-dead Cas9. We demonstrate the system's superiority in silencing coding and noncoding genes, simultaneously repressing a series of target genes, improving the results of single and dual guide RNA library screens, and enabling new architectures of synthetic genetic circuits

Therapeutic Potential of Ketone Bodies for Patients With Cardiovascular Disease JACC State-of-the-Art Review

Metabolic perturbations underlie a variety of cardiovascular disease states; yet, metabolic interventions to prevent or treat these disorders are sparse. Ketones carry a negative clinical stigma as they are involved in diabetic ketoacidosis. However, evidence from both experimental and clinical research has uncovered a protective role for ketones in cardiovascular disease. Although ketones may provide supplemental fuel for the energy-starved heart, their cardiovascular effects appear to extend far beyond cardiac energetics. Indeed, ketone bodies have been shown to influence a variety of cellular processes including gene transcription, inflammation and oxidative stress, endothelial function, cardiac remodeling, and cardiovascular risk factors. This paper reviews the bioenergetic and pleiotropic effects of ketone bodies that could potentially contribute to its cardiovascular benefits based on evidence from animal and human studies.Salva R.Yurista, Cher-RinChong, Juan J.Badimon, Daniel P.Kelly, Rudolf A.de Boer, B. Daan Westenbrin

High frequency of lumbar fusion in patients denied surgical treatment of the sacroiliac joint

Purpose: Effective treatment of medical conditions relies on proper diagnosis. Clinical trials show the safety and effectiveness of sacroiliac joint (SIJ) fusion in patients with chronic SI joint dysfunction. To what extent is the condition under recognised? Objective: To determine whether under recognition of SIJ pain affects healthcare trajectories in Spanish patients with low back pain. Methods: Retrospective study of characteristics and consequences of 189 patients with persistent SIJ pain seen in an outpatient neurosurgery clinic. Results: Patients with SIJ pain who were denied surgical treatment had a longer pain duration, higher likelihood of prior lumbar fusion, and a high rate (63%) of lumbar fusion within 2 years prior to SIJ pain diagnosis, which, in most cases, provided little benefit. Conclusions: Lack of knowledge of the role of the SIJ in chronic low back pain probably results in diagnostic confusion and may lead to misdirected treatment

Modelling upper respiratory viral load dynamics of SARS-CoV-2.

Relationships between viral load, severity of illness, and transmissibility of virus are fundamental to understanding pathogenesis and devising better therapeutic and prevention strategies for COVID-19. Here we present within-host modelling of viral load dynamics observed in the upper respiratory tract (URT), drawing upon 2172 serial measurements from 605 subjects, collected from 17 different studies. We developed a mechanistic model to describe viral load dynamics and host response and contrast this with simpler mixed-effects regression analysis of peak viral load and its subsequent decline. We observed wide variation in URT viral load between individuals, over 5 orders of magnitude, at any given point in time since symptom onset. This variation was not explained by age, sex, or severity of illness, and these variables were not associated with the modelled early or late phases of immune-mediated control of viral load. We explored the application of the mechanistic model to identify measured immune responses associated with the control of the viral load. Neutralising antibodies correlated strongly with modelled immune-mediated control of viral load amongst subjects who produced neutralising antibodies. Our models can be used to identify host and viral factors which control URT viral load dynamics, informing future treatment and transmission blocking interventions