Bridging spinal cord injuries.

One strategy for spinal cord injury repair is to make cellular bridges that support axon regeneration. However, the bridging cells often fail to integrate with host tissue and may lead to increased pain sensitivity. Recent work has tested bridging with two forms of progenitor-derived astrocyte. One type integrates, suppresses scar formation and promotes axon regeneration, whereas another very similar type, reported in Journal of Biology, does not support regeneration and increases pain sensitivity.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are

CCA credit opportunity on June 28

Certified crop advisers (CCAs) can earn 5 hours of credit, including 2 hours in soil and water management, by attending a special CCA morning session and afternoon field day tour at the Southeast Iowa Research and Demonstration Farm near Crawfordsville on June 28

SPATIAL ECOLOGY AND HABITAT USE OF THE WESTERN MASSASAUGA (SISTRURUS TERGEMINUS) IN NEBRASKA

We used radiotelemetry during 2004 and 2005 to investigate seasonal movements and habitat use and to improve our understanding of how land management practices were affecting Western Massasauga (Sistrurus tergeminus) populations in Nebraska. We found Western Massasaugas to brumate in crayfish burrows 100% of the time, and spring emergence occurred during March - April. The longest movements occurred during May when snakes were moving away from brumation sites to summer habitat, after which movements decreased until a second peak in August. We did not find significant differences between male and female activity area, range length, total distance moved, daily movement, or distance from spring and fall brumation sites. However the core activity range of females was significantly less than that of males. During the active season, grassland habitat was used 75.6% of the time compared to habitats of grassland-shrubs (10.7%), hydrophilic vegetation (9.1%), woodlands (3.1%), and shrublands (1.5%). Identifying variations in a species spatial ecology is important for achieving long-term conservation goals because life history events, resource availability, and land management practices may have an effect on seasonal movements and habitat use. The results of our study demonstrate the need for, and some of the necessary data for, improved land management planning in order to meet conservation needs of the Western Massasauga in Nebraska

Commercial Pesticide Applicator Test Help Session

All commercial pesticide applicators must take exams in order to become initially certified and some choose to become re-certified by exam rather than by attending continuing instructional courses. With the increased interest in applying fungicides on corn and soybeans many commercial applicators are considering adding agricultural diseases (category 1C) to their certification

CCA Credit Opportunity on June 24

Certified crop advisers (CCAs) can earn five hours of credit – three hours in soil and water management, one in pest management, 0.5 each in crop management and nutrient management – by attending a special CCA morning session and the Southeast Iowa Research and Demonstration Farm spring field day tour June 24. The morning session and field day will be at the ISU research farm near Crawfordsville

CCA credit opportunity--June 21

Certified crop advisers (CCAs) can earn 5 hours of credit (2 hours in soil and water management, 1 in crop production, and 2 in pest management) by attending a special CCA morning session and afternoon field day tour at the Southeast Iowa Research and Demonstration Farm near Crawfordsville on June 21

Commercial Pesticide Applicator Test Help Sessions

All commercial pesticide applicators must take exams in order to become initially certified and some choose to become re-certified by exam rather than by attending continuing instructional courses. With the arrival of Asian soybean rust in this country, many commercial applicators are considering adding agricultural diseases (category 1C) to their certification so that they can apply fungicides

Soil and water CCA credit opportunity at Tile Installation Field Day--July 12

Certified crop advisers (CCAs) can obtain 3 hours of credit in soil and water management by attending a special session at the Tile Installation Field Day at the Southeast Iowa Research and Demonstration Farm near Crawfordsville on July 12. The Tile Installation Field Day will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will include the opportunity to see tiling machines in operation in the field as well as educational and commercial exhibits. The CCA session will begin at 11 a.m. with a viewing of trenching and plowing tiling machines in operation