The story

...Throughout the course of every human being\u27s life, we are constantly trying to make sense out of our experience. When you are born, the answers to your deepest questions are not handed to you with your birth certificate. Who am I? Why am I here? What will become of me? What am I to make of life? Where will I find happiness? What is it that the universe is requiring of me? What is wanted from me

The effect of injury in imitation of hail damage on the development of small grain

1. Five types of injury were inflicted on oats, barley and winter wheat at weekly intervals from May 11 to July 6. 2. Complete destruction of above ground parts increased the percentage of injury from 10 percent for oats, 43 percent for barley and 70 percent for wheat on May 11 to total loss for oats on June 15, barley on June 8 and wheat on June 1. 3. Cutting off all leaves above the growing point reduced yields about in proportion to the percentage of leaf area removed at each weekly interval. 4. Whipping severely enough to break all plants resulted in increasing the percentage of injury for oats from 10 percent on May 11 to 69 percent on June 15, for barley from 22 percent on May 11 to 72 percent on June 15, and for wheat from 25 percent on May 11 to 77 percent on June 15. 5. Bruising the developing heads before they had emerged reduced the yield of oats 10 percent on June 8, 8 percent on June 15 and 10 percent on June 22. Barley yields were reduced 25 percent as a result of this injury when inflicted on June 8, 10 percent on June 15 and 51 percent on June 22. Wheat yields were reduced 9 percent for May 25, 10 percent for June 1, 13 percent for June 8 and 20 percent for June 15. 6. Bruising the heads apparently increased the amount of sterile spikelets but was not the only cause of this condition. 7. Breaking the stems about the middle, so that the heads hung straight down, reduced yields progressively less from early in June until the grain was mature. Yields of oats were reduced at succeeding weekly intervals from June 8 to July 6, 47 percent, 37 percent, 31 percent, 24 percent and 12 percent, respectively, and barley for the same periods, 50 percent, 28 percent, 28 percent. 12 percent and 11 percent. This injury to wheat at weekly intervals from June 1 to June 29 reduced yields 44 percent, 42 percent, 31 percent, 14 percent and 8 percent, respectively

Popcorn... Its production, processing and utilization

This is a brief summary of many years of research on all phases of the popcorn industry. Anyone wanting more detailed information on any of the topics mentioned should write the Agronomy Department, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. The early history of popcorn is clouded. It is generally agreed that corn originated in the New World— along with popcorn and other subspecies including dent, flint, flour and sweetcorn. Some students of the origin of corn contend that popcorn was one of the first— if not the first— subspecies to evolve from, wild grasses from which corn may have descended. In recent years archeologists have unearthed specimens which closely resemble a small-eared type of popcorn which we have today

Financial Toxicity: A Side Effect of Radiation Therapy for Cancer?

The field of oncology is ever-changing, as new treatment options become available and treatment plans are unceasingly optimized. While the US remains at the forefront of medical innovation and treatment options for serious and complex conditions such as cancer, costs for cancer care are extremely high and continue to increase. Modern healthcare does not come without a price, and medical expenses can have a profound economic impact on American households. Nearly half of bankruptcy filings are in some way a result of medical expenses. While recent healthcare initiatives have increased access to care, many remain underinsured while facing increasing copayments and deductibles. For many, the out of pocket (OOP) cost for treatment represents a significant portion of their income. Such a large and often unanticipated financial burden not only contributes to non-adherence to medications, but also reduced spending on essentials such as food and clothing. Cancer patients, because of the complexity of care and high cost of treatment are especially sensitive, with an estimated 20-50% of oncology patients facing difficulty in paying medical bills. The American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has recognized the runaway cost of cancer care and has developed a Cost of Care task force to address patient financial well-being. While ASCO is at the forefront of the much needed movement, their impact has been limited. Surprisingly, many physicians are unaware that the task force even exists. The cost of care and financial burden for radiation oncology patients is largely unknown. The use of radiation therapy for treatment, either as stand-alone therapy or part of a multimodal approach, is efficacious for many different types of cancer. In fact, radiation therapy is an important treatment modality for many of the most common cancer types, including prostate, breast, and lung. To date, there are no studies addressing OOP cost or other forms of financial burden and its sequelae on patients who received radiation therapy as a part of their cancertreatment. Likewise, there are no financial toxicity tools validated for use in radiation oncology. Given the large role radiation therapy plays in modern cancer treatment, it is important for the field to develop and utilize financial toxicity tools. We hypothesize that radiation oncologists do not routinely screen for financial toxicity, and that a significant percentage of patients encounter financial burden as a result of radiation treatment. Here, we aim to identify demographic trends in patients facing financial burden, as well as gauge physician understanding of treatment costs and their willingness to adopt use of financial toxicity tools. Strategically developed physician surveys and post-treatment patient surveys will be used, utilizing a prospective, non-interventional observational study approach. This is an ongoing study as of April 2016, which we are optimistic will reveal much needed information on the financial toxicity of radiation therapy. Preliminary data will be presented, showing some intriguing trends in both the physician and patient surveys

The Roots of Diversity: Below Ground Species Richness and Rooting Distributions in a Tropical Forest Revealed by DNA Barcodes and Inverse Modeling

F. Andrew Jones is with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, David L. Erickson is with the Smithsonian Institution, Moises A. Bernal is with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and UT Austin, Eldredge Bermingham is with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, W. John Kress is with the Smithsonian Institution, Edward Allen Herre is with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Helene C. Muller-Landau is with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Benjamin L. Turner is with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.Background -- Plants interact with each other, nutrients, and microbial communities in soils through extensive root networks. Understanding these below ground interactions has been difficult in natural systems, particularly those with high plant species diversity where morphological identification of fine roots is difficult. We combine DNA-based root identification with a DNA barcode database and above ground stem locations in a floristically diverse lowland tropical wet forest on Barro Colorado Island, Panama, where all trees and lianas >1 cm diameter have been mapped to investigate richness patterns below ground and model rooting distributions. Methodology/Principal Findings -- DNA barcode loci, particularly the cpDNA locus trnH-psba, can be used to identify fine and small coarse roots to species. We recovered 33 species of roots from 117 fragments sequenced from 12 soil cores. Despite limited sampling, we recovered a high proportion of the known species in the focal hectare, representing approximately 14% of the measured woody plant richness. This high value is emphasized by the fact that we would need to sample on average 13 m2 at the seedling layer and 45 m2 for woody plants >1 cm diameter to obtain the same number of species above ground. Results from inverse models parameterized with the locations and sizes of adults and the species identifications of roots and sampling locations indicates a high potential for distal underground interactions among plants. Conclusions -- DNA barcoding techniques coupled with modeling approaches should be broadly applicable to studying root distributions in any mapped vegetation plot. We discuss the implications of our results and outline how second-generation sequencing technology and environmental sampling can be combined to increase our understanding of how root distributions influence the potential for plant interactions in natural ecosystems.FAJ acknowledges the support of a Tupper postdoctoral fellowship in tropical biology and the National Science Foundation (DEB 0453665). Funding was provided by the Smithsonian Institution Global Earth Observatory, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute/Center for Tropical Forest Sciences endowment fund, and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute/Frank Levinson fund. We would like to thank Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute for processing research permits. We thank S. Hubbell and R. Condit for access to plot data, S. Schnitzer for liana census data (NSF DEB 0613666), and L. Comita and S. Hubbell for access to seedling data (NSF DEB 0075102 and DEB 0823728). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Marine Scienc

Considering the Case for Biodiversity Cycles: Reexamining the Evidence for Periodicity in the Fossil Record

Medvedev and Melott (2007) have suggested that periodicity in fossil biodiversity may be induced by cosmic rays which vary as the Solar System oscillates normal to the galactic disk. We re-examine the evidence for a 62 million year (Myr) periodicity in biodiversity throughout the Phanerozoic history of animal life reported by Rohde & Mueller (2005), as well as related questions of periodicity in origination and extinction. We find that the signal is robust against variations in methods of analysis, and is based on fluctuations in the Paleozoic and a substantial part of the Mesozoic. Examination of origination and extinction is somewhat ambiguous, with results depending upon procedure. Origination and extinction intensity as defined by RM may be affected by an artifact at 27 Myr in the duration of stratigraphic intervals. Nevertheless, when a procedure free of this artifact is implemented, the 27 Myr periodicity appears in origination, suggesting that the artifact may ultimately be based on a signal in the data. A 62 Myr feature appears in extinction, when this same procedure is used. We conclude that evidence for a periodicity at 62 Myr is robust, and evidence for periodicity at approximately 27 Myr is also present, albeit more ambiguous.Comment: Minor modifications to reflect final published versio

A multidisciplinary approach to severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia is associated with resolution of pulmonary hypertension

ObjectiveTo describe our multidisciplinary bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) consult team's systematic approach to BPD associated pulmonary hypertension (PH), to report our center outcomes, and to evaluate clinical associations with outcomes.Study designRetrospective cohort of 60 patients with BPD-PH who were referred to the Seattle Children's Hospital BPD team from 2018 to 2020. Patients with critical congenital heart disease were excluded. Demographics, comorbidities, treatments, closure of hemodynamically relevant intracardiac shunts, and clinical outcomes including time to BPD-PH resolution were reviewed.ResultsMedian gestational age of the 60 patients was 25 weeks (IQR: 24–26). 20% were small for gestational age (SGA), 65% were male, and 25% received a tracheostomy. With aggressive cardiopulmonary management including respiratory support optimization, patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) and atrial septal defect (ASD) closure (40% PDA, 5% ASD, 3% both), and limited use of pulmonary vasodilators (8%), all infants demonstrated resolution of PH during the follow-up period, including three (5%) who later died from non-BPD-PH morbidities. Neither SGA status nor the timing of PH diagnosis (<36 vs. ≥36 weeks PMA) impacted the time to BPD-PH resolution in our cohort [median 72 days (IQR 30.5–166.5)].ConclusionOur multidisciplinary, systematic approach to BPD-PH management was associated with complete resolution of PH with lower mortality despite less sildenafil use than reported in comparable cohorts. Unique features of our approach included aggressive PDA and ASD device closure and rare initiation of sildenafil only after lack of BPD-PH improvement with respiratory support optimization and diagnostic confirmation by cardiac catheterization