Panel Remarks on Regulating Genetically Modified Foods in the United States

Thank you all. In my opinion, containment of pharmaceutical GM crops is essential and hard to do. The USDA just recently came up with some new guidelines for genetically modified pharm plants, but how can the public have an input into what’s going on if they don’t even know where the crops are growing, or what’s in the crops, because this is protected as confidential business information? Should the public have a say? How would we accomplish--giving the public a say about whether they want genetically engineered wheat, even aside from the export issues. Third, I understand GE salmon is very close to being approved and released. That’s a containment issue of another kind. The fourth issue is that there are all kinds of organisms that don’t even fall under EPA, USDA, or FDA jurisdiction, such as GE mosquitoes, and so forth. So, is there some way that you would want to propose changes to the regulations that would help bring the public into the debate? A couple minutes each

Direct Laser Fabrication of a Gas Turbine Engine Component - Microstructure and Properties - Part I

This paper presents the development of a new technique for the production of abrasive turbine blade tips by direct laser processing. This superalloy cermet component is an integral part of the low pressure turbine sealing system in a demonstrator engine. Direct laser fabrication of this component fiom a bed a loose powder results in significant cost savings and improved performance over the currently employed production technique. The technology has been demonstrated by fabricating a prototype lot of 100 blade tips, which will be subjected to an engine test. This is the first instance of a direct fabrication method applied to the production of functional engine hardware. This research was funded by the United States Air Force contract F33615-94- C-2424 titled "Affordable Turbine Blade Tips".Mechanical Engineerin

Evaluation of Strawberry Sap Beetle (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae) Use of Habitats Surrounding Strawberry Plantings as Food Resources and Overwintering Sites

The matrix of strawberry and alternate host crops, wooded areas, and uncultivated sections that comprises a farm landscape provides not only food resources but also habitat in both a spatial and temporal context. Reports of the strawberry sap beetle as a pest in strawberry in the northeastern United States have increased along with a trend to produce a wider diversity of fruit crops on individual farms. The three objectives of this study focused on determining which, if any, habitats outside strawberry plantings are important to consider when developing control strategies for strawberry sap beetles. First, sampling of wooded areas and multiple crops showed that strawberry sap beetles overwinter not only in wooded areas but also in blueberry and raspberry. No overwintering beetles were found in strawberry. Second, up to a 70-fold increase in mean number of strawberry sap beetles in a no-choice food source experiment indicated that considerable reproduction can occur on blueberry, cherry, raspberry, and strawberry. Third, sampling summer-bearing raspberry, peach, blueberry, and cherry in 2004 and 2005 confirmed that beetles were present, often in high densities (0.1-108.5 strawberry sap beetles/m2), in commercial fields with fruit or vegetable material on the ground. In summary, the beetles are able to feed, complete development, and overwinter in habitats other than strawberry. An effective integrated pest management program to control strawberry sap beetles will need to consider the type of habitat surrounding strawberry field

Evaluation of Cultural Practices for Potential to Control Strawberry Sap Beetle (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae)

Strawberry sap beetle, Stelidota geminata (Say) (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), adults and larvae feed on and contaminate marketable strawberry (Fragaria L.) fruit. The beetle is a serious pest in the northeastern United States, with growers in multiple states reporting closing fields for picking prematurely due to fruit damage. Three options were evaluated for potential to reduce strawberry sap beetle populations. First, the influence of plant structure on accessibility of fruit in different strawberry cultivars to strawberry sap beetle was assessed by modifying plant structure and exposing caged plants to strawberry sap beetle adults. Severity of damage to berries staked up off the ground was similar to damage to those fruit contacting the soil, showing that adults will damage fruit held off the ground. Second, baited traps were placed at three distances into strawberry fields to determine whether overwintered beetles enter strawberry fields gradually. Adult beetles were first caught in the strawberries ≈19 d after occurring in traps placed along edges of adjacent wooded areas. The beetles arrived during the same sampling interval in traps at all distances into the fields, indicating that a border spray is unlikely to adequately control strawberry sap beetle. Third, the number of strawberry sap beetle emerging from strawberry for 5 wk after tilling and narrowing of plant rows was compared in plots renovated immediately at the end of harvest and in plots where renovation was delayed by 1 wk. In the 2-yr study, year and not treatment was the primary factor affecting the total number of emerging strawberry sap beetle. Overall, limited potential exists to reduce strawberry sap beetle populations by choosing cultivars with a particular plant structure, applying insecticide as a border spray, or modifying time of field renovatio

Above- and Below-Ground Functional Trait Coordination in the Neotropical Understory Genus \u3cem\u3eCostus\u3c/em\u3e

The study of plant functional traits and variation among and within species can help illuminate functional coordination and trade-offs in key processes that allow plants to grow, reproduce and survive. We studied 20 leaf, above-ground stem, below-ground stem and fine-root traits of 17 Costus species from forests in Costa Rica and Panama to answer the following questions: (i) Do congeneric species show above-ground and below-ground trait coordination and trade-offs consistent with theory of resource acquisition and conservation? (ii) Is there correlated evolution among traits? (iii) Given the diversity of habitats over which Costus occurs, what is the relative contribution of site and species to trait variation? We performed a principal components analysis (PCA) to assess for the existence of a spectrum of trait variation and found that the first two PCs accounted for 21.4 % and 17.8 % of the total trait variation, respectively, with the first axis of variation being consistent with a continuum of resource-acquisitive and resource-conservative traits in water acquisition and use, and the second axis of variation being related to the leaf economics spectrum. Stomatal conductance was negatively related to both above-ground stem and rhizome specific density, and these relationships became stronger after accounting for evolutionary relatedness, indicating correlated evolution. Despite elevation and climatic differences among sites, high trait variation was ascribed to individuals rather than to sites. We conclude that Costus species present trait coordination and trade-offs that allow species to be categorized as having a resource-acquisitive or resource-conservative functional strategy, consistent with a whole-plant functional strategy with evident coordination and trade-offs between above-ground and below-ground function. Our results also show that herbaceous species and species with rhizomes tend to agree with trade-offs found in more species-rich comparisons

Sudden Acquired Retinal Degeneration in the Dog: Clinical and Morphologic Characterization of the Silent Retina Syndrome

Adult dogs occasionally become suddenly, totally and permanently blind. If examined soon after the onset of blindness, the dogs show no ophthalmologic evidence of disease sufficient to account for their problem and are usually in otherwise good health. The hallmark of this sudden, acquired retinal degeneration (SARD), that establishes it as a retinopathy, and distinguishes it from neurological disease, is the extinguished electroretinogram. The syndrome has been termed Silent Retina Syndrome and Metabolic Toxic Retinopathy . Although uncommon, SARD has been diagnosed with increased frequency in recent years. Little retinal tissue has, however, become available for histopathologic characterization of the disease. This report reviews twenty six cases of SARD examined by the authors at the Veterinary Hospital, University of Pennsylvania (VHUP). The histopathology and ultrastructural morphology of four cases are described

SWI/SNF senses carbon starvation with a pH-sensitive low complexity sequence [preprint]

It is increasingly appreciated that intracellular pH changes are important biological signals. This motivates the elucidation of molecular mechanisms of pH-sensing. We determined that a nucleocytoplasmic pH oscillation was required for the transcriptional response to carbon starvation in S. cerevisiae. The SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex is a key mediator of this transcriptional response. We found that a glutamine-rich low complexity sequence (QLC) in the SNF5 subunit of this complex, and histidines within this sequence, were required for efficient transcriptional reprogramming during carbon starvation. Furthermore, the SNF5 QLC mediated pH-dependent recruitment of SWI/SNF to a model promoter in vitro. Simulations showed that protonation of histidines within the SNF5 QLC lead to conformational expansion, providing a potential biophysical mechanism for regulation of these interactions. Together, our results indicate that that pH changes are a second messenger for transcriptional reprogramming during carbon starvation, and that the SNF5 QLC acts as a pH-sensor

Pharmacologic Inhibition of the Anaphase-Promoting Complex Induces A Spindle Checkpoint-Dependent Mitotic Arrest in the Absence of Spindle Damage

SummaryMicrotubule inhibitors are important cancer drugs that induce mitotic arrest by activating the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC), which, in turn, inhibits the ubiquitin ligase activity of the anaphase-promoting complex (APC). Here, we report a small molecule, tosyl-L-arginine methyl ester (TAME), which binds to the APC and prevents its activation by Cdc20 and Cdh1. A prodrug of TAME arrests cells in metaphase without perturbing the spindle, but nonetheless the arrest is dependent on the SAC. Metaphase arrest induced by a proteasome inhibitor is also SAC dependent, suggesting that APC-dependent proteolysis is required to inactivate the SAC. We propose that mutual antagonism between the APC and the SAC yields a positive feedback loop that amplifies the ability of TAME to induce mitotic arrest

Leading change in academic pharmacy: Report of the 2018-2019 aacp academic affairs committee

© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Delivering an effective drug load to the posterior section of the ocular tissues, while using a non-invasive technique, has always been a challenge. In this regard, the goal of the present study was to develop sustained release triamcinolone acetonide (TA) loaded polymeric matrix films for ocular delivery. The TA-films were prepared in two different polymer matrices, with drug loadings of 10% and 20% w/w, and they were evaluated for ocular distribution in vivo in a conscious rabbit model. A 4% w/v TA suspension (TA-C) was used as a control for in vitro and in vivo studies. The TA-films, prepared with melt-cast technology, used polyethylene oxide (PEO) and Soluplus® as the polymer matrix. The films were evaluated with respect to assay, content uniformity, excipient interaction, and permeability across isolated rabbit sclera. The distribution of TA in the ocular tissues, post topical administration, was determined in New Zealand male albino rabbits as a function of dose, and was compared against TA-C. The assay of the 10% and 20% w/w film was in the range from 70–79% and 92–94% for the Soluplus® and PEO films, respectively, and content uniformity was in the range of 95–103% for both the films. The assay of the TA from Soluplus® films was less compared with the PEO films and showed an interaction with TA, as revealed by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). Hence, Soluplus® films were not selected for further studies. No interaction was observed between the drug and PEO polymer matrix. The enhancement of trans-scleral flux and permeability of TA was about 1.16 and 1.33-folds, respectively, from the 10% w/w PEO and 3.5 and 2.12-folds, respectively, from the 20% w/w PEO films, as compared with TA-C formulations. The in vivo studies demonstrate that significantly higher TA levels were observed in the anterior and posterior segments of the eye at the end of 6h with the PEO films. Therefore, the PEO based polymeric films were able to deliver TA into the back of the eye efficiently and for prolonged periods. View Full-Tex

Structure–activity relationship study of EphB3 receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors

A structure–activity relationship study for a 2-chloroanilide derivative of pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyridine revealed that increased EphB3 kinase inhibitory activity could be accomplished by retaining the 2-chloroanilide and introducing a phenyl or small electron donating substituents to the 5-position of the pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyridine. In addition, replacement of the pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyridine with imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine was well tolerated and resulted in enhanced mouse liver microsome stability. The structure–activity relationship for EphB3 inhibition of both heterocyclic series was similar. Kinase inhibitory activity was also demonstrated for representative analogs in cell culture. An analog (32, LDN-211904) was also profiled for inhibitory activity against a panel of 288 kinases and found to be quite selective for tyrosine kinases. Overall, these studies provide useful molecular probes for examining the in vitro, cellular and potentially in vivo kinase-dependent function of EphB3 receptor