Production physiology of three native ornamental shrubs intercropped in a young longleaf pine plantation

Paper presented at the 11th North American Agroforesty Conference, which was held May 31-June 3, 2009 in Columbia, Missouri.In Gold, M.A. and M.M. Hall, eds. Agroforestry Comes of Age: Putting Science into Practice. Proceedings, 11th North American Agroforestry Conference, Columbia, Mo., May 31-June 3, 2009.The production of woody floral products -- the fresh or dried stems that are used for decorative purposes -- may be an attractive option for southeastern landowners looking to generate income from small landholdings. Since many shrubs native to the understory of the longleaf pine ecosystem have market potential, one possibility is the intercropping of select species in the between-row spacing of young longleaf pine plantations. The objective of this study was to evaluate how competition affects the physiology, and thus the productivity of American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana L.), wax myrtle (Morella cerifera (L.) Small) and inkberry (Ilex glabra (L.) A.Gray) when intercropped in a longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) plantation in the southeastern United States. The effect of competition was assessed via comparisons of mortality, biomass, light transmittance, gas exchange and soil moisture between intercropping and monoculture (treeless) treatments. Overall, shrubs in the intercropping treatment performed worse than those in the monoculture, with higher mortality, and reductions in biomass of 75.5 [percent], 50.6 [percent], and 68.7 [percent] for C. americana, M. cerifera and I. glabra, respectively. Root-shoot ratios for all species were significantly higher and soil moisture during dry periods was significantly lower in the intercropping treatment. Light transmittance below the pine canopy was high (57.7 [percent]) and I. glabra was the only species that exhibited reduced photosynthesis due to shading. These results suggest that the effect of shading is minimal and belowground competition is likely the most important determinant of productivity in this system.Donald L. Hagan (1), Shibu Jose (1), Mack Thetford (2), and Kimberly Bohn (3) ; 1. School of Forest Resources & Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL USA 32611. 2. Department of Environmental Horticulture, University of Florida, Milton, FL, USA 32583. 3. School of Forest Resources & Conservation, University of Florida, Milton, FL, USA 32583.Includes bibliographical references

Competition for applied 15N fertilizer in a longelaf pine/native woody ornamental intercropping system

Paper presented at the 11th North American Agroforesty Conference, which was held May 31-June 3, 2009 in Columbia, Missouri.In Gold, M.A. and M.M. Hall, eds. Agroforestry Comes of Age: Putting Science into Practice. Proceedings, 11th North American Agroforestry Conference, Columbia, Mo., May 31-June 3, 2009.The cultivation of ornamentals to produce woody floral products -- the fresh or dried stems that are used for decorative purposes -- may be an attractive option for southeastern landowners looking to generate income from small landholdings. Since many shrubs native to the understory of the longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) ecosystem have market potential, one possibility is the intercropping of select species in the between-row spacing of young longleaf pine plantations. The objective of this study was to evaluate how interspecific competition affects the fate of 15N fertilizer when American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana L.), wax myrtle (Morella cerifera (L.) Small) and inkberry (Ilex glabra (L.) A.Gray) are intercropped with longleaf pine. Nitrogen derived from fertilizer (NDF), utilization of fertilizer N (UFN) and recovery of fertilizer N (RFNsoil) were compared between agroforestry and monoculture (treeless) treatments to assess the effect of competition. Results varied by species, with NDF being higher for C. americana foliage and lower for all M. cerifera tissues in the agroforestry treatment. No effect was observed for I. glabra. UFN was lower for all species in the agroforestry treatment. RFNsoil was higher in the agroforestry treatment for I. glabra, but no treatment effects were observed for C. americana or M. cerifera. Overall, while it is clear that interspecific competition was present in the agroforestry treatment, the inefficiency of fertilizer use suggests that nitrogen was not the most limiting resource. Management interventions, particularly those that address competition for water, will likely be critical to the success of this system.Donald L. Hagan (1), Shibu Jose (1), Mack Thetford (2), and Kimberly Bohn (3) ; 1. School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL USA 32611. 2. Department of Environmental Horticulture, University of Florida, Milton, FL, USA 32583. 3. School of Forest Resources & Conservation, University of Florida, Milton, FL, USA 32583.Includes bibliographical references

Patients with stricturing or penetrating Crohn\u27s disease phenotypes report high disease burden and treatment needs

BACKGROUND: Crohn\u27s disease (CD) is a chronic autoimmune disease in which inflammation can progress to complications of stricturing and/or penetrating disease. Real-world data on burden of complicated CD phenotypes are limited. METHODS: We analyzed cross-sectional data from the SPARC IBD (Study of a Prospective Adult Research Cohort with Inflammatory Bowel Disease) registry from 2016 to 2020. Four mutually exclusive phenotype cohorts were created: inflammatory CD (CD-I), complicated CD (stricturing CD, penetrating CD, and stricturing and penetrating CD [CD-SP]). Statistical analyses were performed using CD-I as the reference. RESULTS: A total of 1557 patients were identified: CD-I (n = 674, 43.3%), stricturing CD (n = 457, 29.4%), penetrating CD (n = 166, 10.7%), and CD-SP (n = 260, 16.7%). Patients with complicated phenotypes reported significantly greater use of tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (84.2%-86.7% vs 66.0%; P \u3c .001) and corticosteroids (75.3%-82.7% vs 68.0%; P \u3c .001). Patients with CD-SP reported significantly more aphthous ulcer (15.4% vs 10.5%; P \u3c .05), erythema nodosum (6.5% vs 3.6%; P \u3c .05), inflammatory bowel disease-related arthropathy (25.8% vs 17.2%; P \u3c .01), liquid stools (24.2% vs 9.3%; P \u3c .001), nocturnal fecal incontinence (10.8% vs 2.5%; P \u3c .001), and CD-related surgery (77.7% vs 12.2%; P \u3c .001). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with complicated CD phenotypes reported higher rates of active CD-related luminal and extraintestinal manifestations, and underwent more surgeries, despite being more likely to have received biologics than those with CD-I. The potential for early recognition and management of CD-I to prevent progression to complicated phenotypes should be explored in longitudinal studies

Characterization of kappa opioid receptor mediated, dynorphin-stimulated [35S]GTPγS binding in mouse striatum for the evaluation of selective KOR ligands in an endogenous setting

Differential modulation of kappa opioid receptor (KOR) signaling has been a proposed strategy for developing therapies for drug addiction and depression by either activating or blocking this receptor. Hence, there have been significant efforts to generate ligands with diverse pharmacological properties including partial agonists, antagonists, allosteric modulators as well as ligands that selectively activate some pathways while not engaging others (biased agonists). It is becoming increasingly evident that G protein coupled receptor signaling events are context dependent and that what may occur in cell based assays may not be fully indicative of signaling events that occur in the naturally occurring environment. As new ligands are developed, it is important to assess their signaling capacity in relevant endogenous systems in comparison to the performance of endogenous agonists. Since KOR is considered the cognate receptor for dynorphin peptides we have evaluated the selectivity profiles of dynorphin peptides in wild-type (WT), KOR knockout (KOR-KO), and mu opioid receptor knockout (MOR-KO) mice using [35S]GTPγS binding assay in striatal membrane preparations. We find that while the small molecule KOR agonist U69,593, is very selective for KOR, dynorphin peptides promiscuously stimulate G protein signaling in striatum. Furthermore, our studies demonstrate that norBNI and 5′GNTI are highly nonselective antagonists as they maintain full potency and efficacy against dynorphin signaling in the absence of KOR. Characterization of a new KOR antagonist, which may be more selective than NorBNI and 5′GNTI, is presented using this approach

The Messy Nature of Fiber Spectra: Star-Quasar Pairs Masquerading as Dual Type 1 AGNs

Theoretical studies predict that the most significant growth of supermassive black holes occurs in late-stage mergers, coinciding with the manifestation of dual active galactic nuclei (AGNs), and both major and minor mergers are expected to be important for dual AGN growth. In fact, dual AGNs in minor mergers should be signposts for efficient minor merger-induced SMBH growth for both the more and less massive progenitor. We identified two candidate dual AGNs residing in apparent minor mergers with mass ratios of $\sim$1:7 and $\sim$1:30. SDSS fiber spectra show broad and narrow emission lines in the primary nuclei of each merger while only a narrow [O III] emission line and a broad and prominent H$\alpha$/[N II] complex is observed in the secondary nuclei. The FWHMs of the broad H$\alpha$ lines in the primary and secondary nuclei are inconsistent in each merger, suggesting that each nucleus in each merger hosts a Type 1 AGN. However, spatially-resolved LBT optical spectroscopy reveal rest-frame stellar absorption features, indicating the secondary sources are foreground stars and that the previously detected broad lines are likely the result of fiber spillover effects induced by the atmospheric seeing at the time of the SDSS observations. This study demonstrates for the first time that optical spectroscopic searches for Type 1/Type 1 pairs similarly suffer from fiber spillover effects as has been observed previously for Seyfert 2 dual AGN candidates. The presence of foreground stars may not have been clear if an instrument with more limited wavelength range or limited sensitivity had been used.Comment: 15 pages including appendix and references, 6 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in Ap

Structure–Activity Relationship Studies of Functionally Selective Kappa Opioid Receptor Agonists that Modulate ERK 1/2 Phosphorylation While Preserving G Protein Over βArrestin2 Signaling Bias

Kappa opioid receptor (KOR) modulation is a promising target for drug discovery efforts due to KOR involvement in pain, depression, and addiction behaviors. We recently reported a new class of triazole KOR agonists that displays significant bias toward G protein signaling over βarrestin2 recruitment; interestingly, these compounds also induce less activation of ERK1/2 map kinases than the balanced agonist, U69,593. We have identified structure–activity relationships around the triazole scaffold that allows for decreasing the bias for G protein signaling over ERK1/2 activation while maintaining the bias for G protein signaling over βarrestin2 recruitment. The development of novel compounds, with different downstream signaling outcomes, independent of G protein/βarrestin2 bias, provides a more diverse pharmacological toolset for use in defining complex KOR signaling and elucidating the significance of KOR-mediated signaling

MP753: The Role of Interfering Plants in Regenerating Hardwood Stands of Northeastern North America

An annotated bibliography for American beech (Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.), striped maple (Acer pensylvanicum L.), hobblebush (Viburnum alnifolium Marsh.), hayscented fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula L.), New York fern (Thelypteris noveborecensis L.), bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn), raspberries (Rubus spp.), and pin cherry (Prunus pensylvanica L.f.). While accessible literature includes many references to these species, the information remains scattered. No one has previously consolidated the separate reports for easy reference, nor summarized the findings relative to interference with tree regeneration. This annotated bibliography serves that purpose.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/aes_miscpubs/1023/thumbnail.jp

Potency enhancement of the κ-opioid receptor antagonist probe ML140 through sulfonamide constraint utilizing a tetrahydroisoquinoline motif

Optimization of the sulfonamide-based kappa opioid receptor (KOR) antagonist probe molecule ML140 through constraint of the sulfonamide nitrogen within a tetrahydroisoquinoline moiety afforded a marked increase in potency. This strategy, when combined with additional structure-activity relationship exploration, has led to a compound only six-fold less potent than norBNI, a widely utilized KOR antagonist tool compound, but significantly more synthetically accessible. The new optimized probe is suitably potent for use as an in vivo tool to investigate the therapeutic potential of KOR antagonists

The Exogravity Project: Using Single Mode Interferometry to Characterize Exoplanets

Combining adaptive optics and interferometric observations results in a considerable contrast gain compared to single-telescope, extreme AO systems. Taking advantage of this, the ExoGRAVITY project is a survey of known young giant exoplanets located in the range of 0.1 to 2 from their stars. The observations provide astrometric data of unprecedented accuracy, being crucial for refining the orbital parameters of planets and illuminating their dynamical histories. Furthermore, GRAVITY will measure non-Keplerian perturbations due to planet-planet interactions in multi-planet systems and measure dynamical masses. Over time, repetitive observations of the exoplanets at medium resolution (R = 500) will provide a catalogue of K-band spectra of unprecedented quality, for a number of exoplanets. The K-band has the unique properties that it contains many molecular signatures (CO, H2O, CH4, CO2). This allows constraining precisely surface gravity, metallicity, and temperature, if used in conjunction with self-consistent models like Exo-REM. Further, we will use the parameter-retrieval algorithm petitRADTRANS to constrain the C/O ratio of the planets. Ultimately, we plan to produce the first C/O survey of exoplanets, kick-starting the difficult process of linking planetary formation with measured atomic abundances

“Emancipating myself, the students and the language”: Brazilian teachers’ attitudes towards ELF and the diversity of English

A great amount of the findings in ELF research has not yet reached the regular practitioner in different parts of the world. Despite the fact that ELF research has been solidly advancing, very little has been found out about teachers’ questioning their role in the context of ELF, the global position of English, their role in possibly reproducing or resisting discourses of dominance, inequalities, hegemony, among others. This paper investigates teachers’ attitudes towards ELF, and what influences them, with pre- and in-service teachers in Brazil, the former from a public university and the latter from a prestigious language institute located in Salvador, the capital city of Bahia, Brazil. The findings have shown that regardless of the differences in experience and background knowledge, both groups have demonstrated a very positive attitude towards ELF, although many questions and doubts were brought up when it came to conceiving the teaching of ELF-oriented classes on a regular basis. At a broader level, both groups highlighted the link between an ELF-oriented pedagogy and emancipation and open-mindedness, a way of liberating the teachers from the straightjacket of traditional ELT