74 research outputs found
Theme Overview: Agriculture and Water Quality in the Cornbelt: Overview of Issues and Approaches
Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q25,
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Temperature controls phenology in continuously flowering Protea species of subtropical Africa
PREMISE OF THE STUDY: Herbarium specimens are increasingly used as records of plant flowering
phenology. However, most herbarium-based
studies on plant phenology focus on taxa
from temperate regions. Here, we explore flowering phenologic responses to climate in the
subtropical plant genus Protea (Proteaceae), an iconic group of plants that flower year-round
and are endemic to subtropical Africa.
METHODS: We present a novel, circular sliding window approach to investigate phenological
patterns developed for species with year-round
flowering. We employ our method to evaluate
the extent to which site-to-
site
and year-to-
year
variation in temperature and precipitation
affect flowering dates using a database of 1727 herbarium records of 25 Protea species.
We also explore phylogenetic conservatism in flowering phenology.
RESULTS: We show that herbarium data combined with our sliding window approach
successfully captured independently reported flowering phenology patterns (r = 0.93).
Both warmer sites and warmer years were associated with earlier flowering of 3–5 days/°C,
whereas precipitation variation had no significant effect on flowering phenology. Although
species vary widely in phenological responsiveness, responses are phylogenetically
conserved, with closely related species tending to shift flowering similarly with increasing
temperature.
DISCUSSION: Our results point to climate-responsive
phenology for this important plant
genus and indicate that the subtropical, aseasonally flowering genus Protea has temperature-driven
flowering responses that are remarkably similar to those of better-studied
northern
temperate plant species, suggesting a generality across biomes that has not been described
elsewhere.APPENDIX S1. Specimen collection frequency across day of flowering
year (DOFY), a normalized version of the Julian day of year.
Red vertical dashed lines correspond to January 1.APPENDIX S2. Comparison of species peak flowering season
(in Julian days) recorded from herbarium specimen records
versus the literature (Rebelo, 2001). Rebelo (2001) reports both
a “long” season of increased flowering activity and a narrower
“short” season of maximal flowering activity for each species, the
centers of which are shown here relative to the peak flowering
date we calculated from herbarium data as described in the text.
Although the y-axis
ranges from 0–365, the x-axis
has a slightly
broader range—given the circular nature of the calendar year, a
given Julian date can take multiple values (e.g., 10 = 375), and the
value that best communicates alignment with the field guide data
set is shown.APPENDIX S3. Parameters used to characterize phenologic responsiveness
to climate in Protea species, estimated from the mixed
effects model.APPENDIX S4. Changes in flowering times of Protea species across
South Africa in relation to anomalies in temperature. Statistical
analysis based on mixed effects model using both spatial temperature
variation (A) and temporal climate (year-to-
year
temperature
variation) (B) as predictors, with species as random effect. Negative
slopes indicate advancement of flowering with warming. Lines indicate
fitted slopes for individual Protea species. Points indicate input
specimen data, and have been truncated for visualization at the extremes
of the y-axis
range.APPENDIX S5. Species-specific
statistics generated by the sliding
window phenology analysis and the mixed effects model (MEM)
climate analysis for each of the 25 Protea species.APPENDIX S6. Relationship between the aseasonality of species’
annual flowering phenology cycles (aseasonality index) and their
estimated phenological responses to temperature variation across
space and time (coefficients from the linear mixed effects model).
Dashed lines show linear regressions with 95% confidence intervals
shaded.APPENDIX S7. Tests of phylogenetic signal in different dimensions
of Protea flowering.Texas A&M
University–Corpus Christi, a National Science Foundation Graduate
Research Fellowship and the National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology.http://www.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/AppsPlantSciam2020Plant Production and Soil Scienc
Novel mutations expand the clinical spectrum of DYNC1H1-associated spinal muscular atrophy
OBJECTIVE
To expand the clinical phenotype of autosomal dominant congenital spinal muscular atrophy with lower extremity predominance (SMA-LED) due to mutations in the dynein, cytoplasmic 1, heavy chain 1 (DYNC1H1) gene.
METHODS
Patients with a phenotype suggestive of a motor, non-length-dependent neuronopathy predominantly affecting the lower limbs were identified at participating neuromuscular centers and referred for targeted sequencing of DYNC1H1.
RESULTS
We report a cohort of 30 cases of SMA-LED from 16 families, carrying mutations in the tail and motor domains of DYNC1H1, including 10 novel mutations. These patients are characterized by congenital or childhood-onset lower limb wasting and weakness frequently associated with cognitive impairment. The clinical severity is variable, ranging from generalized arthrogryposis and inability to ambulate to exclusive and mild lower limb weakness. In many individuals with cognitive impairment (9/30 had cognitive impairment) who underwent brain MRI, there was an underlying structural malformation resulting in polymicrogyric appearance. The lower limb muscle MRI shows a distinctive pattern suggestive of denervation characterized by sparing and relative hypertrophy of the adductor longus and semitendinosus muscles at the thigh level, and diffuse involvement with relative sparing of the anterior-medial muscles at the calf level. Proximal muscle histopathology did not always show classic neurogenic features.
CONCLUSION
Our report expands the clinical spectrum of DYNC1H1-related SMA-LED to include generalized arthrogryposis. In addition, we report that the neurogenic peripheral pathology and the CNS neuronal migration defects are often associated, reinforcing the importance of DYNC1H1 in both central and peripheral neuronal functions
Expanding Microenterprise Credit Access: Using Randomized Supply Decisions to Estimate the Impacts in Manila
Standardized research protocols enable transdisciplinary research of climate variation impacts in corn production systems
The important questions about agriculture, climate, and sustainability have become increasingly complex and require a coordinated, multifaceted approach for developing new knowledge and understanding. A multistate, transdisciplinary project was begun in 2011 to study the potential for both mitigation and adaptation of corn-based cropping systems to climate variations. The team is measuring the baseline as well as change of the system\u27s carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and water footprints, crop productivity, and pest pressure in response to existing and novel production practices. Nine states and 11 institutions are participating in the project, necessitating a well thought out approach to coordinating field data collection procedures at 35 research sites. In addition, the collected data must be brought together in a way that can be stored and used by persons not originally involved in the data collection, necessitating robust procedures for linking metadata with the data and clearly delineated rules for use and publication of data from the overall project. In order to improve the ability to compare data across sites and begin to make inferences about soil and cropping system responses to climate across the region, detailed research protocols were developed to standardize the types of measurements taken and the specific details such as depth, time, method, numbers of samples, and minimum data set required from each site. This process required significant time, debate, and commitment of all the investigators involved with field data collection and was also informed by the data needed to run the simulation models and life cycle analyses. Although individual research teams are collecting additional measurements beyond those stated in the standardized protocols, the written protocols are used by the team for the base measurements to be compared across the region. A centralized database was constructed to meet the needs of current researchers on this project as well as for future use for data synthesis and modeling for agricultural, ecosystem, and climate sciences
2000 Ohio-Grape Wine Short Course
Air, water, sun, and fire--the cooper's footprint on the barrel / Henry Work -- Keeping the bugs unhappy; successful barrel sanitation and maintenance / Henry Work -- Recommended methods for cleaning and maintaining oak cooperage / Phil Burton and Henry Work, with Jim Yerkes -- Chip me, stave me, oak me! The romance, dollars and sense of barrel alternatives / Tim DiPlacido -- Oak experiments / Roland Riesen -- Barrel experiment / Nick Ferrante -- Exploring the versatility and potential of vidal / Roland Riesen -- Ferrante: 1999 vineyard planting / Nick Ferrante -- Breeding rootstocks for current and impending viticultural problems / Andrew Walker -- Grape expectations looking toward traditional and non-traditional sponsors to enhance your event / Doniella Winchell -- Assessing grape maturity by taste and by numbers / Thomas Henick-Kling -- Influence of fruit condition on wine quality / James F. Gallander -- Influence of post bottling storage temperature and SO2 on wine quality / T. E. Steiner -- What we do at harvest to help wine quality / Tony Debevc -- Delivering wine quality / Nick Ferrante -- Criteria for selecting rootstocks / Andrew Walker -- A comparison of Pinot noir production in New York and Burgundy / Pascal Durand and Leslie Weston -- A unique approach to harvest labor / Fran Massaro -- New fungicide registrations for grapes in the year 2000 / Michael Ellis -- Studies to determine time of susceptibility of grape berry and rachis tissues to infection by Phomopsis viticola / O. Erincik, L. V. Madden, D. C. Ferree and M. A. Ellis -- Rootstock performance in Ohio / Arnie Esterer -- Growing your own: vinifera grafting experiments (1999) / Ron Barrett -- Developing an effective fungicide spray program for wine grapes in Ohio / Michael Ellis -- Light and fruit set / David C. Ferree, David M. Scurlock and John C. Schmid -- Soil amendments and mulches in tree health management / Harry Hoitink, Matthew Krause and Randy Zondag -- Report of 5th International Symposium on Cool Climate Viticulture and Enology / Roland Riesen -- Control strategies for soil insects in the vineyard / Roger Williams and Dan Fickl
Epilepsy due to PNPO mutations: genotype, environment and treatment affect presentation and outcome
Mutations in PNPO are a known cause of neonatal onset seizures that are resistant to pyridoxine but responsive to pyridoxal phosphate (PLP). Mills etal. show that PNPO mutations can also cause neonatal onset seizures that respond to pyridoxine but worsen with PLP, as well as PLP-responsive infantile spasm
Systematic Chemical Mutagenesis Identifies a Potent Novel Apratoxin A/E Hybrid with Improved in Vivo Antitumor Activity
A communal catalogue reveals Earth's multiscale microbial diversity
Our growing awareness of the microbial world's importance and diversity contrasts starkly with our limited understanding of its fundamental structure. Despite recent advances in DNA sequencing, a lack of standardized protocols and common analytical frameworks impedes comparisons among studies, hindering the development of global inferences about microbial life on Earth. Here we present a meta-analysis of microbial community samples collected by hundreds of researchers for the Earth Microbiome Project. Coordinated protocols and new analytical methods, particularly the use of exact sequences instead of clustered operational taxonomic units, enable bacterial and archaeal ribosomal RNA gene sequences to be followed across multiple studies and allow us to explore patterns of diversity at an unprecedented scale. The result is both a reference database giving global context to DNA sequence data and a framework for incorporating data from future studies, fostering increasingly complete characterization of Earth's microbial diversity.Peer reviewe
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