Vegetable Garden Insects and Their Control.

4 p

Vegetable Garden Insects and Their Control.

4 p

Multidisciplinary approaches to address food insecurity and nutrition among youth and their families

Our aim in publishing this issue of JARC on nutrition and food insecurity is to understand the factors associated with nutrition and food insecurity in the U.S. and around the world; to elucidate the potential consequences of food insecurity on physical and mental health; and to raise awareness and identify solutions to address this complex issue. We also aim to encourage collaboration across disciplines in order to frame initiatives that reduce these threats to child health, well-being and success

Salinity and Livestock Water Quality

Experiments with albino rates were undertaken preliminary to work with large animals. The purpose here was two-fold: (1) to compare several kinds of salts and get some idea of their relative toxicities; and (2) to establish what concentrations of salts would be best used in experimental work with large animals

Tensile strained InxGa1−xPIn_{x}Ga_{1-x}P membranes for cavity optomechanics

We investigate the optomechanical properties of tensile-strained ternary InGaP nanomembranes grown on GaAs. This material system combines the benefits of highly strained membranes based on stoichiometric silicon nitride, with the unique properties of thin-film semiconductor single crystals, as previously demonstrated with suspended GaAs. Here we employ lattice mismatch in epitaxial growth to impart an intrinsic tensile strain to a monocrystalline thin film (approximately 30 nm thick). These structures exhibit mechanical quality factors of 2*10^6 or beyond at room temperature and 17 K for eigenfrequencies up to 1 MHz, yielding Q*f products of 2*10^12 Hz for a tensile stress of ~170 MPa. Incorporating such membranes in a high finesse Fabry-Perot cavity, we extract an upper limit to the total optical loss (including both absorption and scatter) of 40 ppm at 1064 nm and room temperature. Further reductions of the In content of this alloy will enable tensile stress levels of 1 GPa, with the potential for a significant increase in the Q*f product, assuming no deterioration in the mechanical loss at this composition and strain level. This materials system is a promising candidate for the integration of strained semiconductor membrane structures with low-loss semiconductor mirrors and for realizing stacks of membranes for enhanced optomechanical coupling.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

Senescent vs. non-senescent cells in the human annulus in vivo: Cell harvest with laser capture microdissection and gene expression studies with microarray analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Senescent cells are well-recognized in the aging/degenerating human disc. Senescent cells are viable, cannot divide, remain metabolically active and accumulate within the disc over time. Molecular analysis of senescent cells in tissue offers a special challenge since there are no cell surface markers for senescence which would let one use fluorescence-activated cell sorting as a method for separating out senescent cells.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We employed a novel laser capture microdissection (LCM) design to selectively harvest senescent and non-senescent annulus cells in paraffin-embedded tissue, and compared their gene expression with microarray analysis. LCM was used to separately harvest senescent and non-senescent cells from 11 human annulus specimens.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Microarray analysis revealed significant differences in expression levels in senescent cells vs non-senescent cells: 292 genes were upregulated, and 321 downregulated. Genes with established relationships to senescence were found to be significantly upregulated in senescent cells vs. non-senescent cells: p38 (MPAK14), RB-Associated KRAB zinc finger, Discoidin, CUB and LCCL domain, growth arrest and DNA-damage inducible beta, p28ING5, sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor 2 and somatostatin receptor 3; cyclin-dependent kinase 8 showed significant downregulation in senescent cells. Nitric oxidase synthase 1, and heat shock 70 kDa protein 6, both of which were significantly down-regulated in senescent cells, also showed significant changes. Additional genes related to cytokines, cell proliferation, and other processes were also identified.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our LCM-microarray analyses identified a set of genes associated with senescence which were significantly upregulated in senescent vs non-senescent cells in the human annulus. These genes include p38 MAP kinase, discoidin, inhibitor of growth family member 5, and growth arrest and DNA-damage-inducible beta. Other genes, including genes associated with cell proliferation, extracellular matrix formation, cell signaling and other cell functions also showed significant modulation in senescent vs non-senescent cells. The aging/degenerating disc undergoes a well-recognized loss of cells; understanding senescent cells is important since their presence further reduces the disc's ability to generate new cells to replace those lost to necrosis or apoptosis.</p

Characterization of envelope function of transmitted viruses circulating in Mbeya, Tanzania, and its impact on disease progression

An understanding of the biological characteristics of transmitted viruses provides important insights into HIV pathogenesis and informs vaccine development. The aim of the study was to characterize env function of transmitted viruses and its role in disease progression

Socioeconomic and Cultural County-level Factors Associated with Race/Ethnic Differences in Body Mass Index in 4th Grade Students in Texas

Purpose: To evaluate the relationship between county-level socioeconomic environment and the propensity to be overweight or obese by race/ethnic group in a sample of fourth grade children the Texas public school system. Methods: The data used come from the School Physical Activity and Nutrition (SPAN) surveillance study – a surveillance study of school-aged children in Texas. The outcome variable used was Body Mass Index (BMI) categorized as underweight/normal/healthy, overweight, and obese. Exposure variables were derived from county-level Hispanic and Black concentration and socioeconomic data using the Human Security Index (HSI) as a framework. We made comparisons between Non-Hispanic White, Black and Hispanic children enrolled in the fourth grade. We used bivariate and regression analysis using jackknife variance estimates. Results: Hispanic and Black children were more likely to be obese and overweight than non-Hispanic White children. Hispanic and Black children were more likely to live in counties with higher economic, educational and social stress than non-Hispanic White children. In the logistic regression analysis comparing the odds of overweight or obese to underweight/healthy/normal weight, both Hispanic and Black children continued to have a higher odds of overweight and obesity than non-Hispanic White children. In separate regression analyses for each race/ethnic group (ie, Hispanic, Black, and White students) the county-level educational and social stress variables had a significant association with overweight and obesity in Hispanic children only. Hispanic ethnic concentration was associated with the odds of being overweight but not obese, while percent Black was associated with obesity in Hispanic children. There were no significant associations between socioeconomic or ethnic concentration and overweight or obese in Black children. Discussion: The results from this study indicate that county-level effects on childhood obesity may be more than just socioeconomics and ethnic concentration. Future research should involve multiple levels of analysis, including census tract, school and home variables simultaneously, in order to understand how the environments children live in impact their risk for obesity and how these influences may vary by race/ethnicity

Managing Insect and Mite Pests of Texas Sorghum.

16 p