What Should a Psychiatrist Know About Genetics? Review and Recommendations From the Residency Education Committee of the International Society of Psychiatric Genetics.

The International Society of Psychiatric Genetics (ISPG) created a Residency Education Committee with the purpose of identifying key genetic knowledge that should be taught in psychiatric training programs. Thirteen committee members were appointed by the ISPG Board of Directors, based on varied training, expertise, gender, and national origin. The Committee has met quarterly for the past 2 years, with periodic reports to the Board and to the members of the Society. The information summarized includes the existing literature in the field of psychiatric genetics and the output of ongoing large genomics consortia. An outline of clinically relevant areas of genetic knowledge was developed, circulated, and approved. This document was expanded and annotated with appropriate references, and the manuscript was developed. Specific information regarding the contribution of common and rare genetic variants to major psychiatric disorders and treatment response is now available. Current challenges include the following: (1) Genetic testing is recommended in the evaluation of autism and intellectual disability, but its use is limited in current clinical practice. (2) Commercial pharmacogenomic testing is widely available, but its utility has not yet been clearly established. (3) Other methods, such as whole exome and whole genome sequencing, will soon be clinically applicable. The need for informed genetic counseling in psychiatry is greater than ever before, knowledge in the field is rapidly growing, and genetic education should become an integral part of psychiatric training

Nutrient Return from Plant Litter and Cattle Excretion Grazing on N-Fertilized Grass or Grass-Legume Pastures in North Florida

Nutrient recycling via plant litter and livestock excreta is an important ecosystem service provided by grasslands. This study determined nutrient return via these pathways in three grazing systems. The experiment was conducted from May to October (2016 and 2017) and treatments were: 1) Nitrogen fertilized bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum Flügge) pastures (112 kg N ha-1) during the warm-season, overseeded with a mixture (56 kg ha-1 of each) of ‘FL 401’ cereal rye (Secale cereale, L.) and ‘RAM’ oat (Avena sativa, L.) during the cool-season (BGN); 2) Ecoturf Rhizoma peanut (Arachis glabrata Benth.)/bahiagrass pastures during the warm-season, overseeded with similar rye/oat mixture fertilized with 34 kg N ha-1 plus a mixture of clovers (Trifolium incarnatum L., T. pretense L., and T. nigrescens L.) during the cool-season (BGRP); 3) unfertilized bahiagrass pastures during the warm-season, overseeded with similar rye/oat grass/clover mixture + 34 kg N ha-1 during the cool-season (BG). Litter mass was evaluated every 5wk. Litter decomposition was evaluated with incubation periods of 0, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, and 256 days. Urine and fecal samples were collected for N concentration analysis. There was a net return of 47 kg N ha-1 season-1 via litter in all three systems without differing among them. In addition, litter decomposition rates were not different in the three systems. Conversely, N returned via excreta (urine and feces) was greater (63, 27, and 51 kg N ha-1 season-1) than that returned via litter (58.6, 41.6, and 41.2 kg ha-1 season-1). When assessing the proportions of N returning to the system via litter or excreta, no differences were observed among treatments, and on average 65.1 % of the N returned via excreta vs. 34.9 % returning via litter. The introduction of legumes could reduce the inputs from N fertilizers in grazing systems and keep the productivity similar because of more efficient N cycling

Pollution Abatement from Cattle Feedlots in Northeastern Colorado and Nebraska

Climatic factors, feedlot runoff, and organic material in the runoff were evaluated in experimental and commercial feedlots. The effects of slope, stocking rates, terraces, basins, and holding ponds were evaluated to obtain the best controls for containing runoff. In eastern Nebraska, 70 cm annual precipitation produces 23 cm of runoff; whereas, in northeastern Colorado, 37 cm annual precipitation gives only 5.5 cm of runoff. Large applications of runoff liquid, up to 91 cmon grass-Ladino and 76 cm on corn, in Nebraska did not decrease yields; however, in northeastern Colorado, the concentrated high-salt runoff required dilution before direct application to crops. The organic manure-soil interface severely restricts the movement of water, nitrates, organic substances, and air into the soil beneath feedlots. The amounts of N03-N in soil cores taken from Nebraska feedlots and croplands ranked as follows: abandoned feedlots\u3e feedlot cropland\u3e upland feedlots\u3e river valley feedlots\u3e manure mounds\u3e alfalfa\u3e grassland. Feedlots contribute NH3, amines, carbonyl sulfide, H2S, and other unidentified substances to the atmosphere. Ammonia and amine can be scavenged from the air by green plants and water bodies. Anaerobic conditions in feedlots are conducive to the production of carbonyl sulfide, H2S, and amines. Management practices, such as good drainage, that enhance aeration will decrease the evolution of these compounds

Ecosystem Services Provided by Overseeding Aeschynomene Into Bahiagrass Pastures in South Florida

Aeschynomene (Aeschynomene americana L.) is a warm-season annual legume commonly overseeded into warm-season perennial grass pastures in tropical and subtropical regions. Although aeschynomene usually increases forage production and nutritive value, there is limited information about the ecosystem services provided by this legume. The objective of these studies was to evaluate the effects of overseeding aeschynomene into bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum Flüggé) pastures on nutrient dynamics and microbial N-cycling gene abundances. The studies were conducted in Ona, FL, from April to March 2019-2020 and 2020-2021. Treatments were the split-plot arrangement of two forage systems treatments (overseeding aeschynomene into bahiagrass or bahiagrass monoculture; main plots) and two N fertilization levels [0 (control) and 60 kg N ha-1 ; sub-plot], distributed in a randomized complete block design with four replicates. Forage characteristics were evaluated 8-wk after seeding and every 35 d thereafter. The static chamber technique was used to estimate nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. The litter bag technique was used to estimate organic matter (OM) and N decomposition. Nitrogen-cycling gene abundances were measured by qPCR. Bahiagrass-aeschynomene had greater crude protein concentration than bahiagrass monoculture but there was no difference in forage accumulation. Nitrogen fertilization increased forage accumulation and daily N2O emissions. Litter from bahiagrass-aeschynomene had greater OM and N decomposition rates than bahiagrass only, and N fertilization did not affect litter decomposition. There were no differences in N-cycling microbial gene abundances among treatments. Overseeding aeschynomene into bahiagrass may provide additional ecosystem services, but the magnitude is conditional to the establishment and proportion of aeschynomene in the pasture botanical composition

A Novel Technique to Label Cover Crop Biomass Using Stable Isotopes

Stable isotopes can be used as tracers for carbon and nitrogen pathways being a great tool to track nutrients in integrated systems. The objective of this experiment was to understand the partitioning of 15N and 13C within cover crop plants when they were labeled with stable isotopes, using chambers under field conditions. Cover crops were planted at the University of Florida, North Florida Research and Education Center-Marianna, located in Marianna, FL. Treatments were four cover crops, in which one was considered a typical cover crop system and the other three consisted of an integrated crop-livestock system with or without the inclusion of legume or different nitrogen fertilizer rates grazed every two weeks. All treatments were replicated three times in a randomized complete block design. Two chambers were built and placed in each plot to label the cover crop plants. For the 15N labeling, 15N2-labeled urea (98 atom% 15N) was applied at a rate of 0.5 kg N ha-1 only once. The target amount of 13CO2 (99 atom% 13C) was determined considering a 20% enrichment of the CO2 concentration present inside the chamber’s volume. The 13CO2 labeling was performed for 28 consecutive days. The labeling technique using chambers and stable isotopes to enrich cover crop species worked under field conditions for both, grass and legume species. Moving forward, this labeling technique can be a useful tool to track nutrient pathways, especially litter decomposition in diversified integrated crop and livestock systems under different management practices

Celebrating 20 Years of the ExCEEd Teaching Workshop

In response to the clear need for faculty training, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) developed and funded Project ExCEEd (Excellence in Civil Engineering Education) which is celebrating its twentieth year of existence. For the past two decades, 38 ExCEEd Teaching Workshops (ETW) have been held at six different universities. The program has 910 graduates from over 267 different U.S. and international colleges and universities. The ExCEEd effort has transformed from one that relied on the grass roots support of its participants to one that is supported and embraced by department heads and deans. This paper summarizes the history of Project ExCEEd, describes the content of the ETW, assesses its effectiveness, highlights changes in the program as a result of the assessment, and outlines the future direction of the program