Jan Powers, Professor Emerita of Interdisciplinary Studies and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

In this new Next Page column, Jan Powers, Professor Emerita of Interdisciplinary Studies and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies shares her thoughts on what makes a great novel and where she believes the best literature in the English-speaking world comes from

Southeast Iowa on-farm demonstration of sustainable tillage systems and weed profile developments on those systems

This study was designed to determine whether tillage systems left in place for significant periods of time develop different weed profiles. No-tillage, reduced tillage, and conventional tillage were placed in a corn/soybean rotation that had been maintained and documented for 15 years. Notillage was the only corn tillage treatment that did not lead yields for at least one year of this three-year trial. No-tillage corn had significantly higher weed pressure from several species, and soybeans had significantly higher levels of giant foxtail with no-tillage. The study also compared ridge and reduced tillage yields and weed profile development; the third year of the study constituted the eighth year that those systems were in place. Ridge tillage soybeans had higher yields and significantly higher weed pressure for a number of species; no trends were detected for corn yields or weeds

An evaluation of risk factors for major adverse cardiovascular events during tocilizumab therapy

Objective: To evaluate associations between lipid levels, inflammation, and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) disease activity, at baseline and during treatment, with the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in tocilizumab‐treated patients with RA. Methods: In retrospective post hoc analyses, data were pooled for 3,986 adult patients with moderate to severe RA who received ≥1 dose of tocilizumab (4 mg/kg or 8 mg/kg) intravenously every 4 weeks in randomized controlled trials and extension studies. Cox proportional hazards modeling was used to evaluate associations between baseline characteristics and posttreatment changes in laboratory and disease characteristics (week 24) and change in disease activity and laboratory values from baseline to week 24 with the risk of future MACE during extended followup. Results: We identified 50 independently adjudicated cases of MACE during 14,683 patient‐years of followup (0.34 MACE cases/100 patient‐years). At baseline, age, a history of cardiac disorders, the Disease Activity Score in 28 joints (DAS28), and the total cholesterol:high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio were independently associated with MACE in multivariable models (P < 0.05 for all). During treatment, a higher DAS28 and higher swollen and tender joint counts at week 24 were associated with future MACE. In separate models, greater reductions in the DAS28 and joint counts from baseline to week 24 were inversely associated with future MACE; changes in lipid parameters were not statistically significantly associated with the risk of MACE. Conclusion: In this population of patients treated with tocilizumab, an association was observed between the baseline total cholesterol:high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio and an increased risk of MACE. The risk of MACE while receiving treatment, however, was associated with control of disease activity but not lipid changes. Larger studies are needed to confirm these findings

1H, 13C, and 15N resonance assignments for the tandem PHD finger motifs of human CHD4

The plant homeodomain (PHD) zinc finger is a structural motif of about 40–60 amino acid residues found in many eukaryotic proteins that are involved in chromatin-mediated gene regulation. The human chromodomain helicase DNA binding protein 4 (CHD4) is a multi-domain protein that harbours, at its N-terminal end, a pair of PHD finger motifs (dPHD) connected by a ~30 amino acid linker. This tandem PHD motif is thought to be involved in targeting CHD4 to chromatin via its interaction with histone tails. Here we report the 1H, 13C and 15N backbone and side-chain resonance assignment of the entire dPHD by heteronuclear multidimensional NMR spectroscopy. These assignments provide the starting point for the determination of the structure, dynamics and histone-binding properties of this tandem domain pair

Advisory Committee of Local Practitioners, Minutes of Meeting, November 27-28, 1953

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aicpa_assoc/2706/thumbnail.jp

Minutes of meeting of Advisory Committee on Local Practitioners, March 19-20, 1954.

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aicpa_assoc/2619/thumbnail.jp

The Post-Wildfire Impact of Burn Severity and Age on Black Carbon Snow Deposition and Implications for Snow Water Resources, Cascade Range, Washington

Wildfires in the snow zone affect ablation by removing forest canopy, which enhances surface solar irradiance, and depositing light absorbing particles [LAPs, such as black carbon (BC)] on the snowpack, reducing snow albedo. How variations in BC deposition affects post-wildfire snowmelt timing is poorly known and highly relevant to water resources. We present a field-based analysis of BC variability across five sites of varying burn age and burn severity in the Cascade Range, Washington State, United States. Single particle soot photometer (SP2) analyses of BC snow concentrations were used to assess the impact of BC on snow albedo, and radiative transfer modeling was used to estimate the radiative effect of BC on snowmelt. Results were compared to Snowpack Telemetry (SNOTEL) data from one site that burned in 2012 and another in a proximal unburned forest. We show that post-wildfire forests provide a significant source of BC to the snowpack, and this effect increases by an order of magnitude in regions of high versus low burn severity, and decreased by two orders of magnitude over a decade. There is a shift in the timing of snowmelt, with snow disappearance occurring on average 19 ± 9 days earlier post-wildfire (2013–19) relative to pre-wildfire (1983–2012). This study improves understanding of the connection between wildfire activity and snowmelt, which is of high relevance as climate change models project further decreases in snowpack and increases in wildfire activity in the Washington Cascades

Passive Integrated Transponder Tags: Review of Studies on Warmwater Fishes With Notes on Additional Species

Although numerous studies have assessed retention and survival of passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags, data are scattered and information gaps remain for many diminutive fishes. Our study objectives were to 1) systematically review PIT tag studies and summarize retention, growth, and survival data for warmwater fishes; and 2) conduct a laboratory study to evaluate the retention, survival, and growth effects of intracoelomic-placed, half duplex PIT tags on six small-bodied species common to warmwater streams. Our systematic review suggested small sample sizes were common within PIT tag retention and survival studies (39% with n ≤ 20) and that many experiments (15%, 14 of 97) failed to use control fish as part of their evaluations. Studies focused primarily on short-term changes (15 d to 2 y) in tag retention and survival. Tag retention was equal to or greater than 90% in 85% of the experiments reviewed and median survival was 92%. Growth was reported by fishes in the majority of reviewed studies. We found similar results after PIT tagging (peritoneum tagging using 12- or 23-mm half duplex tags) adult Cardinal Shiner Luxilus cardinalis, Central Stoneroller Campostoma annomalum, Greenside Darter Etheostoma blennioides, Orangethroat Darter Etheostoma spectabile, Slender Madtom Noturus exilis, and juvenile Smallmouth Bass Micropterus dolomieu. Tag retention for all species was high, with only one tag loss recorded after 60 d. Survival was also high (≥88%) for all of our species with the exception of Orangethroat Darter (56% survival). No significant difference in mean growth between treatment and control groups was found. Both our results and the findings of the literature review suggested generally high tag retention and low mortality in tagged fishes (across 31 species reviewed). However, within our study (e.g., Orangethroat Darter) and from the literature, examples of negative effects of PIT tagging on fishes were apparent, suggesting methodological testing is necessary before using PIT tags in field studies. We suggest future studies would benefit from addressing the behavioral implications that may be associated with tagging and examination of longer-term tag retention. Furthermore, standard reporting (i.e., sample sizes) in PIT tag studies would be beneficial, and use of control subjects or groups for statistical comparisons is needed