Use of soil water measurements to assist crop management in low rainfall areas.

Trial 90M9 Trial summary. Location: Merredin Research Station. 90M9 was established as part of the long term monitoring system to obtain base information on water use from several different soils. A simple rotation experiment was established in T3 on the Merredin Research Station. Trial 89ME32 Rowspacing summary. Location: Merredin Research Station. 89ME32 was monitored as part of the long term monitoring system. Previous to 1990 two years of continued measurements had been done on the same soil type. Located on the CSIRO lease block above the Merredin Research Station on Crook\u27s property. Trial 87M71 Heavyload rowspacing summary. Location: Merredin Research Station. The changes in the soil moisture down the profile were monitored in 87M71 as part of the long term monitoring network. Trial 88ME83 Trial summary. As part of the baseline monitoring system access tubes were inserted in 88ME83 on existing trial on sandy clay loam on Robartson\u27s farm, Merredin. 82M47 Trial summary Location: Merredin Research Station. Tubes were inserted in 82M47 an existing clover:wheat rotation to monitor the changes in the soil water balance. 82M47 is one of the trials in the long turn monitoring system. Trial 86M79 Trial summary. The long term moisture monitoring network was established in 1990. 86M79 was monitored as part of this network

Robust data-driven identification of risk factors and their interactions : A simulation and a study of parental and demographic risk factors for schizophrenia

Objectives Few interactions between risk factors for schizophrenia have been replicated, but fitting all such interactions is difficult due to high-dimensionality. Our aims are to examine significant main and interaction effects for schizophrenia and the performance of our approach using simulated data. Methods We apply the machine learning technique elastic net to a high-dimensional logistic regression model to produce a sparse set of predictors, and then assess the significance of odds ratios (OR) with Bonferroni-corrected p-values and confidence intervals (CI). We introduce a simulation model that resembles a Finnish nested case-control study of schizophrenia which uses national registers to identify cases (n = 1,468) and controls (n = 2,975). The predictors include nine sociodemographic factors and all interactions (31 predictors). Results In the simulation, interactions with OR = 3 and prevalence = 4% were identified with = 80% power. None of the studied interactions were significantly associated with schizophrenia, but main effects of parental psychosis (OR = 5.2, CI 2.9-9.7; p = 35 (1.3, 1.004-1.6; p = .04) were significant. Conclusions We have provided an analytic pipeline for data-driven identification of main and interaction effects in case-control data. We identified highly replicated main effects for schizophrenia, but no interactions.Peer reviewe

Crop management in rows.

Trial 87M71 Effect of row spacing and stubble retention on the yield of wheat. Location: Merredin Research Station. Treatments, site management and results from 1987, 1988 and 1989 have been described in previous experimental summaries. Four row spacings (9, 18, 27 and 36 cm) are compared in either burnt or stubble retained plots, on a red brown earth on the Merredin Research Station. There are six replicates laid out in a randomised block design. Trial 90ME32 Effect of row spacing and variety on the yield of wheat. Location: duplex site at Crooks (see 1989 Experimental Summary) This trial was carried out on the duplex soil site at Crooks (see 1989 Experimental Summary); in 1990, the wheat crop was sown after lupins, and aimed to look at the interaction between row spacing and variety of wheat. Varieties which differ in their canopy characteristics might be expected to differ in the rate at which they develop ground cover, and might therefore influence the partitioning of ET between soil evaporation and crop transpiration. The varieties Kuhn (low tillering, small leaf area) and Aroona (higher tillering, larger leaf area) were compared at row spacings of 9, 18 and 36 cm

Severity and persistence of asthma and mental health: a birth cohort study

Background. The goal of the current study was to investigate asthma and mental health among youth in the community, and to consider the role of asthma severity and persistence in this link

Prenatal Exposure to Lead, δ-Aminolevulinic Acid, and Schizophrenia: Further Evidence

Background: A previously conducted study of prenatal lead exposure and schizophrenia using δ-aminolevulinic acid, a biologic marker of Pb exposure, in archived maternal serum samples collected from subjects enrolled in the Childhood Health and Development Study (1959–1966) based in Oakland, California, suggested a possible association between prenatal Pb exposure and the development of schizophrenia in later life. Objectives: In the present study we extend these findings using samples collected from the New England cohort of the National Collaborative Perinatal Project (1959–1966). Using similar methods, in this study we found results that suggest a comparable association in this cohort. Methods: We pooled matched sets of cases and controls from both the California and New England sites using a multilevel random-intercept logistic regression model, accounting for matching and site structure as well as adjusting for maternal age at delivery and maternal education. Results: The estimated odds ratio for schizophrenia associated with exposure corresponding to 15 μg/dL of blood Pb was 1.92 (95% confidence interval, 1.05–3.87; p = 0.03). Conclusion: Although several limitations constrain generalizability, these results are consistent with previous findings and provide further evidence for the role of early environmental exposures in the development of adult-onset psychiatric disorders

Reduced Satb1 expression predisposes CD4+ T conventional cells to Treg suppression and promotes transplant survival

Limiting CD4+ T cell responses is important to prevent solid organ transplant rejection. In a mouse model of costimulation blockade-dependent cardiac allograft tolerance, we previously reported that alloreactive CD4+ conventional T cells (Tconvs) develop dysfunction, losing proliferative capacity. In parallel, induction of transplantation tolerance is dependent on the presence of regulatory T cells (Tregs). Whether susceptibility of CD4+ Tconvs to Treg suppression is modulated during tolerance induction is unknown. We found that alloreactive Tconvs from transplant tolerant mice had augmented sensitivity to Treg suppression when compared with memory T cells from rejector mice and expressed a transcriptional profile distinct from these memory T cells, including down-regulated expression of the transcription factor Special AT-rich sequence-binding protein 1 (Satb1). Mechanistically, Satb1 deficiency in CD4+ T cells limited their expression of CD25 and IL-2, and addition of Tregs, which express higher levels of CD25 than Satb1-deficient Tconvs and successfully competed for IL-2, resulted in greater suppression of Satb1-deficient than wild-type Tconvs in vitro. In vivo, Satb1-deficient Tconvs were more susceptible to Treg suppression, resulting in significantly prolonged skin allograft survival. Overall, our study reveals that transplantation tolerance is associated with Tconvs’ susceptibility to Treg suppression, via modulated expression of Tconv-intrinsic Satb1. Targeting Satb1 in the context of Treg-sparing immunosuppressive therapies might be exploited to improve transplant outcomes

Increased Risk of ADHD at Short and Long Interpregnancy Intervals in a National Birth Cohort

BackgroundShort or long interpregnancy interval (IPI) may adversely impact conditions for foetal development. Whether attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is related to IPI has been largely unexplored.ObjectivesTo examine the association between IPI and ADHD in a large, population‐based Finnish study.MethodsAll children born in Finland between 1991 and 2005 and diagnosed with ADHD (ICD‐9 314x or ICD‐10 F90.x) from 1995 to 2011 were identified using data from linked national registers. Each subject with ADHD was matched to 4 controls based on sex, date of birth, and place of birth. A total of 9564 subjects with ADHD and 34,479 matched controls were included in analyses. IPI was calculated as the time interval between sibling birth dates minus the gestational age of the second sibling. The association between IPI and ADHD was determined using conditional logistic regression and adjusted for potential confounders.ResultsRelative to births with an IPI of 24 to 59 months, those with the shortest IPI (ConclusionsThe risk of ADHD is higher among children born following short or long IPIs although further studies are needed to explain this association.</p

Infant and childhood neurodevelopmental outcomes following prenatal exposure to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors: overview and design of a Finnish Register-Based Study (FinESSI)

Peer reviewe

Recognition of Handwriting from Electromyography

Handwriting – one of the most important developments in human culture – is also a methodological tool in several scientific disciplines, most importantly handwriting recognition methods, graphology and medical diagnostics. Previous studies have relied largely on the analyses of handwritten traces or kinematic analysis of handwriting; whereas electromyographic (EMG) signals associated with handwriting have received little attention. Here we show for the first time, a method in which EMG signals generated by hand and forearm muscles during handwriting activity are reliably translated into both algorithm-generated handwriting traces and font characters using decoding algorithms. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of recreating handwriting solely from EMG signals – the finding that can be utilized in computer peripherals and myoelectric prosthetic devices. Moreover, this approach may provide a rapid and sensitive method for diagnosing a variety of neurogenerative diseases before other symptoms become clear

Maternal serum Vitamin B12 and offspring attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

Maternal Vitamin B12 deficiency during pregnancy is associated with offspring neuropsychiatric disorders. Few previous studies examining this association with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) report inconsistent findings. The study examines the association between maternal serum Vitamin B12 levels and offsprings’ risk of ADHD. This study is based on the Finnish Prenatal Study of ADHD with a nested case–control design. All the singleton children born in Finland between January 1998 and December 1999 and diagnosed with ADHD were included in the study. A total of 1026 cases were matched with an equal number of controls on sex, date of birth and place of birth. Maternal Vitamin B12 levels were assessed using a chemiluminescence microparticle immunoassay and archived from maternal serum banks, collected during the first and early second trimester of pregnancy. Lower maternal Vitamin B12 levels when analyzed as a continuous variable was not associated with offspring ADHD (aOR 0.97, 95% CI 0.79–1.18, p = 0.75). No significant associations were seen in the lowest quintile of Vitamin B12 levels (aOR 0.96, 95% CI 0.73–1.27, p = 0.80). This is the first study examining maternal sera Vitamin B12 levels during early pregnancy and offspring ADHD. The result suggests that Vitamin B12 deficiency during early pregnancy has specificity for some disorders but not with offspring ADHD.</p