Using ancient practices to fix modern problems: The effect of biochar on einkorn wheat and soil quality

As farmland soils become more and more depleted, the importance of effective soil amendments grows. Biochar is a potential soil and carbon amendment that could improve water and nutrient holding capacity and foster growth of beneficial microbes and fungi. Biochar does not contain nutrients but acts like a sponge, absorbing nutrients around it. It is so effective at holding nutrients that in the first year, if applied alone, it can make the nutrients unavailable to plants and lowers crop yields. To get the best results biochar must be saturated, also referred to as inoculated or charged, with nutrients. Once the biochar is saturated, the nutrients become easily available to plants. In this study, two different charging components, compost and manure, were mixed separately with biochar and applied to square meter plots. There were five different treatments with four plots of each: biochar and compost, biochar and manure, manure, compost, and control. Due to an unexpected surge in weed growth, the field study was changed to a pot study. The soil from each field plot was shoveled into pots, with two replicates of 20 pots in two locations for a total for 40 pots. Two einkorn seedlings were planted in each pot. Tentative results from soil testing suggest there is statistical difference between soil amendments. While there is no significance between the charging components, there was a significant difference between the bulk density, carbon content and percent moisture of soils with and without biochar. Based on the average data of soil with and without biochar, soil with biochar had 7.5% higher moisture content, 48% more carbon, and a lower bulk density of 15%. The preliminary data based on tiller count, which is a possible way to predict grain yield, is inconclusive

A predicted dimer-based polymorph of 10,11-dihydrocarbamazepine (Form IV)

A novel polymorph of 10,11-dihydrocarbamazepine (form IV), which had been predicted to be thermodynamically feasible, was obtained from the vapour phase and displays an R22(8) hydrogen bonded dimer motif in contrast to the catemeric motifs in forms I–III

Working at the Intersection of Faith, Art, and Justice: The Impact of Socially Engaged Art Practices on U.S. Christian Churches and their Communities

University of Minnesota Capstone in partial fulfillment of the MPS in Arts and Cultural Leadership Program. Advisor Margo Gray. Spring 2021. Degree: Master of Professional Studies in Arts and Cultural Leadership. 2 digital files (pdf).This project documented socially engaged art practices of three U.S. Christian churches and the impacts of those practices on participants, the congregation as a whole, and the wider community. Socially engaged art seeks to create social change through direct intervention in the world, rather than through representational or symbolic means. As churches experiment with how to adapt to societal change, declining membership, and shifting ways of communicating and relating, socially engaged art can be a new mode of caring for their communities and supporting the spiritual growth of their members. The case study found that the congregations’ socially engaged art ministries have helped them adapt to their local context and connect with their neighbors in new ways. The study cites several promising practices and concludes that socially engaged art ministry is an emerging practice that will benefit from further study and deeper engagement with the field of contemporary socially engaged art.Miller, Sarah L.. (2021). Working at the Intersection of Faith, Art, and Justice: The Impact of Socially Engaged Art Practices on U.S. Christian Churches and their Communities. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/222638

Medial Temporal Lobe Activity for Recognition of Recent and Remote Famous Names: an Event-Related fMRI Study

Previous neuroimaging studies examining recognition of famous faces have identified activation of an extensive bilateral neural network [Gorno Tempini, M. L., Price, C. J., Josephs, O., Vandenberghe, R., Cappa, S. F., Kapur, N. et al. (1998). The neural systems sustaining face and proper-name processing. Brain, 121, 2103–2118], including the medial temporal lobe (MTL) and specifically the hippocampal complex [Haist, F., Bowden, G. J., & Mao, H. (2001). Consolidation of human memory over decades revealed by functional magnetic resonance imaging. Nature Neuroscience, 4, 1139–1145; Leveroni, C. L., Seidenberg, M., Mayer, A. R., Mead, L. A., Binder, J. R., & Rao, S. M. (2000). Neural systems underlying the recognition of familiar and newly learned faces. Journal of Neuroscience, 20, 878–886]. One model of hippocampal functioning in autobiographical, episodic memory retrieval argues that the hippocampal complex remains active in retrieval tasks regardless of time or age of memory (multiple trace theory, MTT), whereas another proposal posits that the hippocampal complex plays a time-limited role in retrieval of autobiographical memories. The current event-related fMRI study focused on the medial temporal lobe and its response to recognition judgments of famous names from two distinct time epochs (1990s and 1950s) in 15 right-handed healthy older adults (mean age = 70 years). A pilot study with an independent sample of young and older subjects ensured that the stimuli were representative of a recent and remote time period. Increased MR signal activity was observed on a bilateral basis for both the hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus (PHG) during recognition of familiar names from both the recent and remote time periods when compared to non-famous names. However, the impulse response functions in the right hippocampus and right PHG demonstrated a differential response to stimuli from different time epochs, with the 1990s names showing the greatest MR signal intensity change, followed by the 1950s names, followed by foils. The finding that recognition of famous names produced significant bilateral MTL activation regardless of time epoch relative to foils provides support for the MTT model. However, the finding of a temporal gradient in the right MTL also provides support for the HC model, given the greater MTL response associated with recently famous names relative to remotely famous names

Temporally Graded Activation of Neocortical Regions in Response to Memories of Different Ages

The temporally graded memory impairment seen in many neurobehavioral disorders implies different neuroanatomical pathways and/or cognitive mechanisms involved in storage and retrieval of memories of different ages. A dynamic interaction between medial-temporal and neocortical brain regions has been proposed to account for memory\u27s greater permanence with time. Despite considerable debate concerning its time-dependent role in memory retrieval, medial-temporal lobe activity has been well studied. However, the relative participation of neocortical regions in recent and remote memory retrieval has received much less attention. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we demonstrate robust, temporally graded signal differences in posterior cingulate, right middle frontal, right fusiform, and left middle temporal regions in healthy older adults during famous name identification from two disparate time epochs. Importantly, no neocortical regions demonstrated greater response to older than to recent stimuli. Our results suggest a possible role of these neocortical regions in temporally dating items in memory and in establishing and maintaining memory traces throughout the lifespan. Theoretical implications of these findings for the two dominant models of remote memory functioning (Consolidation Theory and Multiple Trace Theory) are discussed

Age-Related Functional Recruitment for Famous Name Recognition: An Event-Related fMRI Study

Recent neuroimaging research shows that older adults exhibit recruitment, or increased activation on various cognitive tasks. The current study evaluated whether a similar pattern also occurs in semantic memory by evaluating age-related differences during recognition of Recent (since the 1990s) and Enduring (1950s to present) famous names. Fifteen healthy older and 15 healthy younger adults performed the name recognition task with a high and comparable degree of accuracy, although older adults had slower reaction time in response to Recent famous names. Event-related functional MRI showed extensive networks of activation in the two groups including posterior cingulate, right hippocampus, temporal lobe and left prefrontal regions. The Recent condition produced more extensive activation than the Enduring condition. Older adults had more extensive and greater magnitude of activation in 15 of 20 regions, particularly for the Recent condition (15 of 15; 7 of 15 also differed for Enduring); young adults did not show greater activation magnitude in any region. There were no group differences for non-famous names, indicating that age differences are task-specific. The results support and extend the existing literature to semantic memory tasks, indicating that older adult brains use functional recruitment to support task performance, even when task performance accuracy is high

The Gendered Division of Housework and Couples’ Sexual Relationships: A Re-Examination

Contemporary men and women increasingly express preferences for egalitarian unions. One recent high profile study (Kornrich, Brines, & Leupp, 2013) found that married couples with more equal divisions of labor had sex less frequently than couples with conventional divisions of domestic labor. Others (Gager & Yabiku, 2010) found that performing more domestic labor was associated with greater sexual frequency, regardless of gender. Both studies drew from the same data source, which was over two decades old. We utilize data from the 2006 Marital and Relationship Survey (MARS) to update this work. We find no significant differences in sexual frequency and satisfaction among conventional or egalitarian couples. Couples where the male partner does the majority of the housework, however, have less frequent and lower quality sexual relationships than their counterparts. Couples are content to modify conventional housework arrangements, but reversing them entirely has consequences for other aspects of their unions

Homozygous in-frame deletion in CATSPERE in a man producing spermatozoa with loss of CatSper function and compromised fertilizing capacity

STUDY QUESTIONDoes a man (patient 1) with a previously described deficiency in principle cation channel of sperm (CatSper) function have a mutation in the CatSper-epsilon (CATSPERE) and/or CatSper-zeta (CATSPERZ) gene?SUMMARY ANSWERPatient 1 has a homozygous in-frame 6-bp deletion in exon 18 (c.2393_2398delCTATGG, rs761237686) of CATSPERE.WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADYCatSper is the principal calcium channel of mammalian spermatozoa. Spermatozoa from patient 1 had a specific loss of CatSper function and were unable to fertilize at IVF. Loss of CatSper function could not be attributed to genetic abnormalities in coding regions of seven CatSper subunits. Two additional subunits (CatSper-epsilon (CATPSERE) and CatSper-zeta (CATSPERZ)) were recently identified, and are now proposed to contribute to the formation of the mature channel complex.STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATIONThis was a basic medical research study analysing genomic data from a single patient (patient 1) for defects in CATSPERE and CATSPERZ.PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODSThe original exome sequencing data for patient 1 were analysed for mutations in CATSPERE and CATSPERZ. Sanger sequencing was conducted to confirm the presence of a rare variant.MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCEPatient 1 is homozygous for an in-frame 6-bp deletion in exon 18 (c.2393_2398delCTATGG, rs761237686) of CATSPERE that is predicted to be highly deleterious.LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTIONThe nature of the molecular deficit caused by the rs761237686 variant and whether it is exclusively responsible for the loss of CatSper function remain to be elucidated.WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGSPopulation genetics are available for a significant number of predicted deleterious variants of CatSper subunits. The consequence of homozygous and compound heterozygous forms on sperm fertilization potential could be significant. Selective targeting of CatSper subunit expression maybe a feasible strategy for the development of novel contraceptives.STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S)This study was funded by project grants from the MRC (MR/K013343/1 and MR/012492/1), Chief Scientist Office/NHS research Scotland. This work was also supported by NIH R01GM111802, Pew Biomedical Scholars Award 00028642 and Packer Wentz Endowment Will to P.V.L. C.L.R.B is the editor-in-chief of Molecular Human Reproduction, has received lecturing fees from Merck and Ferring, and is on the Scientific Advisory Panel for Ohana BioSciences. C.L.R.B was chair of the World Health Organization Expert Synthesis Group on Diagnosis of Male infertility (2012–2016)

Neural Correlates of Suspiciousness and Interactions with Anxiety During Emotional and Neutral Word Processing

Suspiciousness is usually classified as a symptom of psychosis, but it also occurs in depression and anxiety disorders. Though how suspiciousness overlaps with depression is not obvious, suspiciousness does seem to overlap with anxious apprehension and anxious arousal (e.g., verbal iterative processes and vigilance about environmental threat). However, suspiciousness also has unique characteristics (e.g., concern about harm from others and vigilance about social threat). Given that both anxiety and suspiciousness have been associated with abnormalities in emotion processing, it is unclear whether it is the unique characteristics of suspiciousness or the overlap with anxiety that drive abnormalities in emotion processing. Event-related brain potentials were obtained during an emotion-word Stroop task. Results indicated that suspiciousness interacts with anxious apprehension to modulate initial stimulus perception processes. Suspiciousness is associated with attention to all stimuli regardless of emotion content. In contrast, anxious arousal is associated with a later response to emotion stimuli only. These results suggest that suspiciousness and anxious apprehension share overlapping processes, but suspiciousness alone is associated with a hyperactive early vigilance response. Depression did not interact with suspiciousness to predict response to emotion stimuli. These findings suggest that it may be informative to assess suspiciousness in conjunction with anxiety in order to better understand how these symptoms interact and contribute to dysfunctional emotion processing