Native roadside perennial grasses persist a decade after planting in the Sacramento Valley

Restoring native grassland along roadsides can provide a relatively low-maintenance, drought-tolerant and stable perennial vegetative cover with reduced weed growth, as opposed to the high-maintenance invasive annual cover (requiring intensive mowing and herbicide treatments) that dominates most Sacramento Valley roadsides. A survey of long-established roadside native-grass plantings in Yolo County showed that once established and protected from disturbance, such plantings can persist with minimal maintenance for more than a decade, retaining a high proportion of native species. The survey also showed that each species of native perennial grass displays a microhabitat preference for particular roadside topographic positions, and that native perennial grass cover is negatively affected by disturbance

Cryptic genetic subdivision in the San Benito evening primrose (Camissonia benitensis)

When rare plants are distributed across a range of habitats, ecotypic differentiation may arise requiring customized conservation measures. The rate of local adaptation may be accelerated in complex landscapes with numerous physical barriers to gene flow. In such cases, examining the distribution of genetic diversity is essential in determining conservation management units. We investigated the distribution of genetic diversity in the federally threatened Camissonia benitensis (Onagraceae), which grows in two distinct serpentine habitats across several watersheds in San Benito, Fresno, and Monterey Cos., CA, USA. We compared genetic diversity with that of its two widespread relatives, C. contorta and C. strigulosa, and examined the potential for hybridization with the latter species. Genotyping results using seven heterospecific microsatellite markers indicate that differentiation between habitat types was weak (F ST = 0.0433) and in an AMOVA analysis, there was no significant partitioning of molecular variation between habitats. Watersheds accounted for 11.6 % of the molecular variation (pairwise F ST = 0.1823–0.4275). Three cryptic genetic clusters were identified by InStruct and STRUCTURE that do not correlate with habitat or watershed. C. benitensis exhibits 5–11× higher inbreeding levels and 0.54× lower genetic diversity in comparison to its close relatives. We found no evidence of hybridization between C. benitensis and C. strigulosa. To maximize conservation of the limited amount of genetic diversity in C. benitensis, we recommend mixing seed representing the three cryptic genetic clusters across the species’ geographic range when establishing new populations

The Transformation Project: 2014 Annual Report

For years debate has rumbled in this country over prison overcrowding. More recently, there has been an additional spotlight on issues that are exacerbated when prisons are over capacity, such as prison rape and the use of restrictive housing (housing inmates in isolated conditions). In the case of prison rape, federal standards have been placed on institutions through the passage of the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA). General consensus among corrections professionals is that a lack of internal action diminished their voice during the creation of the PREA standards. There is consequently a large motivation for correctional institutions to work to address concerns regarding restrictive housing. Groups like Amnesty International, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Association of State Correctional Administrators have all been contributing to this effort by each creating their own guidelines for using restrictive housing. 2014 was a great opportunity for us to reflect on how Transformation Project (TP) will benefit institutions as they look to revise how they house inmates that are a threat to themselves or others. Not only does TP provide programming for restrictive housing, where there has historically been a dearth of programming, it works to increase the amount and quality of interaction between staff and participants, as well as provide a measure for assessing progress in restrictive housing. All of these efforts are included in the recommendations across invested organizations, adding additional value to TP curriculum. In addition to strengthening TP in restrictive housing, this year we began exploring ways the program can be modified for use in a women’s facility. While there is much work to be done in this area, we are excited to bring adaptions to the curriculum that will specifically address the needs of justice involved women. We look forward to continuing the development process with our partners at the Nebraska Correctional Center for Women in York, Nebraska, as this group has been instrumental to providing essential expertise and feedback. As debates around corrections issues roll on, in the coming months we look forward to solidifying TP’s role in the rehabilitation of inmates throughout the course of their incarceration

Ultrapotent Broadly Neutralizing Human-llama Bispecific Antibodies against HIV-1

Broadly neutralizing antibodies are proposed as therapeutic and prophylactic agents against HIV‐1, but their potency and breadth are less than optimal. This study describes the immunization of a llama with the prefusion‐stabilized HIV‐1 envelope (Env) trimer, BG505 DS‐SOSIP, and the identification and improvement of potent neutralizing nanobodies recognizing the CD4‐binding site (CD4bs) of vulnerability. Two of the vaccine‐elicited CD4bs‐targeting nanobodies, G36 and R27, when engineered into a triple tandem format with llama IgG2a‐hinge region and human IgG1‐constant region (G36×3‐IgG2a and R27×3‐IgG2a), neutralized 96% of a multiclade 208‐strain panel at geometric mean IC80s of 0.314 and 0.033 µg mL−1, respectively. Cryo‐EM structures of these nanobodies in complex with Env trimer revealed the two nanobodies to neutralize HIV‐1 by mimicking the recognition of the CD4 receptor. To enhance their neutralizing potency and breadth, nanobodies are linked to the light chain of the V2‐apex‐targeting broadly neutralizing antibody, CAP256V2LS. The resultant human‐llama bispecific antibody CAP256L‐R27×3LS exhibited ultrapotent neutralization and breadth exceeding other published HIV‐1 broadly neutralizing antibodies, with pharmacokinetics determined in FcRn‐Fc mice similar to the parent CAP256V2LS. Vaccine‐elicited llama nanobodies, when combined with V2‐apex broadly neutralizing antibodies, may therefore be able to fulfill anti‐HIV‐1 therapeutic and prophylactic clinical goals

Alignment of the CMS silicon tracker during commissioning with cosmic rays

The CMS silicon tracker, consisting of 1440 silicon pixel and 15 148 silicon strip detector modules, has been aligned using more than three million cosmic ray charged particles, with additional information from optical surveys. The positions of the modules were determined with respect to cosmic ray trajectories to an average precision of 3-4 microns RMS in the barrel and 3-14 microns RMS in the endcap in the most sensitive coordinate. The results have been validated by several studies, including laser beam cross-checks, track fit self-consistency, track residuals in overlapping module regions, and track parameter resolution, and are compared with predictions obtained from simulation. Correlated systematic effects have been investigated. The track parameter resolutions obtained with this alignment are close to the design performance

Search for charge-asymmetric production of W\u27 bosons in tt + jet events from pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV

A search is presented for charge-asymmetric production of a W boson that has been proposed to accommodate the forward–backward asymmetry observed in the production of top–antitop quark pairs at the Tevatron. The new heavy W‘ boson would be produced in association with a top quark and would decay into top and down quarks. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb−1 in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, recorded by the CMS detector at the LHC. No significant excess above the standard model expectations is observed, and, from a combination of the electron-plusjets and muon-plus-jets channels, a 95% confidence level lower limit of 840 GeV/c2 is set on the W‘ boson mass for a W‘ boson model with values for coupling constants to top and down quarks gL = 0 and gR = 2. In addition, a kinematic reconstruction of the W‘ resonance mass using the inherent charge asymmetry of this model finds no indication of the presence of W‘ events in the data

Measurement of the inelastic proton-proton cross section at root √s√s=7TeV=7 TeV

A measurement is presented of the inelastic proton–proton cross section at a centre-of-mass energy of $√s$$=7 TeV$. Using the CMS detector at the LHC, the inelastic cross section is measured through two independent methods based on information from (i) forward calorimetry (for pseudorapidity 3 200MeV/c . The measurements cover a large fraction of the inelastic cross section for particle production over about nine units of pseudorapidity and down to small transverse momenta. The results are compared with those of other experiments, and with models used to describe high-energy hadronic interactions