Herbicide-Resistant Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri S. Wats.) in the United States — Mechanisms of Resistance, Impact, and Management

Palmer amaranth, a dioecious summer annual species, is one of the most troublesome weeds in the agronomic crop production systems in the United States. In the last two decades, continuous reliance on herbicide(s) with the same mode of action as the sole weed management strategy has resulted in the evolution of herbicide-resistant (HR) weeds, including Palmer amaranth. By 2015, Palmer amaranth biotypes had been confirmed resistant to acetolactate synthase (ALS)-inhibitors, dinitroanilines, glyphosate, hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (HPPD)-inhibitors, and triazine herbicides in some parts of the United States along with multiple HR biotypes. Mechanisms of herbicide-resistance in Palmer amaranth are discussed in this chapter. Preplant herbicide options including glufosinate, 2,4-D, and dicamba provide excellent Palmer amaranth control; however, their application is limited before planting crops, which is often not possible due to unfavorable weather conditions. Agricultural biotechnology companies are developing new multiple HR crops that will allow the post-emergence application of respective herbicides for management of HR weeds, including Palmer amaranth. For the effective in-crop management of Palmer amaranth, and to reduce the potential for the evolution of other HR weeds, growers should apply herbicides with different modes of action in tank-mixture and should also incorporate cultural practices including inversion tillage and cover crops along with herbicide programs

Preventing strokes in people with atrial fibrillation by improving ABC.

Nationally, anticoagulation for atrial fibrillation (AF) is improving but remains characterised by marked provider variation. Uncontrolled blood pressure and coronary artery disease further increase cardiovascular risk. Redbridge Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and local National Health Service (NHS) hospital trusts supported a programme to improve anticoagulation, blood pressure and cholesterol management; the ABC of AF improvement. The programme was delivered by a clinical pharmacist in 43 general practices, who used Active Patient Link (APL-AF) software to identify and electronically review the records of AF patients potentially suitable for anticoagulation. These patients were invited for a general practitioner (GP)-pharmacist consultation with initiation of anticoagulation where appropriate. Blood pressure and lipid treatment were also optimised. The university-based Clinical Effectiveness Group (CEG) provided software support using standard data entry templates from which the APL-AF software was enabled. This identified suitable patients (eg, on aspirin monotherapy, no treatment or inappropriate dual treatments) for clinical and treatment review. It also reported real-time overall practice performance. Additionally, GP education on direct oral anticoagulant initiation in general practices, use of software and performance reviews, took place for all practices in Redbridge. A weekly multidisciplinary team (MDT) video conference discussed complex patients with a cardiologist, haematologist, GP with specialist interest in cardiology, GP coordinator and clinical pharmacist. This enabled sharing of patient records between GPs and hospital specialists with improved communication and learning. Over 1 year 2016-2017, anticoagulation in eligible AF patients (CHA2DS2-VASc≥2) increased significantly by 6.3% from 77.0% to 83.3% (p<0.0001), in comparison to 2.8% average improvement in England. Exception reporting was also significantly reduced from 10.0% to 5.8%; a reduction of 4.2% in comparison to a reduction in England of 1.5%. Use of antiplatelet monotherapy was approximately halved, from 12.3% to 6.4%. These methods are being scaled locally in other London CCGs and are potentially scalable nationally, specifically targeting the poorer performing CCGs

Scalable Production and Purification of Adeno-Associated Viral Vectors (AAV).

Here we describe methods for the production of adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors by transient transfection of HEK293 cells grown in serum-free medium in orbital shaken bioreactors and the subsequent purification of vector particles. The protocol for expression of AAV components is based on polyethyleneimine (PEI) mediated transfection of a 2-plasmid system and is specified for production in milliliter to liter scales. After PEI and plasmid DNA (pDNA) complex formation the diluted cell culture is transfected without a prior concentration step or medium exchange. Following a 3-day batch process, cell cultures are further processed using different methods for lysis and recovery. Methods for the purification of viral particles are described, including iodixanol gradient purification, immunoaffinity chromatography, and ultrafiltration, as well as quantitative PCR to quantify vector titer

Study on the gender dimension of trafficking in human beings

The purpose of this study is to contribute to the identification and understanding of what it means to be ‘taking into account the gender perspective, to strengthen the prevention of this crime and protection of the victims there-of’, as required in Article 1 of European Union (EU) Directive 2011/36/EU on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings and Protecting its Victims in the context of the EU Strategy (COM(2012) 286 final) Towards the Eradication of Trafficking in Human Beings. The study contributes to Priority E Action 2 of the Strategy, which states that ‘the Commission will develop knowledge on the gender dimensions of human trafficking, including the gender consequences of the various forms of trafficking and potential differences in the vulnerability of men and women to victimisation and its impact on them.’ Its specific objectives and tasks are to address: the ‘gender dimension of vulnerability, recruitment, and victimisation’; ‘gender issues related to traffickers and to those creating demand’; and ‘an examination of law and policy responses on trafficking in human beings from a gender perspective’. The study addresses the five priorities of the EU Strategy: identifying, protecting, and assisting victims of traf-ficking; stepping up the prevention of trafficking in human beings; better law enforcement; enhanced coordination and cooperation among key actors and policy coherence; and increased knowledge of an effective response to emerging concerns. This study, according to its terms of reference, aims to look specifically at the gender dimension of trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. This follows evidence from statistical data from Eurostat, as well as da-ta from The European Police Office (Europol) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), accord-ing to which the most reported form of exploitation of victims is that of sexual exploitation and its strong gen-der dimension (96 % women and girls). It further addresses recommendations addressed in the Resolution of the European Parliament of 26 February 2014 on sexual exploitation and prostitution and its impact on gender equality (2013/2103(INI)) urging the European Commission to evaluate the impact that the European legal frame-work designed to eliminate trafficking for sexual exploitation has had to date and to undertake further research on patterns of prostitution, on human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and on the increased lev-el of sex tourism in the EU, with particular reference to minors, and to promote the exchange of best practices among the Member States. The study identifies and draws on EU law and policy competence in gender equality in its identification of the gen-der dimensions of trafficking. The gender dimensions are clustered into five issues: gender specificity and equal treatment; gender expertise, gender balance in decision-making and gender mainstreaming; the relationship be-tween prostitution and trafficking; gendered policy fields and strategic priorities; gendered systems and the the-ory of prevention

Developing linkages for agricultural technology transfer: A case study of research institution and voluntary organization partnership

A paradigm shift to the private and voluntary organizations led extension is being witnessed as the public agricultural extension system has been adversely affected by various constraints. ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) a premier agricultural research institution took lead to develop linkages with voluntary organizations (VOs) of repute for speedy transfer of agricultural technologies to the ultimate users. The present study was conducted on randomly selected 120 farmers of Patiala district to analyze the effectiveness of IARI linkage with VO namely Young Farmers' Association (YFA) of Punjab state. The advisory services through IARI-YFA linkage, higher yield of IARI released varieties, social participation of farmers and their education were the major determinants for the adoption of IARI varieties. In case of both rice and wheat, IARI varieties were sown in more than 60% area of the total land holdings of the farmers. Although, the linkage was perceived highly effective in terms of the delivery of farm technologies, advisory services, farm literature supplied, farmers' fair, front line demonstrations, impact on yield and income of farmers and satisfaction of farmers but non-availability of seeds in desired quantity, higher seed cost and less land for seed multiplication were major inhibiting factors. The functional efficacy of linkage may be enhanced through close collaboration of state level government and private agencies for broad based, inclusive and sustainable agricultural development

Analysis of farmers' communication network and factors of knowledge regarding agro meteorological parameters

Understanding communication networks bear significant importance for undertaking interventions regarding local information needs. It becomes more important if the issues of sensitivity like climate change and its effect on agriculture has to be dealt. The agricultural sector needs accurate, reliable and timely weather and climate information for daily tactical decisions and long-term planning for crop management. They can potentially alter selection and management of crops based on new information obtained within a few weeks or days of planting. The information systems integrating agricultural educators, researchers, extensionists and farmers need to be introduced for agriculture sector for which sufficient data base regarding the gap between the possessed knowledge and the available knowledge and the information source utilization pattern need to be generated. The present study to find out the factors of the knowledge of farmers regarding climate and weather in relation to crop management and the analysis of farmers' communication network was undertaken in Adilabad district (highly vulnerable to climate change effects) of Telangana state of India. A knowledge test specifically designed was administered to 120 respondents and was found that majority of the respondents had moderate level of knowledge. The socio-economic and psycho-personal variables like education, occupation, family type, land holding, social participation, economic motivation, innovativeness, scientific orientation and risk orientation showed positive and significant relationship with knowledge level and in regression analysis education, scientific orientation were positive and had significant contribution to the knowledge level of respondents. Television, radio, agriculture officer and progressive farmers were categorized into strong group of information sources usefulness. In order to support farm level decisions and minimize the loses in adverse climatic and weather conditions farmers' understanding about interaction of climate and agro-ecosystem need to be bridged through inclusion of farmers' communication networ

Structure of the TPR Domain of AIP: Lack of Client Protein Interaction with the C-Terminal alpha-7 Helix of the TPR Domain of AIP Is Sufficient for Pituitary Adenoma Predisposition

PMCID: PMC3534021This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Dendrimer-RNA nanoparticles generate protective immunity against lethal Ebola, H1N1 influenza, and

Vaccines have had broad medical impact, but existing vaccine technologies and production methods are limited in their ability to respond rapidly to evolving and emerging pathogens, or sudden outbreaks. Here, we develop a rapid-response, fully synthetic, singledose, adjuvant-free dendrimer nanoparticle vaccine platform wherein antigens are encoded by encapsulated mRNA replicons. To our knowledge, this system is the first capable of generating protective immunity against a broad spectrum of lethal pathogen challenges, including H1N1 influenza, Toxoplasma gondii, and Ebola virus. The vaccine can be formed with multiple antigenexpressing replicons, and is capable of eliciting both CD8⁺ T-cell and antibody responses. The ability to generate viable, contaminant-free vaccines within days, to single or multiple antigens, may have broad utility for a range of diseases

Associations of Irritability With Functional Connectivity of Amygdala and Nucleus Accumbens in Adolescents and Young Adults With ADHD

OBJECTIVE: Irritability is a common characteristic in ADHD. We examined whether dysfunction in neural connections supporting threat and reward processing was related to irritability in adolescents and young adults with ADHD. METHOD: We used resting-state fMRI to assess connectivity of amygdala and nucleus accumbens seeds in those with ADHD (n = 34) and an age- and gender-matched typically-developing comparison group (n = 34). RESULTS: In those with ADHD, irritability was associated with atypical functional connectivity of both seed regions. Amygdala seeds showed greater connectivity with right inferior frontal gyrus and caudate/putamen, and less connectivity with precuneus. Nucleus accumbens seeds showed altered connectivity with middle temporal gyrus and precuneus. CONCLUSION: The irritability-ADHD presentation is associated with atypical functional connectivity of reward and threat processing regions with cognitive control and emotion processing regions. These patterns provide novel evidence for irritability-associated neural underpinnings in adolescents and young adults with ADHD. The findings suggest cognitive and behavioral treatments that address response to reward, including omission of an expected reward and irritability, may be beneficial for ADHD

Genomic and environmental selection patterns in two distinct lettuce crop-wild hybrid crosses

Genomic selection patterns and hybrid performance influence the chance that crop (trans)genes can spread to wild relatives. We measured fitness(-related) traits in two different field environments employing two different crop–wild crosses of lettuce. We performed quantitative trait loci (QTL) analyses and estimated the fitness distribution of early- and late-generation hybrids. We detected consistent results across field sites and crosses for a fitness QTL at linkage group 7, where a selective advantage was conferred by the wild allele. Two fitness QTL were detected on linkage group 5 and 6, which were unique to one of the crop–wild crosses. Average hybrid fitness was lower than the fitness of the wild parent, but several hybrid lineages outperformed the wild parent, especially in a novel habitat for the wild type. In early-generation hybrids, this may partly be due to heterosis effects, whereas in late-generation hybrids transgressive segregation played a major role. The study of genomic selection patterns can identify crop genomic regions under negative selection across multiple environments and cultivar–wild crosses that might be applicable in transgene mitigation strategies. At the same time, results were cultivar-specific, so that a case-by-case environmental risk assessment is still necessary, decreasing its general applicability