Chemical thinning of apples

TWO important related problems of apple-growing in this State are biennial bearing and poor fruit size. Early thinning by chemical means, is providing a valuable and practical means of tackling these problems. With every prospect of heavy crops in most districts this year, many growers will be interested in the possibility of spray thinning

Fertiliser recommendations for citrus : detailed fertilizer programmes for citrus growers

CITRUS growers should adopt a well balanced fertiliser programme to safeguard tree health, cropping and fruit quality. While moderate dressings are a wise insurance in most situations the rates required vary with tree age and soil type. The recommendations are given in detail in the tables in this article

Fertiliser recommendations for apple trees

THE increased use of irrigation and chemical thinning in apple orchards and the planting of trees in light soils have resulted in responses to regular fertiliser dressings

Retreating to nature : rethinking 'therapeutic landscapes'

There is a long history of removing oneself from ‘society’ in order to recuperate or repair. This paper considers a yoga and massage retreat in Southern Spain, and what opportunities this retreat experience might offer for recuperation and the creation of healthy bodies. The paper positions ‘nature’ as an active participant, and as ‘enrolled’ in the experiences of the retreat as a ‘therapeutic landscape’, and questions how and what particular aspects of yoga practice (in intimate relation with place) give rise to therapeutic experiences

Drag of suction cup tags on swimming animals : modeling and measurement

© The Author(s), 2013. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Marine Mammal Science 30 (2014): 726–746, doi:10.1111/mms.12083.Bio-logging tags are widely used to study the behavior and movements of marine mammals with the tacit assumption of little impact to the animal. However, tags on fast-swimming animals generate substantial hydrodynamic forces potentially affecting behavior and energetics adversely, or promoting early removal of the tag. In this work, hydrodynamic loading of three novel tag housing designs are compared over a range of swimming speeds using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Results from CFD simulation were verified using tag models in a water flume with close agreement. Drag forces were reduced by minimizing geometric disruptions to the flow around the housing, while lift forces were reduced by minimizing the frontal cross-sectional area of the housing and holding the tag close to the attachment surface. Hydrodynamic tag design resulted in an experimentally measured 60% drag force reduction in 5.6 m/s flow. For all housing designs, off-axis flow increased the magnitude of the force on the tag. Experimental work with a common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) cadaver indicates that the suction cups used to attach the types of tags described here provide sufficient attachment force to resist failure to predicted forces at swimming speeds of up to 10 m/s.This work was supported by NOPP with NSF funds through ONR Grant N00014-11-1- 0113. MJ was supported by NOPP and the MASTS pooling initiative (The Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland)

Mechanistic Insights into Hsp104 Potentiation

Potentiated variants of Hsp104, a protein disaggregase from yeast, can dissolve protein aggregates connected to neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. However, the mechanisms underlying Hsp104 potentiation remain incompletely defined. Here, we establish that 2–3 subunits of the Hsp104 hexamer must bear an A503V potentiating mutation to elicit enhanced disaggregase activity in the absence of Hsp70. We also define the ATPase and substrate-binding modalities needed for potentiated Hsp104A503V activity in vitro and in vivo. Hsp104A503V disaggregase activity is strongly inhibited by the Y257A mutation that disrupts substrate binding to the nucleotide-binding domain 1 (NBD1) pore loop and is abolished by the Y662A mutation that disrupts substrate binding to the NBD2 pore loop. Intriguingly, Hsp104A503V disaggregase activity responds to mixtures of ATP and adenosine 5′-(γ-thio)-triphosphate (a slowly hydrolyzable ATP analogue) differently from Hsp104. Indeed, an altered pattern of ATP hydrolysis and altered allosteric signaling between NBD1 and NBD2 are likely critical for potentiation. Hsp104A503V variants bearing inactivating Walker A or Walker B mutations in both NBDs are inoperative. Unexpectedly, however, Hsp104A503V retains potentiated activity upon introduction of sensor-1 mutations that reduce ATP hydrolysis at NBD1 (T317A) or NBD2 (N728A). Hsp104T317A/A503V and Hsp104A503V/N728A rescue TDP-43 (TAR DNA-binding protein 43), FUS (fused in sarcoma), and α-synuclein toxicity in yeast. Thus, Hsp104A503V displays a more robust activity that is unperturbed by sensor-1 mutations that greatly reduce Hsp104 activity in vivo. Indeed, ATPase activity at NBD1 or NBD2 is sufficient for Hsp104 potentiation. Our findings will empower design of ameliorated therapeutic disaggregases for various neurodegenerative diseases

Treating alcohol use disorder in U.S. veterans: The role of traumatic brain injury

Objective: The authors examined the efficacy of valproate to reduce relapse to heavy drinking among veterans with alcohol use disorder (AUD) and neuropsychiatric comorbidities and whether antecedent traumatic brain injury (TBI) or posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affected treatment response. Methods: Participants were male veterans 18–60 years old with an AUD and no other substance use besides nicotine or cannabis. Sixty-two patients were randomly assigned to receive either valproate or naltrexone. Participants were evaluated at baseline and followed weekly for 24 weeks. All participants received standardized psychosocial interventions as well as treatment for coexistent psychiatric conditions. Results: During the follow-up period, nine study subjects in the naltrexone group and 14 in the valproate group relapsed to heavy drinking, but the difference did not reach statistical significance. Participants with a history of moderate to severe TBI were more likely to relapse to heavy drinking compared with those with no TBI (hazard ratio=4.834, 95% CI=1.103–21.194, p=0.033). PTSD status did not significantly affect outcome. Conclusions: Intensive outpatient programs are efficacious alternatives to treat AUD in veterans, although the role of pharmacological treatment is not completely elucidated. Glutamatergic agents appear to be less effective than opiate antagonists to prevent relapse to heavy drinking and to increase cumulative abstinence. Future studies should examine novel pharmacological and nonpharmacological options.Fil: Jorge, Ricardo E.. Baylor College of Medicine;Fil: Li, Ruosha. Baylor College of Medicine;Fil: Liu, Xiangyu. Baylor College of Medicine;Fil: McGavin, Jill K.. Baylor College of Medicine;Fil: Shorter, Daryl I.. Baylor College of Medicine;Fil: Acion, Laura. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Calculo. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Calculo; ArgentinaFil: Arndt, Stephan. University of Iowa; Estados Unido

Tracing Spasmodic Dysphonia: the source of Ludwig Traube’s priority

Objectives: Since the mid-20th century, one citation is given historical priority as the first description of Spasmodic Dysphonia (SD): Ludwig Traube’s 1871 case of the “spastic form of nervous hoarseness”. Our objective is to understand how this case serves as the foundation of understanding laryngeal movement disorders. Methods: The original German paper was located and translated. Bibliographical and bibliometric methods are used to determine the citation history of this original source over the past 140 years. Results: Although secondary citations in contemporary publications typically credit Traube for establishing the clinical entity SD, his case does not conform to currently accepted diagnostic features. Citation patterns indicate the source of Traube’s priority is publications by Arnold and Luchsinger, mid-20th century ENT clinician, particularly their influential 1965 textbook used to train US and UK clinicians on voice disorders for several generations. Conclusions: Sometimes secondary citations in medical literature lead to the inadvertent perpetuation of factual misrepresentation. The clinical picture of Traube’s original case does not represent what clinicians would recognize as SD today. The rich 19th century literature on voice disorders is a valuable resource for present day clinicians