Resource Recovery Plan for Parker’s Pipewort (\u3cem\u3e Eriocaulon parkeri \u3c/em\u3eB.L. Rob) in Pennsylvania

Eriocaulon parkeri (Parker’s pipewort) is a small, aquatic species in the family Eriocaulaceae (pipewort family). The species is native to tidal rivers and estuaries of eastern North America from Canada down through North Carolina. Parker’s pipewort is listed as vulnerable at the national (N3), and global (G3) levels. In Pennsylvania the species is listed as extirpated (SX). Eriocaulon parkeri was once quite abundant along the tidal marshes of the Delaware River and its tributaries, but due to extensive habitat destruction as a result of development, dredging, pollution, and climate change, the species is now confined to only a few of the River’s tributaries in New Jersey. The purpose behind this project was to determine germination methods of Eriocaulon parkeri and the potential for reintroduction of the species in Pennsylvania. Plants were collected along the Maurice River in Millville, NJ and brought back to the Morris Arboretum in Philadelphia. When the flower heads were mature, seeds were extracted under a microscope and placed in a growth chamber at 5˚C for four months. Following the four months, a portion of the seeds were moved to the greenhouse at ~19˚C in petri dishes filled with water. The seeds exhibited strong germination rates in water, with 92.1% of the seeds germinating. A germination study using sediment collected from the tidal freshwater marsh at Bristol Marsh along the Delaware River, and Neshaminy Creek was also conducted

Gastric pH and residual volume after 1 and 2 h fasting time for clear fluids in children†

Introduction Current guidelines suggest a fasting time of 2 h for clear fluids, which is often exceeded in clinical practice, leading to discomfort, dehydration and stressful anaesthesia induction to patients, especially in the paediatric population. Shorter fluid fasting might be a strategy to improve patient comfort but has not been investigated yet. This prospective clinical trial compares gastric pH and residual volume after 1 vs 2 h of preoperative clear fluid fasting. Methods Children (1-16 yr, ASA I or II) undergoing elective procedures in general anaesthesia requiring tracheal intubation were randomized into group A with 60 min or B with 120 min preoperative clear fluid fasting. To determine gastric pH and residual volume, the gastric content was sampled in supine, left and right lateral patient position using an oro-gastric tube after intubation. Data are median (interquartile range) for group A or B (P<0.05). Results In total, 131 children aged 1.01-16.23 yr were included; gastric pH was determined in 120 cases. Patient characteristic data were similar between the two groups, except for gender (46/33 males in group A/B; P=0.02). Despite significantly shorter fasting times for clear fluids in group A compared with group B (76/136 min; P<0.001), no significant difference was observed regarding gastric pH [1.43 (1.30-1.56)/1.44 (1.29-1.68), P=0.66] or residual volume [0.43 (0.21-0.84)/0.46 (0.19-0.78) ml kg−1, P=0.47]. Conclusion One hour clear fluid fasting does not alter gastric pH or residual volume significantly compared with 2 h fasting. Clinical trial registration The study was approved by the local ethics committee (KEK-ZH-Nr. 2011-0034) and registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01516775

Meta-analysis of the Association between HLA-DRB1 Allele and Rheumatoid Arthritis Susceptibility in Asian Populations

The aims of this study were to summarize results on the association of HLA-DRB1 with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in Asians and to determine if the shared epitope (SE) hypothesis could explain the meta-analysis results. Among the papers published between January 1987 and July 2006 on RA susceptibility in Asian-Mongoloid populations (Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and Thai), 12 were selected for the meta-analysis. Mongoloid-Asian patients with RA had significantly higher frequencies of HLA-DRB1*0101, *0401, *0410, and *1001 than controls (OR 1.5-2.1, p<0.05 for association). When analyses were restricted to more ethnically homogeneous populations, HLA-DRB1*0405 showed a significant susceptibility to RA in Koreans (OR 5.65, 95% CI 4.32-7.39), whereas the HLA-DRB1*0301, *0403, *0406, *0701, *1301, and *1405 alleles showed protective association with RA (OR 0.32-0.70, p<0.05 for association). In conclusion, it was found that HLA-DRB1 *0101, *0401, *0405, *0410, and *1001 are susceptible, while HLA-DRB1*0301, *0403, *0406, *0701, *1301, and *1405 are protective in Asian-Mongoloids. All the RA-associated alleles except DRB1*0301 could be explained by the structural model supporting the SE hypothesis that RA susceptibility is determined by the combination of amino acid residues at HLA-DR β71 and β74, not by β71 alone

Field update: scouting and seed collection: Denver Botanic Gardens

Presented at the 15th symposium held on September 14, 2018 in Colorado Springs, Colorado

Use of open top chambers to understand the response of two rare alpine species to increased warming, The

Presented at the 18th annual symposium held on September 10th, 2021 at Trinidad Jr. College in Trinidad, Colorado

Within this Hazel

Passage: how this book came into being. And how it flies from me (is this prologue already its own envoi?): its poems followed my mind over the last couple of months more than anything else that could show traces of elapsed time. But what I am saying is only half true, because these poems both follow my mind and they are my mind following itself; they are traces of thought and the possibility of thinking, always in flux, partly made, partly touching upon what cannot be. In this way, these poems form a small section of the shell of my hazelnut, that same hazelnut that was shown to Julian of Norwich, inside of which is all that is made, so small and yet loved because of its humility in the light of that which is unmade—its creator

Dramaturgy and use of voice in the opera To the Lighthouse

This paper supplements the main part of my doctoral dissertation, namely the composition of the opera To the Lighthouse and focuses on the dialectical relationship that I developed between the use of voice and dramaturgy, most of the time redefining the roles that those fundamental elements play in an opera. Through a personal problematic that I develop, both in esthetic and technical level, the existence of a dynamic continuum between the traditional opera and music theatre is suggested, as these terms are defined since the 1960’s. The paper is divided into three main chapters. In the first chapter, I initially set the boundaries of the two fields (opera and music theatre), according to esthetic and technical criteria, as they occur as far as relative oevrue and bibliography is considered. Next, I place To the Lighthouse in an esthetic frame according to trends in the field and also a more general historical background. In the second chapter, I first present the evolution of dramaturgy and the use of voice in the operatic field since the beginnings of 2oth century and then I present the dramaturgical structure of To the Lighthouse. In the third chapter I first present vocal techniques that I have developed in the period 2011-2017, and then I analyse the dramaturgical decisions based on the text and the way that it is delivered by the voice. At the end, through a valuation of To the Lighthouse Ι suggest different ways through which the relation between dramaturgy and human voice can be expanded, perhaps involving other forms of art as well.Η εργασία αυτή αποτελεί συνοδευτικό υπόμνημα στο κύριο μέρος της διδακτορικής μου διατριβής που είναι η σύνθεση της όπερας To the Lighthouse και εστιάζει στην διαλεκτική σχέση που ανέπτυξα ανάμεσα στην χρήση της φωνής και την δραματουργία, πολλές φορές επαναπροσδιορίζοντας τους ρόλους που επιτελούν αυτά τα δύο θεμελιακά στοιχεία στην παραδοσιακή όπερα. Μέσα από την προσωπική προβληματική που αναπτύσσω, τόσο σε αισθητικό όσο και σε τεχνικό επίπεδο, προτείνεται η ύπαρξη ενός δυναμικού συνεχούς ανάμεσα στην παραδοσιακή όπερα και το μουσικό θέατρο, όπως αυτά καθορίζονται από την δεκαετία του 1960 και μέχρι σήμερα. Το υπόμνημα χωρίζεται σε τρία κεφάλαια. Στο πρώτο κεφάλαιο, αρχικά οριοθετώ τους δύο χώρους ―όπερα και μουσικό θέατρο― με βάση αισθητικά και τεχνικά κριτήρια όπως αυτά προκύπτουν από την σχετική εργογραφία και την βιβλιογραφία. Στην συνέχεια τοποθετώ το To the Lighthouse σε ένα αισθητικό πλαίσιο με κριτήρια τις διάφορες τάσεις που επικρατούνε στον χώρο αλλά και το γενικότερο ιστορικό υπόβαθρο. Στο δεύτερο κεφάλαιο, αρχικά παρουσιάζω την εξέλιξη της δραματουργίας και την χρήση της φωνής στον χώρο της όπερας από τις αρχές του 20ού αιώνα και μετά και στην συνέχεια παρουσιάζω την δραματουργική δομή του To the Lighthouse. Στο τρίτο και μεγαλύτερο κεφάλαιο αρχικά παρουσιάζω συνοπτικά φωνητικές τεχνικές που έχω αναπτύξει κατά την περίοδο 2011-2017, ενώ στην συνέχεια αναλύω τις δραματουργικές επιλογές με βάση το κείμενο και τον τρόπο που αυτό αποδίδεται από την φωνή. Τέλος, μέσα από την αποτίμηση του To the Lighthouse προτείνω τρόπους με τους οποίους μπορεί να διευρυνθεί η σχέση δραματουργίας και ανθρώπινης φωνής, ενδεχομένως και μέσα από άλλες μορφές τέχνης

Molecular markers applied to apple breeding: analysis of oligogenic and single gene resistances

The use of molecular markers can dramatically improve apple breeding by increasing selection efficiency. We show two examples of how DNA markers have been successfully applied to prove that the resistance gene present in the cultivar 'Nova Easygro' (said to be Vr), is tightly linked to V f and is most probably Vf itself. We were able to detect homozygous resistant plants and showed that those plants are on average more resistant than the heterozygous ones. In a population obtained by crossing a powdery mildew resistant selection (A679-2) and a susceptible one ('Iduna') we studied the resistance to powdery mildew introgressed from Malus zumi (Pl 2). Genetic linkage maps of the two parental plants were constructed. By analysing Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) we were able to detect two major genomic regions containing genes controlling the resistance. Several other minor regions have been detected both in the resistant and in the susceptible parents. The analysis of a larger sample and repeated observations over several years will enable a more precise localisation of the QTLs and evaluation of the importance of the genomic regions containing putative loci controlling powdery mildew resistance