Is Everything Connected? Following the Predators, Pests, and Plants Within a No-Till, Western Montana Agroecosystem

Agricultural systems are being re-engineered with hedgerows, living mulches, or minimum tillage activities in hopes of retaining populations of beneficial, predatory insects that may decrease the need for pesticide use. The purpose of this research was twofold. First, this on-farm research assessed the population and activity of six beneficial arthropod predators - the carabid beetle (Carabidae: Coleoptera), minute pirate bug (Orius spp.: Hemiptera), nabid bug (Nabis spp.: Hemiptera), lady beetle larvae (family Coccinellidae: Coleoptera), syrphid fly larvae (Syrphidae: Diptera) and spiders (Araneae) - and one crop pest - the imported cabbage worm (Pieris rapae: Lepidoptera) - within a no-till Brussels sprouts (Brassica oleracea, gemmifera group) and red clover (Trifolium pratense) living-mulch system. Second, using two common organic insecticides - Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki (Bt) and a pyrethrin/rotenone blend – this research assessed the capacity of these aforementioned predatory or parasitic arthropods to control the P. rapae population and crop damage through biological (as compared to chemical) means. Field investigations for predators/pests involved weekly sweep-net sampling, pitfall trap installation, and direct plant examination. Insecticides were applied as a bi-weekly “calendar” application (pyrethrin/rotenone) or as a pest-density “threshold” dependant application (Bt). Generally, pest control and damage prevention were more successful in Bt treatments than in pyrethrin/rotenone treatments. Bt pesticides had no significant effect on any arthropods sampled, while the pyrethrin/rotenone insecticide appeared to significantly reduce the activity or population levels of all arthropods sampled. P. rapae activity and crop damage was lowest in Bt treated plots, moderate in control plots (no pesticides were applied, yet natural levels of arthropods were present) , and highest in plots treated with pyrethrin/rotenone sprays. Preliminary results indicate that Bt treatments worked as an additive control measure, which then augmented natural predator populations. The increased pest activity and damage in pyrethrin/rotenone treated plots - which coincided with reduced “beneficial” insect numbers as compared to the other treatments - may indicate a disruption of the multiple-arthropod predator assemblage that kept pest impacts lower in the “control” plots

Relationships between perceived teacher and peer support on motivation and achievement in high school mathematics

One hundred fourteen US students were surveyed to test a model of the relationships among motivational variables resulting from students’ first experiences as they transitioned from middle school to high school, and math achievement. Key malleable factors impacting motivation and achievement included perceived supportiveness of respondents’ teacher and peers. Longitudinal Path Analysis revealed that teacher support can impact students’ beliefs about the supportiveness of their peers, but that these social factors are mediated through students developing personal interest in mathematics to ultimately impact achievement

Domestically Acquired NDM-1–Producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Southern California, USA, 2023 - Volume 29, Number 11—November 2023 - Emerging Infectious Diseases journal - CDC

We describe a case of New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase 1-producing carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CRPA) in a transplant patient with multiple hospitalizations in California, USA. Whole-genome sequencing revealed the isolate was genetically distinctive, despite ≈95% similarity to other global strains. The patient's lack of international travel suggests this CRPA was acquired domestically

Thermal Analysis for Orbiter and ISS Plume Impingement on International Space Station

The NASA Reaction Control System (RCS) Plume Model (RPM) is an exhaust plume flow field and impingement heating code that has been updated and applied to components of the International Space Station (ISS). The objective of this study was to use this code to determine if plume environments from either Orbiter PRCS jets or ISS reboost and Attitude Control System (ACS) jets cause thermal issues on ISS component surfaces. This impingement analysis becomes increasingly important as the ISS is being assembled with its first permanent crew scheduled to arrive by the end of fall 2000. By early summer 2001 , the ISS will have a number of major components installed such as the Unity (Node 1), Destiny (Lab Module), Zarya (Functional Cargo Block), and Zvezda (Service Module) along with the P6 solar arrays and radiators and the Z-1 truss. Plume heating to these components has been analyzed with the RPM code as well as additional components for missions beyond Flight 6A such as the Propulsion Module (PM), Mobile Servicing System, Space Station Remote Manipulator System, Node 2, and the Cupola. For the past several years NASA/JSC has been developing the methodology to predict plume heating on ISS components. The RPM code is a modified source flow code with capabilities for scarfed nozzles and intersecting plumes that was developed for the 44 Orbiter RCS jets. This code has been validated by comparison with Shuttle Plume Impingement Flight Experiment (SPIFEX) heat flux and pressure data and with CFD and Method of Characteristics solutions. Previous analyses of plume heating predictions to the ISS using RPM have been reported, but did not consider thermal analysis for the components nor jet-firing histories as the Orbiter approaches the ISS docking ports. The RPM code has since been modified to analyze surface temperatures with a lumped mass approach and also uses jet-firing histories to produce pulsed heating rates. In addition, RPM was modified to include plume heating from ISS jets to ISS components where the jet coordinates are specified, together with the engine cant angle. These latter studies have been focused on the PM with plumes from its reboost and ACS jets impinging on various ISS components and also focused on the Japanese H2 Transfer Vehicle (HTV) with the plumes from its reboost engines impinging on the Cupola window. This paper will present plume heating and surface temperature results on a number of ISS components with and without jet-firing histories, evaluate post-flight data, and describe any potential thermal issue

Genome-Wide Association Study for Maize Leaf Cuticular Conductance Identifies Candidate Genes Involved in the Regulation of Cuticle Development.

The cuticle, a hydrophobic layer of cutin and waxes synthesized by plant epidermal cells, is the major barrier to water loss when stomata are closed at night and under water-limited conditions. Elucidating the genetic architecture of natural variation for leaf cuticular conductance (g c) is important for identifying genes relevant to improving crop productivity in drought-prone environments. To this end, we conducted a genome-wide association study of g c of adult leaves in a maize inbred association panel that was evaluated in four environments (Maricopa, AZ, and San Diego, CA, in 2016 and 2017). Five genomic regions significantly associated with g c were resolved to seven plausible candidate genes (ISTL1, two SEC14 homologs, cyclase-associated protein, a CER7 homolog, GDSL lipase, and β-D-XYLOSIDASE 4). These candidates are potentially involved in cuticle biosynthesis, trafficking and deposition of cuticle lipids, cutin polymerization, and cell wall modification. Laser microdissection RNA sequencing revealed that all these candidate genes, with the exception of the CER7 homolog, were expressed in the zone of the expanding adult maize leaf where cuticle maturation occurs. With direct application to genetic improvement, moderately high average predictive abilities were observed for whole-genome prediction of g c in locations (0.46 and 0.45) and across all environments (0.52). The findings of this study provide novel insights into the genetic control of g c and have the potential to help breeders more effectively develop drought-tolerant maize for target environments

Recovery of Native Species following Rat Eradication on Mokoli‘i Island, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i.

v. ill. 23 cm.QuarterlyRats were eradicated from Mokoli‘i, a 1.6-ha island off the east shore of O‘ahu, using snap traps, cage traps, and diphacinone bait stations. A total of 18 black rats (Rattus rattus) were caught, and 354 bait blocks were used. There was no sign of rats on the island after 27 May 2002. Wedge-tailed Shearwaters (Puffinus pacificus) nest on Mokoli‘i, but only a single chick survived during 1999–2001; the number of surviving chicks increased to 126 in 2002 and 185 in 2003. The number of intertidal invertebrates and native plants, including the endangered Carter’s panic grass (Panicum fauriei var. carteri ), also appeared to increase after rat eradication. Rats had a devastating impact on the flora and fauna of Mokoli‘i, and their eradication has allowed a dramatic recovery of native species. The majority of the labor for the eradication effort was provided by the local community, demonstrating what can be achieved with dedicated volunteers and community support

Obesity and its effect on outcomes in same-day bilateral total knee arthroplasty

Background: The niche surgery of same-day bilateral total knee arthroplasty (sd-BTKA) continues to create debate amongst specialists in arthroplasty. To date, there is a significant lack of literature on obese patients undergoing sd-BTKA, and no study has evaluated outcomes of this procedure when compared to non-obese patients. Therefore, this study will perform a retrospective analysis to compare (I) incidence, (II) demographics, and (III) complications of sd-BTKA in non-obese, obese, and morbidly obese patients in the United States from 2009 to 2016. Methods: The National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database was queried for all individuals that underwent sd-BTKA from 2009 to 2016. This returned 184,844 non-obese patients, 39,901 obese patients, and 20,394 morbidly obese patients. Analyzed variables included mean age, mean length of stay (LOS), race, payer, age-adjusted Charlson Comorbidity Index score, discharge disposition, hospital charges, hospital costs, and complications. Chi-square analyses and analyses of variance were utilized to assess categorical and continuous variables, respectively. Results: Non-obese patients most commonly underwent sd-BTKA over the course of the study. As weight status increased, mean age decreased and the proportion of females, LOS, hospital charges and costs, and proportion of discharges to skilled nursing facilities increased. Regression analysis demonstrated obese and morbidly obese cohorts were at an overall increased odds for experiencing complications. Specifically, obese patients were at increased risk for pulmonary emboli, periprosthetic joint infections, and respiratory failures, while morbidly obese patients are at increased risk for pulmonary emboli, respiratory failures, and urinary tract infections. Conclusions: Surgeons should thoroughly evaluate the risks and benefits of performing sd-BTKA on obese and morbidly obese patients, as both confer higher overall complication rates and increased length of stay. More research is necessary to characterize the cost analysis of this procedure, as health care models continue to transition to more cost-effective procedures

Parsing with Multilingual BERT, a Small Corpus, and a Small Treebank

Pretrained multilingual contextual representations have shown great success, but due to the limits of their pretraining data, their benefits do not apply equally to all language varieties. This presents a challenge for language varieties unfamiliar to these models, whose labeled \emph{and unlabeled} data is too limited to train a monolingual model effectively. We propose the use of additional language-specific pretraining and vocabulary augmentation to adapt multilingual models to low-resource settings. Using dependency parsing of four diverse low-resource language varieties as a case study, we show that these methods significantly improve performance over baselines, especially in the lowest-resource cases, and demonstrate the importance of the relationship between such models' pretraining data and target language varieties.Comment: In Findings of EMNLP 202

Surveillance of fetal lung lesions using the congenital pulmonary airway malformation volume ratio: natural history and outcomes

ObjectivesThe congenital pulmonary airway malformation volume ratio (CVR) is a widely used sonographic measure of relative mass size in fetuses with lung malformations. The purposes of this study were to examine serial CVR measurements to understand longitudinal growth patterns and to determine correlation with postnatal imaging.MethodsAn institutional review boardâ approved retrospective review was performed on fetuses referred for an echogenic lung malformation between 2002 and 2014. For each fetus, the CVR was prospectively calculated using 2D ultrasound and followed with advancing gestation.ResultsBased on 40 fetuses, the mean initial CVR was 0.51â ±â 0.07 at 20.5â ±â 0.3â weeks of gestation. The CVR increased after 24â weeks of gestation (pâ =â 0.0014), peaking at a CVR of 0.96â ±â 0.11 at 25.5â ±â 0.05â weeks, followed by a significant decrease in the CVR to 0.43â ±â 0.07 prior to term (pâ <â 0.0001). However, approximately one third showed no appreciable increase in size. The mean CVR was significantly correlated with postnatal chest computed tomography (CT) size dimensions (pâ =â 0.0032) and likelihood for lung resection (pâ =â 0.0055).ConclusionsFetal lung malformations tend to follow one of two distinct growth patterns, characterized by either (1) a maximal CVR between 25 and 26â weeks of gestation or (2) minimal change in relative growth. The mean CVR correlates with postnatal CT size and operative management. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.What’s already known about the topic?The congenital pulmonary airway malformation volume ratio (CVR) is a common prenatal ultrasound measure of relative mass size in fetuses with lung malformations.The initial CVR and maximum CVR have been shown to be predictive of hydrops and neonatal respiratory compromise, respectively.What does this study add?Gestational age is important when interpreting CVR measurements because two thirds of lesions increase in size at 25â 26â weeks before spontaneous involution occurs.The mean CVR correlates with size measured by postnatal computed tomography scan.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/136421/1/pd4761_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/136421/2/pd4761.pd