Crop Rotations and Dynamic Analysis of Southeastern Peanut Farms

Agricultural policy objectives provide green payment incentives for farmers to initiate practices with environmental benefits. Velvet beans planted as a cover crop offer an alternative for southeastern peanut farmers to control nematodes without chemicals, while increasing soil fertility. Commodity programs provide government payments that are essential to rural economies of the southeast.Environmental Economics and Policy,

Temporal dynamics of gene expression in the lung in a baboon model of E. coli sepsis

BACKGROUND: Bacterial invasion during sepsis induces disregulated systemic responses that could lead to fatal lung failure. The purpose of this study was to relate the temporal dynamics of gene expression to the pathophysiological changes in the lung during the first and second stages of E. coli sepsis in baboons. RESULTS: Using human oligonucleotide microarrays, we have explored the temporal changes of gene expression in the lung of baboons challenged with sublethal doses of E. coli. Temporal expression pattern and biological significance of the differentially expressed genes were explored using clustering and pathway analysis software. Expression of selected genes was validated by real-time PCR. Cytokine levels in tissue and plasma were assayed by multiplex ELISA. Changes in lung ultrastructure were visualized by electron microscopy. We found that genes involved in primary inflammation, innate immune response, and apoptosis peaked at 2 hrs. Inflammatory and immune response genes that function in the stimulation of monocytes, natural killer and T-cells, and in the modulation of cell adhesion peaked at 8 hrs, while genes involved in wound healing and functional recovery were upregulated at 24 hrs. CONCLUSION: The analysis of gene expression modulation in response to sepsis provides the baseline information that is crucial for the understanding of the pathophysiology of systemic inflammation and may facilitate the development of future approaches for sepsis therapy

Qualitative description of factors involved in the retraction and lysis of dilute whole blood clots and in aggregation and retraction of platelets

AB S T R A C T Dilute whole blood clots were prepared by addition of thrombin to blood diluted 1: 10 in phosphate buffer. The pH of this buffer was 7.4 and the ionic strength was 0.084. Though the ionic strength was low, there was no hemolysis of red corpuscles due to the contribution to the osmotic gradient by plasma salts and proteins. In the standard assay the clot was formed by addition of thrombin at 4VC then incubated at 370C. Retraction and lysis of these clots were inhibited by removal of platelets and by increasing concentrations of purified thrombin. Retraction and lysis were also inhibited by inactivation of any one of the following factors: YM globulin, complement components C4 and 3, and (in the case of lysis) plasminogen. Evidence that some of the above serum factors were adsorbed to the platelet membrane was obtained by aggregation of washed platelets by antisera to these factors (i.e. fibrinogen, 'yM, and C4 or C3). These platelets were not aggregated by antisera to other serum proteins (by albumin, transferrin, yG globulin). These and other studies suggested that platelets, thrombin, fibrinogen, yM globulin (cold agglutinin), complement components, and plasminogen influenced and facilitated retraction and lysis of clots. These studies also suggested that platelets and some of these factors were physically associated. Because of this physical association, and because of the fact that clot retraction is associated with aggregation and retraction of platelets, we extended the above observations to include a study of the effect of these same serum factors on serum-induced aggregation and retraction of washed platelets. (Other terms which have been in use in the past to describe serum-induced platelet aggregation and retraction have included those such as Received for publication 29 December 1969 and in revised form 22 June 1970. platelet "fusion" and "viscous metamorphosis," neither of which fully described the phenomena.) Platelet aggregation and retraction induced by serum was markedly accelerated by addition of increasing concentrations of thrombin and (or) cold agglutinin. Hirudin and antisera to yM globulin inhibited seruminduced aggregation and retraction of platelets. Reconstitution of inactivated serum with purified C4, 3, and 5 and thrombin restored its capacity to induce aggregation and retraction of platelets. Therefore, we postulated that platelet aggregation and retraction were necessary for clot retraction and that platelet aggregation and clot retraction facilitated clot lysis. More specifically we postulated that thrombin, in addition to catalyzing clot formation, also modified the platelet membrane such that yM globulin (cold agglutinin) and complement components can act on the platelet membrane leading to (a) aggregation and retraction of the platelets, (b) retraction of the clot, and (c) to the activation of plasminogen either on the surface of the platelet by C8i and (or) by release of platelet activators of plasminogen

The TRPC6 inhibitor, larixyl acetate, is effective in protecting against traumatic brain injury-induced systemic endothelial dysfunction

BACKGROUND: The incidence of traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) is on the rise in the USA. Concussions, or mild TBIs without skull fracture, account for about 75% of all TBIs. Mild TBIs (mTBIs) lead to memory and cognitive deficits, headaches, intraocular pressure rises, axonal degeneration, neuroinflammation, and an array of cerebrovascular dysfunctions, including increased vascular permeability and decreased cerebral blood flow. It has been recently reported that besides vascular dysfunction in the cerebral circulation, mTBI may also cause a significant impairment of endothelial function in the systemic circulation, at least within mesenteric microvessels. In this study, we investigated whether mTBI affects endothelial function in aortas and determined the contribution of transient receptor potential canonical (TRPC) channels to modulating mTBI-associated endothelial dysfunction. METHODS: We used a model of closed-head mTBI in C57BL/6, 129S, 129S-C57BL/6-F2 mice, and 129S-TRPC1 and 129S-C57BL/6-TRPC6 knockout mice to determine the effect of mTBI on endothelial function in mouse aortas employing ex vivo isometric tension measurements. Aortic tissue was also analyzed using immunofluorescence and qRT-PCR for TRPC6 expression following mTBI. RESULTS: We show that in various strains of mice, mTBI induces a pronounced and long-lasting endothelial dysfunction in the aorta. Ablation of TRPC6 protects mice from mTBI-associated aortic endothelial dysfunction, while TRPC1 ablation does not impact brain injury-induced endothelial impairment in the aorta. Consistent with a role of TRPC6 activation following mTBI, we observed improved endothelial function in wild type control mice subjected to mTBI following 7-day in vivo treatment with larixyl acetate, an inhibitor of TRPC6 channels. Conversely, in vitro treatment with the pro-inflammatory endotoxin lipopolysaccharide, which activates endothelial TRPC6 in a Toll-like receptor type 4 (TLR4)-dependent manner, worsened aortic endothelial dysfunction in wild type mice. Lipopolysaccharide treatment in vitro failed to elicit endothelial dysfunction in TRPC6 knockout mice. No change in endothelial TRPC6 expression was observed 7 days following TBI. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that TRPC6 activation may be critical for inducing endothelial dysfunction following closed-head mTBI and that pharmacological inhibition of the channel may be a feasible therapeutic strategy for preventing mTBI-associated systemic endothelial dysfunction

Pushmepullyou: An efficient micro-swimmer

The swimming of a pair of spherical bladders that change their volumes and mutual distance is efficient at low Reynolds numbers and is superior to other models of artificial swimmers. The change of shape resembles the wriggling motion known as {\it metaboly} of certain protozoa.Comment: Minor rephrasing and changes in style; short explanations adde

Participant recruitment to FiCTION, a primary dental care trial – survey of facilitators and barriers

Objective To identify reasons behind a lower than expected participant recruitment rate within the FiCTION trial, a multi-centre paediatric primary dental care randomised controlled trial (RCT). Subjects (materials) and methods An online survey, based on a previously published tool, consisting of both quantitative and qualitative responses, completed by staff in dental practices recruiting to FiCTION. Ratings from quantitative responses were aggregated to give overall scores for factors related to participant recruitment. Qualitative responses were independently grouped into themes. Results Thirty-nine anonymous responses were received. Main facilitators related to the support received from the central research team and importance of the research question. The main barriers related to low child eligibility rates and the integration of trial processes within routine workloads. Conclusions These findings have directed strategies for enhancing participant recruitment at existing practices and informed recruitment of further practices. The results help provide a profile of the features required of practices to successfully screen and recruit participants. Future trials in this setting should consider the level of interest in the research question within practices, and ensure trial processes are as streamlined as possible. Research teams should actively support practices with participant recruitment and maintain enthusiasm among the entire practice team

Inelaticity in hadron-nucleus collisions from emulsion chamber studies

The inelasticity of hadron-carbon nucleus collisions in the energy region exceeding 100 TeV is estimated from the carbon-emulsion chamber data at Pamirs to be $= 0.65\pm 0.08$. When combined with the recently presented data on hadron-lead nucleus collisions taken at the same energy range it results in the $K\sim A^{0.086}$ mass number dependence of inelasticity. The evaluated partial inelasticity for secondary ($\nu > 1$) interactions, $K_{\nu >1} \simeq 0.2$, suggests that the second and higher interactions of the excited hadron inside the nucleus proceed with only slight energy losses.Comment: LaTeX file and 5 LaTeX files with figures, 11 pages altogether. Thoroughly rewritten and modified, one figure addded one removed. To be published in Phys. Rev.

The Global Magneto-Ionic Medium Survey: Polarimetry of the Southern Sky from 300 to 480 MHz

Much data on the Galactic polarized radio emission has been gathered in the last five decades. All-sky surveys have been made, but only in narrow, widely spaced frequency bands, and the data are inadequate for the characterization of Faraday rotation, the main determinant of the appearance of the polarized radio sky at decimetre wavelengths. We describe a survey of the polarized radio emission from the Southern sky, aiming to characterize the magneto-ionic medium, particularly the strength and configuration of the magnetic field. This work is part of the Global Magneto-Ionic Medium Survey (GMIMS). We have designed and built a feed and receiver covering the band 300 to 900 MHz for the CSIRO Parkes 64-m Telescope. We have surveyed the entire sky between declinations -90 and +20 degrees. We present data covering 300 to 480 MHz with angular resolution 81' to 45'. The survey intensity scale is absolutely calibrated, based on measurements of resistors at known temperatures and on an assumed flux density and spectral index for Taurus A. Data are presented as brightness temperatures. We have applied Rotation Measure Synthesis to the data to obtain a Faraday depth cube of resolution 5.9 radians per metre squared, sensitivity of 60 mK of polarized intensity, and angular resolution 1.35 degrees. The data presented in this paper are available at the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal Modified 29th June 2019 to replace outdated doi: for access to dat