BMQ

BMQ: Boston Medical Quarterly was published from 1950-1966 by the Boston University School of Medicine and the Massachusetts Memorial Hospitals

Registration of ‘Purple Bounty’ and ‘Purple Prosperity’ hairy vetch

The hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth) cultivars ‘Purple Bounty’ (Reg. no. CV-12, PI 648342) and ‘Purple Prosperity’ (Reg. no. CV-11, PI 654047) were released in 2007 and 2008, respectively, by the USDA–ARS in collaboration with the Rodale Institute and the agricultural experiment stations of Pennsylvania State University and Cornell University. Hairy vetch is a commonly used annual legume cover crop grown for its cold tolerance, fast growth, large biomass production, and ability to fix N2. However, this species has not been selected for the traits needed to optimize its use as a cover crop. Our breeding program focused on developing a cultivar that was both early flowering and had adequate winter survival and therefore adapted to mechanical termination in organic no-till production in the U.S. Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Purple Bounty and Purple Prosperity were developed between 1998 and 2005 using recurrent selection at nurseries in Beltsville and Keedysville, MD. In 2005–2006, selections were evaluated against commercial checks for flowering time in Maryland and Pennsylvania, and in the 2006–2007 and 2007–2008 seasons they were evaluated in 10 locations (12 total site-years) across the United States for winter survival. Purple Bounty and Purple Prosperity both flowered earlier than the commercial material against which they were tested (significance depended on the date and site); Purple Bounty was the earlier flowering of the two cultivars. Purple Bounty and Purple Prosperity also had equivalent or improved winter survival compared with ‘AU Early Cover’, an early-maturing cultivar developed in the southern United States, at all test locations. Purple Prosperity is no longer commercially available, but Purple Bounty is currently licensed and distributed by Allied Seed (Nampa, ID)

Weeds in Cover Crops: Context and Management Considerations

Cover crops are increasingly being adopted to provide multiple ecosystem services such as improving soil health, managing nutrients, and decreasing soil erosion. It is not uncommon for weeds to emerge in and become a part of a cover crop plant community. Since the role of cover cropping is to supplement ecosystem service provisioning, we were interested in assessing the impacts of weeds on such provisioning. To our knowledge, no research has examined how weeds in cover crops may impact the provision of ecosystem services and disservices. Here, we review services and disservices associated with weeds in annual agroecosystems and present two case studies from the United States to illustrate how weeds growing in fall-planted cover crops can provide ground cover, decrease potential soil losses, and effectively manage nitrogen. We argue that in certain circumstances, weeds in cover crops can enhance ecosystem service provisioning. In other circumstances, such as in the case of herbicide-resistant weeds, cover crops should be managed to limit weed biomass and fecundity. Based on our case studies and review of the current literature, we conclude that the extent to which weeds should be allowed to grow in a cover crop is largely context-dependent.This work was supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Organic Research and Extension Initiative under Project PENW-2015-07433 (Grant No. 2015-51300-24156, Accession No. 1007156) and the National Science Foundation (Grant No. DGE1255832)

Notes on the Biology of an Adult Female Chimaera cubana Captured Off St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands

Within the western North Atlantic Ocean there are at least 4 genera and 5 species of chimaeroids occurring in deep waters generally associated with outer continental slopes or areas of high bathymetric relief (Didier 2002; Didier 2004). Two chimaeroids, Chimaera cubana and Hydrolagus alberti, are known to be indigenous to the Caribbean Sea in waters associated with the Greater and Lesser Antilles. While H. alberti occurs throughout the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, C. cubana is thought to be endemic to an area bounded by Cuba and Colombia (IUCN 2009). These two chimaeras are readily differentiated by the presence or absence of an anal fin and species–specific branching patterns of cranial lateral line canals (Didier 2004). Since the description of C. cubana by Howell–Rivero (1936), only 10 specimens have been reported in the primary literature with another 11 specimens located in museum collections (Bunkley–Williams and Williams 2004). The dearth of biological information on C. cubana led the International Union for the Conservation of Nature to recommend that “basic data be collected on all captures” (IUCN 2009)

Detrimental Effects of Environmental Tobacco Smoke in Relation to Asthma Severity

Background: Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) has adverse effects on the health of asthmatics, however the harmful consequences of ETS in relation to asthma severity are unknown. Methods: In a multicenter study of severe asthma, we assessed the impact of ETS exposure on morbidity, health care utilization and lung functions; and activity of systemic superoxide dismutase (SOD), a potential oxidative target of ETS that is negatively associated with asthma severity. Findings: From 2002-2006, 654 asthmatics (non-severe 366, severe 288) were enrolled, among whom 109 non-severe and 67 severe asthmatics were routinely exposed to ETS as ascertained by history and validated by urine cotinine levels. ETS-exposure was associated with lower quality of life scores; greater rescue inhaler use; lower lung function; greater bronchodilator responsiveness; and greater risk for emergency room visits, hospitalization and intensive care unit admission. ETS-exposure was associated with lower levels of serum SOD activity, particularly in asthmatic women of African heritage. Interpretation: ETS-exposure of asthmatic individuals is associated with worse lung function, higher acuity of exacerbations, more health care utilization, and greater bronchial hyperreactivity. The association of diminished systemic SOD activity to ETS exposure provides for the first time a specific oxidant mechanism by which ETS may adversely affect patients with asthma. © 2011 Comhair et al

Risk Factors of Recurrent Falls Among Older Adults Admitted to the Trauma Surgery Department.

Falls affect more than 29 million American adults ages ≥65 years annually. Many older adults experience recurrent falls requiring medical attention. These recurrent falls may be prevented through screening and intervention. In 2014 to 2015, records for 199 older adult patients admitted from a major urban teaching hospital’s emergency department were queried. Open-ended variables from clinicians’ notes were coded to supplement existing closed-ended variables. Of the 199 patients, 52 (26.1%) experienced one or more recurrent falls within 365 days after their initial fall. Half (50.0%) of all recurrent falls occurred within the first 90 days following discharge. A large proportion of recurrent falls among older adults appear to occur within a few months and are statistically related to identifiable risk factors. Prevention and intervention strategies, delivered either during treatment for an initial fall or upon discharge from an inpatient admission, may reduce the incidence of recurrent falls among this population

Seed-shattering phenology at soybean harvest of economically important weeds in multiple regions of the United States. Part 3: Drivers of seed shatter

Seed retention, and ultimately seed shatter, are extremely important for the efficacy of harvest weed seed control (HWSC) and are likely influenced by various agroecological and environmental factors. Field studies investigated seed-shattering phenology of 22 weed species across three soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]-producing regions in the United States. We further evaluated the potential drivers of seed shatter in terms of weather conditions, growing degree days, and plant biomass. Based on the results, weather conditions had no consistent impact on weed seed shatter. However, there was a positive correlation between individual weed plant biomass and delayed weed seed-shattering rates during harvest. This work demonstrates that HWSC can potentially reduce weed seedbank inputs of plants that have escaped early-season management practices and retained seed through harvest. However, smaller individuals of plants within the same population that shatter seed before harvest pose a risk of escaping early-season management and HWSC

Seed-shattering phenology at soybean harvest of economically important weeds in multiple regions of the United States. Part 2: Grass species

Seed shatter is an important weediness trait on which the efficacy of harvest weed seed control (HWSC) depends. The level of seed shatter in a species is likely influenced by agroecological and environmental factors. In 2016 and 2017, we assessed seed shatter of eight economically important grass weed species in soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] from crop physiological maturity to 4 wk after maturity at multiple sites spread across 11 states in the southern, northern, and mid-Atlantic United States. From soybean maturity to 4 wk after maturity, cumulative percent seed shatter was lowest in the southern U.S. regions and increased moving north through the states. At soybean maturity, the percent of seed shatter ranged from 1% to 70%. That range had shifted to 5% to 100% (mean: 42%) by 25 d after soybean maturity. There were considerable differences in seed-shatter onset and rate of progression between sites and years in some species that could impact their susceptibility to HWSC. Our results suggest that many summer annual grass species are likely not ideal candidates for HWSC, although HWSC could substantially reduce their seed output during certain years

Seed-shattering phenology at soybean harvest of economically important weeds in multiple regions of the United States. Part 1: Broadleaf species

Potential effectiveness of harvest weed seed control (HWSC) systems depends upon seed shatter of the target weed species at crop maturity, enabling its collection and processing at crop harvest. However, seed retention likely is influenced by agroecological and environmental factors. In 2016 and 2017, we assessed seed-shatter phenology in 13 economically important broadleaf weed species in soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] from crop physiological maturity to 4 wk after physiological maturity at multiple sites spread across 14 states in the southern, northern, and mid-Atlantic United States. Greater proportions of seeds were retained by weeds in southern latitudes and shatter rate increased at northern latitudes. Amaranthus spp. seed shatter was low (0% to 2%), whereas shatter varied widely in common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.) (2% to 90%) over the weeks following soybean physiological maturity. Overall, the broadleaf species studied shattered less than 10% of their seeds by soybean harvest. Our results suggest that some of the broadleaf species with greater seed retention rates in the weeks following soybean physiological maturity may be good candidates for HWSC