Growing Sweetcorn in Alaska's Cool Environments

Sweet corn can be grown in Alaska's cool environments by employing clear polyethylene mulch to raise soil temperatures. Rows should be run north and south, spaced about 5 feet apart for 4-foot wide mulch. Weeds can be controlled under clear polyethylene mulch by spraying with atrazine after seeding and before mulching

Circular 35

Revised April 1991 by Grant E.M. Matheke, Patricia J. Wagner, and Patricia S. Holloway; Reprinted by Cooperative Extension Service, University of Alaska Fairbanks, and U.S.D.A. Cooperating. Publication 300C-00235A technique for growing high-yielding, everbearing strawberries with clear polyethylene (plastic) mulch and row covers has been developed at the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station at Fairbanks. This technique eliminates the long delay from planting to fruiting that occurs with other culture systems and it has created an interest in commercial production and an increased home-garden effort in Alaska. The production system involves planting nursery plants each season as early as possible through clear polyethylene mulch, using row covers for the early part o f the season. Using this technique, harvest begins about July 15 and extends until freeze-up, com pared to a production season from about July 10 to July 28 for hardy types o f strawberries such as Toklat or Pioneer. This system produces clean fruit, easy to pick and relatively free from fruit rot. The harvest season can be extended in the fall by again using the row covers for frost protection

Die Bildungsbeteiligung deutscher und ausländischer Jugendlicher in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland

"Der Beitrag untersucht mit den Daten des Mikrozensus 1995 die Determinanten der Beteiligung deutscher und nicht-deutscher Jugendlicher an den Jahrgangsstufen 1113 der Gymnasien. Dabei werden bei den Jugendlichen ohne deutsche Staatsangehörigkeit die numerisch größten Herkunftsgruppen (Türkei, ehemaliges Jugoslawien, EU und andere) unterschieden. Die wichtigsten Determinanten sind die Bildungsabschlüsse der Eltern, der Generationenabstand und das Haushaltsnettoeinkommen. Nach Kontrolle aller individueller Faktoren besitzt die Nationalität nach wie vor einen signifikanten Einfluß: Während Jugendliche aus EU-Staaten oder der Gruppe der anderen Länder keine unterschiedliche Beteiligung gegenüber deutschen Jugendlichen aufweisen, ist die Wahrscheinlichkeit eines Besuchs der Gymnasial-Oberstufe bei Jugendlichen aus dem ehemaligen Jugoslawien am niedrigsten und auch bei türkischen Jugendlichen signifikant reduziert. Unter den ausländischen Jugendlichen ist der Bildungsabschluß der Haushaltsbezugsperson eine noch wichtigere Determinante als bei deutschen Jugendlichen. Die Anteile der Erwachsenen mit erfolgreichem Bildungsabschluß steigen allerdings bei allen Nationalitäten deutlich. Jüngere Erwachsene haben (außer bei Deutschen) im Durchschnitt zu einem wesentlich höheren Anteil einen Schulabschluß als Ältere." (Autorenreferat)"Employing the German microcensus of 1995 determinants of the attendance of high school classes 11-13 are examined for German and non-German teenagers. Non-Germans are subdivided into the largest nationality groups (Turkey, former Yugoslavia, EU-countries and all other nationalities). The most important determinants are parental education, the age difference between parents and child, and the household income. After controlling for all individual variables nationality still has a significant influence: whereas teenagers from EU-countries and of all other nationalities show no difference to Germans the probability of school attendance in classes 11-13 is smallest for teenagers from former Yugoslavia, and is also significant reduced for Turkish nationals. For non-German teenagers parental education is even more important than for the Germans. The share of adults with at least one finished educational degree is rising for all nationalities. Except of Germans in average the share of persons with at least one finished educational degree is higher for younger than for older adults." (author's abstract

The fourth monitoring report of the Early vs. Late Infantile Strabismus Surgery Study

The Early vs. Late Infantile Strabismus Surgery Study Group is a group of strabismologists and orthoptists from 58 clinics in 11 European countries. They investigate whether early or late surgery is preferable in infantile strabismus, in a non-randomized, prospective, multi-center trial. Infants between 6 and 18 months of age receive a standardized entry examination and are then operated either before their second anniversary in clinics A, or between their 32nd and 60th month of age in clinics B. The children are evaluated at age six. After completion of the study, the two groups can then be compared regarding degree of binocular vision, angle of strabismus and visual acuity of the worse eye relative to the better. The current status of the study is reported here. Up to December 13, 1996, 58 clinics have entered a total of 532 patients. Currently, 232 children have been entered in the early surgery group and 300 in the late surgery group. Completeness of data and forms are excellent. Thirty-eight patients have definitively dropped out. There is no evidence for inhomogeneities between the two therapy groups concerning the distribution of the four most important prognostic factors: spherical equivalents, horizontal angle of squint, degree of amblyopia and limitation of abduction

Die demographische Entwicklung als Auslöser von zukünftigen Gleichgewichten bei der Familienbildung in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland

'Familienbildungsprozesse (Heiratshäufigkeiten, Alterspräferenz der Partner etc.) hängen auch von der relativen 'Verfügbarkeit' der beiden Geschlechter ab, die nicht automatisch in einem ausgeglichenen Verhältnis zueinander stehen. Starke Schwankungen in der Geburtenentwicklung oder nachträgliche Veränderungen der Besetzungszahlen eines Geschlechtes führen zu Ungleichgewichten auf dem 'Partnerschaftsmarkt', die einige Jahre später zu einem 'marriage squeeze' führen können. Auch die lebenslange Fertilität kann durch solch einen marriage squeeze nachhaltig beeinflußt werden.' (Autorenreferat

Early growth response gene-2 (Egr-2) regulates the development of B and T cells

The study was supported by Arthritis Research UK. Copyright @ 2011 Li et al.BACKGROUND: Understanding of how transcription factors are involved in lymphocyte development still remains a challenge. It has been shown that Egr-2 deficiency results in impaired NKT cell development and defective positive selection of T cells. Here we investigated the development of T, B and NKT cells in Egr-2 transgenic mice and the roles in the regulation of distinct stages of B and T cell development. METHODS AND FINDINGS: The expression of Egr1, 2 and 3 were analysed at different stages of T and B cell development by RT-PCT and results showed that the expression was strictly regulated at different stages. Forced expression of Egr-2 in CD2+ lymphocytes resulted in a severe reduction of CD4+CD8+ (DP) cells in thymus and pro-B cells in bone marrow, which was associated with reduced expression of Notch1 in ISP thymocytes and Pax5 in pro-B cells, suggesting that retraction of Egr-2 at the ISP and pro-B cell stages is important for the activation of lineage differentiation programs. In contrast to reduction of DP and pro-B cells, Egr-2 enhanced the maturation of DP cells into single positive (SP) T and NKT cells in thymus, and immature B cells into mature B cells in bone marrow. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that Egr-2 expressed in restricted stages of lymphocyte development plays a dynamic, but similar role for the development of T, NKT and B cells.This article is provided by the Brunel Open Access publishing fund

Diversity of cancer-related identities in long-term prostate cancer survivors after radical prostatectomy

BACKGROUND: Individuals affected by cancer need to integrate this experience into their personal biography as their life continues after primary therapy, leading to substantial changes in self-perception. This study identified factors uniquely associated with 5 different cancer-related identities in order to improve the understanding of how self-perception in men affected by prostate cancer is associated with certain clinical and psychosocial characteristics. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, long-term prostate cancer survivors after radical prostatectomy were asked to choose one of 5 cancer-related identities that described them best. Associations with sociodemographic, clinical, and psychological variables were investigated using multivariable logistic regression. RESULTS: Three thousand three hundred forty-seven men (mean age 78.1 years) surveyed on average 15.6 years after prostatectomy were included. Most men favored the terms “someone who has had cancer” (43.9%) which was associated with a mild disease course, and “patient” (26.3%) which was associated with ongoing therapy and biochemical disease recurrence. The self-descriptions “cancer survivor” (16.8%), “cancer conqueror” (10.9%) and “victim” (2.1%) were less common. “Cancer survivor” was associated with high perceived disease severity (OR: 1.86 [1.44–2.40]). “Cancer survivor” and “cancer conqueror” were related to high benefit finding (OR: 1.89 [1.48–2.40], OR: 1.46 [1.12–1.89] respectively), and only “cancer conqueror” was associated with high well-being (OR: 1.84 [1.35–2.50]). Identification as “victim” was associated with a positive depression screening and low well-being (OR: 2.22 [1.15–4.31], OR: 0.38 [0.20–0.72] respectively) (all p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Although long-term survival is common among men affected by PCa, they display a large diversity in cancer-related identities, which are associated with unique clinical and psychological characteristics. These cancer-related identities and their distinctive properties are associated with psychological well-being even after a long follow-up

Homozygosity for a missense mutation in the 67 kDa isoform of glutamate decarboxylase in a family with autosomal recessive spastic cerebral palsy: parallels with Stiff-Person Syndrome and other movement disorders

Background Cerebral palsy (CP) is an heterogeneous group of neurological disorders of movement and/or posture, with an estimated incidence of 1 in 1000 live births. Non-progressive forms of symmetrical, spastic CP have been identified, which show a Mendelian autosomal recessive pattern of inheritance. We recently described the mapping of a recessive spastic CP locus to a 5 cM chromosomal region located at 2q24-31.1, in rare consanguineous families. Methods Here we present data that refine this locus to a 0.5 cM region, flanked by the microsatellite markers D2S2345 and D2S326. The minimal region contains the candidate gene GAD1, which encodes a glutamate decarboxylase isoform (GAD67), involved in conversion of the amino acid and excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate to the inhibitory neurotransmitter γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Results A novel amino acid mis-sense mutation in GAD67 was detected, which segregated with CP in affected individuals. Conclusions This result is interesting because auto-antibodies to GAD67 and the more widely studied GAD65 homologue encoded by the GAD2 gene, are described in patients with Stiff-Person Syndrome (SPS), epilepsy, cerebellar ataxia and Batten disease. Further investigation seems merited of the possibility that variation in the GAD1 sequence, potentially affecting glutamate/GABA ratios, may underlie this form of spastic CP, given the presence of anti-GAD antibodies in SPS and the recognised excitotoxicity of glutamate in various contexts

Studying Brugada syndrome with an SCN1B variants in human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes

BACKGROUND: Among rare channelopathies BrS patients are at high risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD). SCN5A mutations are found in a quarter of patients. Other rare gene mutations including SCN1B have been implicated to BrS. Studying the human cellular phenotype of BrS associated with rare gene mutation remains lacking. OBJECTIVES: We sought to study the cellular phenotype of BrS with the SCN1B gene variants using human-induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSCs)–derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs). METHODS AND RESULTS: A BrS patient suffering from recurrent syncope harboring a two variants (c.629T > C and c.637C > A) in SCN1B, which encodes the function-modifying sodium channel beta1 subunit, and three independent healthy subjects were recruited and their skin biopsies were used to generate hiPSCs, which were differentiated into cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) for studying the cellular electrophysiology. A significantly reduced peak and late sodium channel current (I(Na)) and a shift of activation curve to more positive potential as well as a shift of inactivation curve to more negative potential were detected in hiPSC-CMs of the BrS patient, indicating that the SCN1B variants impact the function of sodium channels in cardiomyocytes. The reduced I(Na) led to a reduction of amplitude (APA) and upstroke velocity (V(max)) of action potentials. Ajmaline, a sodium channel blocker, showed a stronger effect on APA and Vmax in BrS cells as compared to cells from healthy donors. Furthermore, carbachol was able to increase arrhythmia events and the beating frequency in BrS. CONCLUSION: Our hiPSC-CMs from a BrS-patient with two variants in SCN1B recapitulated some key phenotypic features of BrS and can provide a platform for studies on BrS with SCN1B variants