The Image of God in the Christian Mission

https://place.asburyseminary.edu/firstfruitspapers/1136/thumbnail.jp

A Half Century of Crop Rotation

Fifty-three years of crop rotation studies, started in 1894, were concluded in the fall of 1946. These experiments were on Bridgehampton very fine sandy loam soil that was originally acid and produced meager crops. Within a very few years it became evident that the yields of crops could be materially increased by the use of agricultural lime and chemical fertilizers. The records of the last 17 years of the experiments are reported in this bulletin and comparisons are made with results from former years. The 3 rotations described in this bulletin are known as rotations B, E, and F. B was a 6-year sequence: 1 year of potatoes followed by a year of ensilage corn and 4 years of alfalfa-timothy hay. Rotations E and F were 5-year sequences in which potatoes were followed by Rhode Island White Flint corn and 3 years of hay. Rotation E contained alfalfa, red clover and alsike clover as well as timothy and redtop in the grass seed mixture. The meadow seeding for rotation F consisted of timothy and redtop grasses. The average yields of Irish Cobbler potatoes were: 222 bushels per acre on the clover rotation, 246 bushels per acre on the alfalfa rotation and 294 bushels per acre on the timothy-redtop rotation. The superior yields of potatoes after the non-legume hay is thought to result, in part, from a more favorable supply and balance of potassium, calcium and magnesium left by the grass crop. Rhode Island White Flint corn yielded slightly more grain when grown after the legume-grass hay rather than grass hay alone. The supply of available nitrogen seemed to be a controlling factor influencing the yield of corn. The alfalfa-timothy seeding outyielded the general legume hay mixture during the second and third years. The non-legume seeding produced the smallest amount of hay with the least feed value. The general legume mixture usually produced more hay the first year because the biennial clovers that it contained appeared to mature more quickly than the alfalfa. The average net returns per acre were figured for 2 periods of 5 years, 1935-1939 and 1942-1946. During the first period these net returns per acre were $40.77,$24.46 and $10.93 for rotations B, E, and F, respectively. During the second period the net returns were$61.44, $34.52 and$39.85 respectively for these rotations

The steady-state repertoire of human SCF Ubiquitin ligase complexes does not require ongoing Nedd8 conjugation

The human genome encodes 69 different F-box proteins (FBPs), each of which can potentially assemble with Skp1-Cul1-RING to serve as the substrate specificity subunit of an SCF ubiquitin ligase complex. SCF activity is switched on by conjugation of the ubiquitin- like protein Nedd8 to Cul1. Cycles of Nedd8 conjugation and deconjugation acting in conjunction with the Cul1-sequestering factor Cand1 are thought to control dynamic cycles of SCF assembly and disassembly, which would enable a dynamic equilibrium between the Cul1- RING catalytic core of SCF and the cellular repertoire of FBPs. To test this hypothesis, we determined the cellular composition of SCF complexes and evaluated the impact of Nedd8 conjugation on this steady-state. At least 42 FBPs assembled with Cul1 in HEK 293 cells, and the levels of Cul1-bound FBPs varied by over two orders of magnitude. Unexpectedly, quantitative mass spectrometry revealed that blockade of Nedd8 conjugation led to a modest increase, rather than a decrease, in the overall level of most SCF complexes. We suggest that multiple mechanisms including FBP dissociation and turnover cooperate to maintain the cellular pool of SCF ubiquitin ligases

Differential Response of Coral Symbiotic Dinoflagellates to Bacterial Toxins that Produce Bleaching in Stony Corals

Bleaching of corals and other organisms with symbiotic zooxanthellae is a worldwide phenomenon with increasing importance due to global warming scenarios. Bleaching has been historically related to changes in the environment, especially water temperature increase, that stress corals and provoke the release of zooxanthellae. The discovery of Vibrio shilonii, a bacterium causing bleaching under thermal stress in corals of the Mediterranean Sea has changed our thinking about the cause (or explanation) for bleaching of corals worldwide. During this study, we evaluated the effect of a proline rich toxin, extracted from Vibrio shilonii, on zooxanthellae obtained from: Oculina patagonica from the Mediterranean Sea, two species from the Gulf of Elait (Red Sea), four species from the Caribbean Sea, and five Symbiodinium species extracted from different hosts (corals, jellyfish, zoanthid, and anemones) from different parts of the world. Our results show a differential response of zooxanthellae to the toxin, which implies, that a number of coral species may be affected by this bacterium to different degrees

Designer Reagents for Mass Spectrometry-Based Proteomics: Clickable Cross-Linkers for Elucidation of Protein Structures and Interactions

We present novel homobifunctional amine-reactive clickable cross-linkers (CXLs) for investigation of three-dimensional protein structures and protein–protein interactions (PPIs). CXLs afford consolidated advantages not previously available in a simple cross-linker, including (1) their small size and cationic nature at physiological pH, resulting in good water solubility and cell-permeability, (2) an alkyne group for bio-orthogonal conjugation to affinity tags via the click reaction for enrichment of cross-linked peptides, (3) a nucleophilic displacement reaction involving the 1,2,3-triazole ring formed in the click reaction, yielding a lock-mass reporter ion for only clicked peptides, and (4) higher charge states of cross-linked peptides in the gas-phase for augmented electron transfer dissociation (ETD) yields. Ubiquitin, a lysine-abundant protein, is used as a model system to demonstrate structural studies using CXLs. To validate the sensitivity of our approach, biotin-azide labeling and subsequent enrichment of cross-linked peptides are performed for cross-linked ubiquitin digests mixed with yeast cell lysates. Cross-linked peptides are detected and identified by collision induced dissociation (CID) and ETD with linear quadrupole ion trap (LTQ)-Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FTICR) and LTQ-Orbitrap mass spectrometers. The application of CXLs to more complex systems (e.g., in vivo cross-linking) is illustrated by Western blot detection of Cul1 complexes including known binders, Cand1 and Skp2, in HEK 293 cells, confirming good water solubility and cell-permeability

EXCEDE Technology Development III: First Vacuum Tests

This paper is the third in the series on the technology development for the EXCEDE (EXoplanetary Circumstellar Environments and Disk Explorer) mission concept, which in 2011 was selected by NASA's Explorer program for technology development (Category III). EXCEDE is a 0.7m space telescope concept designed to achieve raw contrasts of 1e6 at an inner working angle of 1.2 l/D and 1e7 at 2 l/D and beyond. This will allow it to directly detect and spatially resolve low surface brightness circumstellar debris disks as well as image giant planets as close as in the habitable zones of their host stars. In addition to doing fundamental science on debris disks, EXCEDE will also serve as a technological and scientific precursor for any future exo-Earth imaging mission. EXCEDE uses a Starlight Suppression System (SSS) based on the PIAA coronagraph, enabling aggressive performance. We report on our continuing progress of developing the SSS for EXCEDE, and in particular (a) the reconfiguration of our system into a more flight-like layout, with an upstream deformable mirror and an inverse PIAA system, as well as a LOWFS, and (b) testing this system in a vacuum chamber, including IWA, contrast, and stability performance. The results achieved so far are 2.9e-7 contrast between 1.2-2.0 l/D and 9.7e-8 contrast between 2.0-6.0 l/D in monochromatic light; as well as 1.4e-6 between 2.0-6.0 l/D in a 10% band, all with a PIAA coronagraph operating at an inner working angle of 1.2 l/D. This constitutes better contrast than EXCEDE requirements (in those regions) in monochromatic light, and progress towards requirements in broadband light. Even though this technology development is primarily targeted towards EXCEDE, it is also germane to any exoplanet direct imaging space-based telescopes because of the many challenges common to different coronagraph architectures and mission requirements.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures, to be published in proceedings of SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation (2014