Reduce Shatter Losses in Your Grain Sorghum Harvest

Earlier harvesting of grain sorghum when its moisture content is high ( above 16%) helps reduce shatter losses, initial investigations have shown. Heavy field losses, some caused by shattering; are one reason grain sorghum production dropped temporarily in the early 1960s. Most of the losses occurred at the beginning of the harvest season and were caused by stormy weather, particularly high winds. Since sorghum is more resistant to corn rootworm and drought than corn, it probably will continue to be grown on even a larger acreage in South Dakota in the future. About 200,000 acres were harvested in 1964

The South Dakota Pasture Furrower

After several years of research and field testing, agricultural engineers have introduced a new model tractor-drawn pasture furrower specifically designed to overcome these objections. It can be made in a well-equipped farm shop from commercially available parts. Detailed plans and design information for construction of the pasture furrower are included in the back (pages 11 -15) of this publication. Method of operation and results of testing are included in the discussion which follows

Selection of Motor Oil

SummaryKnowledge of different types and classifications of crankcase oils means savings when selecting motor lubricants. In many cases farmers take recommendations of dealers and salesmen when buying oils, because of confusion on types and grades, different engines and conditions under which engines operate.Crankcase oils perform four main functions in internal combustion engines. They are:I. Lubricating- this is accomplished by forming a protective film between bearing surfaces to prevent metal to metal contact. Friction and abrasive wear is reduced.2. Sealing - oil forms a seal between piston, rings and cylinder wall to prevent loss of power and crankcase contamination.3. Cooling - oil helps to carry away a large amount of heat produced in the engine.4. Cleaning - oil aids in keeping engines clean by holding impurities or sediments in suspension and reducing deposit formation.Some other functions include: reducing noise, cushioning shock, and protection of parts. How well these functions are performed depends on type and quality of oil used in the engine

Agent based modelling helps in understanding the rules by which fibroblasts support keratinocyte colony formation

Background: Autologous keratincoytes are routinely expanded using irradiated mouse fibroblasts and bovine serum for clinical use. With growing concerns about the safety of these xenobiotic materials, it is desirable to culture keratinocytes in media without animal derived products. An improved understanding of epithelial/mesenchymal interactions could assist in this. Methodology/Principal Findings: A keratincyte/fibroblast o-culture model was developed by extending an agent-based keratinocyte colony formation model to include the response of keratinocytes to both fibroblasts and serum. The model was validated by comparison of the in virtuo and in vitro multicellular behaviour of keratinocytes and fibroblasts in single and co-culture in Greens medium. To test the robustness of the model, several properties of the fibroblasts were changed to investigate their influence on the multicellular morphogenesis of keratinocyes and fibroblasts. The model was then used to generate hypotheses to explore the interactions of both proliferative and growth arrested fibroblasts with keratinocytes. The key predictions arising from the model which were confirmed by in vitro experiments were that 1) the ratio of fibroblasts to keratinocytes would critically influence keratinocyte colony expansion, 2) this ratio needed to be optimum at the beginning of the co-culture, 3) proliferative fibroblasts would be more effective than irradiated cells in expanding keratinocytes and 4) in the presence of an adequate number of fibroblasts, keratinocyte expansion would be independent of serum. Conclusions: A closely associated computational and biological approach is a powerful tool for understanding complex biological systems such as the interactions between keratinocytes and fibroblasts. The key outcome of this study is the finding that the early addition of a critical ratio of proliferative fibroblasts can give rapid keratinocyte expansion without the use of irradiated mouse fibroblasts and bovine serum

Influence of Dopaminergically Mediated Reward on Somatosensory Decision-Making

This pharmacological fMRI study shows that during reward-based sensory decision-making, dopamine is crucially involved in reward-related modulation of human primary sensory cortex

Brief Optogenetic Inhibition of Dopamine Neurons Mimics Endogenous Negative Reward Prediction Errors

Correlative studies have strongly linked phasic changes in dopamine activity with reward prediction error signaling. But causal evidence that these brief changes in firing actually serve as error signals to drive associative learning is more tenuous. While there is direct evidence that brief increases can substitute for positive prediction errors, there is no comparable evidence that similarly brief pauses can substitute for negative prediction errors. Lacking such evidence, the effect of increases in firing could reflect novelty or salience, variables also correlated with dopamine activity. Here we provide such evidence, showing in a modified Pavlovian over-expectation task that brief pauses in the firing of dopamine neurons in rat ventral tegmental area at the time of reward are sufficient to mimic the effects of endogenous negative prediction errors. These results support the proposal that brief changes in the firing of dopamine neurons serve as full-fledged bidirectional prediction error signals