Digital Commons Network^™

Assessment Of Bird Damage To Sunflower And Corn In North Dakota, Megan Klosterman, George M. Linz, Tony Slowik, William Bleier

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

North Dakota is the top sunflower producer in the United States, annually harvesting about 1 million acres (404,686 ha). The red-winged blackbird (RWBL), common grackle (COGR), and yellow-headed blackbird (YHBL) cause significant damage to these crops. Peer et al. (2003) estimated bird damage to sunflower at $5-10 million annually. Recently, corn has become a major crop within the state with 69,793,704.56 hectares planted in 2008 and 2009.
In the past 40 years, stable YHBL and increased COGR populations in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) may have lead to greater losses. While RWBL populations have declined slightly, populations in North Dakota …

Structural Basis For The Photoconversion Of A Phytochrome To The Activated Pfr Form, Andrew T. Ulijasz, Gabriel Cornilescu, Claudia C. Cornilescu, Junrui Zhang, Mario Rivera, John L. Markley, Richard D. Vierstra

Faculty Publications

Phytochromes are a collection of bilin-containing photoreceptors that regulate numerous photoresponses in plants and microorganisms through their ability to photointerconvert between a red-light-absorbing, ground state (Pr) and a far-red-light-absorbing, photoactivated state (Pfr). Although the structures of several phytochromes as Pr have been determined, little is known about the structure of Pfr and how it initiates signalling. Here we describe the three-dimensional solution structure of the bilin-binding domain as Pfr, using the cyanobacterial phytochrome from Synechococcus OSB′. Contrary to predictions, light-induced rotation of the A pyrrole ring but not the Dring is the primary motion of the chromophore during photoconversion. Subsequent …

Psifr: An Integrated Resource For Prediction Of Protein Structure And Function, Shashi B. Pandit, Michal Brylinski, Hongyi Zhou, Mu Gao, Adrian K. Arakaki, Jeffrey Skolnick

Faculty Publications

In the post-genomic era, the annotation of protein function facilitates the understanding of various biological processes. To extend the range of function annotation methods to the twilight zone of sequence identity, we have developed approaches that exploit both protein tertiary structure and/or protein sequence evolutionary relationships. To serve the scientific community, we have integrated the structure prediction tools, TASSER, TASSER-Lite and METATASSER, and the functional inference tools, FINDSITE, a structure-based algorithm for binding site prediction, Gene Ontology molecular function inference and ligand screening, EFICAz2, a sequence-based approach to enzyme function inference and DBD-hunter, an algorithm for predicting DNA-binding proteins and …

Central Florida Future, Volume 42 No. 3, January 14, 2010

Central Florida Future

Suicide threat shuts down Alafaya; Uncover Thursdays; More then music; Plus: Vortex: Bad grammar, great illusion; Italian-American groups request a Shore leave; Green building gets LEED gold status; The Dream's Alive; Dental Center wide open for students, faculty.

Functional Genomics Tool: Gene Silencing In Ixodes Scapularis Eggs And Nymphs By Electroporated Dsrna, Shahid Karim, Emily Troiano, Thomas N. Mather

Faculty Publications

Background

Ticks are blood-sucking arthropods responsible for transmitting a wide variety of disease-causing agents, and constitute important public health threats globally. Ixodes scapularis is the primary vector of the Lyme disease agent in the eastern and central U.S. RNAi is a mechanism by which gene-specific double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) triggers degradation of homologous mRNA transcripts. Here, we describe an optimized protocol for effectively suppressing gene expression in the egg and nymphal stages of I. scapularis by electroporation.

Results

The genes encoding the putative Phospholipase A₂ (PLA₂), cytoplasmic Cystatin, Syntaxin-5, β-Actin and Calreticulin were targeted by delivering the dsRNA …

The Alestle - Vol. 62 No. 18 - 01/14/2010, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

The Alestle

Vol. 62 No. 18

Wallace, Kojo, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Born September 16, 1985, Wallace grew up with his family in Tarkwa, Ghana. In 1988, his father immigrated to the United States and has worked as a taxi driver. His father is also a leader within the Ghanaian community in the Bronx. In 2006, Wallace immigrated to the Bronx with his siblings and has been living with his father on Sedgwick Avenue. He will be attending medical school in the September 2010. He has an older brother who is talking college classes and is also in the United States Navy, a sister who is working to become a nurse, and …

Genome Sequence Of The Palaeopolyploid Soybean, Jeremy Schmutz, Steven B. Cannon, Jessica Schlueter, Jianxin Ma, Therese Mitros, William Nelson, David L. Hyten, Qijian Song, Jay J. Thelen, Jianlin Cheng, Dong Xu, Uffe Hellsten, Gregory D. May, Yeisoo Yu, Tetsuya Sakurai, Taishi Umezawa, Madan K. Bhattacharyya, Devinder Sandhu, Babu Valliyodan, Erika Lindquist, Myron Peto, David Grant, Shengqiang Shu, David Goodstein, Kerrie Barry, Montona Futrell-Griggs, Brian Abernathy, Jianchang Du, Zhixi Tian, Liucun Zhu, Navdeep Gill, Trupti Joshi, Marc Libault, Anand Sethuraman, Xue-Cheng Zhang, Kazuo Shinozaki, Henry T. Nguyen, Rod A. Wing, Perry Cregan, James Specht, Jane Grimwood, Dan Rokhsar, Gary Stacey, Randy C. Shoemaker, Scott A. Jackson

Biology Faculty Articles

Soybean (Glycine max) is one of the most important crop plants for seed protein and oil content, and for its capacity to fix atmospheric nitrogen through symbioses with soil-borne microorganisms. We sequenced the 1.1-gigabase genome by a whole-genome shotgun approach and integrated it with physical and high-density genetic maps to create a chromosome-scale draft sequence assembly. We predict 46,430 protein-coding genes, 70% more than Arabidopsis and similar to the poplar genome which, like soybean, is an ancient polyploid (palaeopolyploid). About 78% of the predicted genes occur in chromosome ends, which comprise less than one-half of the genome but …

Cyber-Coolies And Techno-Braceros: Race And Commodification Of Indian Information Technology Guest Workers In The United States, Sharmila Rudrappa

University of San Francisco Law Review

This Essay examines how guest worker programs in the United States have pushed non-white workers into commodity status, further disempowering them, while simultaneously benefiting capital.

Coots Use Hatch Order To Learn To Recognize And Reject Conspecific Brood Parasitic Chicks, Daizaburo Shizuka, Bruce E. Lyon

Papers in Ornithology

Avian brood parasites and their hosts provide model systems for investigating links between recognition, learning, and their fitness consequences. One major evolutionary puzzle has continued to capture the attention of naturalists for centuries: why do hosts of brood parasites generally fail to recognize parasitic offspring after they have hatched from the egg, even when the host and parasitic chicks differ to almost comic degrees? One prominent theory to explain this pattern proposes that the costs of mistakenly learning to recognize the wrong offspring make recognition maladaptive. Here we show that American coots, Fulica americana, can recognize and reject parasitic …

Field Testing Class Iiib Handheld Lasers To Disperse Roosting Blackbirds, H. Jeffrey Homan, Anthony Slowik, Bradley F. Blackwell, George M. Linz

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

During late summer and fall, a hectare of cattail in a cattail-dominated wetland can hold about 1500 blackbirds. Thus, even small wetlands of 5-1 0 hectares that become roosts can cause significant problems for sunflower producers. USDA Wildlife Services has a cattail management program in North Dakota and South Dakota that helps sunflower producers eliminate cattail vegetation near susceptible fields. However, cattail-reduction treatments (which typically occur in August or September) do not break the cattail stalks, and the roosting substrate remains in place until the following year. Moreover, the sites selected for treatment are generally signed up at least one-year …

The Eastern Echo, January 14, 2010, Eastern Michigan University

EMU Student Newspaper: The Normal News & The Eastern Echo

No abstract provided.

Squeezing In The Life, Kenneth P. Serbin

At Risk for Huntington's Disease

No abstract provided.

The Inkwell, Armstrong Atlantic State University

The Inkwell

No abstract provided.

The George-Anne, Georgia Southern University

The George-Anne

• Dollars and Cents
• The New Mandatory Student Fee By the Numbers
• Weekly Buzz
• Fees
• ‘Concentrate’ On Big Picture
• And the Clouds Begin to Darken
• Take Time to Remember King
• Keep Your Farmville Fodder To Yourself
• Degree Program’s Future Uncertain
• Dyson to Speak at MLK Celebration
• Returning Students’ Housing Left to Chance
• Weekend Wrap
• Police Beat
• Women’s Forum Supports Breast Cancer Awareness
• Wheelchair Basketball New To GSU
• Spotlight on Student Leaders: Lydia Luke
• The Green Corner New Year’s Eco-Lutions
• Classifieds
• Ladies Take Win In OT
• Inside the Huddle: Coach Jeff Monken

Differential Genome-Wide Array-Based Methylation Profiles In Prognostic Subsets Of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia., Nicola Cahill, Fergus Ryan

Articles

Global hypomethylation and regional hypermethylation are well-known epigenetic features of cancer, however, in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), studies on genome-wide epigenetic modifications are limited. Here we analyzed the global methylation profiles in CLL, by applying high-resolution methylation micro-arrays (27,578 CpG sites) to 23 CLL samples, belonging to the immunoglobulin heavy-chain variable (IGHV) mutated (favorable) and IGHV unmutated/IGHV3-21 (poor-prognostic) subsets. Overall, results demonstrated significant differences in methylation patterns between these subgroups. Specifically, in IGHV unmutated CLL, we identified methylation of 7 known or candidate tumor suppressor genes (e.g. VHL, ABI3 and IGSF4) as well as 8 unmethylated genes involved in cell …

Il-28 Supplants Requirement For Treg Cells In Protein Σ1-Mediated Protection Against Murine Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis (Eae), Agnieszka Rynda, Massimo Maddaloni, Javier Ochoa-Repáraz, Gayle Callis, David W. Pascual

Dartmouth Scholarship

Conventional methods to induce tolerance in humans have met with limited success. Hence, efforts to redirect tolerogen uptake using reovirus adhesin, protein sigma 1 (pσ1), may circumvent these shortcomings based upon the recent finding that when reovirus pσ1 is engineered to deliver chicken ovalbumin (OVA) mucosally, tolerance is obtained, even with a single dose. To test whether single-dose tolerance can be induced to treat EAE, proteolipid protein (PLP_130–151) was genetically fused to OVA to pσ1 (PLP:OVA-pσ1) and shown to significantly ameliorate EAE, suppressing proinflammatory cytokines by IL-10⁺ forkhead box P3 (FoxP3)⁺ CD25⁺CD4⁺ T …

A Novel Tcr Transgenic Model Reveals That Negative Selection Involves An Immediate, Bim-Dependent Pathway And A Delayed, Bim-Independent Pathway, Damian Kovalovsky, Mark Pezzano, Benjamin D. Ortiz, Derek B. Sant'angelo

Publications and Research

A complete understanding of negative selection has been elusive due to the rapid apoptosis and clearance of thymocytes in vivo. We report a TCR transgenic model in which expression of the TCR during differentiation occurs only after V(D)J-like recombination. TCR expression from this transgene closely mimics expression of the endogenous TCRα locus allowing for development that is similar to wild type thymocytes. This model allowed us to characterize the phenotypic changes that occurred after TCR-mediated signaling in self-reactive thymocytes prior to their deletion in a highly physiological setting. Self-reactive thymocytes were identified as being immature, activated and CD4loCD8lo. These cells …

Minutes Of The Faculty Senate Meeting, January 13, 2010, University Of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Minutes

No abstract provided.

Uab Biology Graduate Student Named To Board Of Influential Research Society, Staff

Browse All News

No abstract provided.

Antispasmodic And Vasodilator Activities Of Morinda Citrifolia Root Extract Are Mediated Through Blockade Of Voltage Dependent Calcium Channels, Anwarul Hassan Gilani, Saf-Ur-Rehman Mandukhail, Javeid Iqbal, Masoom Yasinzai, Nauman Aziz, Aslam Khan, Najeeb-Ur-Rehman

Department of Biological & Biomedical Sciences

Background: Morinda citrifolia (Noni) is an edible plant with wide range of medicinal uses. It occurs exclusively in tropical climate zone from India through Southeast Asia and Australia to Eastern Polynesia and Hawaii. The objective of this study was to explore the possible mode(s) of action for its antispasmodic, vasodilator and cardio-suppressant effects to rationalize its medicinal use in gut and cardiovascular disorders. Methods: Isolated tissue preparations such as, rabbit jejunum, rat and rabbit aorta and guinea pig atria were used to test the antispasmodic and cardiovascular relaxant effects and the possible mode of action(s) of the 70% aqueous-ethanolic extract …

Volume 47, Number 21: January 13, 2010, University Of North Dakota

University Letter Archive

No abstract provided.

Pyritization Of Trace Metals In Estuarine Sediments And The Controlling Factors: A Case In Jiaojiang Estuary Of Zhejiang Province, China, Siyuan Ye, Edward A. Laws, Qiang Wu, Shaojun Zhong, Xigui Ding, Guangming Zhao, Shaojun Gong

Faculty Publications

Three undisturbed sediment samples were collected from the intertidal zone of the Jiaojiang Estuary of Zhejiang Province, China. The sediments were found to contain remarkably low concentrations of organic carbon (< 0.6%) and acid volatile sulfide (AVS) (< 30 μmol g^-1). The availability of these two substrates likely constrained sulfate reduction and pyritization of several trace metals, respectively. This was especially true at one station where AVS concentrations in the upper 20 cm averaged less than 0.05 μmol g^-1. Although the depth dependence of the degree of trace metal pyritization was generally consistent with expectations based on redox conditions, depth profiles of reactive-metal and pyrite-metal concentrations …

The Daily Gamecock, Wednesday, January 13, 2010, University Of South Carolina, Office Of Student Media

January

No abstract provided.

The Antelope, University Of Nebraska At Kearney

The Antelope

No abstract provided.

Two And A Half Cheers For The Midwestern Bourgeoisie: Role Of The Virtues In Tempering Business Decisions, Marianna Khachaturyan, Gary D. Lynne

Cornhusker Economics

A recent book (The Bourgeois Virtues: Ethics for an Age of Commerce, D. N. McCloskey), raises the matter of the role of the virtues in business and economic choice, arguing that capitalism can indeed, be virtuous or at least better than the alternative(s). This argument is especially timely in light of the apparent excesses on Wall Street and in some banking/financial institutions. Excessive greed and often the lack of business ethics contributed in substantive ways to the financial crisis and near economic meltdown we have been experiencing. As McCloskey, (2006, pp. 1-2) argues (in setting the stage for …

Phase Transition Enthalpy Measurements Of Organic And Organometallic Compounds. Sublimation, Vaporization And Fusion Enthalpies From 1880 To 2010, William Acree, James Chickos

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Report And Recommendations From The Scholarly Publishing Roundtable, Scholarly Publishing Roundtable, Association Of American Universities

Open Access Resources

Report and Recommendations From the Scholarly Publishing Roundtable, January 2010

Investigating The Activity Spectrum For Ring-Substituted 8-Hydroxyquinolines, James Carroll, Jim O'Mahony, Aidan Coffey, Et. Al.

Department of Biological Sciences Publications

In this study, a series of fourteen ring-substituted 8-hydroxyquinoline derivatives were prepared. The synthesis procedures are presented. The compounds were analyzed using RP-HPLC to determine lipophilicity. They were tested for their activity related to inhibition of photosynthetic electron transport (PET) in spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) chloroplasts. Primary in vitro screening of the synthesized compounds was also performed against four mycobacterial strains and against eight fungal strains. Several compounds showed biological activity comparable with or higher than the standards isoniazid or fluconazole. For all the compounds, the relationships between the lipophilicity and the chemical structure of the studied compounds are discussed.

Evidence For A "Founder Effect" Among Hiv-Infected Injection Drug Users (Idus) In Pakistan., Mohammad A. Rai, Vivek R Nerurkar, Suhail Khoja, Saeed Khan, Richard Yanagihara, Arish Rehman, Shahana U Kazmi, Syed H Ali

Department of Biological & Biomedical Sciences

Background: We have previously reported a HIV-1 subtype A infection in a community of injection drug users (IDUs) in Karachi, Pakistan. We now show that this infection among the IDUs may have originated from a single source. Methods: Phylogenetic analysis was performed of partial gag sequences, generated using PCR, from 26 HIV-positive IDU samples. Results: Our results showed formation of a tight monophyletic group with an intra-sequence identity of < 98% indicating a "founder effect". Our data indicate that the HIV-1 epidemic in this community of IDUs may have been transmitted by an HIV positive overseas contract worker who admitted to having contact with commercial sex workers during stay abroad. Conclusion: Specific measures need to implemented to control transmission of HIV infection in Pakistan through infected migrant workers.