Only two spinach herbicides are currently available to producers, and with limited choices in herbicide mode of action (MOA), overuse of the current herbicides can result in dominance of uncontrolled ...weeds. Therefore, spinach producers need more herbicide options. Trials were conducted in processing spinach to evaluate the crop safety of dimethenamid-p (0.56 kg ai/ha), EPTC (2.94 to 3.40 kg ai/ha), or ethofumesate (0.84, 1.12 or 2.24 kg ai/ha) applied pre-emergent (PRE), and ethofumesate (0.09 or 0.18 kg ai/ha) applied early postemergent (EPOST) for potential use as alternatives to s-metolachlor (0.73 kg ai/ha) and cycloate (2.52 kg ai/ha). The control of London rocket was excellent with s-metolachlor, dimethenamid-p, and ethofumesate. Weed control with cycloate and EPTC was fair, and generally inferior to all others. Cycloate and s-metolachlor were safe to spinach, and only minor crop injury was observed with all other herbicides, except the high rate of ethofumesate PRE, which resulted in high levels of injury. Spinach outgrew all early herbicide injury with no significant yield losses. Ethofumesate applied EPOST caused no injury in year 1, although in year 2 injury was higher in all plots where it was applied twice, regardless of rate. In high-density plantings, dimethenamid-p caused significant crop injury to spinach, but only at one location on a sandy loam soil. In that trial, yields in dimethenamid-p plots were reduced an average 30% compared to the hand-weeded and s-metolachlor plots. As a result of this research, dimethenamid-p, EPTC, and ethofumesate should be considered candidates for expanded-use registrations in processing spinach production. More research is needed to determine additional rates and use patterns for improved crop safety, as well as an evaluation of soil types and spinach varieties. Nomenclature: Cycloate, dimethenamid-p, EPTC, ethofumesate, s-metolachlor, London rocket, Sisymbrium irio L. SSYIR, spinach, Spinacia oleracea L., ‘DMC 66-09’, ‘Baker’
Non-technical summary Exercise improves the ability of skeletal muscle to metabolise fats and sugars. For these improvements to occur the muscle detects a signal caused by exercise, resulting in ...changes in genes and proteins that control metabolism. We show that endurance exercise increases the amount of a protein called striated muscle activator of Rho signalling (STARS) as well as several other proteins influenced by STARS. We also show that the amount of STARS can be increased by signals directed from proteins called peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma co-activator 1-alpha (PGC-1alpha) and oestrogen-related receptor-alpha (ERRalpha). We also observed that when we reduce the amount of STARS in muscle cells, we block the ability of PGC-1alpha/ERRalpha to increase a gene called carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1beta (CPT-1beta), which is important for fat metabolism. Our study has shown that the STARS pathway is regulated by endurance exercise. STARS may also play a role in fat metabolism in muscle. Abstract The striated muscle activator of Rho signalling (STARS) is an actin-binding protein specifically expressed in cardiac, skeletal and smooth muscle. STARS has been suggested to provide an important link between the transduction of external stress signals to intracellular signalling pathways controlling genes involved in the maintenance of muscle function. The aims of this study were firstly, to establish if STARS, as well as members of its downstream signalling pathway, are upregulated following acute endurance cycling exercise; and secondly, to determine if STARS is a transcriptional target of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma co-activator 1-alpha (PGC-1alpha) and oestrogen-related receptor-alpha (ERRalpha). When measured 3 h post-exercise, STARS mRNA and protein levels as well as MRTF-A and serum response factor (SRF) nuclear protein content, were significantly increased by 140, 40, 40 and 40%, respectively. Known SRF target genes, carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1beta (CPT-1beta) and jun B proto-oncogene (JUNB), as well as the exercise-responsive genes PGC-1alpha mRNA and ERRalpha were increased by 2.3-, 1.8-, 4.5- and 2.7-fold, 3 h post-exercise. Infection of C2C12 myotubes with an adenovirus-expressing human PGC-1alpha resulted in a 3-fold increase in Stars mRNA, a response that was abolished following the suppression of endogenous ERRalpha. Over-expression of PGC-1alpha also increased Cpt-1beta, Cox4 and Vegf mRNA by 6.2-, 2.0- and 2.0-fold, respectively. Suppression of endogenous STARS reduced basal Cpt-1beta levels by 8.2-fold and inhibited the PGC-1alpha-induced increase in Cpt-1beta mRNA. Our results show for the first time that the STARS signalling pathway is upregulated in response to acute endurance exercise. Additionally, we show in C2C12 myotubes that the STARS gene is a PGC-1alpha/ERRalpha transcriptional target. Furthermore, our results suggest a novel role of STARS in the co-ordination of PGC-1alpha-induced upregulation of the fat oxidative gene, CPT-1beta.
To gain insight into the process of mitochondrial transmission in yeast, we directly labeled mitochondrial proteins and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and observed their fate after the fusion of two ...cells. To this end, mitochondrial proteins in haploid cells of opposite mating type were labeled with different fluorescent dyes and observed by fluorescence microscopy after mating of the cells. Parental mitochondrial protein markers rapidly redistributed and colocalized throughout zygotes, indicating that during mating, parental mitochondria fuse and their protein contents intermix, consistent with results previously obtained with a single parentally derived protein marker. Analysis of the three-dimensional structure and dynamics of mitochondria in living cells with wide-field fluorescence microscopy indicated that mitochondria form a single dynamic network, whose continuity is maintained by a balanced frequency of fission and fusion events. Thus, the complete mixing of mitochondrial proteins can be explained by the formation of one continuous mitochondrial compartment after mating. In marked contrast to the mixing of parental mitochondrial proteins after fusion, mtDNA (labeled with the thymidine analogue 5-bromodeoxyuridine) remained distinctly localized to one half of the zygotic cell. This observation provides a direct explanation for the genetically observed nonrandom patterns of mtDNA transmission. We propose that anchoring of mtDNA within the organelle is linked to an active segregation mechanism that ensures accurate inheritance of mtDNA along with the organelle.
This policy statement describes the key issues related to diversity within the pediatrician and health care workforce to identify barriers to enhancing diversity and offer policy recommendations to ...overcome these barriers in the future. The statement addresses topics such as health disparities, affirmative action, recent policy developments and reports on workforce diversity, and research on patient and provider diversity. It also broadens the discussion of diversity beyond the traditional realms of race and ethnicity to include cultural attributes that may have an effect on the quality of health care. Although workforce diversity is related to the provision of culturally effective pediatric care, it is a discrete issue that merits separate discussion and policy formulation. At the heart of this policy-driven action are multiorganizational and multispecialty collaborations designed to address substantive educational, financial, organizational, and other barriers to improved workforce diversity.
In the current study, immune responses induced by Gag DNA vaccines with different designs were evaluated in Balb/C mice. The results demonstrated that the DNA vaccine with the full length wild type ...gag gene (Wt-Gag) mainly produced Gag antigens intracellularly and induced a higher level of cell-mediated immune (CMI) responses, as measured by IFN-gamma ELISPOT, intracellular cytokine staining (ICS), and cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) assays against a dominant CD8
+
T cell epitope (AMQMLKETI). In contrast, the addition of a tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) leader sequence significantly improved overall Gag protein expression/secretion and Gag-specific antibody responses; however, Gag-specific CMI responses were decreased. The mutation of zinc-finger motif changed Gag protein expression patterns and reduced the ability to generate both CMI and antibody responses against Gag. These findings indicate that the structure and post-translational processing of antigens expressed by DNA vaccines play a critical role in eliciting optimal antibody or CMI responses.
The effective and efficient delivery of children's health care depends on the pediatrician workforce. The number, composition, and distribution of pediatricians necessary to deliver this care have ...been the subject of long-standing policy and professional debate. This technical report reviews current characteristics and recent trends in the pediatric workforce and couples the workforce to a conceptual model of improvement in children's health and well-being. Important recent changes in the workforce include (1) the growth in the number of pediatricians in relation to the child population, (2) increased numbers of female pediatricians and their attainment of majority gender status in the specialty, (3) the persistence of a large number of international medical graduates entering training programs, (4) a lack of ethnic and racial diversity in pediatricians compared with children, and (5) the persistence of marked regional variation in pediatrician supply. Supply models projecting the pediatric workforce are reviewed and generally indicate that the number of pediatricians per child will increase by 50% over the next 20 years. The differing methods of assessing workforce requirements are presented and critiqued. The report finds that the pediatric workforce is undergoing fundamental changes that will have important effects on the professional lives of pediatricians and children's health care delivery.
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