Carbon dioxide fluxes from Tifway bermudagrass: early results.

This paper reports for the first time preliminary data on carbon uptake of warm-season turfgrass at a well-managed sod farm in south central Georgia. It examines the changes in carbon uptake from one of the most widely used warm-season turfgrass cultivars in the world, Tifway Bermudagrass. It elucidates the role of canopy density and light avalaibility on the net carbon uptake using the eddy-covariance technique.  Preliminary evidence suggests that turfgrass is effective  at sequestering carbon dioxide during the summer months even when the canopy is being reestablished following a grass harvest.

Breast cancer in systemic lupus.

Objective There is a decreased breast cancer risk in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) versus the general population. We assessed a large sample of SLE patients, evaluating demographic and clinical characteristics and breast cancer risk. Methods We performed case-cohort analyses within a multi-center international SLE sample. We calculated the breast cancer hazard ratio (HR) in female SLE patients, relative to demographics, reproductive history, family history of breast cancer, and time-dependent measures of anti-dsDNA positivity, cumulative disease activity, and drugs, adjusted for SLE duration. Results There were 86 SLE breast cancers and 4498 female SLE cancer-free controls. Patients were followed on average for 7.6 years. Versus controls, SLE breast cancer cases tended to be white and older. Breast cancer cases were similar to controls regarding anti-dsDNA positivity, disease activity, and most drug exposures over time. In univariate and multivariate models, the principal factor associated with breast cancers was older age at cohort entry. Conclusions There was little evidence that breast cancer risk in this SLE sample was strongly driven by any of the clinical factors that we studied. Further search for factors that determine the lower risk of breast cancer in SLE may be warranted.

Impact of Japanese beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) feeding on seashore paspalum.

Ten cultivars of seashore paspalum, Paspalum vaginatum Swartz, were compared for their response to Japanese beetle, Popillia japonica Newman, larval root feeding. Cultivars of Bermuda grass, Cynodon sp., and zoysiagrass, Zoysia sp., also were included for comparison. Turf grown in pots in the greenhouse was infested with second and third instars in this 2-yr study. Grub survival and weight gain, foliar growth, and root loss were compared among turfgrass species and cultivars. Few species-related differences were identified. Differences in grub tolerance were, however, observed to be a function of turfgrass cultivar. Some turf types demonstrating tolerance to grub feeding had rapid root growth and high root mass in control pots, but this was not consistent for all cultivars showing enhanced ability to maintain foliar growth despite grub feeding. The paspalum cultivars that seemed most tolerant of grub feeding were '561-79', 'Sea Isle 2000', 'Durban', 'HI-10', 'Kim-1', 'Sea Dwarf', and 'Sea Spray'.

A pulsatile pressure waveform is a sensitive marker for confirming the location of the thoracic epidural space.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to assess the validity of using a pulsatile, pressure waveform transduced from the epidural space through an epidural needle or catheter to confirm correct placement for maximal analgesia and to compare 3 different types of catheters' ability to transduce a waveform. DESIGN: A single-center, prospective, randomized trial. SETTING: A tertiary-referral hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Eighty-one patients undergoing posterolateral thoracotomy who required a thoracic epidural catheter for postoperative pain management. INTERVENTIONS: Each epidural needle and each epidural catheter was transduced to determine if there was a pulsatile waveform exhibited. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Sensitivity of the pulsatile waveform transduced through an epidural needle to identify correct placement of the epidural needle and the sensitivity of each catheter type to identify placement were compared. In 79 of 81 cases (97.5%), the waveform transduced directly through the epidural needle had a pulsatile characteristic as determined by blinded observers. In a total of 53 of 81 epidural catheters (65.4%), the transduced waveform displayed pulsations. Twenty-four of 27 catheters in group S-P/Sims Portex (Smiths Medical MD, Inc, St Paul, MN) (88.9%) transduced a pulsatile tracing from the epidural space, a significantly greater percentage than in the other 2 groups (p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: The technique of transducing the pressure waveform from the epidural needle inserted in the epidural space is a sensitive and reliable alternative to other techniques for confirmation of correct epidural catheter placement. The technique is simple, sensitive, and inexpensive and uses equipment available in any operating room.

Insect Control and Dosage Effects in Transgenic Canola Containing a Synthetic Bacillus thuringiensis cryIAc Gene.

Zygotic hypocotyls of canola (Brassica napus L.) cv Oscar, cv Westar, and the breeding line UGA188-20B were transformed with a truncated synthetic Bacillus thuringiensis insecticidal crystal protein gene (Bt cryIAc) under the control of the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter using Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation. Fifty-seven independently transformed lines were produced, containing 1 to 12 copies of the transgenes. A range of cry expressors was produced from 0 to 0.4% Cry as a percentage of total extractable protein. The Brassica specialists, the diamondback month (Plutella xylostella L.) and the cabbage looper (Trichoplusia ni Hubner), were completely controlled by low-, medium-, and high-expressing lines. Whereas control of the generalist lepidopteran, the corn earworm (Helicoverpa zea Boddie), was nearly complete, the other generalist caterpillar tested, the beet armyworm (Spodoptera exigua Hubner), showed a dose response that had a negative association between defoliation and cry expression. These plants were produced as models for an ecological research assessment of the risk involved in the field release of naturalized transgenic plants harboring a gene (Bt) that confers higher relative fitness under herbivore-feeding pressure.

Resistance in Soybean Cultivars from Maturity Groups V-VIII to Soybean Cyst and Root-knot Nematodes.

One hundred thirty-nine cultivars of soybean (Glycine max) in Maturity Groups V, VI, VII, and VIII were evaluated in a greenhouse for resistance to Heterodera glycines races 3 and 14 and Meloidogyne incognita, M. arenaria, and M. javanica. Of the cultivars tested, 37% had resistance to H. glycines race 3 alone, 12% had resistance to both races 3 and 14, and 69% exhibited a moderate or high level of resistance to one or more of the Meloidogyne spp. However, 24% were susceptible to each race of H. glycines and to all Meloidogyne spp. Whereas 40% of the cultivars were moderately resistant to M. javanica, only 23% were moderately resistant to M. incognita and 24% to M. arenaria. Although 28% of the cultivars had a high level of resistance to M. incognita, only 6 and 3% had this level of resistance to M. javanica and M. arenaria, respectively. Seventeen percent of the cultivars possessed a moderate or high level of resistance to all three Meloidogyne spp., and 37 % had resistance to H. glycines race 3 and M. incognita. With the exception of resistance to H. glycines race 14, resistance in soybean to these nematodes was fairly uniformly distributed across maturity groups.