Selecting hybrid pine clones for deployment - The pointy end of wood quality improvement

A clonal forestry research programme on Pinus elliottii Engelm. (slash pine) x P. caribaea Morelet var. hondurensis Barrett & Golfari (Caribbean pine) hybrids commenced in Queensland in 1986. Each cycle of clonal tests covered about 5 calendar years from field planting, and studies of wood quality variation have so far been used in selecting superior clones from the first three series of tests for commercial plantation deployment. Experience from the Series III clonal selection round is used to highlight the difficulties of ranking elite clones given a large number of growth, form, and wood property traits. Three to six ramets were felled from the best 32 clones in the Series III trials at age 6.8 years and a 3-m butt log from each was sawn into 70 × 35-mm structural boards. The clones sawn were ranked for routine deployment using data on growth, form, and wood traits. All recovered boards were assessed for distortion and tested for modulus of elasticity and modulus of rupture. Various non-destructive wood evaluation methods were used to estimate modulus of elasticity (wood stiffness) in these trees. Standing tree acoustic velocity assessed with an ST300 tool was slightly less strongly correlated phenotypically with the average modulus of elasticity of the recovered boards (r = 0.88**) than with predictions of modulus of elasticity from resonance vibration test samples and SilviScan estimates (both r = 0.89**). Moderate phenotypic relationships were found for individual tree means between average twist of the sawn boards and the average spiral grain angle of growth rings 2, 3, and 4 (r = 0.70**) assessed using a breast-height 12-mm increment core, and between average bow in the boards and average microfibril angle (r = 0.64**) from SilviScan assessments of core samples

Flooding and Fire Ants

2 ppFire ants can be a serious problem during and after a flood. This publication explains how to protect yourself when you must return to flooded structures or deal with storm debris

Itchgrass (Rottboellia Exaltata) Response to Herbicides and Cultivation, and Subsequent Effect on Soybean (Glycine Max) Yield (Louisiana).

Research was conducted during the growing seasons of 1981 and 1982 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to evaluate the response of itchgrass and soybean yield to weed control practices used in conventional soybean culture. Trifluralin ((alpha),(alpha),(alpha)-triflouro-2,6-dinitro-N,N = -dipropyl-p-toluidine) (preplant incorporated) at 1.8 kg/ha, alachlor {2-chloro-2\u27,6\u27-diethyl-N-(methoxymethyl)acetanilide} (preemergence) at 2.4 kg/ha, or no soil applied herbicide, followed by zero, one or two overtop applications of diclofop as the methyl ester at 1.2 kg/ha {2-{4-(2,4-dichlorophenoxy)phenoxy}propanoic acid} were applied in cultivated and noncultivated areas to determine effects on seedling emergence, density, height, standing biomass and seed production of itchgrass {Rottboellia exaltata (L.) L.f.} at soybean {Glycine max (L.) Merr. \u27Forrest\u27} maturity. Although cultivation stimulated the emergence of itchgrass seedlings, its repetitive use resulted in a reduction of late emerging seedlings. Cultivation had no effect on the density, height, standing biomass or seed production of single plants in the soybean row but increased soybean yield compared to no cultivation. The average weight, number of tillers and branches, and seed production of single itchgrass plants were greater in the trifluralin treatments when compared to the no soil applied or postemergence herbicide application treatment. Trifluralin only, trifluralin plus one diclofop application and all treatments with two applications of diclofop resulted in good to excellent control with or without cultivation. Soybean yield was inversely proportional to itchgrass density and standing biomass. Soybean yield and net income were increased after trifluralin or trifluralin plus one application of diclofop versus no soil or postemergence herbicide application. A second application of diclofop did not result in further increases in the trifluralin treatments. One or two applications of diclofop after treatments of alachlor or no soil applied herbicide increased yields, but net income attributable to weed control did not increase as a result of a second application of diclofop

In vivo, intrinsic kinematics of the foot and ankle

ISSN:1757-114

Evolution of substrate specificity in a recipient's enzyme following horizontal gene transfer

Despite the prominent role of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in shaping bacterial metabolism, little is known about the impact of HGT on the evolution of enzyme function. Specifically, what is the influence of a recently acquired gene on the function of an existing gene? For example, certain members of the genus Corynebacterium have horizontally acquired a whole L-tryptophan biosynthetic operon, whereas in certain closely related actinobacteria, for example, Mycobacterium, the trpF gene is missing. In Mycobacterium, the function of the trpF gene is performed by a dual-substrate (βα)8 phosphoribosyl isomerase (priA gene) also involved in L-histidine (hisA gene) biosynthesis. We investigated the effect of a HGT-acquired TrpF enzyme upon PriA’s substrate specificity in Corynebacterium through comparative genomics and phylogenetic reconstructions. After comprehensive in vivo and enzyme kinetic analyses of selected PriA homologs, a novel (βα)8 isomerase subfamily with a specialized function in L-histidine biosynthesis, termed subHisA, was confirmed. X-ray crystallography was used to reveal active-site mutations in subHisA important for narrowing of substrate specificity, which when mutated to the naturally occurring amino acid in PriA led to gain of function. Moreover, in silico molecular dynamic analyses demonstrated that the narrowing of substrate specificity of subHisA is concomitant with loss of ancestral protein conformational states. Our results show the importance of HGT in shaping enzyme evolution and metabolism

Evaluating modeling tools for the EDOS

The Earth Observing System (EOS) Data and Operations System (EDOS) Project is developing a functional, system performance model to support the system implementation phase of the EDOS which is being designed and built by the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). The EDOS Project will use modeling to meet two key objectives: (1) manage system design impacts introduced by unplanned changed in mission requirements; and (2) evaluate evolutionary technology insertions throughout the development of the EDOS. To select a suitable modeling tool, the EDOS modeling team developed an approach for evaluating modeling tools and languages by deriving evaluation criteria from both the EDOS modeling requirements and the development plan. Essential and optional features for an appropriate modeling tool were identified and compared with known capabilities of several modeling tools. Vendors were also provided the opportunity to model a representative EDOS processing function to demonstrate the applicability of their modeling tool to the EDOS modeling requirements. This paper emphasizes the importance of using a well defined approach for evaluating tools to model complex systems like the EDOS. The results of this evaluation study do not in any way signify the superiority of any one modeling tool since the results will vary with the specific modeling requirements of each project

Motion of the rearfoot, ankle and subtalar joints and ankle moments when wearing lateral wedge insoles – results from bone anchored markers

ISSN:1757-114

Fire Ant Control: The Two-Step Method and Other Approaches

8 pp., 8 color photosThere may not be one "best way to control fire ants, but this publication can help you find the most cost-effective and environmentally sound method for each situation. It includes information on fire ant identification, control products, and several control approaches: the two-step method, long-residual contact insecticide treatment, and individual mound treatment

USC South Campus: A Last Look at Modernism

This is a class project from ARTH 542: American Architecture taught at the University of South Carolina by Lydia Mattice Brandt in Spring 2016. With more Americans attending college than ever before; urban renewal; racial integration; the expansion of coeducation; and the architecture community’s advocacy for holistic relationship between planning, architecture, and landscape architecture, the American college campus developed rapidly and dramatically in the mid twentieth century. Using the University of South Carolina’s Columbia Campus as a case study, this project explores the history of American architecture in the mid-twentieth century

C3 glomerulopathy: consensus report

C3 glomerulopathy is a recently introduced pathological entity whose original definition was glomerular pathology characterized by C3 accumulation with absent or scanty immunoglobulin deposition. In August 2012, an invited group of experts (comprising the authors of this document) in renal pathology, nephrology, complement biology, and complement therapeutics met to discuss C3 glomerulopathy in the first C3 Glomerulopathy Meeting. The objectives were to reach a consensus on: the definition of C3 glomerulopathy, appropriate complement investigations that should be performed in these patients, and how complement therapeutics should be explored in the condition. This meeting report represents the current consensus view of the group.Kidney International advance online publication, 30 October 2013; doi:10.1038/ki.2013.377