Green Flag Research Articles

Effect of WBGT Index Measurement Location on Heat Stress Category Classification.

The location of the wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) index measurement may affect heat stress flag category classification. This study aimed to compare WBGT measurements at three locations along the Boston Marathon race course and compare WBGT estimates for meteorological stations and 72-h advanced WBGT forecasts. WBGT was measured hourly from 1000 to 1400 h at approximately 7 km, approximately 18 km, and approximately 30 km on the Boston Marathon race course. Simultaneous WBGT estimates were made for two meteorological stations southeast of the course via a commercial online system, which also provided 72-h advanced forecasts. The measurement difference (mean ± SD) among course locations was 0.2°C ± 1.8°C WBGT (ANOVA, P > 0.05). The difference between course and stations was 1.9°C ± 2.4°C WBGT (t-test, P < 0.05). Station values underestimated (n = 98) or overestimated (n = 13) course values by >3°C WBGT (>0.5 flag category) in 111 of 245 paired comparisons (45%). Higher black globe and lower wet bulb temperatures explained over- and underestimates, respectively. Significant underestimates of WBGT resulted in misclassification of green (labeled white) and black (labeled red) course flag categories (χ2, P < 0.05). Forecast data significantly underestimated red (labeled amber) and black (labeled red) course flag categories. Differences in WBGT index along 23 km of the Boston Marathon race route can be small enough to warrant single measurements. However, significant misclassification of flag categories occurred using WBGT estimates for meteorological stations; thus, local measurements are preferred. If the relation between station WBGT forecasts and the race sites can be established, the forecast WBGT values could be corrected to give advanced warning of approximate flag conditions. Similar work is proposed for other venues to improve heat stress monitoring.

Start Your Engines.

Start Your Engines.

Evidence that the LRRK2 ROC domain Parkinson's disease‐associated mutants A1442P and R1441C exhibit increased intracellular degradation

Mutations in the leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (lrrk2) gene are the leading genetic cause of Parkinson's disease (PD). In characterizing the novel ROC domain mutant A1442P, we compared its steady-state protein levels, propensity to aggregate, and toxicity with the pathogenic R1441C mutant and wild-type (WT) LRRK2. Mutant (R1441C and A1442P) and WT LRRK2 fused to green fluorescent protein (GFP) and FLAG were transiently expressed in HEK293 cells using plasmid constructs. Western analysis and fluorescence microscopy consistently demonstrated lower mutant LRRK2 protein levels compared with WT. A time-course expression study using flow cytometry showed that WT LRRK2 expression increased initially but then plateaued by 72 hr. Conversely, R1441C and A1442P mutant expression attained 85% and 74% of WT levels at 24 hr but fell to 68% and 55% of WT levels by 72 hr, respectively. We found that proteasome inhibition markedly increased mutant LRRK2 to levels approaching those of WT. Taken together, our findings reveal increased intracellular degradation for both mutants. Furthermore, the impact of mutant and WT LRRK2 expression on HEK293 cell viability was assessed under normative and oxidative (hydrogen peroxide) conditions and found not to differ. Expression of WT and mutant LRRK2 protein gave rise to intracellular aggregates of similar appearance and cellular localization. In summary, we provide evidence that the novel A1442P mutant and the previously investigated R1441C pathogenic mutant exhibit increased intracellular degradation, a property reportedly demonstrated for the pathogenic LRRK2 kinase domain mutant I2020T.

Variation in Early Growth, Canopy Temperature, Translocation and Yield of Durum Wheat (triticum turgidum l. Var. Durum) Under Semi Arid Conditions

The investigation was carried on the experimental site of the Field Crop Institute Agricultural Farm located near the town of Sétif (Algeria). The objective was to investigate the differences in developmental rate, heat status and yield between four durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. var.durum) genotypes. The experiment was laid down in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Data were collected on canopy temperature, relative growth rate, green flag leaf area duration, assimilates translocation and grain yield. The results indicated that Waha and Boussalam, due to their fast early growth rate, accumulated significantly more above ground biomass at the juvenile, reproductive and grain filling growth phases. They achieved high dry weight of spikes m-2 at heading and at physiological maturity. Grain yield varied from 194.8 g/m2 in MBB to 286.7 g/m2 in Waha. The genotypes diverged also for the amount of assimilates transferred to the grain which varied from26.6 to 39.5% of the final grain yield. Theses results indicated that selection of faster early growing, short cycle genotypes, bearing smaller leaves should be favoured for the high plateaus of eastern Algeria.

Development of a dendritic cell vaccine encoding multiple cytotoxic T lymphocyte epitopes targeting hepatitis C virus

The aim of the present study was to develop a dendritic cell (DC) vaccine encoding hepatitis C virus (HCV) multiple cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes that can stimulate T cell responses in vitro, and can be used for immunization in vivo. DCs were infected with recombinant replication-defective adenoviruses (Ads) expressing 2 HCV sequences fused with green fluorescent protein (GFP) and FLAG tags. One sequence (sequence 1) contained the HCV CTL epitopes, NS4B 1793-1801 and P7 774-782, as well as the HCV Th epitope, NS3 1248-1261. A second sequence (sequence 2) was the positive epitope control which contained HCV core 35-44, core 132-140 and NS3 1248-1261. The efficiency of infection was detected by flow cytometry and the expression of HCV epitopes in the DCs was confirmed by RT-PCR and western blot analysis. Ad infection significantly enhanced DC maturation and interleukin (IL)-12p70 production, resulting in T cell proliferation and increased interferon-γ secretion. The CTLs stimulated by Ad-infected DCs specifically killed Huh7.5 human hepatoma cells. The recombinant Ad-expressing multiple CTL HCV epitopes effectively infected the DCs in vitro and promoted T cell antiviral immune responses, thereby laying the foundation for the development of anti-HCV DC vaccines.

Ability of beach users to identify rip currents at Pensacola Beach, Florida

Quasi-permanent rip current hot spots at Pensacola Beach, Florida, pose a significant hazard to beach users, largely because the hot spots are located at or close to the primary access points. While an increase in the number of lifeguards has led to a decrease in the number of drownings since 2004, the number of rescues and contacts has increased to over a 30,000 year. Despite warning signs at access points along the beach, it is not clear whether beach users are able to identify a rip channel or an active rip current. To assess beach users’ knowledge of rip currents and their ability to identify rip channels and currents, 97 surveys were conducted between June and September of 2010 at Pensacola Beach. Beach users were asked to identify rip channels in oblique photographs taken on green, yellow and red flag days when the potential for rip currents is low, medium and high, respectively. A majority of participants suggested that they could identify a rip channel or current (if present), but less than 20 % of beach users were able to identify the rip channels and currents. The majority of participants identified heavy surf areas as the location of the rips versus the relatively flat water of the current or the darker color water of the channel. Results further suggest that most beach users, and particularly local participants, are overconfident in their ability to identify rip channels and currents. The focus of beach users on heavy surf as an indication of the rip current potential and the overconfidence in identifying a rip channel or current affects the spatial distribution of beach users and to some degree the location of rescues and drownings. While it can be quite difficult for the average beach user to identify rip channels and active rip currents, the results of the study suggest a need for further education efforts to reduce the rip hazard, particularly in areas where lifeguards are not permanently stationed.

Changes in the value of ecosystem services along a rural–urban gradient: A case study of Greater Manchester, UK

The degradation and loss of vital ecosystem functions and services have been an uncontested result of urbanisation. An understanding of how ecosystem services are provided along rural–urban gradients is crucial in the task of conserving and enhancing vital services in urban environments, increasing the quality of life of urban dwellers, and working towards a sustainable future. Focusing on nine ecosystem services – aesthetic, spiritual, recreation, water flow regulation, carbon sequestration, climate change adaptation, pollination, biodiversity potential, and noise attenuation – regarded as important to urban areas the authors detail the changes in the values of these services along a gradient comprising four categories of urbanisation: urban, suburban, peri-urban and rural, in Greater Manchester, UK. The data on which the discussion is based are derived from an interdisciplinary assessment tool, developed from a selection of previously used assessment methods including the Residential Environment Assessment Tool and the Green Flag Award. Based on a mixture of a field and desktop study, the new tool assigns non-economic values of 0–10 to the selected services, allowing for evaluation of quality between, as well as within, each category of ecosystem service. Trends in the results are discussed, as are drivers for the changes in values along the rural–urban gradient. It is foreseen that this new body of knowledge will allow both practitioners and academics to gain further insight into the provision of ecosystem services along a rural–urban gradient to allow them to tackle the problems associated with them and to optimise open space planning.

NASCAR vs. Football: Which Sport Is More Important to the South?

NASCAR vs. Football: Which Sport Is More Important to the South?

So you’re a Green Flag school – what next?

Elizabeth Aitken looks at what you can do to build on your pupils’ enthusiasm for environmental learning once you have reached the highest level of eco-school.

A GLASS HALF-FULL: BRIAN SKYRMS'SSIGNALS

Brian Skyrms'sSignalshas the virtues familiar from hisEvolution of the Social Contract(1996) andThe Stag Hunt(2003). He begins with a very simple model of agents in interaction, and in a series of brief and beautifully clear chapters, this model and its successors are explored, elaborated, connected and illustrated through biological theory and the social sciences.Signalsborrows its core model from David Lewis: it is Lewis's signalling game. In this game, two agents interact. One agent can observe which of two equi-probable states the world is in, but that agent cannot act directly and profitably on that information. However, the informed agent can act in a way that will be perceptually salient to a second agent: say, by raising a red or a green flag. The second agent does have the capacity to respond appropriately to each state of the world. If that second agent chooses the right option, given the state of the world, both are rewarded. If the second agent fails to choose the right action, neither are. Obviously, the two agents are best off if they have a practice in which the informed agent regularly chooses a distinct, salient cue in response to each of the two world states, and in which the powerful agent uses that cue to select the rewarding act. Less obviously, agents with simple trial and error learning capacities can learn to signal and respond: neither explicit negotiation nor cognitive sophistication are required. Likewise, if individual agents do not have the capacity to learn, but if they breed true but with some variation, the evolutionary version of trial and error learning can take a population to one of the signalling system equilibria.

Relationships between disease control, green leaf duration, grain quality and the production of alcohol from winter wheat

Since demand for distilling wheat is expected to increase rapidly as a result of the development of the bioethanol industry, efficient production will become of increasing importance. Achieving this will require an understanding of the agronomic factors that influence both grain yield and alcohol yield. Therefore five field experiments using the winter distilling wheat variety Glasgow were conducted over three seasons (2006-2007, 2007-2008 and 2008-2009) to study the relationships between foliar disease and alcohol yield. There was a significant relationship between alcohol yield and the severity of the disease septoria leaf blotch (Septoria tritici), which was present in the experiments from natural infection. Retention of green flag leaf area as affected by disease control following fungicide application was also shown to be important for achieving high alcohol yields. Measurements of grain quality showed that high thousand-grain weight and low grain protein concentration were significantly related to increased alcohol yield. The experiments showed the importance of disease management to protect alcohol yields in the distilling wheat crop. Fungicides that provide greater disease control and improved green leaf retention are likely to be beneficial to alcohol yield.

Exploring phonological encoding through repeated segments

Five experiments explored the influence of repeated phonemes on the production of short utterances. In Experiment 1 coloured object naming showed faster latencies when colour and object started with the same phoneme (‘green goat’) than when they did not; the opposite was found when colour and object were named on consecutive trials (‘green’ – ‘goat’). Experiments 2 and 3 focused on adjective-noun phrases and showed no effect of repeated phonemes on either acoustical duration of speeded responses, or latencies in a delayed variant of the task, suggesting a higher-level – rather than articulatory – locus of the effect. Experiments 4 and 5 demonstrated that the facilitation induced by repeated segments is not specific to word onset (‘green chain’) and is independent of whether or not the repeated phonemes occupy the same within-word position (‘green flag’). These results indicate that in the production of multiple words, word forms are concurrently activated and evoke phonological segments represented in a position-nonspecific manner.

Photosynthesis and yield responses of ozone-polluted winter wheat to drought

Winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. Jingdong 8) was exposed to short-term high ozone treatment after anthesis and then was either well irrigated with soil water content (SWC) of 80–85 % (O3+W) or drought treated (SWC 35–40 %, O3+D). Short-term ozone exposure significantly decreased irradiance-saturated net photosynthetic rate (P N) of winter wheat. Under good SWC, P N of the O3-treated plant was similar to that of control on 2 d after O3-exposure (6 DAA), but decreased significantly after 13 DAA, indicating that O3 exposure accelerated leaf senescence. Meanwhile, green flag leaf area was reduced faster than that of control. As a result, grain yield of O3+W was significantly decreased. P N of O3+D was further notably decreased and green flag leaf area was reduced more than that in O3+W. Consequently, substantial yield loss of O3+D was observed compared to that of O3+W. Although P N was significantly positively correlated with stomatal conductance, it also had notable positive correlation with the maximum photochemical efficiency in the dark adapted leaves (Fv/Fm), electron transport rate (ETR), photochemical quenching (qP), as well as content of chlorophyll, suggesting that the depression of P N was mainly caused by non-stomatal limitation. Hence optimal soil water condition should be considered in order to reduce the yield loss caused by O3 pollution.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence

Triage and case presentations in a chiropractic pediatric clinic

Objective The use of triage in a chiropractic practice is to determine whether or not a patient who has presented to an office is in need of a referral to another health care provider. The objective of this article is to illustrate the use of triage skills in a primary care, chiropractic pediatric practice. This is examined both in the new patient setting and during visit-to-visit protocol. Method An analysis of the number of chiropractic triage visits during a 1-year period was performed on 48 new children or pregnant women and 1634 existing pediatric and pregnancy visits. Results The average level of chiropractic triage for a new patient, whether pediatric or pregnant, was a limited level of concern (P3, green flag), with more than 85% of new patients falling into that category. Fifteen percent were at a cautionary (P2, yellow flag) level, and none were at the emergency (P1, red flag) level. Between 12% and 15% of the total of existing pediatric or pregnancy visits were at a P1 or P2 level of triage, and 11% of the total of pediatric triage visits were at the P1 level. Conclusion New patients rarely come to a chiropractic pediatric office in a P1-level crisis, whereas existing patients have a much higher likelihood of presenting during a P1 challenge. P2 triage levels are somewhat common, whereas P3 triage levels are the most frequent. Triage methods are a way to help place a patient in a category that can ensure an optimum, safe, and effective level of care.

Murine Gammaherpesvirus 68 ORF52 Encodes a Tegument Protein Required for Virion Morphogenesis in the Cytoplasm

The tegument, a semiordered matrix of proteins overlying the nucleocapsid and underlying the virion envelope, in viruses in the gamma subfamily of Herpesviridae is poorly understood. Murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (MHV-68) is a robust model for studying gammaherpesvirus virion structure, assembly, and composition, as MHV-68 efficiently completes the lytic phase and productively infects cultured cells. We have found that MHV-68 ORF52 encodes an abundant tegument protein conserved among gammaherpesviruses. Detergent sensitivity experiments revealed that the MHV-68 ORF52 protein is more tightly bound to the virion nucleocapsid than the ORF45 tegument protein but could be dissociated from particles that retained the ORF65 small capsomer protein. ORF52, tagged with enhanced green fluorescent protein or FLAG epitope, localized to the cytoplasm. A recombinant MHV-68 bacterial artificial chromosome mutant with a nonsense mutation incorporated into ORF52 exhibited viral DNA replication, expression of late lytic genes, and capsid assembly and packaging at levels near those of the wild type. However, the MHV-68 ORF52-null virus was deficient in the assembly and release of infectious virion particles. Instead, partially tegumented capsids produced by the ORF52-null mutant accumulated in the cytoplasm, containing conserved capsid proteins, the ORF64 and ORF67 tegument proteins, but virtually no ORF45 tegument protein. Thus, ORF52 is essential for the tegumentation and egress of infectious MHV-68 particles in the cytoplasm, suggesting an important conserved function in gammaherpesvirus virion morphogenesis.

Relationship of Flag Leaf Characteristics to Economically Important Traits in Two Spring Wheat Crosses

ABSTRACTSelection in unreplicated head rows for traits that affect yield potential is an objective for many wheat (Triticum aestivum L. ) breeding programs. Flag leaf characteristics provide a potential target for selection. In this experiment, we determined flag leaf and yield characteristics for recombinant inbred lines (RIL) from two crosses, McNeal/Thatcher and McNeal/Reeder. McNeal is intermediate between Thatcher and Reeder for green flag leaf duration after heading. Flag leaf characteristics had heritability greater than 0.70 for all traits. Heading date was positively associated with yield for one cross in dryland and irrigated environments but tended to be negatively associated with grain volume, kernel weight, and kernel protein in both crosses. The duration of green leaves after heading was positively correlated with yield, grain volume, and kernel weight in both sets of environments in the McNeal/Thatcher RIL. This trait was positively correlated with grain volume, kernel weight, and grain protein in dryland environments in the McNeal/Reeder RIL. Our results suggest that selection against late heading and for a long duration of green flag leaves after heading should result in gains in yield potential, grain volume, and kernel weight for spring wheat.

SAT: a Late NS Protein of Porcine Parvovirus

The genomes of all members of the Parvovirus genus were found to contain a small open reading frame (ORF), designated SAT, with a start codon four or seven nucleotides downstream of the VP2 initiation codon. Green fluorescent protein or FLAG fusion constructs of SAT demonstrated that these ORFs were expressed. Although the SAT proteins of the different parvoviruses are not particularly conserved, they were all predicted to contain a membrane-spanning helix, and mutations in this hydrophobic stretch affected the localization of the SAT protein. SAT colocalized with calreticulin in the membranes of the endoplasmic reticulum and the nucleus. A knockout mutant (SAT(-)), with an unmodified VP sequence, showed a "slow-spreading" phenotype. These knockout mutants could be complemented with VP2(-) SAT(+) mutant. The SAT protein is a late nonstructural (NS) protein, in contrast to previously identified NS proteins, since it is expressed from the same mRNA as VP2.

Delaying senescence of wheat with fungicides has interacting effects with cultivar on grain sulphur concentration but not with sulphur yield or nitrogen:sulphur ratios

Winter wheat was grown in three field experiments, each repeated over two or three seasons, to investigate effects of extending flag leaf life by fungicide application on the concentration, kg ha −1 and mg grain −1 of nitrogen (N) and sulphur (S) as well as N:S ratio and sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) sedimentation volume. The experiments involved up to six cultivars and different application rates, timings and frequencies of azoxystrobin and epoxiconazole. For every day the duration to 37% green flag leaf area ( m) was extended, N yield was increased by 2.58 kg ha −1, N per grain by 0.00957 mg, S yield by 0.186 kg ha −1 and S per grain by 0.000718 mg. The N:S ratio decreased by 0.0135 per day. There was no evidence that these responses varied with cultivar. In contrast, the relationship between flag leaf life and N or S concentration interacted with cultivar. The N and S concentrations of Shamrock, the cultivar that suffered most from brown rust ( Puccinia recondita), increased with the extension of flag leaf life whereas the concentrations of N and S in Malacca, a cultivar more susceptible to Septoria tritici, decreased as flag leaf senescence was delayed. This was because the relationships between m and N and S yields were much better conserved over cultivars than those between m and thousand grain weight (TGW) and grain yield ha −1.

A temporal limit to the association between flag leaf life extension by fungicides and wheat yields

Three field experiments, each repeated over two or three seasons, on winter wheat investigated a possible limit to the association between grain yield and flag leaf life, as extended by fungicide application. The experiments involved up to six cultivars and different application rates, timings and frequencies of the strobilurin azoxystrobin and the triazole epoxiconazole. In the 2000/01 and 2001/02 seasons, the relationships between the thermal time to 37% green flag leaf area ( m) and yield deviated from linearity. ‘Broken stick’ models were fitted to cultivar × experiment combinations within each season and the limit to the benefit to yield associated with extending flag leaf life was 700 °C days (S.E. = 20.7) and 725 °C days (S.E. = 9.33) after anthesis in 2000/01 and 2001/02, respectively. In 2002/03, the relationship between yield and m did not deviate significantly ( P > 0.05) from linearity, but in this latter year the fungicide application failed to increase m past 700 °C days.