Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Agriculture: Pathways to Sustainable Reductions.

Agriculture serves as both a source and a sink of global greenhouse gases (GHGs), with agricultural intensification continuing to contribute to GHG emissions. Climate-smart agriculture, encompassing both nature- and technology-based actions, offers promising solutions to mitigate GHG emissions. We synthesized global data, between 1990 and 2021, from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations to analyze the impacts of agricultural activities on global GHG emissions from agricultural land, using structural equation modeling.

Global Land Use Change and Its Impact on Greenhouse Gas Emissions.

Anthropogenic activities have altered approximately two-thirds of the Earth's land surface. Urbanization, industrialization, agricultural expansion, and deforestation are increasingly impacting the terrestrial landscapes, leading to shifts of areas in artificial surface (i.e.

The LTAR Cropland Common Experiment at Platte River/High Plains Aquifer.

The Platte River/High Plains Aquifer (PR/HPA) region is characterized by cropland, pastures, and grasslands that are faced with changing climatic conditions and agricultural intensification. The PR/HPA Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) site is located in Eastern Nebraska with the goal of improving resilience, sustainability, and profitability of agroecosystems through enhancing ecosystem services and environmental quality, developing strategies for efficient agricultural production, and mitigating and adapting to climate change. To meet this goal, a common experiment and five ancillary experiments have been developed to evaluate prevailing regional practices in grain crop production systems compared to alternative practices in rainfed and irrigated systems.

The LTAR Grazing Land Common Experiment at Platte River High Plains Aquifer.

The Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) network of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) consists presently of 18 sites within the contiguous United States that are managed by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and its partners. The LTAR network focuses on developing national strategies for more efficient, resilient, and profitable agricultural production systems, improved environmental quality, and enhanced rural prosperity. The Platte River High Plains Aquifer (PRHPA) LTAR site is managed jointly by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) and USDA-ARS and is one of the LTAR sites that conduct research on both integrated cropping and grazing systems.

Stress phenotyping analysis leveraging autofluorescence image sequences with machine learning.

Background: Autofluorescence-based imaging has the potential to non-destructively characterize the biochemical and physiological properties of plants regulated by genotypes using optical properties of the tissue. A comparative study of stress tolerant and stress susceptible genotypes of with respect to newly introduced stress-based phenotypes using machine learning techniques will contribute to the significant advancement of autofluorescence-based plant phenotyping research.

Methods: Autofluorescence spectral images have been used to design a stress detection classifier with two classes, stressed and non-stressed, using machine learning algorithms.

Cover crop performance under a changing climate in continuous corn system over Nebraska.

Fall-planted cover crop (CC) within a continuous corn (Zea mays L.) system offers potential agroecosystem benefits, including mitigating the impacts of increased temperature and variability in precipitation patterns. A long-term simulation using the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer model was made to assess the effects of cereal rye (Secale cereale L.

Rapid online plant leaf area change detection with high-throughput plant image data.

High-throughput plant phenotyping (HTPP) has become an emerging technique to study plant traits due to its fast, labor-saving, accurate and non-destructive nature. It has wide applications in plant breeding and crop management. However, the resulting massive image data has raised a challenge associated with efficient plant traits prediction and anomaly detection.

Drought stress prediction and propagation using time series modeling on multimodal plant image sequences.

The paper introduces two novel algorithms for predicting and propagating drought stress in plants using image sequences captured by cameras in two modalities, i.e., visible light and hyperspectral.

EmergeNet: A novel deep-learning based ensemble segmentation model for emergence timing detection of coleoptile.

The emergence timing of a plant, i.e., the time at which the plant is first visible from the surface of the soil, is an important phenotypic event and is an indicator of the successful establishment and growth of a plant.

A non-destructive approach for measuring rice panicle-level photosynthetic responses using 3D-image reconstruction.

Background: Our understanding of the physiological responses of rice inflorescence (panicle) to environmental stresses is limited by the challenge of accurately determining panicle photosynthetic parameters and their impact on grain yield. This is primarily due to the lack of a suitable gas exchange methodology for panicles and non-destructive methods to accurately determine panicle surface area.

Results: To address these challenges, we have developed a custom panicle gas exchange cylinder compatible with the LiCor 6800 Infra-red Gas Analyzer.

Longitudinal effects of estrogen on mandibular growth and changes in cartilage during the growth period in rats.

Estrogen is a steroid hormone that induces skeletal growth and affects endochondral ossification of the long tubular bone growth plate during the growth period. However, the effects of estrogen on endochondral ossification of the mandibular condylar cartilage are unclear. In this study, ovariectomized Wistar/ST rats were used to investigate the longitudinal effects of estrogen on mandibular growth.

Characteristics of the Maxillofacial Morphology in Patients with Idiopathic Mandibular Condylar Resorption.

Idiopathic mandibular condylar resorption (ICR) is a pathological condition characterized by idiopathic resorption of the mandibular condyle, resulting in a decrease in the size and height of the mandibular condyle. The purpose of this study was to characterize the maxillofacial morphology of ICR patients. Subjects were selected from patients that attended our orthodontic clinic between 1991 and 2019.

Joint effects of climate, tree size, and year on annual tree growth derived from tree-ring records of ten globally distributed forests.

Tree rings provide an invaluable long-term record for understanding how climate and other drivers shape tree growth and forest productivity. However, conventional tree-ring analysis methods were not designed to simultaneously test effects of climate, tree size, and other drivers on individual growth. This has limited the potential to test ecologically relevant hypotheses on tree growth sensitivity to environmental drivers and their interactions with tree size.

Wild emmer introgression alters root-to-shoot growth dynamics in durum wheat in response to water stress.

Water deficit during the early vegetative growth stages of wheat (Triticum) can limit shoot growth and ultimately impact grain productivity. Introducing diversity in wheat cultivars to enhance the range of phenotypic responses to water limitations during vegetative growth can provide potential avenues for mitigating subsequent yield losses. We tested this hypothesis in an elite durum wheat background by introducing a series of introgressions from a wild emmer (Triticum turgidum ssp.

Leveraging Image Analysis to Compute 3D Plant Phenotypes Based on Voxel-Grid Plant Reconstruction.

High throughput image-based plant phenotyping facilitates the extraction of morphological and biophysical traits of a large number of plants non-invasively in a relatively short time. It facilitates the computation of advanced phenotypes by considering the plant as a single object (holistic phenotypes) or its components, i.e.

Soil properties limiting vegetation establishment along roadsides.

Roadside vegetation provides a multitude of ecosystem services, including pollutant remediation, runoff reduction, wildlife habitat, and aesthetic scenery. Establishment of permanent vegetation along paved roads after construction can be challenging, particularly within 1 m of the pavement. Adverse soil conditions could be one of the leading factors limiting roadside vegetation growth.

Baicalin inhibits root resorption during tooth movement in a rodent model.

Objective: Baicalin mediates bone metabolism and has shown protective activity against periodontal tissue damage in a rat model of periodontitis. Therefore, we hypothesized that baicalin may inhibit the root resorption that occurs during orthodontic tooth movement and examined its effect on the histological changes in periodontal tissue that occur during tooth movement.

Methods: First molars of rats were subjected to traction using excessive orthodontic force to produce a root resorption model.

Bone Regeneration in a Canine Model of Artificial Jaw Cleft Using Bone Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Carbonate Hydroxyapatite Carrier.

Objective: Cleft lip and palate (CLP) is a common anomaly of the orofacial region. Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) transplantation has been a focus of regenerative medicine, and its application to the repair of bone defects in patients with CLP is highly anticipated. This study investigated the potential for using MSCs to regenerate bone in a jaw cleft as well as the survival of transplanted MSCs using a canine model of CLP.

Leveraging Image Analysis for High-Throughput Plant Phenotyping.

The complex interaction between a genotype and its environment controls the biophysical properties of a plant, manifested in observable traits, i.e., plant's phenome, which influences resources acquisition, performance, and yield.

Baicalin Promotes Osteogenic Differentiation of Human Cementoblast Lineage Cells Via the Wnt/β Catenin Signaling Pathway.

Background: Baicalin constitutes a natural bioactive flavonoid extracted from Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi that mediates bone formation. However, the biological functions of baicalin in cementoblasts remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of baicalin on osteogenic differentiation of human cementoblast (HCEM) cells.

Effects of Human Full-length Amelogenin and C-terminal Amelogenin Peptide on the Proliferation of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells Derived from Adipose Tissue.

Amelogenins are enamel matrix proteins that play crucial roles in enamel formation. Previous studies have indicated that amelogenin and amelogenin C-terminal peptides have cell-signaling functions. Recently, adipocyte-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) have received attention as a potential source of stem cells for use in regeneration therapy.

[Rejuvenate, it's as old as the hills…].

Legends and myths regarding eternal youth exist since Antiquity. Prior to the 19th century those wishing to rejuvenate used baths or blood injections, searching to the Fountain of Youth or calling for an alchemist claiming to have found the Elixir of Youth. In the 19th century, Charles Edouard Brown Séquard (1819-1894), after the discovery of the function of the endocrinal glands and testicular secretions, inject himself with an extract from guinea pigs and dogs.

The effect of mesenchymal stem cells on chemotaxis of osteoclast precursor cells.

Regeneration of tissue, including bone, using mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) has been progressing rapidly. Regeneration of bone requires the presence of an appropriate environment and efficient chemotaxis of cells to the target site. Differentiation of MSCs into mesenchymal cells has received considerable attention, but the effect of MSCs on chemotaxis is not well understood.

Holistic and component plant phenotyping using temporal image sequence.

Background: Image-based plant phenotyping facilitates the extraction of traits noninvasively by analyzing large number of plants in a relatively short period of time. It has the potential to compute advanced phenotypes by considering the whole plant as a single object (holistic phenotypes) or as individual components, i.e.

Comparative characterization of stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth, dental pulp, and bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells.

Objectives: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are used clinically in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. The proliferation and osteogenic differentiation potential of MSCs vary according to factors such as tissue source and cell population heterogeneity. Dental tissue has received attention as an easily accessible source of high-quality stem cells.