The taming of the weed: Developmental plasticity facilitated plant domestication.

Our experiments with crop progenitors have demonstrated that these species exhibit dramatic plasticity in key traits that are affected by domestication, including seed and fruit morphology. These traits can be altered by cultivating crop progenitors for a single season, in the absence of any selection for domesticated phenotypes. We hypothesize that cultivation caused environmental shifts that led to immediate phenotypic changes in crop progenitors via developmental plasticity, similar to tameness in animals.

Primary vulvar melanoma in an adolescent patient.

Herein we describe the case of a Black adolescent who was found to have widely metastatic melanoma originating from a primary vulvar lesion. The lesion presented as a pink, vegetative nodule of the clitoral hood which grew in size over several years and was confirmed to be melanoma on shave biopsy. This patient's amelanotic presentation in conjunction with the rare incidence of vulvar melanoma contributed to the delay in diagnosis.

Heinz-resistant tomato cultivars exhibit a lignin-based resistance to field dodder (Cuscuta campestris) parasitism.

Cuscuta species (dodders) are agriculturally destructive, parasitic angiosperms. These parasitic plants use haustoria as physiological bridges to extract nutrients and water from hosts. Cuscuta campestris has a broad host range and wide geographical distribution.

Cell Wall Compositions of Leaves and Roots Remain Relatively Constant Under Drought Conditions.

Renewable fuels are needed to replace fossil fuels in the immediate future. Lignocellulosic bioenergy crops provide a renewable alternative that sequesters atmospheric carbon. To prevent displacement of food crops, it would be advantageous to grow biofuel crops on marginal lands.

Midlevel Injectable Practice Patterns in Dermatology and Plastic Surgery Offices.

Background: There is limited knowledge on the extent physicians delegate cosmetic procedures to midlevel providers.

Objective: To assess dermatology and plastic surgery practice patterns for the injections of neurotoxins and dermal fillers.

Materials And Methods: Four hundred ninety-two dermatology and plastic surgery practices were identified from 10 major US metropolitan areas.

Lewis Acid-Catalyzed Vinyl Acetal Rearrangement of 4,5-Dihydro-1,3-dioxepines: Stereoselective Synthesis of and 2,3-Disubstituted Tetrahydrofurans.

Lewis acid-catalyzed rearrangements of 4,5-dihydro-1,3-dioxepines have been investigated. Rearrangement of vinyl acetals under a variety of conditions resulted in - and 2,3-disubstituted tetrahydrofuran derivatives in a highly stereoselective manner. Rearrangements at lower temperatures typically provided the -2,3-disubstituted tetrahydrofuran carbaldehydes.

An iron (II) dependent oxygenase performs the last missing step of plant lysine catabolism.

Despite intensive study, plant lysine catabolism beyond the 2-oxoadipate (2OA) intermediate remains unvalidated. Recently we described a missing step in the D-lysine catabolism of Pseudomonas putida in which 2OA is converted to D-2-hydroxyglutarate (2HG) via hydroxyglutarate synthase (HglS), a DUF1338 family protein. Here we solve the structure of HglS to 1.

Unexpected conservation and global transmission of agrobacterial virulence plasmids.

The accelerated evolution and spread of pathogens are threats to host species. Agrobacteria require an oncogenic Ti or Ri plasmid to transfer genes into plants and cause disease. We developed a strategy to characterize virulence plasmids and applied it to analyze hundreds of strains collected between 1927 and 2017, on six continents and from more than 50 host species.

Incidence of Surgical Site Infections in Second Intention Healing After Dermatologic Surgery.

Background: There are few studies analyzing the surgical site infection (SSI) rate of second intention wounds after dermatologic surgery, and the results are inconclusive. Yet, the current dogma in dermatologic surgery is that wounds healed by second intention have lower infection rates.

Objective: To determine the rate of SSI and associated pathogenic organisms of second intention wounds compared with sutured wounds after skin cancer extirpation.

Design of orthogonal regulatory systems for modulating gene expression in plants.

Agricultural biotechnology strategies often require the precise regulation of multiple genes to effectively modify complex plant traits. However, most efforts are hindered by a lack of characterized tools that allow for reliable and targeted expression of transgenes. We have successfully engineered a library of synthetic transcriptional regulators that modulate expression strength in planta.

New frontiers: harnessing pivotal advances in microbial engineering for the biosynthesis of plant-derived terpenoids.

Terpenoids are a vast and diverse class of molecules with industrial and medicinal importance. The majority of these molecules are produced across kingdom Plantae via specialized metabolism. Microorganisms, mainly Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, have become choice platforms for the biosynthesis of terpenoids due to recent advances in synthetic biology and metabolic engineering.

Defining and engineering bioenergy plant feedstock ideotypes.

Ideotypes are theoretical archetypes of crops which serve as a practical framework for plant breeders to critically evaluate what traits they should be targeting for specific applications. With advances in plant biotechnology and a growing urgency to adopt more sustainable practices across our economy, new uses for crops as bioenergy feedstocks may pivot our definition of an ideal crop that is engineered for biomass and bioenergy production, in contrast to food production. Although there is a plethora of specific applications to which plant engineering efforts can contribute, here we highlight recent advances in two broad areas of research: increasing available plant biomass and engineering production of higher value co-products.

The 340b Program, Contract Pharmacies, Hospitals, and Patients: An Evolving Relationship Impacting Health Care Delivery.

The 340B Drug Pricing Program, created by Congress in 1992 through the Veterans Health Care Act, has provided discounted drug prices to hospitals and other health care organizations serving a wide population of low-income patients. Some 340B programs use contract pharmacies, an arrangement whereby the hospital or health care organization signs a contract directly with a pharmacy to provide covered pharmacy services at discounted prices. The federal 340B Drug Pricing Program has provided access to reduced price prescription drugs to more than 35 000 individual health care facilities and sites certified by the US Department of Health and Human Services, and clinics have served more than 10 million people in all 50 states, plus commonwealths and US territories.

Assessment of Functionality in Elderly Patients When Determining Appropriate Treatment for Nonmelanoma Skin Cancers.

Background: The treatment of nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) in the elderly population is a source of significant debate. Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) is a highly effective treatment option yet not every patient with a cutaneous malignancy that meets appropriate use criteria (AUC) should be treated with surgery.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to use the Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) scale to categorize the functional status of patients aged 75 years and older who required treatment of NMSC.

Evolutionary transitions between beneficial and phytopathogenic challenge disease management.

Understanding how bacteria affect plant health is crucial for developing sustainable crop production systems. We coupled ecological sampling and genome sequencing to characterize the population genetic history of and the distribution patterns of virulence plasmids in isolates from nurseries. Analysis of chromosome sequences shows that plants host multiple lineages of , and suggested that these bacteria are transmitted due to independent introductions, reservoir populations, and point source outbreaks.

Outcomes of an Oral Care Protocol in Postmechanically Ventilated Patients.

Background: Oral care is standard practice to prevent hospital-associated infections while patients are intubated and in the intensive care unit. Following extubation and transfer, infections remain an important risk for patients, but less attention is paid to oral care. Few studies have assessed the impact of oral care in recently extubated acutely ill patients.

Development and implementation of a nurse-driven, sliding-scale nomogram for bivalirudin in the management of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia.

Purpose: A simplified dosing nomogram to assist nurses in adjusting the rate of i.v. bivalirudin administration in cases of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is described.