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Sweetpotatoes are a major crop in California, ranking sixth in value among organic commodities in the state. In recent years, there has been growing consumer interest in diverse specialty varieties, particularly purple types and those associated with Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities, some of which are currently imported into the state. In this study, we screened 45 diverse sweetpotato varieties and breeding lines under California organic conditions in a preliminary characterization of their agronomic performance. We then conducted culinary evaluations with a tasting panel of students primarily identifying as Asian/Asian American to determine the preference for each type in terms of flavor and culinary appeal. Our results indicated that major tradeoffs exist among existing germplasm, with no variety or line excelling across all agronomic and culinary traits. These results suggest that sweetpotato breeding could be an effective mechanism to combine superior agronomic traits of major commercial classes with the high culinary quality of diverse materials that are not adapted to California organic production. These results provide a strong justification for the value of sweetpotato breeding to ultimately promote a more profitable, sustainable, and just food system in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teaching salaries are commonly adjusted for the cost of living, but this incorrectly accounts for welfare differences across states. Adjusting for area amenities and opportunities, however, produces more accurate salary comparisons. Amenities and opportunities can be measured by the wage premium other workers in a state face. The two methods produce significant differences in state rankings. Additionally, salaries adjusted for alternative wages are strongly associated with student outcomes, while those adjusted for the cost of living are not. The method of adjustment also alters results from regressions that examine the effects of other policies, like unionization, on teacher salaries.

Drought affects many agriculturally important areas, hampering the cultivation of water intensive crops such as tomatoes.Unlike processing tomatoes, deficit irrigation of fresh market tomatoes is not currently practiced. Deficit irrigation could have negative trade‐offs for yield and pest populations by changing plant nutritional values and the microenvironment.The present study compared crop response and insect populations at two field locations: an on‐farm trial with 0%, 15% and 30% water deficit treatments, and a research station trial with 0%, 10%, 20% and 30% water deficit treatments.At the on‐farm trial, water deficits of 30% affected fruit yield, leaf relative water content (RWC) and leaf δ13C, whereas, in the research station trial, water deficits only affected leaf RWC. Treatments did not change the abundance of any insect groups.Sap‐feeding insects such as silverleaf whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) increased with plant traits indicating hydration such as canopy temperature depression (CTD) and RWC. Furthermore, CTD influenced the composition of insect communities.Sap‐feeding insect abundance may vary with traits indicating hydration because of turgor pressure required for feeding, as well as a more suitable microenvironment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has previously been shown that it is possible to differentiate between squamous and columnar epithelia in rat and resected human tissues using an impedance probe to make in vitro measurements. This probe can be passed down an endoscope allowing measurements to be made in patients. However, the probe emerges parallel to the oesophageal wall, with little room to manoeuvre. The conditions of control required to give reliable readings have been investigated. The importance of pressure applied and the angle of approach to the oesophagus was assessed. Pressures in the range 26.6 Pa to 46.3 kPa and angles in the range 15-90 degrees were considered. In in vitro studies it was observed that it was possible to obtain consistent readings with pressures greater than 2.9 kPa and with angles greater than 15 degrees between the probe and the oesophagus. These conditions can be achieved in vivo, and readings obtained from twelve patients are shown (45 readings on normal squamous, 34 on Barrett's oesophagus and 22 on stomach). At low frequencies (9.6-153.2 kHz), a Mann-Whitney test shows a significant difference (p < 0.001) when comparing the means from squamous and columnar, and also when readings from Barrett's and normal gastric epithelia are compared (p < 0.001). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article cites a lysimeter study on fertilizer, tillage, and dairy manure contributions to nitrate and herbicide leaching. The combination of conservation tillage and manure may affect nitrogen and pesticide leaching through changes in soil structure and microbial dynamics. Considerable research shows that use of either no-tillage or manure can maintain or enhance soil structure. Well-structured soils often exhibit macropore flow, which allows water percolation without appreciable wetting of the soil mass. One important consequence of macropore flow is that some of the salts on the soil surface will be moved to a greater depth by rain or irrigation than predicted by piston displacement theory. As earlier reports have found both positive and negative effects on solute leaching due to nitrogen and tillage management choices, the intention of this study was to examine important combinations of these choices on a soil with physical properties typical of the well-drained soils formed in and over karstic limestone.

Aims: Few published studies have detailed the long-term results of antireflux surgery. The aim of this study was to assess the long-term success of open Lind fundoplication in controlling the symptoms of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease. Methods: One hundred and thirty-two patients with reflux symptoms underwent a primary Lind fundoplication between April 1986 and February 1994; all operations were supervised or performed by one surgeon. The median age at operation was 47 (range 17–77) years. All patients attended for follow-up in the early postoperative period. It was possible to conduct a telephone interview to assess long-term symptom control, at a median time of 9·5 (range 5–13) years following operation, in 112 of the 124 patients who were still alive. Results: Ninety-one patients underwent oesophageal pH studies before and soon after operation. The oesophageal pH was less than 4 for a mean 14·9 per cent of the time before operation, falling to 2·4 per cent in the early postoperative period (P < 0·001, Wilcoxon test). At early postoperative assessment, two patients complained of mild reflux symptoms and 44 (33 per cent) complained of postfundoplication symptoms (dysphagia, epigastric bloating and early satiety). At telephone interview, 106 patients (95 per cent) were symptom free with regard to heartburn and regurgitation. Six patients have developed recurrent reflux symptoms, in four of whom symptoms are controlled by a proton pump inhibitor. Two patients have required further antireflux surgery, one within 2 months of the first procedure for severe dysphagia and the other for recurrent reflux. Significant postfundoplication symptoms persist (dysphagia with or without gas bloat) in three patients (3 per cent). Conclusions: Open Lind fundoplication appears to be effective in the long-term control of gastro-oesophageal reflux in 95 per cent of patients and represents a standard against which the long-term results of l... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a treatment in which cell damage is achieved by the action of light on a photosensitizer. The aim of this study was to assess the value of PDT in the treatment of Barrett’s esophagus with low-grade dysplasia (LGD). Forty patients with dysplastic Barrett’s esophagus were given aminolevulinic acid (ALA) 30 mg /kg orally followed 4 h later by laser endoscopy. Follow-up endoscopy and biopsies were performed at 1, 6 and 12 months. A macroscopic response was seen in 33 out of 40 patients, with a median decrease in columnar epithelial area of 30% (range 0–90%). Post-treatment biopsies showed no dysplasia in 39 out of 40 patients, with LGD remaining in one case. This was maintained at 6 and 12 months. There were no significant side-effects. This study demonstrates that ALA-induced PDT provides safe and effective ablation therapy for Barrett’s esophagus and is particularly useful against dysplasia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thirty five subjects underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and multiple biopsy (30 patients, five normal subjects). A total of 11 biopsies per subject from four sites (oesophagus (three), gastric body (two), antrum (three), duodenum (three] were examined for inflammation and the presence of Campylobacter pylori and using standard methods of culture and by light (LM) and electron microscopy (EM). The organism was cultured from oesophageal biopsies in eight of 30 (27%) patients but could not be identified at this site by LM or EM. There was evidence of oesophageal inflammation in 20 patients which was associated with the local finding of C pylori in five (25%) including two of seven (29%) with Barrett's mucosa. Antral C pylori was present in 22 of 23 (96%) patients with chronic active gastritis. The organism was found in the antrum and oesophagus in four of 22 patients (18%), in the antrum and duodenum in four of 22 patients (18%) and in all three sites in a further two of 22 patients (9%). Antral C pylori was found in five of six patients with peptic ulceration. C pylori was cultured from the duodenum in six patients with confirmation by LN and EM in three, but only on areas of gastric metaplasia. The organism was not found in the normal group. This study indicates that C pylori may be irregularly isolated from the oesophagus and duodenum in patients with antral C pylori and chronic active gastritis. The role of C pylori in the oesophagus is most likely that of a commensal or contaminant. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Multiple endoscopic specimens were obtained from 58 patients with a columnar lined gesophagus to study the histological and histochemical features of this metaplastic epithelium. Five patients (8.6%) had presented with a primary oesophageal adenocarcinoma. Three different epithelial types, junctional, atrophic fundic and intestinal were identified. Twenty two (38%) patients had just one type of epithelium present, the other 36 (62%) having a combination of two or three different types. Intestinal type of epithelium, either alone or in combination with gastric type epithelium was present in 48 (83%) patients. In every case this intestinal type epithelium took the form of an incompletely differentiated variant of intestinal metaplasia, although complete intestinal metaplasia as a focal change was also present in 14 of these patients. Histochemically, sulphomucins were present in the biopsies of 43 (74%) of the patients studied. They were seen in both goblet and columnar mucous cells with almost equal frequency. Incomplete intestinal metaplasia with sulphomucin production was present in four of the five patients with an oesophageal adenocarcinoma. In the columnar lined oesophagus sulphomucin production is common and its presence does not help to identify those individuals at particular risk of developing an adenocarcinoma. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Myoelectrical activity was recorded from the human antrum on 136 occasions using a monopolar mucosal electrode in preoperative and post-vagotomy patients, and bipolar serosal electrodes in post-cholecystectomy patients, and the incidence of antral arrhythmias observed. Arrhythmias of long duration were observed in five out of 62 patients after vagotomy and one out of 10 patients after cholecystectomy, but not in preoperative patients. They were characterised by slow waves with increased frequency, variable period, amplitude, and wave shape and were associated with periods of slow wave inhibition. None of the patients with an arrhythmia had any symptoms of disordered gastric motility. Antral arrhythmias could also be induced in some patients by the administration of insulin, secretin, cholecystokinin-pancreozymin, glucagon, and pentagastrin. The appearance of antral arrhythmias is probably due to a relative increase of sympathetic over parasympathetic activity. The maximal slow wave frequency observed was 8.3 cycles per minute and it is probable that in vivo human antral smooth muscle has a maximum frequency above which it cannot be driven. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Both monopolar and bipolar recordings of human colonic myoelectrical activity have been made on 29 occasions from implanted serosal electrodes attached to either the ascending colon or transverse colon. Visual and computer analysis of the signals were made and the incidences of the two electrical rhythms present in the colon were compared for the two recording techniques, recording sites, and methods of analysis. The percentage incidence of both rhythms was similar for the mono and bipolar recording techniques in both parts of the colon. The incidence of the two rhythms in the transverse colon was approximately twice that recorded in the ascending colon, this being true for both recording techniques and methods of analysis, but neither was detected for more than 50% of the time. It is concluded that the methods of data analysis probably account for the differing incidences of electrical activity in the human colon that have been reported previously. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The immediate and delayed effects of different types of vagotomy on the antral myoelectrical activity have been studied in 52 patients who had previously undergone either highly selective vagotomy (HSV) or truncal vagotomy and pyloroplasty (TV + P) for the treatment of chronic duodenal ulceration up to eight years previously. The frequency of the electrical activity was not statistically different between the two types of operation. After HSV the triphasic waveshape of the antral myoelectrical activity was retained; it was recorded more frequently in the delayed tests (98.0 plus or minus 1-7%) of the recording period than in immediate tests (74-7 plus or minus 6-5%) whereas mean amplitude in the immediate tests (1-59 plus or minus 0-13 mV) was not significantly changed in the delayed tests (1-49 plus or minus 0-08mV). After TV + P the waveform was more sinusoidal in shape, being recorded more often in the delayed tests (91-7 plus or minus 2-7%) than in the immediate tests (41-4 plus or minus 8-9%) although the mean amplitude between the immediate (0-090 plus or minus 0-06 mV) and delayed tests (0-94 plus or minus 0-07 mV) was not significantly different. The only significant change in the myoelectrical activity with the passage of time after vagotomy was an increase in the percentage activity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The effects of varying the extent of vagotomy on the myoelectrical and motor activity of the stomach have been successfully studied in 21 patients undergoing either truncal, selective, or highly selective vagotomy for the treatment of chronic duodenal ulceration. The mean percentage time that regular antral myoelectrical activity was recorded preoperatively was 95·8% ± 1·0 and this was decreased following highly selective vagotomy (74·0% ± 6·6), selective vagotomy (37·8% ± 12·4), and truncal vagotomy (30·2% ± 10·4). The mean amplitude of the pacesetter potential was less following truncal (0·86 mV ± 0·05), selective (1·32 mV ± 0·09), and highly selective vagotomy (1·67 ± 0·09) than in preoperative studies (2·21 mV ± 0·12). Following truncal and selective vagotomies the triphasic waveform of the pacesetter potential changed to a sinusoidal shape. No significant change in the mean preoperative frequency of the myoelectrical activity (3·03 cpm ± 0·08) occurred after vagotomy. Thus the changes in the electrical activity of the stomach are related to the extent of the vagal denervation. Intravenous administration of insulin did not alter these patterns except after highly selective vagotomy when the amplitude of the electrical waves, the incidence of action potentials, and percentage motor activity were increased. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Sixteen Meloidogyne isolates from tomato fields in California grown with resistant cultivars were multiplied on resistant tomato in a greenhouse. Of these resistance-breaking isolates, one was identified as M. javanica, and all others as M. incognita. The reproduction of the M. javanica isolate and four M. incognita isolates on six resistant tomato cultivars and on susceptible and resistant cultivars of pepper, sweetpotato, green bean, cotton, and cowpea was evaluated and compared to an avirulent M. incognita population in greenhouse pot trials. On resistant tomato cultivars, there were minor but significant differences between the resistance-breaking Meloidogyne isolates and between the different tomato cultivars. Of the other resistant crop cultivars, pepper was resistant to all isolates and green bean to all M. incognita isolates, while cotton and cowpea allowed reproduction of one of the resistance-breaking M. incognita isolates. The resistant sweetpotato cv. Bonita behaved like resistant tomato, allowing reproduction of all five resistance-breaking isolates but not of the avirulent M. incognita. Our results showed that variability exists among resistance-breaking Meloidogyne isolates, and that isolates overcoming resistance in tomato may also be virulent on resistant sweetpotato.

Summarizes results of a study comparing laparoscopic anterior fundoplication versus laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication in patients with disordered peristalsis. Patient characteristics; Experience of dysphagia.