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Objective: The states of California and Massachusetts are leading the effort to prohibit the sale of tobacco products in pharmacies in the United States. The process of adopting these tobacco-free pharmacy laws remains understudied. This study qualitatively explores the process of adopting and enforcing tobacco-free pharmacy laws.Methods: Researchers performed qualitative semistructured telephone interviews with 23 key informants who were involved in the effort to adopt and implement tobacco-free pharmacy laws in California and Massachusetts. A content analysis was used to study the process of adopting tobacco-free pharmacy laws as well as barriers and facilitators during the process. Two researchers independently coded the interview transcripts and written responses to identify key categories and themes that emerged from the interviews.Results: The qualitative study results suggest that the process of adopting the tobacco-free pharmacy laws was fairly smooth, with a few barriers. Local youth groups and independent pharmacies played an important role in raising public awareness and attracting media attention. The results also highlighted the need to regulate the sale of e-cigarettes as a part of tobacco-free pharmacy laws.Conclusion: As the number of cities that have adopted tobacco-free pharmacy laws grows, banning tobacco sales in pharmacies is becoming less controversial and more normative to both pharmacy retailers and the public. Our findings inform the ongoing discussion about tobacco-free pharmacy laws and are useful for decision-makers from communities that are considering such laws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: California and Massachusetts are the only 2 states in the United States with municipalities that have local laws prohibiting the sale of tobacco products by pharmacies. The impacts of the tobacco-free pharmacy laws remain understudied. This study aims to fill this gap by examining the association between tobacco-free pharmacy laws and smoking prevalence among adults over time in California and Massachusetts.Design: This study used a series of cross-sectional surveys. The data source for this study was the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey for each year from 2005 to 2013.Setting: The longitudinal changes in smoking prevalence at the city or county level were estimated and comparisons were made between cities or counties with tobacco-free pharmacy laws and those without the laws.Participants: The participants used to estimate smoking prevalence were representative of adults within California and Massachusetts.Intervention: The implementation of tobacco-free pharmacy laws was considered to be the intervention in this study.Main Outcome Measures: The outcome measures were smoking prevalence among adults. Mixed-effects negative binomial models were performed primarily to examine longitudinal changes in outcome measures.Results: The prevalence of smoking decreased in both states over time. In Massachusetts, there was a statistically significant decrease in smoking prevalence among cities with tobacco-free pharmacy laws compared with those without such laws. Despite the presence of an 8.6% decrease in prevalence after the implementation of tobacco-free pharmacy laws, this reduction was not statistically significant after controlling for the negative trend in smoking rates overall and other factors.Conclusion: This study evaluated tobacco-free pharmacy laws with regard to the real-world impacts. Our findings highlight the need for future research on the effects of tobacco-free pharmacy laws with a prolonged time span and a comprehensive understanding of the law's implementation and enforcement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stem rust resistance genes Sr24, Sr26, Sr36, and Sr1RSAmigo confer resistance to race TTKSK (= Ug99) of Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritid Pers. (Pgt). A collection of 776 cultivars and breeding lines of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) from all growing regions of the United States were screened with simple sequence repeat and sequence tagged site markers linked to Sr24, Sr26, Sr36, and Sr1RSAmigo to determine frequencies of these genes in U.S. wheat germplasm. Marker efficacy in predicting the presence of these genes was evaluated via comparison with assayed seedling infection type. Among the lines evaluated, the most predominant gene is Sr24, present in hard winter, hard spring, and soft winter wheat lines. Resistance in soft winter wheat is primarily due to Sr36. The 1RS·1AL rye translocation carrying Sr1RSAmigo is present at equal frequencies in hard winter and soft winter wheat. Utilization of marker-assisted selection for stem rust resistance genes can hasten the development of wheat cultivars resistant to TTKSK and its variants and allow for the development of resistance gene pyramids for more durable stem rust resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wheat stem rust, caused by Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici, is one of the most destructive diseases of wheat. A new race of the pathogen named TTKSK (syn. Ug99) and its derivatives detected in East Africa are virulent to many designated and undesignated stem rust resistance genes. The emergence and spread of those races pose an imminent threat to wheat production worldwide. Genes Sr25 and Sr26 transferred into wheat from Thinopyrum ponticum are effective against these new races. DNA markers for Sr25 and Sr26 are needed to pyramid both genes into adapted germplasm. The previously published dominant markers Gb for Sr25 and Sr26#43 for Sr26 were validated with eight wheat lines with or without Sr25 or Sr26. We tested six published STS (sequence tagged site) markers amplifying diagnostic bands of Th. ponticum. Marker BF145935 consistently amplified well and can be used as a co-dominant marker for Sr25. Among 16 STS markers developed from wheat ESTs mapped to deletion bin 6AL8-0.90-1.00, none was co-dominant for tagging Sr26. However, five 6A-specific markers were identified. Multiplex PCR with marker Sr26#43 and 6A-specific marker BE518379 can be used as a co-dominant marker for Sr26. The co-dominant markers for Sr25 and Sr26 were validated with 37 lines with known stem rust resistance genes. A diverse set of germplasm consisting 170 lines from CIMMYT, China, USA and other counties were screened with the co-dominant markers for Sr25 and Sr26. Five lines with the diagnostic fragment for Sr25 were identified, and they all have ‘Wheatear’ in their pedigrees, which is known to carry Sr25. None of the 170 lines tested had Sr26, as expected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fusarium head blight (FHB; caused by Fusarium graminearum Schwabe) is one of the most destructive wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) diseases worldwide. Sources of FHB resistance are limited. The objectives of this study were to screen selected spring wheat accessions in the USDA National Small Grains Collection for FHB reactions using FHB index, visual scabby kernel (VSK), and deoxynivalenol (DON) content. A total of 1035 spring wheat accessions were initially screened in unreplicated field evaluation nurseries in 1998 and 1999. Accessions with low FHB were selected as putative resistant materials and were tested in replicated trials from 1999 to 2002. After three or more years of evaluation, 73 accessions with resistance were identified, including 10 accessions previously reported as resistant to FHB. Selections from Europe had the highest percentage of resistance to VSK, followed by selections from South America and Asia. We concluded that there is diversity for FHB resistance in wheat. Fusarium head blight resistance identified from Europe appeared to be unique in that these accessions normally displayed a moderate level of disease in the field, but a higher level of resistance based on VSK and DON. The discovery of diverse resistant sources will provide diversity so that higher levels of resistance could be developed. The novelty and types of FHB resistance in these selections should be further characterized using molecular markers and different inoculation techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stem rust resistance genes Sr24, Sr26, Sr36, and Sr1RSAmigo confer resistance to race TTKSK (= Ug99) of Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritid Pers. (Pgt). A collection of 776 cultivars and breeding lines of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) from all growing regions of the United States were screened with simple sequence repeat and sequence tagged site markers linked to Sr24, Sr26, Sr36, and Sr1RSAmigo to determine frequencies of these genes in U.S. wheat germplasm. Marker efficacy in predicting the presence of these genes was evaluated via comparison with assayed seedling infection type. Among the lines evaluated, the most predominant gene is Sr24, present in hard winter, hard spring, and soft winter wheat lines. Resistance in soft winter wheat is primarily due to Sr36. The 1RS·1AL rye translocation carrying Sr1RSAmigo is present at equal frequencies in hard winter and soft winter wheat. Utilization of marker-assisted selection for stem rust resistance genes can hasten the development of wheat cultivars resistant to TTKSK and its variants and allow for the development of resistance gene pyramids for more durable stem rust resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Transgenic crops producing insecticidal toxins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) have been grown in many parts of the world since 1996. In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has required that industry submit insect resistance management (IRM) plans for each Bt corn and cotton product commercialized. A coalition of stakeholders including the EPA, USDA, academic scientists, industry, and grower organizations have cooperated in developing specific IRM strategies. Resistance monitoring (requiring submission of annual reports to the EPA), and a remedial action plan addressing any contingency if resistance should occur, are important elements of these strategies. At a global level, Monsanto conducts baseline susceptibility studies (prior to commercialization), followed by monitoring studies on target pest populations, for all of its commercialized Bt crop products. To date, Monsanto has conducted baseline/monitoring studies in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, India, Mexico, the Philippines, South Africa, Spain, and the United States. Examples of pests on which resistance monitoring has been conducted include cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa zea, European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis, pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella, Southwestern corn borer, Diatraea grandiosella, tobacco budworm, Heliothis virescens, and western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera, in the United States, cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera, in China, India and Australia, and H. virescens and H. zea in Mexico. No field-selected resistance to Bt crops has been documented. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]