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Lumateperone (lumateperone tosylate, ITI-007) is an investigational drug for the treatment of schizophrenia, bipolar depression, and other disorders. Lumateperone has a unique mechanism of action that simultaneously modulates serotonin, dopamine, and glutamate neurotransmission. This may provide advantages in the treatment of the broad symptoms associated with schizophrenia, including negative and depression symptoms. In 2 previous placebo-controlled trials in patients with acute schizophrenia, lumateperone 42mg (ITI-007 60mg) demonstrated statistically significant improvement in the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) Total score compared with placebo. In these studies, lumateperone was well tolerated with a safety profile similar to placebo. This open-label long-term study evaluated the safety and effectiveness of lumateperone 42mg in patients with schizophrenia and stable symptoms.
Methods:
Patients with stable schizophrenia were treated for up to 1 year with lumateperone 42mg. Safety assessments included adverse events (AEs), body weight, laboratory parameters, and extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS)/motor symptom assessments. Efficacy analyses included evaluation of changes in PANSS Total score and in depression symptoms, as measured by the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS).
Results:
In the 1-year open-label study, 602 patients received at least 1 dose of lumateperone 42mg; at the time of this interim analysis, 107 patients had completed 1 year of treatment. Only 4 TEAEs occurred in ≥5% of patients (weight decrease, dry mouth, headache and diarrhea); the majority of AEs were mild or moderate in intensity. Most metabolic parameters and mean prolactin levels decreased from SOC baseline, as did mean body weight and BMI. Based on AE reporting and EPS/motor symptom scales, lumateperone treatment was associated with minimal EPS risk. Lumateperone 42mg treatment was associated with significant reductions in PANSS Total score from baseline, with continuing PANSS improvement throughout the study. In patients with moderate-to-severe depression symptoms at baseline (CDSS>5), mean CDSS scores decreased from 7.4 (baseline) to 3.1 (Day 300); 60% of patients met CDSS response criteria (50% improvement from baseline) by Day 75 and this response rate was maintained through day 300. Similar magnitude of CDSS improvement was seen regardless of concurrent antidepressant therapy.
Conclusion:
In long-term treatment, lumateperone was associated with minimal metabolic, EPS, and cardiovascular safety issues relative to current SOC antipsychotic therapy. Lumateperone improved schizophrenia symptoms with continued long-term treatment. In patients with moderate-to-severe depression symptoms at baseline, lumateperone treatment was associated with marked improvement in CDSS scores. These data are consistent with and extend data previously reported in placebo-controlled studies in patients with acute schizophrenia treated with lumateperone.
Funding Acknowledgements:
Supported by funding from Intra-Cellular Therapies, Inc.
Lumateperone (ITI-007) is in late-phase clinical development for schizophrenia. Lumateperone has a unique mechanism of action that modulates serotonin, dopamine, and glutamate neurotransmission. This pooled analysis of lumateperone in 3 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies was conducted to evaluate the safety and tolerability of lumateperone 42mg (ITI-007 60mg).
Methods:
Data were pooled from the 3 controlled late-phase studies of lumateperone 42mg in patients with acute exacerbation of schizophrenia. Safety assessments of all patients who received at least one dose of any treatment included treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs), changes in laboratory parameters, extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS), and vital signs.
Results:
The safety population comprised 1,073 patients (placebo [n=412], lumateperone 42mg [n=406], risperidone [n=255]). TEAEs that occurred in the lumateperone 42mg group at a rate of ≥5% and twice placebo were somnolence/sedation (24.1% vs 10.0%) and dry mouth (5.9% vs 2.2%). Rates of discontinuation due to TEAEs with lumateperone 42mg (0.5%) were similar to placebo (0.5%) and lower than risperidone (4.7%). Mean change in weight and rates of EPS-related TEAEs were less for lumateperone 42mg and placebo patients than risperidone patients. Mean change from baseline in metabolic parameters were similar or smaller for lumateperone 42mg vs placebo. Mean changes were notably higher in risperidone patients vs lumateperone 42mg and placebo for glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides, and prolactin.
Conclusion:
In this pooled analysis, lumateperone 42mg showed good tolerability with potential benefits over risperidone for metabolic, prolactin, and EPS risks. The only TEAE that occurred in >10% of lumateperone patients was somnolence/sedation, which was impacted by morning administration; in subsequent studies that administered lumateperone in the evening, somnolence/sedation rates were markedly reduced. These results suggest that lumateperone 42mg may be a promising new treatment for schizophrenia.
Funding Acknowledgements:
Supported by funding from Intra-Cellular Therapies, Inc.
Tardive dyskinesia (TD) results from exposure to dopamine-receptor antagonists (DRAs), such as typical and atypical antipsychotics. Clinicians commonly manage TD by reducing the dose of or stopping the causative agent; however, this may cause psychiatric relapse and worsen quality of life. In the 12-week ARM-TD and AIM-TD trials, deutetrabenazine demonstrated statistically significant improvements in Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS) scores versus placebo and was generally well tolerated, regardless of baseline DRA use or comorbidities.
Study Objective
To evaluate the impact of underlying disease and current DRA use on efficacy and safety of long-term therapy of deutetrabenazine in patients with TD.
Method
Patients with TD who completed ARM-TD or AIM-TD were eligible to enter this open-label, single-arm, long-term extension after completing the 1-week washout period and final evaluation in the blinded portion of the trial. Change in AIMS scores from baseline to Week 54 and patients “Much Improved” or “Very Much Improved” (treatment success) on the Clinical Global Impression of Change (CGIC) and Patient Global Impression of Change (PGIC) at Week 54 were analyzed by baseline psychiatric illness type, including mood disorders (bipolar disorder/depression/other) or psychotic disorders (schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder), and presence or absence of current DRA use.
Results
At Week 54, meaningful improvements from baseline in mean (standard error) AIMS scores were observed for patients with baseline mood disorders (–5.2[0.93]) and psychotic disorders (–5.0[0.63]), and in patients currently using DRAs (–4.6[0.54]) or not using DRAs (–6.4[1.27]). Most patients with mood disorders (73%) and psychotic disorders (71%) were “Much Improved” or “Very Much Improved” on CGIC at Week 54, similar to patients currently using (71%) or not using (74%) DRAs. The majority of patients with mood disorders (62%) and psychotic disorders (57%), as well as patients currently using (58%) or not using (63%) DRAs, were also “Much Improved” or “Very Much Improved” on PGIC at Week 54. Prior treatment in ARM-TD and AIM-TD did not impact the long-term treatment response. Underlying psychiatric disorder and concomitant DRA use did not impact the occurrence of adverse events (AEs). The frequencies of dose reductions, dose suspensions, and withdrawals due to AEs were low, regardless of baseline psychiatric comorbidities and DRAuse.
Conclusions
Long-term deutetrabenazine treatment demonstrated meaningful improvements in abnormal movements in TD patients, which were recognized by clinicians and patients, regardless of underlying psychiatric illness or DRAuse.
Presented at: American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting; May 5–9, 2018, New York, New York, USA
Funding Acknowledgements: This study was supported by Teva Pharmaceuticals, Petach Tikva, Israel.
To evaluate long-term efficacy of deutetrabenazine in patients with tardive dyskinesia (TD) by examining response rates from baseline in Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS) scores. Preliminary results of the responder analysis are reported in this analysis.
Background
In the 12-week ARM-TD and AIM-TD studies, the odds of response to deutetrabenazine treatment were higher than the odds of response to placebo at all response levels, and there were low rates of overall adverse events and discontinuations associated with deutetrabenazine.
Method
Patients with TD who completed ARM-TD or AIM-TD were included in this open-label, single-arm extension study, in which all patients restarted/started deutetrabenazine 12mg/day, titrating up to a maximum total daily dose of 48mg/day based on dyskinesia control and tolerability. The study comprised a 6-week titration and a long-term maintenance phase. The cumulative proportion of AIMS responders from baseline was assessed. Response was defined as a percent improvement from baseline for each patient from 10% to 90% in 10% increments. AlMS score was assessed by local site ratings for this analysis.
Results
343 patients enrolled in the extension study (111 patients received placebo in the parent study and 232 patients received deutetrabenazine). At Week 54 (n=145; total daily dose [mean±standard error]: 38.1±0.9mg), 63% of patients receiving deutetrabenazine achieved ≥30% response, 48% of patients achieved ≥50% response, and 26% achieved ≥70% response. At Week 80 (n=66; total daily dose: 38.6±1.1mg), 76% of patients achieved ≥30% response, 59% of patients achieved ≥50% response, and 36% achieved ≥70% response. Treatment was generally well tolerated.
Conclusions
Patients who received long-term treatment with deutetrabenazine achieved response rates higher than those observed in positive short-term studies, indicating clinically meaningful long-term treatment benefit.
Presented at: American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting; April 21–27, 2018, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Funding Acknowledgements: This study was supported by Teva Pharmaceuticals, Petach Tikva, Israel.
To evaluate the long-term safety and tolerability of deutetrabenazine in patients with tardive dyskinesia (TD) at 2years.
Background
In the 12-week ARM-TD and AIM-TD studies, deutetrabenazine showed clinically significant improvements in Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale scores compared with placebo, and there were low rates of overall adverse events (AEs) and discontinuations associated with deutetrabenazine.
Method
Patients who completed ARM-TD or AIM-TD were included in this open-label, single-arm extension study, in which all patients restarted/started deutetrabenazine 12mg/day, titrating up to a maximum total daily dose of 48mg/day based on dyskinesia control and tolerability. The study comprised a 6-week titration period and a long-term maintenance phase. Safety measures included incidence of AEs, serious AEs (SAEs), and AEs leading to withdrawal, dose reduction, or dose suspension. Exposure-adjusted incidence rates (EAIRs; incidence/patient-years) were used to compare AE frequencies for long-term treatment with those for short-term treatment (ARM-TD and AIM-TD). This analysis reports results up to 2 years (Week106).
Results
343 patients were enrolled (111 patients received placebo in the parent study and 232 received deutetrabenazine). There were 331.4 patient-years of exposure in this analysis. Through Week 106, EAIRs of AEs were comparable to or lower than those observed with short-term deutetrabenazine and placebo, including AEs of interest (akathisia/restlessness [long-term EAIR: 0.02; short-term EAIR range: 0–0.25], anxiety [0.09; 0.13–0.21], depression [0.09; 0.04–0.13], diarrhea [0.06; 0.06–0.34], parkinsonism [0.01; 0–0.08], somnolence/sedation [0.09; 0.06–0.81], and suicidality [0.02; 0–0.13]). The frequency of SAEs (EAIR 0.15) was similar to those observed with short-term placebo (0.33) and deutetrabenazine (range 0.06–0.33) treatment. AEs leading to withdrawal (0.08), dose reduction (0.17), and dose suspension (0.06) were uncommon.
Conclusions
These results confirm the safety outcomes seen in the ARM-TD and AIM-TD parent studies, demonstrating that deutetrabenazine is well tolerated for long-term use in TD patients.
Presented at: American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting; April 21–27, 2018, Los Angeles, California,USA
Funding Acknowledgements: Funding: This study was supported by Teva Pharmaceuticals, Petach Tikva, Israel
Tardive dyskinesia (TD) is an often-irreversible movement disorder that may intensify the stigma of patients with psychiatric disorders and worsen quality of life. In two randomized, double-blind, placebo (PBO)-controlled, 12-week trials, ARM-TD and AIM-TD (‘parent studies’), deutetrabenazine (DTB) demonstrated statistically significant improvements in centrally read Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS) scores at Week 12 compared with PBO and was generally well tolerated.
Study Objective
To evaluate the long-term efficacy of DTB in an open-label safety study following double-blind treatment using site-rated efficacy measures: AIMS, the Clinical Global Impression of Change (CGIC) and the Patient Global Impression of Change (PGIC), which may be used in real-world clinical practice settings.
Method
Patients with TD who completed the parent studies were eligible to enter this open-label, long-term extension (OLE) after completing the 1-week washout period and final evaluation in the blinded portion of the trial. This extension comprised a 6-week titration period followed by a long-term maintenance phase. Patients began DTB at 12mg/day, titrating up to a maximum total dose of 48mg/day based on dyskinesia control and tolerability. Efficacy endpoints included in this analysis are the change in site-rated AIMS score (items 1–7) from parent study baseline, and the proportion of patients who were “Much Improved” or “Very Much Improved” (treatment success) on the CGIC and PGIC from OLE baseline.
Results
At the end of the parent studies (Week 12), patients treated with DTB had experienced greater mean (standard error) improvements in site-rated AIMS score (–5.0[0.40]) than patients given PBO (–3.2[0.47]). With long-term DTB treatment, both groups experienced improvements in site-rated AIMS scores (prior DTB, –7.9[0.62]; prior placebo, –6.6[0.64]) compared with parent study baseline. Similarly, at the end of the parent studies, a greater proportion of patients treated with DTB had treatment success on the CGIC (DTB, 51%; PBO, 32%) and the PGIC (DTB, 46%; PBO: 33%); whereas at Week 54 of the OLE study, treatment success on CGIC and PGIC were similar in both the CGIC (prior DTB: 66%; prior PBO: 68%) and PGIC (prior DTB: 62%; prior PBO: 62%) groups. DTB was generally well tolerated.
Conclusions
Patients treated with DTB showed improvements in abnormal movements, as measured by site-rated AIMS, CGIC, and PGIC scores, which may be used in real-world clinical practice settings. These results corroborate the previously reported efficacy of DTB as observed in the 12-week, double-blind ARM-TD and AIM-TD trials, in which central raters were used to evaluate AIMS scores.
Presented at: American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting; May 5–9, 2018, New York, New York, USA
Funding Acknowledgements: Funding: This study was supported by Teva Pharmaceuticals, Petach Tikva, Israel.
This literature review aimed to identify the range of methods used in after action reviews (AARs) of public health emergencies and to develop appraisal tools to compare methodological reporting and validity standards.
Methods
A review of biomedical and gray literature identified key approaches from AAR methodological research, real-world AARs, and AAR reporting templates. We developed a 50-item tool to systematically document AAR methodological reporting and a linked 11-item summary tool to document validity. Both tools were used sequentially to appraise the literature included in this study.
Results
This review included 24 highly diverse papers, reflecting the lack of a standardized approach. We observed significant divergence between the standards described in AAR and qualitative research literature, and real-world AAR practice. The lack of reporting of basic methods to ensure validity increases doubt about the methodological basis of an individual AAR and the validity of its conclusions.
Conclusions
The main limitations in current AAR methodology and reporting standards may be addressed through our 11 validity-enhancing recommendations. A minimum reporting standard for AARs could help ensure that findings are valid and clear for others to learn from. A registry of AARs, based on a common reporting structure, may further facilitate shared learning. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2019;13:618-625)
Surgical site infections (SSIs) following colorectal surgery (CRS) are among the most common healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). Reduction in colorectal SSI rates is an important goal for surgical quality improvement.
OBJECTIVE
To examine rates of SSI in patients with and without cancer and to identify potential predictors of SSI risk following CRS
DESIGN
American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) data files for 2011–2013 from a sample of 12 National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) member institutions were combined. Pooled SSI rates for colorectal procedures were calculated and risk was evaluated. The independent importance of potential risk factors was assessed using logistic regression.
SETTING
Multicenter study
PARTICIPANTS
Of 22 invited NCCN centers, 11 participated (50%). Colorectal procedures were selected by principal procedure current procedural technology (CPT) code. Cancer was defined by International Classification of Disease, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes.
MAIN OUTCOME
The primary outcome of interest was 30-day SSI rate.
RESULTS
A total of 652 SSIs (11.06%) were reported among 5,893 CRSs. Risk of SSI was similar for patients with and without cancer. Among CRS patients with underlying cancer, disseminated cancer (SSI rate, 17.5%; odds ratio [OR], 1.66; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.23–2.26; P=.001), ASA score ≥3 (OR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.09–1.83; P=.001), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD; OR, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.06–2.53; P=.02), and longer duration of procedure were associated with development of SSI.
CONCLUSIONS
Patients with disseminated cancer are at a higher risk for developing SSI. ASA score >3, COPD, and longer duration of surgery predict SSI risk. Disseminated cancer should be further evaluated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in generating risk-adjusted outcomes.
In the 12-week ARM-TD and AIM-TD studies, deutetrabenazine showed clinically significant improvements in Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS) scores at Week 12 compared with placebo, and was generally well tolerated.
Objective
To evaluate the long-term safety/tolerability and efficacy of deutetrabenazine in patients with TD. Week 54 open-labelresults are reported in this interim analysis.
Methods
Patients with TD who completed ARM-TD or AIM-TD were included in this open-label, single-arm extension study, in which all patients restarted/started deutetrabenazine 12 mg/day, titrating up to a maximum total daily dose of 48 mg/day based on dyskinesia control and tolerability. The study comprised a 6-week titration period and a long-term maintenance phase. Safetymeasures included incidence of adverse events (AEs), serious AEs (SAEs), drug-related AEs, and AEs leading to withdrawal, dose reduction, or dose suspension. This analysis reports results up to Week 54.
Results
304 patients enrolled in the extension study. There were 215 patient-years of exposure in this analysis, and exposure-adjusted incidence rates (EAIRs) of AEs (incidence/patient-years) were comparable to or lower than those observed with short-term deutetrabenazine treatment and placebo. The frequency of SAEs (EAIR 0.14) was similar to rates observed with short-termplacebo (EAIR 0.33) and deutetrabenazine (EAIR range 0.06–0.33) treatment. AEs leading to study discontinuation (EAIR 0.08), dose reduction (EAIR 0.17), and dose suspension (EAIR 0.09) were uncommon.
Conclusions
Long-term treatment with deutetrabenazine was generally safe and well tolerated in patients with TD, and did not result in cumulative toxicity.
Presented at: The American Psychiatric Association 2017 Annual Meeting; May 20–24, 2017; San Diego, California, USA.
Funding Acknowledgements
This study was funded by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Petach Tikva, Israel.
Tardive dyskinesia (TD) is an involuntary movement disorder resulting from exposure to dopamine-receptor antagonists. In the 12-week ARM-TD and AIM-TD studies, deutetrabenazine demonstrated significant improvements in Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS) scores at Week 12 compared with placebo, and was generally well tolerated.
Objective
To evaluate the efficacy and safety of long-term deutetrabenazine therapy in patients with TD.
Methods
Patients with TD who completed the ARM-TD or AIM-TD studies were eligible to enter this open-label, single-arm, long-term safety study after they completed the 1-week washout period and final evaluation in the blinded portion of the trial. Efficacy endpoints included the change in AIMS score from baseline, and treatment success (defined as “much improved” or “very much improved”) on the Clinical Global Impression of Change (CGIC) and Patient Global Impression of Change (PGIC). This analysis reports results up to Week 54.
Results
304 patients enrolled in the extension study. At Week 54, the mean (standard error) change in AIMS score was –5.1 (0.52). After 6 weeks of deutetrabenazine treatment, the proportion of patients who achieved treatment success was 58% per the CGIC and 53% per the PGIC, and by Week 54 was 72% per the CGIC and 59% per the PGIC, thus demonstrating maintenance or enhancement of benefit over time. Deutetrabenazine was well tolerated for up to 54 weeks, and compared with the ARM-TD and AIM-TD studies, no new safety signals were detected.
Conclusions
54 weeks of deutetrabenazine treatment was generally efficacious, safe, and well tolerated in patients with TD.
Presented at: The American Psychiatric Association 2017 Annual Meeting; May 20–24, 2017; San Diego, California, USA.
Funding Acknowledgements
This study was funded by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Petach Tikva, Israel.
Tardive dyskinesia (TD) is an involuntary movement disorder that is often irreversible, can affect any body region, and can be debilitating. In the ARM-TDand AIM-TD studies, deutetrabenazine treatment demonstrated statistically and clinically significant reductions in Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS) scores at Week 12 compared with placebo (primary endpoint).
Objective
To evaluate the efficacy of deutetrabenazine, as measured by the Clinical Global Impression of Change (CGIC) scale, in patients with TD from the pooled ARM-TDand AIM-TD (24 and 36 mg/day doses) data sets, as compared with the pooled placebo cohort.
Methods
ARM-TD and AIM-TD were 12-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies that evaluated the safety and efficacy of deutetrabenazine for thetreatment of TD. The key secondary endpoint of each study was the proportion of patients “much improved” or “very much improved” (treatment success) at Week 12 on theCGIC.
Results
At Week 12, the odds of treatment success among patients treated with deutetrabenazine (n=152) was more than double that of patients given placebo (n=107; odds ratio: 2.12; P=0.005). In a categorical analysis of CGIC ratings, patients treated with deutetrabenazine showed greater improvement than patients given placebo (P=0.003). Patients treated with deutetrabenazine also had a significantly better treatment response than those given placebo (least-squares mean CGIC score treatment difference: –0.4; P=0.006).
Conclusions
Deutetrabenazine treatment led to statistically and clinically significant improvements in TD symptoms based on the CGIC result, suggesting that clinicians were able to recognize the benefit in patients treated with deutetrabenazine.
Presented at: The International Congress of Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders; June 4–8, 2017; Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Funding Acknowledgements
These studies were funded by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Petach Tikva, Israel.
The History, Electrocardiogram (ECG), Age, Risk Factors, and Troponin (HEART) score is a decision aid designed to risk stratify emergency department (ED) patients with acute chest pain. It has been validated for ED use, but it has yet to be evaluated in a prehospital setting.
Hypothesis
A prehospital modified HEART score can predict major adverse cardiac events (MACE) among undifferentiated chest pain patients transported to the ED.
Methods
A retrospective cohort study of patients with chest pain transported by two county-based Emergency Medical Service (EMS) agencies to a tertiary care center was conducted. Adults without ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) were included. Inter-facility transfers and those without a prehospital 12-lead ECG or an ED troponin measurement were excluded. Modified HEART scores were calculated by study investigators using a standardized data collection tool for each patient. All MACE (death, myocardial infarction [MI], or coronary revascularization) were determined by record review at 30 days. The sensitivity and negative predictive values (NPVs) for MACE at 30 days were calculated.
Results
Over the study period, 794 patients met inclusion criteria. A MACE at 30 days was present in 10.7% (85/794) of patients with 12 deaths (1.5%), 66 MIs (8.3%), and 12 coronary revascularizations without MI (1.5%). The modified HEART score identified 33.2% (264/794) of patients as low risk. Among low-risk patients, 1.9% (5/264) had MACE (two MIs and three revascularizations without MI). The sensitivity and NPV for 30-day MACE was 94.1% (95% CI, 86.8-98.1) and 98.1% (95% CI, 95.6-99.4), respectively.
Conclusions
Prehospital modified HEART scores have a high NPV for MACE at 30 days. A study in which prehospital providers prospectively apply this decision aid is warranted.
The Neotoma Paleoecology Database is a community-curated data resource that supports interdisciplinary global change research by enabling broad-scale studies of taxon and community diversity, distributions, and dynamics during the large environmental changes of the past. By consolidating many kinds of data into a common repository, Neotoma lowers costs of paleodata management, makes paleoecological data openly available, and offers a high-quality, curated resource. Neotoma’s distributed scientific governance model is flexible and scalable, with many open pathways for participation by new members, data contributors, stewards, and research communities. The Neotoma data model supports, or can be extended to support, any kind of paleoecological or paleoenvironmental data from sedimentary archives. Data additions to Neotoma are growing and now include >3.8 million observations, >17,000 datasets, and >9200 sites. Dataset types currently include fossil pollen, vertebrates, diatoms, ostracodes, macroinvertebrates, plant macrofossils, insects, testate amoebae, geochronological data, and the recently added organic biomarkers, stable isotopes, and specimen-level data. Multiple avenues exist to obtain Neotoma data, including the Explorer map-based interface, an application programming interface, the neotoma R package, and digital object identifiers. As the volume and variety of scientific data grow, community-curated data resources such as Neotoma have become foundational infrastructure for big data science.
Giant ragweed has been increasing as a major weed of row crops in the last
30 yr, but quantitative data regarding its pattern and mechanisms of spread
in crop fields are lacking. To address this gap, we conducted a Web-based
survey of certified crop advisors in the U.S. Corn Belt and Ontario, Canada.
Participants were asked questions regarding giant ragweed and crop
production practices for the county of their choice. Responses were mapped
and correlation analyses were conducted among the responses to determine
factors associated with giant ragweed populations. Respondents rated giant
ragweed as the most or one of the most difficult weeds to manage in 45% of
421 U.S. counties responding, and 57% of responding counties reported giant
ragweed populations with herbicide resistance to acetolactate synthase
inhibitors, glyphosate, or both herbicides. Results suggest that giant
ragweed is increasing in crop fields outward from the east-central U.S. Corn
Belt in most directions. Crop production practices associated with giant
ragweed populations included minimum tillage, continuous soybean, and
multiple-application herbicide programs; ecological factors included giant
ragweed presence in noncrop edge habitats, early and prolonged emergence,
and presence of the seed-burying common earthworm in crop fields. Managing
giant ragweed in noncrop areas could reduce giant ragweed migration from
noncrop habitats into crop fields and slow its spread. Where giant ragweed
is already established in crop fields, including a more diverse combination
of crop species, tillage practices, and herbicide sites of action will be
critical to reduce populations, disrupt emergence patterns, and select
against herbicide-resistant giant ragweed genotypes. Incorporation of a
cereal grain into the crop rotation may help suppress early giant ragweed
emergence and provide chemical or mechanical control options for
late-emerging giant ragweed.
This paper describes the system architecture of a newly constructed radio telescope – the Boolardy engineering test array, which is a prototype of the Australian square kilometre array pathfinder telescope. Phased array feed technology is used to form multiple simultaneous beams per antenna, providing astronomers with unprecedented survey speed. The test array described here is a six-antenna interferometer, fitted with prototype signal processing hardware capable of forming at least nine dual-polarisation beams simultaneously, allowing several square degrees to be imaged in a single pointed observation. The main purpose of the test array is to develop beamforming and wide-field calibration methods for use with the full telescope, but it will also be capable of limited early science demonstrations.
The Bovine Respiratory Disease Coordinated Agricultural Project (BRD CAP) is a 5-year project funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), with an overriding objective to use the tools of modern genomics to identify cattle that are less susceptible to BRD. To do this, two large genome wide association studies (GWAS) were conducted using a case:control design on preweaned Holstein dairy heifers and beef feedlot cattle. A health scoring system was used to identify BRD cases and controls. Heritability estimates for BRD susceptibility ranged from 19 to 21% in dairy calves to 29.2% in beef cattle when using numerical scores as a semi-quantitative definition of BRD. A GWAS analysis conducted on the dairy calf data showed that single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) effects explained 20% of the variation in BRD incidence and 17–20% of the variation in clinical signs. These results represent a preliminary analysis of ongoing work to identify loci associated with BRD. Future work includes validation of the chromosomal regions and SNPs that have been identified as important for BRD susceptibility, fine mapping of chromosomes to identify causal SNPs, and integration of predictive markers for BRD susceptibility into genetic tests and national cattle genetic evaluations.