Schizophrenia psychopathology clusters around several symptom domains. One of these domains is negative symptomatology. We have defined the deficit syndrome as a disease entity characterized by the presence of primary enduring negative symptoms. A focus on primary negative symptoms demonstrates that deficit and nondeficit schizophrenia subgroups differ on clinical features, associated neuroimaging findings, neuropsychological and neurological measures, pattern of risk factors, and pharmacological response profiles. In the present article we focus on the importance of the distinction between primary and secondary negative symptoms for pathophysiology research. The development and mechanistic understanding of anti-negative symptom drugs may be informative regarding pathophysiology of primary negative symptoms. Although new antipsychotics are effective for secondary negative symptoms they have shown no efficacy for the deficit syndrome and new mechanisms of drug action appear to be required to address this aspect of the disease syndrome. The loss of precious human experiences and the association with poor long-term functional outcome justifies a focused and dedicated effort to discover the causes and treatments of this distinctive aspect of schizophrenia.

Results from identical experiments conducted at Headland, AL, and Plains, GA, from 1980 through 1982 show insecticide treatment had little effect on soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr. ‘Coker 237′] growth and morphology. Maximum insecticide applications increased soybean seed weight in two of five trials. Soybeans maintained free of sicklepod (Cassia obtusifolia L. ♯3 CASOB) for 4 weeks after emergence produced yields equal to those receiving season-long control in all trials, and 2-week control was equal to season-long maintenance in three trials. Length of weed interference-free maintenance did not affect soybean height. The number of pods per plant and seed weight were decreased when there was no control. Sicklepod shoot fresh weight and numbers decreased as the weed-free period increased from 0 weeks through the season. Row spacing had no effect on soybean height or seed size; however, the number of pods per plant was higher in 80- than in 40-cm rows. Row spacing influenced yield in only one trial where 20-cm rows outyielded 40-cm rows. A significant interaction occurred between the weed-free period and row spacing in two trials. Soybeans in 20-cm rows outyielded those in 40- and 80-cm rows when sicklepod was not controlled (i.e., 0 weeks interference-free maintenance).

Florida beggarweed [Desmodium tortuosum (Sw.) DC] reduced peanut (Arachis hypogaea L. ‘Florunner′) yields more than sicklepod (Cassia obtusifolia L.) when the crop and weeds were allowed to compete for the full season. Regression analyses within years indicated peanut yield reductions of 15.8 to 30.2 kg/ha for each Florida beggarweed per 10 m2 vs. 6.1 to 22.3 kg/ha for each sicklepod per 10 m2. Each kilogram fresh weight per hectare of Florida beggarweed reduced peanut yields 0.15 to 0.74 kg/ha. Reductions in peanut yields ranged from 0.08 to 0.23 kg/ha for each kilogram fresh weight per hectare of sicklepod. Peanut yield reductions correlated more closely with the weights of the weeds than with their populations.

The Sahel in West Africa is a major wintering area for many western Palearctic migrants. The breeding populations of many of these have declined over the past 50 years. However, there have been few intensive field studies on migrant ecology in the Sahel and these were generally within a very restricted area. Consequently our knowledge of the distribution of species within this extensive area and the habitat associations of these species is limited. Understanding these habitat associations is essential for the effective conservation management of populations. We brought together a group of experts and consulted a wider group by email to assess the main Sahelian habitat types used by 68 African-Eurasian migrant bird species. Those species that showed strongest declines during 1970–1990 were associated with more open habitats than those newly declining during 1990–2000, when declining species were associated with habitats with more shrubs and trees. Populations of species that winter in the Sahel are generally stable or increasing now as rainfall has increased and is now near the long-term average for the Sahel. Those which use the Sahel only as a staging area are, in many cases, in rapid decline at present.

XANES (X-ray Absorption Near Edge Spectroscopy) has been employed to evaluate the efficacy of a process designed to encapsulate and reduce TcO4- in cement matrices, thereby immobilizing Tc. The oxidation state of Se following bioremediation of Se by bacteria has also been determined by XANES. The XANES measurements were performed at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (SSRL) and the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) at the respective K edges of Tc (21.0 keV) and Se (12.7 keV). Comparison of the XANES spectra of Tc in untreated cement to Tc in slag treated cement and to the chemical shifts of reference materials, shows that the oxidation state of Tc is the same in both cements. Thus, the addition of a reducing agent to the cement formulation does not significantly reduce the TcO4-. The common soil bacterium, Bacillus subtilis, is known to incorporate Se on or within the cell wall when exposed to a Se(IV) solution. The Se XANES spectra of B. subtilis, as well as bacillus isolated from selenium rich soil, show that the organisms reduce selenite to the red allotrope of elemental Se.