Controversy exists in the clinical setting as to whether blood pressure (BP) should be taken on only the left arm. It is also not known whether inter-arm BP differences exist when subjects are in varying static body positions. The purpose of this study was to examine whether BP differences exist between right and left arms when male or female subjects were in different static body positions. Young (18-29 years old), healthy, athletic, male (n = 10) and female (n = 10) subjects were used to obtain BP using standard auscultation in the right and left arms in the following different body positions: standing, sitting, and supine. Respiratory rate was set at 17-23 bpm for each subject and heart rate was monitored using a pulse transducer. Neither body position nor arm used influenced systolic BP in males and females, and the diastolic pressure in females (p > 0.05). However, in males, the diastolic BP in standing position was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than in supine position both in the right arm (85 ± 3.3 mmHg vs. 74 ± 2.0 mmHg) and in the left arm (88 ± 3.0 mmHg vs.75 ± 2.0 mmHg). Our findings suggest that young, healthy, and athletic adults do not experience inter-arm BP differences and that the effect of body position is sex specific.

The plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato strain DC3000 (DC3000) enters leaves to grow in the extracellular space between cells (the apoplast). The mechanisms by which DC3000 recognizes the apoplast environment and acquires nutrients needed for growth are not well understood. One factor that may be involved in acquisition of nutrients while DC3000 is growing in this environment is the DC3000 dctA1 gene, which encodes a C₄-dicarboxylate transporter. The role of the DctA1 transporter in acquisition of different dicarboxylates was investigated by comparing growth of a dctA1 mutant with wild type DC3000 in apoplast-like media with different carbon sources. The dctA1 mutant failed to grow when the dicarboxylates malate, fumarate, or succinate were the only carbon sources present. This indicates that DctA1 is required for uptake of these carbon sources in culture, and suggests that DctA1 plays an important role in acquisition of these nutrients when DC3000 is growing in the plant apoplast. DC3000 genome sequence analysis also revealed that adjacent to the dctA1 gene are genes that may play a role in recognition of the apoplast environment and encode a homologue of PhoP-PhoQ two component system, associated with virulence in many gram negative pathogens. Expression analysis of the phoP-phoQ operon showed that expression was higher in DC3000 cells grown in apoplast-like media than in cells grown in rich medium. These results suggest that PhoP and PhoQ may be required in the plant apoplast environment, and could be involved in inducing expression of virulence genes. Further analysis of the PhoP-PhoQ system in recognizing the apoplast environment and the DctA1 transporter in uptake of nutrients in the apoplastic space will lead to a better understanding of how DC3000 causes disease on plants.

We report on the diet dynamics of a population of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) over a 30 year period (1980-2010) in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, USA. Paul Lake is a small, unexploited, north temperate lake. We used seven functional diet groupings to assess inter-annual diet dynamics: zooplankton, Chaoborus spp., benthic invertebrates, pelagic invertebrates, terrestrial insects, fish prey and terrestrial vertebrates. To measure annual diet fluctuations an annual composite Index of Relative Importance, IRI (based on Σ of % number, % mass and frequency of occurrence of each diet grouping) was employed. We chronicled diets of 5098 largemouth bass. Significant inter-annual variation (Z ± 1.96, p < 0.05) occurred in each of the seven functional diet categories (variance ranged from 24-59%, 7/30 years and 17/30 years, respectively, of the entire data set). Those diet categories which had the fewest significant differences in annual IRIs as compared with the 30 year composite IRI value were zooplankton and terrestrial vertebrates at 24% and 34% (10/30 years). Fish prey and Chaoborus spp. had the most significant inter-annual variations at 55% (16/30) and 59% (17/30 years), respectively. The variance of the remaining diet functional groups ranged from 33-47% (10 to 14/30 years). We addressed the question of inter-annual diet fluctuations in relation to bass population density changes, but principle component analysis (PCA) demonstrated no correlation between diet and bass density (r = −0.030, p > 0.850).

Invasion of Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard) has become increasingly problematic, as it has disrupted the native ecosystem of the forest understory throughout most of the United States. A key element of garlic mustard invasion is the production of two compounds that have been shown to be inhibitory at relatively low concentrations, allyl-isothiocyanate (AITC) and benzyl-isothiocyanate (BITC). The current study utilizes Minimum Inhibitory Concentration tests to assess the effect of AITC, BITC, and AITC and BITC in combination on the soil microbial community across a gradient of invasion severity: from uninvaded, moderately invaded, and heavily invaded sites. It is hypothesized that prior history of garlic mustard invasion, chemical treatment, previous chemical exposure and chemical concentration will all influence microbial growth. Results showed that invasion history and chemical condition significantly influenced microbial growth for initially exposed trials, but only chemical condition influenced the growth of previously exposed trials. Microbial growth in initial trials was significantly higher than growth in previously exposed trials, and increasing chemical concentration correlated to decreased microbial growth. A better understanding of the relationship between garlic mustard and the general soil microbial community will enable the design of more efficient and site-specific evaluation and treatment techniques, as well as provide insights into the impact that invasion has on ecosystem processes.