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IN THIS NEWSLINE ISSUED April 30 , 2009 :
- MAJOR GIFT TO CREATE ENDOWED CHAIR IN ANIMAL SCIENCES
- SWINE FLU: A VETERINARY PERSPECTIVE
- MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR CHRISTINA KENNEDY MAY 3
- PALM TREE CARE AND MAINTENANCE WORKSHOP MAY 7
- CALS PUBLICATIONS: APRIL
- WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE CONFERENCE JULY 9-10
- CALS IN THE NEWS: APRIL
1 MAJOR GIFT TO CREATE ENDOWED CHAIR IN ANIMAL SCIENCES
A donation to the University of Arizona Foundation from the estate of Phyllis Rosina Ede Hislop has enabled the University to establish a new endowed chair.
The estate gift from the estate of Phyllis Rosina Ede Hislop, who passed Aug. 22 at the age of 102, came in the amount of $1.25 million and will fund the Phyllis and Roy Hislop Endowed Chair in Animal Sciences.
The chair honors the memories of Roy R. Hislop, Phyllis Rosina Ede Hislop, William J. Ede and Rosina Ede.
Ronald E. Allen, head of the UA animal sciences department, was appointed as the chair's first recipient.
"We are so pleased to name Dr. Allen to this recently funded position," said Eugene G. Sander, dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, also known as CALS, which houses the animal sciences department.
Allen, who joined the UA faculty in 1981 following three years as an assistant professor at Michigan State University, was an original member of the organizing committee for the Physiological Sciences Graduate Interdisciplinary Program. He continues to participate in that program, as well as in the Biomedical Engineering Graduate Interdisciplinary Program.
"Endowed chairs are absolutely critical to maintaining The University of Arizona's competitive edge in the recruitment and, in this case, the retention of our best and brightest faculty members," Sander said.
Read more from the April 28 edition of UANews at the link below.
Ron Allen, Department of Animal Sciences, rallen@ag.arizona.edu
To learn more: http://uanews.opi.arizona.edu/node/25256
2 SWINE FLU: A VETERINARY PERSPECTIVE
Peder Cuneo, Extension Veterinarian in the UA Department of Veterinary Science and Microbiology, offers the following information and guidelines regarding the recent influenza outbreak:
There has been tremendous media attention directed towards the outbreak of influenza in North America. Human cases have been reported in Mexico, the U.S., Canada [and other countries]. Several agencies have identified this as "swine flu."
In fact there have not been any cases of this flu found in any animals. This was stated by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) on April 27: "There is no evidence that the virus is transmitted by food and the virus has not been isolated in animals to date. Therefore, it is not justified to name the disease swine influenza. It would be logical to call this disease "North American Influenza.'" Up to this point this disease has only been shown to be transmittable from humans to humans.
In published CDC reports, the two index cases reported in the U.S. had no contact with swine before developing the disease. The CDC states: "You cannot get swine influenza from eating pork or pork products. Eating a properly handled and cooked pork product is safe." There is no vaccine available right now to protect against swine flu.
As personal hand hygiene is very important in prevention, the CDC offers these guidelines for hand washing: 1) washing your hands often will help protect you from germs, and 2) wash with soap and warm water for 15-20 seconds or clean with alcohol-based hand cleaner, disposable hand wipes or gel sanitizers.
Although this influenza strain has not been found in animals, any pigs that are showing signs of illness, off feed, difficulty in breathing, or elevated body temperature should be examined by a veterinarian. Any animal showing such clinical signs should not be allowed to attend any livestock shows and should be isolated from other animals.
For more information on swine flu, see the following sites:
April 27 UAlert! article: http://uanews.org/node/25436
EDEN (Extension Disaster Education Network): http://www.eden.lsu.edu/Issues_View.aspx?IssueID=D1B8635B-6B6A-4326-8BBF-FF6FCEC0EA5C
CDC (Centers for Disease Control): http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/
World Health Organization: http://www.who.int/en/
Peder Cuneo, Arizona Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, cuneo@email.arizona.edu
3 MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR CHRISTINA KENNEDY MAY 3
Christina Kay Kennedy, retired professor of Plant Pathology, died at her home after a long illness on March 26, 2009. Christina joined the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Arizona in 1992. She ran a laboratory, taught microbial genetics and guided the careers of young biologists as a professor, mentor and friend until 2004, when she joined the Microbial Genome Sequencing Program at the National Science Foundation in Washington, D.C. She later returned to the UA and retired in 2007.
During a career that spanned more than 30 years, Christina studied the genetic basis for the bacterial conversion of atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia, with the long-term goal of harnessing the power of nitrogen-fixing bacteria to increase agricultural yields and improve soil fertility in developing nations.
A celebration of Christina's life will be held at the Tucson Botanical Gardens on Sunday May 3 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. A light lunch will be served so please RSVP to her daughter Meredith at Meredith@tll.org.sg. Christina was a lifelong animal lover and an ardent supporter of public radio and television; memorial contributions can be made to the Humane Society of Southern Arizona or to KUAT/KUAZ Tucson.
Read the full obituary and sign the guest book at the link below.
Hans VanEtten, Division of Plant Pathology, vanetten@ag.arizona.edu
To learn more: http://www.legacy.com/tucson/Obituaries.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=126683920
4 PALM TREE CARE AND MAINTENANCE WORKSHOP MAY 7
The Mohave County Cooperative Extension and the Bullhead City Area Master Gardeners are sponsoring a workshop on palm tree care and maintenance on May 7 in Laughlin, Nevada. The event will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Laughlin Library, 2840 Needles Hwy.
The workshop will cover planting, care, maintenance, fertilizing and pruning. Special guest speaker is M.L. Robinson, area extension specialist and horticulturist with the Clark County Cooperative Extension.
The registration fee is $10.00, payable in advance. For a registration form and more information, see the link below. You can also call the Arizona Mohave County Cooperative Extension office in Kingman at (928) 753-3788.
Vicki Coombs, Mohave County Cooperative Extension, vacoombs@cals.arizona.edu
To learn more: http://cals.arizona.edu/mohave/palmtreeworkshop.pdf
The American hornet moth, Sesia tibialis, is a serious pest of several species of poplars and willows in the higher elevations of northern Arizona. Aspen are a particularly favorite host. Widely found throughout much of southern Canada, and the northern United States including the states of the southern Rocky Mountains and California.
A recently revised Arizona Cooperative Extension bulletin describes the insect and the damage it causes, and explains control measures. The two-page, full-color publication is available at the link below.
Tom DeGomez, Coconino County Cooperative Extension, degomez@ag.arizona.edu
To learn more: http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/insects/az1284.pdf
6 WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE CONFERENCE JULY 9-10
"Pulling Together" is the theme of the 13th Annual Arizona Women in Agriculture Conference to be be held July 9-10 at the Radisson Woodlands Hotel, 1175 W Route 66 in Flagstaff. The leadership conference, which addresses the issues women face on and off the farm, is co-sponsored each year by the Arizona Farm Bureau Women's Leadership Committee and the University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
This year two of the sessions will be conducted by Arizona Cooperative Extension faculty: Linda Houtkooper, associate director, programs, will conduct "Healthy Living--Nutrition & Activity Tips" and Monica Pastor, Maricopa County Extension director, will conduct "Pulling Together for Ag Literacy."
See the complete agenda and a registration form at the link below.
Monica Pastor, Maricopa County Cooperative Extension, mpastor@ag.arizona.edu
To learn more: http://azfb.org/news/index.cfm?fuseaction=article&rowid=237
NOT 'BATTY' FOR RABIES
Bats are commonly used in horror films to make a dark night even spookier. In reality, these creatures tend to leave humans alone, but they do pose a threat in transmitting rabies.
The UA, in collaboration with the Arizona Department of Game and Fish and the Arizona Department of Health Services, created the Batty about Bats guide to educate the public about rabies exposure and bat conservation.
"In the last couple of years, we've had a relatively high number of children exposed to rabid bats in school environments," said Dawn Gouge, an associate professor and etymologist at the UA. "We decided that we wanted to put together something on bats that would be user-friendly for schools."
The guide gives an overview of bats and how handling and playing with bats can lead to rabies exposure.
Read more from the April 30 issue of the Arizona Daily Wildcat at
http://media.wildcat.arizona.edu/media/storage/paper997/news/2009/04/30/News/Not-batty.For.Rabies-3732668.shtml
Also see http://uanews.opi.arizona.edu/node/25200
Dawn Gouge, Maricopa Agricultural Center, dhgouge@ag.arizona.edu
LEAP IN LEAFY GREENS TRACEBACK
The University of Arizona (UA) Yuma County Cooperative Extension is employing technology to create possibly the first geo-referenced, field-level precision traceback system in the leafy greens industry.
The project utilizes a global positioning system (GPS) and a radio frequency identification (RFID) chip/tag to construct a powerful, real-time, Web-based computer database of information during harvest. The information is transmitted by radio to an RFID tag on the just-packed produce carton in the field.
Growers, shippers, food buyers, grocery stores, and consumers, with authorization, could access specific information in seconds on the Internet.
Recorded tags can include a plethora of information--grower names, pest control advisers, irrigators, and harvest workers involved in crop production; fertilizer rate information, harvest conditions, field names, and yield data.
The concept was developed by Kurt Nolte, director and Extension agent with the UA Cooperative Extension Service, Yuma County, Ariz. The grower-based Arizona Iceberg Lettuce Research Council funded the project.
Nolte teamed with Internet entrepreneur Joel Spencer, LittleMunk Media, Inc., Yuma, to design the prototype system for this year's winter iceberg lettuce harvest.
The hardware is valued at about $5,000 and includes a laptop (likely to be replaced with a field computer), Trimble Pathfinder Pro GPS, Sirit RFID reader, and antenna. The operating system runs on Microsoft Windows Mobile software, while the database software is from TrackerPoint.
Read more from the April 18 issue of Western Farm Press at http://westernfarmpress.com/equipment/leafy-greens-traceback-0423/
Kurt Nolte, Yuma Cooperative Extension, knolte@ag.arizona.edu
CULTIVATING COSMIC CROPS
Astronauts could soon be eating fresh vegetables on the moon with the help of UA's lunar greenhouse.
The Controlled Environment Agriculture Center at the UA has worked on their lunar greenhouse for about a year and they now have a fully functional greenhouse that could one day grow crops on the moon.
"What we want to do in the long term is provide life support through a greenhouse that's growing plants," said CEAC Director Gene Giacomelli. "It's not life support just to feed people, it's relatively easy to get food to the moon, it's harder to get oxygen and fresh water."
The lunar greenhouse includes a variety of crops including sweet potatoes, strawberries, romaine lettuce and tomatoes.
"One of the reasons the sweet potato is such a great idea for space applications is because not only can you eat the plant root but you can also eat the leaves," said Lane Patterson, a masters student in agricultural and biosystems engineering.
Read more from the April 22 Arizona Daily Star at
http://media.wildcat.arizona.edu/media/storage/paper997/news/2009/04/22/News/Cultivating.Cosmic.Crops-3720779.shtml
Gene Giacomelli, Controlled Environment Agriculture Center, giacomel@ag.arizona.edu
AN OFF SWITCH FOR DISEASE?
In the late 1980s, a molecular geneticist named Richard Jorgensen and a colleague were trying to create a petunia that was a deeper shade of purple, when something went wrong: "Instead of more color, we got white flowers. It was completely unexpected," he recalls.
It took researchers 10 years to figure out what Jorgensen, now a professor in the department of plant sciences at the University of Arizona, had done: He caused a happy accident that has led to a major medical breakthrough, allowing scientists to close in on effective therapies--perhaps even cures--for cancer, HIV, diabetes, Alzheimer's, and other serious diseases.
Jorgensen had synthesized pigment genes, which he injected into the petunias. But when he introduced copies of the gene to the flowers, he unknowingly set off a viral defense mechanism scientists now call RNA interference, or RNAi. The remarkable thing was that RNAi not only shut down the new pigment genes, it deactivated all the pigment genes in the flower.
Read more from the article in the April 14 edition of Oprah.com at
http://www.oprah.com/article/health/diseases/200903_omag_disease_cure
Richard Jorgensen, BIO5 Institute, raj@email.arizona.edu
QUESTIONS ARISE ABOUT EUTHANIZED JAGUAR
A jaguar captured from the wild and euthanized may not have had chronic kidney failure after all, according to the University of Arizona's Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.
After reviewing tissue samples, pathologist Sharon Dial of the laboratory said authorities may have moved too fast to euthanize the jaguar earlier this month.
Arizona Game and Fish officials had said the jaguar, named Macho B, had "off-the-charts" kidney failure, while Dial said the animal's bloodwork actually could have indicated dehydration.
Dial said the Phoenix Zoo, where the big cat had been taken, should have kept Macho B on intravenous fluids for 24 to 48 hours before euthanizing it. State Game and Fish officials and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials agreed to euthanize the animal about five hours after he first got fluids. Zoo officials made the recommendation based on blood test results.
Dial said it is unproven "dogma" among some medical experts that blood levels alone can be used to "make a definitive statement that this animal will not survive."
Read more from the March 29 issue of the Arizona Daily Star at
http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/2009/03/29/20090329jaguar-ON.html
Sharon Dial, Arizona Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, sdial@email.arizona.edu
FEDS LAUNCH CRIMINAL PROBE OF JAGUAR DEATH
The curious case of Macho B, the jaguar captured in southern Arizona, has quickly descended into finger pointing and official investigations.
There are questions about whether the jaguar was euthanized too quickly, as well as accusations he was captured on purpose, not accidentally, as the Arizona Game & Fish Department has stated.
On Thursday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said its law-enforcement division had begun a criminal investigation into all aspects of the capture and death of the animal.
It began its investigation after a request from U.S. Rep. Raśl Grijalva and because Game & Fish asked for an outside agency to look into what happened.
Read more from the Arizona Republic story (reprinted April 3 in the Tucson Citizen),
which includes an interview with Sharon Dial in the Arizona Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory: http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/fromcomments/113580.php
Sharon Dial, Arizona Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, sdial@email.arizona.edu
NEW UA LAB RESEARCHES MEDICINES IN WATER SUPPLY
A new laboratory at the University of Arizona is giving researchers a better understanding of an emerging concern to health officials--traces of pharmaceutical drugs and other pollutants found in our water supply.
Investigations from The Associated Press and the U.S. Geological Survey have discovered that many types of trace compounds have infiltrated the water supplies across the country, including in Tucson.
The consequences and effects of these contaminants aren't known, but UA researchers say the Arizona Laboratory for Emerging Contaminants will provide valuable tools that will help address growing concerns associated with the pollutants.
"The lab gives us a ticket into the game," said Robert Arnold, a professor with the UA's department of chemical and environmental engineering who uses the lab to measure and detect trace pollutants in wastewater.
"Anything we use in reasonable quantity ends up in wastewater. The concern is we haven't begun to fully investigate the impact, and the health effects are not well-established," Arnold said.
In addition to pharmaceutical drugs, including hormones, wastewater also can contain pesticides, metals and personal-care products such as anti-bacterial soap, said Jon Chorover, co-director of the lab and a UA professor of soil, water and environmental science.
Read more from the April 13 issue of the Arizona Daily Star at http://www.azstarnet.com/news/288452
John Chorover, Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science, chorover@cals.arizona.edu
DOWNTURN A TIME TO INNOVATE, RETAILERS TELL UA GLOBAL CONFERENCE
Now's the time for retailers to make innovative changes and develop new technologies if they want to emerge strong from the recession.
It's those companies that will thrive when the economy rebounds, speakers said [April 2] at this year's Global Retailing Conference held by the University of Arizona's Terry J. Lundgren Center for Retailing. Nearly 300 retail insiders and students attended the two-day conference at the Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa.
"Recessions present opportunities. They present opportunities in leadership and innovation," said Patricia Walker, an executive partner with Accenture. "Companies that grow after a recession, they grew during a recession." During her presentation, Walker painted a stark contrast between today's retail scene and those of years past. Many consumers--especially those now in their teens and 20s--won't bother visiting an actual store, she said.
Read more from the April 3 issue of the Arizona Daily Star at http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/287181.php
Melinda Burke, Terry J. Lundgren Center for Retailing, mburke@ag.arizona.edu
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