Early soybean planting and cover crop adoption in the U.S. Midwest prompt investigation into the impact of these practices on weed community dynamics and best management practices. While previous research has explored different aspects of giant ragweed control, the specific integration among soil management practices, including cover crop adoption, soybean planting timing, and herbicide use, has not been thoroughly investigated. This study assessed the effects of soil management, soybean planting time, and preemergence (PRE) herbicide application on giant ragweed control and soybean yield in Wisconsin and Nebraska in 2022 and 2023. The study included a factorial arrangement of four soil management treatments (conventional tillage, no-till, and fall-planted cereal rye early terminated and terminated at planting [planting green]), two soybean planting times, and two PRE herbicide treatments (PRE and no PRE). POST herbicides were applied when ∼50% of giant ragweed plants within each treatment reached ∼10 cm in height. In Nebraska, cereal rye and tillage treatments without a PRE had at least 67% lower giant ragweed density than no-till at POST. In no-till, densities were at least 60% lower with PRE compared to no PRE. In Wisconsin, cereal rye did not reduce giant ragweed density at POST compared to no-till, likely due to relatively low biomass accumulation. In contrast, delayed soybean planting reduced giant ragweed density for most treatments but lowered soybean yield in no-till and planting-green treatments. The PRE herbicides had either no effect or positive effects on reducing giant ragweed density and increasing soybean yield. Overall, this study suggests that soil management and soybean planting timing are crucial for effective giant ragweed management in Wisconsin, where biotypes with a long emergence window during the spring and summer are present, while in Nebraska, soil management and soybean planting timing are less critical due to giant ragweed biotypes with an early and short emergence window in the spring.

Selection of effective herbicide strategies (i.e., one-pass versus two-pass and timing [preemergence versus postemergence]) is of great importance to corn growers. Field studies were conducted to evaluate overall end-of-season weed control efficacy of multiple herbicide strategies in conventional tillage corn production systems. These studies were carried out over six site-years at four locations in Wisconsin: Arlington (2018 and 2019), Brooklyn (2019), Lancaster (2019), and Janesville (2018 and 2019). Herbicide strategy treatments included one-pass preemergence, one-pass postemergence, two-pass preemergence followed by (fb) postemergence, and two-pass preemergence fb postemergence with layered residual herbicides. The weed species present at the experimental site-years included common lambsquarters, giant foxtail, giant ragweed, velvetleaf, and waterhemp. Except Arlington-2019, the herbicide strategy was not as influential for the site-years infested with common lambsquarters, giant foxtail, velvetleaf, and waterhemp species (e.g., Arlington-2018, Brooklyn-2019, Lancaster-2019), as effective overall end-of-season control (>90%) was achieved regardless of the herbicide strategy, and no significant differences were observed in the combined weed biomass across strategies. A two-pass strategy (e.g., preemergence followed by postemergence, or preemergence followed by postemergence with layered residual herbicides) was necessary for effective overall end-of-season control at the site-years infested with giant ragweed (Janesville-2018 and -2019). Weed interference reduced corn yield by 11% to 75% across site-years. Although certain weed communities can be effectively controlled by a one-pass herbicide strategy, two-pass strategies provided the greatest and most consistent overall end-of-season weed control and corn yield across all site-years, regardless of weed species composition and environmental conditions. Hence, a two-pass herbicide strategy is recommended for conventional-tillage corn production in Wisconsin to ensure effective end-of-season weed control while protecting yield potential of the crop, particularly in fields infested with moderate to high density of troublesome weeds such as giant ragweed.

Widespread occurrence of herbicide-resistant weeds and more variable weather conditions across the United States has made weed control in many crops more challenging. Preemergence (PRE) herbicides with soil residual activity have resurged as the foundation for early season weed control in many crops. Field experiments were conducted in Janesville and Lancaster, Wisconsin, in 2021 and 2022 (4 site-years) to evaluate the weed control efficacy of solo (single site of action [SOA]) and premix (two or more SOAs) PRE herbicides in conventional tillage corn. Treatments consisted of 18 PRE herbicides plus a nontreated check. At the Janesville-2021 site, S-metolachlor + bicyclopyrone + mesotrione, atrazine + S-metolachlor + bicyclopyrone + mesotrione, and clopyralid + acetochlor + mesotrione provided >72% giant ragweed control. At the Janesville-2022 site, none of the PRE herbicides evaluated provided >70% giant ragweed control due to the high giant ragweed density and the lack of timely rainfall. At the Lancaster-2021 site, atrazine, dicamba, and flumetsulam + clopyralid provided <45% waterhemp control, but the remaining treatments provided >90% control. At the Lancaster-2022 site, the efficacy of some PRE herbicides was reduced due to the high waterhemp density; however, most herbicides provided >75% control. At the Lancaster-2021 and Lancaster-2022 sites, only dicamba and S-metolachlor did not provide >75% common lambsquarters control. Group 15 PRE herbicides provided >75% control of giant foxtail. Across weed species, PRE herbicides with two (78%) and three (81%) SOAs provided greater weed control than PRE herbicides with a single SOA (68%), indicating that at least two SOA herbicides applied PRE result in better early season weed control. The efficacy of the PRE herbicide treatments evaluated herein varied according to the soil seedbank weed community composition and environmental conditions (i.e., rainfall following application), but the premixes were a more reliable option to improve early season weed control in conventional tillage corn.

Cereal rye cover crop (cereal rye) and preemergence (PRE) herbicides are becoming common practices for managing herbicide-resistant weeds in soybean production. Adopting these two practices in combination raises concerns regarding herbicide fate in soil, given that the cereal rye biomass can intercept the herbicide spray solution, preventing it from reaching the soil. Delaying cereal rye termination until soybean planting (planting green) optimizes biomass accumulation but might also increase PRE interception. To better understand the dynamics between cereal rye and PRE herbicides, a field experiment was conducted to evaluate two soil management practices (tillage and no-till) and two cereal rye termination practices in the planting-green system (glyphosate [1,260 g ae ha−1] and roller-crimper) on the spray deposition and fate of PRE herbicides and soybean yield. The spray deposition was assessed by placing water-sensitive paper cards on the soil surface before spraying the PRE herbicides (sulfentrazone [153 g ai ha−1] + S-metolachlor [1,379 g ai ha−1]). Herbicide concentration in soil (0 to 7.6 cm) was quantified 25 d after treatment (DAT). The presence of no-till stubble and cereal rye biomass reduced the spray coverage compared to tillage at PRE application, which reflected in a reduction in the concentration of both herbicides in soil 25 DAT. Soybean yield was reduced in all three years when the cereal rye was terminated with a roller-crimper but only reduced in one year when terminated with glyphosate. Our findings indicate that mainly cereal rye biomass reduced the concentration of PRE herbicides in the soil due to the interception of the spray solution during application. Although higher cereal rye biomass accumulation can provide better weed suppression according to the literature, farmers should be aware that the biomass can lower the concentration of PRE herbicides reaching the soil, thus intensifying field scouting to ensure that weed control is not being negatively affected.

Childhood and adolescence coincide with rapid structural and functional maturation of brain networks implicated in Theory of Mind (ToM); however, the impact of paediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) on the development of these higher order skills is not well understood. ToM can be partitioned into conative ToM, defined as the ability to understand how indirect speech acts involving irony and empathy are used to influence the mental or affective state of the listener; and affective ToM, concerned with understanding that facial expressions are often used for social purposes to convey emotions that we want people to think we feel. In a sample of 84 children with mild-severe TBI and 40 typically developing controls, this study examined the effect of paediatric TBI on affective and conative ToM; and evaluated the respective contributions of injury-related factors (injury severity/lesion location) and non-injury-related environmental variables (socio-economic status (SES)/family functioning) to long-term ToM outcomes. Results showed that the poorest ToM outcomes were documented in association with mild-complicated and moderate TBI, rather than severe TBI. Lesion location and SES did not significantly contribute to conative or affective ToM. Post-injury family affective responsiveness was the strongest and most significant predictor of conative ToM. Results suggest that clinicians should exercise caution when prognosticating based on early clinical indicators, and that group and individual-level outcome prediction should incorporate assessment of a range of injury- and non-injury-related factors. Moreover, the affective quality of post-injury family interactions represents a potentially modifiable risk factor, and might be a useful target for family-centred interventions designed to optimise social cognitive outcomes after paediatric TBI.

Non-destructive investigation, chemically fingerprinting, and authentication of ceramic cultural artifacts is a challenging analytical problem. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy is capable of distinguishing between clays based on the paramagnetic metals present, and firing temperature (TF) based on the complexes of these metals formed at different TF values. Unfortunately, the 9 GHz frequency of conventional X-band EPR restricts sample size to a few mm and limits its applicability to small fragments. Low frequency EPR (LFEPR) is based on an EPR spectrometer operating at a few hundred MHz. LFEPR can utilize larger samples on the order of a few cm, but has a lower sensitivity due to the smaller Boltzmann ratio. Additionally, LFEPR may not be capable of detecting a spectral transition if the LFEPR operating frequency is less then the zero-field splitting of the paramagnetic metal complex. We utilized an LFEPR operating at 300 MHz which scans the applied magnetic field between the local Earth’s magnetic field and 26 mT to determine the feasibility of detecting EPR signals from clays, pigments, and glazes. Various clay samples were studied at 100 < TF < 1200 °C. Spectral differences were seen as a function of both clay type and TF. Differences in the LFEPR spectra of Han, Egyptian, and Ultramarine blue support the ability to distinguish among pigments. Paramagnetic impurities in glass may allow distinction between glaze spectra. We have also explored the utility of LFESR by the use of a radio frequency surface coil rather than an enclosed resonator. Although the active volume of the surface coil is ∼1 cm3, objects as large as 20 cm in diameter might be easily characterized with our spectrometer.