Students at the Grace Wilday Junior High School in Roselle, NJ, returned to school this September to a newly installed rain garden, a 2,000 sq. ft. construction in the school’s front yard, thanks to the Rutgers Cooperative Extension’s (RCE) Water Resources Program, the Roselle Department of Public Works and its outgoing 8th grade class. Constructed […]
Archives for September 2015
Rutgers Scientist Explains Fisheries Management in New Jersey
Olaf Jensen, assistant professor at Rutgers University’s Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, is one member of the scientific community who helps decide how best to manage fish species in New Jersey as a member of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee… Jensen explained the challenges and difficulties in assessing dynamic fish populations. To put his audience of mostly recreational fishermen at ease, he told a funny story about a forester and a scientist having a conversation on numbers. “The forester says he goes out and counts the trees and makes a decision on how many he can cut down while still sustaining the forest. The fisheries manager says, “I do the same thing, except you can’t see the fish and they move.”… Determining the amount of the black sea bass biomass and subsequently setting fishing limits has been made more difficult by the biology of that species. Black sea bass are “protogenous hermaphrodites,” said Jensen. “They start out as females and change sex,” he said.
Vitamin D Deficiency Linked To Faster Decline In Cognitive Function Among Older Adults
Low levels of vitamin D may accelerate cognitive decline in older adults, a new study finds… “It remains to be determined whether vitamin D supplementation slows cognitive decline,” the researchers noted. Importantly, they found Hispanic and African-American participants, on average, had significantly lower vitamin D levels when compared to their European American peers… “Deficiency is probably due to some combination of limited sun exposure and low dietary intake,” Dr. Joshua Miller, study co-author and chair of the Department of Nutritional Sciences at Rutgers University, told Medical Daily. “There are genetic polymorphisms that can influence the function of vitamin D within cells.”… First, “about 60 percent or more of the participants were low in vitamin D, either insufficient or outright deficient,” Dr. Joshua Miller, study co-author and chair of the Department of Nutritional Sciences at Rutgers University, said in an interview.
The Quest for the Perfect Tomato
In the day when the mass production of food trumped everything else, plant breeders developed the “perfect” supermarket tomato. Thick-skinned and with a shelf life for the ages, it was a boon for growers, shippers and retailers… But even non-foodie consumers realized that they were getting the short end of the stick. Those reddish orbs looked like the real thing but tasted like damp cardboard, and the supermarket tomato became a standing joke. It also spurred the rediscovery and celebration of the heirloom tomato, the antique, vernacular fruit that managed to capture not only the folksy history of a regional variety but also the warmth and memory of summer itself. The poster child was the brassy beefsteak Brandywine, but thousands of tomato varieties have survived thanks in large part to this renaissance… This is the magic driving another tomato breeding program in New Jersey, a state where the tomato is a cultural icon. At Rutgers University’s agricultural research farm in Pittstown, hybridizer Tom Orton has been trying to capture the lost flavor of a famous old variety named, simply, Rutgers… I recently met his colleague Jack Rabin at the Snyder farm in Pittstown to taste the shortlisted finalists. We abbreviated their actual identification numbers to No. 1, No. 3 and No. 6.
Researchers Partner for Studies on Standardbreds
The Equine Science Center at Rutgers University partnered with the University of Minnesota in procuring blood samples from over 700 Standardbred horses in New Jersey and New York for a new group of studies aimed at identifying genetic factors underlying musculoskeletal diseases in horses… “The Equine Science Center was proud to be able to show our colleagues from Minnesota some of the best Standardbred horses in the country,” said Karyn Malinowski, PhD, professor of animal science and the director of the Rutgers Equine Science Center. “To be able to get blood samples from these top-tier competitors will not only help to diversify the genetic studies taking place, but will also provide great performance data to be used by the trainers of these horses. My heartfelt thanks goes out to the over 20 trainers who participated in the data collection.”… Sampling in New Jersey and New York took place Sept. 10-13, and will be added to a larger sampling conducted by the University of Minnesota team.
Rutgers Launches Food Accelerator Program, Conference
The Rutgers Food Innovation Center recently launched RutgersX, the first business accelerator program at the university… Business accelerators provide a cohort of entrepreneurial companies with a mentoring team that brings professional expertise and a venue in which they can “pitch” their business to a community of angel and venture investors, strategic partners, and retail and food-service customers. The first cohort of companies will be pitch presenters at the RutgersX Accelerating Food Entrepreneurs Conference on Nov. 16 at the Rutgers College Avenue Student Center in New Brunswick… “Given the tremendous interest we have in RutgersX, and our New Brunswick location that makes this an easy commute from the tristate area, we are confident that our 2015 conference will be a sold-out event, and will be continued in 2016 and beyond,” said Lou Cooperhouse, founder of RutgersX and director of the Rutgers Food Innovation Center in a news release. “We are already making plans to expand our program and include other industry sectors in future years.”
Rutgers’ Plant Breeders: Fighting Hunger and Disease, Bringing Back Jersey Tomato
As part of its 250th anniversary celebration, state’s largest public college will honor its world-renowned program and a cornucopia of vegetables, nuts, and berries… Agricultural scientist Jack Rabin tends to show his enthusiasm when he speaks about the staff at Rutgers University’s plant-breeding program. “Rob Pyne has the most perfume-scented job on God’s earth being a Ph.D. candidate plant breeder of basil,” he’ll say. And, “If Jim Simon were not here and did not have his germplasm collection who would do this for society?”… The obvious ardor of the associate director of farm programs at Rutgers’ New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES) is contagious. And it makes it difficult to dismiss his assertion that his coworkers’ contributions to the global food pantry are not only groundbreaking but of unassailable importance.
Vitamin D Deficiency May Accelerate Cognitive Decline
Vitamin D has increasingly become the focus of several scientific investigations as researchers seek to better understand the role that the compound plays in organ function, especially that of the brain. Now, new research indicates that vitamin D insuf…
Study Indicates Low Vitamin D Level Predicts Cognitive Decline in Older Population
In a study published Sept. 15 in JAMA-Neurology, Joshua Miller, professor of nutritional sciences at the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, found that older adults with low levels of vitamin D experienced rates of cognitive decline at a much faster pace than people with adequate vitamin D status. Miller’s study — conducted with […]
How Vitamin D Affects Alzheimer’s Risk
Vitamin D is a controversial topic among doctors, mainly because studies about its health effects have been so conflicting. While vitamin D is critical for many body systems, including bones and the brain, recent studies that have tested these assumpti…