Impacts of Toxic Fescue Seed Consumed by Pregnant Heifers on Maternal Blood Flow and Offspring Growth Parameters: Potential for Melatonin as a Therapeutic to Improve Offspring Growth

The southeastern United States is home to endophyte-infected (E+), toxic, tall fescue grass. Consumption of E+ fescue by livestock has been linked to fescue toxicosis, a disease reported to cost the United States beef industry around $1 billion in annual losses. The primary objective of this dissertation was to evaluate the influence of pregnant cattle consuming E+ seed during gestation on uterine artery blood flow and growth performance of female offspring. The secondary objective was to investigate melatonin supplementation as a mitigation strategy for expected fescue-associated decreases in uterine artery blood flow and offspring growth performance. The study reported in chapter II investigates the influence of pregnant heifers consuming E+ seed with (M) or without (NM) melatonin supplementation during mid-late gestation on uterine artery hemodynamics, plasma prolactin (PRL) and melatonin (MEL) concentrations, as well as total antioxidant capacity (TAC). Body weight, total uterine artery blood flow (TBF), ipsilateral uterine artery blood flow (BF), ipsilateral uterine artery blood flow as a proportion of body weight (BF/BW), ipsilateral and contralateral uterine artery diameters, and PRL were decreased and ipsilateral uterine artery pulsatility index (PI) was increased in pregnant heifers consuming E+ seed relative to endophyte-free fescue (E-) seed. Concentration of MEL and TAC were increased for M heifers relative to NM heifers. The study reported in chapter III investigates the influence of pregnant heifers consuming E+ seed with M or NM during mid-late gestation on growth performance of female offspring. Gestation length, birth weight, 205-d weaning weight (205-d WW), and post-weaning weights were decreased in calves born to dams that consumed E+ relative to E- seed. Calf birth weight tended to be increased in calves born to M dams relative to NM dams. Calf 205-d WW was decreased in calves born to E+/NM dams relative to E-/NM, E-/M, and E+/M. Ultrasonic estimate of ribeye area (UREA) was decreased in calves born to E+/NM dams relative to E-/NM and E+/M. The study reported in chapter IV investigates the influence of pregnant heifers consuming E+ seed or E- seed during mid-late gestation on feedlot performance and carcass characteristics of female offspring. Dams consuming E+ seed during gestation produced calves with decreased pre-feedlot body weight (BW), UREA, UFAT, ultrasonic estimate of rump fat (URUMP), feedlot BW, hot carcass weight (HCW), back fat (FT), yield grade (YG), and income relative to offspring born to dams consuming E- seed. Percentage of retail product was increased in calves born to dams consuming E+ seed relative to E- seed perhaps due to increased fat trimming. In summary, consumption of E+ seed by pregnant heifers during mid-late gestation resulted in decreased uterine artery blood flow and offspring growth rates. Decreased growth rates were maintained through the feedlot stage and carcasses generated decreased income. Such losses could translate to a decreased return on investment for the producer and packer. However, melatonin supplementation to pregnant dams consuming E+ seed appeared to rescue fescue-associated losses in offspring weaning weight and ribeye area at weaning, indicating potential as a mitigation strategy

Real time Adaptive Control of a PID via Genetic Algorithm Machine Learning Systems

The most common control method that is utilized by all industries across the world is the proportional-integrative-derivative controller (PID) due the relatively low cost and complexity of the system. However, there are draw-backs with PIDs, it is not adaptative to a changing system, so it works on nominal systems, and it starts breaking down when a system begins to have a non-linear response. The method chosen to overcome both is the utilization of machine learning with the use of genetic algorithms. This method allows any PID system to be capable of adapting in real-time, while not adding significant additional cost and not requiring specialized equipment. In this paper a PMSM AC motor was set-up with a simplistic calculation on settling time, % overshoot and % error programmed in Python with PyTorch. With MATLAB being utilized to plot the results and provide additional analysis. The purpose of this is not to generate a 1-1 realistic motor but to demonstrate that if a system is able to output settling time, error, and overshoot parameters the algorithm attempts to drive it down to 0 while outputting the up-to-date PID values

Effect of Traditional versus Fenceline Weaning on Lamb Stress

Stress is a significant factor affecting the health, behavior, and performance of sheep in production settings. Most lambs go through artificial weaning, and this is a stressful time in a lamb’s life. Stress can negatively affect growth rates, feed efficiency, and susceptibility to illness and parasites. The traditional and most common method of weaning is the abrupt separation of lambs from their dams. An alternative method of weaning, fenceline weaning, has been found to reduce stress in cattle and may also reduce stress in sheep. The objectives of this study were to evaluate body weights, fecal egg counts, and behavior to determine if the traditional or fenceline weaning method has lower stress associated with weaning in lambs. The study was conducted at the Milo J. Shult Agricultural Research & Extension Center, with two 14-day trials, totaling 32 majority Hampshire breed lambs. Lambs were assigned to either a fenceline or abrupt weaning group. Body weights were recorded on days 0, 7, and 14, and fecal samples were collected on days 0 and 14 to assess parasite loads. Behavioral responses were observed through video recordings using instantaneous scan sampling for the first three days after weaning. Fecal egg counts and weight change measurements were not different (P ≥ 0.26) between the weaning methods. The interaction between weaning group and day was detected for lying and eating behaviors (P ≤ 0.02). The lambs in the fenceline weaning group performed standing and walking behaviors less frequently than the abrupt weaning group. This indicates that the fenceline weaned group had less stress than the abruptly separated weaning group. Mitigating stress is important in finding the best management practices to improve animal welfare and productivity

The Ghost Children

The Ghost Childrenis a young adult historical novel, the first fictional work in prose to tell the story of Action T4, Nazi Germany’s mass murder program targeting people with disabilities. Told in alternating chapters by a blind teenager and her older brother, this is the story of Hitler’s forgotten victims: their struggle to survive, fight back, and find love. Seventeen-year-old Eva Schreiber is totally blind from birth and considers herself a loyal Nazi, until she learns that Hitler’s government considers people like her “life unworthy of life” and is forced to face the worst of the Third Reich’s evil. With her parents dead, she lives at St. Anna’s Home for Handicapped Girls while her older brother Dietrich, an officer in the Waffen-SS, is off at war. But in the summer of 1941, Dietrich comes home on leave and warns Eva that St. Anna’s is closing and the girls will be moved to the dangerous hospital of Sonnenstein, promising that he has a plan to protect her. Dietrich and his girlfriend, a young nurse named Greta Zimmermann, get Eva and three friends out of the killing center by faking their deaths. In hiding with a group of teens with a variety of physical and mental disabilities, Eva wrestles with her Nazi upbringing and falls in love with Alaric Drescher, a crippled pilot who attempted suicide after an accident. The teens grow more comfortable with their own disabilities and undertake a nocturnal anti-Nazi graffiti campaign under the name Ghost Children that puts the entire resistance network at risk. When Dietrich\u27s romance with Greta becomes public knowledge and his best friend and fellow soldier grows suspicious, his double life as resistance leader and SS officer unravels. As he\u27s forced toward further complicity with Nazi atrocities, Dietrich searches for a way to save his sister without losing himself. But just when the network has a plan to sneak the fugitives into Switzerland, a devastating betrayal threatens all of them

Polyphenol-Protein Interactions in Pigmented Cereals – a Clean-Label Approach to Tailor Starch Viscosity

Viscosity plays an important role in the food industry as it affects the quality, processing stability, and shelf-life of food and impacts physiological responses such as satiation and satiety. Greater viscosity reduces food intake by increasing the perception of satiety, primarily by delaying gastric emptying and increasing tactile stimulation. Starch is commonly added to food products as a viscosifying ingredient, which often involves chemically modifying the starch via cross-linking, to enhance its resistance to high shear, temperature and acidity. However, chemically modified starches are not “clean-label” ingredients due to the use of toxic chemicals. Therefore, further exploration is needed to develop starch-based ingredients that are solely comprised of natural and chemical-free components while preserving the functional characteristics of chemically modified starch. Recent research demonstrated that polyphenols enhance starch viscosity by interacting with proteins, highlighting their role as natural cross-linkers. Pigmented cereals are a good source of polyphenols, which interact with endosperm proteins to affect the pasting and rheological properties of starch. Nevertheless, the nature and extent of their interactions, as affected by polyphenol and protein classes, are unknown. The present study aimed to elucidate the nature and extent of polyphenol-protein interactions and their role in the viscosity development of rice and sorghum of varying bran colors. The covalent and non-covalent nature of polyphenol-protein interactions in pigmented and non-pigmented rice and sorghum and their effects on pasting properties, were studied using chemical agents and at different pH environments. The changes in molecular weight and size, and the secondary and tertiary structures of proteins, as affected by polyphenol class and concentration, were monitored via sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), high performance size-exclusion chromatography (HPSEC), circular dichroism spectroscopy (CD), and fluorescence spectroscopy, respectively. The viscosity development and protein structure were influenced by both polyphenol class and concentration. A low anthocyanin concentration in milled purple rice increased peak viscosity, and high anthocyanin levels in parboiled whole grain purple rice enhanced viscoelastic properties in an acidic environment due to the formation of covalent cross-links with glutelin. Black sorghum exhibited less breakdown in various pH environments as a result of hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions between proanthocyanidins and prolamin. Polyphenol-protein interactions naturally enhanced and stabilized starch viscosity in both neutral and acidic environments, similar to chemically cross-linked starch, demonstrating their potential as clean-label ingredients with viscosifying and satiety-enhancing properties

Fish Cultivation in Fallow Season Rice Fields: Effects on Landscape Methane Emissions

Co-cultivation of aquatic animals and rice in the same field is a fairly common practice in various parts of the world, with a number of well-established agro-ecological benefits, such as decreasing the need for chemical pesticides and fertilizers, increasing soil organic matter, and reducing the land area needed for agricultural production. One area of environmental concern in rice production is greenhouse gas emissions. Rice production contributes about 10% of global anthropogenic methane (CH4) emissions. Currently around 27.5% of Arkansas rice fields are flooded in the winter, which can increase CH4 emissions in the fallow season by 45% compared to non-flooded fields. Evidence from other systems suggests that co-cultivation techniques may reduce CH4 emissions through trophic cascading and provide a second revenue stream to farmers along with the rice crop. The objective of this research was to analyze the effects of cultivating golden shiners, a native fish species, on fallow season CH4 emissions in an Arkansas rice field using the eddy covariance (EC) method. This study uses a pair of long-term continuous rice rotation fields in Lonoke County, Arkansas to quantify the effects of golden shiners on fallow season CH4 emissions with fish added to one field and the other field left flooded without fish. Fluxes in both fields were found to be very low when compared to growing season emissions. Initial results on CH4 emissions reductions are mixed, and certain difficulties such as gaps in the data, lack of field replicates, and variability in soil properties and management practices between the fields make it challenging to derive robust conclusions about the impacts of fish presence on CH4 emissions. Incorporating water sample results, collecting more years of data, increasing the number of field replicates, and trying more alternative approaches like chamber measurements of CH4 flux could provide more insight into the ecological mechanisms at work in this system

Understanding and Evaluating Multi-class Product Classification Methods for E-commerce

In e-commerce, enhancing Natural Language Processing (NLP) models\u27 understanding of search queries can significantly improve product relevance and overall user experience. Even with advancements in the search space, being able to accurately classify items for shopping queries remains challenging due to noisy data, ambiguous user intent, and the wide range of products available. This research aims to explore different strategies implementing and improving queryproduct classification. The methodology involves a comparative assessment of various model performances for multi-class product classification, data augmentation techniques for handling class-imbalances, and the design of the User Interface (UI) of a Human-In-The-Loop (HITL) Machine Learning (ML) system. The hope is that this approach will lead to enhancements in query-product matching, with direct implications for better search results and product recommendation

The Effect of Administered Animal-Assisted Therapy on University Students\u27 Anxiety and Stress

Abstract Purpose: The purpose of this research study is to evaluate the effects of animal-assisted therapy (AAT) on undergraduate student anxiety and stress, comparing the effectiveness between an individual AAT session to a group study session without AAT. Animal-assisted therapy is a type of canine therapy that may be a helpful tool to decrease student test anxiety, and potentially, a meaningful stress-reducing intervention for university students. Our results sought to examine differences in traditional study practices vs the use of AAT prior to exams, and support or refute animal-assisted therapy as a low-cost, minimal-risk, effective solution for undergraduate student anxiety. This will add valuable information to the gap in the literature regarding AAT use among undergraduate students. Methods: This cross-sectional study used a convenience sample of volunteer students, solicited prior to the interaction date, and placed in the intervention group (AAT) with a certified therapy dog, Bella, approved by The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). A single 20-minute AAT session of interacting and playing with a therapy dog in a group of up to 5 students was utilized. The dog handler, Dr. Scott, was present and did not encourage interaction between the participant and the dog. Outcome measures include pre-exam and post-exam State-Anxiety Inventory scores, Trait-Anxiety Inventory scores, and Perceived Stress Scale scores, validated tools for measuring anxiety in young adults. The pre-exam State- and Trait-Anxiety Inventory test, and the Perceived Stress Scale test were taken prior to interacting with the therapy dog (intervention), and taking the exam. The post-test surveys were completed on the day of the exam, within two hours of the intervention. Both pre- and post-surveys were administered using a QR code linked to Qualtrics, using the participants’ hand-held device. Results: Demographics of this study included 11 female participants with the majority of participants (n = 9, 81.8%) identifying as nursing students. Eighty-two percent of participants displayed significant decreases in post-intervention State anxiety scores, while 18.2% reported no statistically significant changes in State anxiety scores. Nine percent of participants showed significant decreases in post-intervention Trait anxiety scores, while 90.9% expressed no significant changes in Trait anxiety scores, deeming this an insignificant finding. Twenty-seven percent of participants reported a statistically significant decrease in post-intervention stress scores, while 72.7% showed no statistically significant change in post-intervention stress scores, making these results statistically insignificant as well. Discussion: A short 20-minute animal-assisted therapy session had the most significant effect on post-intervention State-anxiety scores. This discovery was not unexpected, as much AAT research had similar findings. Due to the small sample size, further research is needed. The findings of this research study are that state anxiety, anxiety that is temporarily felt by a person, decreases after an AAT session before an exam, while trait anxiety, a participant\u27s general anxiety, is unaffected

Victims of Stage and Screen: Parasocial Savior Rhetoric and Coded Social Critique at the Convergence of Celebrity & Conspiracy Cultures

This thesis offers a critical rhetorical analysis of what I term parasocial savior conspiracy theories , a unique genre of conspiracy narrative that portrays a public figure as victimized and allows their fans to step into a savior role through their advancement of the conspiracy theory. These narratives, I argue, are both catalyzed by and further insulative to a fan’s parasocial relationship with the public figure in question. Herein, the celebrity acts as a vessel of projection for their fans’ anxieties about control, allowing them to displace their agency panic onto a beloved external party and critique factors that seem to limit their agency, all through a familiar pop culture buffer. As exemplars of this phenomenon, I offer two case studies of distinct parasocial savior conspiracy theories. The first chapter examines “Gaylor” conspiracy theorists as representing an agentic turn in Morris’s (2002) “fourth persona,” receiving private signals from Taylor Swift about her supposed queerness and constructing their advancement of the theory as a moral duty commensurate to the unique knowledge base bestowed upon them. The second chapter focuses on “KateGate” conspiracy theories surrounding Kate Middleton, wherein conspiracy theorists crusade to return her to the public eye as a way of restabilizing the traditional institutions of knowledge and familiar conceptions of white femininity upon which their worldview has come to rely. Ultimately, I argue that parasocial savior conspiracy theories are the product of an increased convergence of conspiracy culture and fandom culture, unique in their narrative construction that allows the individual to assume the role of savior. In turn, this serves to mitigate agency panic, enable what Miller (2002) calls “coded social critique,” and ultimately renegotiates expectations about the general public’s access to knowledge

The Efficacy of Foam-Based Hand Sanitizers for the Control of Enveloped and Non-enveloped Virus Transmission

Infectious disease transmission due to viruses such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), influenza virus, human noroviruses (HuNoV), and hepatitis A, can occur via person-to-person contact or contaminated surfaces. Effective hand hygiene, including hand washing and use of hand sanitizers, is considered a critical tool for the control of infectious disease transmission, as recommended by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization. However, while research on hand washing efficacy is well-documented, research on hand sanitizer efficacy, particularly for foam-based products, remains limited. This research addressed critical gaps in the area of hand sanitizer efficacy, particularly with foam-based hand sanitizers which are widely used but generally underexplored. First, the recovery of bacteriophage phi6 (Φ6; a surrogate for enveloped viruses such as SARS-CoV-2) from the whole hands was optimized. Φ6 was applied on either the palmar surface or the whole hand, recovered based on wet or dry conditions using three eluents [lysogeny broth (LC), tryptic soy broth (TSB), and 1.5% beef extract (BE)] and three recovery methods [glove juice method (GJM), hand rinsing, and modified dish method]. Recovery methods, inoculum application type, and recovery basis significantly impacted Φ6 recovery. Study results revealed that GJM and dry basis recovery are not ideal for Φ6, however, to maximize Φ6f recovery from the hands, inoculum should be applied to the palmar surface and recovered using LC medium while the inoculum is still wet. The study also examined the in vitro efficacy of foam hand sanitizers against enveloped and non-enveloped viruses. The efficacy of one non-alcohol-based hand sanitizer (NABHS) and four alcohol-based hand sanitizers (ABHS) with benzalkonium chloride (BZK) and ethanol as active ingredients, respectively, were explored using Φ6 as a surrogate for enveloped viruses and bacteriophage MS2 (Emesvirus zinderi) and Tulane virus (TuV) as surrogates for non-enveloped viruses (e.g., HuNoV and hepatitis A) with an exposure time of 10 s. While Φ6 was completely inactivated (5.23 ± 1.64 log reduction), MS2 proved resistant to inactivation (0.04 ± 0.08 log reduction). Conversely, efficacy against TuV significantly varied across products, indicating that while 10 s may be sufficient to inactivate enveloped viruses, higher exposure time may be necessary to achieve similar log reductions against non-enveloped viruses such as human norovirus based on the tested surrogates. Finally, the in vivo efficacy of commercially available ABHS and NABHS against enveloped and non-enveloped viruses was evaluated, assessing varying dosing volumes and rubbing time. The findings revealed that the efficacy of the products is significantly affected by virus type, rubbing time, and overall formulation. Employing Φ6 as a surrogate for enveloped viruses yielded a significantly higher log reduction (2.83 ± 1.98) than MS2, the surrogate utilized for non-enveloped viruses (0.50 ± 0.53). Furthermore, when hands were rubbed until dry following hand sanitizer application, a significantly higher log reduction (2.69 ± 2.06) was observed compared to 10 s rubbing time (0.65 ± 0.75), which is typical among users