Correspondence from a UMaine Alumna

Handwritten letter from an alumna of the UMaine Class of 1973, expressing support for the University\u27s actions related to the Wilde-Stein Club and the Alumni Fund\u27s acknowledgement of her donation. Transcription: May 12, 1974 Dear Mr. Mooers: I read recently in the Washington Post of the struggle of University of Maine homosexuals for the right to meet and organize. I would like to convey through you, my sincere congratulations to Chancellor McNeil and the trustees for a courageous stand in the face of the threat of loss of financial support. The whole article pricked my conscience, and enclosed is my contribution. I wish it could be more. Sincerely, Ruth W. Alle

Solid Waste Management for Cattle Feedlots.

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USING NEURAL MACHINE TRANSLATION TO TRANSLATE BETWEEN DIFFERENT SIGN LANGUAGE FORMS DURING A VIDEO CONFERENCE

Techniques are presented herein that support the efficient conversion of signs from one form of sign language to another while considering the cultural context (e.g., dialect, etc.) of a sign language. Aspects of the presented techniques support the conversion between different sign language forms through a neural machine translation (NMT)-based architecture. Further aspects of the techniques may encompass a contextual frame sampler (which may employ a sign language image database to filter out noise and which may sample frames from an input sign language video), an image normalizer (that may accept as input a sampled image frame and produce as output a skeletal structure of that frame), a translation layer (which may contain a NMT-based model and which may comprise feature extraction, feature conversion, and feature generation capabilities), and a video generator (which may stitch together the generated translated sign language output frames into a video). Under still further aspects of the techniques, such a conversion capability may be available during a video conference

Maturation of the Calico Scallop, Argopecten gibbus, Determined by Ovarian Color Changes

Ovarian color was described for the calico scallop, Argopecten gibbus, by sizes and seasons from May 1970 to October 1971 on the Cape Canaveral grounds, Florida. Seven stages of ovarian development were recognized primarily by color and sequence of development and graded from immature to ripe to spent. Scallops as small as 20 mm shell height can be ripe. There were distinct changes in developmental stage by season. Most scallops were ripe from January to May; in August, large scallops were spent or developing and small scallops were immature. Based on seasonal occurrence of ripe and partially spawned scallops, spawning extended primarily from about November to July and was intense from January to May. There was no spawning in August. Variations occurred in the spawning pattern between years

Geologic Review of Proposed Dallas -Fort Worth Area Site for the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC)

In June 1987, the Texas National Research Laboratory Commission tasked the Bureau of Economic Geology at The University of Texas at Austin with reviewing and providing a brief report on the geology of the proposed site for the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Additionally, they requested a surface geologic map of the site. An informal task force was assembled for this purpose, comprising Jay A. Raney (Coordinator and Structural Geology) from the Bureau of Economic Geology, Peter M. Allen (Environmental Geology and Stratigraphy) from Baylor University, Donald F. Reaser (Structural Geology and Stratigraphy) from The University of Texas at Arlington, and Edward W. Collins (Structural Geology) from the Bureau of Economic Geology. This report by the task force provides an explanatory note for the geologic map (Plate 1) of the proposed site near Waxahachie, Texas.Bureau of Economic Geolog

Effect of Ghrelin Injection on Blood and Body Composition in Rats

Ghrelin has been reported to cause hyperglycemia in humans and adiposity in rodents. The objective of trial one was to test the effects of ghrelin on blood and body composition in rats. The objective of trial two was to evaluate the effect of two doses of ghrelin on blood and body composition. Trial One: Adult male Sprague Dawley rats were administered 1 μg/rat ghrelin in 0.15 M NaCl or vehicle (0.15 M NaCl) every morning for 30 days. The terminal blood sample was analyzed for glucose, urea nitrogen, and nonesterified fatty acids concentrations. The carcasses were analyzed for total lipid and nitrogen content. Blood urea nitrogen, nonesterified fatty acids, carcass total lipid, and carcass total nitrogen concentrations were similar for the control and ghrelin groups. However, blood glucose concentration tended to be higher in the ghrelin group than in the control. Ghrelin administered at 2.4 μg/kg did not cause adiposity in rats but did tend to cause hyperglycemia. Trial Two: Adult male Sprague Dawley rats were administered 1 μg/rat ghrelin, 20 μg/rat ghrelin, or vehicle every morning for 30 days. The terminal blood sample was analyzed for glucose and cholesterol concentrations. The carcasses were analyzed for total lipid and nitrogen content. Carcass total nitrogen concentrations were similar for the control and ghrelin groups. Carcass percent lipid was higher in the 1 μg/rat ghrelin group (P = 0.04). Feed intake among all three groups was the same. Blood glucose concentration, however, tended to be higher in the ghrelin groups than in the control. Blood cholesterol concentration was lower in the ghrelin treated animals. In the second trial, ghrelin injection of 1 μg/rat did cause an increase in adiposity whereas 20 μg/rat did not cause an increase in adiposity. Both ghrelin treatments tended to cause hyperglycemia in rats. In summary, ghrelin increased blood glucose concentration without changing body composition

Nutritional effects of beef connective tissue characteristics and eating qualities

We compared taste panel and connective tissue characteristics of beef fed a high energy diet with beef fed grass. The high energy diet produced higher USDA quality and yield grades, more rapid weight gain, and increased connective tissue collagen synthesis arid breakdown. But, it did not consistently improve taste panel and shear characteristics over grass-feeding

Understanding and mitigating thiaminase activity in silver carp

A deficiency of thiamine (vitamin B1), an essential cofactor for enzymes involved in metabolic processes, can be caused by the enzyme thiaminase. Thiaminase in food stocks has been linked to morbidity and mortality due to thiamine depletion in many ecologically and economically important species. Thiaminase activity has been detected in certain bacteria, plants, and fish species, including carp. The invasive silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) presents an enormous burden to ecosystems throughout the Mississippi River watershed. Its large biomass and nutritional content offer an attractive possibility as a food source for humans, wild animals, or pets. Additionally, harvesting this fish could alleviate some of the effects of this species on waterways. However, the presence of thiaminase would detract from its value for dietary consumption. Here we confirm the presence of thiaminase in several tissues from silver carp, most notably the viscera, and systematically examine the effects of microwaving, baking, dehydrating, and freeze-drying on thiaminase activity. Certain temperatures and durations of baking and microwaving reduced thiaminase activity to undetectable levels. However, caution should be taken when carp tissue is concentrated by processes without sufficient heat treatment, such as freeze-drying or dehydration, which results in concentration, but not inactivation of the enzyme. The effects of such treatments on the ease of extracting proteins, including thiaminase, and the impact on data interpretation using the 4-nitrothiophenol (4-NTP) thiaminase assay were considered