Managing Feedlot Cattle to Reduce Nutrient Waste

Management opportunities can reduce feed costs and the cost of excess nutrient waste outputs. The key to controlling excess nutrient output is controlling nutrient intakes. The question becomes whether nutrient excretion can be reduced without negatively impacting animal performance

Designing a Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) Template for Satellites

The goal of this project has been to digitally transform SDL systems engineering methods for scoping small satellite missions, developing system architectures, documenting the engineering solution, and verifying design solutions from being document-intensive (gathering non-transformable information in discrete, disjoint documents) to being model-based (employing cohesive, traceable, transformable graphical models). We have produced a set of models that give satellite development programs (and any model-based program) a head start that enables the modeling effort to drive the systems engineering process instead of catching up with a document-driven design. We plan to use these models to develop, train, and encourage consistent modeling techniques across the Lab and lower the barrier of entry for creating focused, useful models

Early Vocabulary Development of Australian Indigenous Children: Identifying Strengths

The current study sought to increase our understanding of the factors involved in the early vocabulary development of Australian Indigenous children. Data from the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children were available for 573 Indigenous children (291 boys) who spoke English ( = 37.0 months, = 5.4 months, at wave 3). Data were also available for 86 children (51 boys) who spoke an Indigenous language ( = 37.1 months, = 6.0 months, at wave 3). As hypothesised, higher levels of parent-child book reading and having more children’s books in the home were associated with better English vocabulary development. Oral storytelling in Indigenous language was a significant predictor of the size of children’s Indigenous vocabular

Integrating NoSQL in the Classroom

With the increasing popularity of big data, more and more organizations are turning to NoSQL databases as their preferred system for handling the unique demands of capturing and storing massive amounts of data. The likelihood that employees in all sizes of organizations will encounter NoSQL databases is growing every year. College students need to be exposed to this technology and begin to have a functional understanding of how it works and how to use it. This paper offers a teaching case for college instructors to integrate NoSQL into their existing database courses

Ontogeny of myosin isoform expression and prehensile function in the tail of the gray short-tailed opossum ( Monodelphis domestica)

Terrestrial opossums use their semiprehensile tail for grasping nesting materials as opposed to arboreal maneuvering. We relate the development of this adaptive behavior with ontogenetic changes in myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoform expression from 21 days to adulthood. Monodelphis domestica is expected to demonstrate a progressive ability to flex the distal tail up to age 7 mo, when it should exhibit routine nest construction. We hypothesize that juvenile stages (3-7 mo) will be characterized by retention of the neonatal isoform (MHC-Neo), along with predominant expression of fast MHC-2X and -2B, which will transition into greater MHC-1β and -2A isoform content as development progresses. This hypothesis was tested using Q-PCR to quantify and compare gene expression of each isoform with its protein content determined by gel electrophoresis and densitometry. These data were correlated with nesting activity in an age-matched sample of each age group studied. Shifts in regulation of MHC gene transcripts matched well with isoform expression. Notably, mRNA for MHC-Neo and -2B decrease, resulting in little-to-no isoform translation after age 7 mo, whereas mRNA for MHC-1β and -2A increase, and this corresponds with subtle increases in content for these isoforms into late adulthood. Despite the tail remaining intrinsically fast-contracting, a critical growth period for isoform transition is observed between 7 and 13 mo, correlating primarily with use of the tail during nesting activities. Functional transitions in MHC isoforms and fiber type properties may be associated with muscle tuning repetitive nest remodeling tasks requiring sustained contractions of the caudal flexors. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Little is understood about skeletal muscle development as it pertains to tail prehensility in mammals. This study uses an integrative approach of relating both MHC gene and protein expression with behavioral and morphometric changes to reveal a predominant fast MHC expression with subtle isoform transitions in caudal muscle across ontogeny. The functional shifts observed are most notably correlated with increased tail grasping for nesting activities

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Performance of a cryogenic test facility for 4 K interferometer delay line investigations

The next generation of space-borne instruments for far infrared astronomical spectroscopy will utilize large diameter, cryogenically cooled telescopes in order to achieve unprecedented sensitivities. Low background, ground-based cryogenic facilities are required for the cryogenic testing of materials, components and subsystems. The University of Lethbridge Test Facility Cryostat (TFC) is a large volume, closed cycle, 4 K cryogenic facility, developed for this purpose. This paper discusses the design and performance of the facility and associated metrology instrumentation, both internal and external to the TFC. Additionally, an apparatus for measuring the thermal and mechanical properties of carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers is presented

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