Variation in ovulation rate and litter size

An increase in mean prolificacy is a goal for many sheep production systems, but it is also desirable that variation be minimized around the optimum value. Lambs born in litters of 3 or 4 can be reared with intensive management, but at higher input costs than for twins. Thus for a mean litter size (LS) goal of 2.0, producers desire the maximum possible proportion of twins with as few singles and litters of 3 or more as possible. Coefficients of variation for ovulation rate (OR) range from about 22 % for Romanov to about 40 % for Booroola Merinos; breed CV’s for LS vary less. The most uniform LS’s are achieved by populations with a uniform OR and high prenatal survival. Variability in Booroola populations results in part from segregation of a gene with large effect on OR, but variation is high within genotypes (FF or F+). Among breeds where high prolificacy appears to be inherited quantitatively, there are differences in variability, with Romanov quite uniform, Finnsheep intermediate, and D’Man more variable. The possibility of a gene with large effect in the D’Man breed, in addition to many favorable quantitative genes for prolificacy, has not been ruled out. In general, these three breeds (and some others) transmit their prolificacy additively, making it possible to choose a wider range of mean prolificacy values by crossing and backcrossing with such breeds than by use of a major gene such as the Booroola. Data on variability of first and later generation crossbreds between non-prolific and different prolific breeds are now available

Follow-up examination of linkage and association to chromosome 1q43 in multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating neuroimmunological and neurodegenerative disease affecting >4,00,000 individuals in the United States. Population and family-based studies have suggested that there is a strong genetic component. Numerous genomic linkage screens have identified regions of interest for MS loci. Our own second-generation genome-wide linkage study identified a handful of non-major histocompatibility complex regions with suggestive linkage. Several of these regions were further examined using single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with average spacing between SNPs of approximately 1.0 Mb in a dataset of 173 multiplex families. The results of that study provided further evidence for the involvement of the chromosome 1q43 region. This region is of particular interest given linkage evidence in studies of other autoimmune and inflammatory diseases including rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus. In this follow-up study, we saturated the region with approximately 700 SNPs (average spacing of 10 kb per SNP) in search of disease-associated variation within this region. We found preliminary evidence to suggest that common variation within the RGS7 locus may be involved in disease susceptibility

Adiabatic times for Markov chains and applications

We state and prove a generalized adiabatic theorem for Markov chains and provide examples and applications related to Glauber dynamics of Ising model over Z^d/nZ^d. The theorems derived in this paper describe a type of adiabatic dynamics for l^1(R_+^n) norm preserving, time inhomogeneous Markov transformations, while quantum adiabatic theorems deal with l^2(C^n) norm preserving ones, i.e. gradually changing unitary dynamics in C^n

A Method to Assess the Organizing Behaviors Used in Physicians\u27 Counseling of Standardized Parents after Newborn Genetic Screening

Well-organized conversation can improve people’s ability to comprehend and retain information. As part of a long-term effort to adapt Quality Improvement techniques for communication, we developed an explicit criteria method to assess usage of three organizing behaviors (OBs): ‘opening behaviors’ to establish goals; ‘structuring behaviors’ to guide patients through conversation; and ‘emphasizing behaviors’ that signal a need for attention. Pairs of abstractors independently reviewed transcripts in a demonstration sample of conversations between physicians and standardized parents after newborn screening identifies carrier status for sickle cell disease. Criteria for at least one OB were identified in 50/84 transcripts (60%), including 27 with at least one opening behavior (32%), 5 with at least one structuring behavior (6%), and 38 with at least one emphasizing behavior (45%). The limited number of OBs raises concern about communication after newborn screening. Assessment and improvement of OB usage may improve understanding and allow parents to more actively participate in health care

Talk and Let Talk: The Effects of Language Proficiency on Speaking up and Competence Perceptions in Multinational Teams

Collaboration within multinational teams necessitates the adoption of a common language, typically English, which often leads to significant differences in language proficiency across members. We develop and test a multilevel model of the effects of language proficiency within multinational teams. An experimental study of 51 teams (102 American and 102 Chinese participants) revealed that, at the individual level, members with higher levels of language proficiency were more likely to speak up, which led to more positive perceptions of their competence. At the team level, greater dispersion in language proficiency across members was associated with less accurate competence recognition, which, in turn, led to lower overall team performance. Moreover, communication medium moderated these relationships, such that the effects of language proficiency were more potent in face-to-face than in computer-mediated teams. We discuss the implications of these findings for future research and for managing participation, competence, and technology in multinational teams

Cystatins as calpain inhibitors: Engineered chicken cystatin- and stefin B-kininogen domain 2 hybrids support a cystatin-like mode of interaction with the catalytic subunit of μ-calpain

Within the cystatin superfamily, only kininogen domain 2 (KD2) is able to inhibit μ- and m-calpain. In an attempt to elucidate the structural requirements of cystatins for calpain inhibition, we constructed recombinant hybrids of human stefin B (an intracellular family 1 cystatin) with KD2 and Delta L110 deletion mutants of chicken cystatin-KD2 hybrids. Substitution of the N-terminal contact region of stefin B by the corresponding KD2 sequence resulted in a calpain inhibitor of K-i = 188 nM. Deletion of L110, which forms a beta -bulge in family 1 and 2 cystatins but is lacking in KD2, improved inhibition of mu -calpain 4- to 8-fold. All engineered cystatins were temporary inhibitors of calpain due to slow substrate-like cleavage of a single peptide bond corresponding to Gly9-Ala10 in chicken cystatin. Biomolecular interaction analysis revealed that, unlike calpastatin, the cystatin-type inhibitors do not bind to the calmodulin-like domain of the small subunit of calpain, and their interaction with the mu -calpain heterodimer is completely prevented by a synthetic peptide comprising subdomain B of calpastatin domain 1. Based on these results we propose that (i) cystatin-type calpain inhibitors interact with the active site of the catalytic domain of calpain in a similar cystatin-like mode as with papain and (ii) the potential for calpain inhibition is due to specific subsites within the papain-binding regions of the general cystatin fold

Neurophysiology

Contains reports on one research project.Teagle FoundationOffice of Naval ResearchBell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporate

Is There a Difference in Staging and Treatment of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Tumors Between Tertiary Care and Community‐Based Institutions?

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/145574/1/lio2178.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/145574/2/lio2178_am.pd

Neurophysiology

Contains reports on four research projects.National Institutes of Health (Grant B-1865-(C3), Grant MH-04737-02)United States Air Force, Aeronautical Systems Division (Contract AF33(616)-7783)Teagle Foundation, IncorporatedBell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporate