The effect of selection for intramuscular fat on fatty acid composition in Duroc pigs

Due to increased demand for pork products with superior meat quality, increased emphasis has been placed on breeding programs that focus on traits that influence meat quality. At the present time, several studies have been conducted to increase marbling (IMF) in pork; however, very few have focused on the health implications that may be associated with selection for increased quantities of IMF. Pigs in the current study that were selected for increased IMF had a greater concentration of saturated fatty acids in both IMF and subcutaneous fat depots. Pigs in the control line had a more unsaturated fatty acid profile and compositionally were leaner. Fatty acid composition of IMF from pork is moderate to highly heritable for total lipids. The greatest heritability estimates were for lauric acid (0.73), palmitoleic acid (0.40), stearic acid (0.36), linoleic acid (0.33) and alpha-linolenic acid (0.26). Heritability estimates for PL and TAG were nearly zero, suggesting that there may not be enough variation in the population to detect a difference in the heritability estimates of these lipid fractions. There were no significant genetic correlations between fatty acids and eating quality traits in the current study. Linoleic acid was positively correlated with LMA (0.75) and negatively correlated with tenth-rib backfat (-0.62). This unique population of pigs allowed for identification of genes associated with IMF concentrations as well as fatty acid composition. The genes investigated in this study and identified to play a role in fatty acid synthesis and interconversion were stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD), fatty acid synthase (FASN), and acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC). Understanding the changes in fatty acid composition as a correlated response to selection for IMF is more important than direct selection for specific fatty acids

Translating Research to Practice for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Part 2: Behavior Management in Home and Health Care Settings

Introduction Managing home and health care for children with autism spectrum disorder can be challenging because of the range of symptoms and behaviors exhibited. Method This article presents an overview of the emerging science related to the methods to foster family self-management of common concerns regarding activities of daily living and behaviors, as well as for the health care provider in primary and acute health care settings. Results Recommendations are provided to enhance the overall delivery of services, including understanding and managing a child\u27s challenging behaviors, and supporting family management of common activities of daily living and behaviors. Discussion Health care providers\u27 knowledge of evidence-based recommendations for providing care, supporting family self-management of common concerns, and referral heighten the likelihood of better outcomes for children with autism spectrum disorder

Healing of Memories: Models, Research, Future Directions

This article examines several of the more recent models of healing of memories (HM) as they are found in the clinical and pastoral care literature. A wide variety of approaches are present, including models from David Seamonds, Siang-Yang Tan, Leanne Payne, and Ed Smith (Theophostic Ministry). These models are compared and contrasted in terms of an intervention strategy. While few empirical studies on religious imagery interventions currently exist in the literature, available data has produced positive findings. Given these limited results, the need for specific research on HM techniques is advocated and an agenda for such research is proposed

GVZ-groups, Flat Groups, and CM-Groups

We show that a group is a GVZ-group if and only if it is a flat group. We show that the nilpotence class of a GVZ-group is bounded by the number of distinct degrees of irreducible characters. We also show that certain CM-groups can be characterized as GVZ-groups whose irreducible character values lie in the prime field.Comment: 8 pages - Based on referee's report for the previous paper "GVZ-groups", that was substantially revised and subsumed by this pape

A characterization of Nested Groups in terms of conjugacy classes

A group is nested if the centers of the irreducible characters form a chain. In this paper, we will show that there is a set of subgroups associated with the conjugacy classes of group so that a group is nested if and only if these subgroups form a chain.Comment: 4 page

A Solder Based Self Assembly Project In An Introductory IC Fabrication Course

Integrated circuit (IC) fabrication principles is an elective course in a senior undergraduate and early graduate student’s curriculum. Over the years, the semiconductor industry relies heavily on students with developed expertise in the area of fabrication techniques, learned in an IC fabrication theory and laboratory course. The theory course gives importance to the physics of manufacturing techniques and is often attached to a subsequent semester laboratory curriculum. The pre-requisite requirement of the theory component for a laboratory course requires students to enroll for two courses in separate semesters and is not an option for all students. Hence, an innovative student project is intended in the theory curriculum to give hands-on experience on the processes. The IC fabrication course is usually associated with high enrollment of students, leading to fewer laboratory experiments. The physics of IC fabrication techniques is important, but few students may perceive the theory as important with no laboratory experience. To improve the course and give students hands-on practice with existing state-of-the-art processing facilities, a tailored project was added to the syllabus. A solder-based self assembly (SBSA) project was introduced in the curriculum for the first time at the University of Alabama in Fall 2011. The student projects were designed in a way to provide an alternative to conventional time-intensive, high cost, and highly tool dependent IC fabrication lab experiments. SBSA forms three dimensional (3D) structures when applied to two dimensional (2D) patterns. The schedule was designed to accommodate theory classes aligned with the fabrication steps and completed by students. The project involved a brainstorming session, a design stage to develop 2D patterns using AutoCAD software, a deposition process, a lithography step, a dip soldering step, a reflow process, scanning electron microscope (SEM) imaging, and a final project presentation. Other processes required to complete the project were performed by the instructor. In general, students showed interest in working in teams, completing the project, and recommended to continuing the SBSA project in future IC fabrication course work. The SBSA project is cost effective and less tool dependent for incorporation in a semester long course. In addition, the project is time effective from both student and instructor perspectives.