Evaluation and Refinement of the French Protein System (PDI) under Irish Conditions

End of Project ReportThe CP and DM degradability of grazed grass (between April and October, inclusive) and grass silage samples (differing in cut number and treatment) was determined using the in situ technique and the results obtained were used to calculate the PDIE and PDIN values. The degradability data on 12 concentrate ingredients from a previous study (Woods, 2000) were used to estimate PDIE and PDIN values for these feedstuffs. The mean PDIE and PDIN values determined for grass were 81 g/kg and 127 g/kg DM, respectively and for grass silage were 60 g/kg and 94 g/kg DM. Regression analysis resulted in equations to predict the PDIN of samples of grazed grass (PDIN = 3.8 + 0.628 CP) (R²= 0.999) and grass silage (PDIN = 5.9 + 0.605 CP) (R²= 0.997), and the PDIE of grazed grass (PDIE = 181.4 - 0.104 NDF - 0.195 ash - 0.047 OMD) (R²= 0.987) and grass silage (PDIE = 27.7 + 0.083 DMD - 0.147 CP) (R²= 0.812). The PDIE and PDIN values of 11 of the 12 concentrate ingredients were similar to those used in the French Tables but the maize distillers’ grains in this study and those used in France would appear to be quite different products. The response to PDIE and PDIN in the diet of lactating cows was evaluated and the effect of better balancing the PDIE and PDIN supply on the efficiency of N utilisation was assessed. Twenty autumn calving cows were blocked in a complete Latin Square design and assigned to four different diets varying in PDIN and PDIE content. Each of the four treatments consisted of a concentrate, maize silage and grass silage in the proportions 37:38:25 on a DM basis. There were 4 periods of 4-week duration each. Diet A contained 92 g/kg DM of PDIE and 116 g/kg DM of PDIN. Diet B contained 103 g/kg DM of PDIE and 122 g/kg DM of PDIN. Diet C and D over supplied PDIN at 137 g/kg and 153 g/kg, respectively relative to PDIE at 111 g/kg DM. Dry matter intake increased significantly with the excess dietary PDIN relative to PDIE but there were no significant differences in milk yield and composition. Decreasing the supply of PDIE in the diet (i.e. diet A vs. B) resulted in no significant effect on milk or constituent yields but did significantly reduce the efficiency (kg milk / kg DMI) of milk production. There was also a significant reduction in the efficiency of milk produced per kg DMI with increasing dietary concentrations of PDIN and increasing PDIN: PDIE balance (B>C>D). Increasing the dietary PDIN from 122 to 153 g/kg DMI increased urine N (+54%), faecal N (+11%) and plasma urea concentrations (+75%). The results indicate that the optimum concentration of dietary PDI is approximately 103 g/kg DM for cows producing about 35 kg of milk per day. A better balance between PDIE and PDIN supply improves the efficiency of conversion of DM to milk and dietary protein

Radiation-induced oscillatory magnetoresistance as a sensitive probe of the zero-field spin splitting in high mobility GaAs/AlGaAs devices

We suggest an approach for characterizing the zero-field spin splitting of high mobility two-dimensional electron systems, when beats are not readily observable in the Shubnikov-de Haas effect. The zero-field spin splitting and the effective magnetic field seen in the reference frame of the electron is evaluated from a quantitative study of beats observed in radiation-induced magnetoresistance oscillations.Comment: 4 pages, 4 color figure

Placental CD4(+) T cells from preeclamptic patients cause autoantibodies to the angiotensin II type I receptor and hypertension in a pregnant rat model of preeclampsia

AIM: Preeclampsia (PE) is a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy associated with activated CD4(+) T cells and autoantibodies to angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1-AA). We have previously shown that CD4(+) T cells isolated from women with PE cause hypertension, increased tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), endothelin-1, and soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1) when injected into pregnant nude-athymic rats compared to CD4(+) T cells from normal pregnant (NP) women. However, the role of PE CD4(+) T cells to cause AT1-AA as a mechanism of hypertension is not known. Our goal was to determine if PE CD4(+) T cells stimulate AT1-AA in pregnant nude-athymic rats. METHODS: CD4(+) T cells were isolated from human NP and PE placentasand injected into nude-athymic rats on gestational day (GD) 12. In order to examine the role of the PE CD4(+) T cells to stimulate B cell secretion of AT1-AA, a subset of the rats receiving PE CD4(+) T cells were treated with rituximab on GD 14 or anti-CD40 ligand (anti-CD40L) on GD 12. On GD 19, mean arterial pressure (MAP) and tissues were obtained. RESULTS: MAP [114 ± 1 mmHg (n = 9)] and AT1-AA [19.8 ± 0.9 beats per minute (bpm, n = 4)] were increased in NP nude + PE CD4(+) T cells compared to NP nude + NP CD4(+) T cells [98 ± 2 mmHg (n = 7, P < 0.05) and 1.3 ± 0.9 bpm (n = 5, P < 0.05)]. Rituximab (103 ± 2 mmHg, n = 3, P < 0.05) and anti-CD40L (102 ± 1 mmHg, n = 3, P < 0.05) lowered MAP compared to NP nude + PE CD4(+) T cells. Circulating a proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL) and placental angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2) activity was increased in response to PE CD4(+) T cells. CONCLUSIONS: These results show that placental CD4(+) T cells play an important role in the pathophysiology of PE, by activating B cells secreting AT1-AA to cause hypertension during pregnancy

(Re)framing a philosophical and epistemological framework for teaching and learning in STEM: Emerging pedagogies for complexity

Today’s learners are engaging in study where access to knowledge is easier than it ever has been in human history. Rapid advancement of technology and the increasing ease with which communication and interaction can occur has dramatically changed the landscape in which teachers of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) operate. The contemporary skills that students are required to possess include inter alia problem solving, creativity, teamwork abilities, communication skills and emotional intelligence. Despite the universal acceptance of their importance, these skills are commonly cited as underdeveloped and in addition, are still accompanied by outmoded ‘traditional’ forms of teaching and assessment. While the approaches of twentieth-century education were successful in developing knowledge stores, the ubiquity of access to knowledge—coupled with the constantly changing nature of the world today—requires alternative conceptions of teaching and learning. This article focuses primarily on an exploration of learning metaphors and teaching with the overall lens of creating self-regulated and furthermore, self-determined learners. The article begins with an exploration of learning in STEM education and a critique of the pedagogical perspective, discussing why this epistemology may be insufficient for contemporary STEM learning. The article then considers an alternative and potentially more contemporary notion; the emergent pedagogic space. The article presents a theoretical model to conceptualise learning in STEM education, with the goal of informing both practice and research. The realisation of this proposed emergent pedagogical space is explored through an applied case study from a design and technology context

Recent progress in GaInAsSb thermophotovoltaics grown by organometallic vapor-phase epitaxy

Studies on the materials development of Ga{sub 1{minus}x}In{sub x}As{sub y}Sb{sub 1{minus}y} alloys for thermophotovoltaic (TPV) devices are reviewed. Ga{sub 1{minus}x}In{sub x}As{sub y}Sb{sub 1{minus}y} epilayers were grown lattice matched to GaSb substrates by organometallic vapor phase epitaxy (OMVPE) using all organometallic precursors including triethylgallium, trimethylindium, tertiarybutylarsine, and trimethylantimony with diethyltellurium and dimethylzinc as the n- and p-type dopants, respectively. The overall material quality of these alloys depends on growth temperature, In content, V/III ratio, substrate misorientation, and to a lesser extent, growth rate. A mirror-like surface morphology and room temperature photoluminescence (PL) are obtained for GaInAsSb layers with peak emission in the wavelength range between 2 and 2.5 {micro}m. The crystal quality improves for growth temperature decreasing from 575 to 525 C, and with decreasing In content, as based on epilayer surface morphology and low temperature PL spectra. A trend of smaller full width at half-maximum for low temperature PL spectra is observed as the growth rate is increased from 1.5 to 2.5 and 5 {micro}m/h. In general, GaInAsSb layers grown on (100) GaSb substrates with a 6{degree} toward (111)B misorientation exhibited overall better material quality than layers grown on the more standard substrate (100)2{degree} toward (110). Consistent growth of high performance lattice-matched GaInAsSb TPV devices is also demonstrated

Transitions in welfare participation and female headship

This study uses data from the 1990, 1992, 1993 and 1996 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation to examine how welfare policies and local economic conditions contribute to women's transitions into and out of female headship and into and out of welfare participation. It also examines whether welfare participation is directly associated with longer spells of headship. The study employs a simultaneous hazards approach that accounts for unobserved heterogeneity in all of its transition models and for the endogeneity of welfare participation in its headship model. The estimation results indicate that welfare participation significantly reduces the chances of leaving female headship. The estimates also reveal that more generous welfare benefits contribute indirectly to headship by increasing the chances that mothers will enter welfare. More generous Earned Income Tax Credit benefits are associated with longer spells of headship, non-headship, welfare participation and nonparticipation. Other measures of welfare policies, including indicators for the adoption of welfare waivers and the implementation of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families programs, are generally not significantly associated with headship or welfare receipt. Better economic opportunities are estimated to increase headship but reduce welfare participation among unmarried mothers

Interleukin-6 Receptor Antagonists in Critically Ill Patients with Covid-19.

BACKGROUND: The efficacy of interleukin-6 receptor antagonists in critically ill patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) is unclear. METHODS: We evaluated tocilizumab and sarilumab in an ongoing international, multifactorial, adaptive platform trial. Adult patients with Covid-19, within 24 hours after starting organ support in the intensive care unit (ICU), were randomly assigned to receive tocilizumab (8 mg per kilogram of body weight), sarilumab (400 mg), or standard care (control). The primary outcome was respiratory and cardiovascular organ support-free days, on an ordinal scale combining in-hospital death (assigned a value of -1) and days free of organ support to day 21. The trial uses a Bayesian statistical model with predefined criteria for superiority, efficacy, equivalence, or futility. An odds ratio greater than 1 represented improved survival, more organ support-free days, or both. RESULTS: Both tocilizumab and sarilumab met the predefined criteria for efficacy. At that time, 353 patients had been assigned to tocilizumab, 48 to sarilumab, and 402 to control. The median number of organ support-free days was 10 (interquartile range, -1 to 16) in the tocilizumab group, 11 (interquartile range, 0 to 16) in the sarilumab group, and 0 (interquartile range, -1 to 15) in the control group. The median adjusted cumulative odds ratios were 1.64 (95% credible interval, 1.25 to 2.14) for tocilizumab and 1.76 (95% credible interval, 1.17 to 2.91) for sarilumab as compared with control, yielding posterior probabilities of superiority to control of more than 99.9% and of 99.5%, respectively. An analysis of 90-day survival showed improved survival in the pooled interleukin-6 receptor antagonist groups, yielding a hazard ratio for the comparison with the control group of 1.61 (95% credible interval, 1.25 to 2.08) and a posterior probability of superiority of more than 99.9%. All secondary analyses supported efficacy of these interleukin-6 receptor antagonists. CONCLUSIONS: In critically ill patients with Covid-19 receiving organ support in ICUs, treatment with the interleukin-6 receptor antagonists tocilizumab and sarilumab improved outcomes, including survival. (REMAP-CAP ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02735707.)

Multiband GPI imaging of the HR 4796A debris disk

Stars and planetary system

Velocity-space sensitivity of the time-of-flight neutron spectrometer at JET

The velocity-space sensitivities of fast-ion diagnostics are often described by so-called weight functions. Recently, we formulated weight functions showing the velocity-space sensitivity of the often dominant beam-target part of neutron energy spectra. These weight functions for neutron emission spectrometry (NES) are independent of the particular NES diagnostic. Here we apply these NES weight functions to the time-of-flight spectrometer TOFOR at JET. By taking the instrumental response function of TOFOR into account, we calculate time-of-flight NES weight functions that enable us to directly determine the velocity-space sensitivity of a given part of a measured time-of-flight spectrum from TOFOR