Body Condition, Leptin, and Reproductive Characteristics in Horses.

A series of experiments was conducted to gain a better understanding of the effects of nutrition and hormonal manipulation on the reproductive processes of the horse. In Experiment 1, body condition score (BCS) and ultrasonic backfat measurements were highly correlated in mares, especially over the tailhead area. In Experiment 2, high BCS (HBCS) mares continued to ovulate during the winter anestrous period, whereas low BCS (LBCS) mares went deeply anestrous. Daily hormone concentrations were not affected by BCS, however, responses to hormonal challenges indicated cyclicity in HBCS mares and reproductive quiescence in LBCS mares. In Experiment 3, treatment of average BCS mares with gonadotropin releasing hormone analog (GnRHa) and thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH) tended to increase (P \u3c 0.09) the number of medium-sized follicles, and GnRHa increased (P \u3c 0.0002) synthesis and storage of luteinizing hormone. In HBCS and LBCS mares (Experiment 4), equine growth hormone (eGH) increased (P \u3c 0.0001) insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), and IGF-1 was higher (P \u3c 0.02) in HBCS mares. Treatment with GnRHa after eGH increased (P \u3c 0.002) the number of follicles and two LBCS mares ovulated; however, these mares soon reverted back to an anestrous state. In Experiment 5, leptin concentrations were higher (P \u3c 0.009) in HBCS mares and decreased from September to January; however, eGH treatment did not affect leptin concentrations. Dexamethasone treatment increased (P \u3c 0.001) leptin concentrations in HBCS mares. Also, pregnant mares had higher (P \u3c 0.0001) leptin concentrations prior to parturition than after, indicating that leptin may be produced in part by the placenta. Lastly, leptin concentrations increased (P \u3c 0.004) in foals not treated with eGH and remained unchanged in foals treated with eGH for 12 months. These results indicate that although hormones, such as eGH and GnRHa, may play a role in alleviating some of the deleterious affects of nutritional anestrous, the amount of body condition may be the most important factor affecting reproductive activity in the horse. Also, plasma concentrations of leptin are directly related to the amount of body condition indicating that leptin may also influence reproductive activity to a large degree

Keeping A Town Alive?: The Civil War Re-enactment of the Battle of Pilot Knob

There is a place surrounded by thousands of acres of natural forests encircled by seven beautiful state parks nestled between the highest peaks in Missouri with rich Ozark history. Imagine three small towns situated in a valley of the Ozarks Mountains surrounded by breathtaking scenery, a perfect retreat from busyness of the city and the working world. Would you be interested in escaping here for a weekend or possibly for the rest of your life? If you even entertained the idea, local Chamber of Commerce officials succeeded in making you believe that Arcadia Valley or the towns of lronton, Arcadia, and Pilot Knob was a great place to visit. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow substantiated the claim when he wrote in the 19th century, There is a charming portion of our country, dainty and lovely as a dimple in the cheek of nature and yet comparatively unknown to residents in the East. It is the valley of Arcadia. However, most people refuse to pack their suitcases and head off to some place advertised as beautiful and scenic unless it has been highlighted as a featured destination on the Travel Channel. Taking this opinion into account, Arcadia Valley Chamber of Commerce hosts a tri-annual event to draw thousands of visitors into the area with the hopes of generating tourism revenue as well as making them want to return to the Arcadia Valley again and again. This event capitalizes on local history along with appealing to many Americans\u27 fascination with the Civil War--the re-enactment of the Civil War Battle of Pilot Knob

Female terrorism and militancy

Postprin

Profiling terror: gender, strategic logic, and emotion in the study of suicide terrorism

'Robert Papes viel diskutiertes Buch 'Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism' (2005) zeigt deutlich die Selbstverständlichkeit eines vermeintlich geschlechtsneutralen Zugangs zur Analyse von männlichen und weiblichen SelbstmordterroristInnen. Papes Hauptargument ist, dass Selbstmordterrorismus eine durchaus rationale Strategie politischer AkteurInnen sei, der sich in Form von Kampagnen ausschließlich gegen Demokratien richte. Die Studie benennt zwar Männer wie Frauen als rationale politische Individuen bzw. AkteurInnen, betont zugleich aber bei Frauen stark den emotionalen Aspekt der Motivation. In diesem Artikel argumentieren die Verfasser, dass geschlechtsneutrale Studien wie die von Robert A. Pape nur vermeintlich geschlechtsneutral sind und gerade diese Annahme dazu führt, dass soziale und politische Dimensionen von Geschlechterordnungen ebenso wie die Vergeschlechtlichung des Sozialen und Politischen ausgeblendet werden. Darüber hinaus sagen die Verfasser, dass das Modell der Rational Choice Theorie, wie sie bei Pape eindrücklich angewendet wird, die Kluft zwischen den Geschlechtern noch vergrößert, indem 'männlichen' Werten der Vorzug gegenüber 'weiblichen' gegeben wird. Als Alternative schlagen die Verfasser eine dreifache Modifikation des Zugangs zu einer Beforschung von Selbstmordterrorismus vor, die sowohl politische als auch emotionale Motivationen inkludiert: Vergeschlechtlichte Repräsentationen von SelbstmordattentäterInnen verstärken Stereotype über Geschlecht sowie über Selbstmordterrorismus; das Ausblenden der Komplexität von Motivationen bringt die Vielfalt der Variablen, die in die Entscheidung der 'MärtyrerInnen' einfließen, nicht zum Verschwinden; und ein theoretischer Zugang, der das Emotionale in den Vordergrund stellt, könnte die Verengung des Rational Choice Ansatzes ausgleichen. Der Aufsatz schließt mit Belegen für unsere These am Beispiel der tschetschenischen 'Schwarzen Witwen', womit die der Verfasser Vorschläge als explanatorisch wertvoll diskutiert werden.' (Autorenreferat)'Robert Pape's well-received book, 'Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism' (2005), presents what appears to be a gender-neutral study of both male and female suicide terrorists. Pape's main argument is that suicide terrorism is a strategic and rational terror campaign against democracies. While the study argues that male and female suicide terrorists are rational individuals, it depicts women as motivated by emotion. Thus, this article argues that gender-neutral work is rarely gender-neutral and such studies fail to recognize the social and political impact of gender. Furthermore, the authors argue that the rational choice model presented by Pape furthers the gender divide by emphasizing values associated with masculinity over values associated with femininity. As an alternative, the authors propose three propositions to change the study of suicide terrorism to include both political and emotional motivations. They propose that gendered presentations of female suicide bombers reify stereotypical images of gender and of suicide bombers, that silence about the complexity of suicide bombers' motivations does not erase the many variables that go into martyrs' decisions, and that adding emotion to the study of suicide bombing counterbalances the narrowness of the 'strategic actor' model. The essay concludes with evidence from the study of the Chechen 'black widows' that demonstrates the explanatory value of these propositions.' (author's abstract

The Effect of Transient HMG-CoA Reductase and 1-Deoxy-D-Xylulose-5-Phosphate Synthase Overexpression on Terpene Production in Transgenic Tomato Fruits

Isoprenoids are secondary metabolites that control numerous plant functions including signaling, growth, photosynthesis, and membrane structure. The bioengineering of isoprenoid synthesis could produce plants with a variety of beneficial traits. Plants form isoprenoids using two different pathways, the mevalonate (MVA) pathway and the methylerithritol phosphate (MEP) pathway, which cooperate via metabolic cross-talk. Transgenic tomato lines expressing both the plastidic and cytosolic forms of the snapdragon nerolidol/linalool terpene synthase under a fruit ripening specific promoter were transiently transformed to overexpress key enzymes in the two isoprenoid pathways. Hydroxymethylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMGR) is the rate limiting enzyme in the MVA pathway that was selected for overexpression. 1-deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate synthase (DXPS) in the plastid was targeted as it is the first committed step in the MEP pathway. HMGR and DXPS coding regions were cloned into binary vectors under a constitutive promoter and introduced into Agrobacterium tumefaciens which were then injected into ripening tomato fruits for transient expression. Additionally, untransformed fruits were incubated with either the MVA-inhibitor mevinolin or the MEP-inhibitor fosmidomycin. Terpene production was characterized by gas chromatography and mass spectrometery of fruit volatiles collected at the ripe stage. Inhibitor treatment is expected to decrease terpene synthesis in the same compartment as the inhibited pathway. The overexpression of early MVA and MEP pathway genes is expected to significantly increase the formation of terpenes

Activity-dependent trafficking of lysosomes in dendrites and dendritic spines.

In neurons, lysosomes, which degrade membrane and cytoplasmic components, are thought to primarily reside in somatic and axonal compartments, but there is little understanding of their distribution and function in dendrites. Here, we used conventional and two-photon imaging and electron microscopy to show that lysosomes traffic bidirectionally in dendrites and are present in dendritic spines. We find that lysosome inhibition alters their mobility and also decreases dendritic spine number. Furthermore, perturbing microtubule and actin cytoskeletal dynamics has an inverse relationship on the distribution and motility of lysosomes in dendrites. We also find trafficking of lysosomes is correlated with synaptic α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid-type glutamate receptors. Strikingly, lysosomes traffic to dendritic spines in an activity-dependent manner and can be recruited to individual spines in response to local activation. These data indicate the position of lysosomes is regulated by synaptic activity and thus plays an instructive role in the turnover of synaptic membrane proteins

Reduced to Bad Sex: Narratives of Violent Women from the Bible to the War on Terror

In almost every culture and everyperiod of history, a she-devil emerges asan example of all that is rotten in thefemale sex. This Medusa draws togetherthe many forms of female perversion:a woman whose sexuality is debauchedand foul, pornographic and bisexual;a woman who knows none of the fineand noble instincts when it comes tomen and children; a woman who liesand deceives, manipulates andcorrupts. A woman who is clever andpowerful. This is a woman who is fardeadlier than the male, in fact not awoman at all

Healthy & Active Programs and Policies Evaluation: System Manual

The Healthy and Active Programs and Policies Evaluation (HAPPE) System is the data collection system for the MFH Healthy and Active Communities Initiative (H&AC) evaluation. The primary goals of the system are to serve as a centralized location to submit data, monitor progress over time, generate reports to meet program needs, and to allow the H&AC Evaluation Team to collect data across all H&AC programs.https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cphss/1090/thumbnail.jp

Resistance of Human Cytomegalovirus to Cyclopropavir Maps to a Base Pair Deletion in the Open Reading Frame of \u3cem\u3eUL97\u3c/em\u3e

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a widespread pathogen in the human population, affecting many immunologically immature and immunocompromised patients, and can result in severe complications, such as interstitial pneumonia and mental retardation. Current chemotherapies for the treatment of HCMV infections include ganciclovir (GCV), foscarnet, and cidofovir. However, the high incidences of adverse effects (neutropenia and nephrotoxicity) limit the use of these drugs. Cyclopropavir (CPV), a guanosine nucleoside analog, is 10-fold more active against HCMV than GCV (50% effective concentrations [EC50s] = 0.46 and 4.1 μM, respectively). We hypothesize that the mechanism of action of CPV is similar to that of GCV: phosphorylation to a monophosphate by viral pUL97 protein kinase with further phosphorylation to a triphosphate by endogenous kinases, re- sulting in inhibition of viral DNA synthesis. To test this hypothesis, we isolated a CPV-resistant virus, sequenced its genome, and discovered that bp 498 of UL97 was deleted. This mutation caused a frameshift in UL97 resulting in a truncated protein that lacks a kinase domain. To determine if this base pair deletion was responsible for drug resistance, the mutation was engineered into the wild-type viral genome, which was then exposed to increasing concentrations of CPV. The results demonstrate that the engineered virus was approximately 72-fold more resistant to CPV (EC50 = 25.8 ± 3.1 μM) than the wild-type virus (EC50 = 0.36 ± 0.11 μM). We conclude, therefore, that this mutation is sufficient for drug resistance and that pUL97 is involved in the mechanism of action of CPV

Expanding Coverage Initiatives: 2015-2016 Evaluation Report

This report from the Missouri Foundation for Health Expanding Coverage Initiative describes external evaluation findings for year five of the evaluation which covers the time period of August 1, 2015 to July 31, 2016.https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cphss/1093/thumbnail.jp