480 research outputs found
Consumer Preferences for Cluster Raisins: A Focus Group Investigation
Get PDFThe U.S. raisin industry has experienced a decline in acreage and in number of growers in recent years. One firm is trying a novel approach to marketing raisins, namely, by marketing them still attached to the vine. This product is called cluster raisins. In order to explore consumer preferences related to cluster raisins, and to generate new product ideas and preferred marketing methods, two focus group interviews were implemented. Findings included that a young (i.e., 18 - 25 years) market segment would be a recommended target market. Also included are recommendations regarding price, packaging, and methods of increasing consumer awareness. Recommended marketing channels include specialty markets (e.g., Trader Joe's or Whole Foods) and gift baskets.Marketing,
Vacuum energy in a spherically symmetric background field
Get PDFThe vacuum energy of a scalar field in a spherically symmetric background
field is considered. It is expressed through the Jost function of the
corresponding scattering problem. The renormalization is discussed in detail
and performed using the uniform asymptotic expansion of the Jost function. The
method is demonstrated in a simple explicit example.Comment: 14 pages, 1 Postscript figur
<html>Induction of Murine Intestinal Inflammation by Adoptive Transfer of Effector CD4<sup>+</sup>CD45RB<sup>high</sup> T Cells into Immunodeficient Mice</html>
Get PDFThere are many different animal models available for studying the pathogenesis of human inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), each with its own advantages and disadvantages. We describe here an experimental colitis model that is initiated by adoptive transfer of syngeneic splenic CD4+CD45RBhigh T cells into T and B cell deficient recipient mice. The CD4+CD45RBhigh T cell population that largely consists of naĂŻve effector cells is capable of inducing chronic intestinal inflammation, closely resembling key aspects of human IBD. This method can be manipulated to study aspects of disease onset and progression. Additionally it can be used to study the function of innate, adaptive, and regulatory immune cell populations, and the role of environmental exposures, i.e., the microbiota, in intestinal inflammation. In this article we illustrate the methodology for inducing colitis with a step-by-step protocol. This includes a video demonstration of key technical aspects required to successfully develop this murine model of experimental colitis for research purposes
Teaching strategies and gender in higher education instrumental studios
Get PDFThis study investigates instrumental music teaching strategies in higher education settings, in order to identify those employed and their frequency and context of use. An instrument- and gender-balanced sample of 24 lessons from five institutions was analysed using a researcher-designed observational instrument. The results reveal the predominance of teacher demonstration, general directives and praise as most frequent teaching strategies employed in lessons. Gender differences emerged in the teaching approaches: the male teachers gave more general directives and explanations and the female teachers offered more answers and practice discussions; the male students received the most specific teacher criticism despite uniform use of praise. The findings provide new evidence of teaching practices in advanced instrumental studios and raise questions regarding gender issues in music teaching
CP Violation from Surface Terms in the Electroweak Theory without Fermions
Get PDFWe consider the effect of adding a CP-odd, theta FFdual-term to the
electroweak Lagrangian without fermions. This term affects neither the
classical nor perturbatively quantum physics, but can be observed through
non-perturbative quantum processes. We give an example of such a process by
modifying the theory so that it supports Higgs-winding solitons and showing
that the rates of decay of these solitons to specific final states are CP
violating. We also discuss how the CP symmetry is restored when fermions are
included.Comment: 11 pages, REVTEX, final version to be published in Phys. Rev.
Neurocognitive, Social-Behavioral, and Adaptive Functioning in Preschool Children with Mild to Moderate Kidney Disease
Get PDFThe negative impact of End Stage Kidney Disease on cognitive function in children is well established, but no studies have examined the neurocognitive, social-behavioral, and adaptive behavior skills of preschool children with mild to moderate chronic kidney disease (CKD)
Molecular Population Structure for Feral Swine in the United States
Get PDFFeral swine (Sus scrofa) have invaded most of the United States and continue to expand throughout North America. Given the ecological and economic threats posed by increasing feral swine abundance, it is imperative to develop an understanding of their patterns of natural range expansion and human-mediated introductions. Towards this goal, we used molecular markers to elucidate the genetic structure of feral swine populations throughout the United States and evaluated the association between historical introductions and contemporary patterns of genetic organization. We used STRUCTURE and discriminant analysis of principal components (DAPC) to delineate genetic clusters for 959 individuals genotyped at 88 single nucleotide polymorphism loci. We identified 10 and 12 genetic clusters for the 2 clustering approaches, respectively. We observed strong agreement in clusters across approaches, with both describing clusters having strong geographic association at regional levels reflecting past introduction and range expansion patterns. In addition, we evaluated patterns of isolation by distance to test for and estimate spatial scaling of population structure within western, central, and eastern regions of North America. We found contrasting spatial patterns of genetic relatedness among regions, suggesting differences in the invasion process, likely as a result of regional variation in landscape heterogeneity and the influence of human mediated introductions. Our results indicate that molecular analyses of population genetic structure can provide reliable insights into the invasion processes of feral swine, thus providing a useful basis for management focused on minimizing continued range expansion by this problematic species
Bureau of Networks and Observations
Get PDFRole of the Bureau: To advocate and encourage implementation of the Core and Co-location Network to satisfy GGOS requirements, to monitor the status of the network and project its future condition, and to support and advocate for infrastructure critical for the development of data products essential to GGOS
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Diurnal/semidiurnal polar motion excited by oceanic tidal angular momentum
Get PDFThe axial component of the oceanic tidal angular momentum (OTAM) has been demonstrated to be responsible for most of the diurnal and semidiurnal variations in Earth's rotational rate. In this paper we study the equatorial components of OTAM and their corresponding effects on the orientation of Earth's rotational axis, or polar motion. Three ocean tide models derived from TOPEX/Poseidon satellite altimetry are employed to predict the polar motion excited by eight major diurnal/semidiurnal tides (Qâ,Oâ,Pâ, Kâ, Nâ, Mâ, Sâ, Kâ). The predictions are compared with geodetic measurements of polar motion from both longâterm observations and during the intensive campaign Cont94. The prograde diurnal and prograde and retrograde semidiurnal periods are treated, whereas the retrograde diurnal polar motion is not treated (because it cannot be observed directly and uniquely.) The comparison shows generally good agreement, with discrepancies typically within 10â30 microâarcâ seconds for the largest tides. The eight tides collectively explain nearly 60% of the total variance in subdaily polar motion during Cont94. This establishes the dominant role of OTAM in exciting the diurnal/semidiurnal polar motion and paves the way for detailed studies of shortâperiod nontidal polar motion. The present accuracy, however, is inadequate to shed light on the prograde diurnal polar libration
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