AN EFFICIENCY ANALYSIS OF CATTLE BACKGROUNDING IN KANSAS

Efficiency measures can be used to generate inferences about the future direction of the industry and determine factors that may influence the structure. This study evaluated relative efficiencies of Kansas backgrounding operations. Farms that engaged in the backgrounding of cattle were very inefficient. Significant improvement is needed in technology adoption and input usage.Livestock Production/Industries,

Student Expectations and Preferences of Distance Course Delivery Methods

Students in five courses offered with a variety of distance and on-campus delivery methods were surveyed to determine student expectations and post-evaluation of courses; student demographics; and student experiences and preferences with technology and course delivery methods. The response group was primarily degree seeking upperclassmen, taking a required course, equally split by gender and by delivery location. All students preferred a live class delivery method but videotape delivery appeared to have a higher student satisfaction level than satellite. On-campus students found simultaneous satellite delivery distracting but not detrimental to their learning experience. Students consistently misjudged the content and workload of courses.Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Evaluation and cost analysis of alternative residue management methods for Kentucky bluegrass seed production in the Grande Ronde Valley

The production of high quality grass seed is important to the agricultural economy of the Grande Ronde Valley (GRV) of eastern Oregon. The predominate grass seed crops grown in the area are Kentucky bluegrass and fine fescues. Historically, open-field burning has been an effective, economical means by which to remove residue and maintain seed yield and quality. The continued concern for air quality and public health have led to the adoption of alternative residue management methods that place less reliance on open-field burning of full straw residue loads

Development and preliminary effectiveness of an innovative treatment for binge eating in racially diverse adolescent girls

Binge and loss of control (LOC) eating are significant concerns among many adolescents and are associated with poor physical, social, and psychological functioning. Black girls appear to be particularly vulnerable to binge and LOC eating. Yet, empirically validated, culturally sensitive treatments for these disordered eating behaviors are not well established. This investigation examined satisfaction, feasibility, and preliminary outcomes of a binge eating intervention for ethnically diverse adolescent girls

An economic comparison of alternative bluegrass residue management practices in Oregon's Grande Ronde Valley

Published February 2009. Facts and recommendations in this publication may no longer be valid. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalo

Cell walls of the dimorphic fungal pathogens Sporothrix schenckii and Sporothrix brasiliensis exhibit bilaminate structures and sloughing of extensive and intact layers

This work was supported by the Fundação Carlos Chagas de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ), grants E-26/202.974/2015 and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), grants 229755/2013-5, Brazil. LMLB is a senior research fellow of CNPq and Faperj. NG acknowledged support from the Wellcome Trust (Trust (097377, 101873, 200208) and MRC Centre for Medical Mycology (MR/N006364/1). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Parent skills training to enhance weight loss in overweight children: Evaluation of NOURISH

Although there is general agreement that parents should be involved in pediatric obesity treatment, few studies have investigated the effectiveness of interventions that target parents exclusively. Moreover, the effectiveness of this approach has not been adequately assessed with racially diverse families, particularly African Americans, a group at high risk for elevated Body Mass Index (BMI)

DNA topoisomerases participate in fragility of the oncogene RET

Fragile site breakage was previously shown to result in rearrangement of the RET oncogene, resembling the rearrangements found in thyroid cancer. Common fragile sites are specific regions of the genome with a high susceptibility to DNA breakage under conditions that partially inhibit DNA replication, and often coincide with genes deleted, amplified, or rearranged in cancer. While a substantial amount of work has been performed investigating DNA repair and cell cycle checkpoint proteins vital for maintaining stability at fragile sites, little is known about the initial events leading to DNA breakage at these sites. The purpose of this study was to investigate these initial events through the detection of aphidicolin (APH)-induced DNA breakage within the RET oncogene, in which 144 APHinduced DNA breakpoints were mapped on the nucleotide level in human thyroid cells within intron 11 of RET, the breakpoint cluster region found in patients. These breakpoints were located at or near DNA topoisomerase I and/or II predicted cleavage sites, as well as at DNA secondary structural features recognized and preferentially cleaved by DNA topoisomerases I and II. Co-treatment of thyroid cells with APH and the topoisomerase catalytic inhibitors, betulinic acid and merbarone, significantly decreased APH-induced fragile site breakage within RET intron 11 and within the common fragile site FRA3B. These data demonstrate that DNA topoisomerases I and II are involved in initiating APH-induced common fragile site breakage at RET, and may engage the recognition of DNA secondary structures formed during perturbed DNA replication

Coupled changes in brain white matter microstructure and fluid intelligence in later life

Understanding aging-related cognitive decline is of growing importance in aging societies, but relatively little is known about its neural substrates. Measures of white matter microstructure are known to correlate cross-sectionally with cognitive ability measures, but only a few small studies have tested for longitudinal relations among these variables. We tested whether there were coupled changes in brain white matter microstructure indexed by fractional anisotropy (FA) and three broad cognitive domains (fluid intelligence, processing speed, and memory) in a large cohort of human participants with longitudinal diffusion tensor MRI and detailed cognitive data taken at ages 73 years (n = 731) and 76 years (n = 488). Longitudinal changes in white matter microstructure were coupled with changes in fluid intelligence, but not with processing speed or memory. Individuals with higher baseline white matter FA showed less subsequent decline in processing speed. Our results provide evidence for a longitudinal link between changes in white matter microstructure and aging-related cognitive decline during the eighth decade of life. They are consistent with theoretical perspectives positing that a corticocortical “disconnection” partly explains cognitive aging

Harmonization of Neuroticism and Extraversion phenotypes across inventories and cohorts in the Genetics of Personality Consortium : an application of Item Response Theory

Peer reviewe