P. BM EA 10052, Anthony Harris, and Queen Tyti

Recently rediscovered text copies of what is now P. BM EA 10052, 6.22–23 by Anthony Harris from his Notebook 5, in conjunction with surviving unpublished fragments from this section of the papyrus, identify a Queen Tyti as a King's Wife of Ramesses III, helping to resolve a long-standing conundrum in the study of the Twentieth Dynasty royal family. </jats:p

USDA Stakeholder Workshop on Animal Bioinformatics: Summary and Recommendations

An electronic workshop was conducted on 4 November–13 December 2002 to discuss current issues and needs in animal bioinformatics. The electronic (e-mail listserver) format was chosen to provide a relatively speedy process that is broad in scope, cost-efficient and easily accessible to all participants. Approximately 40 panelists with diverse species and discipline expertise communicated through the panel e-mail listserver. The panel included scientists from academia, industry and government, in the USA, Australia and the UK. A second ‘stakeholder’ e-mail listserver was used to obtain input from a broad audience with general interests in animal genomics. The objectives of the electronic workshop were: (a) to define priorities for animal genome database development; and (b) to recommend ways in which the USDA could provide leadership in the area of animal genome database development. E-mail messages from panelists and stakeholders are archived at http://genome.cvm.umn.edu/bioinfo/. Priorities defined for animal genome database development included: (a) data repository; (b) tools for genome analysis; (c) annotation; (d) practical application of genomic data; and (e) a biological framework for DNA sequence. A stable source of funding, such as the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS), was recommended to support maintenance of data repositories and data curation. Continued support for competitive grants programs within the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (CSREES) was recommended for tool development and hypothesis-driven research projects in genome analysis. Additional stakeholder input will be required to continuously refine priorities and maximize the use of limited resources for animal bioinformatics within the USDA

TRIENNIAL REPRODUCTION SYMPOSIUM: Looking back and moving forward—how reproductive physiology has evolved

In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Society for the Study of Reproduction (SSR), a Triennial Reproduction Symposium was cosponsored by SSR and the American Society of Animal Science (ASAS). The Society for the Study of Reproduction was formed in 1967 when a group of reproductive biologists that were members of ASAS met with physician scientists and decided to organize a new scientific society. The goal of SSR was to promote the study of reproduction by fostering interdisciplinary communication among scientists, holding conferences, and publishing meritorious studies. Today after its 50th anniversary, the mission for SSR is to harness the science of reproduction, fertility, and development for a healthy world. The American Society of Animal Science began as the American Society of Animal Nutrition in 1908 and was broadened to include additional disciplines in 1912. The society changed its name to the American Society of Animal Production in 1915 and in 1961 the name of the society was changed to ASAS. Today, ASAS is a membership society that supports the careers of scientists and animal producers in the United States and internationally. The Society fosters the discovery, sharing, and application of scientific knowledge concerning the responsible use of animals to enhance human life and well-being

TRIENNIAL REPRODUCTION SYMPOSIUM: Looking back and moving forward—how reproductive physiology has evolved

In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Society for the Study of Reproduction (SSR), a Triennial Reproduction Symposium was cosponsored by SSR and the American Society of Animal Science (ASAS). The Society for the Study of Reproduction was formed in 1967 when a group of reproductive biologists that were members of ASAS met with physician scientists and decided to organize a new scientific society. The goal of SSR was to promote the study of reproduction by fostering interdisciplinary communication among scientists, holding conferences, and publishing meritorious studies. Today after its 50th anniversary, the mission for SSR is to harness the science of reproduction, fertility, and development for a healthy world. The American Society of Animal Science began as the American Society of Animal Nutrition in 1908 and was broadened to include additional disciplines in 1912. The society changed its name to the American Society of Animal Production in 1915 and in 1961 the name of the society was changed to ASAS. Today, ASAS is a membership society that supports the careers of scientists and animal producers in the United States and internationally. The Society fosters the discovery, sharing, and application of scientific knowledge concerning the responsible use of animals to enhance human life and well-being

ASAS celebrates 10 years of publishing Animal Frontiers: The Review Magazine of Animal Agriculture

In July 2011, the first issue of Animal Frontiers was published by an international consortium including the American Society of Animal Science (ASAS), the Canadian Society of Animal Science (CSAS), and the European Federation of Animal Science (EAAP). Development of an international, science-based, open access journal that provided review articles and global perspectives on the complex dynamics associated with the production of animal-sourced foods was an accomplishment in and of itself, but the ability to meet the needs of a diverse community of readers, including scientists, policy makers, educators, and the general public set Animal Frontiers apart from other journals. In 2012, the American Meat Science Society (AMSA) joined the consortium and added a valuable perspective regarding muscle-based meat products and the meat science industry. To keep the journal going (and growing) and maintaining its primary objectives across three publishers, three editors-in-chief, and an increasing number of competing journals, including numerous predatory journals, adds another level of success to the 10-year history of Animal Frontiers

Special Topic: Cell-based meat: the need to assess holistically

Proof-of-principle for large-scale engineering of edible muscle tissue, in vitro, was established with the product’s introduction in 2013. Subsequent research and commentary on the potential for cell-based meat to be a viable food option and potential alternative to conventional meat have been significant. While some of this has focused on the biology and engineering required to optimize the manufacturing process, a majority of debate has focused on cultural, environmental, and regulatory considerations. Animal scientists and others with expertise in muscle and cell biology, physiology, and meat science have contributed to the knowledge base that has made cell-based meat possible and will continue to have a role in the future of the new product. Importantly, the successful introduction of cell-based meat that looks and tastes like conventional meat at a comparable price has the potential to displace and/or complement conventional meat in the marketplace

Adaptive filtering of evoked potentials with radial-basis-function neural network prefilter

Evoked potentials (EPs) are time-varying signals typically buried in relatively large background noise. To extract the EP more effectively from noise, we had previously developed an approach using an adaptive signal enhancer (ASE) (Chen et al., 1995). ASE requires a proper reference input signal for its optimal performance. Ensemble- and moving window-averages were formerly used with good results. In this paper, we present a new method to provide even more effective reference inputs for the ASE. Specifically, a Gaussian radial basis function neural network (RBFNN) was used to preprocess raw EP signals before serving as the reference input. Since the RBFNN has built-in nonlinear activation functions that enable it to closely fit any function mapping, the output of RBFNN can effectively track the signal variations of EP. Results confirmed the superior performance of ASE with RBFNN over the previous method.published_or_final_versio

USACE Portland District Spillway Gate Rehabilitation Program

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Portland District has 90 spillway radial Tainter gates. There are 42 gates at the 11 Willamette Valley Basin projects, 5 gates at the two Rogue Basin projects and 43 gates at the two Columbia River projects. Since 2001 there have been various studies, inspections and incidents that have prompted the Portland District to become concerned about the structural integrity and mechanical and electrical reliability of these gates. In 2008, load induced buckling was observed on three of the four Tainter gate end frames at Foster Dam which led to emergency repairs. Additional observations of buckled Tainter gate strut arms at Dexter Dam in December 2009 required repairs and created urgency with respect to documenting the risk to the downstream population at all District projects. These events led to a comprehensive assessment of the Tainter gates in the Willamette Valley and Rogue Basin projects which was implemented in 2010. The comprehensive assessment included a gates specific potential failure modes analysis (PFMA), structural, mechanical and electrical assessments, identification of interim risk reduction measures (IRRMs), and analysis of impacts of the interim risk reduction measures. As part of this assessment, the District developed a tool for prioritizing projects for gate repair based on the results of the assessment. Since identifying the issues with Tainter gates, Portland District has implemented IRRMs, taken a systems-based approach to repairs, and implemented a capitalization program to improve gate reliability. Repairs are complete or underway at 36 of the 42 Tainter gates in the Willamette Valley, a study is underway to address reliability of regulating outlets, and future studies are planned for Columbia River spillway gates. Keywords: Spillway, Gates, Risk, Rehabilitation, Tainter, Radial

A morphometric study of microvascular pathology following experimental rupture of Reissner's membrane

In a previous paper (this volume) we described a method for evaluating the cochlear microvasculature. This method was applied to the analysis of lateral wall tissue from chinchillas sacrificed 1 h, 24 h, l week and 3 weeks after surgical rupture of Reissner's membrane. The degree, direction, and time course of pathological changes seen in the microvessels were different for the system of stria vascularis vessels, the system of spiral ligament vessels, and the system of spiral prominence vessels. These results indicate that it is important to evaluate all of the lateral wall vessels rather than just the stria vascularis, and emphasize the importance of dividing the microvasculature into three independent systems, in order to obtain a clearer perspective on microvascular changes which occur following cochlear trauma.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/25843/1/0000406.pd

A morphometric technique for analysis of cochlear vessels

A computer based system was developed for morphometric analysis of the cochlear lateral wall vasculature. Variables measured were vascular density, RBC density, vessel width, aggregation density, lumen compression count, WBC count and pigment density. Vessels were divided into three systems based on the lateral wall structures that they supplied. The results indicated that these three vessel systems were morphologically distinct in terms of their vascular density, RBC density, and vessel width. How these differences relate to functional needs of the lateral wall is discussed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/25838/1/0000401.pd