The Unveiling

The method I use in creating abstract sculpture presented the question that became the subject of my Master\u27s thesis. Only occasionally will I create from a pre-conceived concept. The sculptures evolve through a process of addition and subtraction of material to something that simply pleases me. This method, really no method at all, seemed contradictory to my original intentions. My artistic goals were purposeful; I wanted to create sculpture that would provoke a reaction first, not a judgment of features. I wanted the viewers emotional and psychological involvement to be the basis for content and meaning in the work. In spite of the indirect approach, I felt there was some success in achieving my goal. Discovering how this occurred was important because I was at a loss to understand the content of my own work. Did the sculpture I was making hold any deeper meaning for me? My thesis proposal advanced the question of how sculptural form expresses content. A more accurate question is, what does it mean? I had faith that I was indeed making art that was more than a pleasant arrangement of forms. Confident that there was also meaning, I proceeded to explore and analyze the relationship of creative process to sculptural form and content. While writing a draft of my thesis, I realized the question was beyond a definitive answer. This was a personal investigation of a fundamental question. My expectation was that insight and analysis would provide the answer I needed

Nitrogenous changes during ensilage

Gamma-irradiation was used to delineate the effects of plant and microbial enzymes on the nitrogenous changes occurring during ensilage, particularly in the amino acid fraction. The effect of inoculating irradiated grass with lactic acid bacteria was also studied. Results showed that proteolysis is brought about mainly by plant proteases whereas further amino acid metabolism is the result of microbial activity. The effects on individual amino acids are reported. L. plantavum and S. faeoal-is were shown to be non-proteolytic and to have a limited ability to catabolise amino acids.The effect of pH on plant protease activity was investigated using gamma-irradiated aqueous grass extract. Protein breakdown appears to be largely completed within a few days. It was found that, although the overall optimum pH for ryegrass proteases is 5.5 to 6.5, activity still occurred at the pH levels found in silage.The effect of several different types of silage additive on fermentation was studied, particularly with respect to the nitrogenous components.A commercial inoculant ("Clampdown") was applied to grass at three levels (10⁴, 10⁶ and 10⁸ organisms g⁻¹) before ensiling. Silages were also made after mincing both inoculated and uninoculated grass and after addition of glucose (20 gkg⁻¹), to inoculated and uninoculated grass. The homofermentative inoculant stimulated a more efficient fermentation, leading to rapid acidification and silages with high water-soluble carbohydrate and lactic acid contents. There was some reduction in proteolysis and a considerable decrease in deamination. Mincing alone did not encourage acidification nor reduce deamination, but did reduce proteolysis. Mincing the inoculated material did not enhance the effects of inoculation. Glucose treatment was found to be ineffeetive.Formalin (40% w/v formaldehyde) at 1.8 It⁻¹ and "Add-F" (85% w/w formic acid) at three levels (2.3, 4.6 and 6.9 It⁻¹) were applied to grass before ensiling either alone or in combination. Formic acid was found to be a very effective inhibitor of fermentation. When used on its own, it had a limited effect only, in preventing proteolysis, but did reduce deamination substantially. Formaldehyde alone had little effect on fermentation, proteolysis or deamination. Combining the two additives produced a synergistic effect with respect to protein protection. The most satisfactory treatment was a combination of formic acid at 2.3 It⁻¹ with formalin

Evidence of assortative mating in autism spectrum disorder

Background Assortative mating is a non-random mating system in which individuals with similar genotypes and/or phenotypes mate with one another more frequently than would be expected in a random mating system. Assortative mating has been hypothesized to play a role in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in an attempt to explain some of the increase in the prevalence of ASD that has recently been observed. ASD is considered to be a heritable neurodevelopmental disorder but there is limited understanding of its causes. Assortative mating can be explored through both phenotypic and genotypic data, but up until now, has never been investigated through genotypic measures in ASD. Methods We investigated genotypically similar mating pairs using genome-wide Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) data on trio families (Autism Genome Project (AGP) data (1,590 parents) and Simons Simplex Collection (SSC) data (1962 parents)). To determine whether or not an excess in genetic similarity was present we employed kinship coefficients and examined spousal correlation between the principal components in both the AGP and SSC datasets. We also examined assortative mating using phenotype data on the parents to detect any correlation between ASD traits. Results We found significant evidence of genetic similarity between the parents of ASD offspring using both methods in the AGP dataset. In the SSC, there was also significant evidence of genetic similarity between the parents when explored through spousal correlation. Conclusions This gives further support to the hypothesis that positive assortative mating plays a role in ASD

Bayesian inference for dynamic transcriptional regulation; the Hes1 system as a case study.

Motivation: In this study we address the problem of estimating the parameters of regulatory networks and provide the first application of Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods to experimental data. As a case study we consider a stochastic model of the Hes1 system expressed in terms of stochastic differential equations (SDEs) to which rigorous likelihood methods of inference can be applied. When fitting continuous-time stochastic models to discretely observed time series the lengths of the sampling intervals are important, and much of our study addresses the problem when the data are sparse. Results: We estimate the parameters of an autoregulatory network providing results both for simulated and real experimental data from the Hes1 system. We develop an estimation algorithm using Markov chain Monte Carlo techniques which are flexible enough to allow for the imputation of latent data on a finer time scale and the presence of prior information about parameters which may be informed from other experiments as well as additional measurement error. Availability: Supplementary information is submitted with the paper. Contact

New radicals: digital political engagement in post-referendum Scotland: final report on pilot project to the communities and cultrue network+.

The main aim of this study will be to analyse the transition of social media activism since the Scottish referendum, in order to establish whether the related activism is sustained over a longer timescale, particularly in relation to younger voters. The objectives of the proposed study will be: To map and disaggregate post-referendum social media activity using social network analysis techniques To investigate the discourses and emerging narratives of the groups using digital ethnographic research To investigate the breadth and depth of engagement by conducting interviews with members of the groups (including political parties and civic campaign groups) To conduct a targeted investigation of engagement of young voters (especially those aged 16-17 at the time of the referendum) to determine whether the engagement levels in relation to the referendum are translating into broader engagement with politics

Congenital absence of the external carotid artery: Atherosclerosis without a bifurcation

AbstractWe report the case of a patient with congenital absence of the external carotid artery in whom we performed a carotid endarterectomy. The radiographic features and operative findings are presented. Four similar cases previously reported in the literature are reviewed. A comment on the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis at the carotid bulb in the absence of a bifurcation and a brief discussion on the possible embryologic explanation of this anomaly are discussed. (J Vasc Surg 2002;35:573-5.

Identity-by-descent analysis of a large Tourette’s syndrome pedigree from Costa Rica implicates genes involved in neuronal development and signal transduction:Molecular psychiatry

Tourette Syndrome (TS) is a heritable, early-onset neuropsychiatric disorder that typically begins in early childhood. Identifying rare genetic variants that make a significant contribution to risk in affected families may provide important insights into the molecular aetiology of this complex and heterogeneous syndrome. Here we present a whole-genome sequencing (WGS) analysis from the 11-generation pedigree (>500 individuals) of a densely affected Costa Rican family which shares ancestry from six founder pairs. By conducting an identity-by-descent (IBD) analysis using WGS data from 19 individuals from the extended pedigree we have identified putative risk haplotypes that were not seen in controls, and can be linked with four of the six founder pairs. Rare coding and non-coding variants present on the haplotypes and only seen in haplotype carriers show an enrichment in pathways such as regulation of locomotion and signal transduction, suggesting common mechanisms by which the haplotype-specific variants may be contributing to TS-risk in this pedigree. In particular we have identified a rare deleterious missense variation in RAPGEF1 on a chromosome 9 haplotype and two ultra-rare deleterious intronic variants in ERBB4 and IKZF2 on the same chromosome 2 haplotype. All three genes play a role in neurodevelopment. This study, using WGS data in a pedigree-based approach, shows the importance of investigating both coding and non-coding variants to identify genes that may contribute to disease risk. Together, the genes and variants identified on the IBD haplotypes represent biologically relevant targets for investigation in other pedigree and population-based TS data