Allergic Inhalent Dermatitis in the Canine

A dog with allergic inhalant dermatitis presents a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge to the veterinarian. The patient exhibits intense pruritus often accompanied by scratching, foot licking, face rubbing, sneezing, and lacrimation. The occurrence of signs is often seasonal and is usually first seen in the second or theird year. Allergic inhalant dermatitis is an immediate type of allergic hypersensitivity mediated by the skin sensitizing antigen, IgE

Stoichiometry control of sputtered CuCl thin films: Influence on ultraviolet emission properties

We demonstrate that the chemical composition of the sputtered CuCl thin films could be finely controlled by adjusting the bias to the substrate. The films deposited without any intentional bias were Cl rich (CuCl1+x), a bias of −22 V yielded stoichiometric CuCl, and a further increase in the negative bias resulted in Cl deficient films (CuCl1−x). The crystalline and optical properties were found to be associated with the chemical composition. Cl rich films showed a deep level green emission at around 515 nm in addition to ultraviolet (UV) excitonic emission. The stoichiometric films have higher optical quality, exhibiting a sharp UV emission at around 385 nm at room temperature, compared to nonstoichiometric samples. Visible luminescence related to deep level defects was not observed in the stoichiometric films. Changes in energy of the flux from the target and the subsequent ion bombardment on the substrate surface are correlated with the variations in chemical composition and their impact on the film microstructure and UV emission

Transient Simulations for Radio Surveys

Several new radio facilities have a field of view and sensitivity well suited for transient searches. This makes it more important than ever to accurately determine transient rates in radio surveys. The work presented here seeks to do this task by using Monte-Carlo simulations. In particular, the user inputs either a real or simulated observational setup, and the simulations code calculates transient rate as a function of transient duration and peak flux. These simulations allow for simulating a wide variety of scenarios including observations with varying sensitivities and durations, multiple overlapping telescope pointings, and a wide variety of light curve shapes with the user having the ability to easily add more. While the current scientific focus is on the radio regime, with examples given here from the MeerKAT telescope in South Africa, the simulations code can be easily adapted to other wavelength regimes.Comment: Minor updates to plot

Reduced CO\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e/O\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e specificity of ribulose-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase in a temperature-sensitive chloroplast mutant of \u3ci\u3eChlamydomonas\u3c/i\u3e

The Chlamydomonas reinhardtii chloroplast mutant 68-4PP is phenotypically indistinguishable from wild type at 25°C but fails to grow photosynthetically at 35°C. It had about 30% of the wild-type level of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (EC 4.1.1.39) holoenzyme and carboxylase activity when grown at 25°C, but less than 15% when grown at 35°C. Pulse-labeling with 35S showed that the decrease in enzyme level at the restrictive temperature was not a result of reduced synthesis of enzyme subunits. The CO2/O2 specificity factor (VcKo/VoKc, where Vc and Vo are Vmax values for carboxylation and oxygenation and Kc and Ko are Km values for CO2 and 02) of the mutant enzyme was found to be significantly less than that of the wild-type enzyme (54 ± 2 and 62 ± 1, respectively), and this alteration was accompanied by increases in Ko and Kc and a decrease in Vc/Vo. DNA sequencing revealed a single missense mutation in the 684PP chloroplast large-subunit gene. This mutation causes leucine to be replaced by phenylalanine at position 290 in the large subunit polypeptide sequence. These results (i) support previous studies that implicated this region of the large subunit as an important structural component of the enzyme\u27s function and (ii) demonstrate that chloroplast genetic modification of the CO2/O2 specificity factor of a plant-type carboxylase/oxygenase is feasible

Reduced CO\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e/O\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e specificity of ribulose-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase in a temperature-sensitive chloroplast mutant of \u3ci\u3eChlamydomonas\u3c/i\u3e

The Chlamydomonas reinhardtii chloroplast mutant 68-4PP is phenotypically indistinguishable from wild type at 25°C but fails to grow photosynthetically at 35°C. It had about 30% of the wild-type level of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (EC 4.1.1.39) holoenzyme and carboxylase activity when grown at 25°C, but less than 15% when grown at 35°C. Pulse-labeling with 35S showed that the decrease in enzyme level at the restrictive temperature was not a result of reduced synthesis of enzyme subunits. The CO2/O2 specificity factor (VcKo/VoKc, where Vc and Vo are Vmax values for carboxylation and oxygenation and Kc and Ko are Km values for CO2 and 02) of the mutant enzyme was found to be significantly less than that of the wild-type enzyme (54 ± 2 and 62 ± 1, respectively), and this alteration was accompanied by increases in Ko and Kc and a decrease in Vc/Vo. DNA sequencing revealed a single missense mutation in the 684PP chloroplast large-subunit gene. This mutation causes leucine to be replaced by phenylalanine at position 290 in the large subunit polypeptide sequence. These results (i) support previous studies that implicated this region of the large subunit as an important structural component of the enzyme\u27s function and (ii) demonstrate that chloroplast genetic modification of the CO2/O2 specificity factor of a plant-type carboxylase/oxygenase is feasible

Identifying wildlife reservoirs of neglected taeniid tapeworms : non-invasive diagnosis of endemic Taenia serialis infection in a wild primate population

Despite the global distribution and public health consequences of Taenia tapeworms, the life cycles of taeniids infecting wildlife hosts remain largely undescribed. The larval stage of Taenia serialis commonly parasitizes rodents and lagomorphs, but has been reported in a wide range of hosts that includes geladas (Theropithecus gelada), primates endemic to Ethiopia. Geladas exhibit protuberant larval cysts indicative of advanced T. serialis infection that are associated with high mortality. However, non-protuberant larvae can develop in deep tissue or the abdominal cavity, leading to underestimates of prevalence based solely on observable cysts. We adapted a non-invasive monoclonal antibody-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect circulating Taenia spp. antigen in dried gelada urine. Analysis revealed that this assay was highly accurate in detecting Taenia antigen, with 98.4% specificity, 98.5% sensitivity, and an area under the curve of 0.99. We used this assay to investigate the prevalence of T. serialis infection in a wild gelada population, finding that infection is substantially more widespread than the occurrence of visible T. serialis cysts (16.4% tested positive at least once, while only 6% of the same population exhibited cysts). We examined whether age or sex predicted T. serialis infection as indicated by external cysts and antigen presence. Contrary to the female-bias observed in many Taenia-host systems, we found no significant sex bias in either cyst presence or antigen presence. Age, on the other hand, predicted cyst presence (older individuals were more likely to show cysts) but not antigen presence. We interpret this finding to indicate that T. serialis may infect individuals early in life but only result in visible disease later in life. This is the first application of an antigen ELISA to the study of larval Taenia infection in wildlife, opening the doors to the identification and description of infection dynamics in reservoir populations

A Quantitative Content Analysis of Mercer University Theses

Quantitative content analysis of a body of research not only helps budding researchers understand the culture, language, and expectations of scholarship, it helps identify deficiencies and inform policy and practice. Because of these benefits, an analysis of a census of 980 Mercer University M.Ed., Ed.S., and doctoral theses was conducted. Each thesis was coded on 10 variables. The descriptive characteristics of the theses, the predictors of the length of the theses, and the predictors of the type of research method used were investigated. The main results were that: (a) the vast majority of thesis authors was female, (b) the number of qualitative theses was on the rise, (c) there were slight variations in research method and length based on location of publication, (d) the page length of M.Ed. theses had been slightly decreasing over time, (e) mathematics instruction was the most frequent subject descriptor of theses, and (f) the proportion of male authors increased over time