Comparison of automated nucleic acid extraction methods for the detection of cytomegalovirus DNA in fluids and tissues

Testing for cytomegalovirus (CMV) DNA is increasingly being used for specimen types other than plasma or whole blood. However, few studies have investigated the performance of different nucleic acid extraction protocols in such specimens. In this study, CMV extraction using the Cell-free 1000 and Pathogen Complex 400 protocols on the QIAsymphony Sample Processing (SP) system were compared using bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL), tissue samples, and urine. The QIAsymphonyAssay Set-up (AS) system was used to assemble reactions using artus CMV PCR reagents and amplification was carried out on the Rotor-Gene Q. Samples from 93 patients previously tested for CMV DNA and negative samples spiked with CMV AD-169 were used to evaluate assay performance. The Pathogen Complex 400 protocol yielded the following results: BAL, sensitivity 100% (33/33), specificity 87% (20/23); tissue, sensitivity 100% (25/25), specificity 100% (20/20); urine, sensitivity 100% (21/21), specificity 100% (20/20). Cell-free 1000 extraction gave comparable results for BAL and tissue, however, for urine, the sensitivity was 86% (18/21) and specimen quantitation was inaccurate. Comparative studies of different extraction protocols and DNA detection methods in body fluids and tissues are needed, as assays optimized for blood or plasma will not necessarily perform well on other specimen types

PROFITABILITY OF ESTABLISHING BASIN WILDRYE FOR WINTER GRAZING

This study examined the economic viability of establishing basin wildrye for winter grazing. Mixed integer-programming models were developed that minimized cow feed costs. Estimated basin wildrye establishment costs were $154 per acre. Break-even basin wildrye yields were approximately 2.6 and 2.3 AUMs/acre for March and May calving scenarios, respectively.Livestock Production/Industries,

OPTIMAL FEED COST STRATEGIES ASSOCIATED WITH EARLY AND LATE CALVING SEASONS

Integer programming models were used to examine optimal monthly feeding strategies and costs for March and May calving alternatives. Body condition scores were allowed to fluctuate throughout the year except for calving and breeding periods. The May calving strategy decreased annual feeding costs by $20 per cow.Livestock Production/Industries, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

An Activity-Based Nanosensor for Traumatic Brain Injury.

Currently, traumatic brain injury (TBI) is detected by medical imaging; however, medical imaging requires expensive capital equipment, is time- and resource-intensive, and is poor at predicting patient prognosis. To date, direct measurement of elevated protease activity has yet to be utilized to detect TBI. In this work, we engineered an activity-based nanosensor for TBI (TBI-ABN) that responds to increased protease activity initiated after brain injury. We establish that a calcium-sensitive protease, calpain-1, is active in the injured brain hours within injury. We then optimize the molecular weight of a nanoscale polymeric carrier to infiltrate into the injured brain tissue with minimal renal filtration. A calpain-1 substrate that generates a fluorescent signal upon cleavage was attached to this nanoscale polymeric carrier to generate an engineered TBI-ABN. When applied intravenously to a mouse model of TBI, our engineered sensor is observed to locally activate in the injured brain tissue. This TBI-ABN is the first demonstration of a sensor that responds to protease activity to detect TBI

A PCP Pincer Ligand for Coordination Polymers with Versatile Chemical Reactivity: Selective Activation of CO2 Gas over CO Gas in the Solid State

A tetra(carboxylated) PCP pincer ligand has been synthesized as a building block for porous coordination polymers (PCPs). The air- and moisture-stable PCP metalloligands are rigid tetratopic linkers that are geometrically akin to ligands used in the synthesis of robust metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Here, the design principle is demonstrated by cyclometalation with Pd(II) Cl and subsequent use of the metalloligand to prepare a crystalline 3D MOF by direct reaction with Co(II) ions and structural resolution by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The Pd-Cl groups inside the pores are accessible to post-synthetic modifications that facilitate chemical reactions previously unobserved in MOFs: a Pd-CH3 activated material undergoes rapid insertion of CO2 gas to give Pd-OC(O)CH3 at 1 atm and 298 K. However, since the material is highly selective for the adsorption of CO2 over CO, a Pd-N3 modified version resists CO insertion under the same conditions

An Overview of Lessons Learned from Sonic-boom Flight Research Projects Conducted by NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center

Over the course of four years, a team of aerospace engineers at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Armstrong Flight Research Center completed four projects, each with the objective to research sonic-boom signatures from a ground-and building-level perspective. The relatively compressed timeline of these projects resulted in many lessons learned. With each successive project, these lessons have been more relied upon and referenced. This paper provides a high-level overview of the teams relevant lessons learned and the importance of these lessons for future projects

An Overview of Lessons Learned from Sonic-Boom Flight Research Projects Conducted by NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center

This presentation describes the planning and executing of large scale sonic-boom acoustics tests as a part of LBFD testing with the goal to give the future teams the road-map for how to efficiently and effectively plan and execute these types of tests

Spatial Variation in Distribution and Growth Patterns of Old Growth Strip-Bark Pines

Postindustrial rises in CO2 have the potential to confound the interpretation of climatically sensitive tree-ring chronologies. Increased growth rates observed during the 20th century in strip-bark trees have been attributed to CO2 fertilization. Absent in the debate of CO2 effects on tree growth are spatially explicit analyses that examine the proximate mechanisms that lead to changes in rates of tree growth. Twenty-seven pairs of strip-bark and companion entire-bark trees were analyzed in a spatially explicit framework for abiotic environmental correlates. The strip-bark tree locations were not random but correlated to an abiotic proxy for soil moisture. The strip-bark trees showed a characteristic increase in growth rates after about 1875. Furthermore, the difference in growth rates between the strip-bark trees and entire-bark companions increased with increasing soil moisture. A possible mechanism for these findings is that CO2 is affecting water-use efficiency, which in turn affects tree-ring growth. These results point to the importance of accounting for microsite variability in analyzing the potential role of CO2 in governing growth responses

Rapid social perception is flexible: approach and avoidance motivational states shape P100 responses to other-race faces

Research on person categorization suggests that people automatically and inflexibly categorize others according to group memberships, such as race. Consistent with this view, research using electroencephalography (EEG) has found that White participants tend to show an early difference in processing Black versus White faces. Yet, new research has shown that these ostensibly automatic biases may not be as inevitable as once thought and that motivational influences may be able to eliminate these biases. It is unclear, however, whether motivational influences shape the initial biases or whether these biases can only be modulated by later, controlled processes. Using EEG to examine the time course of biased processing, we manipulated approach and avoidance motivational states by having participants pull or push a joystick, respectively, while viewing White or Black faces. Consistent with previous work on own-race bias, we observed a greater P100 response to White than Black faces; however, this racial bias was attenuated in the approach condition. These data suggest that rapid social perception may be flexible and can be modulated by motivational states

Spectroscopic results from the Life in the Atacama (LITA) project 2004 field season

Analysis of spectroscopy datasets from rover field tests in the Atacama Desert (Chile), focusing on the composition of the surface and identification of potential habitats for life