Innate and adaptive immune responses after bovine viral diarrhea virus infection in the fetal thymus

2018 Summer.Includes bibliographical references.Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) infection of bovine fetuses in the first 125 days of pregnancy results in persistently infected (PI) cattle and transiently infected (TI) cattle become infected, but have a developed immune system enabling them to clear the virus. PI cattle are the main source of BVDV infection in populations causing significant economic losses to the industry worldwide. The mechanisms that lead to this "immunotolerant" state are not well defined. Following maternal inoculation with BVDV on day 75 of gestation, fetal infection was determined by presence of viral mRNA. Fetal infection occurred by day 89 of gestation with a peak at day 97 and a significant 10-fold decrease in viral titer at days 192 and 245 of gestation. BVDV was never completely eliminated in the fetus and persisted at lower, but significant levels. We hypothesized that there is dysgenesis of the fetal thymus, inhibiting functional innate and adaptive immune responses following maternal infection with BVDV. Total RNA was extracted from the thymus of uninfected control and BVDV-infected fetuses at days 89, 97, 190, and 245 of gestation. Genes representing the innate immune system, T and B cell receptor signaling, and the antigen processing and presentation in both the MHC I and MHC II pathways were explored using RT-qPCR. There were significant increases (P ≤ 0.05) observed in all innate genes analyzed (RIG-I, IRF7, NF-kB, IFNβ, and ISG15) in TI fetuses, with minimal responses in PI fetuses. There were significant decreases (P ≤ 0.05) of antigen presentation genes and adaptive immune system genes LMP2, TAP1, β2M, CD8a, CD8b, CIITA, CD4, IFI16, CXCL16, CXCR6, and CD79b in day 190 PI fetuses. Persistent BVDV infection may initiate fetal adaptive immune responses, which are not fully activated over time because of "immunotolerance" caused by impaired antigen processing. Longer-term consequences of fetal PI remain to be determined in context of postnatal impaired immune responses to secondary infections

Particle Detection Algorithms for Complex Plasmas

In complex plasmas, the behavior of freely floating micrometer sized particles is studied. The particles can be directly visualized and recorded by digital video cameras. To analyze the dynamics of single particles, reliable algorithms are required to accurately determine their positions to sub-pixel accuracy from the recorded images. Typically, straightforward algorithms are used for this task. Here, we combine the algorithms with common techniques for image processing. We study several algorithms and pre- and post-processing methods, and we investigate the impact of the choice of threshold parameters, including an automatic threshold detection. The results quantitatively show that each algorithm and method has its own advantage, often depending on the problem at hand. This knowledge is applicable not only to complex plasmas, but useful for any kind of comparable image-based particle tracking, e.g. in the field of colloids or granular matter

Making the Better Half Even Better: A Support Program for Military Wives

The purpose of this project was to develop a program that addresses the needs of military wives and the challenges they experience due to having a spouse in the military. Through utilization of an occupational therapy perspective, this program focuses on the promotion of wellness and increased quality of life for military wives which in turn facilitates overall cohesion and support among military families. Making the “Better Half” Even Better: A Support Program for Military Wives was influenced by the Person-Environment-Occupation-Performance Model due to the focus on an individual’s valued roles, tasks and activities along with their performance in those occupations, and the notion that person, environment and occupation interact dynamically and affect one another (Cole & Tufano, 2008). This program is designed to be disseminated directly to healthcare professionals and occupational therapists that work closely with military families. The goal of the program is to provide support, education and resources to military wives in order to promote their overall wellness and quality of life, which in turn, positively affects their families. The resulting program is to be used by occupational therapists to promote the overall wellbeing of military wives through interventions such as education sessions on mental health both regarding themselves and their spouse, the deployment cycle, conflict resolution and communication skills, relationship development and maintenance, coping and stress management while also providing information on community resources and how to foster social support

Investigating the Redundancies in Current Farm Programs

Farm Programs, Agricultural and Food Policy, Risk and Uncertainty,

The Impact of Increased Planting Flexibility on Planting Decisions Across Texas

Increased acreage planting flexibility granted through the last three farm bills has allowed agricultural producers to make production choices without government programs driving their decisions. Planted acre data for program crops in seven Texas regions is used to describe response to varying degrees of flexibility granted through decoupled payments.Crop Production/Industries,

Neurologopedyczna diagnoza dzieci w wieku niemowlęcym z paraliżem fałdów głosowych : podejście holistyczne: studia przypadków

Artykuł w zakresie teoretycznym przedstawia dysfagię i dysfonię u dzieci z porażeniem fałdów głosowych w wyniku oddziaływań operacyjnych - przyczyny, objawy, możliwości diagnostyczne, a także wstępne rekomendacje terapeutyczne. W aspekcie praktycznym autorki ukazują sposoby badania zaburzeń głosu i połykania u pacjentów w wieku niemowlęcym, którzy brali udział w próbie eksperymentalno-klinicznej w Uniwersyteckim Szpitalu Dziecięcym w Krakowie. W artykule omówiono dwa studia przypadku, które miały posłużyć do opracowania standardu postępowania neurologopedycznego dedykowanego dla tego rodzaju pacjentów. Autorki skupiły się na przedstawieniu zależności diagnozy funkcjonalnej/miofunkcjonalnej z diagnozą umiejętności prelingwalnych i lingwlanych dziecka w aspekcie rozwoju kompetencji językowej oraz komunikacyjnej. Mioterapia w tym ujęciu ma stanowić podstawę działań, koniecznych w ramach wczesnej interwencji terapeutycznej, które mają posłużyć stymulacji rozwoju mowy dziecka. W podsumowaniu artykuł określa rekomendacje terapeutyczne, które zostały opracowane na podstawie zaprezentowanej procedury badawczej.The theoretical aspect of the article presents dysphagia and dysphonia in children with vocal fold paralysis caused by surgical interventions – the causes, symptoms, diagnostic possibilities, as well as initial therapeutic recommendations. In practical terms, the authors would like to show methods of examining the voice and swallowing disorders in toddler patients who participated in the experimental-clinical trial at the University Children’s Hospital in Krakow. The article discusses two case studies which were to be used to develop a standard of neurological therapy dedicated to this type of patients. The authors focused on presenting the relationship between the functional/myofunctional diagnosis, and the diagnosis of the prelingual and linguistic skills in children in terms of the development of linguistic and communicative competence. In this approach, myotherapy is to form the basis of activities necessary in the framework of early therapeutic intervention, which are to stimulate the speech development in children. In conclusion, the article specifies the therapeutic recommendations that have been developed on the basis of the research procedures presented

Economic Outlook for Representative Cotton Farms Given the August 2006 FAPRI/AFPC Baseline

The majority of the cotton farms are in poor overall financial condition under the August 2006 Baseline. Drought conditions this year will deplete cash built from more favorable yields in 2004 and 2005 in many cases. In addition, the poor financial performance of the farms is attributed in part to the large increase in input prices. Fuel costs, previously projected to decrease modestly in 2005 and 2006, are now more accurately depicted as significant increases, building further on the large increases experienced in 2003 and 2004. The increase in cost is not limited to fuel expense for trucks, equipment, and irrigation motors, but includes the cost of nitrogen fertilizer and ag-related services which are closely linked to energy prices. Many cotton producers have adopted genetically modified seed and more expensive conventional varieties in order to enhance efficiencies and achieve higher yields; however, the tradeoff for these gains is increased cost of seed and technology fees. Steel prices have skyrocketed, thus increasing the cost of machinery along with the cost of repairing existing machinery. To keep quality employees on the farm, producers are faced with rising wage pressure from competing industries. The bottom line is producers are threatened by the rising cost of doing business while modest projected increases in cotton and other commodity prices fail to outpace these inflationary pressures.Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries,

Optical Data Downlinks from Earth Observation Platforms

The increasing resolution of earth observation sensors will require much higher data rates for the data downlink in future than is feasible with conventional RF-technology. This applies for earth observation satellites as well as for aeronautic observation platforms, such as aircraft or stratospheric high altitude platforms. The most promising solution for this data downlink bottleneck is the application of optical free space transmission technologies. DLR has built diverse atmospheric flight terminals and performed several trials of optical downlinks from space (together with partnering organizations) as well as from atmospheric carriers in recent years. Here we present and compare results of such communication system trials

The Farm Level Impacts of Replacing Current Farm Programs with a Whole Farm Revenue Program

This study evaluates the farm level economic impacts of implementing a whole farm revenue insurance program in lieu of current government program payments on agricultural producers in major production areas of the United States. Realizing a multitude of viable options exist, this study demonstrates one way a whole farm revenue coverage program could work at the farm level and makes comparisons between the current baseline situation and alternative levels of revenue coverage implementation.agricultural policy, simulation, representative farms, government payments, crop insurance, revenue coverage, Agricultural and Food Policy,

Reduction of Electron Beam Induced Radiation Damage of Organic Material by Cooling to 4 K (Cryo Electron Microscopy)

Structure investigations of organic, in particular biological, material are frequently performed with a strong electron beam. If the dose is higher than le/Å2, as required e.g. for high resolution electron microscopy, the results are strongly influenced by radiation damage. There are no means for preventing breaking of chemical bonds and ionizing of atoms and fractures of molecules due to the electron impact. The secondary processes, however, such as diffusion or evaporation of the fragments, can be strongly reduced by cooling the specimen to 4 K (cryoprotection). A suitable instrument for experimenting with cryoprotection is a microscope equipped with a superconducting lens system. Topics relevant for cryomicroscopy are: instrumentation; determination of cryoprotection factors of various materials by electron diffraction; direct imaging in particular for information on the steric structure of the material; preparation conditions for an effective cryoprotection. Though the knowledge of the physics and chemistry causing radiation damage at 4 K is still limited, a useful application of cryoprotection is already possible