IMPROVING YOUR DEALERSHIP SECURITY

Dealership security is a critical component of our nation’s overall security initiative. It is clearly evident from the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City that agricultural products can be used for terrorist activities. This event put the agricultural industry in the spotlight and required an appropriate response. Retail dealerships are not immune to terrorist activities, including theft, although many are located in remote areas of the country. The agricultural industry is responding through the efforts of many organizations including CropLife America, The Fertilizer Institute, Agricultural Retailers Association, individual state associations, and federal and state agencies. The agricultural industry was addressing security issues prior to September 11 (9/11). This is primarily due to the theft of anhydrous ammonia for the manufacture of methamphetamine. Dealerships were taking steps to improve security for their respective facilities and customers. After 9/11, this heightened awareness was compounded by the fact that other agricultural products could potentially be used for terrorist activities. Fortunately, dealerships were offered assistance from many sources. These sources included agencies suc

Detector response calibration for the NOvA quasi-elastic cross-section measurement

NOvA is a long-baseline neutrino experiment designed to observe the neutrino oscillation phenomenon of muon neutrinos oscillating into electron neutrinos. The NuMI beam line located at Fermilab produces the muon neutrinos for this observation. The Near and Far Detectors are constructed off-axis of the NuMI beam line and located at Fermilab and northern Minnesota (electron neutrino appearance maximum), respectively. In order to carry out the long-term goals of the experiment, the NOvA Near Detector Prototype (NDOS) was built and commissioned at Fermilab. Its goals are to demonstrate that, using the same materials and technologies as the larger NOvA detectors, we are able to observe neutrino data from the NuMI beam and cosmic ray muons. The cosmic ray muon data were used in the commissioning and it is currently being used in testing of detector response. These data are also being used in the development of reconstruction and calibration techniques to be used in the Near and Far Detectors. Furthermore, the neutrino data acquired are being used in the development and implementation of physics analyses, not only for NDOS data, but also for the first NOvA data. This thesis will discuss the development of the detector response calibration using cosmic ray muon data and its effects on the preliminary charged current quasi-elastic cross-section measurement using beam neutrino data in the NDOS

Iron homeostasis and oxidative stress in idiopathic pulmonary alveolar proteinosis: a case-control study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Lung injury caused by both inhaled dusts and infectious agents depends on increased availability of iron and metal-catalyzed oxidative stress. Because inhaled particles, such as silica, and certain infections can cause secondary pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP), we tested the hypothesis that idiopathic PAP is associated with an altered iron homeostasis in the human lung.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Healthy volunteers (n = 20) and patients with idiopathic PAP (n = 20) underwent bronchoalveolar lavage and measurements were made of total protein, iron, tranferrin, transferrin receptor, lactoferrin, and ferritin. Histochemical staining for iron and ferritin was done in the cell pellets from control subjects and PAP patients, and in lung specimens of patients without cardiopulmonary disease and with PAP. Lavage concentrations of urate, glutathione, and ascorbate were also measured as indices of oxidative stress.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Lavage concentrations of iron, transferrin, transferrin receptor, lactoferrin, and ferritin were significantly elevated in PAP patients relative to healthy volunteers. The cells of PAP patients had accumulated significant iron and ferritin, as well as considerable amounts of extracellular ferritin. Immunohistochemistry for ferritin in lung tissue revealed comparable amounts of this metal-storage protein in the lower respiratory tract of PAP patients both intracellularly and extracellularly. Lavage concentrations of ascorbate, glutathione, and urate were significantly lower in the lavage fluid of the PAP patients.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Iron homeostasis is altered in the lungs of patients with idiopathic PAP, as large amounts of catalytically-active iron and low molecular weight anti-oxidant depletion are present. These findings suggest a metal-catalyzed oxidative stress in the maintenance of this disease.</p

Differential gene expression between wild-type and Gulo-deficient mice supplied with vitamin C

The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that hepatic vitamin C (VC) levels in VC deficient mice rescued with high doses of VC supplements still do not reach the optimal levels present in wild-type mice. For this, we used a mouse scurvy model (sfx) in which the L-gulonolactone oxidase gene (Gulo) is deleted. Six age- (6 weeks old) and gender- (female) matched wild-type (WT) and sfx mice (rescued by administering 500 mg of VC/L) were used as the control (WT) and treatment (MT) groups (n = 3 for each group), respectively. Total hepatic RNA was used in triplicate microarray assays for each group. EDGE software was used to identify differentially expressed genes and transcriptomic analysis was used to assess the potential genetic regulation of Gulo gene expression. Hepatic VC concentrations in MT mice were significantly lower than in WT mice, even though there were no morphological differences between the two groups. In MT mice, 269 differentially expressed transcripts were detected (≥ twice the difference between MT and WT mice), including 107 up-regulated and 162 down-regulated genes. These differentially expressed genes included stress-related and exclusively/predominantly hepatocyte genes. Transcriptomic analysis identified a major locus on chromosome 18 that regulates Gulo expression. Since three relevant oxidative genes are located within the critical region of this locus we suspect that they are involved in the down-regulation of oxidative activity in sfx mice

First measurement of muon-neutrino disappearance in NOvA

This paper reports the first measurement using the NOvA detectors of νμ disappearance in a νμ beam. The analysis uses a 14 kton-equivalent exposure of 2.74×1020 protons-on-target from the Fermilab NuMI beam. Assuming the normal neutrino mass hierarchy, we measure Δm232=(2.52+0.20−0.18)×10−3  eV2 and sin2θ23 in the range 0.38–0.65, both at the 68% confidence level, with two statistically degenerate best-fit points at sin2θ23=0.43 and 0.60. Results for the inverted mass hierarchy are also presented

First measurement of electron neutrino appearance in NOvA

We report results from the first search for νμ→νe transitions by the NOvA experiment. In an exposure equivalent to 2.74×1020 protons on target in the upgraded NuMI beam at Fermilab, we observe 6 events in the Far Detector, compared to a background expectation of 0.99±0.11(syst) events based on the Near Detector measurement. A secondary analysis observes 11 events with a background of 1.07±0.14(syst). The 3.3σ excess of events observed in the primary analysis disfavors 0.1π<δCP<0.5π in the inverted mass hierarchy at the 90% C.L

Detector response calibration for the NOvA quasi-elastic cross-section measurement

NOvA is a long-baseline neutrino experiment designed to observe the neutrino oscillation phenomenon of muon neutrinos oscillating into electron neutrinos. The NuMI beam line located at Fermilab produces the muon neutrinos for this observation. The Near and Far Detectors are constructed off-axis of the NuMI beam line and located at Fermilab and northern Minnesota (electron neutrino appearance maximum), respectively. In order to carry out the long-term goals of the experiment, the NOvA Near Detector Prototype (NDOS) was built and commissioned at Fermilab. Its goals are to demonstrate that, using the same materials and technologies as the larger NOvA detectors, we are able to observe neutrino data from the NuMI beam and cosmic ray muons. The cosmic ray muon data were used in the commissioning and it is currently being used in testing of detector response. These data are also being used in the development of reconstruction and calibration techniques to be used in the Near and Far Detectors. Furthermore, the neutrino data acquired are being used in the development and implementation of physics analyses, not only for NDOS data, but also for the first NOvA data. This thesis will discuss the development of the detector response calibration using cosmic ray muon data and its effects on the preliminary charged current quasi-elastic cross-section measurement using beam neutrino data in the NDOS.</p