4,430 research outputs found
Contacts by distressed individuals to UK parapsychology and anomalous experience academic research units---A retrospective survey looking to the future
Cytokine Expression in Chicken Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells after In Vitro Exposure to Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis
Cytokines are secreted proteins involved with cell recruitment and regulation of both innate and adaptive immune responses. They are essential for an effective host immune response to pathogens. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis (S. Enteritidis) exposure and genetic line on cytokine mRNA expression level of cultured chicken peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Interleukin-2, interleukin-6 (IL-6), CXCLi2, and transforming growth factor-ÎČ4 (TGF-B4) messenger ribonucleic acid expression was measured by quantitative reverse transcription-PCR assays in PBMC from 3 chicken lines (broiler, Leghorn, Fayoumi) after in vitro exposure to S. Enteritidis. The PBMC were isolated from uninfected birds and cultured overnight. The next day, live pathogenic S. Enteritidis was added to half of the cultures. All cultures were harvested after 2 or 4 h of exposure. Exposure to S. Enteritidis downregulated IL-6, CXCLi2, and TGF-ÎČ4 but not interleukin-2 mRNA expression. No significant genetic line or exposure time effects were detected. These findings demonstrate that exposure of chicken PBMC to S. Enteritidis can induce a rapid change in both proinflammatory (IL-6, CXCLi2) and antiinflammatory (TGF-ÎČ4) cytokine gene expression
Pressures Around an Inclined Ogive Cylinder with Laminar, Transitional, or Turbulent Separation
This paper reports results From comprehensive pressure tests on an ogive cylinder in the low-turbulence 12-ft pressure wind tunnel at Ames Research Center. The results consist of detailed pressure distributions over a wide range of Reynolds numbers (0.2 x 10(exp 6) to 4.0 x 10(exp 6)) and angles of attack (20 to 90 deg). Most important, the tests encompassed a complete coverage of different roll orientations. This variation of roll orientation is shown to be essential in order to fully define all the possible flow conditions. When the various roll-angle results are combined, it is possible to interpret correctly the effects of changing angle of attack or Reynolds number. Two basic mechanisms for producing asymmetric flow are identified. One mechanism operates in both the laminar and the fully turbulent separation regimes; this mechanism Is the one qualitatively described by the impulsive flow analogy. The other mechanism occurs only in the transitional separation regime. This asymmetric flow has the same form as that found in the two-dimensional cross flow on a circular cylinder in the transitional flow regime. Finally, these results make it possible to draw up critical Reynolds number boundaries between the laminar, transitional, and fully turbulent separation regimes throughout the angle-of-attack range from 20 to 90 deg
The adsorption structure of furan on Pd(1 1 1)
The structure of molecular furan, C4H4O, on Pd(1 1 1) has been investigated by O K-edge near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) and C 1s scanned-energy mode photoelectron diffraction (PhD). NEXAFS shows the molecule to be adsorbed with the molecular plane close to parallel to the surface, a conclusion confirmed by the PhD analysis. Chemical-state specific C 1s PhD data were obtained for the two inequivalent C atoms in the furan, the α-C atoms adjacent to the O atom, and the ÎČ-C atoms bonded only to C atoms, but only the PhD modulations for the α-C emitters were of sufficiently large amplitude for detailed evaluation using multiple scattering calculations. This analysis shows the α-C atoms to be located approximately 0.6 Ă
off-atop surface Pd atoms with an associated CâPd bondlength of 2.13 ± 0.03 Ă
. Two alternative local geometries consistent with the data place the O atom in off-atop or near-hollow locations, and for each of these local structures there are two equally-possible registries relative to the fcc and hcp hollow sites. The results are in good agreement with earlier density functional theory calculations which indicate that the fcc and hcp registries are equally probable, but the PhD results fail to distinguish the two distinct local bonding geometries
Insulin-Like Growth Factor-I Gene Polymorphism Associations with Growth, Body Composition, Skeleton Integrity, and Metabolic Traits
Molecular genetic selection on individual genes is a promising method to genetically improve economically important traits in chickens. A resource population was developed to study the genetics of growth, body composition, skeletal integrity, and metabolism traits. Broiler sires were crossed to dams of 2 diverse, highly inbred lines (Leghorn and Fayoumi), and the F1 birds were intermated by dam line to produce broiler-Leghorn and broiler-Fayoumi F2 offspring. Growth, body composition, skeletal integrity, and hormonal and metabolic factors were measured in 713 F2 individuals. Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF1) was selected for study as a biological and positional candidate gene. A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) was identified between the founder lines in the IGF1 promoter region, and a PCR-RFLP assay was developed. A mixed model was used to statistically analyze associations of IGF1-SNP1 with phenotypic traits. The IGF1-SNP1 had significant associations with most recorded traits, except metabolic traits. Strong interactions between the IGF1 gene and genetic background on growth traits in the 2 F2 populations suggest that genetic interaction is an important aspect for consideration before using the IGF1-SNP1 in marker-assisted selection programs. Several beneficial effects (improved growth, increased breast muscle weight, decreased abdominal fat, and enhanced skeletal integrity) associated with 1 allele indicate the presence of 1 or more loci near IGF1-SNP1 controlling biologically diverse and economically important traits in chickens
Change blindness in a dynamic scene due to endogenous override of exogenous attentional cues
Change blindness is a failure to detect changes if the change occurs during a mask or distraction. Without distraction, it is assumed that the visual transients associated with the change will automatically capture attention (exogenous control) leading to detection. However, visual transients are a defining feature of naturalistic dynamic scenes. Are artificial distractions needed to hide changes to a dynamic scene? Do the temporal demands of the scene instead lead to greater endogenous control that may result in viewers missing a change in plain sight? In the present study we pitted endogenous and exogenous factors against each other during a card trick. Complete change blindness was demonstrated even when a salient highlight was inserted coincident with the change. These results indicate strong endogenous control of attention during dynamic scene viewing and its ability to override exogenous influences even when it is to the detriment of accurate scene representation
A structural study of a C3H3 species coadsorbed with CO on Pd(1 1 1)
The combination of chemical-state-specific C 1s scanned-energy mode photoelectron diffraction (PhD) and O K-edge near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) has been used to determine the local adsorption geometry of the coadsorbed C3H3 and CO species formed on Pd(1 1 1) by dissociation of molecular furan. CO is found to adopt the same geometry as in the Pd(1 1 1)c(4 Ă 2)-CO phase, occupying the two inequivalent three-fold coordinated hollow sites with the CâO axis perpendicular to the surface. C3H3 is found to lie with its molecular plane almost parallel to the surface, most probably with the two âouterâ C atoms in equivalent off-atop sites, although the PhD analysis formally fails to distinguish between two distinct local adsorption sites
A photoelectron diffraction investigation of vanadyl phthalocyanine on Au(1 1 1)
Scanned-energy mode photoelectron diffraction using the O 1s and V 2p emission perpendicular to the surface has been used to investigate the orientation and internal conformation of vanadyl phthalocyanine (VOPc) adsorbed on Au(1 1 1). The results confirm earlier indications from scanning tunnelling microscopy that the Vdouble bond; length as m-dashO vanadyl bond points out of, and not into, the surface. The Vdouble bond; length as m-dashO bondlength is 1.60 ± 0.04 Ă
, not significantly different from its value in bulk crystalline VOPc. However, the V atom in the adsorbed molecule is almost coplanar with the surrounding N atoms and is thus pulled down into the approximately planar region defined by the N and C atoms by 0.52 (+0.14/â0.10) Ă
, relative to its location in crystalline VOPc. This change must be attributed to the bonding interaction between the molecule and the underlying metal surface
Genome-Wide Linkage Analysis to Identify Chromosomal Regions Affecting Phenotypic Traits in the Chicken. II. Body Composition
The current study is a comprehensive genome analysis to detect QTL affecting metabolic traits in chickens. Two unique F2 crosses generated from a commercial broiler male line and 2 genetically distinct inbred lines (Leghorn and Fayoumi) were used in the present study. The plasma glucagon, insulin, lactate, glucose, tri-iodothyronine, thyroxine, insulin-like growth factor I, and insulin-like growth factor II concentrations at 8 wk were measured in the 2 F2 crosses. Birds were genotyped for 269 microsatellite markers across the entire genome. The program QTL Express was used for QTL detection. Significance levels were obtained using the permutation test. For the 10 traits, a total of 6 and 9 significant QTL were detected at a 1% chromosome-wise significance level, of which 1 and 6 were significant at the 5% genome-wise level for the broiler-Leghorn cross and broiler-Fayoumi cross, respectively. Most QTL for metabolic traits in the present study were detected in Gga 2, 6, 8, 9, 13, and Z for the broiler-Leghorn cross and Gga 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 13, 17, and E47 for the broiler-Fayoumi cross. Phenotypic variation for each trait explained by all QTL across genome ranged from 2.73 to 14.08% in the broiler-Leghorn cross and from 6.93 to 21.15% in the broiler-Fayoumi cross. Several positional candidate genes within the QTL region for metabolic traits at the 1% chromosome-wise significance level are biologically associated with the regulation of metabolic pathways of insulin, triiodothyronine, and thyroxine
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