Small flock series: incubation of poultry (2003)

Hatching eggs -- watching an egg turn into a baby chick -- is a learning experience for students of all ages as well as a practical way for you to start a small poultry flock. The incubation process is relatively simple, though it may not seem so at first, once you learn the procedures and techniques involved. Incubation procedures for other common farm poultry species such as turkeys and waterfowl are similar to those for chickens; however, there are differences in incubation times and optimum conditions. This publication focuses on care of incubating chicken eggs

An Intensive Cultural Resources Survey of the USACE Jurisdictional Areas within Western Midstream Partners, LP’s Proposed Red Bluff HP Pipeline Reroute Project in Reeves County, Texas

On 5 May and 2 June 2020, Horizon Environmental Services, Inc. (Horizon) conducted an intensive cultural resources survey of the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) jurisdictional areas within Western Midstream Partners, LP’s (WMP) proposed Red Bluff HP Pipeline Reroute Project located in northwestern Reeves County, Texas (Project Area). Although the undertaking is located entirely on private property and will be constructed with private funds, its development may require the usage of a Regional General Permit (RGP) and/or Nationwide Permit (NWP) issued by the USACE. As these are federal permits, the portions of the undertaking under the purview of the USACE also fall under the regulations of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966, as amended. At the request of Whitenton Group, Inc. (Whitenton), Horizon conducted the cultural resources survey of the USACE jurisdictional areas on behalf of WMP in compliance with Section 106 of the NHPA. The purpose of the survey was to determine if any archeological sites were located within the USACE jurisdictional areas and, if any existed, to determine if the project had the potential to have any adverse impacts on sites eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The proposed pipeline right-of-way (ROW) reroute measures approximately 4,022.0 feet (1,226.0 meters [m]) in length and approximately 100.0 feet (30.5 m) wide, with a total area of 9.2 acres. In addition, the project has approximately 3.0 acres of additional temporary workspaces (ATWS) on opposing sides of Salt Creek, resulting in an overall all area of 12.2 acres for the undertaking. However, the Project Area (i.e., the portions of the undertaking within the purview of the USACE) consists of Salt Creek and four adjacent jurisdictional “waters of the US” (WOUS) that are traversed by the proposed ROW reroute and ATWS as well as a portion of the proposed ROW reroute adjacent to previously recorded archeological site 41RV209. To assess all areas that the USACE could determine to be within their purview, Horizon surveyed the vast majority of the proposed ROW reroute and ATWS with the exception of the easternmost 700.0 feet (213.4 m) of the proposed ROW reroute where no WOUS were delineated. This Survey Area totaled approximately 10.6 acres. The cultural resources survey resulted in the expansion of the boundaries of previously recorded site 41RV209. This site was found to be a low-density scatter of prehistoric lithic debris on a terrace situated to the north and west of the channel of Salt Creek. The presence of lithic debris (cores and debitage) on the site suggests that the surface gravels of the area were utilized as a source of raw material for stone tools. In addition, the presence of scattered firecracked rock (FCR) across the site, the presence of one FCR concentration, and a sandstone metate fragment on the site also indicate that the location served as a campsite where food was prepared. Based on the surficial, sparse, and generally disturbed nature of this site’s deposits in addition to its lack of temporally diagnostic materials, intact features, and preserved floral/faunal remains, it is Horizon’s opinion that the portion of site 41RV209 within the limits of the current Project Area is considered to be ineligible for inclusion in the NRHP and that no additional cultural resources investigations are warranted on the site in connection with the current undertaking. Based on the assessment that the portion of site 41RV209 within the current Project Area is ineligible for inclusion in the NRHP, it is Horizon’s opinion that development of the Project Area will have no adverse effects on any significant cultural resources located within the USACE jurisdictional areas. Horizon therefore recommends that WMP be allowed to proceed with the development of the proposed pipeline ROW reroute relative to the jurisdiction of the USACE and Section 106 of the NHPA

Combined Deficiency of p50 and cRel in CD4+ T Cells Reveals an Essential Requirement for Nuclear Factor κB in Regulating Mature T Cell Survival and In Vivo Function

Signaling pathways involved in regulating T cell proliferation and survival are not well understood. Here we have investigated a possible role of the nuclear factor (NF)-κB pathway in regulating mature T cell function by using CD4+ T cells from p50−/− cRel−/− mice, which exhibit virtually no inducible κB site binding activity. Studies with these mice indicate an essential role of T cell receptor (TCR)-induced NF-κB in regulating interleukin (IL)-2 expression, cell cycle entry, and survival of T cells. Our results further indicate that NF-κB regulates TCR-induced expression of antiapoptotic Bcl-2 family members. Strikingly, retroviral transduction of CD4+ T cells with the NF-κB–inducing IκB kinase β showed that NF-κB activation is not only necessary but also sufficient for T cell survival. In contrast, our results indicate a lack of involvement of NF-κB in both IL-2 and Akt-induced survival pathways. In vivo, p50−/− cRel−/− mice showed impaired superantigen-induced T cell responses as well as decreased numbers of effector/memory and regulatory CD4+ T cells. These findings provide the first demonstration of a role for NF-κB proteins in regulating T cell function in vivo and establish a critically important function of NF-κB in TCR-induced regulation of survival

Network analysis of differential Ras isoform mutation effects on intestinal epithelial responses to TNF-α

Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) is an inflammatory cytokine that can elicit distinct cellular behaviors under different molecular contexts. Mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways, especially the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (Erk) pathway, help to integrate influences from the environmental context, and therefore modulate the phenotypic effect of TNF-α exposure. To test how variations in flux through the Erk pathway modulate TNF-α-elicited phenotypes in a complex physiological environment, we exposed mice with different Ras mutations (K-Ras activation, N-Ras activation, and N-Ras ablation) to TNF-α and observed phenotypic and signaling changes in the intestinal epithelium. Hyperactivation of Mek1, an Erk kinase, was observed in the intestine of mice with K-Ras activation and, surprisingly, in N-Ras null mice. Nevertheless, these similar Mek1 outputs did not give rise to the same phenotype, as N-Ras null intestine was hypersensitive to TNF-α-induced intestinal cell death while K-Ras mutant intestine was not. A systems biology approach applied to sample the network state revealed that the signaling contexts presented by these two Ras isoform mutations were different. Consistent with our experimental data, N-Ras ablation induced a signaling network state that was mathematically predicted to be pro-death, while K-Ras activation did not. Further modeling by constrained Fuzzy Logic (cFL) revealed that N-Ras and K-Ras activate the signaling network with different downstream distributions and dynamics, with N-Ras effects being more transient and diverted more towards PI3K-Akt signaling and K-Ras effects being more sustained and broadly activating many pathways. Our study highlights the necessity to consider both environmental and genomic contexts of signaling pathway activation in dictating phenotypic responses, and demonstrates how modeling can provide insight into complex in vivo biological mechanisms, such as the complex interplay between K-Ras and N-Ras in their downstream effects.National Institute of General Medical Sciences (U.S.) (Grant R01-GM088827)National Cancer Institute (U.S.) (U54-CA112967)United States. Army Research Office (Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies Grant W911NF-09-D-000

Moving pictures of the human microbiome

BackgroundUnderstanding the normal temporal variation in the human microbiome is critical to developing treatments for putative microbiome-related afflictions such as obesity, Crohn’s disease, inflammatory bowel disease and malnutrition. Sequencing and computational technologies, however, have been a limiting factor in performing dense time series analysis of the human microbiome. Here, we present the largest human microbiota time series analysis to date, covering two individuals at four body sites over 396 timepoints.ResultsWe find that despite stable differences between body sites and individuals, there is pronounced variability in an individual’s microbiota across months, weeks and even days. Additionally, only a small fraction of the total taxa found within a single body site appear to be present across all time points, suggesting that no core temporal microbiome exists at high abundance (although some microbes may be present but drop below the detection threshold). Many more taxa appear to be persistent but non-permanent community members.ConclusionsDNA sequencing and computational advances described here provide the ability to go beyond infrequent snapshots of our human-associated microbial ecology to high-resolution assessments of temporal variations over protracted periods, within and between body habitats and individuals. This capacity will allow us to define normal variation and pathologic states, and assess responses to therapeutic interventions

Protective Effector Memory CD4 T Cells Depend on ICOS for Survival

Memory CD4 T cells play a vital role in protection against re-infection by pathogens as diverse as helminthes or influenza viruses. Inducible costimulator (ICOS) is highly expressed on memory CD4 T cells and has been shown to augment proliferation and survival of activated CD4 T cells. However, the role of ICOS costimulation on the development and maintenance of memory CD4 T cells remains controversial. Herein, we describe a significant defect in the number of effector memory (EM) phenotype cells in ICOS−/− and ICOSL−/− mice that becomes progressively more dramatic as the mice age. This decrease was not due to a defect in the homeostatic proliferation of EM phenotype CD4 T cells in ICOS−/− or ICOSL−/− mice. To determine whether ICOS regulated the development or survival of EM CD4 T cells, we utilized an adoptive transfer model. We found no defect in development of EM CD4 T cells, but long-term survival of ICOS−/− EM CD4 T cells was significantly compromised compared to wild-type cells. The defect in survival was specific to EM cells as the central memory (CM) ICOS−/− CD4 T cells persisted as well as wild type cells. To determine the physiological consequences of a specific defect in EM CD4 T cells, wild-type and ICOS−/− mice were infected with influenza virus. ICOS−/− mice developed significantly fewer influenza-specific EM CD4 T cells and were more susceptible to re-infection than wild-type mice. Collectively, our findings demonstrate a role for ICOS costimulation in the maintenance of EM but not CM CD4 T cells

2017 Research & Innovation Day Program

A one day showcase of applied research, social innovation, scholarship projects and activities.https://first.fanshawec.ca/cri_cripublications/1004/thumbnail.jp

A communal catalogue reveals Earth's multiscale microbial diversity

Our growing awareness of the microbial world's importance and diversity contrasts starkly with our limited understanding of its fundamental structure. Despite recent advances in DNA sequencing, a lack of standardized protocols and common analytical frameworks impedes comparisons among studies, hindering the development of global inferences about microbial life on Earth. Here we present a meta-analysis of microbial community samples collected by hundreds of researchers for the Earth Microbiome Project. Coordinated protocols and new analytical methods, particularly the use of exact sequences instead of clustered operational taxonomic units, enable bacterial and archaeal ribosomal RNA gene sequences to be followed across multiple studies and allow us to explore patterns of diversity at an unprecedented scale. The result is both a reference database giving global context to DNA sequence data and a framework for incorporating data from future studies, fostering increasingly complete characterization of Earth's microbial diversity.Peer reviewe

A communal catalogue reveals Earth’s multiscale microbial diversity

Our growing awareness of the microbial world’s importance and diversity contrasts starkly with our limited understanding of its fundamental structure. Despite recent advances in DNA sequencing, a lack of standardized protocols and common analytical frameworks impedes comparisons among studies, hindering the development of global inferences about microbial life on Earth. Here we present a meta-analysis of microbial community samples collected by hundreds of researchers for the Earth Microbiome Project. Coordinated protocols and new analytical methods, particularly the use of exact sequences instead of clustered operational taxonomic units, enable bacterial and archaeal ribosomal RNA gene sequences to be followed across multiple studies and allow us to explore patterns of diversity at an unprecedented scale. The result is both a reference database giving global context to DNA sequence data and a framework for incorporating data from future studies, fostering increasingly complete characterization of Earth’s microbial diversity