Evidence of uneven selective pressure on different subsets of the conserved human genome : implications for the significance of intronic and intergenic DNA

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Infections of the nasal accessory sinuses and their relation to systemic disease

The subject of Nasal Accessory Sinus infection is a very important one, which has been but little understood until some thirty years ago, when ihinologists in America and on the Continent realised the importance of the many complicated cavities and cells in the anterior part of the skull and devoted a vast amount of time and study on the anatomy, histology, neurology and pathology of these spaces.In this paper I wish to discuss the whole subject of Nasal Accessory Sinus infection, and particularly as a factor in the Causation and maintenance of disease when unrecognised

Spiller v. State: Determining the Nature of Public Employees\u27 Rights to Their Pensions

In Spiller v. State, a divided Maine Supreme Judicial Court, sitting as the Law Court, held that certain legislative changes to public employee pension benefits did not impair the employees\u27 constitutional rights because there was no clear indication that the employees had a contractual right to their pensions. These changes were enacted as a reduction of state expenditures in reaction to Maine\u27s fiscal deficit. The majority found that the changes were not unconstitutional and thus were permissible. The dissenting opinion, however, found that a contract existed between the State and the employees and that it had been breached. Although the Spiller decision may have settled that no “contractual rights” result from the formation of public employee pensions in Maine, the disagreement within the Law Court clearly parallels the deep divisions among individual states concerning the nature of the rights that public employees have to their pensions. The United States Supreme Court has not issued a modern standard governing this issue. A review of recent state court decisions shows a variety of approaches among the states in addressing pensioners\u27 rights with no consensus toward a single uniform approach. Given the widespread problem of state fiscal deficits and the corresponding need to reduce state expenditures to shrink such deficits, this issue will surely be revisited frequently in Maine and elsewhere as public employees suffer under the multi-headed ax of fiscal restraint. The question now becomes: do either the majority or dissenting positions in Spiller adequately define the rights of public pensioners? If neither does, then what approach works best for Maine? This Note considers the background of public pensioners\u27 rights within the jurisdictions that have addressed the issue. It contrasts the approaches of different states and examines the limited attention given to public employee pensions by the United States Supreme Court. In particular, this Note examines the alternative approaches noted by the majority and dissent in the Spiller decision

Interaction Of Stocking Density And The Feeding Environment In Lactating Holstein Dairy Cows

Stocking density serves as a sub-clinical stressor impacting natural behavior and affective state of dairy cows. However, cows rarely experience stocking density as an isolated stressor. Understanding the effects of stocking density with additional management stressors such as low-fiber diets or feed restriction is the next step in alleviating stress and improving the well-being of lactating dairy cows housed in freestall barns. The overall goal of this dissertation was to evaluate the interaction of stocking density and the feeding environment on short-term production, behavioral, ruminal fermentation, and stress responses of lactating dairy cattle. The first two studies (Chapter 2 and 3) served as preliminary research for the main studies of this dissertation. The first study objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of using chopped wheat straw to reduce sub-acute ruminal acidosis (SARA) in order to formulate diets for the first main study. Treatments were low straw (0 kg dry matter (DM)/d; LS) and high straw (1.36 kg DM/d; HS). High straw appeared to effectively reduce SARA by lowering time below pH 5.8 with minimal impact on feed intake and rumination. The second study objective was to evaluate the effect of type of blood collection tube on haptoglobin concentration across two commercially-available haptoglobin assays and evaluate assay agreement in order to determine haptoglobin concentrations for the main studies. Lithium heparinized, sodium heparinized, and K2-EDTA plasma resulted in increased haptoglobin concentrations compared to serum using the Tri-Delta colorimetric assay, but no differences were observed using the Life Diagnostics ELISA assay. However, there was a lack of agreement between assays and further identification of a gold-standard assay is needed before analyzing haptoglobin for the main studies. The third study (Chapter 4) investigated the interaction of stocking density (100% and 142% of freestalls and headlocks) and source of forage fiber (no added straw and added straw at 3.5% ration DM). Treatments did not impact feed intake, but straw diets tended to reduce milk production. Increasing stocking density reduced lying time but increased efficiency of stall use. Though feeding and rumination times were unaffected, overstocking shifted the location of rumination away from the freestall. Increased stocking density tended to increase stress responses. Both greater stocking density and no straw diets increased SARA, and the combination of these stressors tended to exacerbate this pH response. Adding straw to the diet reduced the negative impacts of overstocking on ruminal pH. The fourth study (Chapter 5) evaluated the interaction of stocking density (100% and 142%) and feed access (5-h reduced feed access and no reduced feed access). Treatments had minimal impact on short-term feed intake and production. Overstocking affected behavior similar to responses observed in Chapter 4. Reducing feed access decreased feeding time, though cows altered feeding and rumination responses to maintain daily rumination. Both treatments shifted priorities for feeding and lying behavior, though increased stocking density had the larger impact. Though reduced feed access did not impact ruminal pH, an exacerbated response was observed when combined with increased stocking density. The combination of stocking density and feeding environment stressors exacerbate negative effects on biological function and should be avoided

A Thermal RC Model Including Thermal Mass and Solar Gain Effects for Building Energy Simulation

Building Commissioning is important for evaluating energy and dollar savings in existing buildings. Energy Systems Lab of Texas A&M University has developed WinAM with the purpose of aiding that process. WinAM is a steady-state calculation engine tool that computes energy and dollar savings for commissioning purposes in existing buildings. However, the problem can rise with WinAM’s simplified calculation method rendering inaccurate results. This research proposes a Resistance-Capacitance (RC) model be added to the current WinAM model that incorporates the effects of solar heat gains and thermal mass effects. The RC model is tested against 11 simulation cases with EnergyPlus™, a building energy simulation program, and the current WinAM version. Parameters are changed in all models to analyze the proposed RC model against EnergyPlus results. The results show that the RC model achieves better performance than WinAM when compared to EnergyPlus. The extreme case differs of 286% for annual heating consumption between the RC model and EnergyPlus, while WinAM differs in 4040% for annual heating consumption when compared to EnergyPlus. The RC model annual heating and cooling consumption results approximates better to EnergyPlus in more than 90% of the cases analyzed. Energy savings are estimated for the cases of temperature setback and dead-band temperature set points, for seven different weather conditions and three different building masses. A case study is also analyzed of a real building, each model is calibrated to the building’s metered energy consumption, and applied energy efficiency measures (EEMs) to the models, comparing each model’s estimated savings. For the case study, the estimated savings from all models when temperature set back and temperature dead-band are applied present similar estimated savings. The extreme cases are of WinAM over predicting savings for temperature set back such as 47% for annual heating consumption, while RC predicts 27% and EnergyPlus only predicts 6%, and WinAM under predicting savings for temperature dead-band such as 31% for annual heating consumption, while RC predicts 96%, and EnergyPlus predicts 99% savings. The RC model presents improvement from the current WinAM model in 53/55 of simulated cases of the estimated savings when compared to EnergyPlus estimated savings

A socio-economic impact assessment of the future closure of a diamond mine in Namaqualand, South Africa : planning for mine closure a decade in advance

Bibliography: pages 56-7.De Beers Namaqualand Mines (DBNM) have appointed the Environmental Evaluation Unit to undertake an impact assessment of mine closure. According to recent estimates DBNM anticipate that their diamond mining operations in Namaqualand will have to be closed in approximately ten years time. DBNM requested that the study focus on the socio-economic implications of mine closure within the regional context of Namaqualand and not the broader context of South Africa. It is anticipated that the results and recommendations of the study will be used by DBNM in planning for mine closure. The aims and objectives of the study are: 1) To assess the socio-economic consequences of future mine closure. 2) To recommend actions that will mitigate the impacts of mine closure. The aims and objectives of this report are to: 1) Fulfil the academic requirements of the degree. 2) Assess and evaluate information collected during the data collection phase of this project (contained in the Baseline Information Report) and to present these findings clearly and concisely, highlighting significant impacts and options for mitigation. 3) To communicate these findings in a way as would make them useful to both the client as the decision-maker and the interested and affected parties

Addressing culture within healthcare settings: the limits of cultural competence and the power of humility

As Canada continues to grow in diversity, health care providers will be encouraged to become more aware of cultural differences and their impact on health (7-9). The adoption of cultural competence teaching within medical curriculum was an important step. However, this approach does not fully capture the complexity and dynamism inherent to culture, and fails to acknowledge the culture(s) of biomedicine we are situated in as care providers. Without recognizing the role of culture in biomedical practice, we cannot fully implement a patient-centered approach to care. Applying the concept of cultural humility and its critical self-reflection is an important next step towards meaningfully addressing culture within the clinic

Effect of Applied Orthorhombic Lattice Distortion on the Antiferromagnetic Phase of CeAuSb2_2

We study the response of the antiferromagnetism of CeAuSb$_2$ to orthorhombic lattice distortion applied through in-plane uniaxial pressure. The response to pressure applied along a $\langle 110 \rangle$ lattice direction shows a first-order transition at zero pressure, which shows that the magnetic order lifts the $(110)/(1\bar{1}0)$ symmetry of the unstressed lattice. Sufficient $\langle 100 \rangle$ pressure appears to rotate the principal axes of the order from $\langle 110 \rangle$ to $\langle 100 \rangle$. At low $\langle 100 \rangle$ pressure, the transition at $T_N$ is weakly first-order, however it becomes continuous above a threshold $\langle 100 \rangle$ pressure. We discuss the possibility that this behavior is driven by order parameter fluctuations, with the restoration of a continuous transition a result of reducing the point-group symmetry of the lattice.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure