COMPARISON OF GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF BEEF CALVES FROM DIFFERENT GENETIC STRAINS REARED UNDER ORGANIC CONDITIONs (D. 3.2)

The objective of the present study was to compare growth performance of 15 Danish Holstein bull (DHB) calves, 15 Limousine x Danish Holstein crossbred bull (CB) calves and 15 Limousine x Danish Holstein crossbred heifer (CH) calves reared under organic conditions. Spring-born calves were puchased at private farms and arrived at approximately 20 days of age with an average initial body weight of 52.9, 58.5 and 56.1 kg, (SEM 2.6) for DHB, CB and CH, respectively. Calves were kept indoor until weaning at 3 months of age. Calves were gradually introduced to a grass-silage based ration from 3 to 4 months of age. From 4 to 7 months calves were kept on mix grass pasture of ryegrass and white clover. There were significant differences between treatment groups in terms of average daily gain (ADGP1) during the first summer pasture period, average daily gain (ADGI) during the indoor winter period, and average daily gain (ADGP2) during the second summer pasture period (first 7 weeks). Thus, CB had significantly greater ADG than CH for all three periods with DHB being in between. CB had greater values than DHB and CH in terms of LWP1 144, 140 and 135 (SEM 4) kg, ADGP1 1.15, 1.04 and 0.95 (SEM 0.05) kg/d, LW Indoor 222, 213, and 201 (SEM 5) kg and ADGI 1.06, 1.02 and 0.95 (SEM 0.02) kg/d, LWP2 462, 445 and 414 (SEM 9) kg and ADGP2 1.24, 0.98 and 0.68 (SEM 0.04) kg/d for CB, DHB and CH, respectively. The final live weight were not different between CB and DHB but was significantly lower for CH than DHB and CB (483, 539 and 582 (SEM 8) kg, for CH, DHB and CB, respectively). Overall growth performance across all periods was 13% higher for CB than CH

The effect of plant location on manufacturing costs in the electronics industry

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Boston UniversityThis thesis deals with manufacturing costs in the electronics industry. More accurately, it deals with all costs - including engineering, purchasing and distribution, as well as the costs of labor, material and occupancy charges. They are all interrelated. It is impossible to properly consider costs without looking at the total picture. Further, since it examines costs in the electronics industry, the weight of importance of our set of cost factors is considerably different from those applying to another industry

Bleaching and diffusion dynamics in optofluidic dye lasers

We have investigated the bleaching dynamics that occur in optofluidic dye lasers where the liquid laser dye in a microfluidic channel is locally bleached due to optical pumping. We find that for microfluidic devices, the dye bleaching may be compensated through diffusion of dye molecules alone. By relying on diffusion rather than convection to generate the necessary dye replenishment, our observation potentially allows for a significant simplification of optofluidic dye laser device layouts, omitting the need for cumbersome and costly external fluidic handling or on-chip microfluidic pumping devices.Comment: 3 pages including 3 figures. Accepted for AP

Nonparametric Modeling of Dynamic Functional Connectivity in fMRI Data

Dynamic functional connectivity (FC) has in recent years become a topic of interest in the neuroimaging community. Several models and methods exist for both functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG), and the results point towards the conclusion that FC exhibits dynamic changes. The existing approaches modeling dynamic connectivity have primarily been based on time-windowing the data and k-means clustering. We propose a non-parametric generative model for dynamic FC in fMRI that does not rely on specifying window lengths and number of dynamic states. Rooted in Bayesian statistical modeling we use the predictive likelihood to investigate if the model can discriminate between a motor task and rest both within and across subjects. We further investigate what drives dynamic states using the model on the entire data collated across subjects and task/rest. We find that the number of states extracted are driven by subject variability and preprocessing differences while the individual states are almost purely defined by either task or rest. This questions how we in general interpret dynamic FC and points to the need for more research on what drives dynamic FC.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure. Presented at the Machine Learning and Interpretation in Neuroimaging Workshop (MLINI-2015), 2015 (arXiv:1605.04435

New synthetic strategies for the stereocontrolled synthesis of substituted ‘skipped’ diepoxides

This report describes a number of new synthetic approaches toward methyl-substituted mono- and diepoxy alcohols that serve as substrates for endo-selective epoxide-opening cascades. The key transformations involve the manipulation of alkynes. Highlighted are the directed methylmetalation of bishomopropargylic alcohols, the bromoallylation of alkynes, and Pd-catalyzed cross-coupling between an alkenyl boronate ester and allylic bromides.National Institute of General Medical Sciences (U.S.) (GM72566)Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemistry (George Buchi Summer Graduate Fellowship

Gaps below strange star crusts

The gap caused by a strong electric field between the quark surface and nuclear crust of a strange star is studied in an improved model including gravity and pressure as well as electrostatic forces. The transition from gap to crust is followed in detail. The properties of the gap are investigated for a wide range of parameters assuming both color-flavor locked and non color-flavor locked strange star cores. The maximally allowed crust density is generally lower than that of neutron drip. Finite temperature is shown to increase the gap width, but the effect is significant only at extreme temperatures. Analytical approximations are derived and shown to provide useful fits to the numerical results.Comment: 12 pages incl. 14 figures. To appear in Physical Review

Spin injection and relaxation in a mesoscopic superconductor

We study spin accumulation and spin relaxation in a superconducting nanowire. Spins are injected and detected by using a set of magnetic tunnel contact electrodes, closely spaced along the nanowire. We observe a giant enhancement of the spin accumulation of up to five orders of magnitude on transition into the superconducting state, consistent with the expected changes in the density of states. The spin relaxation length decreases by an order of magnitude from its value in the normal state. These measurements combined with our theoretical model, allow us to distinguish the individual spin flip mechanisms present in the transport channel. Our conclusion is that magnetic impurities rather than spin-orbit coupling dominate spin-flip scattering in the superconducting state.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Binding dynamics of a monomeric SSB protein to DNA : a single-molecule multi-process approach

People Programme of the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme [REA 334496 to B.E.B.]; Leonardo da Vinci European Union Programme (to M.F.G.); Wellcome Trust [099149/Z/12/Z, 091825/Z/10/Z]. Funding for open access charge: Wellcome Trust; University of St Andrews.Single-stranded DNA binding proteins (SSBs) are ubiquitous across all organisms and are characterized by the presence of an OB (oligonucleotide/oligosaccharide/oligopeptide) binding motif to recognize single-stranded DNA (ssDNA). Despite their critical role in genome maintenance, our knowledge about SSB function is limited to proteins containing multiple OB-domains and little is known about single OB-folds interacting with ssDNA. Sulfolobus solfataricus SSB (SsoSSB) contains a single OB-fold and being the simplest representative of the SSB-family may serve as a model to understand fundamental aspects of SSB:DNA interactions. Here, we introduce a novel approach based on the competition between Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET), protein-induced fluorescence enhancement (PIFE) and quenching to dissect SsoSSB binding dynamics at single monomer resolution. We demonstrate that SsoSSB follows a monomer-by-monomer binding mechanism that involves a positive-cooperativity component between adjacent monomers. We found that SsoSSB dynamic behaviour is closer to that of Replication Protein A than to Escherichia coli SSB; a feature that might be inherited from the structural analogies of their DNA-binding domains. We hypothesize that SsoSSB has developed a balance between highdensity binding and a highly dynamic interaction with ssDNA to ensure efficient protection of the genome but still allow access to ssDNA during vital cellular processes.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Functional Compost

The aim of the research program Functional Compost is to develop and test compost, which have been enriched with chitin, for plant growth promoting properties and to recognise specific mechanisms. Two types of compost were included in the program: source separated biodegradable municipal solid waste compost (DM = 62 %) and garden and park waste compost (DM = 66 %). Chitin was added in trace amounts during the maturity phase, combined with two levels of trace amounts immediately before adding the compost to the growth medium. The research program includes several parallel experiments. In experiment I, compost (20 vol. %) was added to soil (no plants) and incubated at 15 C for 5 month, under regular determination of microbial respiration and gross and net N mineralization. There was a significant increase in respiration due to chitin enrichment, which could not be explained by the amount of C derived from the chitin, which therefore suggest a priming effect. The N analyses are still being processed in the laboratory, but data are expected to be available at the conference. In experiment II, compost was mixed with sand, put into pots in a climate chamber, and spring barley seeds infected with Fusarium culmorum were sown in the pots. After 3 weeks of growth, the health of the plants was determined, and the chitinase activity in the sand was measured. The health of the plants and the chitinase activity was significantly higher in the treatments receiving municipal waste compared to the treatments receiving garden waste compost. However, there was no clear effect of the chitin enrichment. Additionally, the microbial community structure of the two types of compost, with and without early chitin, was determined by Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE). There was a clear separation between compost types, and with or without early chitin amendment. Experiment III is a regular growth experiment, and is running right now. Compost has been incorporated into soil, put into pots in the greenhouse, and spring barley is grown for 2 month before determination for wet and dry weight and N uptake. Data from experiment III is expected to be available at the conference