A technique to correct for sample thickness variations for use with IDAPS X-ray radiograph analysis

The Image Data Processing System (IDAPS) at the Marshall Space Flight Center is used to analyze radiographs of metal samples to qualitatively and quantitatively map compositional variations across the samples. When the X-ray radiographs are of samples having thickness variations, corrections must be made to accomplish compositional analysis. A correction technique is described for cylindrical samples and is applied to radiographs of SPAR Experiment 74-18. Uncorrected and corrected images are shown

Effects of Culturally Relevant Teaching on Seventh Grade African American Students

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between culturally relevant teaching and science achievement in seventh grade African American students when compared to standards-based instruction. The study also examined whether the use of culturally relevant teaching improved students’ attitudes toward science, as well as their participation within the science classroom. The intervention was implemented over the course of eight weeks by using a unit test as a pretest and posttest, formative quizzes, a Science Attitude Survey, and field notes to analyze student performance. Although all participants made academic gains when comparing pretest and posttest results, the culturally relevant group made higher gains than the standards-based group. Data from the Science Attitude Survey revealed slight changes in students’ overall attitude toward science except in one area. The intervention showed culturally relevant teaching can increase student achievement and improve student participation within the science classroom

Effects of added Zn in diets with Ractopamine HCl on growth performance and carcass quality of finishing pigs in a commercial environment

The experiment was conducted in a commercial facility to determine the effects of added Zn on the performance of finishing pigs fed Ractopamine HCl (RAC; Paylean®; Elanco Animal Health, Greenfield, IN). Pigs were randomly assigned to pens based on gender (14 barrow pens, 11 gilt pens, and 23 mixed-gender pens), with 25 to 28 pigs per pen. Previously, pens of pigs were assigned to treatments containing 0, 7.5, or 15% bakery by-product in a completely randomized design while balancing for initial BW and gender. On d 75, treatments were implemented to determine the effects of adding 50 ppm Zn from ZnO on finishing pig performance. A total of 1,234 pigs (PIC 337 × 1050; average BW 224.6 lb) were used in a 28-d study. Pens of pigs were randomly assigned to diets with and without 50 ppm added Zn from zinc oxide (ZnO) and balanced by BW, bakery by-product, and gender. All diets contained 5 ppm RAC and 83 ppm Zn from ZnO provided by the trace mineral premix. There were 24 pens per treatment. Overall (d 75 to 102), no differences (P > 0.22) in growth performance or carcass characteristics were observed when pigs were fed diets with 50 ppm added Zn compared with the RAC control. For pigs subsampled on d 84, pigs fed diets with 50 ppm added Zn had decreased (P < 0.05) edge belly thickness compared with pigs fed the control. For pigs subsampled on d 102, pigs fed diets with 50 ppm added Zn had decreased (P < 0.02) backfat thickness, belly weight, and edge belly thickness; a tendency for decreased (P < 0.07) middle belly thickness; and increased (P < 0.01) percentage lean compared with pigs fed the RAC control. In contrast with our previous research, these data indicate that adding 50 ppm Zn from ZnO to finishing pig diets containing RAC did not improve overall performance. Consistent with the earlier research, income over feed cost (IOFC) was numerically increased with the addition of Zn

Brahman Genetics Negatively Impact Protein Degradation and Tenderness of Longissimus Lumborum Steaks, but do Not Influence Collagen Cross-Linking

Beef tenderness is an important factor contributing to consumer eating satisfaction of beef products. Tenderness is dependent on several factors including: breed-type, postmortem age time, myofibrillar muscle protein degradation, and collagen content. During the past 30 years, numerous studies have indicated steaks from cattle with a greater percentage of Brahman genetics are tougher than steaks from Bos taurus cattle. The cause of tougher steaks is commonly attributed to Brahman cattle having a greater calpastatin activity which inhibits calpains, the enzymes responsible for myofibrillar protein degradation during the postmortem aging process. Some researchers have reported calpastatin activity was poorly correlated to tenderness of steaks from Brahman cattle. Others have reported sensory panelists indicated steaks from cattle with increasing percentages of Brahman genetics have an increase in the amount of connective tissue or collagen. Additionally, researchers have reported an increase in expression of genes that play a role in cross-linking of collagen which decreases collagen solubility. Due to these findings, we hypothesized steaks from cattle with greater Brahman genetics have more collagen cross-links and therefore a less soluble collagen fraction. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of Brahman genetics on protein degradation, collagen cross-linking, and meat tenderness of strip loin steaks

Visual processing in the central bee brain

Visual scenes comprise enormous amounts of information from which nervous systems extract behaviorally relevant cues. In most model systems, little is known about the transformation of visual information as it occurs along visual pathways. We examined how visual information is transformed physiologically as it is communicated from the eye to higher-order brain centers using bumblebees, which are known for their visual capabilities. We recorded intracellularly in vivo from 30 neurons in the central bumblebee brain (the lateral protocerebrum) and compared these neurons to 132 neurons from more distal areas along the visual pathway, namely the medulla and the lobula. In these three brain regions (medulla, lobula, and central brain), we examined correlations between the neurons' branching patterns and their responses primarily to color, but also to motion stimuli. Visual neurons projecting to the anterior central brain were generally color sensitive, while neurons projecting to the posterior central brain were predominantly motion sensitive. The temporal response properties differed significantly between these areas, with an increase in spike time precision across trials and a decrease in average reliable spiking as visual information processing progressed from the periphery to the central brain. These data suggest that neurons along the visual pathway to the central brain not only are segregated with regard to the physical features of the stimuli (e.g., color and motion), but also differ in the way they encode stimuli, possibly to allow for efficient parallel processing to occur

Effects of sorghum particle size on milling characteristics, growth performance, and carcass characteristics in finishing pigs

A total of 200 finishing pigs (PIC TR4 × 1050; average initial BW of 103.2 lb) were used in a 69-d growth assay to determine the effects of sorghum particle size on growth performance. Pigs were sorted by sex and ancestry and balanced by BW, with 5 pigs per pen and 10 pens per treatment. Treatments were a corn-soybean meal-based control with the corn milled to a target mean particle size of 600 μm, and sorghum diets milled to a target mean particle size of 800, 600, or 400 μm. Actual mean particle sizes were 555 μm for corn, and 724, 573, and 319 μm for sorghum, respectively. Feed and water were offered on an ad libitum basis until the pigs were slaughtered (average final BW of 271 lb) at a commercial abattoir. Reducing sorghum particle size improved (linear, P \u3c 0.01) F/G, and we observed a tendency for decreased (P \u3c 0.06) ADFI. Reducing sorghum particle size from 724 to 319 μm had no effects on HCW, backfat thickness, loin depth, or percentage fat-free lean index (FFLI), but tended to increase (P \u3c 0.06) carcass yield. Pigs fed the sorghum-based diets had no difference in growth performance or carcass characteristics compared with those fed the control diet, except carcass yield, which was numerically greater (P \u3c 0.07) for pigs fed the sorghum-based diets. When using a regression equation, we determined that sorghum must be ground to 513 μm to achieve a F/G equal to that of a corn-based diet, with corn ground to 550 μm. In conclusion, linear improvements in F/G and carcass yield were demonstrated with the reduction of sorghum particle size to 319 μm. In this experiment, sorghum should be ground 42 μm finer than corn to achieve a similar feeding value.; Swine Day, Manhattan, KS, November 17, 201

Effects of added zinc and copper on growth performance and carcass characteristics of finishing pigs fed ractopamine HCl

A total of 253 finishing pigs (PIC 327 × 1050; initial BW 204 lb) were used in a 28-d study to determine the effects of added Zn (Availa-Zn; Zinpro Corp., Eden Prairie, MN), Cu (Availa-Cu; Zinpro Corp.), or both to diets containing ractopamine HCl (RAC; Paylean; Elanco Animal Health, Greenfield, IN) on growth performance and carcass characteristics. Pens of pigs were randomly assigned to 1 of 5 treatments and balanced on average pig weight with 7 to 8 pigs per pen. Treatments included a control diet without RAC (negative control) and 4 diets containing 9 g/ton RAC with or without added Zn (50 ppm) or Cu (125 ppm) in a 2 × 2 factorial. Overall, pigs fed RAC had increased (P \u3c 0.01) ADG and improved F/G, which resulted in approximately a 15.5-lb heavier (P \u3c 0.01) pig compared with those fed the negative control diet. Pigs fed added Zn had decreased (P \u3c 0.05) ADG and tended to have decreased (P \u3c 0.09) ADFI. Pigs fed added Cu also tended (P \u3c 0.10) to have decreased ADG. No differences were observed in F/G when Zn or Cu was added to the diet. Hot carcass weight, carcass yield, loin depth, and percentage lean increased (P \u3c 0.01) in pigs fed the positive control diet containing RAC compared with those fed the negative control diet, whereas backfat was unaffected. Carcass characteristics were not affected by added Zn or Cu. Feed cost and revenue increased (P \u3c 0.01) for pigs fed the positive control diet containing RAC by approximately $9.63 and$10.08, respectively, compared with pigs fed the negative control diet; however, no difference was observed in feed cost per lb of gain. Income over feed cost (IOFC) did not differ in pigs fed the negative or positive control diet. Adding Zn decreased (P \u3c 0.05) revenue per pig, and adding Cu tended to increase (P \u3c 0.06) feed cost per lb of gain and reduce (P \u3c 0.10) revenue per pig. There were no differences in IOFC between diets containing added Zn and no added Zn. Added Cu reduced (P \u3c 0.05) IOFC. In summary, growth and carcass characteristics improved in pigs fed dietary RAC as expected, but adding Zn, Cu, or both to diets containing RAC did not improve growth performance, carcass characteristics, or IOFC. Adding copper actually reduced IOFC due to the added expense.; Swine Day, Manhattan, KS, November 21, 201

Clinical Trial Participation among Ethnic/Racial Minority and Majority Patients with Advanced Cancer: What Factors Most Influence Enrollment?

BACKGROUND: Studies using administrative data report that racial/ethnic minority patients enroll in clinical trials less frequently than white patients. We studied a cohort of terminally ill cancer patients to determine a) if racial/ethnic minority patients have lower rates of drug trial enrollment than white patients once socioeconomic characteristics are accounted for and b) what factors most influence drug trial enrollment among patients with advanced canceroverall. METHODS: Coping with Cancer (CwC) is a National Cancer Institute/National Institute of Mental Health (NCI/NIMH)-funded multisite, prospective, longitudinal study of patients with advanced cancer. Baseline interviews assessed drug trial enrollment as well as socioeconomic characteristics. Logistic regression models estimated associations between drug trial enrollment and baseline characteristics. Stepwise, backward, and subset model selection was applied to select the final model where characteristics significant at α=0.05 remained in the model. RESULTS: At a median of 4.4 months prior to death, 35 of 358 patients (9.8%) were enrolled in a drug trial. In unadjusted analyses, race/ethnicity, health insurance, performance status, recruitment site, cancer type, preference for life-extending care, and lack of end-of-life care planning were associated (p CONCLUSION: Patient race/ethnicity was not associated with clinical trial enrollment after adjustment for socioeconomic covariates. Patients with advanced cancer endorsing less engagement in end-of-life planning were more likely to be enrolled in a clinical trial

The Impact of Fines Inclusion Level and Conditioning Temperature on Pellet Quality and Energy Consumption

The advantages of pelleted feed can include improved handling, palatability, and nutrient availability. Poor pellet quality, however, can diminish these positive returns and lead to customer complaints. Thus, commercial feed mills may remove fines with a screener after cooling in order to provide a consistent product to customers. There are limited data on the effect of returning pellet fines back to the pellet mill on pellet quality and pellet mill efficiency. The objective of the following 2 experiments was to determine the effect of fines inclusion level and conditioning temperature on pellet quality and energy consumption. Experiment 1 treatments were arranged in a 3 × 2 factorial design of fines inclusion level (0, 10, and 20%) and conditioning temperature (170 and 180°F). Experiment 2 treatments were arranged in a 3 × 2 factorial design of fines inclusion level (0, 10, and 20%) and conditioning temperature (175 and 185°F). The results of Experiment 1 demonstrated there was no interaction between fines inclusion level and conditioning temperature on pellet durability index (PDI) (P \u3e 0.348). Increasing conditioning temperature from 170 to 180°F increased (P \u3c 0.003) PDI by 0.6 and 4.3% for both the standard and modified methods, respectively. There was a linear increase (P \u3c 0.032) in standard and modified PDI as the fines inclusion level increased. The results of Experiment 2 demonstrated that there was an interaction between fines inclusion level and conditioning temperature for modified PDI (P \u3c 0.001). When the diets were pelleted at 185°F, increasing the fines inclusion level increased the modified PDI. However, there was no significant difference for modified PDI of the diets with 0, 10, and 20% fines inclusion level when they were pelleted at 175°F. For starch analysis, there was no interaction between fines inclusion level and conditioning temperature on total starch. There was no evidence of difference in total starch between the diets that were pelleted at 175 and 185°F. The total starch was the lowest in the diet with 0% fines (54.11%) followed by the diet with 20% and 10% fines (56.42% and 57.90%), respectively (P = 0.013). For gelatinized starch and cooked starch, there was no interaction between the fines inclusion level and conditioning temperature. Both fines inclusion level and conditioning temperature did not affect gelatinized starch. For energy consumption, there was an interaction (P \u3c 0.0001) between fines inclusion level and conditioning temperature. When the diets were pelleted at 185°F conditioning temperature, the diet with 20% fines required significantly more energy during the pelleting process as compared to the diets with 0 and 10%. However, there was no significant difference in energy consumption for diets containing 0, 10, and 20% fines when the diets were pelleted at 175°F conditioning temperature. Therefore, increasing conditioning temperature increased pellet quality. When a diet contained less than 1.5% oil, recirculating fines through the conditioner and pellet die improved pellet quality. However, the 20% inclusion of fines led to occasional roll slips, decreased pellet mill stability, and increased energy usage when the diet was pelleted