Chemical Equilibration in Hadronic Collisions

We study chemical equilibration in out-of-equilibrium Quark-Gluon Plasma using the first principles method of QCD effective kinetic theory, accurate at weak coupling. In longitudinally expanding systems--relevant for relativistic nuclear collisions--we find that for realistic couplings chemical equilibration takes place after hydrodynamization, but well before local thermalization. We estimate that hadronic collisions with final state multiplicities ${dN_\text{ch}}/{d\eta}\gtrsim 10^2$ live long enough to reach approximate chemical equilibrium, which is consistent with the saturation of strangeness enhancement observed in proton-proton, proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, see also our companion paper arXiv:1811.03068, v2 small changes, published versio

Quantifying Bar Strength: Morphology Meets Methodology

A set of objective bar-classification methods have been applied to the Ohio State Bright Spiral Galaxy Survey (Eskridge et al. 2002). Bivariate comparisons between methods show that all methods agree in a statistical sense. Thus the distribution of bar strengths in a sample of galaxies can be robustly determined. There are very substantial outliers in all bivariate comparisons. Examination of the outliers reveals that the scatter in the bivariate comparisons correlates with galaxy morphology. Thus multiple measures of bar strength provide a means of studying the range of physical properties of galaxy bars in an objective statistical sense.Comment: LaTeX with Kluwer style file, 5 pages with 3 embedded figures. edited by Block, D.L., Freeman, K.C., Puerari, I., & Groess,

The effect of prednisone on pancreatic islet autografts in dogs

Prednisone was shown to induce hyperglycemia in dogs submitted to total pancreatectomy and pancreatic islet autotransplantation. The hyperglycemia caused by a 10-day course of prednisone, 1 mg/kg/day, starting on the day of operation was reversible within 1 week after steroid discontinuance. Three weeks after prednisone was stopped, there was no detectable adverse effect on glucose homeostasis as judged by fasting blood sugar levels and intravenous glucose tolerance test results. Four months after transplantation, glucose disappearance was delayed in animals previously treated with the prednisone compared with those previously treated with prednisone plus insulin or control animals. This was accompanied by lower insulin values on intravenous glucose tolerance testing and suggests a long-term subtle effect on islet function. The mechanism of the steroid effect is not known. However, this model could be used to test the diabetogenicity of other immunosuppressive agents including cyclosporine, FK 506, and azathioprine. © 1993

A national programme for mastitis control in Australia: Countdown Downunder

In 1998, Countdown Downunder, Australia's national mastitis and cell count control programme, was created. With funding from the country's leading dairy organisation, Dairy Australia, this programme was originally intended to run for three years but is now in its tenth year. As it was the first time Australia had attempted a national approach to mastitis control on the farm, the first three years of the programme were largely concerned with the development of resources to be used by farmers and service providers. The second three years were devoted to training with both groups. Since that time, Countdown Downunder has entered into a second resource development phase. The goal of the programme was to achieve a reduction in the bulk milk somatic cell count from the Australian dairy herd. To achieve this, the programme had to develop resources with clear and consistent messages around mastitis and somatic cell count control on farms. It was determined that progress toward the goals would be made more rapidly if service providers were trained in the use of these resources prior to farmers. This paper reviews the Countdown Downunder programme from 1998 to 2007

Proline, catalase and root traits as indices of drought resistance in bold grained rice (Oryza sativa) genotypes

The present experiment was carried out with 39 bold grained rice genotypes to study the genetic variability of the traits conferring drought resistance and to screen the drought tolerant rice genotypeswith a view to formulate an efficient breeding programme for time bound genetic enhancement. The field experiment was grown during Sali season of 2007 to estimate the genetic variability of eight quantitative traits; root weight (g), number of primary roots, number of tillers/plant, root length (cm),shoot weight (g), root:shoot ratio by length and root:shoot ratio by weight. The data for the quantitative traits were recorded after 60 days of transplanting. The analysis of variance of eight quantitative traitsrevealed that there was significant genetic variation among the genotypes for the traits conferring drought resistance. The genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV), phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV), heritability in broad sense (h2bs) and genetic advance (GA) as percent mean were estimated for all the eight quantitative traits. Small difference between GCV and PCV estimates was observed for shoot length (cm), root length (cm), number of primary roots, shoot weight (g), number of tillers/plantand root:shoot ratio by length suggesting that these characters were little influenced by environment and could be substantially improved through selection breeding program. Out of 39 rice genotypes, 7 genotypes including 2 checks (Ranjit and Monohar Sail) were selected on the basis of morphometric traits for drought resistance. Fifteen day old seedlings of seven selected rice genotypes were subjected to different osmotics of PEG-6000 (0.0, -0.4 and -0.8 MPa) to evaluate the effect of drought stress on proline, protein and antioxidant enzyme catalase. Poline content and catalase activity analyses further suggested that five selected bold grained rice genotypes (excluding two checks) namely Halodhar, George Sail, Kapili Dhan, Karmi Sail and Baodum were potentially drought tolerant

Human islet isolation and allotransplantation in 22 consecutive cases

This report provides our initial experience in islet isolation and intrahepatic allotransplantation in 21 patients. In group 1, 10 patients underwent combined liver-islet allotransplantation following upper-abdominal exenteration for cancer. In group 2, 4 patients received a combined liver-islet allograft for cirrhosis and diabetes. One patient had plasma C-peptide >3 pM and was therefore excluded from analysis. In group 3, 7 patients received 8 combined cadaveric kidney-islet grafts (one retransplant) for end-stage renal disease secondary to type 1 diabetes mellitus. The islets were separated by a modification of the automated method for human islet isolation and the preparations were infused into the portal vein. Immunosuppression was with FK506 (group 1) plus steroids (groups 2 and 3). Six patients in group 1 did not require insulin treatment for 5 to > 16 months. In groups 2 and 3 none of the patients became insulin-independent, although decreased insulin requirement and stabilization of diabetes were observed. Our results indicate that rejection is still a major factor limiting the clinical application of islet transplantation in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus, although other factors such as steroid treatment may contribute to deteriorate islet engraftment and/or function. © 1992 by Williams and Wilkins