Representing Complexity in Part-Whole Relationships within the Foundational Model of Anatomy

The Foundational Model of Anatomy (FMA) is a frame-based ontology that represents declarative knowledge about the structural organization of the human body. Part-whole relationships play a particularly important role in this representation. In order to assure that knowledge-based applications relying on the FMA as a resource can reason about anatomy, we have modified and enhanced currently available schemes of meronymic relationships. We have introduced and defined distinct partitions for decomposing anatomical structures and attributed the part relationships in order to eliminate ambiguity and enhance specificity in the richness of meronymic relationships within the FMA

Atomic Scale Depth Profile of Space Weathering in an Itokawa Olivine Grain

No abstract available

Landing Preference and Reproduction of Rhopalosiphum padi (Hemiptera: Aphididae) in the Laboratory on Three Maize, Potato, and Wheat Cultivars

The bird cherry-oat aphid Rhopalosiphum padi (L.) transmits the nonpersistent Potato virus Y (PVY) to seed potatoes. Planting a nonvirus host plant around the main crop can reduce PVY incidence, because aphids tend to land in high numbers at the edge of a field and the crop border acts as a virus sink. This study determined R. padi landing and settling preferences and reproductive rates on three cultivars each of maize and wheat compared with potato in the laboratory as a basis for identifying an attractive crop border plant. Aphids were reared on maize and wheat to control for bias due to previous experience. Irrespective of origin, alates preferred to land almost exclusively on maize and wheat rather than on potato cultivars in choice experiments. Aphid settling on the maize and wheat cultivars depended on aphid origin. In no-choice experiments, R. padi produced the highest number of offspring on the wheat cultivars, irrespective of origin. Plant nitrogen content and trichome density did not influence R. padi reproduction. The study demonstrates that host plant preference of aphids may vary between plant cultivars and can therefore influence the effectiveness of a crop border. The high landing rate but low reproduction suggest that maize cultivars '6Q-121' and '78-15B' could be suitable crop border plants in regions where R. padi is abundant. Before testing potential crop border plants in the field, cultivars should be screened using aphid landing, settling and reproduction as selection criteria

Treatment of vaginal candidiasis for the prevention of preterm birth: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Background: Recognition that ascending infection leads to preterm birth has led to a number of studies that have evaluated the treatment of vaginal infections in pregnancy to reduce preterm birth rates. However, the role of candidiasis is relatively unexplored. Our aim was to undertake a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess whether treatment of pregnant women with vulvovaginal candidiasis reduces preterm birth rates and other adverse birth outcomes. Methods: We undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in which pregnant women were treated for vulvovaginal candidias (compared to placebo or no treatment) and where preterm birth was reported as an outcome. Trials were identified by searching the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Medline and Embase databases to January 2014. Trial eligibility and outcomes were pre-specified. Two reviewers independently assessed the studies against the agreed criteria and extracted relevant data using a standard data extraction form. Meta-analysis was used to calculate pooled rate ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) using a fixed-effects model. Results: There were 2 eligible RCTs both among women with asymptomatic candidiasis, with a total of 685 women randomised. Both trials compared treatment with usual care (no screening for, or treatment of, asymptomatic candidiasis). Data from one trial involved a post-hoc analysis of a larger trial of treatment of asymptomatic infections in pregnancy (n=586) and the other was a pilot study (n=99). There was a significant reduction in spontaneous preterm births in treated compared with untreated women (meta-analysis RR=0.36, 95%CI 0.17-0.75). No other outcomes were assessed by both trials. Conclusions: This systematic review found two trials comparing treatment of vaginal candidiasis in pregnancy for the outcome of preterm birth. Although the effect estimate provides support for the hypothesis that treatment of asymptomatic candidiasis may reduce 3 the risk of preterm birth, the result needs to be interpreted with caution as the primary driver for the pooled estimate comes from a post-hoc analysis. A prospective trial with sufficient power to answer the clinical question ‘does treatment of asymptomatic candidiasis in early pregnancy prevent preterm birth’ is warranted.Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Project Grant (#632544). CLR is supported by a NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship (#APP1021025)

Problems and Solutions with Integrating Terminologies into Evolving Knowledge Bases

We have merged two established anatomical terminologies with an evolving ontology of biological structure: the Foundational Model of Anatomy. We describe the problems we have encountered and the solutions we have developed. We believe that both the problems and solutions generalize to the integration of any legacy terminology with a disciplined ontology within the same domain

Observations of the galactic plane by the zodiacal infrared project

The two rocket flights of the Zodiacal Infrared Project (ZIP), flown 18 August 1980 and 31 July 1981, were intended to provide data on the near-infrared thermal emission of the interplanetary dust cloud over a broad range of ecliptic coordinates (latitudes -60 to +85 degrees, solar elongation angles 22 to 90 degrees and 140 to 180 degrees). In addition, their multiple crossings of the Galactic plane provided low resolution spectral data (delta lambda/lambda ranging from 1. to 0.1, for effective wavelengths from 3 to 30 microns) for most of the first quadrant (longitudes 30 to 100 degrees). Examples are displayed. Having made a thorough reanalysis of the calibration of the ZIP database, researchers present the salient features of the Galactic plane as observed by ZIP. The binned, in-plane data, corrected for zodiacal emission, generally show an exponential decrease with increasing longitude. The fitted exponential scale-length is 0.038/degree, and can be inverted to derive a radial density profile. Channel ratios are converted to temperatures by using model spectra in which thermal emitters with emissivity approx. 1/lambda are convolved with the filter responses. The results for channels 5 (11 microns) and 12 (21 microns) are shown, along with similarly derived temperatures from Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS) 12 microns and 25 microns data. The ZIP data show little variation with longitude, consistent with IRAS results. A narrow spectral feature at 13 microns appears consistently in data for the plane (uncorrected for zodiacal emission). However, this is strongly contaminated by calibration problems for channel 8. Researchers suggest that residual emission at 13 microns arises from the (NeII) line at 12.8 microns

Starting a 300-cow intensive rotational grazing dairy (2011)

This guide examines the financial feasibility of starting a 300-cow intensive rotational grazing dairy in Missouri. The model dairy described is designed to be a pasture-based dairy to use labor and capital as efficiently as possible. This dairy is designed to be located in an area where winter weather conditions and soil types allow cattle to be housed outside all year

Starting a 75-cow intensive rotational grazing dairy (2011)

This guide examines the financial feasibility of starting a 75-cow intensive rotational grazing dairy in Missouri. The model dairy described is designed to be a pasture-based dairy to use labor and capital as efficiently as possible. This dairy is designed to be located in an area where winter weather conditions and soil types allow cattle to be housed outside all year