The role of estrogens in androgen induced spontaneous activity in male rats.

Thesis (M.S.

Effects of antiestrogens on eating, female sexual behavior, and the uptake of 3H-estradiol in the central nervous system in rats.

PsychologyDoctor of Philosophy (PhD

EVALUATING USE OF OUTLOOK INFORMATION IN GRAIN SORGHUM STORAGE DECISIONS

This study examines grain sorghum storage decisions in the Texas Coastal Bend region. Decisions involving use and non-use of outlook information are compared using stochastic dominance criteria. Results indicate outlook information is of value to most classes of decision-makers. The value of outlook information, however, is contingent upon producers' risk preferences. The methodology presented could be used to evaluate a more extensive set of marketing strategies for grain sorghum as well as for other crops.Crop Production/Industries,

Summary Data from the Sixth AIAA Computational Fluid Dynamics Drag Prediction Workshop: Code Verification

Results from the Sixth AIAA CFD Drag Prediction Workshop (DPW-VI), Case 1 Code Verification are presented. This test case is for the turbulent flow over a 2D NACA 0012 airfoil using Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) turbulence models. A numerical benchmark solution is available for the standard Spalart-Allmaras (SA) turbulence model that can be used for code verification purposes, i.e., to verify that the numerical algorithms employed are consistent and that there are no programming mistakes in the software. For the Case 1 code verification study, there were 31 data submissions from 16 teams: 23 with the SA model (using various versions), 4 with the k-omega SST model (two variants), and one each with k-kl, k-epsilon, an explicit algebraic Reynolds stress model, and the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) with very large eddy simulation (VLES). Various grid types were employed including structured, unstructured, Cartesian, and adapted grids. The benchmark numerical solution was deemed to be the correct solution for the 21 submissions with the standard SA model, the SA-noft2 variant (without the ft2 term), and the SA-neg variant (designed to avoid nonphysical transient states in discrete settings). While many of these 21 submissions did demonstrate first-order convergence on the finer meshes, others showed either nonconvergent solutions in terms of the aerodynamic forces and moments or converged to the wrong answer. Results for this case highlight the continuing need for rigorous code verification to be conducted as a prerequisite for design, model validation, and analysis studies

Influence of Feeding Habits on Organochlorine Contaminant Accumulation in Waterfowl on the Great Lakes

Zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) are an important component of benthic communities in the Great Lakes and are exploited by a host of predators, including waterfowl. In this study, we analyze diet content and stable isotope and organochlorine contaminant patterns in Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis), Greater Scaup (Aythya marila), Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola), Redhead (Aythya americana), Canvasback (Aythya valisineria), and Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) collected from three sites (Fighting Island, western Lake Erie, Big Creek) in the lower Great Lakes. Lesser and Greater Scaup from Fighting Island were classified as either zebra mussel ( ≥ 67% of diet) or macrophyte ( ≥ 85% of diet) consumers. Bufflehead, Canvasback, Mallard, and Redhead consumed mainly ( ≥ 89%) macrophyte at Fighting Island. Zebra mussel was the principal food of Lesser Scaup ( \u3e 99%), Greater Scaup (97%), and Bufflehead (72%) in western Lake Erie. Stable isotope analysis revealed enrichment of δ15N in Lesser Scaup ( ≥ 2.24‰), Greater Scaup ( ≥ 1.28‰), and Bufflehead ( ≥ 0.63‰) that exploited mussels relative to conspecifics with macrophyte diets and relative to mussel prey. Representative contaminants of low (hexachlorobenzene [HCB]), moderate (PCB [polychlorinated biphenyl] 153), and high (PCB 180) hydrophobicity were examined in waterfowl. Lipid-normalized concentrations of PCBs 153 and 180 were significantly higher in scaup and Bufflehead that consumed Dreissena than in individuals that ate mainly macrophytes. Among taxa that consumed primarily Dreissena concentrations of PCBs 153 and 180 were significantly higher in individuals from Lake Erie than in those Fighting Island. Principal components analysis revealed broad differences in contaminant patterns of waterfowl based principally on diet. Results from this study illustrate that Dreissena has become a primary food source of some waterfowl in the lower Great Lakes and serves as an effective conduit for transfer of persistent organic contaminants to higher trophic levels

A comparison of the effect of molluscum contagiosum virus MC159 and MC160 proteins on vaccinia virus virulence in intranasal and intradermal infection routes.

Molluscum contagiosum virus (MCV) causes persistent, benign skin neoplasm in children and adults. MCV is refractive to growth in standard tissue culture and there is no relevant animal model of infection. Here we investigated whether another poxvirus (vaccinia virus; VACV) could be used to examine MCV immunoevasion protein properties in vivo. The MCV MC159L or MC160L genes, which encode NF-κB antagonists, were inserted into an attenuated VACV lacking an NF-κB antagonist (vΔA49), creating vMC159 and vMC160. vMC160 slightly increased vΔA49 virulence in the intranasal and intradermal routes of inoculation. vMC159 infection was less virulent than vΔA49 in both inoculation routes. vMC159-infected ear pinnae did not form lesions, but virus replication still occurred. Thus, the lack of lesions was not due to abortive virus replication. This system provides a new approach to examine MCV immunoevasion proteins within the context of a complete and complex immune system

Seasonality in the migration and establishment of H3N2 Influenza lineages with epidemic growth and decline

Background: Influenza A/H3N2 has been circulating in humans since 1968, causing considerable morbidity and mortality. Although H3N2 incidence is highly seasonal, how such seasonality contributes to global phylogeographic migration dynamics has not yet been established. Results: Incorporating seasonally varying migration rates improves the modeling of migration. In our global model, windows of increased immigration map to the seasonal timing of epidemic spread, while windows of increased emigration map to epidemic decline. Seasonal patterns also correlate with the probability that local lineages go extinct and fail to contribute to long term viral evolution, as measured through the trunk of the phylogeny. However, the fraction of the trunk in each community was found to be better determined by its overall human population size Conclusions: Seasonal migration and rapid turnover within regions is sustained by the invasion of 'fertile epidemic grounds' at the end of older epidemics. Thus, the current emphasis on connectivity, including air-travel, should be complemented with a better understanding of the conditions and timing required for successful establishment.Models which account for migration seasonality will improve our understanding of the seasonal drivers of influenza,enhance epidemiological predictions, and ameliorate vaccine updating by identifying strains that not only escape immunity but also have the seasonal opportunity to establish and spread. Further work is also needed on additional conditions that contribute to the persistence and long term evolution of influenza within the human population,such as spatial heterogeneity with respect to climate and seasonalityComment: in BMC Evolutionary Biology 2014, 1

Fabrication and Test of an Optical Magnetic Mirror

Traditional mirrors at optical wavelengths use thin metalized or dielectric layers of uniform thickness to approximate a perfect electric field boundary condition. The electron gas in such a mirror configuration oscillates in response to the incident photons and subsequently re-emits fields where the propagation and electric field vectors have been inverted and the phase of the incident magnetic field is preserved. We proposed fabrication of sub-wavelength-scale conductive structures that could be used to interact with light at a nano-scale and enable synthesis of the desired perfect magnetic-field boundary condition. In a magnetic mirror, the interaction of light with the nanowires, dielectric layer and ground plate, inverts the magnetic field vector resulting in a zero degree phase shift upon reflection. Geometries such as split ring resonators and sinusoidal conductive strips were shown to demonstrate magnetic mirror behavior in the microwave and then in the visible. Work to design, fabricate and test a magnetic mirror began in 2007 at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) under an Internal Research and Development (IRAD) award Our initial nanowire geometry was sinusoidal but orthogonally asymmetric in spatial frequency, which allowed clear indications of its behavior by polarization. We report on the fabrication steps and testing of magnetic mirrors using a phase shifting interferometer and the first far-field imaging of an optical magnetic mirror

Evaluating Post-Harvest Marketing Strategies for Grain Sorghum in the Texas Coastal Bend.

12 p

Surrogate Markers for Time-Varying Treatments and Outcomes

BACKGROUND: A surrogate marker is a variable commonly used in clinical trials to guide treatment decisions when the outcome of ultimate interest is not available. A good surrogate marker is one where the treatment effect on the surrogate is a strong predictor of the effect of treatment on the outcome. We review the situation when there is one treatment delivered at baseline, one surrogate measured at one later time point, and one ultimate outcome of interest and discuss new issues arising when variables are time-varying. METHODS: Most of the literature on surrogate markers has only considered simple settings with one treatment, one surrogate, and one outcome of interest at a fixed time point. However, more complicated time-varying settings are common in practice. In this article, we describe the unique challenges in two settings, time-varying treatments and time-varying surrogates, while relating the ideas back to the causal-effects and causal-association paradigms. CONCLUSION: In addition to discussing and extending popular notions of surrogacy to time-varying settings, we give examples illustrating that one can be misled by not taking into account time-varying information about the surrogate or treatment. We hope this article has provided some motivation for future work on estimation and inference in such settings