DETC2005-85594 DESIGN OPTIMISATION THROUGH FEATURE MAPPING FOR HIGH VALUE ADDED COMPONENTS: MANUFACTURING PERSPECTIVE

ABSTRACT In high value added component machining, achieving the required quality and cost is ensured by performing all machining quality critical operations in a single setting-up. It is paramount for the design to be checked for its manufacturability with the available manufacturing resources, tooling operations and quality critical machining carried out with minimum number of setting. The hypothesis of this paper is that a higher level mapping between the designs and manufacturing features of the component in question at design stage can pave the way for ensuring that the above requirement is met. This paper establishes the need for such a mapping and details the requirement and specifications of such a mapping

Quantitative Trait Loci Associated with the Immune Response to a Bovine Respiratory Syncytial Virus Vaccine

Infectious disease is an important problem for animal breeders, farmers and governments worldwide. One approach to reducing disease is to breed for resistance. This linkage study used a Charolais-Holstein F2 cattle cross population (n = 501) which was genotyped for 165 microsatellite markers (covering all autosomes) to search for associations with phenotypes for Bovine Respiratory Syncytial Virus (BRSV) specific total-IgG, IgG1 and IgG2 concentrations at several time-points pre- and post-BRSV vaccination. Regions of the bovine genome which influenced the immune response induced by BRSV vaccination were identified, as well as regions associated with the clearance of maternally derived BRSV specific antibodies. Significant positive correlations were detected within traits across time, with negative correlations between the pre- and post-vaccination time points. The whole genome scan identified 27 Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) on 13 autosomes. Many QTL were associated with the Thymus Helper 1 linked IgG2 response, especially at week 2 following vaccination. However the most significant QTL, which reached 5% genome-wide significance, was on BTA 17 for IgG1, also 2 weeks following vaccination. All animals had declining maternally derived BRSV specific antibodies prior to vaccination and the levels of BRSV specific antibody prior to vaccination were found to be under polygenic control with several QTL detected

Outcomes of resident-performed small incision cataract surgery in a university-based practice in the USA

Sidra Zafar, Xinyi Chen, Shameema Sikder, Divya Srikumaran, Fasika A Woreta Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD, USA Purpose: To assess outcomes of resident-performed small incision cataract surgery (SICS) at a single academic institute and to determine the availability of SICS-oriented educational resources in residency programs across the USA. Patients and methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted on all patients who underwent SICS performed by postgraduate year 4 residents between January 2014 and January 2018 at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA. Postoperative visual acuity, intraoperative complications, and postoperative complications were the main outcomes measured. In addition, a survey was administered to all ophthalmology residency program directors in the USA to assess the presence of SICS-related content in their surgical training curriculum. Results: Twenty-two eyes of 17 patients underwent planned resident-performed SICS, mainly for white cataracts. Intraoperative complications occurred in two (9.1%) eyes. The most common postoperative complication was transient increased intraocular pressure (two eyes, 9.1%). Mean preoperative best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was approximately 20/4,000. The large majority (95.2%) of eyes experienced improved BCVA following SICS, with a mean postoperative BCVA of 20/138 over an average follow-up of 4.2 months. Forty-seven programs responded to the survey (40.1% response rate). Residents were trained in SICS in 66.7% of these programs. However, more than half of all the programs did not have SICS-oriented educational resources available for residents. Conclusion: Resident-performed SICS was found to be a safe and effective technique for cataract management. Considering the limited surgical volume for SICS in the USA, training programs might instead consider implementing SICS-oriented content in their surgical curriculum, including wet labs. Keywords: resident, cataract, mature, SICS, surgical trainin

Pasteurellosis Transmission Risks between Domestic and Wild Sheep

Disease has contributed significantly to the decline of bighorn sheep (Ovis Canadensis) populations throughout much of western North America, decreasing many native herds to less than 10% of their historical size and imperiling some populations and subspecies (Valdez and Krausman 1999). According to historical accounts (e.g., Grinnell 1928; Honess and Frost 1942; Shillinger 1937; Warren 1910), epidemics in some locations coincided with the advent of domestic livestock grazing in bighorn ranges, suggesting that novel pathogens may have been introduced into some bighorn populations beginning in the 1800s. Native North American wild sheep species—bighorn sheep and thinhorn (Dall’s and Stone’s) sheep (O. dalli)—are very susceptible to pneumonia and particularly to pasteurellosis (Miller 2001). The generic term “pasteurellosis” is used here for disease (often respiratory) caused by bacteria in the family Pasteurellaceae but now classified in the genera Pasteurella, Mannheimia, or Bibersteinia. In some recent pneumonia epidemics in bighorns, the cause has been attributed to endemic respiratory pathogens or strains of Pasteurellaceae (Rudolph et al. 2007), and in other epidemics the cause has been attributed to Pasteurellaceae strains or other pathogens introduced via interactions with domestic sheep (O. aires; George et al. 2008). This Commentary reviews current knowledge on pneumonic pasteurellosis in domestic and wild sheep, the risks of transmission between these species, and approaches for lowering the overall risk of epidemics in wild sheep

T cell epitope identification for bovine vaccines: An epitope mapping method for BoLA A-11

T cell responses play an important role in immunity to parasites and other microbial agents of infectious diseases, therefore a number of T cell-directed vaccines are in development. Computer-driven algorithms that facilitate the discovery of T cell epitopes from protein and genome sequences are now being used to accelerate preclinical studies of human vaccines. Similar tools are not yet available for predicting T cell epitopes for animal vaccines, but there may be sufficient data available to begin the process of compiling the algorithms. We describe the construction of a novel mathematical `matrix' that describes the properties of bovine major histocompatibility complex (BoLA) system antigen (BoLA) A-11 peptide ligands, developed for use with EpiMatrix, an existing T cell epitope-mapping algorithm. An alternative means of developing BoLA matrices, using the pocket profile method, is also discussed. Matrices such as the one described here may be used to develop T cell epitope-mapping tools for cattle and other ruminants. Epitope-mapping algorithms offer a significant advantage over other methods of epitope selection, such as the screening of synthetic overlapping peptides, because high throughput screening can be performed in silico, followed by ex vivo confirmatory studies. Furthermore, using epitope-mapping algorithms, putative T cell epitopes can be derived directly from genomic sequences, allowing researchers to circumvent labor-intensive cloning steps in the genome-to-vaccine discovery pathway