Peter Jonkers and Ruud Welten, eds., God In France: Eight Contemporary French Thinkers on God

- none

A Quantitative Genetic Analysis of the Ancestry of Neil Trask Line Bred Hereford Cattle

Diverse expression of any given trait within a breed is required to protect the breed from the unwanted consequences of selective breeding. Within the cattle industry, the fluid state of selective breeding trends, and consumer demand, creates a need for intermediate/moderate type cattle within individual breeds. These cattle have the ability to stabilize a given breed and bring it back from the extreme ends of the popular selection trends. This allows cattle breeders to change the genetics of their cattle, with relative speed, and meet consumer demands. Also, it protects individual breeds from harmful genetic mutations. This is evident in the increase in demand for intermediate cattle herds, like the Trask cattle, during the time period when most of the prominent Hereford breeders had carriers of snorter dwarfism in their herds. For this reason, it is important to preserve intermediate cattle lines like the Trask cattle, which have not conformed to popular cattle breeding trends. The genetic influence of various groups of ancestors on Trask bred bulls in current/recent herds was assessed using Wright’s Relationship Coefficient (Rvxvy), and the inbreeding coefficient (Fvx). Mean inbreeding coefficients of a group of 26 representative bulls from Trask bloodlines were compared to the mean inbreeding coefficient of all cattle in the available pedigree. Mean relatedness of the same 26 bulls with 1) a group of 15 prominent ancestors in the Hereford and Polled Hereford breeds, 2) a group of 30 ancestors that had the most descendants in the pedigree, and 3) a group of 19 prominent Trask line ancestors, was compared to the entire pedigree mean relatedness with the same groups. These comparisons were tested by 1) approximating a beta distribution representing the distribution of relatedness or inbreeding coefficients and testing the mean against that approximated distribution, and 2) employing resampling methods to generate a bootstrapped distribution and compare means to those distributions. These two analysis methods produced slightly different results; the beta P-values resulted in a failure to reject the H0, and the bootstrap resulted in the rejection of the Hv0. This difference highlighted the beta distribution method’s inability to account for the variation that occurs among samples drawn from a given population. The bootstrap resampling method was able to account for this variation because it draws numerous random samples to use in the calculation of the empirical P-values. Results provide a scientific assessment on the genetic influence of the Trask pedigree ancestors on the Trask bred bulls in recent/current herds. Testing against approximated beta (β) distributions may have resulted in type II errors (failure to reject the null hypothesis when it is in fact false). Mean relationship coefficients for the ancestors show the Trask herd ancestors had the closest relationship with the Trask bulls (mean Rxy = 0.208), followed by the top 30 ancestors (mean Rvxvy = 0.150), and then the key breed ancestors (mean Rxy = 0.132). The Trask herd ancestor group not only had the closest relationship to the Trask bulls, they also had the smallest relationship coefficient (mean Rxy = 0.072) with the Trask pedigree as a whole. This may indicate that the genetic distance that accumulated between the Trask cattle and the rest of the Hereford breed is due to isolation and inbreeding associated with linebreeding. The mean Fx values showed the sample of 26 Trask bulls (Fvx = 0.130) was more inbred than the animals in the Trask pedigree (Fvx = 0.056)

Living in the Existential Margins: Reflections on the Relationship Between Philosophy and Theology

In this essay, I outline my view of an epistemic distinction between philosophy and theology along the lines of different evidential authorities operating in the two disciplines. I then go on to suggest that this epistemic view allows for a recognition of different discursive loyalties. In distinction from what I term “Plantinga-type” views, I contend that my broadly postmodern Thomistic account is preferable because of the way in which it better reflects the existential reality of a plurality of loyalties in our lived existence. In this way, I offer a defense of an existential relationship of philosophy to theology that serves as increased warrant for the epistemic account

Dispatches from planet nowhere

Dispatches From Planet Nowhere explores how using the tools of fiction can aid and expand User Research and Product Design in the field of Industrial Design. The thesis asks the fundamental question of how imagining other worlds can teach us about our own. Aaron’s belief is that using the lens of fiction, and especially science fiction and fantasy, can give us novel and unique insights into what people hope, fear, and dream about the future. Drawing on the fields of Speculative Design and Future Studies Aaron proposes a new method for gathering user data, and a participatory model for understanding the future we want to build. The thesis book is a collection of writings on key aspects of the process including personal narrative, collaborative writing, and group world building. Finally, the book includes an archive of the stories created in the world building workshops

The Development of a Combined Approach for the Real-Time, Non-Destructive Monitoring of In Vitro Bone Tissue Engineered Constructs Utilizing Physio-Metabolic Markers

Annually, over $2.5 billion is spent on more than 500,000 bone grafts in the US alone, with more than 2 million being implanted worldwide. The limited supply of autografts and complications associated with traditional alternatives leave much to be desired. As of late, bone tissue engineering has developed as a promising alternative to these “gold standard” strategies for bone regeneration, effectively combining a patient’s own cells with biological factors together on a supportive construct to promote and induce de novo bone tissue formation. Due to the complexity involved in such an approach, its pathway to clinical application is wrought with numerous regulatory demands, all of which must be met in order to secure FDA approval prior to realization of clinical relevance. Key among these is the ability to monitor tissue engineered constructs, being able to effectively track such key aspects of construct quality as cellularity and degree of maturation (differentiation and mineralization). In the field, current methodologies for the determination of said aspects require the sacrificial destruction of the cultured constructs, an obviously infeasible practice for regenerative medical applications. As such, the main objective of this study was the development of alternative strategies for the real-time, non-destructive monitoring of bone tissue engineered constructs. To this end, constructs comprised of 85% porous poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) spunbonded fibrous scaffolds were dynamically seeded with 1.5 MM rat mesenchymal stem cells (rMSCs) and cultured within flow perfusion bioreactors (providing for the mitigation of nutrient gradients and the beneficial introduction of shear stresses throughout the construct) with either basal or osteoinductive media for periods of up to 14 days. Throughout the culture period, oxygen concentration measurements were taken at the inlet and outlet of each construct and global media samples were taken and assayed for glucose and osteoprotegerin content in order to determine oxygen uptake, glucose consumption, and osteoprotegerin (OPG) production rates. As specified time points throughout the culture period (Days 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 14), constructs were sacrificed and assayed for cellularity (via a dsDNA assay), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, and calcium deposition. Comparative analysis of trends in both the non-invasive mid-culture and destructive post-culture data revealed correlations that can be utilized for the real-time, mid-culture determination of construct quality. Key trends observed include increases in the cell-specific rate of oxygen uptake and decreases in the cell-specific rate of glucose consumption by osteoinduced constructs with little change in non-osteoinduced ones and a steady cell-specific production rate of OPG for osteoinduced cultures as compared to significantly decreased production rates for non-osteoinduced cultures. The opposing trends for oxygen uptake and glucose consumption of osteoinduced cultures can be explained my metabolic shifts in differentiating MSCs, a phenomenon which has proven useful in the development of monitoring metrics herein. Utilization of the ratio of oxygen uptake rate to glucose consumption rate as a key determinant of construct quality has proven promising in the analyses performed herein, potentially allowing for the elucidation of both a construct’s maturation and its cellularity non-destructively in real time

A Critique of Mary Anne Warren’s Weak Animal Rights View

In her book, Moral Status, Mary Anne Warren defends a comprehensive theory of the moral status of various entities. Under this theory, she argues that animals may have some moral rights but that their rights are much weaker in strength than the rights of humans, who have rights in the fullest, strongest sense. Subsequently, Warren believes that our duties to animals are far weaker than our duties to other humans. This weakness is especially evident from the fact that Warren believes that it is frequently permissible for humans to kill animals for food. Warren’s argument for her view consists primarily in the belief that we have inevitable practical conflicts with animals that make it impossible to grant them equal rights without sacrificing basic human interests. However, her arguments fail to justify her conclusions. In particular, Warren fails to justify her beliefs that animals do not have an equal right to life and that it is permissible for humans to kill animals for food

Q & A: A Nation at a Crossroads

Furman professors Cynthia King, J. Aaron Simmons and Savita Nair address civics education in the context of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capital

A Quantitative Genetic Analysis of the Ancestry of Neil Trask Line Bred Hereford Cattle

Diverse expression of any given trait within a breed is required to protect the breed from the unwanted consequences of selective breeding. Within the cattle industry, the fluid state of selective breeding trends, and consumer demand, creates a need for intermediate/moderate type cattle within individual breeds. These cattle have the ability to stabilize a given breed and bring it back from the extreme ends of the popular selection trends. This allows cattle breeders to change the genetics of their cattle, with relative speed, and meet consumer demands. Also, it protects individual breeds from harmful genetic mutations. This is evident in the increase in demand for intermediate cattle herds, like the Trask cattle, during the time period when most of the prominent Hereford breeders had carriers of snorter dwarfism in their herds. For this reason, it is important to preserve intermediate cattle lines like the Trask cattle, which have not conformed to popular cattle breeding trends. The genetic influence of various groups of ancestors on Trask bred bulls in current/recent herds was assessed using Wright’s Relationship Coefficient (Rvxvy), and the inbreeding coefficient (Fvx). Mean inbreeding coefficients of a group of 26 representative bulls from Trask bloodlines were compared to the mean inbreeding coefficient of all cattle in the available pedigree. Mean relatedness of the same 26 bulls with 1) a group of 15 prominent ancestors in the Hereford and Polled Hereford breeds, 2) a group of 30 ancestors that had the most descendants in the pedigree, and 3) a group of 19 prominent Trask line ancestors, was compared to the entire pedigree mean relatedness with the same groups. These comparisons were tested by 1) approximating a beta distribution representing the distribution of relatedness or inbreeding coefficients and testing the mean against that approximated distribution, and 2) employing resampling methods to generate a bootstrapped distribution and compare means to those distributions. These two analysis methods produced slightly different results; the beta P-values resulted in a failure to reject the H0, and the bootstrap resulted in the rejection of the Hv0. This difference highlighted the beta distribution method’s inability to account for the variation that occurs among samples drawn from a given population. The bootstrap resampling method was able to account for this variation because it draws numerous random samples to use in the calculation of the empirical P-values. Results provide a scientific assessment on the genetic influence of the Trask pedigree ancestors on the Trask bred bulls in recent/current herds. Testing against approximated beta (β) distributions may have resulted in type II errors (failure to reject the null hypothesis when it is in fact false). Mean relationship coefficients for the ancestors show the Trask herd ancestors had the closest relationship with the Trask bulls (mean Rxy = 0.208), followed by the top 30 ancestors (mean Rvxvy = 0.150), and then the key breed ancestors (mean Rxy = 0.132). The Trask herd ancestor group not only had the closest relationship to the Trask bulls, they also had the smallest relationship coefficient (mean Rxy = 0.072) with the Trask pedigree as a whole. This may indicate that the genetic distance that accumulated between the Trask cattle and the rest of the Hereford breed is due to isolation and inbreeding associated with linebreeding. The mean Fx values showed the sample of 26 Trask bulls (Fvx = 0.130) was more inbred than the animals in the Trask pedigree (Fvx = 0.056)

Prospectus, November 15, 2000

https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_2000/1031/thumbnail.jp