Maintaining the Boundaries: Teacher Education Program Admission Criteria for Screening Quality Candidates

University – based teacher education programs are currently under attack by the general public for producing non-effective teachers. In order to combat the perception of the “disintegration of teacher preparation” (Baines 2010), Teacher Preparation Programs need to demonstrate to the public the rigor of their screening measures and admissions criteria as a beginning to demonstrating program rigor. This presentation will detail one university’s efforts to collect and analyze admission criteria to Teacher Education Programs in universities across the state

The Guilty One

He let me out of the car and I started walking toward school. I don\u27t know why, but huge tears swelled within and my throat suddenly became sore..

The relationship between plasma osmolarity and feed efficiency in beef cattle and effect of feeding cows medicated feed through mineral containing AltosidRTM IGR on the growth of beef calves

Dietary cation-anion modification in cattle has effects on productivity through various means. Alterations of dietary cation-anion balances has been shown to affect plasma osmolarity. Plasma osmolarity is directly related to renal function and metabolism in all animals. In a feeding operation with a single diet fed to a similar population of animals, plasma osmolarity should fall within a somewhat normal range (approximately 270-310 mOsm). However, subtle, yet very distinguishable differences will exist between animals. In theory, variances in osmolarity may reflect differences in metabolism and as such, efficiency of feed utilization. Many researchers believe that utilizing residual feed intake (RFI) expressed in a population as a selection tool will lead to improved production efficiency in beef cattle. Residual feed intake is normally distributed. Like osmolarity, RFI will have subtle, yet very distinguishable differences existing between animals. The objective of this study is to determine if there are any detectable relationships between plasma osmolarity measurements and RFI within a controlled test population and to further determine how this information may be used in improving the utility of RFI measurements. In this study (77d), intake, BW, and ultrasound measurements of yearling heifers were observed. Frozen (-60oC) plasma samples were thawed at room temperature and osmolarity determined. Plasma samples (n=67, n=70) were analyzed to determine osmolarity. All data were analyzed using the CORR procedures of SAS. Plasma osmolarity measured on day 70 demonstrated a weak relationship to RFI (r = 0.226; P = 0.0); no other correlations existed ( P \u3e 0.10) in this data set. There were little to no relationships between osmolarity and ultrasound rump fat (P \u3e 0.90), rib fat (P \u3e 0.98) and intramuscular fat (P \u3e 0.13). Only days 21 and 35 had relationships between ribeye area and osmolarity. (P = 0.04; P = 0.0002). There were also minimal detectable relationships of osmolarity with metabolic body size ( P \u3e 0.06) or intake (P \u3e 0.08). However, osmolarity values fluctuated over the nine (year 1) or ten (year 2) different time points, thus plasma osmolarity measurements taken during or shortly after dietary adaptation may not directly correlate to an animal\u27s RFI value. However, analysis of how animals establish a cation-anion balance may have some relationship to the animals RFI phenotype

Keith Murray, industrial designer, his place in British inter-war design

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Characterization of CHLAMYDIA TRACHOMATIS Virulence Factors: Plasticity Zone MACPDF Domain Family Protein CT153 and Polymorphic Membrane Protein D

C. trachomatis is an obligate intracellular pathogen that is a leading cause of sexually transmitted diseases and blinding trachoma worldwide. Genes encoded in the plasticity zone (PZ) and the polymorphic membrane proteins (Pmps) represent major virulence determinants for chlamydiae. Elucidating their roles will be essential for the development of a vaccine to control human chlamydial diseases. The PZ MACPF domain protein CT153 is expressed as a 91 kDa polypeptide in elementary bodies of all human serovariants suggesting a common function. CT153 is processed during infection into an N-terminal p42 and a C-terminal p59 that contains the MACPF domain. Similar processing was observed following heterologous expression suggesting autocatalytic proteolysis. Immunoelectron microscopy revealed that CT153 shared localization patterns with Hsp60 and CT155, a PZ phospholipase D (PLD) paralog. CT153 stained reticulate bodies (RBs) adjacent to the inclusion membrane and morphologically atypical RBs that tended to associate with inclusion-sequestered lipid droplets. Collectively, these results suggest CT153 and the PZ PLDs share a concomitant function within a subpopulation of RBs involving lipid metabolism or acquisition. PmpD is a vaccine candidate as it is highly conserved and is a target of cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies. Immunoaffinity-purified native PmpD exists as an oligomer with a 23 nm flower-like structure. Two-dimensional blue native/SDS-PAGE analyses showed oligomers were comprised of full length PmpD and two processed fragments: p73 passenger domain (PD) and p82 translocator domain. PmpD undergoes infection- dependent proteolysis late during the developmental cycle that yields a soluble extended PD (pi 11) that was processed into a p73 PD and a novel p30 fragment. Soluble PmpD peptides possess putative eukaryotic-interacting motifs suggesting potential secondary functions within or distal to infected cells. The multiple forms of PmpD could represent novel vaccine or drug targets. Taken together, these data implicate PmpD as a multifunctional virulence factor important in chlamydial pathogenesis. Overall, these findings have contributed meaningful information related to the structure and function of CT153 and PmpD that will be useful for guiding future studies to determine their distinct roles in chlamydial pathogenesis

Ecological Balance on Individual Crop-Livestock Farms: An Idealistic Notion or Also Practically Feasible?

The following research question is examined in this article: Can one or more of eight case study integrated crop and cow-calf farms/ranches in South Dakota be simultaneously balanced from the standpoints of (1) amounts of manure produced matching (plus or minus 10%) the soil fertility needs of producers\u27 cropland and rangeland and (2) amounts of feed-grains and roughages produced matching (plus or minus 10%) the nutrient needs of producers\u27 livestock? The livestock manure production-utilization component of the study involves estimation and comparison of amounts of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) (1) available to crops and grass in the manure produced by livestock on the respective case farms and (2) required to meet the fertility needs of the crops and rangeland grasses produced under 64 crop yield and soil test conditions on the respective case farms. The livestock feedstuff production-consumption component of the study involves estimation and comparison of amounts of (1) total digestible nutrients (TDN) produced on the case farms with (2) the TDN required by the livestock on the respective farms. Results from the study show no situation in which a case farm is either balanced (plus or minus 10%) for both livestock manure production-utilization on cropland and rangeland and livestock feedstuff production-consumption with either (1) its current farmland hectarage and livestock population, or (2) simulated contracted or expanded livestock populations and current farmland hectarages in which livestock manure production-utilization is just matched. The primary explanation underlying this conclusion is a very low probability of the N-to-P ratio in the livestock manure produced on a farm being identical with the N-to-P ratios needed in manure for spreading on cropland and manure dropped on rangeland. Thus, while the notion of crop and livestock nutrient requirements being met internally on diversified farms is desirable, it appears that full realization of the concept in particular current real-world farm situations is difficult. If current basic farming systems were altered rather dramatically, however, it is conceivable that livestock manure production-utilization and livestock feedstuff production consumption might be brought into balance with one another

Feedlot Manure Nutrient Loadings on South Dakota Farmland

A key determinant of whether livestock manure is an asset or liability in agricultural production and to society more generally is the amount of manure produced relative to the nearby farmland area to which the manure can be economically transported for application. The objectives of the study reported in this article are to (1) estimate levels of manure nutrient (nitrogen = N and phosphorus = P) loadings on the cropland and rangeland associated with 78 feedlot farm operations in South Dakota and (2) determine factors, including size-of-feedlot and cropland hectarages, associated with cropland N and P loadings for the feedlots studied. Findings from the study show that (1) substantial percentages of the South Dakota feedlot operators studied apply livestock manure plant-available N and P that exceed crop and grass fertility requirements and (2) greater intensity of manure nutrient loadings on cropland is strongly related to larger sizes-of-feedlot and smaller farmland areas on which manure is applied. These two main findings raise some potential red flags in regard to possibilities for non-point source pollution of vulnerable water resources from manure produced by fed cattle--both within South Dakota and in other major cattle producing states in the U.S