Postcard: Catholic Mutual Life Insurance Union of Kansas

This black and white printed postcard contains correspondence from an insurance company to a customer regarding payment for a death. Printed text and handwriting is on the front of the card. Handwriting is on the back of the card.https://scholars.fhsu.edu/tj_postcards/2027/thumbnail.jp

Postcard: Diocesan Mutual Life Insurance Union of Leavenworth

This black and white printed postcard contains correspondence from an insurance company to a customer regarding payment for a death. Printed text and handwriting is on the front of the card. Handwriting is on the back of the card.https://scholars.fhsu.edu/tj_postcards/2163/thumbnail.jp

Prediction of the biomass, leaf area, and crown area of sprout clumps of tanoak (Lithocarpus densiflorus (Hook. and Arn.) Rehd.) : a technique for assessing site occupancy by this species

Tanoak (Lithocarpus densflorus (Hook and Am.) Rehd.), an evergreen hardwood tree that grows abundantly in southwest Oregon and north California, sprouts vigorously after a disturbance, such as logging or fire These sprouts form clumps that can hamper conifer regeneration on clearcuts and in shelterwoods. In order to obtain a quantitative measure of the site occupancy by tanoak sprout clumps, aboveground biomass and leaf area were estimated for a range of sprout clump sizes of age 1 to 6. Both variables were linearly correlated with the diameter of the original parent tree at breast height (dbh). Equations were developed for predicting sprout clutnpbiomass, leaf area, and crown area through age 6 from the dbh of the original parent tree. Thus, by knowing the diameters of tanoak trees prior to cutting, the bioinass, leaf area, and crown area of the developing sprout clump stand can be predicted up to 6 years after cutting. Biomass and leaf area were also linearly correlated with crown area. This permits the estimation of tanoak site occupancy (i.e., biomass/ha, leaf area index, and percent crown cover) in existing brushfields, based on measurements of clump size derived from aerial photos or ground surveys. Examples of the use of these methods are included

Influence of environmental experience on aversive conditioning in honey bees (Apis mellifera L.)

International audiencePrevious experience in a natural environment with a stimulus has lasting influences on honey bee behavior, as demonstrated in laboratory studies of appetitive conditioning. However, it is unknown whether the same holds true for studies of aversive conditioning. Aversive conditioning is important for insects such as honey bees to survive environmental risks. Previous experience in natural settings may lead to maladaptive behavioral patterns in bees exposed to new risks. This study presents the first examination of the effect of a visual stimulus presented in a naturalistic setting on aversive conditioning, using the shuttle box choice chamber paradigm. The present study examines both the effect of the visual stimuli, as well as differences present between the Apis mellifera subspecies of mellifera and ligustica. Results support the presence of behavioral biases based on the visual stimulus presented prior to the experimental sessions

Genetic Variants of Milk Proteins - Relevance to Milk Composition and Cheese Production.

End of Project ReportObjectives: (i) to develop rapid screening procedures for the determination of milk protein polymorphism (genetic variants) (ii) to determine the frequency distribution of milk protein genetic variants in a large population of Irish Holstein-Friesians and to determine if there was an association between κ-casein variant and milk yield and composition in this group of animals, and (iii) to make Cheddar and low-moisture part-skim Mozzarella cheese from different κ-casein genetic variant milks and to assess any effect on cheese yield, composition and functional characteristics. Conclusions:Analysis of 6,007 individual Irish Holstein-Friesian milks showed that the phenotype distribution of the κ-casein BB variant was very low at 1.98% compared to 53.07% for κ-casein AA and 44.95% for κ-casein AB. While no statistically significant associations were observed between κ-casein variant and milk yield and composition, κ-casein BB variant milks had superior rennet coagulation properties to that of the AA or AB variants. Generally, κ-casein variant had little effect on compositional attributes of cheese apart from FDM (fat in dry matter) which was significantly higher in cheeses from κ-casein BB milk than in those from κ-casein AA milk. Generally, κ-casein variant had no significant effects on either primary or secondary proteolysis, or on the sensory and/or textural characteristics of Cheddar or Mozzarella cheese throughout ripening; or on the functional characteristics (e.g. flow and stretch) of baked Mozzarella on storage for 90 days at 4°C. However, κ-casein BB variant milk gave significantly higher actual, and moisture adjusted yields of Cheddar and Mozzarella cheese than either κ-casein AB or AA variant milks. For example, the moisture adjusted Cheddar yield from κ-casein BB milk was 8.2% higher than from κ-casein AA milk. In the case of Mozzarella, the moisture adjusted yield was 12% higher. Based on the results, it is estimated that the actual yield of cheese in a plant producing 20,000 tonnes per year from κ-casein AA milk would increase to approximately 21,180 tonnes of Cheddar, or 21,780 tonnes of Mozzarella if made from κ-casein BB milk. Where κ-casein AB milk is used instead of κ-casein BB milk, the estimated yield of Mozzarella would increase to 21,580 tonnes.Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marin

A new Search for Carbon Monoxide Absorption in the Transmission Spectrum of the Extrasolar Planet HD 209458b

We have revisited the search for carbon monoxide absorption features in transmission during the transit of the extrasolar planet HD 209458b. We acquired 1077 high resolution spectra at 2 microns using NIRSPEC on Keck II during three transits. Our sensitivity is sufficient to test the degree of CO absorption in the first overtone bands during transit, based on plausible models of the planetary atmosphere. We compare to theoretical tangent geometry absorption spectra, computed by adding height-invariant ad hoc temperature pertubations to the model atmosphere of Sudarsky et al., and by treating cloud height as an adjustable parameter. We do not detect CO absorption. Our analysis indicates a weakening similar to the case of sodium, suggesting that a general masking mechanism is at work in the planetary atmosphere. If this masking is provided by high clouds, our analysis defines the maximum cloud top pressure (i.e., minimum height) as a function of the model atmospheric temperature. For the relatively hot model used by Charbonneau et al. to interpret their sodium detection, our CO limit requires cloud tops at or above 3.3 mbar, and these clouds must be opaque at a wavelength of 2 microns. High clouds comprised of submicron-sized particles are already present in some models, but may not provide sufficient opacity to account for our CO result. Cooler model atmospheres, having smaller atmospheric scale heights and lower CO mixing ratios, may alleviate this problem to some extent. However, even models 500K cooler that the Sudarsky et al. model require clouds above the 100 mbar level to be consistent with our observations. Our null result therefore requires that clouds exist at an observable level in the atmosphere of HD 209458b, unless this planet is dramatically colder than current belief.Comment: 29 pages, 8 figures, accepted for Ap

Vegans, vegetarians, fish-eaters and meat-eaters in the UK show discrepant environmental impacts

Modelled estimates of the environmental burden associated with low meat consumption suggest that substantial benefits could accrue from shifts in diet. However, modelled dietary scenarios may not reflect true dietary practice and have not previously accounted for variation in the environmental burden of food due to sourcing and production methods. We link dietary data from a sample of 55,504 vegans, vegetarians, fish-eaters and meat-eaters with food-level data on greenhouse gas emissions (CO2, CH4 and N2O and three aggregated measures of CO2 equivalents), land use, water use, eutrophication risk and potential biodiversity loss from a review of 570 life cycle assessments covering more than 38,000 farms in 119 countries. By conducting Monte Carlo analyses drawing from food-level distributions of the environmental indicators that are due to variations in sourcing and production methods we estimate both mean impact and 95% uncertainty intervals for each diet group. We find that for all of the environmental indicators there is a positive association with amount of animal-based food consumed. Dietary impacts for vegans were 25.1% (95% uncertainty interval: 15.1% - 37.0%) of high meat-eaters (>=100g total meat consumed per day) for greenhouse gas emissions, 25.1% (7.1% - 44.5%) for land use, 46.4% (21.0% - 81.0%) for water use, 27.0% (19.4% - 40.4%) for eutrophication and 34.3% (12.0% - 65.3%) for biodiversity. Large differences (at least 30% for GHG emissions, eutrophication, and land use) in the environmental impact of diets are also observed between low (<50g/d) and high meat-eaters. Although there is substantial variation in environmental indicators due to where and how food is produced, the resultant uncertainty does not obscure the strong relationship between animal-based food consumption and environmental impact. Debate about sourcing and production of foods should therefore not prevent action aimed at reducing consumption of animal-based foods

Gene expression profiling of whole blood: Comparison of target preparation methods for accurate and reproducible microarray analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Peripheral blood is an accessible and informative source of transcriptomal information for many human disease and pharmacogenomic studies. While there can be significant advantages to analyzing RNA isolated from whole blood, particularly in clinical studies, the preparation of samples for microarray analysis is complicated by the need to minimize artifacts associated with highly abundant globin RNA transcripts. The impact of globin RNA transcripts on expression profiling data can potentially be reduced by using RNA preparation and labeling methods that remove or block globin RNA during the microarray assay. We compared four different methods for preparing microarray hybridization targets from human whole blood collected in PAXGene tubes. Three of the methods utilized the Affymetrix one-cycle cDNA synthesis/in vitro transcription protocol but varied treatment of input RNA as follows: i. no treatment; ii. treatment with GLOBINclear; or iii. treatment with globin PNA oligos. In the fourth method cDNA targets were prepared with the Ovation amplification and labeling system.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We find that microarray targets generated with labeling methods that reduce globin mRNA levels or minimize the impact of globin transcripts during hybridization detect more transcripts in the microarray assay compared with the standard Affymetrix method. Comparison of microarray results with quantitative PCR analysis of a panel of genes from the NF-kappa B pathway shows good correlation of transcript measurements produced with all four target preparation methods, although method-specific differences in overall correlation were observed. The impact of freezing blood collected in PAXGene tubes on data reproducibility was also examined. Expression profiles show little or no difference when RNA is extracted from either fresh or frozen blood samples.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>RNA preparation and labeling methods designed to reduce the impact of globin mRNA transcripts can significantly improve the sensitivity of the DNA microarray expression profiling assay for whole blood samples. While blockage of globin transcripts during first strand cDNA synthesis with globin PNAs resulted in the best overall performance in this study, we conclude that selection of a protocol for expression profiling studies in blood should depend on several factors, including implementation requirements of the method and study design. RNA isolated from either freshly collected or frozen blood samples stored in PAXGene tubes can be used without altering gene expression profiles.</p