7,671 research outputs found
Beef Cattle Production and Management Practices and Implications for Educators
Beef producers need to continually incorporate new information and adopt new technology to effectively manage production costs. Oklahoma State University began a Master Cattleman program with this need in mind. Understanding technology adoption by producers requires identifying current management practices. Data from a survey developed as part of the Master Cattleman program document current practices. Management practices were examined for two groups; producers with smaller herds who are less dependent on the beef enterprise for family income, and producers with larger herds who are more dependent on beef. Results clearly show that size and dependence on the beef enterprise matters when considering a broad spectrum of beef management practices.Livestock Production/Industries,
Seeing with sound? Exploring different characteristics of a visual-to-auditory sensory substitution device
Sensory substitution devices convert live visual images into auditory signals, for example with a web camera (to record the images), a computer (to perform the conversion) and headphones (to listen to the sounds). In a series of three experiments, the performance of one such device (‘The vOICe’) was assessed under various conditions on blindfolded sighted participants. The main task that we used involved identifying and locating objects placed on a table by holding a webcam (like a flashlight) or wearing it on the head (like a miner’s light). Identifying objects on a table was easier with a hand-held device, but locating the objects was easier with a head-mounted device. Brightness converted into loudness was less effective than the reverse contrast (dark being loud), suggesting that performance under these conditions (natural indoor lighting, novice users) is related more to the properties of the auditory signal (ie the amount of noise in it) than the cross-modal association between loudness and brightness. Individual differences in musical memory (detecting pitch changes in two sequences of notes) was related to the time taken to identify or recognise objects, but individual differences in self-reported vividness of visual imagery did not reliably predict performance across the experiments. In general, the results suggest that the auditory characteristics of the device may be more important for initial learning than visual associations
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Disrupted white matter in language and motor tracts in developmental stuttering
White matter tractsc onnecting areas involved in speech and motor control were examined using diffusion-tensor imagingingin a sample of peoplewhostutter (n=29) who were heterogeneous with respect to age, sex, handedness and stuttering severity. The goals were to replicate previous findings in developmental stuttering and to extend ourknowledge by evaluating the relationship between white matter differences in people who stutter and factors such as age, sex, handedness and stuttering severity. We replicated previous findings that showed reduced integrity in white matter underlying ventral premotorcortex,
cerebral peduncles and posteriorcorpus callosum in people who stutter, relative to controls. Tractography analysis additionally revealed significantly reduced white matter integrity in the arcuate fasciculus bilaterally and the left corticospinal tract and significantly reduced connectivity within theleft corticobulbar tract in people who stutter. Region-of-interest analyses revealed
reduced white matter integrity in people whostutter in the three pairs ocerebellar peduncles thatcarry the afferent and efferent fibers of the cerebellum. Within thegroup of people who stutter, the higher the stuttering severity index, the lower the white matter integrity in the leftangular gyrus but the greater the white matter connectivity in theleft corticobulbartract. Also,in people who stutter, handedness and age predicted the integrity of the corticospinal tract and peduncles, respectively. Further studies are needed to determine which of these white matter differences relate to the neural
basis of stuttering and which reflect experience-dependent plasticity
Extranuclear X-ray Emission in the Edge-on Seyfert Galaxy NGC 2992
We found several extranuclear (r >~ 3") X-ray nebulae within 40" (6.3 kpc at
32.5 Mpc) of the nucleus of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 2992. The net X-ray
luminosity from the extranuclear sources is ~2-3 E39 erg/s (0.3-8.0 keV). The
X-ray core itself (r <~ 1") is positioned at 9:45:41.95 -14:19:34.8 (J2000) and
has a remarkably simple power-law spectrum with photon index Gamma=1.86 and
Nh=7E21 /cm2. The near-nuclear (3" <~ r <~ 18") Chandra spectrum is best
modelled by three components: (1) a direct AGN component with Gamma fixed at
1.86, (2) cold Compton reflection of the AGN component, and (3) a 0.5 keV
low-abundance (Z < 0.03 Zsolar) "thermal plasma," with ~10% of the flux of
either of the first two components. The X-ray luminosity of the 3rd component
(the "soft excess") is ~1.4E40 erg/s, or ~5X that of all of the detected
extranuclear X-ray sources. We suggest that most (~75-80%) of the soft excess
emission originates from 1" < r < 3", which is not imaged in our observation
due to severe CCD pile-up. We also require the cold reflector to be positioned
at least 1" (158 pc) from the nucleus, since there is no reflection component
in the X-ray core spectrum. Much of the extranuclear X-ray emission is
coincident with radio structures (nuclear radio bubbles and large-scale radio
features), and its soft X-ray luminosity is generally consistent with
luminosities expected from a starburst-driven wind (with the starburst scaled
from L_FIR). However, the AGN in NGC 2992 seems equally likely to power the
galactic wind in that object. Furthermore, AGN photoionization and
photoexcitation processes could dominate the soft excess, especially the
\~75-80% which is not imaged by our observations.Comment: 34 pages AASTEX, 9 (low-res) PS figures, ApJ, in press. For
full-resolution postscript file, visit
http://www.pha.jhu.edu/~colbert/n2992_chandra.ps.g
Ethane-beta-Sultam Modifies the Activation of the Innate Immune System Induced by Intermittent Ethanol Administration in Female Adolescent Rats
Intermittent ethanol abuse or ‘binge drinking’ during adolescence induces neuronal damage, which may be associated with cognitive dysfunction. To investigate the neurochemical processes involved, rats were administered either 1 g/kg or 2 g/kg ethanol in a ‘binge drinking’ regime. After only 3 weeks, significant activation of phagocytic
cells in the peripheral (alveolar macrophages) and the hippocampal brain region (microglia cells) was present,as exemplified by increases in the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the macrophages and of iNOS in the microglia. This was associated with neuronal loss in the hippocampus CA1 region. Daily supplementation with a taurine prodrug, ethane-β-sultam, 0.028 g/kg, during the intermittent ethanol loading regime, supressed the release of the pro-inflammatory cytokines and of reactive nitrogen species, as well as neuronal loss, particularly in the rats administered the lower dose of ethanol, 1 g/kg. Plasma, macrophage and hippocampal taurine levels increased
marginally after ethane-β-sultam supplementation. The ‘binge drinking’ ethanol rats administered 1 g/kg ethanol showed increased latencies to those of the control rats in their acquisition of spacial navigation in the Morris Water
Maze, which was normalised to that of the controls values after ethane-β-sultam administration.
Such results confirm that the administration of ethane-β-sultam to binge drinking rats reduces neuroinflammation in both the periphery and the brain, suppresses neuronal loss, and improved working memory of rats in a water maze
study
Use of the MATRIXx Integrated Toolkit on the Microwave Anisotropy Probe Attitude Control System
Recent advances in analytical software tools allow the analysis, simulation, flight code, and documentation of an algorithm to be generated from a single source, all within one integrated analytical design package. NASA's Microwave Anisotropy Probe project has used one such package, Integrated Systems' MATRIXx suite, in the design of the spacecraft's Attitude Control System. The project's experience with the linear analysis, simulation, code generation, and documentation tools will be presented and compared with more traditional development tools. In particular, the quality of the flight software generated will be examined in detail. Finally, lessons learned on each of the tools will be shared
Stereospecific decarboylative allylation of sulfones
This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see http://doi.org/10.1021/ja104196x.Allyl sulfonyl acetic esters undergo highly stereospecific, palladium-catalyzed decarboxylative allylation. The reaction allows the stereospecific formation of tertiary homoallylic sulfones in high yield. In contrast to related reactions that proceed at -100 °C and require highly basic preformed organometallics, the decarboxylative coupling described herein occurs under mild non-basic conditions and requires no stoichiometric additives. Allylation of the intermediate α-sulfonyl anion is more rapid than racemization, leading to a highly enantiospecific process. DFT calculations indicate that the barrier for racemization is 9.9 kcal/mol and thus the barrier of allylation must be <9.9 kcal/mol
Extension Professionals\u27 Information Use, Protective Behaviors, and Work-Life Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic
In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, we asked Extension professionals about sources used to inform their work, means used to inform clientele, and management of their own health and well-being. Survey data revealed that Extension professionals sought information from trusted sources and that large majorities were involved in disseminating online information to clientele. Extension professionals felt well supported, were prepared to address the pandemic\u27s challenges, and were practicing recommended health behaviors. However, respondents reported high levels of stress and difficulty balancing professional and personal needs. Recommendations focus on collaborative opportunities for Extension as well as professional development and other resources for Extension personnel
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