Production of a Banjo: Development of Manufacturing Processes for Banjo Resonators,Rims, and Necks.

This body of research focused on the development of prototype tooling and manufacturing processes to produce resonators, rims, and necks for building banjos. The resulting fixtures and manufacturing processes were designed for ease of use by a single employee in a small shop environment. This research required proficiency in interdisciplinary mediums (ie. 2D modeling, 3D modeling, centerline tool path program generation, 2D modeling, 3D modeling, rendering, design, and woodworking). The resonator required development of a matching set of forming surfaces, a bending/gluing fixture, a work-holding fixture for utilizing a wood lathe, and a steam chamber required for bending strips of wood into the sides of the resonator. The rim was made using a block rim method and was made out of three laminations of staves, creating the necessary thickness for the rim. The same work-holding fixture was redesigned to accommodate the rim for turning. The goal for building banjo necks on the AXYZ CNC router was to produce a fully shaped neck out of a single piece of wood. The tall heel and angled headstock made this process difficult and resulted in more material being removed than if the neck had been shaped by hand utilizing shop equipment. Three resonators were made, one using a non-turning method and two that utilized a redesigned gluing method for creating a scarf joint. While two rim blanks were made, the first was successfully turned, allowing the second to demonstrate how the rim was made. The banjo neck design required many prototypes, both in foam and poplar, and yielded a fully-shaped banjo neck out of maple. In October of 2012, after a year of effort, the three major wooden components were assembled with hardware, creating a working (i.e., playable) banjo

Cowboy Obstetrics--A Calving Primer

Dystocia plagues cattle producers throughout Idaho. A team of Extension educators and specialists designed a curriculum and conducted calving schools to teach dystocia management principles and demonstrate methods to reduce stress during birth and enhance the potential for calf survival. Over 300 ranchers and ranch employees attended the intensive, 1-day schools. Pre- and post-tests showed a 47 to 58% increase in attendees\u27 knowledge about dystocia and dystocia management practices. Follow-up telephone surveys conducted 9 months later indicated attendees retained at least a portion of the information taught and saved an average of 1.6 calves per ranch

Street-level bureaucrats and new modes of governance – how conflicting roles affect the implementation of the Swiss ordinance on veterinary medicinal products

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.Lipsky’s seminal concept of street-level bureaucrats (SLB) focuses on their role as public servants. However, in the course of new modes of governance, private actors have gained an additional role as implementation agents. We explore the logic of private SLBs during the implementation of the Swiss Ordinance on Veterinary Medicinal Products (OVMP) where veterinarians are simultaneously implementing agents, policy addressees, and professionals with economic interests. We argue that, because of contradictory reference systems, it is problematic for the output performance if an actor is simultaneously the target group of a policy and its implementing agen

Glial βii spectrin contributes to paranode formation and maintenance

Action potential conduction along myelinated axons depends on high densities of voltage-gated Na channels at the nodes of Ranvier. Flanking each node, paranodal junctions (paranodes) are formed between axons and Schwann cells in the peripheral nervous system (PNS) or oligodendrocytes intheCNS. Paranodal junctions contribute to both no deassembly and maintenance. Despitetheir importance, the molecular mechanisms responsible for paranode assembly and maintenance remain poorly understood. βII spectrin is expressed in diverse cells and is an essential part of the submembranous cytoskeleton. Here, we show that Schwann cell βII spectrin is highly enriched at paranodes. To elucidate the roles of glial βII spectrin, we generated mutant mice lacking βII spectrin in myelinating glial cells by crossing mice with a floxed allele of Sptbn1 with Cnp-Cre mice, and analyzed both male and female mice. Juvenile (4 weeks) and middle-aged (60 weeks) mutant mice showed reduced grip strength and sciatic nerve conduction slowing, whereas no phenotype was observed between 8 and 24 weeks of age. Consistent with these findings, immunofluorescence microscopy revealed disorganized paranodes in the PNS and CNS of both postnatal day 13 and middle-aged mutant mice, but not in young adult mutant mice. Electron microscopy confirmed partial loss of transverse bands at the paranodal axoglial junction in the middle-aged mutant mice in both the PNS and CNS. These findings demonstrate that a spectrin-based cytoskeleton in myelinating glia contributes to formation and maintenance of paranodal junctions.Fil: Susuki, Keiichiro. Baylor College of Medicine; Estados UnidosFil: Zollinger, Daniel R.. Baylor College of Medicine; Estados UnidosFil: Chang, Kae Jiun. Baylor College of Medicine; Estados UnidosFil: Zhang, Chuansheng. Baylor College of Medicine; Estados UnidosFil: Huang, Claire Yu Mei. Baylor College of Medicine; Estados UnidosFil: Tsai, Chang Ru. Baylor College of Medicine; Estados UnidosFil: Galiano, Mauricio Raul. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Química Biológica de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Química Biológica de Córdoba; Argentina. Baylor College of Medicine; Estados UnidosFil: Liu, Yanhong. Baylor College of Medicine; Estados UnidosFil: Benusa, Savannah D.. Virginia Commonwealth University; Estados UnidosFil: Yermakov, Leonid M.. Wright State University; Estados UnidosFil: Griggs, Ryan B.. Wright State University; Estados UnidosFil: Dupree, Jeffrey L.. Virginia Commonwealth University; Estados UnidosFil: Rasband, Matthew N.. Baylor College of Medicine; Estados Unido

Molecular Design Parameters of Anthraquinone Dyes for Guest-Host Liquid-Crystal Applications : Experimental and Computational Studies of Spectroscopy, Structure and Stability

A set of five anthraquinone dyes with bis(4-propylphenyl) substituent groups, connected via sulfide or amine linkages at the 1,5-positions or directly at the 2,6-positions, have been studied in solution by UV-vis spectroscopy and electrochemistry, allied with density functional theory calculations of structures, electronic transitions, and redox potentials. The visible transitions and redox potentials are shown to vary with the HOMO and LUMO energies, with the variation in both color and redox stability between the dyes being attributable principally to variations in the HOMOs located mainly on the substituents and outer anthraquinone rings. The calculated molecular structures and visible transition dipole moments are shown to vary subtly with substituent, giving variations in the molecular aspect ratios, minimum moment of inertia axes, and transition dipole moment vector orientations that can rationalize the alignment trends reported in the literature for such anthraquinone dyes in liquid crystal hosts, showing why 1,5-disulfide and 2,6-diphenyl substituents give better designs than 1,5-diamine substituents. The computational approaches reported here are shown to give good matches with experimental trends, indicating that they may be used more generally to aid the rational molecular design of dyes for applications as guests in liquid crystal hosts

Traffic noise drowns out great tit alarm calls

Anthropogenic noise is one of the fastest growing and most ubiquitous types of environmental pollution and can impair acoustic communication in a variety of animals [1]. Recent research has shown that birds can adjust acoustic parameters of their sexual signals (songs) in noisy environments 2, 3, yet we know little about other types of vocalizations. Anti-predator signals contain subtle information that is critical for avoiding predation 4, 5, and failure to detect these calls 6, 7 as a result of anthropogenic noise pollution could have large fitness consequences by negatively impacting survival. We investigated whether traffic noise impacts both the production and perception of avian alarm calls using a combination of lab and field experiments with great tits (Parus major), a songbird that frequently inhabits noise-polluted environments. In response to experimental noise manipulation in controlled laboratory conditions, great tits increased the amplitude, but not the frequency parameters, of their mobbing alarm calls (hereafter ‘alarm calls’). Playback experiments conducted in the wild indicate that current levels of road traffic noise mask alarm calls, impeding the ability of great tits to perceive these critical signals. These results show that, despite the vocal adjustments used to compensate for anthropogenic noise, great tits are not able to restore the active space of their calls in even moderately noisy environments. Consequently, birds are likely to suffer from increased predation risk under noise, with likely effects on their behaviour, populations, and community dynamics in noise-polluted areas

Survival trends for small intestinal cancer in England and Wales, 1971–1990: national population-based study

This population-based study examines prognostic factors and survival trends among adults (15–99 years) diagnosed with small intestinal cancer in England and Wales during 1971–1990 and followed up to 1995. During this period, the 1- and 5-year age-standardised relative survival rates for small intestinal cancers combined were 42% and 23%, respectively. Duodenal tumours, adenocarcinomas, men, patients with advanced age and the most deprived patients had the poorest prognosis. For all small bowel tumours combined, the excess risk of death fell significantly by 6–9% every 4 years over the 20-year period (adjusted excess hazard ratio (EHR) 0.91 at 1 year after diagnosis, 0.94 at 5 years). For duodenal tumours, the EHR fell by about 14% (95% CI 5–22%) every 4 years between 1979 and 1990, and a similar trend for jejunal tumours was of borderline significance. Further population-based investigations linking survival data to individual data on diagnostic methods and types of treatment are needed

Enzymatic reduction of azo and indigoid compounds

A customer- and environment-friendly method for the decolorization azo dyes was developed. Azoreductases could be used both to bleach hair dyed with azo dyes and to reduce dyes in vat dyeing of textiles. A new reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide-dependent azoreductase of Bacillus cereus, which showed high potential for reduction of these dyes, was purified using a combination of ammonium sulfate precipitation and chromatography and had a molecular mass of 21.5 kDa. The optimum pH of the azoreductase depended on the substrate and was within the range of pH 6 to 7, while the maximum temperature was reached at 40°C. Oxygen was shown to be an alternative electron acceptor to azo compounds and must therefore be excluded during enzymatic dye reduction. Biotransformation of the azo dyes Flame Orange and Ruby Red was studied in more detail using UV-visible spectroscopy, high-performance liquid chromatography, and mass spectrometry (MS). Reduction of the azo bonds leads to cleavage of the dyes resulting in the cleavage product 2-amino-1,3 dimethylimidazolium and N∼1∼,N∼1∼-dimethyl-1,4-benzenediamine for Ruby Red, while only the first was detected for Flame Orange because of MS instability of the expected 1,4-benzenediamine. The azoreductase was also found to reduce vat dyes like Indigo Carmine (C.I. Acid Blue 74). Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) as an oxidizing agent was used to reoxidize the dye into the initial form. The reduction and oxidation mechanism of Indigo Carmine was studied using UV-visible spectroscopy