Daisy Bell

In this digital mash-up recording, the artist has recreated the early 20 th century song Daisy Bell.The song sits squarely within a history of the digital interfacing with speech synthesis/AI formatsto produce new sound experiences; notably, here it references, and starts off from, how thesong is used in the movie Space Odyssey 2001 as part of the computer HAL’s database.Through the compilation of various versions and recording instruments the musical piece/artwork here showcases how, symbolically, the translation and transmutation of voice and musicacross modes can produce the uncanny and force us to question what is essential, what ispersistent, and what changes through different formats. It combines the voices of earlier singersand earlier modes of recording with new technologies for sound making as well as “voices thatwere never alive to begin with.” It explores the ontology of simulation and addresses how thedigital engages questions of nostalgia and the uncanny

Associations Among Beef Cattle Genotypes, Neospora Caninum Infection, and Reproductive Performance

Reproductive performance is crucial for sustained financial success in the beef cattle industry. This dissertation includes a population study that quantified the incidence of Neospora caninum infections in the central region of the United States and tested its relationship with reproductive performance in beef cattle. Trial one of that study concluded that 6.9% of open, replacement heifers (n = 1306) tested seropositive. The second trial in that project found that 9.6% of the breeding age females (n = 500) tested were seropositive for Neospora caninum; and that state in which the cattle lived and age impacted (P \u3c 0.05) infection rate. Breed composition, number of farm dogs on the ranch, and use of total mixed rations were not associated (P \u3e 0.1) with seropositive tests. Fewer (P \u3c 0.05) seropositive females were pregnant in Oklahoma, but overall infection rate was not associated (P \u3e 0.1) with non-pregnant females. The second study, tested for a relationship between heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) genotypes and reproductive characteristics. Blood samples were collected from beef heifers (n = 165) being developed for replacements and Hsp70 genotypes (A1125C, C895D, G1851A, G2033C) were determined using a commercial laboratory (Neogen Corporation; Lincoln, NE). There was an association (P = 0.04) between C895D genotype and the percentage of lymphocytes in circulation. Pelvic area, reproductive tract score, pregnancy rate, and white blood cell concentrations were affected by (P \u3c 0.05) genotype at G2033C. Cows with heterozygous genotype for G2033C had a lower (P = 0.02) pregnancy rate; conversely, those same cows had larger (P = 0.02) PA. No associations were detected between A1125C or G1851A and the traits evaluated. While more research is needed in this area, these projects indicate that identifying Neospora caninum infected cattle and Hsp70 genotypes could be useful tools for selecting beef cattle

Special issue: Journal impact factors. [editorial]

C. Ryan and S. Page, "Special Issue: Journal impact factors", Tourism Management, Vol. 51:298-299, December 2015. Available online at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2015.05.014As many readers will be aware, Tourism Management has not hosted Special Issues since 2000 when it ran a feature on the Competitive Destination and the recent Virtual Special Issue that collated the Progress in Tourism Management: The first six years 2007-2013 review papers. Our decision to suspend Special Issues reflects the huge growth in submission and the volume of papers the Journal now publishes. In 1996 the journal was publishing around 60 papers a year from about 250 to 300 submissions. In 2014 this will have grown to over 900 submissions and approximately 130 papers published with acceptance rates of around 15–18%. This exponential growth in the journal's popularity means that space for Special Issues has been at a premium while the prime consideration has been the timely publication of cutting edge scholarly papers. Accompanying these changes has been a rise in the interdisciplinary content of much of the work now being published in the journal. An important ethos of the journal which the Editors espouse is that Tourism Management remains a broad-based journal that embraces that interdisciplinarity and encourages scholarly debate on papers that occurs from time to time in Rejoinders we publish while additionally encouraging the publication of novel and controversial topics.Peer reviewe

Effects of Ergot Alkaloids and Antioxidants on Bovine Sperm Motility

The studies that comprise this thesis were performed in an attempt to identify and eliminate stressful conditions that may lead to infertility in the male bovine. The first project was performed to determine if ergot alkaloids directly affect bovine sperm motility. Percentage of motile spermatozoa was affected (P = 0.015) by a three-way interactions between time, concentration, and alkaloid. Ergotamine and dihydroergotamine decreased (P = 0.01) sperm motility in a concentration and time dependant manner and ergonovine had a minimal effect on overall sperm motility. The number of static spermatozoa also was affected (P \u3c 0.01) by a three way interaction and increased as ET and DHET concentrations increased. Percentages of progressively motile and rapidly motile spermatozoa decreased (P \u3c 0.01) in a two way interaction between alkaloid and concentration. Overall, sperm motility was decreased by ET and DHET. Furthermore, the qualities of motility as represented by progressive, rapid, path velocity (VAP), progressive velocity (VSL), track speed (VCL), beat frequency (BCF), lateral amplitude (ALH), straightness (STR), elongated, and area were decreased by those alkaloids. These data verify that ergot alkaloids commonly found in toxic tall fescue are detrimental to bovine spermatozoa. In the second study two antioxidants (alpha-tocopherol and ascorbic acid) were added to bovine sperm culture media and cryopreservation extender. The antioxidant capabilities of these two vitamins could help reduce free radical production and help preserve sperm viability. There was an interactive effect between ascorbic acid concentration and storage method on the bovine sperm motility characteristics: motile, progressive, rapid, track speed (VCL), and straightness (P \u3c 0.05). A bull by ascorbic acid interaction (P \u3c 0.05) was observed for motile, progressive, rapid, path velocity (VAP), progressive velocity (VSL), and VCL characteristics. Alpha tocopherol had no affects on sperm motility characteristics. Lipid peroxidation was affected (P \u3c 0.01) by bull and ascorbic acid. Malondialdehyde concentrations for ascorbic acid treatments (0, 5, 10, 20 mM) were 3.25, 4.2, 2.96, and 2.15 ìM respectively. Results from the second study indicate that the addition of ascorbic acid may reduce sperm motility, but help prevent lipid peroxidation

No change detected on Earth’s mid-latitude atmospheric ozone by the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse

Six high altitude balloon flights were completed during the summer of 2017 to measure the effect of the total solar eclipse on Earth’s ozone over the eastern Snake River Plain in Idaho. The stratospheric ozone layer undergoes a noisy diurnal pattern driven, primarily by photochemistry above 30km and by atmospheric dynamics for altitudes below 30km. The flights for this project rarely exceeded that boundary and were an attempt to detect photochemistry effects in the lower stratosphere. The first five flights determined a baseline for the distribution of ozone from ground level to the mid-stratosphere. The sixth flight was done during the total solar eclipse and was compared to the baseline. These data were also compared to multiple years’ data taken in the Uintah Basin in northeast Utah. All measurements were consistent with each other and show spatial and temporal variations in the ozone column that are expected. The balloon’s instrumentation payload was at the tropopause during eclipse totality and no change in either temperature or ozone was detected that was above the normal noise level in the previous data sets. The conclusion is that no photochemical processes are strong enough to clearly modify Earth’s ozone in the lower stratosphere on timescales shorter than three hours. This is consistent with previously reported satellite data of total column ozone

A Miniaturized Multi Sensor Array for Balloon-Borne Air Measurements, Phase I

Weber State University’s High-Altitude Ballooning team, HARBOR, has seen an opportunity for cooperative research among the many individual balloon teams based in North America. The Great American Solar Eclipse brought these teams into the spotlight as dozens of ballooning groups worked together to image the eclipse. Leveraging this collection of balloon teams to create a large-scale data set could make some valuable discoveries and give us a better understanding of the atmospheric dynamics that take place in the stratosphere. Our team has decided to facilitate the creation of such a data set by designing an atmospheric data collection tool, the mini-Multi Sensor Array, that can be flown by teams all over the nation, and potentially the world. Our goal is to create an inexpensive, lightweight, easy to assemble device which will measure gas concentrations, particulate matter, atmospheric turbulence, and meteorological parameters such as temperature, pressure, and humidity. We will also add features such as long distance telemetry, which will facilitate recovery of these payloads. Having a redundant, lightweight tracking device will increase the number of flight teams that are making a regular effort to fly our mini-MSA with their payload

When to approach novel prey cues? Social learning strategies in frog-eating bats

Animals can use different sources of information when making decisions. Foraging animals often have access to both self-acquired and socially acquired information about prey. The fringe-lipped bat, Trachops cirrhosus, hunts frogs by approaching the calls that frogs produce to attract mates.We examined howthe reliability of self-acquired prey cues affects social learning of novel prey cues. We trained bats to associate an artificial acoustic cue (mobile phone ringtone) with food rewards. Bats were assigned to treatments in which the trained cue was either an unreliable indicator of reward (rewarded 50% of the presentations) or a reliable indicator (rewarded 100% of the presentations), and they were exposed to a conspecific tutor foraging on a reliable (rewarded 100%) novel cue or to the novel cue with no tutor. Bats whose trained cue was unreliable and who had a tutor were significantly more likely to preferentially approach the novel cue when compared with bats whose trained cue was reliable, and to bats that had no tutor. Reliability of self-acquired prey cues therefore affects social learning of novel prey cues by frog-eating bats. Examining when animals use social information to learn about novel prey is key to understanding the social transmission of foraging innovations. © 2013 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society

Wavefunctions for Highly Anisotropic Homogeneous Cosmologies

The canonical quantization of homogeneous cosmologies is considered in the high anisotropic limit. Exact wavefunctions are found in this limit when the momentum constraints are reduced at the classical level. Lorentzian solutions that represent tunnelling from classically forbidden regimes are identified. Solutions to the modified Wheeler-DeWitt equation are also found for the vacuum Bianchi IX model when a quantum reduction of the momentum constraints is considered.Comment: 11 pages, late