Characterization of Small Non-Coding RNAs in the Seminal Plasma of Beef Bulls with Predicted High and Low Fertility

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a family of small non-coding RNAs (sRNA) that play a key role in regulating gene expression by binding to their complementary mRNA and altering translation. It has been reported that this down-regulation of specific areas of the genome plays a role in male fertility. Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) are another class of germline-specific non-coding RNAs that form silencing complexes to maintain germline genome integrity. In bovine seminal plasma, piRNAs have not previously been characterized. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate a potential relationship between expression of these sRNAs and fertility in beef bulls and to characterize piRNA expression in bull seminal plasma. Semen samples were collected from 35 beef bulls and analyzed for Arachis hypogaea/peanut agglutinin (PNA) and Lens culinaris agglutinin (LCA) scores. PNA reveals acrosomal damage or malformation and LCA indicates an altered sperm surface. LCA and PNA are both correlated with ubiquitin, a negative protein biomarker found on sperm cells, which indicates poor overall fertility. Divergent cohorts consisting of 3 bulls with high PNA/LCA scores (H) and 3 bulls with low PNA/LCA scores (L) were chosen. The sRNAs were extracted from the seminal plasma of these bulls. Sequence libraries were prepared using the Illumina TruSeq Small RNA preparation kit and sequenced on an Illumina MiSeq. Using the NCBI database of known human, porcine, mouse, and bovine miRNAs and known human piRNAs, expressed sequences were identified and mapped to the Bovine genome (Bta_4.6.1). A weighted FDR-corrected t-type test statistic was used to identify differentially expressed sRNAs between the H and L groups. Of the 617 sRNAs that were discovered, 9 miRNAs that were differentially expressed (FDR

Patterns of care and treatment outcomes of patients with astroblastoma: A National Cancer Database analysis

AIM: To evaluate the use of chemotherapy and radiation, and their outcomes for patients with astroblastoma. PATIENTS & METHODS: This is a retrospective review of patients extracted from the National Cancer Database. We investigated overall survival (OS) using Kaplan-Meier curves. Cox proportional hazards models were used to correlate OS with risk variables and treatments. RESULTS: OS at 5 years was 79.5%. Patients with high-grade tumors were more likely to receive chemotherapy and radiation. Patients with high-grade astroblastoma who did not receive adjuvant radiation had poor survival. CONCLUSION: Patients with astroblastoma should be treated with curative intent. Radiation is likely beneficial in high-grade astroblastoma. The exact role of radiation and chemotherapy following surgical resection warrant further investigation

Narratives of First-Generation Community College Students in Central Texas: Restorying the Path to Success in Higher Education

First-generation college students (FGCSs) face a myriad of issues when entering higher education. As FGCSs continue to enroll in community colleges at high rates, it is important to discuss their pathways to success in higher education. This qualitative study explored the experiences of FGCSs who attended a community college in Central Texas to learn more about their experiences with being identified as FGCS; what prevents them, if anything, to identify support systems that are conducive to their overall retention and success; and if social capital had relevance to their academic success. Through narrative inquiry, a storytelling approach was utilized to portray the participants’ personal stories of success and what they have overcome. This study also provided a rich understanding of their struggles as FGCSs within the college. After several cycles of coding and data analysis, four major themes emerged from this study: (a) pride and success; (b) sense of belonging and identification as an FGCS; (c) support systems, barriers, and challenges; and (d) social capital and family influence. The data revealed a need for community colleges to identify FGCSs better, establish mentoring programs, and promote success stories of these students so that future FGCSs are better supported

A discussion of a cryptographical scheme based in F-critical sets of a Latin square

This communication provides a discussion of a scheme originally proposed by Falcón in a paper entitled “Latin squares associated to principal autotopisms of long cycles. Applications in cryptography”. Falcón outlines the protocol for a cryptographical scheme that uses the F-critical sets associated with a particular Latin square to generate access levels for participants of the scheme. Accompanying the scheme is an example, which applies the protocol to a particular Latin square of order six. Exploration of the example itself, revealed some interesting observations about both the structure of the Latin square itself and the autotopisms associated with the Latin square. These observations give rise to necessary conditions for the generation of the F-critical sets associated with certain autotopisms of the given Latin square. The communication culminates with a table which outlines the various access levels for the given Latin square in accordance with the scheme detailed by Falcón.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Final Design Report: The Library Cartel

The Trinity University library is in need of new and improved library carts. Specifically, the improvements should focus on the level of noise produced by the cart, the cart’s book retention capabilities, and the relative ease of use for the library worker. These parameters were chosen based on the needs of the Library as expressed by our sponsor. A budget of $1200 was provided for developing and prototyping a cart that would improve on these aspects. In order to confirm the success of the prototype, the capabilities of the wheels, shelves and chassis were tested and analyzed. These capabilities were tested by measuring noise level, book retention and ease of use for both the existing carts and the prototype. These values were then compared in order to confirm that the prototype improves on the issues present in the current design used by the Library. It was concluded that the prototype was measurably quieter, had greater book retention and was easier to use than the current library cart. Overall, the prototype we produced met all of our project objectives. However, the wheels were not as quiet as we wanted. Although our cart was measurably quieter than the current cart, it was not as significant of a difference as we wanted. We plan to switch the wheels we have on the prototype with slightly larger pneumatic ones. This wheel change will improve the design and lower the measured noise levels as the cart travels through the library