558 research outputs found
Use and Evaluation of a Statewide 4-H Volunteer Newsletter
The Ohio 4-H Cloverbud Connections newsletter is a statewide publication targeted for volunteers working with K - 2 youth. Two statewide surveys in Ohio were conducted with 4-H volunteers and 4-H Extension staff to measure the usefulness and utilization of the newsletter. Results indicated 4-H Cloverbud volunteers and 4-H staff utilize the newsletter and consider it a valuable resource. Ninety-seven percent of the 4-H Cloverbud volunteers and 4-H staff want the newsletter continued. Findings indicate the importance of 4-H Cloverbud activities for readers, need for more awareness of the newsletter Web site, and importance of 4-H Cloverbud volunteer training
Genetic influences on growth and body composition in mice: multilocus interactions
The genetic architecture of body weight and body composition is complex because these traits are normally influenced by multiple genes and their interactions, even after controlling for the environment. Bayesian methodology provides an efficient way of estimating these interactions
Direct reaction measurements with a 132Sn radioactive ion beam
The (d,p) neutron transfer and (d,d) elastic scattering reactions were
measured in inverse kinematics using a radioactive ion beam of 132Sn at 630
MeV. The elastic scattering data were taken in a region where Rutherford
scattering dominated the reaction, and nuclear effects account for less than 8%
of the cross section. The magnitude of the nuclear effects was found to be
independent of the optical potential used, allowing the transfer data to be
normalized in a reliable manner. The neutron-transfer reaction populated a
previously unmeasured state at 1363 keV, which is most likely the
single-particle 3p1/2 state expected above the N=82 shell closure. The data
were analyzed using finite range adiabatic wave calculations and the results
compared with the previous analysis using the distorted wave Born
approximation. Angular distributions for the ground and first excited states
are consistent with the previous tentative spin and parity assignments.
Spectroscopic factors extracted from the differential cross sections are
similar to those found for the one neutron states beyond the benchmark
doubly-magic nucleus 208Pb.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figure
Recombination rate and selection strength in HIV intra-patient evolution
The evolutionary dynamics of HIV during the chronic phase of infection is
driven by the host immune response and by selective pressures exerted through
drug treatment. To understand and model the evolution of HIV quantitatively,
the parameters governing genetic diversification and the strength of selection
need to be known. While mutation rates can be measured in single replication
cycles, the relevant effective recombination rate depends on the probability of
coinfection of a cell with more than one virus and can only be inferred from
population data. However, most population genetic estimators for recombination
rates assume absence of selection and are hence of limited applicability to
HIV, since positive and purifying selection are important in HIV evolution.
Here, we estimate the rate of recombination and the distribution of selection
coefficients from time-resolved sequence data tracking the evolution of HIV
within single patients. By examining temporal changes in the genetic
composition of the population, we estimate the effective recombination to be
r=1.4e-5 recombinations per site and generation. Furthermore, we provide
evidence that selection coefficients of at least 15% of the observed
non-synonymous polymorphisms exceed 0.8% per generation. These results provide
a basis for a more detailed understanding of the evolution of HIV. A
particularly interesting case is evolution in response to drug treatment, where
recombination can facilitate the rapid acquisition of multiple resistance
mutations. With the methods developed here, more precise and more detailed
studies will be possible, as soon as data with higher time resolution and
greater sample sizes is available.Comment: to appear in PLoS Computational Biolog
An Efficient Bayesian Model Selection Approach for Interacting Quantitative Trait Loci Models With Many Effects
We extend our Bayesian model selection framework for mapping epistatic QTL in experimental crosses to include environmental effects and gene–environment interactions. We propose a new, fast Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm to explore the posterior distribution of unknowns. In addition, we take advantage of any prior knowledge about genetic architecture to increase posterior probability on more probable models. These enhancements have significant computational advantages in models with many effects. We illustrate the proposed method by detecting new epistatic and gene–sex interactions for obesity-related traits in two real data sets of mice. Our method has been implemented in the freely available package R/qtlbim (http://www.qtlbim.org) to facilitate the general usage of the Bayesian methodology for genomewide interacting QTL analysis
Reactions of a Be-10 beam on proton and deuteron targets
The extraction of detailed nuclear structure information from transfer
reactions requires reliable, well-normalized data as well as optical potentials
and a theoretical framework demonstrated to work well in the relevant mass and
beam energy ranges. It is rare that the theoretical ingredients can be tested
well for exotic nuclei owing to the paucity of data. The halo nucleus Be-11 has
been examined through the 10Be(d,p) reaction in inverse kinematics at
equivalent deuteron energies of 12,15,18, and 21.4 MeV. Elastic scattering of
Be-10 on protons was used to select optical potentials for the analysis of the
transfer data. Additionally, data from the elastic and inelastic scattering of
Be-10 on deuterons was used to fit optical potentials at the four measured
energies. Transfers to the two bound states and the first resonance in Be-11
were analyzed using the Finite Range ADiabatic Wave Approximation (FR-ADWA).
Consistent values of the spectroscopic factor of both the ground and first
excited states were extracted from the four measurements, with average values
of 0.71(5) and 0.62(4) respectively. The calculations for transfer to the first
resonance were found to be sensitive to the size of the energy bin used and
therefore could not be used to extract a spectroscopic factor.Comment: 16 Pages, 10 figure
Statistical Fluctuations of Electromagnetic Transition Intensities in pf-Shell Nuclei
We study the fluctuation properties of E2 and M1 transition intensities among
T=0,1 states of A = 60 nuclei in the framework of the interacting shell model,
using a realistic effective interaction for pf-shell nuclei with a Ni56 as a
core. It is found that the B(E2) distributions are well described by the
Gaussian orthogonal ensemble of random matrices (Porter-Thomas distribution)
independently of the isobaric quantum number T_z. However, the statistics of
the B(M1) transitions is sensitive to T_z: T_z=1 nuclei exhibit a Porter-Thomas
distribution, while a significant deviation from the GOE statistics is observed
for self-conjugate nuclei (T_z=0).Comment: 8 pages, latex, 3 figures (ps format
Universal Predictions for Statistical Nuclear Correlations
We explore the behavior of collective nuclear excitations under a
multi-parameter deformation of the Hamiltonian. The Hamiltonian matrix elements
have the form , with a
parametric correlation of the type . The studies are done in both the regular and chaotic regimes of the
Hamiltonian. Model independent predictions for a wide variety of correlation
functions and distributions which depend on wavefunctions and energies are
found from parametric random matrix theory and are compared to the nuclear
excitations. We find that our universal predictions are observed in the nuclear
states. Being a multi-parameter theory, we consider general paths in parameter
space and find that universality can be effected by the topology of the
parameter space. Specifically, Berry's phase can modify short distance
correlations, breaking certain universal predictions.Comment: Latex file + 12 postscript figure
Nuclear Mass Dependence of Chaotic Dynamics in Ginocchio Model
The chaotic dynamics in nuclear collective motion is studied in the framework
of a schematic shell model which has only monopole and quadrupole degrees of
freedom. The model is shown to reproduce the experimentally observed global
trend toward less chaotic motion in heavier nuclei. The relation between
current approach and the earlier studies with bosonic models is discussed.Comment: 11 Page REVTeX file, 2 postscript figures, uuencode
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