Effects of corn or corn by-products fed as a pre-breeding supplement on body weight and pregnancy in Rambouillet ewes

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of corn and dried distiller’s grain fed as a prebreeding flushing supplement on weight gain and body condition, breeding and subsequent lambing rate, and early postnatal growth of Rambouillet ewes. Treatment groups consisted of 1 control group (n=30) that was not fed a supplement, 1 group (n=30) that was fed a corn based ration, and 1 group (n=30) that was fed a dried distiller’s grain based ration. After the feeding period concluded, lamb data was collected to determine what, if any, change occurred. No differences (p 0.05) were found in body condition score, number of lambs born, and 30 and 60 day weights of lambs. While flushing supplementation slowed down weight loss, there was no significant difference detected in reproductive efficiency

The inter-outburst behavior of cataclysmic variables

Existing International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) and American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) archive data was used to accomplish a large scale study of what happens to the ultraviolet flux of accretion disk systems during the quiescent intervals between outbursts and how it relates to the preceding outburst characteristics of amplitude and width. The data sample involved multiple IUE observations for 16 dwarf novae and 8 novae along with existing optical coverage. Results indicate that most systems show correlated ultraviolet (UV) flux behavior with interoutburst phase, with 60 percent of the dwarf novae and 50 percent of the novae having decreasing flux trends while 33 percent of the dwarf novae and 38 percent of the novae show rising UV flux during the quiescent interval. All of the dwarf novae with decreasing UV fluxes at 1475A have orbital periods longer than 4.4 hours, while all (except BV Cen) with flat or rising fluxes at 1475A have orbital periods less than two hours. There are not widespread correlations of the UV fluxes with the amplitude of the preceding outburst and no correlations with the width of the outburst. From a small sample (7) that have relatively large quiescent V magnitude changes between the IUE observations, most show a strong correlation between the UV and optical continuum. Interpretation of the results is complicated by not being able to determine how much the white dwarf contributes to the ultraviolet flux. However, it is now evident that noticeable changes are occurring in the hot zones in accreting systems long after the outburst, and not only for systems that are dominated by the white dwarf. Whether these differences are due to different outburst mechanisms or to changes on white dwarfs which provide varying contributions to the UV flux remains to be determined

The effects of environmental oxygen on CD4+ T lymphocyte activation and responses

The organs in which lymphocytes function are low in oxygen (<5% oxygen) and even lower oxygen levels may be more prevalent in inflammatory tissues. In this thesis the effects of environmental oxygen on human CD4+ memory T lymphocyte function $in$ $vitro$ have been investigated. The level of oxygen in normal air (21%) which historically has been used for most $in$ $vitro$ experiments with immune cells was found result in suboptimal responses of this cell type, especially with regards to proliferation. At physiologically more appropriate oxygen levels of 8.5%, optimal proliferation was observed which coincided with an increase in Th2-associated markers. At 3% oxygen, the average level found in the inflamed joint in rheumatoid arthritis, a more sustained pro-inflammatory response was observed. In 1% oxygen, cytokine production was not maintained over time paralleling observations of CD4+ T lymphocyte behaviour in both the tumour and chronic inflammatory environment. This comparison was further supported by the increased expression of the activation marker CD69 and the depression of CD4+ T lymphocyte proliferation. A model of reperfusion injury also highlighted the effect that varying oxygen levels can have on CD4+ memory T lymphocytes. Proximal T cell receptor signalling was found to be altered after equilibration at different oxygen levels, and preliminary experiments investigating the potential role that redox plays in regulating CD4+ memory T lymphocyte functions were performed. It is concluded that environmental oxygen levels significantly influence CD4+ memory T lymphocyte responses, have implications for their function in inflammatory sites $in$ $vivo$, and need to be considered when designing or interpreting $in$ $vitro$ experiments

A Pathway for Collisional Planetesimal Growth in the Ice-Dominant Regions of Protoplanetary Disks

We present a semi-analytic model for the growth, drift, desorption, and fragmentation of millimeter- to meter-sized particles in protoplanetary disks. Fragmentation occurs where particle collision velocities exceed critical fragmentation velocities. Using this criterion, we produce fragmentation regions in disk orbital radius-particle size phase space for particles with a range of material properties, structures, and compositions (including SiO$_2$, Mg$_2$SiO$_4$, H$_2$O, CO$_2$, and CO). For reasonable disk conditions, compact aggregate H$_2$O, CO$_2$, and CO ice particles do not reach destructive relative velocities and are thus not likely to undergo collisional fragmentation. Uncoated silicate particles are more susceptible to collisional destruction and are expected to fragment in the inner disk, consistent with previous work. We then calculate the growth, drift, and sublimation of small particles, initially located in the outer disk. We find that ice-coated particles can avoid fragmentation as they grow and drift inward under a substantial range of disk conditions as long as the particles are aggregates composed of 0.1 $\mu$m-sized monomers. Such particles may undergo runaway growth in disk regions abundant in H$_2$O or CO$_2$ ice depending on the assumed disk temperature structure. These results indicate that icy collisional growth to planetesimally-relevant sizes may happen efficiently throughout a disk's lifetime, and is particularly robust at early times when the disk's dust-to-gas ratio is comparable to that of the interstellar medium.Comment: 26 pages, 14 figures, accepted to Ap

Community-led participatory budgeting in Bangalore : learning from successful cases

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2007.Includes bibliographical references (p. 128-131).Urban India is rapidly growing, and in cities like Bangalore, the dramatic changes have both positive and negative impacts. Citizens express concern about the capacity and credibility of local government and corporate sector in leading local development. In contrast to rural India where the 73rd amendment helped spur citizen participation in local decision-making, in urban India there have been limited channels for citizens to participate in governance outside of the electoral process. In 2001, a civil society organization, Janaagraha, launched a participatory budgeting campaign aimed at improving local governance through engaging citizens in local infrastructure planning. The campaign resulted in citizens' budget priorities being approved in over twenty percent of the city's wards. Large-scale participatory budgeting has traditionally been an initiative of ruling parties using the apparatus of the state. As a civil society initiative, the participants faced the dual challenges of mobilizing citizens to produce good plans and convincing local government that their plans were legitimate. This thesis aims to answer two questions. First, what were the attributes of the associations and political and spatial factors of the communities that were successful in a 2001 participatory budgeting campaign in Bangalore?(cont.) Identifying these success factors can provide tools to other communities in the previously uncharted territory of local participatory budgeting in urban India. Second, did the campaign strengthen or sidestep local democracy? This question looks within "success" to uncover the impact on existing political relationships and shed light on the effect of the campaign beyond infrastructure. To answer these questions, case study-based qualitative analysis in six Bangalore communities was conducted. Based on these cases, factors for ward-level success included limited political history or entrenchment, both for the elected official and physical ward in addition to committed leadership that had prior engagement with local government. The participation in the campaign was not representative of the population at large and did not result in pro-poor outcomes that have been the hallmark of other participatory budgeting initiatives. However, it strengthened representative democracy and institutionalized collective action instead of individual clientelist relationships. These answers suggest that citizens can successfully initiate participatory planning and budgeting campaigns, and they are not exclusively the domain of ruling state parties.(cont.) The thesis concludes with recommendations for community-based organizations that want better neighborhood-level outcomes and a more significant role in decision-making. As community participation is institutionalized in India, understanding how citizen's groups can be effective both internally and in partnership with local government may contribute to improved urban governance and outcomes.by Elizabeth M. Clay.M.C.P

Metabolomics in the Analysis of Inflammatory Diseases

Most infections and traumatic injuries are cleared or repaired relatively rapidly and metabolic homoeostasis is soon restored. However, there is a broad range of inflammatory diseases which involve chronic activation of the immune system and, as a result, chronic persistent inflammation. We have been studying the metabolic consequences of chronic inflammatory diseases with the aim of identifying metabolic fingerprints which may provide clues about why the localised tissue disease persists

Leading Through Learning: Using Evolutionary Learning to Develop, Implement, and Improve Strategic Initiatives

Equitably educating students requires effective differentiation of services based on students’ strengths and needs. Doing so reliably at scale is difficult given the diversity of students and contexts in our public school systems and the diversity of needs created by historical and institutionalized discrimination against people of color, immigrants, and other populations. Still, a number of systems and organizations have succeeded in advancing equity at scale. They have done so by finding new ways to design, lead, and manage their operations and engage internal and external stakeholders – in our language, new ways to govern2 their work. Cutting across these promising governance practices are adult and student learning systems that provide transparency into how school leaders actually lead, teachers actually teach, and students actually learn day to day, school by school, classroom by classroom, and lesson by lesson. This combination of transparency, experimentation, and broad participation and knowledge sharing reveals effective ways to serve individual and groups of students, severing deeply entrenched links between student background, access to opportunity, and learning outcomes

Adipocyte lipid synthesis coupled to neuronal control of thermogenic programming

BACKGROUND: The de novo biosynthesis of fatty acids (DNL) through fatty acid synthase (FASN) in adipocytes is exquisitely regulated by nutrients, hormones, fasting, and obesity in mice and humans. However, the functions of DNL in adipocyte biology and in the regulation of systemic glucose homeostasis are not fully understood. METHODS and RESULTS: Here we show adipocyte DNL controls crosstalk to localized sympathetic neurons that mediate expansion of beige/brite adipocytes within inguinal white adipose tissue (iWAT). Induced deletion of FASN in white and brown adipocytes of mature mice (iAdFASNKO mice) enhanced glucose tolerance, UCP1 expression, and cAMP signaling in iWAT. Consistent with induction of adipose sympathetic nerve activity, iAdFASNKO mice displayed markedly increased neuronal tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and neuropeptide Y (NPY) content in iWAT. In contrast, brown adipose tissue (BAT) of iAdFASNKO mice showed no increase in TH or NPY, nor did FASN deletion selectively in brown adipocytes (UCP1-FASNKO mice) cause these effects in iWAT. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate that downregulation of fatty acid synthesis via FASN depletion in white adipocytes of mature mice can stimulate neuronal signaling to control thermogenic programming in iWAT

Age-related variation in non-breeding foraging behaviour and carry-over effects on fitness in an extremely long-lived bird

Senescence has been widely documented in wild vertebrate populations, yet the proximate drivers of age‐related declines in breeding success, including allocation trade‐offs and links with foraging performance, are poorly understood. For long‐lived, migratory species, the non‐breeding period represents a critical time for investment in self‐maintenance and restoration of body condition, which in many species is linked to fitness. However, the relationships between age, non‐breeding foraging behaviour and fitness remain largely unexplored. We performed a cross‐sectional study, investigating age‐related variation in the foraging activity, distribution and diet of an extremely long‐lived seabird, the wandering albatross Diomedea exulans, during the non‐breeding period. Eighty‐two adults aged 8–33 years were tracked with geolocator‐immersion loggers, and body feathers were sampled for stable isotope analysis. We tested for variation in metrics of foraging behaviour and linked age‐related trends to subsequent reproductive performance. There was an age‐related decline in the number of landings (a proxy of foraging effort) during daylight hours, and a decrease in body feather δ¹³C values in older males but not females, yet this did not accompany an age‐related shift in distributions. Males conducted fewer landings than females, and the sexes showed some spatial segregation, with males foraging further south, likely due to their differential utilization of winds. Although younger (<20 years) birds had higher foraging effort, they all went on to breed successfully the following season. In contrast, among older (20+ years) birds, individuals that landed more often were more likely to defer breeding or fail during incubation, suggesting they have lower foraging success. As far as we are aware, this is the first demonstration of an age‐specific carry‐over effect of foraging behaviour in the non‐breeding period on subsequent reproductive performance. This link between foraging behaviour and fitness in late but not early adulthood indicates that the ability of individuals to forage efficiently outside the breeding period may be an important driver of fitness differences in old age. A plain language summary is available for this article