Pre- and post-partum variation in wool cortisol and wool micron in Australian Merino ewe sheep (Ovis aries)

An individual merino sheep's output of wool production is influenced by synergistic interactions of sheep genetics, climate, farm management, and nutrition available to the whole flock. The price paid to the producer for this wool commodity is determined via numerous tested parameters and/or subjective appraisal of the raw greasy wool. This research investigated the level of variation in wool cortisol (a physiological stress biomarker) and wool micron (MIC) in Merino ewes (Ovis aries), pre-partum and post-lambing (lactation/lambs at foot), using maiden ewe (n = 38) managed in an outdoor paddock in a commercial farm. The key findings of this study are; (1) wool quality indicators showed a significant variation between pre- and post-parturition including significant reduction in MIC and (2) there was a negative correlation between wool cortisol levels and wool micron pre-parturition (rs = -0.179, p < 0.05). This relationship between wool cortisol and wool micron was positive (rs = +0.29, p < 0.05) during post-parturition suggesting that ewes with lambs at foot ended up with finer wool (reduction in fibre diameter) but they also maintained high levels of wool cortisol. Furthermore, the comfort factor, curvature, standard deviation and spin fineness of the wool were also significantly reduced post-parturition. The results of this study show that metabolic resources partitioning in ewe associated with pregnancy and lambing can result in a reduction in wool quality indices. The activity of the HPA-axis is attenuated during late gestation and parturition as a maternal adaptation; however, the results of our study show that wool cortisol remained similar between pre- and post-lambing. This result indicates that environmental stressors that may have been operating on farm (e.g., cold winter period) could influence on maternal physiological stress response however the exact level of influence of environment conditions on ewe stress levels and productivity traits (e.g., lambing success and wool quality) warrants further investigation. In conclusion, the use of top-knot wool sampling in combination with wool cortisol analysis provides researchers with a convenient method to quantify wool quality and physiological stress simultaneously under commercial sheep production

Characterization of the bias between oxygen saturation measured by pulse oximetry and calculated by an arterial blood gas analyzer in critically ill neonates

Continuous monitoring of oxygenation with pulse oximetry is the standard of care for critically ill neonates. A better understanding of its measurement bias compared to arterial oxygen saturation could be helpful both for the clinician and researcher. Towards that end, we examined the electronic database from a large neonatal ICU. From a 24-month period we identified 23,032 paired SpO2-SaO2 measurements from 1,007 infants who were receiving supplemental oxygen during mechanical ventilation. We found that SpO2 was consistently higher than SaO2. The size of the bias was fairly constant when SpO2 was between 75-93%, above which it dropped steadily. The median size of this bias was 1% SpO2 during hyperoxemia (SpO2 97-100%) with a median variation of 1.3% above and below. During periods of hypoxemia (SpO2 75-85%) and normoxemia (SpO2 89-93%) the bias was approximately 5% SpO2, with a median variation of 5% above and below

Identifying the stressors impacting rescued avian wildlife

Urbanisation exposes avian wildlife to an array of environmental stressors that result in clinical admission and hospitalisation. The aim of this pilot study was to conduct a retrospective analysis of clinical data and characterise this based on categories of stress experienced by avian wildlife patients. The results from this study indicated that impact injuries (n = 33, 25%) and vehicle-related injuries (n = 33, 25%) were the most common occurring preliminary stressors that resulted in the hospitalisation of avian wildlife. The most common outcome of avian patients that suffered from vehicle-related injuries was euthanasia (n = 15, 45%), as was avian patients that suffered from impact injuries (n = 16, 48%). Immobility (n = 105, 61%) and abnormal behaviour (n = 24, 14%) were the most commonly occurring primary stressors of avian patients. Finally, trauma (n = 51, 32%) and fractures (n = 44, 27%) were the most common occurring secondary stressors in avian patients. The most common outcome of all these stressors was euthanasia. This study provided further evidence towards the notion that human- and urbanisation-related stressors are the main causes of hospitalisation of avian wildlife, but also indicated that birds admitted as a result of human-related stressors are more likely to be euthanised than released. This study also provided a categorisation system for the stressors identified in avian wildlife patients (preliminary, primary and secondary) that may be used to monitor the stress categories of wildlife patients and gain a deeper understanding of the complex notion of stress

The Structure of the Accretion Disk in the ADC X-Ray Binary 4U 1822-371 at Optical and Ultraviolet Wavelengths

The eclipsing low-mass X-ray binary 4U 1822-371 is the prototypical accretion disk corona (ADC) system. We have obtained new time-resolved UV spectroscopy of 4U 1822-371 with the Advanced Camera for Surveys/Solar Blind Channel (ACS/SBC) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and new V- and J-band photometry with the 1.3-m SMARTS telescope at CTIO. We use the new data to construct its UV/optical spectral energy distribution and its orbital light curve in the UV, V, and J bands. We derive an improved ephemeris for the optical eclipses and confirm that the orbital period is changing rapidly, indicating extremely high rates of mass flow in the system; and we show that the accretion disk in the system has a strong wind with projected velocities up to 4000 km/s. We show that the disk has a vertically-extended, optically-thick component at optical wavelengths.This component extends almost to the edge of the disk and has a height equal to ~0.5 of the disk radius. As it has a low brightness temperature, we identify it as the optically-thick base of a disk wind, not as the optical counterpart of the ADC. Like previous models of 4U 1822-371, ours needs a tall obscuring wall near the edge of the accretion disk, but we interpret the wall as a layer of cooler material at the base of the disk wind, not as a tall, luminous disk rim.Comment: 37 pages, 12 figures, submitted to Ap

Data quality monitoring and performance metrics of a prospective, population-based observational study of maternal and newborn health in low resource settings

BACKGROUND: To describe quantitative data quality monitoring and performance metrics adopted by the Global Network´s (GN) Maternal Newborn Health Registry (MNHR), a maternal and perinatal population-based registry (MPPBR) based in low and middle income countries (LMICs). METHODS: Ongoing prospective, population-based data on all pregnancy outcomes within defined geographical locations participating in the GN have been collected since 2008. Data quality metrics were defined and are implemented at the cluster, site and the central level to ensure data quality. Quantitative performance metrics are described for data collected between 2010 and 2013. RESULTS: Delivery outcome rates over 95% illustrate that all sites are successful in following patients from pregnancy through delivery. Examples of specific performance metric reports illustrate how both the metrics and reporting process are used to identify cluster-level and site-level quality issues and illustrate how those metrics track over time. Other summary reports (e.g. the increasing proportion of measured birth weight compared to estimated and missing birth weight) illustrate how a site has improved quality over time. CONCLUSION: High quality MPPBRs such as the MNHR provide key information on pregnancy outcomes to local and international health officials where civil registration systems are lacking. The MNHR has measures in place to monitor data collection procedures and improve the quality of data collected. Sites have increasingly achieved acceptable values of performance metrics over time, indicating improvements in data quality, but the quality control program must continue to evolve to optimize the use of the MNHR to assess the impact of community interventions in research protocols in pregnancy and perinatal health.Fil: Goudar, Shivaprasad S.. KLE University. Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College; IndiaFil: Stolka, Kristen B.. Research Triangle Institute International; Estados UnidosFil: Koso Thomas, Marion. Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; Estados UnidosFil: Honnungar, Narayan V.. KLE University. Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College; IndiaFil: Mastiholi, Shivanand C.. KLE University. Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College; IndiaFil: Ramadurg, Umesh Y.. S. Nijalingappa Medical College; IndiaFil: Dhaded, Sangappa M.. KLE University. Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College; IndiaFil: Pasha, Omrana. Aga Khan University; PakistánFil: Patel, Archana. Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Lata Medical Research Foundation; IndiaFil: Esamai, Fabian. University School of Medicine; KeniaFil: Chomba, Elwyn. University of Zambia; ZambiaFil: Garces, Ana. Universidad de San Carlos; GuatemalaFil: Althabe, Fernando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria; ArgentinaFil: Carlo, Waldemar A.. University of Alabama at Birmingahm; Estados UnidosFil: Goldenberg, Robert L.. Columbia University; Estados UnidosFil: Hibberd, Patricia L.. Massachusetts General Hospital for Children; Estados UnidosFil: Liechty, Edward A.. Indiana University; Estados UnidosFil: Krebs, Nancy F.. University of Colorado School of Medicine; Estados UnidosFil: Hambidge, Michael K.. University of Colorado School of Medicine; Estados UnidosFil: Moore, Janet L.. Research Triangle Institute International; Estados UnidosFil: Wallace, Dennis D.. Research Triangle Institute International; Estados UnidosFil: Derman, Richard J. Christiana Care Health Services; Estados UnidosFil: Bhalachandra, Kodkany S.. KLE University. Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College; IndiaFil: Bose, Carl L.. University of North Carolina; Estados Unido

Low-cost rapid detection of rifampicin resistant tuberculosis using bacteriophage in Kampala, Uganda

BACKGROUND: Resistance to anti-tuberculosis drugs is a serious public health problem. Multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), defined as resistance to at least rifampicin and isoniazid, has been reported in all regions of the world. Current phenotypic methods of assessing drug susceptibility of M. tuberculosis are slow. Rapid molecular methods to detect resistance to rifampicin have been developed but they are not affordable in some high prevalence countries such as those in sub Saharan Africa. A simple multi-well plate assay using mycobacteriophage D29 has been developed to test M. tuberculosis isolates for resistance to rifampicin. The purpose of this study was to investigate the performance of this technology in Kampala, Uganda. METHODS: In a blinded study 149 M. tuberculosis isolates were tested for resistance to rifampicin by the phage assay and results compared to those from routine phenotypic testing in BACTEC 460. Three concentrations of drug were used 2, 4 and 10 μg/ml. Isolates found resistant by either assay were subjected to sequence analysis of a 81 bp fragment of the rpoB gene to identify mutations predictive of resistance. Four isolates with discrepant phage and BACTEC results were tested in a second phenotypic assay to determine minimal inhibitory concentrations. RESULTS: Initial analysis suggested a sensitivity and specificity of 100% and 96.5% respectively for the phage assay used at 4 and 10 μg/ml when compared to the BACTEC 460. However, further analysis revealed 4 false negative results from the BACTEC 460 and the phage assay proved the more sensitive and specific of the two tests. Of the 39 isolates found resistant by the phage assay 38 (97.4%) were found to have mutations predictive of resistance in the 81 bp region of the rpoB gene. When used at 2 μg/ml false resistant results were observed from the phage assay. The cost of reagents for testing each isolate was estimated to be 1.3US$ when testing a batch of 20 isolates on a single 96 well plate. Results were obtained in 48 hours. CONCLUSION: The phage assay can be used for screening of isolates for resistance to rifampicin, with high sensitivity and specificity in Uganda. The test may be useful in poorly resourced laboratories as a rapid screen to differentiate between rifampicin susceptible and potential MDR-TB cases

IR Contamination in Galactic X-Ray Novae

The most widely used means of measuring the mass of black holes in Galactic binaries - specifically the X-ray novae - involves both radial velocity measurements of the secondary star, and photometric measurements of its ellipsoidal variability. The latter is important in constraining the inclination and mass ratio, and requires as direct a measure of the flux of the secondary as possible. Up to now, such measurements have been preferentially carried out in the NIR (1 -- 2.5$\mu m$), where the flux from the cooler secondary is expected to dominate over that from the accretion disc. However, here we present evidence of a significant non-stellar contribution to the NIR flux in many of those quiescent X-ray novae that are thought to contain a black hole primary. We discuss origins of this excess and the effect of such contamination on Galactic black hole mass measurements.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in MNRA

Publication and Evaluation Challenges in Games & Interactive Media

Faculty in the fields of games and interactive media face significant challenges in publishing and documenting their scholarly work for evaluation in the tenure and promotion process. These challenges include selecting appropriate publication venues and assigning authorship for works spanning multiple disciplines; archiving and accurately citing collaborative digital projects; and redefining “peer review,” impact, and dissemination in the context of creative digital works. In this paper I describe many of these challenges, and suggest several potential solutions

Three LINERs Under the Chandra X-Ray Microscope

We use X-ray observations of three galaxies hosting LINERs (NGC 404, NGC 4736, NGC 4579) with Chandra to study their power sources. We find very diverse properties within this small group: NGC 404 has an X-ray-faint nucleus with a soft, thermal spectrum, NGC 4736 harbors a plethora of discrete X-ray sources in and around its nucleus, and NGC 4579 has a dominant nuclear point source embedded in a very extended, diffuse nebulosity. From their multi- wavelength properties we conclude the following: the nucleus of NGC 404 is the site of a weak, compact starburst, whose X-ray emission is due to gas heated by stellar winds and supernovae, NGC 4736 is in a recent or aging starburst phase, where the X-ray emission is dominated by a dense cluster of X-ray binaries, and NGC 4579 is powered by accretion onto a supermassive black hole. We detect 39 discrete sources in NGC 4736 and 21 in NGC 4579, most with L_X > 10^37 erg/s. One source in the disk of NGC 4579 could be an ultraluminous X-ray binary with L_X (2-10 keV) = 9x10^39 erg/s, but it could also be a background quasar. The most luminous discrete sources have simple power-law spectra, which along with their luminosities suggest that these are X-ray binaries accreting near or above the Eddington rate for a neutron star. By comparing the luminosity functions of discrete X-ray sources in these and other galaxies we find a potential connection between the age of the stellar population and the slope of the cumulative X-ray source luminosity function: galaxies with primarily old stellar populations have steeper luminosity functions than starburst galaxies. We suggest that this difference results from the contribution of high-mass X-ray binaries from the young stellar population to the upper end of the luminosity function.Comment: To appear in the Astrophysical Journal. Enlarged views of images available at http://www.astro.psu.edu/users/mce/preprints/preprint_index.htm

Cell-penetrating peptide sequence and modification dependent uptake and subcellular distribution of green florescent protein in different cell lines

Protein therapy holds great promise for treating a variety of diseases. To act on intracellular targets, therapeutic proteins must cross the plasma membrane. This has previously been achieved by covalent attachment to a variety of cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs). However, there is limited information on the relative performance of CPPs in delivering proteins to cells, specifically the cytosol and other intracellular locations. Here we use green fluorescent protein (GFP) as a model cargo to compare delivery capacity of five CPP sequences (Penetratin, R8, TAT, Transportan, Xentry) and cyclic derivatives in different human cell lines (HeLa, HEK, 10T1/2, HepG2) representing different tissues. Confocal microscopy analysis indicates that most fusion proteins when incubated with cells at 10 µM localise to endosomes. Quantification of cellular uptake by flow cytometry reveals that uptake depends on both cell type (10T1/2 > HepG2 > HeLa > HEK), and CPP sequence (Transportan > R8 > Penetratin≈TAT > Xentry). CPP sequence cyclisation or addition of a HA-sequence increased cellular uptake, but fluorescence was still contained in vesicles with no evidence of endosomal escape. Our results provide a guide to select CPP for endosomal/lysosomal delivery and a basis for developing more efficient CPPs in the future