136879 research outputs found
Sort by
Effects of Prenatal Transportation Stress on Liver Gene Expression in Brahman Calves
No full textThe liver plays an important role in physiological processes necessary for growth and development. Stress can have negative effects on the liver, which may lead to differences in phenotype and gene expression. The objectives of this study were to evaluate phenotypic traits and liver tissue gene expression in Brahman heifer and bull calves from prenatal transportation stress (PNS) and control treatment groups. One group of pregnant Brahman cows were transported for a 2-h period every 20 d (�� 5 d) from 60 to 140 d of gestation. Another group of pregnant Brahman cows were preserved as a control. A total of 32 calves, 8 heifer and 8 bull calves from the PNS and control groups, were utilized. Calves were weighed at approximately 25 d (�� 4 d) of age. The following day, calves were euthanized and liver tissues were harvested.
Phenotypic traits evaluated include birth weight, harvest weight, liver weight, pen score, and liver weight/harvest weight. Interaction of sex and treatment was not significant for any trait (P > 0.28). Sex influenced calf birth weight, harvest weight, and liver weight (P 0.41).
Controlling the false discovery rate at 0.15, there were 4, 0, 5, 42, 15, and 3 differentially expressed genes for 1) male PNS relative to control, 2) female PNS relative to control, 3) PNS male relative to female, 4) control male relative to female, 5) male relative to female, and 6) PNS relative to control comparisons, respectively. A single stress-related gene was differentially expressed across comparisons in the study: heat shock protein family A (Hsp70) member 6 (HSPA6)
Search for New Resonances Produced by Bottom Fermion Fusion in Dimuon Final State with Run 2 CMS Data
No full textA search is presented for a new neutrally-charged boson Z��� decaying into two muons associated with one or two jets and at least one b tag among them. The analysis is performed using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137.58 f b^���1 collected in 2016-2018 with the CMS detector in proton-proton collisions at ��� s = 13 TeVand sets limits upon Z��� masses between 125 and 350 GeV. No significant deviation from the expected background is observed, setting 95% confidence level upper limits on the production cross section times branching ratio times acceptance (�� �� Br(Z ��� ��� ����)�� A) ranging between 3-10 f b. Acceptances for a variety of final states are also provided, allowing for the interpretation of these results to a variety of models
Impact of Astaxanthin Supplementation on Markers of Cardiometabolic Health and Tactical Performance Among Firefighters
No full textFirefighters are at risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) due to increased oxidative stress, inflammation, and poor cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF). Astaxanthin (AX) possesses antioxidant/anti-inflammatory and purported ergogenic properties. This study examined the impact of 12 mg/d for four weeks of AX supplementation on markers of oxidative stress, inflammation, cardiometabolic health, cardiorespiratory fitness, and occupational performance in career firefighters. In a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, crossover fashion, 15 male career firefighters (34.5��7.4 years; 177.7��7.0 cm; 95.6��12.0 kg; 30.1��2.9 kg/m��; 11.03��6.85 years of service) ingested 12 mg/d of AX (AstaReal��, Burlington, NJ, USA) or placebo for four weeks while following a standardized resistance training program. After each treatment, testing sessions were completed to assess 1) blood cardiometabolic health, oxidative stress, and inflammatory and CRF parameters, and 2) salivary oxidative stress and inflammatory responses and tactical performance to fire suppressive activities. Data were analyzed using general linear model multivariate analysis with repeated measures (GLM). Clinical significance was assessed via mean changes from baseline (BL) with 95% confidence intervals (mean [LL, UL]). Analysis of mean changes from BL revealed AX lessened the inflammatory response to a cardiopulmonary exercise test. Additionally, the percent ventilatory anaerobic threshold (%VANT) was higher following AX compared to placebo (4.84 [0.27, 9.41] %, p<0.039, ����_p^2=0.114). Analysis of mean changes from BL revealed AX may lessen increases in IL-1��, cortisol, and UA response to fire suppressive activities. Cardiometabolic health markers were not affected in a statistically significant manner. These findings provide some evidence that AX supplementation may help mediate occupation-related inflammation and oxidative stress in response to high-intensity, short-duration exercise in firefighters. More research is warranted to determine if long-term supplementation can improve cardiometabolic risk in this population
CRISPR-CAS12 Nanoparticles Alter Macrophage Function to Improve Inflammation After Traumatic Brain Injury in Mice
No full textOne of the first physiological and cellular events after a traumatic brain injury (TBI) is inflammatory-driven progressive neurodegeneration. The major players in this process are the brain resident immune microglia/macrophage cells (MG/Ma), which release inflammatory cytokines to cause an excess amount of inflammation. However, the largest obstacle to current TBI treatment is the challenge of targeting these MG/Ma cells. We designed a lipid nanoparticle (LNP) that can overcome this problem by locally delivering a clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) gene editing system specifically targeting the mitogen-activated protein kinase 9 (MAPK9) gene to polarize resident MG/Ma from their proinflammatory to anti-inflammatory state.
First, the CRISPR technology was combined with the LNPs to create a CRISPR-LNP system that was conjugated to an ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule 1 (Iba-1) antibody to increase specificity to central nervous system macrophages. We investigated the delivery efficacy of the CRISPR-LNP to reach the injured brain by comparing intravenous or intranasal administration. Then, we used a standardized cortical impact device to inflict a traumatic brain injury in adult male C57BL/6J mice. The data was visualized and analyzed using an advanced in vivo imaging system (IVIS), immunofluorescence analysis, and immunohistochemical staining with in situ hybridization.
Intranasal administration of Iba-1Ab-CRISPR-LNP produced greater specificity in binding to the injury compared to systemic administration. IVIS indicated that systemic administration led to a more significant accumulation of LNPs in the injured cortex. We found that the treatment reduced MG/Ma activation indicated by a change in macrophage morphology consistent with a reduction in the quantity of pro-inflammatory MG/Ma cells. We also found a decrease in the number of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1�� and TNF��) and TUNEL-positive cells following CRISPR-LNP treatment compared with the vehicle group after 1-day post-TBI.
Our results showed that the Iba-1Ab-CRISPR-LNP reduced the MG/Ma activation indicated by morphology changes and the quantity of apoptosis of all cells after TBI. This work lays the foundation for developing a specific transformational therapeutic approach for TBI patients
Management Decisions for U.S. Ranches
No full textRanchers face many challenging decisions impacting operational longevity. This dissertation examines rancher decisions regarding 1) generational transfer of a family-operated ranch and 2) cow herd rebuilding strategies after drought. Chapter 1 provides an analysis of survey responses from U.S. ranchers regarding plans to transition their ranch to the next generation. Less than 40% of survey participants have a transition plan in place. Participants shared the details of their ranch transition plans or the roadblocks preventing them from developing a plan. Transition plan scenarios were developed based on producer responses to the survey.
In Chapter 2, transition plan scenarios from Chapter 1 were imposed on representative ranches, and financial performance was evaluated under each scenario. Ranch transition scenarios considered the use of business entities vs. sole proprietorships; willingness of parents to relinquish management or ownership to heirs; gifting vs. selling assets to heirs; buyouts between siblings; and asset balancing between on-farm and off-farm heirs.
For Chapter 3, different scenarios for cow herd rebuilding after drought were imposed on the representative ranches. The most common drought management response was partial liquidation of the cow herd. In this analysis, each representative ranch liquidated 20% of their mature cows during the drought. Post-drought herd rebuilding scenarios included slow-rebuild versus quick-rebuild strategies and strategies to rebuild with ranch-raised replacements versus rebuilding by purchasing females. Ranch financial performance was evaluated under each scenario, and results showed the optimal scenarios included retained replacement heifers during drought. For scenarios that did not include retained replacements during drought, quick-rebuild scenarios with purchased females were considered optimal; ranches under these scenarios were able to capitalize more on high cattle prices in the early post-drought years
Markov Duality and Asymptotics of Interacting Particle Systems
No full textWe propose novel algebraic methods to Markov dualities. The first method produces orthogonal polynomial dualities from the ������bialgebra structure of Drinfeld���Jimbo quantum groups. The ������structure allows for the construction of certain unitary symmetries, which imply the orthogonality of the duality functions. In the case of the quantum group Uq(gln+1), the result is a nested multivariate q���Krawtchouk duality for the n���species ASEP(q, ��). The method also applies to other quantized simple Lie algebras (e.g. so2n) and to stochastic vertex models. The second method constructs duality functions for integrable dynamic models. This method will be implemented on dynamic stochastic higher spin vertex models, where we prove the duality functions between the dynamic stochastic higher spin vertex models and non dynamic stochastic higher spin vertex models are the 3��2 functions. A degeneration of these duality functions is dual q���Krawtchouk polynomials, which agree with orthogonal polynomial dualities between ASEP and dynamic ASEP of Groenevelt���Wagenaar [1]. The method involves using the universal twister of Uq(sl2), viewed as a quasi���triangular, quasi���������Hopf algebra. The algebraic method is presented very generally and is expected to produce duality functions for other dynamic integrable models.
As probabilistic applications of the duality relations found, we provide the explicit contour integral formula of the q���shifted factorial moments (namely the q-analogue of the Pochhammer symbol) for the two���species q���TAZRP (totally asymmetric zero range process). We use those contour integral formulas to find the asymptotics of the two���point correlations. In addition, we also focus on the open symmetric exclusion process with parameter m (open SEP(m/2)). Based on duality relations, we prove that the hydrodynamic limit of the density profile for a d���dimensional open SEP(m/2) solves the (d + 1)���dimensional heat equation with certain initial condition and boundary condition. Last, as an application of the duality of dynamic six vertex model, we prove ii that the asymptotic fluctuations of the dynamic stochastic six vertex model with step initial conditions are governed by the Tracy���Widom distribution
Direct Synthesis of Dimethyl Carbonate from Carbon Dioxide and Methanol, Investigating the Effect of Reaction Conditions and Dehydrating Agents
No full textDimethyl carbonate (DMC) is attracting attention lately because of its environmentally friendly characteristics as it is known to be a non-toxic, non-corrosive, and biodegradable material. DMC direct synthesis presents an environmentally friendly approach as it utilizes carbon dioxide (CO2) and does not use hazardous materials as in other processes. Despite its potential for CO2 fixation, several challenges restrict methanol conversion to DMC to around 1%, primarily due to water formation favoring DMC hydrolysis. Therefore, solution such as the use of dehydrating agents and a reactive distillation have been proposed. Different dehydrating agents have been experimentally studied such as zeolite 3A, zeolite 4A, and ZSM-5. Before assessing dehydrating agents, various experiments were conducted to optimize reaction conditions, revealing that the highest DMC yield occurs at 110��C, 30 bar pressure, 200 mg catalyst dosage, and a 2-hour run duration. Tested dehydrating agents slightly increased DMC % yield; however, they failed to shift the equilibrium adequately. Consequently, reactive distillation is seen as a promising alternative, necessitating a kinetic model for accurate prediction. A low-pressure kinetic model was developed within this work, showing good agreement with experimental data (MAPE: 17%). After that, a CO2Fix metric was used to study the potential of the direct synthesis method for CO2 fixation. Based on the model, it was concluded that 2-CP exhibits the highest CO2Fix potential with a 3.68 CO2Fix. Moreover, it was determined that compounds with 6-membered nitrogen heteroaromatic ring such as benzonitrile, acetonitrile, and shows higher CO2Fix potential compared to other dehydrating agents
High-Temperature Ignition of HTPB-Based Mixtures in a Shock Tube
No full textHydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) is a molecule of continued interest within the aerospace community due to its excellent mechanical characteristics and combustibility as a rocket propellant ingredient. Recent developments in the defense and space industry such as the development of solid-fuel ramjets and solid rocket propellants depend on the characterization of HTPB as a fuel. However, much of the transport and thermodynamic data available for HTPB are relatively unknown due to the pyrolysis of HTPB to ethylene and butadiene occurring near the vaporization temperature of HTPB. The time scale of this pyrolysis is on the order of seconds and, therefore, a characterization of HTPB using timescales under one second is necessary. To achieve the sub-second characterization, the High-Pressure Shock Tube (HPST) at the TEES Turbomachinery Laboratory was utilized. A recent development for the HPST is the endwall injector system which utilizes the increase in temperature and pressure of the incident wave of the shock tube to vaporize the liquid fuel prior to the arrival of the post-reflected-shock conditions. The fuel is placed into the barrel of the injector, and the injector is actuated when the incident shock wave arrives at the location of a pressure transducer 2 m upstream from the endwall. The injector subsequently opens and allows 40 psia of air to blow through the fuel meniscus, sending it into the shock tube where it vaporizes upon interacting with the hot gas behind the incident wave. This thesis utilized the endwall injector system to test HTPB in sub-second time frames and record combustion at 2.5- and 4.25-atm conditions over a temperature range of 1230 to 1400 K. Additionally, in-situ additives were synthesized in the HTPB by collaborators at the University of Central Florida to produce HTPB-based mixtures without affecting the mechanical behavior of the fuel. This thesis studied a titania-infused HTPB mixture at a pressure of 4.25 atm and a temperature range of 1230 to 1400 K. Following the experiments of the HTPB based mixtures is a brief overview of the chemical kinetics data currently available on HTPB and current issues in modeling the molecule
Reducing Risky Driving Behaviors by Considering Personality Factors
No full textTraffic accidents at intersections have been a concerning issue that negatively affects driving safety, with nearly 1000 people are killed in traffic accidents involving running red lights every year. However, driving safety issues at traffic light intersection remains understudied compared with other driving safety topics such as aggressive driving or distracted driving.
Current driving studies show that driving safety and driving behaviors are affected by many individual characteristics, such as age, sex, and personality. While other individual characteristics have been deeply studied, personality, as a well-developed and widely recognized individual characteristic, has not been given equal amount of attention in the study field of driving safety and behaviors.
In this dissertation, three studies were designed and conducted to further investigate the relationship between personality and risky driving behaviors. Data analysis results showed a strong correlation (R = 0.74) between the category of extraversion/introversion personalities and risky driving behaviors, meaning that the more extraverted the person is, the more risky driving behaviors they tend to exhibit. Theory on personality suggests that this is because extraverts are not as capable in perceiving risk-related information from the driving context compared to introverts. Targeting these characteristics, this research showed that increasing information salience and redundantly displaying information can help reduce risky driving behaviors, especially among extraverts.
The findings from this dissertation provide contributions in both scientific and practical aspects. For the scientific aspect, this dissertation provides a foundation of studying the relationships between personalities and risky behaviors in fast-paced real-life decision-making scenarios, such as driving. Moreover, this dissertation helps draw research attention to some understudied aspects such as driving decisions and safety at traffic light intersections.
This research also contributes in a practical sense to the design of safe transportation systems. The results can be used to design and develop vehicle assistance technologies that target specific personalities. Furthermore, findings from this dissertation can be used in future research of machine learning and adaptive autonomous driving systems. Additionally, findings from this dissertation can be used to design driving safety courses and training programs that target people���s personalities and specific needs to help improve driving safety
Latinx Individuals in US Sport
No full textThe dissertation central objective is to critically examine the underrepresentation of Latinx individuals in the realm of the United States (US) sport landscape. Commencing with Study 1, a meticulous scoping review of literature was undertaken, revealing a conspicuous research gap spanning four decades, particularly in the context of Latinas in sport. Significantly, 74.1% of the studies surveyed relied on quantitative methodologies, shedding light on the imperative for broader research methods to unravel the intricate dimensions of experiences within this population.
Study 2, grounded in Latin Critical Race Theory (LatCrit), investigated micro and meso-level factors affecting Latinx student-athletes in Predominantly White Institutions (PWI). Despite Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) interventions, participants reported encountering racial biases from athletic staff and peers, relying on familial support and campus resources to address these issues. The outcomes underscore the urgent need for initiatives to mitigate disparities faced by Latinx student-athletes.
Subsequently, Study 3 sought to comprehend macro-level experiences of Latinx individuals, undocumented populations, and DACA recipients in the US, with a specific focus on sports participation and community engagement. Grounded in Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Sport for Development and Peace Theory (SFDT), the data collection phase extended over 13 weeks within a Houston, Texas community. Findings illuminated the challenges confronting DACA holders and undocumented individuals in assimilating into new communities, with community-oriented programs identified as pivotal catalysts for positive change.
In conclusion, the dissertation rigorously examines the limitations, theoretical contributions, practical implications, and future trajectories emanating from the tripartite studies. Emphasizing the imperative for diverse research methodologies, it underscores the urgency of addressing racial biases in PWIs and accentuates the pivotal role of community programs in facilitating integration for Latinx individuals, DACA recipients, and undocumented populations within the sporting milieu