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Integrative Analyses Of Genomic And Metabolomic Data Reveal Molecular Mechanisms Associated With Uterine Disease Traits In Transitioning Dairy Cattle
No full textThe metritis complex (MC), characterizing post-partum uterine diseases in dairy cattle has negative implications on animal welfare, production efficiency, and the economic stability of the dairy industry. The studies in this thesis aimed to investigate the genetic architecture of the metritis complex and identify genomic regions and metabolites associated with the development of MC. Thereby enhancing our understanding of the biological pathways and molecular mechanisms involved in the pathophysiology of MC during the transition period in Jersey and Holstein dairy cattle.
Chapter 2 sheds light on the previous work done on MC. The goals of this review were to (1) provide an updated epidemiological profile of uterine ailments, (2) integrate results from genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, and proteomics (OMICs) studies to reveal insights on the identified biological pathways modulated during the transitional period and the onset of metritis, and (3) discuss the commonly detected molecular mechanisms in OMICs studies.
Chapter 3 utilized genomic profiles to identify genetic variants, genes, and biological pathways that modulate MC development. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) was performed using a single locus mixed linear model on 1,967 Holstein and Jersey cow genotypes (624,460 SNPs), and MC records from three dairy herds. Following this, in-silico functional and gene network analyses were performed to detect biological mechanisms and pathways linked to the development of endometritis, metritis, and pyometra, diseases defined under the metritis complex development. Potential genes were significantly (P ≤ 0.0001) associated with MC and located on chromosomes 12, 10, and 21. These genes are involved in potential metabolic pathways which are directly associated with the mode of transmission for well-known pathogens in the metritis complex.
Chapter 4 followed the GWAS with a high-throughput liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) metabolomic study. The goals of this study were to 1) to identify metabolites associated with the development of MC in multi-parous Jersey and Holstein cows, 2) to detect the molecular pathways linked to the identified metabolites for MC, and 3) and to identify potential metabolomic biomarkers for early detection of uterine disease development in dairy cattle following parturition. A case-control design was employed on transitioning dairy cattle (n=28), at three time points (week 1, 2, and 3 post-calving). The study identified 48 significant (at false discovery rate adjusted P≤0.05) metabolic deviations for MC during the second week post-partum using single point t-test model. Using repeated measurement, 50 metabolites were identified as significant across all three time points. The results from the studies done revealed mechanisms contributing to the development of uterine disease in Jersey and Holstein breeds. These results should be validated and may be used as genomic selection or management tool to decrease the incidence of metritis complex in dairy cattle
Contextually Dynamic Quest Generation Using In-Session Player Information in MMORPG
Get PDFMassively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) are one of the most
popular genres in video games that combine massively multiplayer online genres with
role-playing gameplay. MMORPGs’ featured social interaction and forms of level pro-
gression through quest completion are the core for gaining players’ attention. Varied
and challenging quests play an essential part in retaining that attention. However,
well-crafted content takes much longer to develop with human efforts than it does to
consume, and the dominant procedural content generation models for quests suffer
from the drawback of being incompatible with dynamic world changes and the feeling
of repetition over time. The proposed solution is to dynamically generate contextu-
ally relevant quests with real-time information collected from the players. This thesis
is to show that it is possible to generate contextually dynamic quests that could fit
into the background story with only the information gathered from the players in
real-time.
To validate the proposed solution, a text-based MMO scenario is generated from
the Panoptyk Engine, an information-driven game engine designed to run massively
multiplayer online games (MMOs) without the distinction between NPCs and human
players. The engine is intended to serve as a platform for simulating human/robot
interaction. In this case, a quest simulation is built where quests are given by the NPC
faction leaders utilizing the information gathered through ongoing events; players or
robots belonging to certain factions will be taking and completing the quests.
ivThe results of the 14-person survey showed some successes and some limitations.
There was strong agreement in players understanding of what the quest was asking
for, quests were related to other agents the player had seen in the world, quests
involved agents that the player had interactions with, quests were related to things
happening in the game world, quests were interesting. There was regular agreement on
players understanding of quests that were designed entirely before the player started
playing, quests were generated using a basic template with details filled in based
on the player’s actions, and quests were dynamically generated. It was inconclusive
with players understanding of quest motivation and previous quests the player had
completed having an impact on the next quests
Fifty-One Years Later: A Case Study on Title IX Implementation Practices of the NCAA
Get PDFSince the implementation of Title IX, the law has increased opportunities for female participation in intercollegiate athletics and changed the perception of women\u27s sports. The purpose of this study was to examine the practices that the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) implemented to support Title IX. The methodology of the case study was to create research questions and an instrument that was utilized to guide the researcher when collecting data. The findings of the study concluded that the governmental structure of the NCAA lacks the necessary power to implement policies that support Title IX, but the committees within the organization work effectively to increase opportunities for underrepresented individuals. The resources provided to member institutions in supporting Title IX are difficult to access. It is recommended that the NCAA includes stipulations in membership agreements with universities that include Title IX compliance reports and surveys of female students and athletes
AS-958-23 Resolution on the Commendation for Thomas Gutierrez
Get PDFGeneral Assembly of the Academic Senate presents a commendation for Thomas Gutierrez
Review of Bénédicte Boisseron\u27s Afro-Dog: Blackness and the Animal Question
Get PDFThis review evaluates Bénédicte Boisseron\u27s Afro-Dog: Blackness and the Animal Question. In the process, it tracks the development of the academic relation between Blackness and animality
Review of Marcus Byrne and Helen Lunn\u27s Dance of the Dung Beetles: Their Role in Our Changing World
Get PDFThis review examines Marcus Byrne and Helen Lunn’s Dance of the Dung Beetles: Their Role in Our Changing World, tracing the interdisciplinary connections between human history, ecological science, and cultural symbolism surrounding dung beetles
RacketFrames: A DataFrame Implementation For The Racket Programming Language
Get PDFThe DataFrame is a powerful table-like data structure used frequently in Data Science, the in-demand and innovative field focused on the extraction of valuable insights from data. Typically, datasets are not perfect upon collection and need to be prepared so that the resulting dataset is useful for statistical analysis. A DataFrame API supports optimized methods such as, selecting, aggregating and filtering rows, columns, and cells as well as renaming row and column labels. It also supports methods for normalizing data, merging data, adding new columns and labelling missing data among numerous other features. An API to work with tabular data would be useful in any general purpose language, so DataFrames have been incorporated into libraries like Pandas for Python and provided as native libraries in the languages R and Scala. Due to their wide-ranging use it is not uncommon to find implementations in many other languages like Java and Julia \cite{BigData}.
In this work, we introduce RacketFrames, a Racket V8.0+ DataFrame implementation. We show the benefits an implementation can have on existing and future Racket projects. To quantify the performance of major DataFrame operations, we measure speed against Python Pandas and compare functional and object oriented paradigms. We hope to continue the trend for further Data Science tool development for Racket and other programming languages
Simulating Electric Vehicle Short-Notice Wildfire Evacuation in California Rural Communities
Get PDFThe transportation sector in California has begun a shift toward adopting Electric Vehicles (EVs) as a primary source of individual and corporate mobility. The US Government and the State of California are initiating public-sector financed charging station infrastructure to help in this change-over to EVs. Automobile companies and private enterprises are also heavily investing in Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) infrastructure going forward. The state of California is subject to natural disasters such as Fire, Earthquakes, and periodic flooding. Increasing numbers of BEVs may add new challenges to mass evacuations that are often associated with natural disasters. This work focuses on unique challenges in providing BEV charging infrastructure during evacuations in regions that: are small towns with a considerable rural population, are prone to natural disasters, have a single evacuation route, have underdeveloped EV charging infrastructure, are considerable distance to a major center of EV charging infrastructure and safety from the mass evacuation scenario, have a secondary small charging location also available on the single evacuation route that leads to the major city of safety.
To analyze the unique challenges of these particular mass-evacuation scenarios, a simulation was created to estimate the evacuation times of the BEV population given a set charging infrastructure. The model also includes BEV charging infrastructure, and for a single secondary charging station that is along the evacuation route. The objective of the simulation model is to determine the charging needs for a rural evacuation scenario and the ideal distance to an alternate secondary charging station along a single evacuation route in order to minimize total evacuation time. In order to provide a more realistic set of scenarios for the model, two different rural evacuation scenarios were analyzed. Kernville, California, in Kern County that is 52 miles from Bakersfield Auberry, California, in Fresno County that is 36 miles from Fresno The BEV
charging infrastructure model inputs are customized for assumed BEV charging infrastructure in the year 2025 based on historical BEV registration numbers according to the Department of Motor Vehicles. The simulation results show that the projected charging infrastructure in the year 2025 would suffice for an evacuation scenario in which 90% of the BEV arrive at the evacuation destination within 10 hours of the evacuation order. However, due to the severity of potential danger in short-notice wildfire evacuations, it would be ideal to further decrease the total evacuation time. The simulation model found that increasing the charging infrastructure by one level 3 charge plug had a much larger impact on minimizing evacuation time than increasing it by two level 2 charge plugs. Therefore, it would be beneficial for the rural towns to invest in level 3 chargers to shorten evacuation times
Infant Age Moderates Associations between Infant Temperament and Maternal Technology Use during Infant Feeding and Care
Get PDFPrevious research illustrated that infants’ temperamental traits shape parents’ behaviors, but parents’ behaviors can also elicit or intensify infants’ behaviors in ways that shape temperament. One understudied aspect of parenting that may exhibit bidirectional influences with temperament is parent technology use (e.g., use of mobile devices) within family contexts. To date, few studies have examined whether maternal technology use is associated with infant temperament and whether age-related differences in these associations exist. The present study was a secondary analysis of pooled data from three infant feeding studies. Mothers (n = 374) of young infants (age 16.2 ± 6.2 weeks) completed measures of maternal technology use during infant feeding and care interactions, infant temperament, and family demographics. Maternal technology use was positively associated with negative affectivity and negatively associated with orienting/regulatory capacity but was not associated with positive affectivity/surgency. The association between maternal technology use and negative affectivity was stronger for younger infants than older infants, while the association between maternal technology use and orienting/regulatory capacity was not significant for younger infants but was for older infants. Findings suggest maternal technology use is associated with infant negative affectivity and orienting/regulatory capacity, but the strength of these associations may change with infant age. Further longitudinal research is needed to verify this interpretation and understand mechanisms underlying these associations
Spatial and Temporal Variation in Growth Rate of Blue Rockfish (Sebastes mystinus) in Nearshore Central California Determined Using a Physiological Biomarker
Get PDFIdentifying areas of high fish population productivity is crucial for protecting habitats essential to fish growth and reproduction and, ultimately, for achieving sustainable fisheries. Historically, evaluations of habitat quality have relied heavily on linking spatial variation in fish abundance to environmental parameters such as substrate category, depth, or bathymetry. That approach, however, assumes that areas of high fish abundance best support growth and reproduction of a species and thus may fail to detect spatial or temporal variation in population attributes, such as somatic growth rate, which can be central to recruitment success and survival. In this study, we employed a novel physiological approach using the hormone insulin-like growth factor-1 (Igf-1) as a blood-based ‘biomarker’ for recent growth rate to determine patterns of spatial and temporal variation in growth of Blue Rockfish (Sebastes mystinus) along nearshore central California, USA. Blue Rockfish were sampled between 2016 and 2018 from two different regions ~60 km apart on the central coast of California: the Piedras Blancas region and the Point Buchon region. In each region, sampling was conducted in a Marine Protected Area (MPA) and in an adjacent non-protected area. In all years, Blue Rockfish in the Piedras Blancas region had consistently higher growth rates compared to the Point Buchon region. Yearly differences in average Igf-1 values were similar for fish collected from the Piedras Blancas and Point Buchon regions, suggesting that broad-scale, annual variation in food availability affects Blue Rockfish growth rates similarly across this geographic extent of the central California coast. While no consistent differences in Igf-1 were observed for fish sampled at protected MPA and adjacent non-protected areas, spatial variation on the scale of 500 m was observed across some sites sampled on the same day, suggesting that Blue Rockfish growth can vary substantially across even relatively constricted habitat locations. Temporal variation in growth rates was also observed on the scale of \u3c 1 month across some sampling sites. These findings illustrate how Igf-1 can provide a tool for identifying recent growth rate variation in wild Pacific rockfishes with the potential to improve management of economically and culturally important nearshore marine fishes