Coccidial infections of goats in Selangor, peninsular Malaysia

Coccidial infections were studied in goats in the state of Selangor (peninsular Malaysia) during a 12-month period. The study included 10 smallholder farms on which kids were monitored for faecal oocyst counts from birth until 1-year old. Eimeria oocysts were found in 725 (89%) of 815 faecal samples examined. Nine species of Eimeria were identified. The most prevalent were E. arloingi, found in 71% of the samples, E. ninakohlyakimovae (67%), E. christenseni (63%) and E. alijevi (61%). The other species found were, E. hirci, E. jolchijevi, E. caprovina, E. caprina and E. pallida, present in 34, 22, 12, 9 and 4% of the samples, respectively. Oocyst counts were significantly higher in animals of less than 4-months old (P < 0.05). High oocyst counts were mainly caused by non-pathogenic species. Poor hygienic conditions were found to be associated with a higher intensity of coccidial infections. Mortality rates in kids could not be related to the intensity of coccidial infections.     

Inhibition of development of N,N'-dimethylhydrazine-induced rat colonic aberrant crypt foci by pre, post and simultaneous treatments with 24R,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3

It has recently been reported that new vitamin D3 derivatives can exert inhibitory effects on colon carcinogenesis in rats. In the present study the chemopreventive potential of 24R,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (24R,25(OH)2vitamin D3) was assessed in a murine model of colon carcinogenesis. In experiment 1, male 6-week-old F344 rats were administered N,N'-dimethylhydrazine (DMH) 20 mg/kg s.c. once a week 4 times. The rats were fed 24R,25(OH)2vitamin D3 at 10 ppm in the diet prior to (pre), together with (simultaneous) or after (post) DMH treatment. Modifying effects were assessed using aberrant crypt foci (ACF), putative preneoplastic lesions, as the end point markers in this model of colon carcinogenesis. After 8 weeks, pre and more markedly simultaneous administration of 24R,25(OH)2vitamin D3 was found to have reduced the total numbers of ACF and significantly inhibited the development of foci. After 16 weeks, numbers of foci with > or = 4 crypts, which are more likely to progress to tumors, were significantly reduced. The most pronounced inhibition of ACF development was noted in rats fed the 24R,25(OH)2vitamin D3 after DMH administration. The reduction was particularly marked in the proximal colon. Blood levels of calcium were not significantly increased over the control levels in groups administered DMH and the vitamin. Immunohistochemical staining showed numbers of proliferating cell nuclear antigen-positive cells to be lower in the colonic epithelia of rats fed the vitamin D3 metabolite than in the controls. In experiment 2, the effect of 24R,25(OH)2vitamin D3 on the alterations in c-fos, c-myc and c-jun oncogene expression in response to DMH administration was examined by northern blot analysis. The early increase in expression of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity was not altered by 24R,25(OH)2vitamin D3. The results suggest that 24R,25(OH)2vitamin D3 is a cancer chemopreventive agent which may suppresses DMH induction of lesions and their subsequent development via an antiproliferative action.     

Factoring a Homogeneous Transformation for a more Efficient Graphics Pipeline

We identify an intermediate coordinate system situated between world coordinates and display coordinates, which exhibits unique features for lighting calculations and for clipping in homogeneous coordinates. Our key contribution is an algorithm for extracting such a coordinate system from a homogeneous viewing transformation that relates WC to DC. The algorithm is based on factoring the transformation into a product of a Euclidean factor and a sparse (computationally cheap) but non-Euclidean factor.
A particularly strong application of the proposed technique is the graphical processing of curved surface primitives, such as what is needed in the PHIGS PLUS viewing pipeline. Furthermore, in PHIGS PLUS the graphical data is retained by the graphics system, therefore, it is possible to perform the factoring of the viewing transformation at creation time, and to take advantage of this factored form at traversal time.     

Micropower Pulse Frequency Modulator for Use in an Optically Isolated Catheter System

A micropower pulse frequency modulator (PFM) has been developed for implementing an opticaily isolated system capable of making sensor voltage measurements. The PFM circuit is powered with an array of solar cells which converts light energy into electrical energy. An input port receives the sensor voltage. The PFM signal generated by the circuit drives an infrared emitting diode which provides the frequency-modulated output signal. The PFM circuit can accept sensor output voltages in the range ±500 mV and has a minimum bandwidth of 500Hz.     

Classification of Cortical Responses Using Features from Single EEG Records

Our research goal is to develop a new methodology for studying brain function using single, unaveraged EEG records. This investigation has led to a new algorithm for feature extraction for the case of small design (learning) sets. The algorithm has been applied to extract features from unaveraged (single) EEG records, which consist of single evoked responses elicited from human subjects who read textual material presented in the form of propositions. The subjects were instructed to make a binary decision concerning each proposition. This gave two possible data classes. We selected features from the evoked event-related potentials (ERP's), and designed a classifier to assign the ERP's for each proposition to one of the two possible classes.     

Adsorption of lead on the suspended particles of river water

The effects of the chemical composition and particle size, of suspended particles in river water, on the adsorption of lead onto these particles have been studied. Lead has been determined using the conventional method of anodic stripping voltammetry. Particle sizes have been determined using the Coulter Counter. The organic matter content of the suspended particles has been found responsible for most of the lead adsorbed onto these particles. An attempt has been made to quantify the relationship between the particle size of suspended particles and the amount of lead adsorbed onto these particles. The shape of the calibration graphs of lead from solutions in river water has been explained with reference to the adsorption of lead on suspended particles.     

The effect of centrifugation on the suspended particles of river waters

Samples of river water have been analyzed for their particle size distribution using the Coulter Counter. The feasibility of the application of the centrifugal method for particle size analysis on river water samples has been investigated. The efficiency of centrifugation for separating the colloidal and suspended particles from river water samples has been determined.     

Approximate Series Solution for Analysis of FRP Composite Highway Bridges

The design of a deck-and-stringer bridge system is usually reduced to the analysis of a T-beam section, loaded by concentrated loads corresponding to an equivalent fraction of the applied truck load. This equivalent load is defined by wheel load–distribution factors, which approximate the overall behavior of the bridge superstructure. In this paper, a one-term approximation of a macroflexibility series solution including deformations for fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) deck-and-stringer orthotropic bridge systems, is used to develop explicit expressions for symmetric and asymmetric load distribution factors. It is significant that the equations presented herein include important parameters that represent, as accurately as possible, the response characteristics of the super structure, such as the geometry and material properties of the FRP deck and stringers, bridge aspect ratio, and number and spacing of stringers. As an illustration in actual design applications, the formulation presented in this paper is used to develop an analytical method for FRP deck-and-stringer bridge systems, and the method is verified by predicting the response of an all FRP model bridge in the lab and an FRP deck on steel stringers in the field. The results of the present formulation compare well with experimental lab and field results. The simplified analysis presented in this paper can be used with sufficient accuracy for the design of composite FRP deck on stringers bridges.     

Selective nanofiber deposition via electrodynamic focusing

In this paper, we demonstrate the effect of electrodynamic focusing through a gold-coated PDMS shadow mask on the selective deposition of electrospun nanofibers. Under a suitable applied voltage, the PDMS mask repels the fibers from its surface while simultaneously forcing them into micron-sized holes and onto a collecting substrate. The presented technique is simple and can be used to produce lithographic-scale nanofiber deposition using a wide range of materials.