The confounded nature of angry men and happy women.

Findings of 7 studies suggested that decisions about the sex of a face and the emotional expressions of anger or happiness are not independent: Participants were faster and more accurate at detecting angry expressions on male faces and at detecting happy expressions on female faces. These findings were robust across different stimulus sets and judgment tasks and indicated bottom-up perceptual processes rather than just top-down conceptually driven ones. Results from additional studies in which neutrally expressive faces were used suggested that the connections between masculine features and angry expressions and between feminine features and happy expressions might be a property of the sexual dimorphism of the face itself and not merely a result of gender stereotypes biasing the perception. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Enteric viral infections of calves and passive immunity

At least eight viruses have been identified, four within the last 5 yr, that produce diarrhea and pathological intestinal lesions in experimentally inoculated calves. Coronavirus and rotavirus frequently are associated with the neonatal calf diarrhea syndrome, but the etiologic role of the newly identified viruses is undefined. All diarrheal viruses replicate within small intestinal epithelial cells, resulting in variable degrees of villous atrophy. Immunity against these viral infections, therefore, must be directed toward protection of the susceptible intestinal epithelial cells. Because most of these viral infections occur in calves less than 3 wk of age, passive lactogenic immunity within the gut lumen plays an important role in protection. This report reviews methods of boosting rotavirus antibody responses in bovine mammary secretions and analyses of passive and active immunity in calves supplemented with colostrum and challenged by rotavirus. Results indicate rotavirus immunoglobulin G1 antibodies in colostrum and milk were elevated after intramuscular and intramammary vaccination of pregnant cows with an Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center rotavirus vaccine but not after intramuscular immunization with a commercial rota-coronavirus vaccine. Feeding colostrum from intramuscular plus intramammary immunized cows to newborn calves challenged by rotavirus prevented diarrhea and shedding of rotavirus.     

Sharpening our axes [systems engineering application]

To improve a company's 'chopping' power it is necessary to apply systems engineering principles to 'project systems' and take the time to plan effectively, to reflect upon what it is that is being done and thereby improve the way things are done. This article takes a systems view of the project and applies systems engineering principles to project management. Projects (complex systems) are needed to create deliverables (which are also complex systems) and investing in the former will be more than paid back in the latter. It is our aim here to clear up some misunderstandings about systems engineering and its role within a complex project and to highlight the need for businesses to take time to improve their processes in the context of good systems engineering practice.     

Alcoholism at the time of injury among trauma center patients: Vehicular crash victims compared with other patients

A structured in-depth interview employing standardized criteria was used to determine the prevalence of lifetime and current alcohol dependence (alcoholism) in unselected consecutive patients admitted to a regional Level I trauma center. Of 629 patients, 157 (25.0%) were current alcoholics at the time of injury. An additional 87 (13.8%) were diagnosed as lifetime non-current alcoholics. There was no significant difference in the rates of current alcohol dependence among patients injured in vehicular crashes (23.5%), other unintentional trauma victims (29.3%), and those injured as a result of violence (24.6%). Of BAC + (blood alcohol concentration positive) patients, 54.5% were current alcoholics. However, 14.4% of alcohol-negative patients were also diagnosed as alcohol dependent.     

Evaluation of humoral immune responses in cattle grazing endophyte-infected or endophyte-free fescue

Anecdotal reports suggest cattle with fescue toxicosis may not respond to vaccination and thus, experience increased incidence of Bovine Respiratory Disease Complex (BRDC) when shipped to feedlots. Fescue toxicosis causes hypoprolactemia in cattle. Hypoprolactemia decreases humoral immune responses in mice. Therefore, a study was conducted to compare the magnitude of primary and secondary humoral immune responses against specific antigens in cattle grazing endophyte-infected or endophyte-free fescue. Angus steers were blocked by weight and allocated into four groups. Two groups grazed endophyte-infected (EI) fescue and the other two groups grazed endophyte-free (EF) fescue. All steers were injected IM on d 0 and 21 with lysozyme without adjuvant and concanavalin. A (Con A) with sheep red blood cells (SRBC) in incomplete adjuvant of Freund. Steers were bled on days 0, 21 and 35 post-vaccination. Average daily gains (ADG), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, cholesterol concentrations, rectal temperatures, and serum prolactin concentrations were measured to confirm fescue toxicosis in steers grazing EI fescue. Antibodies to Con A and SRBC were determined by ELISA and hemagglutination assay, respectively. The ADG were decreased for the EI group during the first month. Rectal temperature were elevated and serum prolactin concentrations were decreased in the EI group. Cholesterol and ALP concentrations also were decreased in the EI group. Primary and secondary immune responses against Con A tended to be increased and were increased against SRBC in the EI group. Antibodies against lysozyme were not induced in either group. In conclusion, cattle grazing EI fescue mounted similar humoral immune responses to vaccination, despite hypoprolactemia, as cattle grazing EF fescue. Increases in bovine respiratory disease in cattle maintained on EI fescue probably is not associated with lack of humoral immune response to vaccination protocols as a result of fescue toxicosis.