Systematic environmental, direct, and service sire effects on conception rate in artificially inseminated Holstein cows

Result of insemination was verified for 329,314 artificial inseminations by 882 service sires to 97,245 Holstein cows in 1,075 herds between May 1970 and December 1983. Estimates of systematic environmental and genetic components of cow and service sire components of conception rate were obtained preliminary to development of a fertility monitoring system. Conception rate was 2.9% higher in stanchion than loose housed herds and 2.3% higher in grade than registered cows. Fall months were superior to winter months, the greatest difference being 6.1% between October and January. Conception rate increased with herd milk production, decreased with both increased cow age, and increased herd size in mature and old cows. Regions and inseminators within regions were highly variable. Conception may be influenced by semen price; however, week day of insemination and duration of semen storage had no effect. Conception rate decreased for semen by bulls 8 yr and older, was lowest for semen harvested in June, but no season of collection effect was detected. No genetic trends for cow and service sire conception rate were found; heritability and repeatability were .08 and .06, respectively. Genetic correlations between cow and service sire conception rate and these components with first lactation production and semen output measures were all near zero. Therefore, the relationship between sire fertility and daughter fertility is near zero.     

How Advances in Search Combine Databases, Sentence Diagramming, and "Just the Facts"

Among the most studied subfields of natural language processing (NLP) are information retrieval (IR, aka search) and information extraction (IE). Yet, even though researchers have wanted to combine IR and IE for nearly a decade, we are only now starting to see commercial applications that put the notion into practice. The search market remains dominated by traditional IR technologies, as evidenced by the likes of Google, Yahoo, and Verity. (Granted, Google's page-rank algorithm departs from traditional IR algorithms by including link data, but the underlying index of terms is conventional.) Two forces are driving the need for advanced search technologies: (a) users are more knowledgeable and are demanding greater search engine precision; and (b) vendors must create new search products, particularly enterprise search applications. This issue's theme articles represent several of these advancements. In this article, the author detail how IE-in particular action-oriented event extraction-enables new search functionality     

Relationship between plasma phospholipid transfer protein activity and HDL subclasses among patients with low HDL and cardiovascular disease

NK lysin is a 9-kDa polypeptide that was originally isolated from porcine intestinal tissue based on its antibacterial activity. It is produced by cytolytic lymphocytes and is cytolytic against a number of different types of tumor cells. Here we report the binding of NK lysin to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and its anti-LPS activity. NK lysin binds to matrix-coated LPS from Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and different strains of Salmonella enterica. Lipid A and polymyxin B inhibited the binding, demonstrating a preferential interaction of NK lysin with the lipid part of LPS. Chromium-labeled lymphoma cells were lysed by NK lysin, and LPS dose-dependently inhibited the cytolysis at equimolar amounts. In the same manner, NK lysin inhibited certain LPS-stimulated effects on mouse bone marrow cells as well as LPS binding to mouse granulocytes. These results suggest that NK lysin may be a another natural LPS-binding protein from lymphocytes that may participate in the endogenous defense response associated with elevated concentrations of LPS.     

Scheduling operations on parallel machine tools

We introduce unique scheduling problems that arise for multiple spindle machine tools. The ability of these machines to perform simultaneous operations on more than one part creates constraints that are not found in the traditional scheduling literature. Two types of solution procedures are introduced for these problems. The first uses priority dispatching rules and a delay factor concept, while the second uses a genetic algorithm with a random keys encoding. The effectiveness of these methods is demonstrated on test problems with comparisons to lower bounds     

Nitric oxide synthase activity in human squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck

A continuous fluorometric assay for tryptophan hydroxylase activity based on the different spectral characteristics of tryptophan and 5-hydroxytryptophan is presented. Hydroxylation of tryptophan at the 5-position results in a large increase in the fluorescence of the molecule. The assay selectively monitors the fluorescence yield of 5-hydroxytryptophan by exciting the reaction mix at 300 nm. The rate of increase of the emission signal was found to be directly proportional to the enzyme concentration. Inner filter effects due to quinonoid dihydropterin accumulation were eliminated by the inclusion of a thiol reductant. Activity measured using this assay method was found to be the same as that determined by established discontinuous HPLC assay methods. The application of the assay to routine activity measurements and to steady-state determinations with the substrates tryptophan and tetrahydropterin is described.     

Delayed onset of hand tremor related to cerebellar hemorrhage

Spontaneous hematomas are rare and can present with acute or chronic symptoms. Our patient presented with deep vein thrombosis of the lower extremity associated with a spontaneous pelvic hematoma. This lesion was radiologically and clinically indistinguishable from a soft-tissue neoplasm. The case of a spontaneous pelvic neoplasm in an otherwise healthy young man is presented and the literature reviewed regarding issues of differential diagnosis and clinical management.     

Influence of antibody binding on oxygen binding behavior of Panulirus interruptus hemocyanin

Evidence linking paclitaxel to cardiotoxicity arose from early Phase I trials in which continuous cardiac monitoring was performed because of the high incidence of major hypersensitivity reactions. A variety of cardiac manifestations have been reported, ranging from asymptomatic sinus bradycardia to fatal myocardial infarction. The following case report describes an acute myocardial infarction occurring shortly after paclitaxel therapy.     

Effects of irradiation on fungi and fumonisin B(1) in corn, and of microwave-popping on fumonisins in popcorn.

Fumonisins are metabolites produced in corn primarily by the fungus Fusarium verticillioides (F. moniliforme) and are toxic to humans and animals. Fumonisin B(1) (FB(1)) is the primary fumonisin produced and is found frequently in corn kernels, some of which may be used as food or food ingredients. A three-part study was conducted to determine the effects of gamma- and electron beam irradiation on the levels of fumonisins in naturally contaminated field corn, and the effects of microwave-popping on fumonisins in selected, naturally contaminated popcorn. To date, no effective means have been found to reduce consistently mycotoxin levels once foods are contaminated. Aqueous solutions of FB(1) at various concentrations, samples of whole corn, and samples of ground corn containing known levels of FB(1) were irradiated with various levels of cobalt and electron beam irradiation. Popcorn samples, taken from the reject streams of popcorn processing, were popped using normal microwave-popping conditions. FB(1) in aqueous solutions was reduced by 99.7% using a minimal level of irradiation (0.5 kGray). Gamma- and electron beam irradiation did not significantly reduce levels of FB(1) in whole and ground corn. Aspergillus sp., Penicillium sp. and Fusarium sp. fungi were totally eliminated at 30 kGray in ground corn and at 100 kGray in whole corn. The normal commercial cleaning processes for microwave popcorn before packaging reduced fumonisins to <0.03 microg g(-1) for the cleaned product stream. Microwave popping of popcorn from reject streams of the cleaning operation that contained fumonisins resulted in significant reduction of the mould toxin.