Ball Response and Traction of Skinned Infields Amended with Calcine Clay at Varying Soil Moisture Contents

The skinned portions of baseball and softball infields vary widely with respect to soil texture, applied amendments and conditioners, and water management. No studies have been reported that quantify the effects of these varying construction and maintenance practices on the playability of the skinned portions of infields. In Connecticut, USA, skinned infield plots were constructed from five different soils (silt loam, loam, coarse sandy loam, loamy sand, loamy coarse sand) and amended with four rates of calcined clay (0, 4.9, 9.8, 19.6 kg m–2) to determine the effects on surface hardness, traction, and ball-to-surface friction (static and dynamic) at varying soil moisture contents (10, 14, and 18%). Bulk density, saturated hydraulic conductivity, and shear strength of the different soil–calcined clay rate combinations were determined. Increasing the rate of calcined clay decreased bulk density and shear strengths, and increased saturated hydraulic conductivity. Surface hardness increased more with coarse-textured soils and increasing calcined clay rate, but decreased more with fine-textured soils and increasing soil moisture. Increasing the calcined clay rate resulted in decreases in ball-to-surface static friction across all soils and decreased dynamic friction with the fine-textured soils. Increases in soil moisture increased friction in all soils. The fine-textured soils had greater traction than the sandy soils, but no consistent calcined clay or moisture effects on traction were observed. Shear strength of the soils was highly correlated with traction and friction. The results suggest that differences in skinned infield soils are quantifiable, which could lead to the development of playing surface standards.

JTT-130, a Microsomal Triglyceride Transfer Protein (MTP) Inhibitor Lowers Plasma Triglycerides and LDL Cholesterol Concentrations without Increasing Hepatic Triglycerides in Guinea Pigs

BACKGROUND: Microsomal transfer protein inhibitors (MTPi) have the potential to be used as a drug to lower plasma lipids, mainly plasma triglycerides (TG). However, studies with animal models have indicated that MTPi treatment results in the accumulation of hepatic TG. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether JTT-130, a unique MTPi, targeted to the intestine, would effectively reduce plasma lipids without inducing a fatty liver. METHODS: Male guinea pigs (n = 10 per group) were used for this experiment. Initially all guinea pigs were fed a hypercholesterolemic diet containing 0.08 g/100 g dietary cholesterol for 3 wk. After this period, animals were randomly assigned to diets containing 0 (control), 0.0005 or 0.0015 g/100 g of MTPi for 4 wk. A diet containing 0.05 g/100 g of atorvastatin, an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor was used as the positive control. At the end of the 7th week, guinea pigs were sacrificed to assess drug effects on plasma and hepatic lipids, composition of LDL and VLDL, hepatic cholesterol and lipoprotein metabolism. RESULTS: Plasma LDL cholesterol and TG were 25 and 30% lower in guinea pigs treated with MTPi compared to controls (P < 0.05). Atorvastatin had the most pronounced hypolipidemic effects with a 35% reduction in LDL cholesterol and 40% reduction in TG. JTT-130 did not induce hepatic lipid accumulation compared to controls. Cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) activity was reduced in a dose dependent manner by increasing doses of MTPi and guinea pigs treated with atorvastatin had the lowest CETP activity (P < 0.01). In addition the number of molecules of cholesteryl ester in LDL and LDL diameter were lower in guinea pigs treated with atorvastatin. In contrast, hepatic enzymes involved in maintaining cholesterol homeostasis were not affected by drug treatment. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that JTT-130 could have potential clinical applications due to its plasma lipid lowering effects with no alterations in hepatic lipid concentrations.

The Differential Requirement of Albumin and Sodium Citrate on the Development of In Vitro Produced Bovine Embryos

In vitro culture for bovine embryos is largely not optimal. Our study was to determine the components necessary for early embryo development. In experiment 1, IVF embryos were cultured for two days in CR1aa medium containing sodium citrate and BSA from two sources (Sigma vs. ICPbio), subsequently for additional five days with cumulus monolayer in 10% FBS CR1aa. We found that supplementation with both Sigma-BSA and sodium citrate significantly increased total blastocyst (BL) development compared with the ICPbio-BSA groups (37% vs. 19-21%), and enhanced the total number of high quality (C1 BL, IETS standard) blastocysts (26% vs. 11-17%) (P < 0.05). In experiment 2 with serum free and/or somatic free culture, we found that CR1aa culture can support a comparable embryo development with a supplement of Sigma BSA. The addition of sodium citrate did not increase blastocyst development in either the Sigma-BSA or the ICPbio-BSA groups. An inferior blastocyst development occurring in ICPbio-BSA culture (1-3%) could be rescued by culture in CRlaa supplemented with 10% FBS (29%), more importantly, by culture in CR1aa with a replacement of Sigma BSA (24%) (P <0.05). C1 blastocysts rescued by FBS and Sigma BSA in ICPbio-BSA culture possessed indistinguishable morphology to embryos developed in a Sigma-BSA, FBS and somatic co-culture system, showing similar cell number/blastocyst (129-180, P > 0.05). Our study found a beneficial effect of sodium citrate and BSA on the in vitro development of bovine IVF embryos during co-culture. We also determined that differential embryotrophic factor(s) contained in BSA and serum, probably not sodium citrate, is necessary for promoting competent morula and blastocyst development in cattle.

When hybrids go wrong. How hybridization can create invasive species.

Gene flow is the movement of genes from one plant population to another. Gene flow is a natural process and a part of plant evolution. There are two ways for gene flow to occur in plants. The first is through sexual reproduction – pollen lands on a flower and a viable seed develops. The second method is through dispersal of seeds and/or vegetative plant parts (e.g. stolons, rhizomes). Gene flow can produce hybrid offspring with an increased or decreased ability to survive in the landscape. If hybrid offspring have some advantage in the environment, they could become invasive. This poster shows two examples of gene flow in plants and the potential for environmental damage.

Annual Report John Dempsey Hospital Compliance Agreement 2007-2008

John Dempsey Hospital, Certification of Compliance Agreement, Annual Report, Year One. Reporting Period: June 25, 2007 through June 25, 2008. This report documents the Compliance Agreement between the Office of Inspector General of the Dept. of Health and Human Services and John Dempsey Hospital. Report is issued by K. Michael Walker, PhD, Chief Audit and Compliance Officer, UConn Health Center.

Extracting more out of relocation data: building movement models as mixtures of random walks

We present a framework for fitting multiple random walks to animal movement paths consisting of ordered sets of step lengths and turning angles. Each step and turn is assigned to one of a number of random walks, each characteristic of a different behavioral state. Behavioral state assignments may be inferred purely from movement data or may include the habitat type in which the animals are located. Switching between different behavioral states may be modeled explicitly using a state transition matrix estimated directly from data, or switching probabilities may take into account the proximity of animals to landscape features. Model fitting is undertaken within a Bayesian framework using the WinBUGS software. These methods allow for identification of different movement states using several properties of observed paths and lead naturally to the formulation of movement models. Analysis of relocation data from elk released in east-central Ontario, Canada, suggests a biphasic movement behavior: elk are either in an "encamped" state in which step lengths are small and turning angles are high, or in an "exploratory" state, in which daily step lengths are several kilometers and turning angles are small. Animals encamp in open habitat (agricultural fields and opened forest), but the exploratory state is not associated with any particular habitat type.

A case study of teachers' mathematics content knowledge and attitudes toward mathematics and teaching

This study intended to measure teacher mathematical content knowledge both before and after the first year of teaching and taking graduate teacher education courses in the Teach for America (TFA) program, as well as measure attitudes toward mathematics and teaching both before and after TFA teachers’ first year. There was a significant increase in both mathematical content knowledge and attitudes toward mathematics over the TFA teachers’ first year teaching. Additionally, several significant correlations were found between attitudes toward mathematics and content knowledge. Finally, after a year of teaching, TFA teachers had significantly better attitudes toward mathematics and teaching than neutral.