Use of computer simulation to teach a systems approach to metabolism

Use of a systems approach, as embodied in the computer simulation model of metabolism of a dairy cow, Molly (Baldwin, 2005), is ideal for teaching nutrition. This approach allows the overall complexity of the comprehensive system to be broken down into smaller manageable subunits that are easier to visualize. Quantitative interactions among nutrients supplied and metabolic production processes can be observed over extended time periods. Using Molly, undergraduate animal science students are able to observe detailed effects of changing dietary inputs, altering genetic milk production potential, and exogenously manipulating metabolism on metabolism of the whole cow. This paper demonstrates how Molly is used in the classroom to teach a systems approach to nutrition using example simulations. Three simulation examples demonstrate exercises examining effects of recombinant bovine somatotropin administration, dietary protein, and amino acid supplementation and nitrogen efficiency on milk production and cow metabolism. These and similar examples have been used to teach nutrition, metabolism, and lactation to undergraduate students for the past 20 yr.     

Textural Images Analysis of Pasta Protein Networks to Determine Influence of Technological Processes

The structure of pasta is largely governed by the presence of a structured protein network. This work analyzed the protein network textures of various cooked pasta products through textural image analysis. Six different pasta types were investigated: reference pasta made from durum semolina; pasta enriched with gluten proteins from soft wheat flour at 10 and 20%; autoclaved pasta; soft wheat flour pasta; and pasta made from reconstituted flour fractions. Pasta samples were sectioned, and each crosssection consisted of three distinct zones (central, intermediate, and external) based on the state of swelling of starch granules for each pasta product. Digital images of the protein network in each zone were acquired using confocal laser scanning microscopy. Textural image analysis was then performed. Similarities and differences in protein network texture were assessed by principal component, stepwise discriminant, and variance analyses. With the exception of autoclaved pasta, protein network structure differed greatly with the position in the pasta. Furthermore the effect of technological treatments was greatly influenced by the position in pasta. The most significant differences in protein network structure were obtained with the autoclaved and 20% protein-enriched samples.     

High Resolution Imaging of Starch Granule Surfaces by Atomic Force Microscopy

High resolution imaging of the surfaces of starch granules from two different botanical sources has been performed using two complementary techniques: low voltage scanning electron microscopy (LVSEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). LVSEM provided superior images ofuncoatedgranules than possible by conventional scanning electron microscopy, and these images were used to validate the features revealed at higher resolution by AFM. The AFM images demonstrated that, although intra-sample variation exists, the surfaces of wheat and potato starch granules possess substantially different topographies. Potato starch had many protrusions (50–300 nm in diameter), above a flatter surface, which contained structures in the order of 10–50 nm. Wheat starch had far fewer protrusions and generally had a smoother surface made up of 10–50 nm structures. The 10 to 300 nm structures are believed to be carbohydrate in nature and correspond to ‘blocklet’ structures, comprising groups of amylopectin side-chain clusters presenting at the granule surface. We conclude therefore that near-molecular resolution topography of the starch granule surface has been revealed, which has allowed further insight into starch granule structure and molecular organisation.     

Sum rules and interlayer conductivity of high-Tc cuprates

Analysis of the interlayer infrared conductivity of cuprate high-transition temperature superconductors reveals an anomalously large energy scale extending up to midinfrared frequencies that can be attributed to formation of the superconducting condensate. This unusual effect is observed in a va- riety of materials, including Tl2Ba2CuO6+x, La2-xSrxCuO4, and YBa2Cu3O6.6, which show an incoherent interlayer response in the normal state. Midinfrared range condensation was examined in the context of sum rules that can be formulated for the complex conductivity. One possible interpretation of these experiments is in terms of a kinetic energy change associated with the superconducting transition.     

Drag force acting on biofouled net panels

Measurements were made to assess the increase in drag on aquaculture cage netting due to biofouling. Drag force was obtained by towing net panels, perpendicular to the incident flow, in experiments conducted in a tow tank and in the field. The net panels were fabricated from netting stretched within a 1 m² pipe frame. They were towed at various speeds, and drag force was measured using a bridle-pulley arrangement terminating in a load cell. The frame without netting was also drag tested so that net-only results could be obtained by subtracting out the frame contribution. Measurements of drag force and velocity were processed to yield drag coefficients.

Clean nets were drag tested in the University of New Hampshire (UNH) 36.5 m long tow tank. Nets were then exposed to biofouling during the summer of 2004 at the UNH open ocean aquaculture demonstration site 1.6 km south of the Isles of Shoals, New Hampshire, U.S.A. Nine net panels were recovered on 6 October 2004 and immediately drag tested at sea to minimize disturbing the fouling communities. The majority of the growth was skeleton shrimp (Caprella sp.) with some colonial hydroids (Tubularia sp.), blue mussels (Mytilus edulus) and rock borer clams (Hiatella actica). Since the deployment depth was 15 m (commensurate with submerged cages at the site), no algae were present. The net panels had been subject to several different antifouling treatments, so the extent of growth varied amongst the panels. Drag force measurements were made using a bridle-pulley-load cell configuration similar to that employed in the tow tank. Fixtures and instruments were mounted on an unpowered catamaran that was towed alongside a workboat. Thus, the catamaran served as the “carriage” for field measurements.

Increases in net-only drag coefficient varied from 6 to 240% of the clean net values. The maximum biofouled net drag coefficient was 0.599 based on net outline area. Biofouled drag coefficients generally increased with solidity (projected area of blockage divided by outline area) and volume of growth. There was, however, considerable scatter attributed in part to different mixes of species present.     

The genome sequence of Drosophila melanogaster

The fly Drosophila melanogaster is one of the most intensively studied organisms in biology and serves as a model system for the investigation of many developmental and cellular processes common to higher eukaryotes, including humans. We have determined the nucleotide sequence of nearly all of the approximately 120-megabase euchromatic portion of the Drosophila genome using a whole-genome shotgun sequencing strategy supported by extensive clone-based sequence and a high-quality bacterial artificial chromosome physical map. Efforts are under way to close the remaining gaps; however, the sequence is of sufficient accuracy and contiguity to be declared substantially complete and to support an initial analysis of genome structure and preliminary gene annotation and interpretation. The genome encodes approximately 13,600 genes, somewhat fewer than the smaller Caenorhabditis elegans genome, but with comparable functional diversity.     

Modeling the Exchanges of Energy, Water, and Carbon Between Continents and the Atmosphere

Atmospheric general circulation models used for climate simulation and weather forecasting require the fluxes of radiation, heat, water vapor, and momentum across the land-atmosphere interface to be specified. These fluxes are calculated by submodels called land surface parameterizations. Over the last 20 years, these parameterizations have evolved from simple, unrealistic schemes into credible representations of the global soil-vegetation-atmosphere transfer system as advances in plant physiological and hydrological research, advances in satellite data interpretation, and the results of large-scale field experiments have been exploited. Some modern schemes incorporate biogeochemical and ecological knowledge and, when coupled with advanced climate and ocean models, will be capable of modeling the biological and physical responses of the Earth system to global change, for example, increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide.     

The seroprevalence of Johne's disease in Georgia beef and dairy cull cattle.

Beef and dairy cattle serum samples, collected during 2000 at sale barns throughout Georgia, were obtained from the Georgia State Brucellosis Laboratory and were used to conduct a retrospective epidemiological study. Statistical samplings of 5,307 sera, from over 200,000 sera, were tested for antibodies to Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis, (Johne's disease) using a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay test kit. An overall period seroprevalence in all classes of cattle tested was 4.73%. The period seroprevalence in dairy cattle was 9.58%, in beef cattle it was 3.95%, and in cattle of unknown breed it was 4.72%. It was concluded that the seroprevalence of Johne's disease in cull beef and dairy cattle in Georgia is economically significant.