MERGERS, CONSOLIDATIONS, ACQUISITIONS: EFFECT ON PERFORMANCE OF AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVES

Reorganization has been promoted as a means to strengthen the position of cooperatives within the agricultural economy. The purpose of this study is to determine if agricultural cooperatives that reorganized through merger, acquisition, or consolidation have improved their financial performance. Although the research suggests reorganization may not be beneficial to the strongest cooperative in either the short or longer run, at least 33% of the observed reorganizations can be classified as unqualified successes. The data include 53 cooperatives involved in 24 reorganizations.Agribusiness, Industrial Organization,

A Comparison of the treatment of ecclesiastical figures in Chaucer’s Canterbury tales and Langland’s Vision of William concerning Piers the Plowman

The Thesis attempts a comparative examination of literary techniques used by Chaucer and Langland in their characterisation of religious figures and their reflection of the religious practices in the fourteenths century. The study is divided into three main sections, the first two of which accord separate treatment to ecclesiastical characters in the Canterbury Tales and Piers Plowman respectively. The third section attempts to draw together the separate observation made previously in a comparative study of particular literary techniques under the five separate heading of characterisation, Irony, Metaphor, word play and conventional devices. The choice of ecclesiastical figures as the basis of a comparative treatment has been made because of the large amount of space devoted by each poet of these figures. The thesis attempts to show that Chaucer’s characters are invested with humanly recognisable traits which make them a blend of individual human beings with unique characteristics and ecclesiastical types, representatives of a total class. Chaucer seems more tolerant of human foibles, less ready to criticise directly, more willing to reveal what he sees and to permit the reader to judge for himself. However, he appears to assume in the reader a knowledge of the ideals of behaviour incumbent upon the characters he portrays. Landland, on the other hand, appears to lack the tolerance, or willingness, simply to reveal the weakness of his ecclesiastics. Throughout his poem his method is to express an opinion directly and to reinforce his attack by example examples drawn from literature and from scripture. The element of realistic characterisation is rare in his treatment of ecclesiastical figures, so that his work has a more consciously serious tone, which draws a dark picture of the consequences of religious abuse. The thesis concludes by attempting to show just how particular techniques demonstrate a difference in attitude between the two poets

Detection of Fumonisin B1 and Ochratoxin A in Grain Products Using Microsphere-Based Fluid Array Immunoassays

Grain products are a staple of diets worldwide and therefore, the ability to accurately and efficiently detect foodborne contaminants such as mycotoxins is of importance to everyone. Here we describe an indirect competitive fluid array fluoroimmunoassay to quantify the mycotoxins, fumonisin B1 and ochratoxin A. Both toxins were immobilized to the surface of microspheres using a variety of intermediate molecules and binding of biotinylated "tracer" antibody tracers determined through flow cytometry using streptavidin-phycoerythrin conjugates and the Luminex100 flow cytometer. Competitive assays were developed where the binding of biotinylated monoclonal antibodies to fumonisin B and ochratoxin A was competitively inhibited by different concentrations of those toxins in solution. Concentrations of fumonisin giving 50% inhibition were 300 pg/mL in buffer, 100 ng/g in spiked oats, and 1 μg/g in spiked cornmeal; analogous concentrations for ochratoxin A were 30 ng/mL in buffer, 30 ng/g in spiked oats, and 10 ng/g in spiked corn. The future challenge will be to expand the number of mycotoxins tested both individually and in multiplexed format using this platform

Teaching Archival Research Methods through Projects in Ethnohistory

During the spring semester of 2015 and the fall semester of 2016, two cohorts of students at the University of Alaska Anchorage learned archival research skills as part of their methodological training in the course, Ethnohistory of Alaska Natives, which subsequently led to the development of further individual research projects. As part of the course, students provided metadata to folders within an archival collection. This article explores the semester long projects, including the hardships of finding and using culturally appropriate metadata, lessons learned, and the impact the project had on students, the archivist, and instructor

Reduction of Non-Specific Protein Adsorption Using Poly(ethylene) Glycol (PEG) Modified Polyacrylate Hydrogels In Immunoassays for Staphylococcal Enterotoxin B Detection

Three PEG molecules (PEG-methacrylate, -diacrylate and -dimethacrylate) were incorporated into galactose-based polyacrylate hydrogels and their relative abilities to reduce non-specific protein adsorption in immunoassays were determined. Highly crosslinked hydrogels containing amine-terminated functionalities were formed and used to covalently attach antibodies specific for staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB). Patterned arrays of immobilized antibodies in the PEG-modified hydrogels were created with a PDMS template containing micro-channels for use in sandwich immunoassays to detect SEB. Different concentrations of the toxin were applied to the hydrogel arrays, followed with a Cy3-labeled tracer antibody specific for the two toxins. Fluorescence laser scanning confocal microscopy of the tracer molecules provided both qualitative and quantitative measurements on the detection sensitivity and the reduction in non-specific binding as a result of PEG incorporation. Results showed the PEG-modified hydrogel significantly reduced non-specific protein binding with a detection limit for SEB of 1 ng/mL. Fluorescence signals showed a 10-fold decrease in the non-specific binding and a 6-fold increase in specific binding of SEB

Targeted Deposition of Antibodies on a Multiplex CMOS Microarray and Optimization of a Sensitive Immunoassay Using Electrochemical Detection

The CombiMatrix ElectraSense microarray is a highly multiplex, complementary metal oxide semiconductor with 12,544 electrodes that are individually addressable. This platform is commercially available as a custom DNA microarray; and, in this configuration, it has also been used to tether antibodies (Abs) specifically on electrodes using complementary DNA sequences conjugated to the Abs.An empirical method is described for developing and optimizing immunoassays on the CombiMatrix ElectraSense microarray based upon targeted deposition of polypyrrole (Ppy) and capture Ab. This process was automated using instrumentation that can selectively apply a potential or current to individual electrodes and also measure current generated at the electrodes by an enzyme-enhanced electrochemical (ECD) reaction. By designating groups of electrodes on the array for different Ppy deposition conditions, we determined that the sensitivity and specificity of a sandwich immunoassay for staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) is influenced by the application of different voltages or currents and the application time. The sandwich immunoassay used a capture Ab adsorbed to the Ppy and a reporter Ab labeled for fluorescence detection or ECD, and results from these methods of detection were different.Using Ppy deposition conditions for optimum results, the lower limit of detection for SEB using the ECD assay was between 0.003 and 0.01 pg/ml, which represents an order of magnitude improvement over a conventional enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay. In the absence of understanding the variables and complexities that affect assay performance, this highly multiplexed electrode array provided a rapid, high throughput, and empirical approach for developing a sensitive immunoassay

IMMU-30. UTILIZING A NOVEL MASS CYTOMETRY-BASED IMMUNOMONITORING PLATFORM FOR THE CHARACTERIZATION OF VACCINE-REACTIVE, EPITOPE-SPECIFIC CD8+ T-CELLS IN HLA-A*0201+ PATIENTS WITH K27M+ DIFFUSE MIDLINE GLIOMAS

Abstract Diffuse midline glioma (DMG), including diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) constitutes up to 20% of pediatric brain cancer and has a median survival of less than one year. We have identified a novel HLA-A*02:01-restricted neoantigen epitope encompassing the H3.3K27M mutation and implemented a pilot clinical trial through the Pacific Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Consortium (PNOC007). Newly diagnosed DIPG patients who are HLA-A2+ and H3.3K27M+ underwent radiation therapy, and then received the H3.3K27M peptide vaccine and tetanus toxoid (TT) peptide emulsified in Montanide in combination with poly-ICLC every 3 weeks for a total of 24 weeks. Our objective is to characterize vaccine-induced H3.3K27M-specific T-cell subpopulations in peripheral blood mononuclear cells through the evaluation of surface markers correlated with activation, memory, and exhaustion phenotypes utilizing a novel H3.3K27M-specific dextramer-based mass cytometry method. Through this approach, the temporal expansion of vaccine-reactive CD8+ T-cells was observed in all of patients (n = 4) who completed a minimum of 18 weeks on the study. These T-cells were subsequently stratified into discrete clusters on a tSNE plot using canonical CD8+ T-cell markers. Resultant clusters were further classified by their expression profiles, revealing distinct effector memory and exhausted subpopulations. Chronological monitoring of these groups indicates the time course-dependent development and persistence of vaccine-reactive exhausted and effector memory CD8+ T-cells in 75% of patients analyzed. Furthermore, a comparative analysis of myeloid subpopulations revealed an inverse correlation between the expansion of monocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells (M-MDSCs) and length of enrollment in the trial. Future plans include the analysis of regulatory T-cells (Tregs) and MDSCs of all enrolled patients to solidify the relationship between the length of stay on the study and prevalence of immunosuppressive populations. This methodology offers insight into the progression of vaccine-induced patient immune responses and exhibits promise as a platform that may be extrapolated to other immunotherapies

An automotive engine charge-air intake conditioner system: analysis of fuel economy benefits in a gasoline engine application

A combination of analytical techniques has been used to quantify the potential fuel economy benefits of an automotive engine charge-air intake conditioner system applied to a spark-ignited gasoline engine. This system employs a compressor, intercooler, and expander to provide increased charge density with the possibility of reducing charge-air temperature below sink temperature. This reduction in charge-air temperature provides the potential for improved knock resistance at full load; thereby allowing the possibility of increasing compression ratio with corresponding benefits in thermodynamic cycle efficiency and part-load fuel economy. The four linked and interfaced models comprised a first-law thermodynamic model of the charge-air conditioner system, a one-dimensional engine cycle simulation, a two-zone combustion model, and a knock criterion model. An analysis was carried out under full load at 3000 r/min and showed that a charge-air conditioner system - with compressor, intercooler, and expander efficiencies of 0.8 - allowed the compression ratio to be increased by approximately half a ratio, which gave up to 1.5 per cent reduction in brake specific fuel consumption at 2000 r/min 2 bar brake mean effective pressure when compared with a conventional pressure charger intercooler system with no expander