Louisiana State University of Alexandria

Castor oil, produced from castor beans, has long been considered to be of important commercial value primarily for the manufacturing of soaps, lubricants, and coatings, among others. Global castor oil production is concentrated primarily in a small geographic region of Gujarat in Western India. This region is favorable due to its labor-intensive cultivation method and subtropical climate conditions. Entrepreneurs and castor processors in the United States and South America also cultivate castor beans but are faced with the challenge of achieving high castor oil production efficiency, as well as obtaining the desired oil quality. In this manuscript, we provide a detailed analysis of novel processing methods involved in castor oil production. We discuss novel processing methods by explaining specific processing parameters involved in castor oil production.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence, prevalence, and outcomes of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in a geographically defined community. METHODS: Using the Rochester Epidemiology Project computerized medical record system, we screened all records of Olmsted County, Minnesota, residents with any diagnosis consistent with psoriasis and/or PsA made between January 1, 1982 and December 31, 1991. Medical records were reviewed using a pretested data collection form. Only those cases of psoriasis where the diagnosis was confirmed by a dermatologist were included. PsA was defined as inflammatory arthritis associated with a definite diagnosis of psoriasis. All identified cases were followed until death, migration from the county, or January 1, 1992. Cases with seropositive rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, crystal induced arthritis, Reiter's syndrome, arthritis associated with inflammatory bowel diseases, and inflammatory osteoarthritis were excluded. Clinical characteristics were described using summary statistics. Age and sex adjusted incidence and prevalence rates were calculated. Survival was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: We reviewed the records of 1844 patients with a diagnosis of psoriasis. In 1056 of these, the diagnosis was confirmed by a dermatologist. Among these 1056 psoriasis cases, we identified 66 cases (34 female, 32 male) of PsA first diagnosed between 1982 and 1991. The average age and sex adjusted incidence rate per 100,000 US population was 6.59 (95% confidence interval, CI, 4.99, 8.19) and the prevalence on January 1, 1992, was about one per 1000 (95% CI 0.81, 1.21). The average age at diagnosis was 40.7 years. At diagnosis, 91, 3, and 6% of cases had oligoarthritis, polyarthritis, and spondylitis, respectively. Over the 477.8 person-years of followup, 25 developed extraarticular manifestations (enthesitis, n = 15; ocular inflammation, n = 11; urethritis, n = 9), 10 patients received disease modifying antirheumatic drug treatment (methotrexate, n = 7; sulfasalazine, n = 5; intramuscular gold, n = 1; oral gold, n = 1), 3 received corticosteroids, and 5 had surgical interventions (synovectomy, n = 3; arthroplasty, n = 1; other reconstructive surgery, n = 2). Survival was not significantly different from the general population (p = 0.546). CONCLUSION: Unlike results from previous referral based studies, our findings indicate that PsA is a mild, uncommon inflammatory arthritis, not associated with a significant increase in mortality.

Rates of biodiversity loss are higher in freshwater ecosystems than in most terrestrial or marine ecosystems, making freshwater conservation a priority. However, prioritization methods are impeded by insufficient knowledge on the distribution and conservation status of freshwater taxa, particularly invertebrates. We evaluated the extinction risk of the world's 590 freshwater crayfish species using the IUCN Categories and Criteria and found 32% of all species are threatened with extinction. The level of extinction risk differed between families, with proportionally more threatened species in the Parastacidae and Astacidae than in the Cambaridae. Four described species were Extinct and 21% were assessed as Data Deficient. There was geographical variation in the dominant threats affecting the main centres of crayfish diversity. The majority of threatened US and Mexican species face threats associated with urban development, pollution, damming and water management. Conversely, the majority of Australian threatened species are affected by climate change, harvesting, agriculture and invasive species. Only a small proportion of crayfish are found within the boundaries of protected areas, suggesting that alternative means of long-term protection will be required. Our study highlights many of the significant challenges yet to come for freshwater biodiversity unless conservation planning shifts from a reactive to proactive approach.

There is no escaping the Big Data hype. Vendors are peddling Big Data solutions; consulting firms employ Big Data specialists; Big Data conferences are aplenty. There is a rush to extract golden nuggets (of insight) from mountains (of data). By focusing merely on the mountain (of Big Data), these adventurers are overlooking the source of the revolution—namely, the many digital data streams (DDSs) that create Big Data—and the opportunity to improve real-time decision making. This article discusses the characteristics of DDSs, describes their common structure, and offers guidelines to enable firms to profit from their untapped potential.

The Good Behavior Game (GBG) is a powerful group contingency with a history of documented empirical support. The purpose of this study was to compare two interdependent group contingencies, the GBG and a positive variation, the Caught Being Good Game (CBGG), in a school implementing school-wide positive behavior support. A kindergarten and fourth-grade classroom teacher with 17 and 20 students, respectively, implemented both versions of the game in a counterbalanced fashion. Using a withdrawal design, results showed similar effects on disruptive and on-task behaviors. The CBGG is discussed as an effective variation of the GBG that is acceptable to both teachers and students.

Abstract Children's physical inactivity is an important health concern, and, as suggested, school efforts can be important in increasing activity. The purpose of this study was to use collective efficacy as a framework to examine elementary classroom teachers' and principals' perceptions about integrating physical activity. Three hundred fourteen elementary teachers and 38 school principals completed survey information to assess variables related to their efficacy in activities to promote physical activity. Participants acknowledged the importance of children's physical activity and their willingness to integrate movement. Willingness to integrate was related to individual and collective efficacy, but personal involvement in physical activity was not. Mastery experiences were most influential in predicting strength of individual efficacy; institutional environment was the strongest predictor of collective efficacy.

Isolates of Cercospora kikuchii, a soybean (Glycine max) pathogen causing Cercospora leaf blight and purple seed stain, were tested to determine baseline sensitivities (n = 50) to selected quinone outside inhibitor (QoI) fungicides by conducting radial growth assays on fungicide-amended media. Baseline effective fungicide concentration to inhibit 50% of fungal radial growth (EC 50 ) values were compared with EC 50 values for isolates collected in 2011 (n = 50), 2012 (n = 50), and 2013 (n = 36) throughout soybean-producing areas in Louisiana. Median EC 50 values for isolates subjected to QoI fungicides were significantly (P = 0.05) higher across all 3 years. Cross-resistance to QoI fungicides was observed in resistant isolates collected in 2011 to 2013. Discriminatory doses were developed for QoI fungicides to distinguish between sensitive and resistant isolates. On average, 89% of all isolates screened in 2011 to 2013 were resistant to QoI fungicides. At a discriminatory dose of thiophanate methyl (TM), a methyl benzimidazole carbamate (MBC) fungicide, at 5 μg/ml, resistance was detected in the 2000, 2011, 2012, and 2013 collections at 23, 38, 29, and 36%, respectively. Isolates exhibiting multiple resistance to QoI fungicides and TM also were detected in 2011, 2012, and 2013 at frequencies of 34, 26, and 31%, respectively. Based on these results, Cercospora leaf blight management strategies in Louisiana using solo applications of QoI or MBC fungicides in soybean should be reconsidered.

Intensive cereal management can increase the yield and performance of winter wheat ( Triticum aestivum L. emend. Thell.), but wet soils often delay planting along the Gulf Coast. Field experiments were conducted at four locations in 1991 and two locations in 1992 to evaluate the effects of two seeding rates (84 or 168 kg ha −1 ) and two. topdress N rates (90 or 90 + 45 kg ha −1 ) for an early and late‐maturing cultivar planted at a recommended date or 35 d later. Main effects were generally more significant than interactions except for those involving environment (year‐location). Late planting resulted in significant reduction in grain yield even though more spikes per square meter were produced. Wheat kernels from the recommended planting date were heavier and each spike contained more kernels, which resulted in higher grain yield. Additional N significantly increased yield when the crop was planted at the recommended date by increasing kernels per spike and spikes per square meter, but did not increase yield of the late‐planted crop. Grain yield was not affected by seeding rate for the early planted wheat. Seeding rate effects were influenced by the environment for late planting; however, there was evidence that the higher seeding rate increased yield of the late‐planted crop. Delayed planting reduced yields due to a decrease in kernel weight and kernel number per spike, but the magnitude of yield loss was reduced by using an early‐maturing cultivar and a higher seeding rate.

Cannabis use is frequent in HIV-infected individuals for its appetite stimulation and anti-inflammatory effects. To identify the underlying molecular mechanisms associated with these effects, we simultaneously profiled micro-RNA (miRNA) and mRNA expression in the colon of chronically simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-infected rhesus macaques administered either vehicle (VEH/SIV; n=9) or Δ9- tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC; THC/SIV; n=8). Proinflammatory miR-130a, miR-222 and miR-29b, lipopolysaccharide-responsive miR-146b-5p and SIV-induced miR-190b were significantly upregulated in VEH/SIV rhesus macaques. Compared to VEH/SIV rhesus macaques, 10 miRNAs were significantly upregulated in THC/SIV rhesus macaques, among which miR-204 was confirmed to directly target MMP8, an extracellular matrix-degrading collagenase that was significantly downregulated in THC/SIV rhesus macaques. Moreover, THC/SIV rhesus macaques failed to upregulate proinflammatory miR-21, miR-141 and miR-222, and alpha/beta-defensins, suggesting attenuated intestinal inflammation. Further, THC/SIV rhesus macaques showed higher expression of tight junction proteins (occludin, claudin-3), anti-inflammatory MUC13, keratin-8 (stress protection), PROM1 (epithelial proliferation) and anti-HIV CCL5. Gomori one-step trichrome staining detected significant collagen deposition (fibrosis) in the paracortex and B cell follicular zones of axillary lymph nodes from all VEH/SIV but none of the THC/SIV rhesus macaques, thus demonstrating the ability of Δ9-THC to prevent lymph node fibrosis, a serious irreversible consequence of HIV induced chronic inflammation. Furthermore, using flow cytometry, we showed that Δ9-THC suppressed intestinal T cell proliferation/activation (Ki67/HLA-DR) and PD-1 expression and increased the percentages of anti-inflammatory CD163+ macrophages. Finally, while Δ9-THC did not affect the levels of CD4+ T cells, it significantly reduced absolute CD8+ T cell numbers in peripheral blood at 150 and 180 days post-SIV infection. These translational findings strongly support a role for differential miRNA/gene induction and T cell activation in Δ9-THC-mediated suppression of intestinal inflammation in HIV/SIV and potentially other chronic inflammatory diseases of the intestine.

The sugarcane borer, Diatraea saccharalis (F.), is a major target of transgenic maize expressing Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) proteins in South America and the mid-Southern region of the United States. During 2007-2009, a total of 986 feral individuals of D. saccharalis were collected from maize fields in six locations of Louisiana and Mississippi and examined for resistance to Cry1Ab maize using F 1/F 2 screens. Major resistance alleles to Cry1Ab maize in the populations sampled from non-Bt maize plants during 2007 and 2008 in Louisiana and 2009 in Mississippi were rare. From a total of 487 individuals collected from three locations in Louisiana in 2007 and 2008, only one individual was identified with major resistance alleles. In addition, no major resistance alleles were detected in 242 individuals collected from three locations in Mississippi in 2009. The frequency of major resistance alleles was estimated to be 0.002 with a 95% CI of 0.00025-0.0057 for the Louisiana populations and < 0.0061, with 95% probability, for the Mississippi populations. The resistance frequency estimated for the Louisiana populations in 2007 and 2008 was not significantly different from those reported previously for populations sampled in 2004-2006. However, among 200 individuals sampled from non-Bt maize plants in 2009 in Louisiana, six individuals were identified to possess major resistance alleles. The estimated major resistance allele frequency for the populations sampled from non-Bt maize plants in 2009 in Louisiana was 0.0176 with a 95% CI of 0.0072 to 0.0328, which was significantly greater than those estimated for the populations collected in 2004-2008. Similarly, the frequency of minor resistance alleles to Cry1Ab maize for the Louisiana populations collected in 2009 was also significantly greater than those estimated for the populations sampled before. In addition, two out of 57 feral individuals collected from Bt maize plants in Louisiana in 2009 were identified to carry major resistance alleles to Cry1Ab maize. Since 2010, transgenic maize expressing pyramided Bt genes has been planted in the US mid-Southern region and by 2011, pyramided Bt maize has replaced Cry1Ab maize as the dominant Bt maize for managing lepidopteran pests including D. saccharalis. The timely switching from single-gene Cry1Ab maize to the pyramided Bt maize should prevent further increases in Cry1Ab resistance allele frequency and thus ensure the continued success of Bt maize for managing D. saccharalis in the region.

In a Louisiana test, heavy utilization during growing seasons following fires applied at 3-year intervals improved forage palatability and nutritive content; the ensuing 2 years of lighter use restored plant vigor. Burning also top-killed brush and aided herbage growth by removing pine litter. Cows with calves gained weight throughout the growing season on rotation-burned range.

ABSTRACT Elucidating the diet of Neotropical migratory birds is essential to our understanding of their ecology and to their long-term conservation. Reductions in prey availability negatively impact Neotropical migrants by affecting their survival as both nestlings and adults. Beyond broad taxonomic or morphological categories, however, the diet of Neotropical migrants is poorly documented. Using the molecular techniques of DNA barcoding and next-generation sequencing, we elucidated the diet of Louisiana Waterthrush (Parkesia motacilla) nestlings in Arkansas and Pennsylvania, USA. Waterthrush have been shown to respond negatively to the reduced availability of aquatic insects in the orders Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT taxa). We hypothesized that Louisiana Waterthrush nestling diet would be primarily composed of these pollution-sensitive aquatic taxa, and that changes in the riparian insect community would be reflected in their diet. Unexpectedly, the orders Lepidoptera (92%) and Diptera (70%) occurred frequently in the diet of Louisiana Waterthrush nestlings. Among EPT taxa, only the order Ephemeroptera (61%) was frequently detected whereas Plecoptera (7%) and Trichoptera (1%) were poorly represented. The frequency at which aquatic Ephemeroptera and terrestrial Lepidoptera were detected in waterthrush nestling diet differed significantly over the nesting period in Pennsylvania but not in Arkansas, suggesting that phenological shifts in the availability of non-EPT prey taxa may be an important yet undescribed factor influencing the foraging ecology of waterthrush on the breeding grounds. Furthermore, these findings suggest that terrestrial insects may be more important to waterthrush nestlings than previously thought, which enhances our understanding of this biological indicator and Neotropical migrant.

The reversing heat capacity of vapor-deposited o-terphenyl glasses was determined by in situ alternating current nanocalorimetry. Glasses were deposited at substrate temperatures ranging from 0.39 Tg to Tg, where Tg is the glass transition temperature. Glasses deposited near 0.85 Tg exhibited very high kinetic stability; a 460 nm film required ∼10(4.8) times the structural relaxation time of the equilibrium supercooled liquid to transform into the liquid state. For the most stable o-terphenyl glasses, the heat capacity was lower than that of the ordinary liquid-cooled glass by (1 ± 0.4)%; this decrease represents half of the difference in heat capacity between the ordinary glass and crystal. Vapor-deposited o-terphenyl glasses exhibit greater kinetic stability than vapor-deposited glasses of indomethacin, in qualitative agreement with recent surface diffusion measurements indicating faster surface diffusion on o-terphenyl glasses. The stable glass to supercooled liquid transformation was thickness-dependent, consistent with transformation via a propagating front initiated at the free surface.

This study investigates the information content of the initial public announce‐ment of an audit qualification for a sample of American firms traded over‐the‐counter. These firms have smaller predisclosure information sets than New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and American Stock Exchange (ASE) firms. The results of research focusing on NYSE and ASE firms cannot, therefore, be extended to the over‐the‐counter (OTC) market. When the qualification is not confined to a ‘bad news’ scenario, a significant market reaction to the announcement is found, indicating that audit qualification announcements for OTC firms do, indeed, have information content.

Abstract Populations of yeasts, bacteria, and filamentous fungi present at various stages of larval development were determined by sampling frass and inner bark adjacent to larval galleries of laboratory‐reared southern pine beetle, Dendroctonus frontalis Zimm. Yeast populations of more than 106 cells/mg were present and greatly exceeded bacteria. Yeasts and bacteria were associated with all stages of larvae. Filamentous fungi were isolated in large amounts only from galleries of later larval stages. Of the eight bacteria that were isolated, Micrococcus luteus (Schroeter) Cohn and Bacillus spp. occurred most frequently isolated of more than 23 species of yeasts identified from D. frontalis larval galleries were Pichia pinus (Holst) Phaff, Candida tenuis Diddens et Lodder, and Hansenula capsulata Wickerham. The high populations of some of the species of yeasts associated with D. frontalis larvae support the contention of many researchers that a symbiotic relationship exists between yeasts and bark beetles. Zusammenfassung Quantitative Untersuchungen über die mit laborgezogenen Dendroctonus frontalis Zimm. (Col., Scolytidae) assoziierten Hefepilze und Bakterien Populationen von Hefepilzen, Bakterien und Fadenpilzen wurden aus Bohrmehl‐ und Brutgangrand‐Proben von im Labor gezogenen D. frontalis während verschiedener Stadien der Larvalentwicklung gewonnen. Hefepilzpopulationen waren in einer Dichte von mehr als 106 Zellen/mg vorhanden und übertrafen damit die Bakterien bei weitem. Beide, Hefepilze und Bakterien, waren mit allen Larvenstadien assoziiert. Fadenpilze konnten in größerer Zahl nur aus den Gängen der älteren Larven isoliert werden. Unter den 8 isolierten Bakterienarten waren Micrococcus luteus (Schroeter) Cohn und Bacillus spp. am häufigsten. Die 3 dominantesten Hefepilze (von 23) aus D. frontalis ‐Brutgängen waren Pichea pinus (Holt) Phaff, Candida tenuis Diddens et Loder sowie Hansenula capsulata Wickerham. Die großen Populationen einiger mit D. frontalis ‐Larven assoziierten Hefearten stützen die Auffassung vieler Autoren, daß zwischen den Hefepilzen und Borkenkäfern symbiotische Beziehungen bestehen.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe the relationship between authentic leadership and the ethic of care (EoC) and to propose that leadership is characterized by the commitment of others that is represented by EoC’s moral perspective. Design/methodology/approach This paper is a conceptual paper that compares authentic leadership characteristics with the moral and ethical elements of EoC. Findings This paper proposes that authentic leadership is closely tied to the commitment of others which characterizes the leader’s moral responsibility and shows how EoC fits with 11 other ethical perspectives in enabling leaders to serve others Originality/value The contribution of this paper lies on its focus on the importance of EoC as a guiding moral perspective in the actions of authentic leaders. Although authentic leadership has been written about extensively, very little has been written to link authentic leadership with the EoC.

The business intelligence (BI) market has grown at a tremendous rate in the past decade due to technological advancements, big data and the availability of open source content. Despite this growth, the use of open government data (OGD) as a source of information is very limited among the private sector due to a lack of knowledge as to its benefits. Scant evidence on the use of OGD by private organizations suggests that it can lead to the creation of innovative ideas as well as assist in making better informed decisions. Given the benefits but lack of use of OGD to generate business intelligence, we extend research in this area by exploring how OGD can be used to generate business intelligence for the identification of market opportunities and strategy formulation; an area of research that is still in its infancy. Using a two-industry case study approach (footwear and lumber), we use latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) topic modeling to extract emerging topics in these two industries from OGD, and a data visualization tool (pyLDAVis) to visualize the topics in order to interpret and transform the data into business intelligence. Additionally, we perform an environmental scanning of the environment for the two industries to validate the usability of the information obtained. The results provide evidence that OGD can be a valuable source of information for generating business intelligence and demonstrate how topic modeling and visualization tools can assist organizations in extracting and analyzing information for the identification of market opportunities.

Field studies were conducted in 2016 and 2017 under rain-fed conditions in south-central Louisiana, (a) to determine the effects of plant density levels on plant height, ear height, stalk diameter, lodging, corn grain yield, test weight, and photosynthetically active radiation with modern corn hybrids in central Louisiana and (b) to test the hypothesis that the response of grain yield to plant population density would depend on the reproductive plasticity (flex, semiflex, or fixed ear) of the hybrids evaluated. Rainfall was above average while air temperatures were below average during the growing season in both years. Grain yield showed a hybrid response in one of two years (fixed ear greater than semiflex ear) while yields increased as plant populations increased. Test weights were less with the fixed ear hybrid and the effect of plant populations was inconsistent with increased populations resulting in greater test weight in one of two years. Lodging increased as plant populations increased with the fixed ear hybrid resulting in greater lodging in one of two years. There was a hybrid by plant population interaction for ear height and seed weight. The effect of plant populations is an important factor for corn yield; however, yield gains associated with higher plant populations may be dependent on the genetic predisposition of corn hybrids (regardless of the reproductive plasticity) to tolerate various environmental conditions and stresses associated with higher populations.

Upper temperature tolerances of channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus were determined with the critical thermal maximum (CTM) method after fish were exposed to various sublethal concentrations of nitrite for 24 hours at 20°C. The CTM was inversely related to nitrite concentration (r = -0.71; P < 0.01); group means ranged from 38.0°C for controls to 35.9°C for fish exposed to 1.4 mg NO2/L. As expected from previous studies, percent methemoglobin (a nonoxygen-carrying form of hemoglobin) was correlated with nitrite concentration (r = 0.85; P < 0.01), and thus was inversely correlated with CTM (r = -0.68; P < 0.01). These results indicate that nitrite-temperature interactions have the potential of adversely affecting the productivity of high-density channel catfish aquaculture systems, particularly those located in the southern U.S. during summer. Received June 5, 1984 Accepted November 28, 1984

This study used an uncontrolled pre–post design in the context of a 16-week comprehensive school physical activity promotion (CSPAP) course to examine relationships between and changes in preservice classroom teachers’ (PCTs; N = 103) efficacy beliefs about integrating movement in the academic classroom, willingness to integrate movement, and perceived barriers to movement integration. Efficacy beliefs were not correlated with willingness to integrate. Perceived barriers correlated with willingness to integrate at the beginning and end of the course and with efficacy beliefs at the beginning of the course. MANOVA with repeated measures indicated collective efficacy beliefs (i.e., beliefs about the capability of peers and practicing classroom teachers to integrate movement) strengthened and the number of perceived barriers decreased. Results highlight the relationship between perceived barriers and willingness to integrate movement and also suggest preservice programs could help to foster PCTs’ collective efficacy and reduce perceived barriers, although experimental research is needed.