North Carolina State University

About: North Carolina State University is a education organization based out in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Thin film. The organization has 44161 authors who have published 101744 publications receiving 3456774 citations. The organization is also known as: NCSU & North Carolina State University at Raleigh.

Role of antioxidants and trace elements in health and immunity of transition dairy cows.

Abstract: A number of antioxidants and trace minerals have important roles in immune function and may affect health in transition dairy cows. Vitamin E and β-carotene are important cellular antioxidants. Selenium (Se) is involved in the antioxidant system via its role in the enzyme glutathione peroxidase. Inadequate dietary vitamin E or Se decreases neutrophil function during the perpariturient period. Supplementation of vitamin E and/or Se has reduced the incidence of mastitis and retained placenta, and reduced duration of clinical symptoms of mastitis in some experiments. Research has indicated that β-carotene supplementation may enhance immunity and reduce the incidence of retained placenta and metritis in dairy cows. Marginal copper deficiency resulted in reduced neutrophil killing and decreased interferon production by mononuclear cells. Copper supplementation of a diet marginal in copper reduced the peak clinical response during experimental Escherichia coli mastitis. Limited research indicated that chromium supplementation during the transition period may increase immunity and reduce the incidence of retained placenta.

Gene drive systems for insect disease vectors

Abstract: The elegant mechanisms by which naturally occurring selfish genetic elements, such as transposable elements, meiotic drive genes, homing endonuclease genes and Wolbachia, spread at the expense of their hosts provide some of the most fascinating and remarkable subjects in evolutionary genetics These elements also have enormous untapped potential to be used in the control of some of the world's most devastating diseases Effective gene drive systems for spreading genes that can block the transmission of insect-borne pathogens are much needed Here we explore the potential of natural gene drive systems and discuss the artificial constructs that could be envisaged for this purpose

Observing the unwatchable through acceleration logging of animal behavior

Abstract: Behavior is an important mechanism of evolution and it is paid for through energy expenditure. Nevertheless, field biologists can rarely observe animals for more than a fraction of their daily activities and attempts to quantify behavior for modeling ecological processes often exclude cryptic yet important behavioral events. Over the past few years, an explosion of research on remote monitoring of animal behavior using acceleration sensors has smashed the decades-old limits of observational studies. Animal-attached accelerometers measure the change in velocity of the body over time and can quantify fine-scale movements and body postures unlimited by visibility, observer bias, or the scale of space use. Pioneered more than a decade ago, application of accelerometers as a remote monitoring tool has recently surged thanks to the development of more accessible hardware and software. It has been applied to more than 120 species of animals to date. Accelerometer measurements are typically collected in three dimensions of movement at very high resolution (>10 Hz), and have so far been applied towards two main objectives. First, the patterns of accelerometer waveforms can be used to deduce specific behaviors through animal movement and body posture. Second, the variation in accelerometer waveform measurements has been shown to correlate with energy expenditure, opening up a suite of scientific questions in species notoriously difficult to observe in the wild. To date, studies of wild aquatic species outnumber wild terrestrial species and analyses of social behaviors are particularly few in number. Researchers of domestic and captive species also tend to report methodology more thoroughly than those studying species in the wild. There are substantial challenges to getting the most out of accelerometers, including validation, calibration, and the management and analysis of large quantities of data. In this review, we illustrate how accelerometers work, provide an overview of the ecological questions that have employed accelerometry, and highlight the emerging best practices for data acquisition and analysis. This tool offers a level of detail in behavioral studies of free-ranging wild animals that has previously been impossible to achieve and, across scientific disciplines, it improves understanding of the role of behavioral mechanisms in ecological and evolutionary processes.

The Calculus of M-Estimation

Abstract: Since the seminal papers by Huber in the 1960s, M-estimation methods (also known as estimating equation methods) have been increasingly important for asymptotic analysis and approximate inference. This article illustrates the breadth and generality of the M-estimation approach, thereby facilitating its use inpractice and in the classroom as a unifying approach to the study of large-sample inference.