Polymorphism Of A Deep Marine Benthic Bacterium From The Gulf Of Mexico

Blanton, W.George,Blanton, Carol J. The Korean Society of Oceanography 1968 韓國海洋學會誌 Vol.3 No.1

An interesting bacterium (#271) was isolated from the abyssal plain of the Sigsbee Deep of the Gulf of Mexico. The organism exhibits marked polymorphism (baciloid, coryneform and myceloid morphologies) in response to certain cultural conditions. the organism has been observed undergoing reproduction by transverse fission, fragmentation and arthrospore production. The presence of arthrospores indicates the bacterium is a member of the genus Arthrobacter; however, computed affinity coefficients do not confirm this genus. Until further studies have been completed on this isolate the authors are reluctant to place it in a generic group.

Tigecycline for Severe Rickettsioses: Gained Experience Needing a Slight Grain of Salt

Blanton Lucas S.,Faccini-Martínez Álvaro A. 대한감염학회 2022 Infection and Chemotherapy Vol.54 No.3

Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV: Mapping the Milky Way, Nearby Galaxies, and the Distant Universe

Blanton, Michael R.,Bershady, Matthew A.,Abolfathi, Bela,Albareti, Franco D.,Prieto, Carlos Allende,Almeida, Andres,Alonso-Garcí,a, Javier,Anders, Friedrich,Anderson, Scott F.,Andrews, Brett,Aqu American Institute of Physics 2017 The Astronomical journal Vol.154 No.1

<P>We describe the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV (SDSS-IV), a project encompassing three major spectroscopic programs. The Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment 2 (APOGEE-2) is observing hundreds of thousands of Milky Way stars at high resolution and. high signal-to-noise ratios in the near-infrared. The Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey is obtaining spatially resolved spectroscopy for thousands of nearby galaxies (median z similar to 0.03). The extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) is mapping the galaxy, quasar, and neutral gas distributions between z similar to 0.6 and 3.5 to constrain cosmology using baryon acoustic oscillations, redshift space distortions, and the shape of the power spectrum. Within eBOSS, we are conducting two major subprograms: the SPectroscopic IDentification of eROSITA Sources (SPIDERS), investigating X-ray AGNs. and galaxies in X-ray clusters, and the Time Domain Spectroscopic Survey (TDSS), obtaining spectra of variable sources. All programs use the 2.5 m Sloan Foundation Telescope at the. Apache Point Observatory; observations there began in Summer 2014. APOGEE-2 also operates a second near-infrared spectrograph at the 2.5 m du Pont Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory, with observations beginning in early 2017. Observations at both facilities are scheduled to continue through 2020. In keeping with previous SDSS policy, SDSS-IV provides regularly scheduled public data releases; the first one, Data Release 13, was made available in 2016 July.</P>

Ascophyllum Nodosum Supplementation Strategies That Improve Overall Carcass Merit of Implanted English Crossbred Cattle

Anderson, M.J.,Blanton, J.R. Jr.,Gleghorn, J.,Kim, S.W.,Johnson, J.W. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2006 Animal Bioscience Vol.19 No.10

English crossbred steers (n = 32) and heifers (n = 32) were fed a corn-based finishing diet and supplemented with 2% Ascophyllum nodosum on a DM basis to for various feeding stages of the 119 d feeding period determine the supplementation strategy that maximized intramuscular fat deposition as determined by quality grade. All cattle were implanted with Ralgro$^{(R)}$ on d 36 of the trial and re-implanted with Revalor-S$^{(R)}$ or Revalor-H$^{(R)}$ on d 92. Cattle were blocked by sex and divided into one control and three treatment groups receiving Ascophyllum nodosum. Treatment 1 (trt 1) received Ascophyllum nodosum from d 36 to 50 of the feeding period, trt 2 received Ascophyllum nodosum for the last 14 d of the feeding period, and trt 3 which received Ascophyllum nodosum for both d 36-50 and the last 14 d of the feeding period. Cattle were weighted initially ($385{\pm}4.53kg$) and every 28 d following until they reach an average BW of $554{\pm}7.46kg$. No effect for Ascophyllum nodosum supplementation was found on measured performance characteristics. All treatment groups supplemented with Ascophyllum nodosum had higher actual marbling scores (p<0.05) than controls. Trt 1 was found to have a highest marbling score (572.5; p<0.05), whereas the control group having the lowest marbling score (473.8). Trt 1 had a higher quality grade (5.25; p<0.05) than the control (3.94) group, but did not differ from trt 2 (4.56; p = 0.105) and trt 3 (4.75; p = 0.236) where high Select = 4, and low Choice = 5. Trt 2 did not differ from trt 3 (p = 0.655), or the control group (p = 0.140) for quality grade. However, trt 3 did tend to differ (p = 0.057) from the control group for quality grade. Control group animals graded 25% Choice, 62.5% Select; trt 1 graded 75% Choice, 18.8% Select; trt 2 graded 62.5% Choice, 25% Select and trt 3 graded 56.3% Choice and 31.2% Select. Overall, treatment groups had a 39.6% increase in Choice quality grade and a 37.5% decrease in Select quality grade when compared to the control animals.

Cosmological constraints from the SDSS luminous red galaxies

Tegmark, Max,Eisenstein, Daniel J.,Strauss, Michael A.,Weinberg, David H.,Blanton, Michael R.,Frieman, Joshua A.,Fukugita, Masataka,Gunn, James E.,Hamilton, Andrew J. S.,Knapp, Gillian R.,Nichol, Robe American Physical Society 2006 PHYSICAL REVIEW D - Vol.74 No.12

Characterization of Leptin Levels in Gestating Callipyge Ewes

Fleming-Waddell, J.N.,Keisler, D.H.,Jackson, S.P.,Blanton, J.R. Jr. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2007 Animal Bioscience Vol.20 No.1

The callipyge mutation in sheep is a polar overdominant mutation that results in post-natal muscle hypertrophy in the loin and hindquarters of paternal heterozygotes (+/CLPG). Sheep that are homozygous for the callipyge allele (CLPG/CLPG) do not express the muscle hypertrophy phenotype, but serve as carriers for the mutation. Callipyge sheep are characterized by improved feed efficiencies and leaner carcasses. Leptin is a protein hormone secreted from adipose tissue and has been found to affect appetite and serve as an indicator of body fat mass. To date, very little knowledge is available as to the effect of the callipyge mutation on circulating leptin levels. Due to the interaction of leptin with feed intake and energy availability, and the fact that the majority of fetal growth occurs in late gestation, it is important to understand if the callipyge mutation interacts with leptin production in late gestational ewes. Therefore, our objective was to characterize serum concentrations of leptin in late gestational callipyge ewes vs. non-callipyge ewes. We evaluated genetically verified callipyge (n=6), homozygous (n=8) and normal (n=8) ewes weekly during the last eight wks of gestation through one wk post-partum. Weights were taken and body condition scores were assigned by trained personnel weekly. Blood was collected via jugular venipuncture on each sampling date and subjected to an ovine-specific leptin RIA. Genotype influences on peripheral concentrations of leptin were found to be highly significant (p=0.0005). Total leptin means for +/CLPG were 5.41${\pm}$0.40 ng/ml, CLPG/CLPG 8.11${\pm}$0.70 ng/ml, and +/+ 9.13${\pm}$0.93 ng/ml. Sampling date was also significant (p=0.0098) with all ewes showing a decrease in leptin levels throughout gestation and parturition. Using repeated measures, we were able to detect lower levels of plasma leptin in callipyge ewes, which may be indicative of their lower overall body fat content. These results indicate that the callipyge phenotype decreases the levels of adipose tissue and leptin production in gestating ewes.

Environmental Dependence of Properties of Galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

Yun-Young Choi,Changbom Park,Michael S. Vogeley,J. Richard Gott Ⅲ,Michael R. Blanton 한국천문학회 2006 天文學會報 Vol.31 No.2

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Quasar Catalog: Fourteenth data release

Pâ,ris, Isabelle,Petitjean, Patrick,Aubourg, É,ric,Myers, Adam D.,Streblyanska, Alina,Lyke, Brad W.,Anderson, Scott F.,Armengaud, É,ric,Bautista, Julian,Blanton, Michael R.,Blomqvist, Springer-Verlag 2018 Astronomy and astrophysics Vol.613 No.-

<P>We present the data release 14 Quasar catalog (DR14Q) from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV (SDSS-IV). This catalog includes all SDSS-IV/eBOSS objects that were spectroscopically targeted as quasar candidates and that are confirmed as quasars via a new automated procedure combined with a partial visual inspection of spectra, have luminosities <I>M</I>i [<I>z</I> = 2] < −20.5 (in a Λ CDM cosmology with <I>H</I>0 = 70 km s<SUP>−1</SUP> Mpc<SUP>−1</SUP>, Ω M =0.3, and Ω Λ = 0.7), and either display at least one emission line with a full width at half maximum larger than 500 km s<SUP>−1</SUP> or, if not, have interesting/complex absorption features. The catalog also includes previously spectroscopically-confirmed quasars from SDSS-I, II, and III. The catalog contains 526 356 quasars (144 046 are new discoveries since the beginning of SDSS-IV) detected over 9376 deg<SUP>2</SUP> (2044 deg<SUP>2</SUP> having new spectroscopic data available) with robust identification and redshift measured by a combination of principal component eigenspectra. The catalog is estimated to have about 0.5% contamination. Redshifts are provided for the Mg II emission line. The catalog identifies 21 877 broad absorption line quasars and lists their characteristics. For each object, the catalog presents five-band (<I>u</I>, <I>g</I>, <I>r</I>, <I>i</I>, <I>z</I>) CCD-based photometry with typical accuracy of 0.03 mag. The catalog also contains X-ray, ultraviolet, near-infrared, and radio emission properties of the quasars, when available, from other large-area surveys. The calibrated digital spectra, covering the wavelength region 3610-10 140 Å at a spectral resolution in the range 1300 < <I>R</I> < 2500, can be retrieved from the SDSS Science Archiver Server.</P>

Spectroscopic needs for imaging dark energy experiments

Newman, J.A.,Abate, A.,Abdalla, F.B.,Allam, S.,Allen, S.W.,Ansari, R.,Bailey, S.,Barkhouse, W.A.,Beers, T.C.,Blanton, M.R.,Brodwin, M.,Brownstein, J.R.,Brunner, R.J.,Carrasco Kind, M.,Cervantes-Cota, North-Holland 2015 Astroparticle physics Vol.63 No.-

Ongoing and near-future imaging-based dark energy experiments are critically dependent upon photometric redshifts (a.k.a. photo-z's): i.e., estimates of the redshifts of objects based only on flux information obtained through broad filters. Higher-quality, lower-scatter photo-z's will result in smaller random errors on cosmological parameters; while systematic errors in photometric redshift estimates, if not constrained, may dominate all other uncertainties from these experiments. The desired optimization and calibration is dependent upon spectroscopic measurements for secure redshift information; this is the key application of galaxy spectroscopy for imaging-based dark energy experiments. Hence, to achieve their full potential, imaging-based experiments will require large sets of objects with spectroscopically-determined redshifts, for two purposes:*Training: Objects with known redshift are needed to map out the relationship between object color and z (or, equivalently, to determine empirically-calibrated templates describing the rest-frame spectra of the full range of galaxies, which may be used to predict the color-z relation). The ultimate goal of training is to minimize each moment of the distribution of differences between photometric redshift estimates and the true redshifts of objects, making the relationship between them as tight as possible. The larger and more complete our ''training set'' of spectroscopic redshifts is, the smaller the RMS photo-z errors should be, increasing the constraining power of imaging experiments. Requirements: Spectroscopic redshift measurements for ~30,000 objects over >~15 widely-separated regions, each at least ~20arcmin in diameter, and reaching the faintest objects used in a given experiment, will likely be necessary if photometric redshifts are to be trained and calibrated with conventional techniques. Larger, more complete samples (i.e., with longer exposure times) can improve photo-z algorithms and reduce scatter further, enhancing the science return from planned experiments greatly (increasing the Dark Energy Task Force figure of merit by up to ~50%). Options: This spectroscopy will most efficiently be done by covering as much of the optical and near-infrared spectrum as possible at modestly high spectral resolution (λ/Δλ>~3000), while maximizing the telescope collecting area, field of view on the sky, and multiplexing of simultaneous spectra. The most efficient instrument for this would likely be either the proposed GMACS/MANIFEST spectrograph for the Giant Magellan Telescope or the OPTIMOS spectrograph for the European Extremely Large Telescope, depending on actual properties when built. The PFS spectrograph at Subaru would be next best and available considerably earlier, c. 2018; the proposed ngCFHT and SSST telescopes would have similar capabilities but start later. Other key options, in order of increasing total time required, are the WFOS spectrograph at TMT, MOONS at the VLT, and DESI at the Mayall 4m telescope (or the similar 4MOST and WEAVE projects); of these, only DESI, MOONS, and PFS are expected to be available before 2020. Table 2-3 of this white paper summarizes the observation time required at each facility for strawman training samples. To attain secure redshift measurements for a high fraction of targeted objects and cover the full redshift span of future experiments, additional near-infrared spectroscopy will also be required; this is best done from space, particularly with WFIRST-2.4 and JWST. Calibration: The first several moments of redshift distributions (the mean, RMS redshift dispersion, etc.), must be known to high accuracy for cosmological constraints not to be systematics-dominated (equivalently, the moments of the distribution of differences between photometric and true redshifts could be determined instead). The ultimate goal of calibration is to characterize these moments for every subsample used in analyses - i.e., to minimi