The effects of selected criteria on the sale price of performance tested bulls

The objective of this study was to partition the total variability of sale price received for performance tested bulls into that which is attributed to various selected criteria. The records of seven Tennessee performance tested bull sales were included. These records were collected from year 1973 through 1979 and consisted of 52 Hereford, 193 Angus and 321 Polled Hereford bulls. The mean sale price varied greatly among years with a low of $707 in 1974 to a high in 1978 of$1521. Realizing the tremendous amount of inflation that has occurred during this time interval, an analysis was performed in which the consumer price index (CPI) was entered into the model as a co-variate to adjust for inflation. The prices of slaughter bulls (SB) and slaughter cows (SO) as well as market prices of feeder calves (FC) were also entered to adjust for yearly market fluctuations. Performance data were entered into the model last in a logical order relating to the ease of obtainability by the buyer. Results of the subsequent analysis indicated that 54 percent of the total variability was explained by the model. The CPI accounted for 8.61 percent of the total explained variation. Market prices, when considered sequentially after CPI, were responsible for 27.2 percent. The addition of performance data explained the remaining 18 percent of the variability explained by the model. A second analysis was conducted in which the variability of price was partitioned into the constituents of a mathematical model which included the effects of year, breed and year by breed interaction as independent variables. This analysis indicated that the effect of year was very highly significant (P \u3c .0001) as well as the year by breed interaction (P \u3c .0001). Breed was also significant (P \u3c .05). A third analysis to evaluate the effects of performance informa-tion alone on sale price was conducted. Buyers found sale-day age and 365-day weight to significantly (P \u3c .05) explain variation in sale price of bulls irregardless of breed. Major breed differences occurred with 205-day weight. This variable was only significant for Angus buyers. Final off-test weight and preweaning average daily gain were non-significant for Polled Hereford. All performance traits increased significantly during the years of this study with the exception of preweaning average daily gain which decreased significantly during the latter years. The effect of inflation, market trends and performance traits all affect bull prices. Important performance traits included sale-day age and 365-day weight

Dilaton coupling and BRST quantization of bosonic strings

BRST quantization of the bosonic string on a flat world sheet in an arbitrary background field is discussed. It is shown that by demanding the nilpotence of the BRST charge we may obtain the equations of motion of all the massless fields in the theory, provided we couple the dilaton field to the divergence of the ghost number current in the α-model

Wind Powering America: The Next Steps in North Carolina

The goal of this project is to apply the WPA’s proactive outreach strategy to the problem of educating the public about the likely transmission infrastructure developments concomitant to the significant development of wind energy resources in North Carolina. Given the lead time to develop significant new transmission infrastructure (5-10 years), it is critical to begin this outreach work today, so that wind resources can be developed to adequately meet the 20% by 2030 goal in the mid- to long-term (10-20 years). The project team planned to develop a transmission infrastructure outreach campaign for North Carolina by: (1) convening a utility interest group (UIG) of the North Carolina Wind Working Group (NC WWG) consisting of electric utilities in the state and the Southeast; and (2) expanding outreach to local and state government officials in North Carolina

In-vivo knee kinematics in rotationally unconstrained total knee arthroplasty.

Total knee replacement designs claim characteristic kinematic performance that is rarely assessed in patients. In the present study, in vivo kinematics of a new prosthesis design was measured during activities of daily living. This design is posterior stabilized for which spine-cam interaction coordinates free axial rotation throughout the flexion-extension arc by means of a single radius of curvature for the femoral condyles in the sagittal and frontal planes. Fifteen knees were implanted with this prosthesis, and 3D video-fluoroscopic analysis was performed at 6-month follow-up for three motor tasks. The average range of flexion was 70.1\ub0 (range: 60.1-80.2\ub0) during stair-climbing, 74.7\ub0 (64.6-84.8\ub0) during chair-rising, and 64.1\ub0 (52.9-74.3\ub0) during step-up. The corresponding average rotation on the tibial base-plate of the lines between the medial and lateral contact points was 9.4\ub0 (4.0-22.4\ub0), 11.4\ub0 (4.6-22.7\ub0), and 11.3\ub0 (5.1-18.0\ub0), respectively. The pivot point for these lines was found mostly in the central area of the base-plate. Nearly physiological range of axial rotation can be achieved at the replaced knee during activities of daily living

Recombination Resulting in Virulence Shift in Avian Influenza Outbreak, Chile

Influenza A viruses occur worldwide in wild birds and are occasionally associated with outbreaks in commercial chickens and turkeys. However, avian influenza viruses have not been isolated from wild birds or poultry in South America. A recent outbreak in chickens of H7N3 low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) occurred in Chile. One month later, after a sudden increase in deaths, H7N3 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus was isolated. Sequence analysis of all eight genes of the LPAI virus and the HPAI viruses showed minor differences between the viruses except at the hemagglutinin (HA) cleavage site. The LPAI virus had a cleavage site similar to other low pathogenic H7 viruses, but the HPAI isolates had a 30 nucleotide insert. The insertion likely occurred by recombination between the HA and nucleoprotein genes of the LPAI virus, resulting in a virulence shift. Sequence comparison of all eight gene segments showed the Chilean viruses were also distinct from all other avian influenza viruses and represent a distinct South American clade

The Star Clusters of the Small Magellanic Cloud: Structural Parameters

We present structural parameters for 204 stellar clusters in the Small Magellanic Cloud derived from fitting King and Elson, Fall, & Freeman model profiles to the V-band surface brightness profiles as measured from the Magellanic Clouds Photometric Survey images. Both King and EFF profiles are satisfactory fits to the majority of the profiles although King profiles are generally slightly superior to the softened power-law profiles of Elson, Fall, and Freeman and provide statistically acceptable fits to ~90% of the sample. We find no correlation between the preferred model and cluster age. The only systematic deviation in the surface brightness profiles that we identify is a lack of a central concentration in a subsample of clusters, which we designate as "ring" clusters. In agreement with previous studies, we find that the clusters in the SMC are significantly more elliptical than those in the Milky Way. However, given the mean age difference and the rapid destruction of these systems, the comparison between SMC and MW should not directly be interpreted as either a difference in the initial cluster properties or their subsequent evolution. We find that cluster ellipticity correlates with cluster mass more strongly than with cluster age. We identify several other correlations (central surface brightness vs. local background density, core radius vs. tidal force, size vs. distance) that can be used to constrain models of cluster evolution in the SMC.Comment: 14 pgs., accepted for publication in A