Diversified versus Specialized Swine and Grain Operations

Stochastic budget analysis compares diversified hog and grain operations to a specialized cash grain operation based on fixed labor resource. Benefits to diversified farms include decreased fertilizer costs due to manure application, shared machinery costs, and more stable grain price/cost assurances. As modeled manure application covers nearly all fertilizer requirements of the grain operation, greatly reducing fertilizer costs. The diversified operation is able to have dual-purpose tractors, enabling them to spread the tractor costs over more hours. Lastly, combining a grain and hog operation allows both enterprises to improve price assurance by treating the grain operation as a cost center. Grain is priced to the hogs at cost of production, thereby protecting the hog operation from volatility in the corn market. The risk reduction benefit of diversification is overshadowed when the 2002 Farm Bill is included in the analysis

MONTE CARLO EVALUATION OF THE RADIATION SHIELDING EFFICIENCY OF LAMINATED COMPOSITES UNDER ELECTRON AND PHOTON IRRADIATION

The heterogeneity effect on the shielding efficiency of laminated composites under electron and gamma irradiation of moderate (~MeV) energies was studied. The effect was quantified, by means of Monte Carlo method, in terms of the asymmetry of the bimetallic dual layer system’s AlW shielding efficiency depending on the direction (Al–W vs. W–Al) of both electron and photon irradiation. The charged particles and bremsstrahlung radiation transport was simulated for electron irradiation of the 9-layer composite test sample fabricated by the vacuum hot rolling solid phase welding of Ti–Ni–Cu–Nb–Cu–(W–Cu)2 layers. Dose and photon kerma rates behind the laminated shielding were calculated and the prospects of its  application under severe constraints both on shielding weight and dimensions were substantiated

STUDY UNIFORM DISTRIBUTION OF ELEMENTS IN THE OXIDE DISPERSIVE STRENGTHENED STEEL

The distribution of elements in the oxide dispersive strengthened steel at the outputted proton beam into the atmosphere is study. The experiments were performed on an analytical nuclear-physical complex "Sokol" is study. For the analysis of the samples obtained were used vacuum arc melting of steel industry 08Cr18Ni10Ti into which the hardening particles ZrO2 stabilized Y2O3, with a size of 0.1 – 0.5 microns. Mathematical processing of spectral data obtained by mass composition of basic elements and doping impurities studied oxide dispersive strengthened steel. The uniformity of the distribution of elements was studied on entire surface of the sample

A Fine-Structure Map of Spontaneous Mitotic Crossovers in the Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Homologous recombination is an important mechanism for the repair of DNA damage in mitotically dividing cells. Mitotic crossovers between homologues with heterozygous alleles can produce two homozygous daughter cells (loss of heterozygosity), whereas crossovers between repeated genes on non-homologous chromosomes can result in translocations. Using a genetic system that allows selection of daughter cells that contain the reciprocal products of mitotic crossing over, we mapped crossovers and gene conversion events at a resolution of about 4 kb in a 120-kb region of chromosome V of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The gene conversion tracts associated with mitotic crossovers are much longer (averaging about 12 kb) than the conversion tracts associated with meiotic recombination and are non-randomly distributed along the chromosome. In addition, about 40% of the conversion events have patterns of marker segregation that are most simply explained as reflecting the repair of a chromosome that was broken in G1 of the cell cycle

Correction: AGAPE (Automated Genome Analysis PipelinE) for Pan-Genome Analysis of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The characterization and public release of genome sequences from thousands of organisms is expanding the scope for genetic variation studies. However, understanding the phenotypic consequences of genetic variation remains a challenge in eukaryotes due to the complexity of the genotype-phenotype map. One approach to this is the intensive study of model systems for which diverse sources of information can be accumulated and integrated. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is an extensively studied model organism, with well-known protein functions and thoroughly curated phenotype data. To develop and expand the available resources linking genomic variation with function in yeast, we aim to model the pan-genome of S. cerevisiae. To initiate the yeast pan-genome, we newly sequenced or re-sequenced the genomes of 25 strains that are commonly used in the yeast research community using advanced sequencing technology at high quality. We also developed a pipeline for automated pan-genome analysis, which integrates the steps of assembly, annotation, and variation calling. To assign strain-specific functional annotations, we identified genes that were not present in the reference genome. We classified these according to their presence or absence across strains and characterized each group of genes with known functional and phenotypic features. The functional roles of novel genes not found in the reference genome and associated with strains or groups of strains appear to be consistent with anticipated adaptations in specific lineages. As more S. cerevisiae strain genomes are released, our analysis can be used to collate genome data and relate it to lineage-specific patterns of genome evolution. Our new tool set will enhance our understanding of genomic and functional evolution in S. cerevisiae, and will be available to the yeast genetics and molecular biology community

Cause of Death and Predictors of All-Cause Mortality in Anticoagulated Patients With Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation : Data From ROCKET AF

M. Kaste on työryhmän ROCKET AF Steering Comm jäsen.Background-Atrial fibrillation is associated with higher mortality. Identification of causes of death and contemporary risk factors for all-cause mortality may guide interventions. Methods and Results-In the Rivaroxaban Once Daily Oral Direct Factor Xa Inhibition Compared with Vitamin K Antagonism for Prevention of Stroke and Embolism Trial in Atrial Fibrillation (ROCKET AF) study, patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation were randomized to rivaroxaban or dose-adjusted warfarin. Cox proportional hazards regression with backward elimination identified factors at randomization that were independently associated with all-cause mortality in the 14 171 participants in the intention-to-treat population. The median age was 73 years, and the mean CHADS(2) score was 3.5. Over 1.9 years of median follow-up, 1214 (8.6%) patients died. Kaplan-Meier mortality rates were 4.2% at 1 year and 8.9% at 2 years. The majority of classified deaths (1081) were cardiovascular (72%), whereas only 6% were nonhemorrhagic stroke or systemic embolism. No significant difference in all-cause mortality was observed between the rivaroxaban and warfarin arms (P=0.15). Heart failure (hazard ratio 1.51, 95% CI 1.33-1.70, P= 75 years (hazard ratio 1.69, 95% CI 1.51-1.90, P Conclusions-In a large population of patients anticoagulated for nonvalvular atrial fibrillation, approximate to 7 in 10 deaths were cardiovascular, whereasPeer reviewe