Managing Dairy Heifer Growth Investment

Accelerated prepubertal growth rates can lower heifer raising costs but may put heifers at risk for impaired mammary development and have been found to be detrimental decreased to milk production in the first lactation. The tradeoff between heifer raising costs and milk production loss is examined in a capital budgeting model. Monthly annuity net present value of a heifer investment through the first lactation is assessed for heifers calving at 20, 22, 24, 26 and 28 months of age. A 24 mo AFC base case strategy with 9009.5 kg subsequent first lactation milk yields $7.34 in returns per month. Accelerated growth resulted in higher returns ($12.77/mo for 20 mo AFC; $9.86/mo for 22 mo AFC) when milk production is not affected as total raising costs decline relative to the base case. Slower growth resulted in lower returns ($5.12/mo for 26 mo AFC; $3.15/mo for 28 mo AFC). When milk production declines, revenues decline as do feed and marketing costs which are a function of milk produced. Adjusting for factors, breakeven milk production losses were 10.6 % for 20 mo AFC and 5.3 % for 22 mo AFC relative to the 24 mo AFC base. These results were not sensitive to the assumed discount rate, heifer feed costs or discount rate. Other operation-specific heifer management factors including calving season, reproduction, herd size/expansion considerations and, in the longer-term, heifer facilities investments may be more significant economically than the differences found in this analysis.Heifer growth, Economics, Investment, Livestock Production/Industries,

Examining (international) law: towards a systematic, coherent and radical theory

This thesis examines accounts of law – and more particularly public international law – provided by Marxian scholarship. It does so with the aim of revealing and analysing those aspects which can help build the conceptual framework necessary for the creation of a systematic, coherent and radical theory of the contemporary world order. In order to be intellectually satisfying and practically useful, such a theory must be capable of addressing the relationships amongst law, state and economy at the global level, and accounting for the form, content, function and structure of the global legal order. Throughout, this thesis draws on a number of different traditions of legal, political and economic thought from American Legal Realism and French Structuralism to World Polity Theory and Pashukanite and Gramscian Marxism. However, it seeks to highlight, in particular, those insights available from theorists whose works have hitherto failed to receive the attention they deserve within critical international legal scholarship because of their primary association with domestic legal or political criticism. The intention in doing so is to demonstrate the benefits of rejecting the a priori distinction between the domestic and international legal fields so common within orthodox legal scholarship on both sides of the divide. What is hoped will be provided by such a rejection is the conceptual space for generating a theory relevant not simply to public international law but to every legal field and, thus, ‘the Law’ as a whole

Point vibration measurements for the detection of shallow-buried objects

AbstractA major UK initiative, entitled ‘Mapping the Underworld’, is seeking to address the serious social, environmental and economic consequences arising from an inability to locate accurately and comprehensively the buried utility service infrastructure without resorting to extensive excavations. Mapping the Underworld aims to develop and prove the efficacy of a multi-sensor device for accurate remote buried utility service detection, location and, where possible, identification. One of the technologies to be incorporated in the device is low-frequency vibro-acoustics, and application of this technique for detecting buried infrastructure is currently being investigated. Here, the potential for making a number of simple point vibration measurements in order to detect shallow-buried objects, in particular plastic pipes, is explored. Point measurements can be made relatively quickly without the need for arrays of surface sensors, which can be expensive, time-consuming to deploy, and sometimes impractical in congested areas.At low frequencies, the ground behaves as a simple single-degree-of-freedom (mass–spring) system with a well-defined resonance, the frequency of which will depend on the density and elastic properties of the soil locally. This resonance will be altered by the presence of a buried object whose properties differ from the surrounding soil. It is this behavior which can be exploited in order to detect the presence of a buried object, provided it is buried at a sufficiently shallow depth. The theoretical background is described and preliminary measurements are made both on a dedicated buried pipe rig and on the ground over a domestic waste pipe. Preliminary findings suggest that, for shallow-buried pipes, a measurement of this kind could be a quick and useful adjunct to more conventional methods of buried pipe detection

Thyr: a volumetric ray-marching tool for simulating microwave emission

Gyrosynchrotron radiation is produced by solar flares, and can be used to infer properties of the accelerated electrons and magnetic field of the flaring region. This microwave emission is highly dependent on many local plasma parameters, and the viewing angle. To correctly interpret observations, detailed simulations of the emission are required. Additionally, gyrosynchrotron emission from the chromosphere has been largely ignored in modelling efforts, and recent studies have shown the importance of thermal emission at millimetric wavelengths. Thyr is a new tool for modelling microwave emission from three-dimensional flaring loops with spatially varying atmosphere and increased resolution in the lower corona and chromosphere. Thyr is modular and open-source, consisting of separate components to compute the thermal and non-thermal microwave emission coefficients and perform three-dimensional radiative transfer (in local thermodynamic equilibrium). The radiative transfer integral is computed by a novel ray-marching technique to efficiently compute the contribution of many volume elements. This technique can also be employed on a variety of astrophysics problems. Herein we present a review of the theory of gyrosynchrotron radiation, and two simulations of identical flare loops in low- and high resolution performed with Thyr, with a spectral imaging analysis of differing regions. The high-resolution simulation presents a spectral hardening at higher frequencies. This hardening originates around the top of the chromosphere due to the strong convergence of the magnetic field, and is not present in previous models due to insufficient resolution. This hardening could be observed with a coordinated flare observation from active radio observatories

The effects of ractopamine-HCl (optaflexx) on performance, carcass characteristics, and meat quality of finishing feedlot heifers

Beta-adrenergic agonists are commonly used in livestock production to accelerate growth by enhancing lean tissue gain. These compounds repartition nutrients away from fat deposition and toward protein accretion. Generally, increased growth is associated with ractopamine feeding, which improves feed conversion and increases body weight gain. However, little data exists on the effects of ractopamine-HCl on live performance or carcass characteristics of beef heifers. Data released from Elanco Animal Health indicate that differences between gender may exist in response to ractopamine, and therefore appropriate strategies for the administration of this compound must be defined for heifers independent of those for steers. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of Optaflexx, when fed for different dosages over different durations, on finishing heifer performance

Quantum inequalities and `quantum interest' as eigenvalue problems

Quantum inequalities (QI's) provide lower bounds on the averaged energy density of a quantum field. We show how the QI's for massless scalar fields in even dimensional Minkowski space may be reformulated in terms of the positivity of a certain self-adjoint operator - a generalised Schroedinger operator with the energy density as the potential - and hence as an eigenvalue problem. We use this idea to verify that the energy density produced by a moving mirror in two dimensions is compatible with the QI's for a large class of mirror trajectories. In addition, we apply this viewpoint to the `quantum interest conjecture' of Ford and Roman, which asserts that the positive part of an energy density always overcompensates for any negative components. For various simple models in two and four dimensions we obtain the best possible bounds on the `quantum interest rate' and on the maximum delay between a negative pulse and a compensating positive pulse. Perhaps surprisingly, we find that - in four dimensions - it is impossible for a positive delta-function pulse of any magnitude to compensate for a negative delta-function pulse, no matter how close together they occur.Comment: 18 pages, RevTeX. One new result added; typos fixed. To appear in Phys. Rev.

Community Based Pilot Study of Diagnostic Paths to the Gluten Free Diet

Wheat consumption is increasing worldwide and also increasing is the frequency of celiac disease (CeD), a pathological response to wheat protein (gluten) in genetically susceptible individuals. Non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) is another, less studied wheat-induced pathology. The treatment for both is a gluten-free diet (GFD). More individuals choose the diet than predicted by the epidemiological 1-2% prevalence. A preliminary survey by questionnaire asked members and attendees of the local gluten information group (GIG) meetings and functions about their diagnostic experiences and symptom levels in order understand the increased demand for gluten-free foods. Same-aged and -sex friends participated as a comparative “control”. Mixed methods were used including content analyses of prose narratives and independent and paired t tests of symptom levels measured with Likert scales. This convenience sample, surveyed in 2011-2012, is mostly female (54 F, 5 M) with an average age of 54.6 ± 2.0 years. Most participants consulted medical professionals with mean time to diagnosis of 7 years determined mostly from “classic” presenting symptoms. Negative biopsies or blood tests and atypical symptoms that overlap other conditions delayed diagnosis. There were 43 and 16 participants with CeD and NCGS, respectively differing little in symptom levels. Self-diagnosis and use of naturopaths account for some of the “excess” individuals. General practitioners should be encouraged to get additional nutrition training and to discuss with patients dietary choices that support wellness and minimize the risk for pathological immune responses. Patients with CeD particularly need support and follow-up in the transition to a GFD

Towards integrated flood inundation modelling in groundwater-dominated catchments

Traditionally in flood inundation modelling the contribution of groundwater is either neglected or highly simplified. Long-duration groundwater-induced events, such as those that occur across Chalk catchments of northern Europe, can, however, incur significant economic and social cost. We present a new methodology for integrated flood inundation modelling by coupling the 2D hydrodynamic model LISFLOOD-FP with the 3D finite-difference groundwater model ZOOMQ3D. We apply the model to two adjacent Chalk catchments in southern England, the Lambourn and Pang, over two flooding events, during the winters of 2000/01 and 2013/14. A dense network of monitoring boreholes reveals local-scale heterogeneities in the aquifer not captured by the model. However, we demonstrate through inundation extent and streamflow comparisons that, on a regional scale, groundwater levels are simulated sufficiently well to capture groundwater inundation extent. The role of the unsaturated zone is discussed and contrasted between the two events. Currently, predictive tools to simulate groundwater flood events are limited, and this new, computationally efficient methodology will help to fill this gap

Aspirin moderates the association between cardiovascular risk, brain white matter hyperintensity total lesion volume and processing speed in normal ageing

ABC1936 was funded (1999-2009) by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Scottish Health Department, Wellcome Trust, Medical Research Council, Alzheimer Research UK, Alzheimer Society and University of Aberdeen Development Trust. This work was supported by the Elphinstone Scholarship, Roland Sutton Academic Trust, the Morningfield Association and the Rabin Ezra Scholarship Trust, which provides salary cost and consumables to MK.Peer reviewedPostprin

Deep learning for the Sun

Abstract John A Armstrong, Christopher M J Osborne and Lyndsay Fletcher examine how neural networks can be used to explore the nature and location of solar activity