An Economic Analysis of Replacing Existing Bermudagrass Stands with Tifton 85 Bermudagrass for Beef Cow-Calf, Stocker and Hay Production

Comparisons of simulated NPV for Coastal and Tifton 85 bermuda-grass using experimental data, current input prices and historical hay and feeder cattle prices indicates that many producers would benefit by adopting this new cultivar. Cow-calf producers would benefit the most followed by stocker/replacement heifer producers and finally hay producers. When risk-aversion is introduced into the model, all cow-calf and stocker producers regardless of the level of risk-aversion should consider adopting T85. Moderately or extremely risk-averse hay producers would consider adopting T85, while those that are slightly risk-averse would be indifferent.Crop Production/Industries, Risk and Uncertainty,

BBO and the Neutron-Star-Binary Subtraction Problem

The Big Bang Observer (BBO) is a proposed space-based gravitational-wave (GW) mission designed primarily to search for an inflation-generated GW background in the frequency range 0.1-1 Hz. The major astrophysical foreground in this range is gravitational radiation from inspiraling compact binaries. This foreground is expected to be much larger than the inflation-generated background, so to accomplish its main goal, BBO must be sensitive enough to identify and subtract out practically all such binaries in the observable universe. It is somewhat subtle to decide whether BBO's current baseline design is sufficiently sensitive for this task, since, at least initially, the dominant noise source impeding identification of any one binary is confusion noise from all the others. Here we present a self-consistent scheme for deciding whether BBO's baseline design is indeed adequate for subtracting out the binary foreground. We conclude that the current baseline should be sufficient. However if BBO's instrumental sensitivity were degraded by a factor 2-4, it could no longer perform its main mission. It is impossible to perfectly subtract out each of the binary inspiral waveforms, so an important question is how to deal with the "residual" errors in the post-subtraction data stream. We sketch a strategy of "projecting out" these residual errors, at the cost of some effective bandwidth. We also provide estimates of the sizes of various post-Newtonian effects in the inspiral waveforms that must be accounted for in the BBO analysis.Comment: corrects some errors in figure captions that are present in the published versio

The Impact Of Sustainability On Global Trade: A Cross-Curricular Project

One of the challenges in higher education is leading students in the application of information from one course to learning material in subsequent coursework.  The authors have devised a joint project for courses in Logistics and Administrative Law to assist students in correlation of material in courses of two business majors, with emphasis on sustainability and college-identified core competencies.  Goals and construction of the project are discussed, with post-project feedback from students participating in the project, and assessment by the authors

Leveraging High Performance CIP Processes to Reduce Water Usage in the Beverage Industry

The beverage industry around the world has been water-intensive, traditionally involving significant water usage, resulting in conflict over the viability of water sourcing vis-à-vis the respective surrounding ecosystems. Much of the usage has been related to the cleaning and sanitizing of manufacturing lines. With the advent of “clean-in-place” systems (CIP), it is possible to clean these lines in one minute in an environmentally friendly manner.This article discusses the use of advanced CIP to improve the beverage production process through reduction of water consumption, and how continuous improvement will assist in solving a critical problem in food manufacture. The legal ramifications of treatment of water with a concentrated food cleaner will be discussed, as well as an investigation of attaining and exceeding established regulatory standards

Development of scenarios for land cover, population density, impervious cover, and conservation in New Hampshire, 2010–2100

Future changes in ecosystem services will depend heavily on changes in land cover and land use, which, in turn, are shaped by human activities. Given the challenges of predicting long-term changes in human behaviors and activities, scenarios provide a framework for simulating the long-term consequences of land-cover change on ecosystem function. As input for process-based models of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem function, we developed scenarios for land cover, population density, and impervious cover for the state of New Hampshire for 2020–2100. Key drivers of change were identified through information gathered from six sources: historical trends, existing plans relating to New Hampshire’s land-cover future, surveys, existing population scenarios, key informant interviews with diverse stakeholders, and input from subject-matter experts. Scenarios were developed in parallel with information gathering, with details added iteratively as new questions emerged. The final scenarios span a continuum from spatially dispersed development with a low value placed on ecosystem services (Backyard Amenities) to concentrated development with a high value placed on ecosystem services (the Community Amenities family). The Community family includes two population scenarios (Large Community and Small Community), to be combined with two scenarios for land cover (Protection of Wildlands and Promotion of Local Food), producing combinations that bring the total number of scenarios to six. Between Backyard Amenities and Community Amenities is a scenario based on linear extrapolations of current trends (Linear Trends). Custom models were used to simulate decadal change in land cover, population density, and impervious cover. We present raster maps and proportion of impervious cover for HUC10 watersheds under each scenario and discuss the trade-offs of our translation and modeling approach within the context of contemporary scenario projects