Costs of Drying and Storing Rough Rice in Louisiana and Texas

Excerpts from the report Summary: The importance to rice growers and others of efficient, low cost drying and storage of rough rice is reflected in the amount spent for these services. Of the $150 million received annually by rough rice growers in Louisiana and Texas, an estimated$15 to $16 million is spent for drying and storing. To accumulate data for determining why some facilities are successful and presumably low cost, while others are not, 51 driers in Louisiana and 44 in Texas were studied during three marketing seasons, 1959/60, 1960/61, 1961/62. The 95 driers were of four types: (1) on-farm round stationary bulk bins, (2) on-farm buildings with bulk bins, (3) on-farm multipass, continuous flow driers, and (4) off-farm or commercial multipass, continuous flow driers. Items compared in evaluating these driers included in-plant operating costs, marketing costs, and effect of drying and storing on rice quality. To facilitate comparisons, all data were expressed on the basis of hundredweights of dry rice, rather than on the basis of barrels of green rice, as is common to the trade

Scarring, stem cells, scaffolds and skin repair.

The treatment of full thickness skin loss, which can be extensive in the case of large burns, continues to represent a challenging clinical entity. This is due to an on-going inability to produce a suitable tissue engineered substrate that can satisfactorily replicate the epidermal and dermal in vivo niches to fulfil both aesthetic and functional demands. The current gold standard treatment of autologous skin grafting is inadequate because of poor textural durability, scarring and associated contracture, and because of a paucity of donor sites in larger burns. Tissue engineering has seen exponential growth in recent years with a number of 'off-the-shelf' dermal and epidermal substitutes now available. Each has its own limitations. In this review, we examine normal wound repair in relation to stem/progenitor cells that are intimately involved in this process within the dermal niche. Endothelial precursors, in particular, are examined closely and their phenotype, morphology and enrichment from multiple sources are described in an attempt to provide some clarity regarding the controversy surrounding their classification and role in vasculogenesis. We also review the role of the next generation of cellularized scaffolds and smart biomaterials that attempt to improve the revascularisation of artificial grafts, the rate of wound healing and the final cosmetic and functional outcome. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley and Sons, Ltd

The angiogenic properties of mesenchymal stem/stromal cells and their therapeutic potential

Stemcel biology/Regenerative medicine (incl. bloodtransfusion