AgRISTARS: Foreign commodity production forecasting. Project test reports document, volume 1

Foreign Commodity Production Forecasting testing activities through June 1981 are documented. A log of test reports is presented. Standard documentation sets are included for each test. The documentation elements presented in each set are summarized

AgRISTARS: Foreign Commodity production forecasting. Project procedures designation and description document, volume 1

The crop estimation analysis procedures documentation of the AgRISTARS - Foreign Commodity Production Forecasting Project (FCPF) is presented. Specifically it includes the technical/management documentation of the remote sensing data analysis procedures prepared in accordance with the guidelines provided in the FCPF communication/documentation standards manual. Standard documentation sets are given arranged by procedural type and level then by crop types or other technically differentiating categories

It\u27s okay, I\u27m a...teacher. Is professional status important to teachers?

Teacher accountability and the debate around teacher quality are issues of international importance. As society places increasing demands on the teaching profession, and regulatory bodies around the globe raise the ‘standards’ for teachers to adhere to, the professional status of teachers is drawn into focus. This paper reports research findings of an investigation into the perspectives of professional status of teachers, held by pre-service teachers about to embark on their teaching career. This was a comparative study whereby data were collected from an Australian university and an American university to explore professional status as an international issue. This quantitative study utilised a Likert scale to gather responses from participants. Data were analysed and findings from both universities indicated that professional status was a significant concern for pre-service teachers. Pre-service teachers felt that whilst they may have entered their teaching degree as a vocation, they hoped to receive status, as a professional, within society

Making Room at the Inn: Implications of \u27Christian Legal Society v. Martinez\u27 for Public University Housing Professionals

The Supreme Court ruling in Christian Legal Society v. Martinez, its most important case to date on student associational activities, upheld a policy at a public law school in California that required recognized student organizations (or clubs) to admit all-comers even if they disagreed with organizational goals and values, rather than retracing the work of Moran and her colleagues, who examined related issues such as religious expression in public areas of residence halls, this article analyzes the potential impact of CLS, since membership in campus organizations clearly overlaps with the kinds of issues that students and housing professionals deal with in their residences. The article then reviews the facts and the Supreme Court\u27s rationale in CLS before suggesting alternative views on its implications for housing professionals in public institutions. The focus here is on officials in public institutions because the constitutional principles involved in CLS are generally inapplicable in private colleges and universities, where the rights of their students (and staff are typically contractual in nature

Project communications/documentation standards manual

The standards apply to the identification and description of remote sensing technical crop estimation analysis procedures. Standard working terminology for technical project and programmatic communications among and between FCPF project technologists and managers as well as with other AgRISTARS projects and program management is established. Basic reference material for FCPF project technologists is provided. The material presented can be used as introductory training material for new technical personnel

Forage Sorghum and Corn Silage Response to Full and Deficit Irrigation

There is limited information on forage sorghum and corn silage yield response to full and deficit irrigation in Kansas. The objective of this study was to generate information on forage sorghum (brown mid-rib hybrids (BMR and non-BMR)) and corn silage yield response to different levels of irrigation as influenced by irrigation capacity in southwest Kansas. Preliminary results indicate the effect of irrigation capacity on forage yield was significant (P = 0.0009) in 2014 but not 2015, probably due to high growing season rainfall received in 2015. Corn silage produced significantly (p \u3c 0.05) higher biomass at all irrigation capacities compared to forage sorghum hybrids in 2015. BMR forage sorghum produced significantly lower biomass compared to non-BMR hybrid in both 2014 and 2015 (P \u3c 0.05). The highest amounts of forage produced for corn silage, BMR, and non-BMR forage sorghum were 24.6, 17.4, and 21.1 tons/a adjusted to 65%, moisture respectively. Water productivity ranged from 1.0 to 1.4 dry matter tons/a/in. More research is needed under normal and dry years to quantify forage sorghum and corn silage yield and forage quality response to full and deficit irrigation

Nanoscale Mechanical Drumming Visualized by 4D Electron Microscopy

With four-dimensional (4D) electron microscopy, we report in situ imaging of the mechanical drumming of a nanoscale material. The single crystal graphite film is found to exhibit global resonance motion that is fully reversible and follows the same evolution after each initiating stress pulse. At early times, the motion appears “chaotic” showing the different mechanical modes present over the micron scale. At longer time, the motion of the thin film collapses into a well-defined fundamental frequency of 1.08 MHz, a behavior reminiscent of mode locking; the mechanical motion damps out after ∼200 μs and the oscillation has a “cavity” quality factor of 150. The resonance time is determined by the stiffness of the material, and for the 75 nm thick and 40 μm square specimen used here we determined Young’s modulus to be 1.0 TPa for the in-plane stress−strain profile. Because of its real-time dimension, this 4D microscopy should have applications in the study of these and other types of materials structures

Evaluation of Calcium Hydroxide-Treated Stover (Second Crop) in Receiving and Growing Diets and Effects on Cattle Performance

Production of ethanol from corn as an alternative fuel source has significantly affected the pricing landscape for corn as an energy source for livestock. As ethanol usage has become more prevalent, corn prices have become more volatile, especially in critical corn-growing areas that have been affected by drought. Consequently, many beef cattle feeders have become interested in alternative energy sources in an effort to control cost of gain. Second Crop (ADM Corp., Decatur, IL) is a process in which calcium hydroxide is added to fibrous crop residues, such as wheat straw and corn stover. When applied to low-quality roughages, calcium hydroxide disrupts the chemical bonds between lignin and hemicellulose, thus improving digestibility of the fiber by ruminal microbes. Treatment of low-quality forage with the Second Crop process could improve the energy value of forages, effectively decreasing reliance on cereal grains as sources of supplemental energy

Evaluation of a hybrid antimicrobial restriction process at a large academic medical center

We conducted a retrospective review of a hybrid antimicrobial restriction process demonstrating adherence to appropriate use criteria in 72% of provisional-only orders, in 100% of provisional orders followed by ID orders, and in 97% of ID-initiated orders. Therapy interruptions occurred in 24% of provisional orders followed by ID orders