Predicting Digestibilities of Alfalfa Hays with Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy

Forty-four alfalfa hays from different cuttings, maturities, and locations were fed to sheep in a digestion study. Subsamples of the hays along with corresponding fecal samples were ground and analyzed for dry matter, (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and permanganate lignin. In vivo digestibility (IVDMD) were also determined fro each hay. The hay and fecal samples were scanned with a near infrared reflectance spectrophotometer. Chemical and digestible data for each hay and fecal sample were entered into the computer and separate multiple regression equations developed. Fifteen other alfalfa hays with known chemical and digestible data were used to test the alfalfa equation. Standard errors of analysis (%) and corresponding r2s were: 3.55 and 0.81, 0.23 and 0.99, 2.44 and 0.94, 0.85 and 0.98, 1.33 and 0.96, 1.13 and 0.96, 1.13 and 0.80 for DDM, CP, IVDMD, ADF, NDF, and lignin, respectively. Thirty fecal samples with known chemical data were used to test the fecal equation. Standard errors of analysis and corresponding r2s were: 0.13 and 0.96, 0.41 and 0.93, 0.87 and 0.96, 1.79 and 0.90, 2.10 and 0.91, 1.46 and 0.90 for DM, OM, CP, ADF, NDF and lignin, respectively. Using the spectral information from fecal samples and the chemical composition of alfalfa samples to analyze other alfalfa samples was examined. Twelve other alfalfa hays with known chemical and digestible data were used to test the fecal equation. Standard errors of analysis (%) and corresponding r2s were: 4.05 and 0.01, 1.54 and 0.48, 1.63 and 0.71, 13.16 and 0.55, 1.43 and 0.35, 6.52 and 0.13, 4.30 and 0.63, 2.36 and 0.09, 5.75 and 0.49 for DM, OM, CP, IVDMD, ash, NDF, ADF, lignin, and DDM respectively. Hay fecal samples were sieved to study the utility of using sieving as a procedure to support chemical data in predicting DDM. Use of sieving (alfalfa and fecal) and chemical data (other than IVDMD) increased the precision of predicting DDM (R2 = 0.76), over using IVDMD and ash concentrations to predict DDM (R2 = 0.66)

On orbital allotments for geostationary satellites

The following satellite synthesis problem is addressed: communication satellites are to be allotted positions on the geostationary arc so that interference does not exceed a given acceptable level by enforcing conservative pairwise satellite separation. A desired location is specified for each satellite, and the objective is to minimize the sum of the deviations between the satellites' prescribed and desired locations. Two mixed integer programming models for the satellite synthesis problem are presented. Four solution strategies, branch-and-bound, Benders' decomposition, linear programming with restricted basis entry, and a switching heuristic, are used to find solutions to example synthesis problems. Computational results indicate the switching algorithm yields solutions of good quality in reasonable execution times when compared to the other solution methods. It is demonstrated that the switching algorithm can be applied to synthesis problems with the objective of minimizing the largest deviation between a prescribed location and the corresponding desired location. Furthermore, it is shown that the switching heuristic can use no conservative, location-dependent satellite separations in order to satisfy interference criteria

Large‐scale hydro‐climatology of the terrestrial Arctic drainage system

The large‐scale hydro‐climatology of the terrestrial Arctic drainage system is examined, focusing on the period 1960 onward. Special attention is paid to the Ob, Yenisey, Lena, and Mackenzie watersheds, which provide the bulk of freshwater discharge to the Arctic Ocean. Station data are used to compile monthly gridded time series of gauge‐corrected precipitation (P). Gridded time series of precipitation minus evapotranspiration (P−ET) are calculated from the moisture flux convergence using NCEP reanalysis data. Estimates of ET are obtained as a residual. Runoff (R) is obtained from available discharge records. For long‐term water‐year means, P−ET for the Yenisey, Lena, and Mackenzie watersheds is 16–20% lower than the observed runoff. In the Ob watershed, the two values agree within 9%. Given the uncertainties in P−ET, we consider the atmospheric and surface water budgets to be reasonably closed. Compared to the other three basins, the mean runoff ratio (R/P) is lower in the Ob watershed, consistent with the high fraction of annual precipitation lost through ET. All basins exhibit summer maxima in P and minima in P−ET. Summer P−ET in the Ob watershed is negative due to high ET rates. For large domains in northern Eurasia, about 25% of July precipitation is associated with the recycling of water vapor evapotranspirated within each domain. This points to a significant effect of the land surface on the hydrologic regime. Variability in P and P−ET has generally clear associations with the regional atmospheric circulation. A strong link with the Urals trough is documented for the Ob. Relationships with indices of the Arctic Oscillation and other teleconnections are generally weak. Water‐year time series of runoff and P−ET are strongly correlated in the Lena watershed only, reflecting extensive permafrost. Cold‐season runoff has increased in the Yenisey and Lena watersheds. This is most pronounced in the Yenisey watershed, where runoff has also increased sharply in spring, decreased in summer, but has increased for the year as a whole. The mechanisms for these changes are not entirely clear. While they fundamentally relate to higher air temperatures, increased winter precipitation, and strong summer drying, we speculate links with changes in active layer thickness and thawing permafrost

High lying E0 strength in C-12

Journals published by the American Physical Society can be found at http://publish.aps.org/The excitation region in C-12 from 7 MeV<E-x<60 MeV was studied with inelastic scattering of 240-MeV alpha particles at small angles including 0 degrees where E0 strength is enhanced. The strengths of known 0(+) states at E-x = 7.655 MeV and E-x = 10.3 MeV were obtained and E0 strength was observed to be distributed between E-x = 14 MeV and E-x = 30 MeV with a centroid of 21.5 +/- 0.4 MeV and an ms width of 3.1 +/- 0.2 MeV containing 14.5 +/- 4.0% of the isoscalar E0 energy-weighted sum rule. Angular distributions and strengths of the E-x =4.439 MeV 2(+), 9.641 MeV 3(-), and 10.844 MeV 1(-) states were also obtained. [S0556-2813(98)05704-5]

Unsolicited written narratives as a methodological genre in terminal illness: challenges and limitations

Stories about illness have proven invaluable in helping health professionals understand illness experiences. Such narratives have traditionally been solicited by researchers through interviews and the collection of personal writings, including diaries. These approaches are, however, researcher driven; the impetus for the creation of the story comes from the researcher and not the narrator. In recent years there has been exponential growth in illness narratives created by individuals, of their own volition, and made available for others to read in print or as Internet accounts. We sought to determine whether it was possible to identify such material for use as research data to explore the subject of living with the terminal illness amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/motor neuron disease—the contention being that these accounts are narrator driven and therefore focus on issues of greatest importance to the affected person. We encountered and sought to overcome a number of methodological and ethical challenges, which is our focus here

Heart Rate Variability Threshold Evaluation During Arm and Leg Cycling

Background: The Heart Rate Variability Threshold (HRVT) is a point of deflection in heart rate variability assessed during incremental exercise to exhaustion. This threshold is thought to represent a shift in the autonomic balance. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate (HRVT) during arm (AC) and leg cycling (LC). Methods: There were twenty-three participants (age: 23.3±4.7 years; height: 168.6±7.5 cm; weight 66.8±8.9 kg). Participants completed two graded exercise tests, one for AC and one for LC on different days. They wore a heart rate monitor which recorded R-R intervals. The test performed was a graded exercise test to exhaustion (GXT) using a ramp protocol. The root mean square of successive differences between normal heartbeats (RMSSD) of the R-R intervals during the GXT was calculated using specialized software. A time-varying moving average (64 second window and 3 second shift) was used. A piecewise fitting function consisting of two linear functions was used to detect time and RMSSD at HRVT. The time (as percentage of the total time to exhaustion) at which HRVT occurred was also calculated. Log transformation was performed in case the normality assumption was violated. A paired t-test was run for the outcomes of interest. Mean and standard deviations were reported and an alpha value of p Results: Log transformation was performed on the RMSSD and percentage at HRVT. There was no significant difference in time at HRVT (p=0.36) between AC (4.2 ± .1.0 minutes) and LC (3.9 ± 1.6 minutes) or percentage at threshold (p=0.85) between AC (49.3 ± 11.9%) and LC (50.4 ± 20.1%). There was also no significant difference in RMSSD at HRVT (p=0.93) between arm (1.3 ± 0.36 ms) and leg cycling (1.3 ± 0.54 ms). Conclusion: Time, RMSSD, and percentage at HRVT were not different between exercise modes. Autonomic balance, as measured by heart rate variability threshold, does not seem to be influenced by exercise modality

Inequalities in the dental health needs and access to dental services among looked after children in Scotland: a population data linkage study

Background: There is limited evidence on the health needs and service access among children and young people who are looked after by the state. The aim of this study was to compare dental treatment needs and access to dental services (as an exemplar of wider health and well-being concerns) among children and young people who are looked after with the general child population. Methods: Population data linkage study utilising national datasets of social work referrals for ‘looked after’ placements, the Scottish census of children in local authority schools, and national health service’s dental health and service datasets. Results: 633 204 children in publicly funded schools in Scotland during the academic year 2011/2012, of whom 10 927 (1.7%) were known to be looked after during that or a previous year (from 2007–2008). The children in the looked after children (LAC) group were more likely to have urgent dental treatment need at 5 years of age: 23%vs10% (n=209/16533), adjusted (for age, sex and area socioeconomic deprivation) OR 2.65 (95% CI 2.30 to 3.05); were less likely to attend a dentist regularly: 51%vs63% (n=5519/388934), 0.55 (0.53 to 0.58) and more likely to have teeth extracted under general anaesthesia: 9%vs5% (n=967/30253), 1.91 (1.78 to 2.04). Conclusions: LAC are more likely to have dental treatment needs and less likely to access dental services even when accounting for sociodemographic factors. Greater efforts are required to integrate child social and healthcare for LAC and to develop preventive care pathways on entering and throughout their time in the care system

Explorations, Vol. 3, No. 2

Cover: Edmund G. Schildknecht, Seated Figure, 1929, oil on canvas, 30” x 25”, acc. no. 85.6.31, bequest of Edmund G. Schildknecht Articles include: Reyes Syndrome Under Attack at UMaine, by MaryAnn Jerkofsky Maine Service Abroad: Using Labor Market Results for Planning Education and Training in Developing Countries, by David H. Clark Feeling and Form: Four American Paintings in the University of Maine Art Collection, by David Ebitz We Stand Corrected, Volume 3, Number 1, of EXPLORATIONS Confessions of a Comet Huckster, by Alan Davenport H.G. Wells: Socialist, Feminist, Polymath, Educator and Hero, by David C. Smith Supercritical Fluids and Their Interaction with Lignocellulosic Materials and Polymers, by Erdogan Kira