Origin and Destination of Major South Dakota Grain Shipments

South Dakota, being sparsely populated and located a considerable distance from major centers of population, has relatively few grain processing facilities located within her borders. The problem of transportation is, therefore, considered by many to be the major marketing problem with respect to the grain industry. The purpose of this study was to obtain better information about the destination of and the mode of transportation used for shipping grain products from South Dakota.1 Since the state doesn\u27t possess navigable waterways suitable for shipment of grain products, the survey was limited to truck and rail shipments. Some of South Dakota\u27s surface shipments are, however, destined to ports along the Great Lakes and the Missouri or Mississippi River for reshipment by boat or barge

An Evaluation of Three Feeding Schemes to Winter Replacement Heifers

Many different feeding practices have been used to grow out replacement heifers. The goal for replacement heifers is to overwinter at gains sufficiently high enough that they will be at 60% of mature body weight at breeding. This should be done as efficiently as possible and to meet all nutrient requirements. This study was designed to evaluate three methods of growing replacements as to dollar efficiency and animal performance

An Evaluation of Three Feeding Schemes to Winter Replacement Heifers

Many different feeding practices have been used to grow out replacement heifers. The goal for replacement heifers is to over winter at gains sufficiently high enough that they will be at 60% of mature body weight at breeding. This should be done as efficiently as possible and to meet all nutrient requirements. This study was designed to evaluate three methods of growing replacements as to dollar efficiency and animal performance

Fidelity for Multimode Thermal Squeezed States

In the theory of quantum transmission of information the concept of fidelity plays a fundamental role. An important class of channels, which can be experimentally realized in quantum optics, is that of Gaussian quantum channels. In this work we present a general formula for fidelity in the case of two arbitrary Gaussian states. From this formula one can get a previous result (H. Scutaru, J. Phys. A: Mat. Gen {\bf 31}, 3659 (1998)), for the case of a single mode; or, one can apply it to obtain a closed compact expression for multimode thermal states.Comment: 5 pages, RevTex, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Quantifying impacts of short-term plasticity on neuronal information transfer

Short-term changes in efficacy have been postulated to enhance the ability of synapses to transmit information between neurons, and within neuronal networks. Even at the level of connections between single neurons, direct confirmation of this simple conjecture has proven elusive. By combining paired-cell recordings, realistic synaptic modelling and information theory, we provide evidence that short-term plasticity can not only improve, but also reduce information transfer between neurons. We focus on a concrete example in rat neocortex, but our results may generalise to other systems. When information is contained in the timings of individual spikes, we find that facilitation, depression and recovery affect information transmission in proportion to their impacts upon the probability of neurotransmitter release. When information is instead conveyed by mean spike rate only, the influences of short-term plasticity critically depend on the range of spike frequencies that the target network can distinguish (its effective dynamic range). Our results suggest that to efficiently transmit information, the brain must match synaptic type, coding strategy and network connectivity during development and behaviour.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys Rev E. 42 pages in referee format, 9 figure

Experimental determination of heat capacities and their correlation with quantum predictions

This article demonstrates an undergraduate experiment for the determination of specific heat capacities of various solids based on a calorimetric approach, where the solid vaporizes a measurable mass of liquid nitrogen. We demonstrate our technique for the metals copper and aluminum, the semi-metal graphite and also present the data in relation with Einstein's model of independent harmonic oscillators and the more accurate Debye model based on vibrational modes of a continuous crystal. Furthermore, we elucidate an interesting material property, the Verwey transition in magnetite occurring around 120-140 K. We also demonstrate that the use of computer based data acquisition and subsequent statistical averaging helps reduce measurement uncertainties.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures. Partially accepted in American Journal of Physics (2011

Bures distance between two displaced thermal states

The Bures distance between two displaced thermal states and the corresponding geometric quantities (statistical metric, volume element, scalar curvature) are computed. Under nonunitary (dissipative) dynamics, the statistical distance shows the same general features previously reported in the literature by Braunstein and Milburn for two--state systems. The scalar curvature turns out to have new interesting properties when compared to the curvature associated with squeezed thermal states.Comment: 3 pages, RevTeX, no figure

There and back again: migration in freshwater fishes

Animal migration is an amazing phenomenon that has fascinated humans for long. Many freshwater fishes also show remarkable migrations, whereof the spectacular mass migrations of salmonids from the spawning streams are the most well known and well studied. However, recent studies have shown that migration occurs in a range of freshwater fish taxa from many different habitats. In this review we focus on the causes and consequences of migration in freshwater fishes. We start with an introduction of concepts and categories of migration, and then address the evolutionary causes that drive individuals to make these migratory journeys. The basis for the decision of an individual fish to migrate or stay resident is an evaluation of the costs and benefits of different strategies to maximize its lifetime reproductive effort. We provide examples by discussing our own work on the causes behind seasonal migration in a cyprinid fish, roach (Rutilus rutilus (L., 1758)), within this framework. We then highlight different adaptations that allow fish to migrate over sometimes vast journeys across space, including capacity for orientation, osmoregulation, and efficient energy expenditure. Following this we consider the consequences of migration in freshwater fish from ecological, evolutionary, and conservation perspectives, and finally, we detail some of the recent developments in the methodologies used to collect data on fish migration and how these could be used in future research

Effect of acute copper sulfate exposure on olfactory responses to amino acids and pheromones in goldfish (Carassius auratus)

Exposure of olfactory epithelium to environmentally relevant concentrations of copper disrupts olfaction in fish. To examine the dynamics of recovery at both functional and morphological levels after acute copper exposure, unilateral exposure of goldfish olfactory epithelia to 100 μM CuSO4 (10 min) was followed by electro-olfactogram (EOG) recording and scanning electron microscopy. Sensitivity to amino acids (L-arginine and L-serine), generally considered food-related odorants, recovered most rapidly (three days), followed by that to catecholamines(3-O-methoxytyramine),bileacids(taurolithocholic acid) and the steroid pheromone, 17,20 -dihydroxy-4-pregnen- 3-one 20-sulfate, which took 28 days to reach full recovery. Sensitivity to the postovulatory pheromone prostaglandin F2R had not fully recovered even at 28 days. These changes in sensitivity were correlated with changes in the recovery of ciliated and microvillous receptor cell types. Microvillous cells appeared largely unaffected by CuSO4 treatment. Cilia in ciliated receptor neurones, however, appeared damaged one day post-treatment and were virtually absent after three days but had begun to recover after 14 days. Together, these results support the hypothesis that microvillous receptor neurones detect amino acids whereas ciliated receptor neurones were not functional and are responsible for detection of social stimuli (bile acidsandpheromones).Furthermore, differences in sensitivity to copper may be due to different transduction pathways in the different cell types