1,040 research outputs found
EC79-2304 Understanding Botulism
Extension Circular 79-2304: Understanding Botulism: history and occurrence, history of scientific methods for home canning, the organism and its classification, resistance to heat, growth requirement for the organisms, disease caused, CDC-emergency assistance, and prevention
Verotoxinogenic Escherichia coli (VTEC) O157:H7 â A Nationwide Swedish Survey of Bovine Faeces
In the autumn of 1995 the first outbreaks of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 including ca 100 human cases were reported in Sweden. From outbreaks in other countries it is known that cattle may carry these bacteria and in many cases is the source of infection. Therefore, the present study was performed to survey the Swedish bovine population for the presence of verotoxin-producing E. coli (VTEC) of serotype O157:H7. Individual faecal samples were collected at the 16 main Swedish abattoirs from April 1996 to August 1997. Of 3071 faecal samples, VTEC O157 were found in 37 samples indicating a prevalence of 1.2% (CI(95% )0.8â1.6). All 37 isolates carried genes encoding for verotoxin (VT1 and/or VT2), intimin, EHEC-haemolysin and flagellin H7 as determined by PCR. Another 3 strains were of serotype O157:H7 but did not produce verotoxins. The 37 VTEC O157:H7 strains were further characterised by phage typing and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. The results clearly show that VTEC O157:H7 is established in the Swedish bovine population and indicate that the prevalence of cattle carrying VTEC O157:H7 is correlated to the overall geographical distribution of cattle in Sweden. Results of this study have formed the basis for specific measures recommended to Swedish cattle farmers, and furthermore, a permanent monitoring programme was launched for VTEC O157:H7 in Swedish cattle at slaughter
Novel Magnet Production Technique Used for an Elliptically Polarizing Undulator
A common problem for elliptically polarizing undulators EPUs is that the magnetic forces give a mechanical deflection in the magnet holder construction when changing the undulator phase. Gluing horizontally and vertically magnetized blocks together can increase the mechanical stability of the magnet holders. The gluing process of pairs of magnetized magnet blocks is time consuming, expensive and difficult to carry out with high positional precision. A novel magnet production technique has been developed where un magnetized pairs of blocks are glued together before magnetization. The large number of parts, the time for assembly, and the cost of the EPU can be reduced with the novel magnet production technique. The novel magnet production method has been used for a 2.6 m long EPU of APPLE II type, which has been built in house at the MAX IV Laboratory. The frame for the EPU is made of cast iron in order to get a small mechanical deformation when changing phase in the inclined mode. The paper includes detailed descriptions of the novel magnet production technique, including measurements of the magnetization, and the new EP
Integrating cultural services and social value: Novel directions for ecosystem service management, valuation, and complexity
13 pgTraditional
valuation
methodologies
tend
to
focus
solely
on
the
biophysical
and
economic
dimensions
of
ecosystem
services.
It
has
been
argued
that
âculturalâ
and
âsocialâ
values
of
ecosystem
services
must
also
be
incorporated
in
decision
â
making
to
provide
accurate
valuations
that
reflect
tangible
and
intangible
dimensions
of
human
â
environment
interactions.
Broader
conceptions
of
valuation,
though
deemed
important,
have
been
difficult
to
operationalize
due
to
incommensurable
philosophical
epistemologies.
In
this
paper
I
argue
that
the
biophysical
and
economic
importance
of
services
can
be
considered
alongside
the
value
and
experiences
ascribed
to
those
services
by
stakeholders
using
a
socioecological
systems
perspective.
Ultimately,
these
arguments
will
help
researchers
and
resource
managers
be
better
equipped
to
deal
with
the
complex
and
pluralistic
nature
of
ecosystem
service
management
and
provision
Milk mid-infrared spectral data as a tool to predict feed intake in lactating Norwegian Red dairy cows
peer-reviewedMid-infrared (MIR) spectroscopy of milk was used to predict dry matter intake (DMI) and net energy intake (NEI) in 160 lactating Norwegian Red dairy cows. A total of 857 observations were used in leave-one-out cross-validation and external validation to develop and validate prediction equations using 5 different models. Predictions were performed using (multiple) linear regression, partial least squares (PLS) regression, or best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) methods. Linear regression was implemented using just milk yield (MY) or fat, protein, and lactose concentration in milk (Mcont) or using MY together with body weight (BW) as predictors of intake. The PLS and BLUP methods were implemented using just the MIR spectral information or using the MIR together with Mcont, MY, BW, or NEI from concentrate (NEIconc). When using BLUP, the MIR spectral wavelengths were always treated as random effects, whereas Mcont, MY, BW, and NEIconc were considered to be fixed effects. Accuracy of prediction (R) was defined as the correlation between the predicted and observed feed intake test-day records. When using the linear regression method, the greatest R of predicting DMI (0.54) and NEI (0.60) in the external validation was achieved when the model included both MY and BW. When using PLS, the greatest R of predicting DMI (0.54) and NEI (0.65) in the external validation data set was achieved when using both BW and MY as predictors in combination with the MIR spectra. When using BLUP, the greatest R of predicting DMI (0.54) in the external validation was when using MY together with the MIR spectra. The greatest R of predicting NEI (0.65) in the external validation using BLUP was achieved when the model included both BW and MY in combination with the MIR spectra or when the model included both NEIconc and MY in combination with MIR spectra. However, although the linear regression coefficients of actual on predicted values for DMI and NEI were not different from unity when using PLS, they were less than unity for some of the models developed using BLUP. This study shows that MIR spectral data can be used to predict NEI as a measure of feed intake in Norwegian Red dairy cattle and that the accuracy is augmented if additional, often available data are also included in the prediction model
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Measurements of the helium propagation at 4.4 K in a 480 m long stainless steel pipe
The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), with two concentric rings 3.8 km in circumference, uses superconducting magnets to focus the high energy beams. Each sextant of RHIC will have continuous cryostats up to 480 m in length housing the magnets and the cold beam pipes. For an acceptable lifetime of the stored beam, the pressure in the cold beam pipe will be < 10{sup {minus}11} Torr. The characteristics of He pressure front propagation due to He leaks will be of importance for beam lifetimes and for vacuum monitoring due to the high vapor pressure of He at 4.4 K, even with small surface coverage. The travel of the He pressure fronts along a 480 m long, 6.9 cm I.D. stainless steel beam pipe cooled to 4.4 K has recently been measured during the RHIC first sextant test. The experiment was carried out over a 12-day period by bleeding in a calibrated He leak of 3 {times} 10{sup {minus}5} Torr{center_dot}l/s (20 C) while measuring the He pressures along this 480 m cold tube at {approximately} 30 m intervals. The measured speed of the pressure fronts and the pressure profiles are summarized and compared with the calculated ones
Correspondence between geometrical and differential definitions of the sine and cosine functions and connection with kinematics
In classical physics, the familiar sine and cosine functions appear in two
forms: (1) geometrical, in the treatment of vectors such as forces and
velocities, and (2) differential, as solutions of oscillation and wave
equations. These two forms correspond to two different definitions of
trigonometric functions, one geometrical using right triangles and unit
circles, and the other employing differential equations. Although the two
definitions must be equivalent, this equivalence is not demonstrated in
textbooks. In this manuscript, the equivalence between the geometrical and the
differential definition is presented assuming no a priori knowledge of the
properties of sine and cosine functions. We start with the usual length
projections on the unit circle and use elementary geometry and elementary
calculus to arrive to harmonic differential equations. This more general and
abstract treatment not only reveals the equivalence of the two definitions but
also provides an instructive perspective on circular and harmonic motion as
studied in kinematics. This exercise can help develop an appreciation of
abstract thinking in physics.Comment: 6 pages including 1 figur
Plasmonic Cloaking of Cylinders: Finite Length, Oblique Illumination and Cross-Polarization Coupling
Metamaterial cloaking has been proposed and studied in recent years following
several interesting approaches. One of them, the scattering-cancellation
technique, or plasmonic cloaking, exploits the plasmonic effects of suitably
designed thin homogeneous metamaterial covers to drastically suppress the
scattering of moderately sized objects within specific frequency ranges of
interest. Besides its inherent simplicity, this technique also holds the
promise of isotropic response and weak polarization dependence. Its theory has
been applied extensively to symmetrical geometries and canonical 3D shapes, but
its application to elongated objects has not been explored with the same level
of detail. We derive here closed-form theoretical formulas for infinite
cylinders under arbitrary wave incidence, and validate their performance with
full-wave numerical simulations, also considering the effects of finite lengths
and truncation effects in cylindrical objects. In particular, we find that a
single isotropic (idealized) cloaking layer may successfully suppress the
dominant scattering coefficients of moderately thin elongated objects, even for
finite lengths comparable with the incident wavelength, providing a weak
dependence on the incidence angle. These results may pave the way for
application of plasmonic cloaking in a variety of practical scenarios of
interest.Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures, 2 table
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