Current Knowledge Concerning Silica Urinary Calculi

Laboratory research has shown phosphate to inhibit the formation of insoluble silica - protein complexes that are believed to be important in the formation of silica urinary calculi. In work with laboratory animals, increases in dietary phosphorus and urine acidifying salts reduced the incidence of silica urinary calculi. These findings translate into feeding and management practices that may be beneficial in reducing the incidence of silica urinary calculi in cattle and sheep

Buffers in Ruminant Diets

There are two sets of dietary conditions under which the beef feeder may give consideration to the feeding of buffering materials. One is when the diet consists primarily of silages that by necessity contain performed organic acids in quantities that may contribute an extra burden to the normal buffering capacity of the ruminant digestive tract. The other is under conditions of high-concentrate feeding when the rapid fermentation of readily fermentable carbohydrates by rumen microbes produces high concentrations of organic acids. These acids may overtax the normal buffering systems inherently present in the ruminant digestive tract and blood system resulting in the condition commonly referred to as rumen acidosis

The early sixth-century frescoes at S. Martino ai Monti in Rome

This work presents an architectural and art-historical study of the buildings of the monastery and church of S. Martino ai Monti in Rome, the use of which dates from the Carolingian period in the Middle Ages. The authors defend the theories of art historian Richard Krautheimer, who posited that the ancient architectural remnants found in the basement below the basilica date from the sixth century and were used by Christians of that period. The authors defend these claims with a study of the frescoes and wall paintings found there

Phosphatic Urinary Calculi

Many questions as to the cause, prevention and treatment of urinary calculi remain yet unanswered. However, many experiments the past several years provide a basis for a greater understanding of this problem and its control

Prevention of Silica Urinary Calculi in a Laboratory Animal Model

An animal model utilizing Sprague-Dawley rats fed a diet containing 2% of tetraethylorthosilicate (TES) has been used to study urinary conditions and dietary factors preventing silica urinary calculi . The basal TES diet produced approximately a 50% incidence of silica urinary calculi. Supplemental dietary phosphorus and the urinary acidifying agent ammonium chloride greatly reduced the urinary calculi incidence, while supplemental dietary calcium and urine alkalinization with sodium bicarbonate increased the incidence. The protection from silica urinary calculi provided by sodium or ammonium phosphate compounds was found to be independent of their urinary acidifying effects, and the effects of phosphates and ammonium chloride were additive. While these observations have not been extended t o cattle and sheep, high silica range grasses often contain suboptimum levels of phosphorus. Therefore, the feeding of phosphorus supplements free choice to animals on the range appears to be a sensible management practice that may help prevent silica urinary calculi

Altars personified: the cult of the saints and the chapel system in Pope Pascal I\u27s S. Prassede (817-819)

Includes introduction to Archaeology in Architecture: Studies in Honor of Cecil L. Striker edited by Judson Emerick and Deborah Mauskopf Deliyannis

Pre- and Post-Adaptation Effects of Buffers in High-Concentrate Lamb Diets

A gradual increase in grain cover a period of 2 to 4 weeks is commonly required before ruminant animals become adapted to high-concentrate diets. Various dietary materials including sodium bicarbonate, sodium betonite, limestone and forage have been indicated as potential adis in the prevention of acidosis during adaptation. Benefits from feeding of these materials following adaptation have been less pronounced or lacking. Objectives of studies reported herein were (1) to investigate the effects of buffers and limited quantitites of alfalfa hay on physiological and rumen fermentation changs occuring in lambs during the early phase of adaptation to high-concentrate diets and (2) to study ruminal and systemic parameters and nutrient utilization as influenced by buffers in the diets of lambs previously adapted to the high-concentrate diet

Using machine learning to predict the number of alternative solutions to a minimum cardinality set covering problem

Although the characterization of alternative optimal solutions for linear programming problems is well known, such characterizations for combinatorial optimization problems are essentially non-existent. This is the first article to qualitatively predict the number of alternative optima for a classic NP-hard combinatorial optimization problem, namely, the minimum cardinality (also called unicost) set covering problem (MCSCP). For the MCSCP, a set must be covered by a minimum number of subsets selected from a specified collection of subsets of the given set. The MCSCP has numerous industrial applications that require that a secondary objective is optimized once the size of a minimum cover has been determined. To optimize the secondary objective, the number of MCSCP solutions is optimized. In this article, for the first time, a machine learning methodology is presented to generate categorical regression trees to predict, qualitatively (extra-small, small, medium, large, or extra-large), the number of solutions to an MCSCP. Within the machine learning toolbox of MATLAB®, 600,000 unique random MCSCPs were generated and used to construct regression trees. The prediction quality of these regression trees was tested on 5000 different MCSCPs. For the 5-output model, the average accuracy of being at most one off from the predicted category was 94.2%.Â

Limestone As a buffering Agent in High-Concentrate Diets

In recent years, there has been evidence indicating that limestone in excess of normal requirement levels for calcium has beneficial effects for ruminants. Research at this station has shown that limestone supplementation is effective in preventing phosphatic urinary calculi formation in ruminants when fed at higher levels than normally recommended. Work at other stations has shown positive effects on weight gain from limestone added to highconcentrate diets, which was attributed to buffering action within the digestive tract. In short-term finishing periods, buffer supplementation may help ruminants adapt to high-grain diets if roughage has been their major feedstuff in the past. Graded levels of limestone were fed in this experiment to determine beneficial effects in protecting lambs from the effects of rumen acidosis during an extremely short adaptation period and to determine the optimum level of supplementation needed to improve performance during the longer term finishing period

Factors Promoting Silica Urolithiasis (Urinary Calculi) in Sheep

The following study was conducted to determine the effects of a high calcium to phosphorus ratio and alkali-forming effects of the diet on silica urolithiasis in ruminants