Thermal infrared research: Where are we now?

The use of infrared temperatures in agriculture and hydrology is based on the energy balance equation which is used to estimate evapotranspiration and crop stress over small areas within a field as well as large areas. For its full utilization, this measurement must be combined with other spectral data collected at a time resolution sufficient to detect changes in the agricultural or hydrological systems and at a spatial resolution with enough detail to sample within individual fields. The most stringent requirement is that the data be readily available to the user. The spatial resolution necessary for IR measurements to be incorporated into evapotranspiration models to accurately estimate field and regional transpiration or measure crop stress; methods to estimate crop stress and yield over large areas and different cultivars within a species; the temporal resolution adequate for detecting crop stress or inclusion in evapotranspiration models; and ancillary parameters for estimating thermal IR measurements must be investigated

The Constitutionality of Canada's New Competition Policy

The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze the major constitutional issues raised by the recent legislative initiatives of the Federal government designed to implement a new competition policy for Canada. The first phase of those initiatives was incorporated in major amendments to the Combines Investigation Act which came into force in 1976. The second phase was laid before Parliament, just as this paper was being written, on March 15, 1977, in the form of Bill C-42.3 Hereinafter these two pieces of legislation will be referred to as the Act and the Bill respectively

The isolation and characterization of cell wall proteins from Zea mays seedlings

The cell wall structure of plants is composed of a complex matrix of polysaccharides and protein. Controlled alteration of the cell wall matrix by enzymic hydrolysis allows cell enlargement in compliance to cell turgor. To investigate the metabolic events involved in cell elongation, proteins were extracted and characterized from Zea mays seedling cell walls. Wall proteins were extracted with lithium chloride and separated into several major fractions by using cation exchange chromatography. One fraction, which was not bound to the cation exchange column, elicited antibodies which inhibited auxin induced growth. Active subfractions were further resolved by using gel filtration, identified by bioassay, and characterized by immunoprecipitation. The active protein(s) were acidic in nature and had no hydrolytic activity against polysaccharides in isolated cell walls;A separate fraction investigated, bound tightly to the cation exchange column and contained endo-(beta)-D-glucanase activity. The endo-(beta)-D-glucanase was purified extensively using ion exchange and gel filtration chromatography. The enzyme is characterized by a molecular weight of 20-25 kD, an isoelectric point of greater than pH 9, and thermal stability to temperatures of 50 C. Hydrolytic activity against model substrates indicated a high specificity for (beta)-1,3;1,4-D-glucans. No hydrolysis of (beta)-1,3-D-glucans was observed. Hydrolytic activity against specific mixed-linked glucans appeared to be restricted to the hydrolysis of a (beta) 1--4 glucosyl linkage within regions enriched in (beta) 1--4 and (beta) 1--3 linkages. This restricted hydrolysis resulted in the release of uniform products containing 60 to 70 glucose residues. The endo-(beta)-D-glucanase has a putative role in the degradation of the mixed linked (beta)-D-glucan molecule during auxin induced growth

The Tail Wags the Dog: State Versus Federal Control in the Public Domain Debate, 1929-1934

This thesis examines the evolution of public land law during the early 1930s. It focuses specifically on the development of a federal grazing policy on the remaining public domain located in the eleven western states. This period of intense intellectual conflict, concerning the relationship between private enterprise and the federal government, was a pivotal moment in the history of land law. To explain the profound shift from the entrenched states\u27 rights attitudes of the 1920s to the acceptance of federal control inaugurated by the Taylor Grazing Act in 1934, this thesis explores the emergence of a powerful profederal contingent from 1929 to 1934. Led by Utah politicians, businessmen, and academicians, this profederal group of westerners, USDA officials, and conservationists ultimately defeated the movement to cede the remaining public domain to the states. A series of public-policy-making events, including the Hoover Committee, the National Conference on Land Utilization, and the hearings of the House Committee on Public Lands and the Senate Committee on Public Lands and Surveys, provided these pro-federal advocates with the opportunity to consolidate their efforts and solidify their arguments. Pro-federal proponents used the Hoover Committee to establish valuable communication links and raise a nascent voice against states\u27 rights. The next year, during the National Conference on Land Utilization, this group promulgated the first nationally recognized plan for federal ownership of the public domain. Finally, the persuasive testimony of pro-federal witnesses before the House and Senate public lands committees divided the states\u27 rights supporters into bitter factions and subsequently convinced the legislators to reject the bills favoring state control. By early 1934 these events had molded a formerly disconnected group of individuals into a synergistic force that ultimately afforded Don Colton and Edward Taylor with the momentum to pass the Taylor Grazing Act. Previously scholars have neglected the critical prelude to the Taylor Grazing Act. This thesis attempts to contribute an important piece to the historiographical puzzle of public land law

The Impact of Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE) on Medication Order Processing and Workflow Efficiency by Pharmacists: A Time and Motion Study

Introduction: Recently, there has been a tremendous increase in the preparation on the part of US hospitals to implement CPOE. Employer groups, the federal government, and others have been advocating its implementation since the early 2000s, yet the number of hospitals which have met meaningful use criteria for CPOE is still less than 15%. This number is projected to increase exponentially in a very short time, spurred by incentives from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS). With such a large amount of hospitals preparing for CPOE implementation, there is still much to learn about the impact of these systems. The objective of this study is to quantify the change in pharmacist workflow after CPOE is implemented. Methods: An experimental, enhanced pretest-posttest, prospective, time and motion study was conducted in four inpatient pharmacies within the same hospital system. Order entry pharmacists were observed for two separate time periods. The intervention pharmacy was observed first as a non-CPOE pharmacy and then later, after CPOE had been implemented. There was a control pharmacy which was non-CPOE for both time periods. There were two treatment control pharmacies, both of which had CPOE for both time periods. A database instrument recorded 37 different pharmacist tasks, which were grouped into four activities: clinical, distributive, administrative, and miscellaneous. Comparisons of the amount of time spent by the order entry pharmacist in each of the four different activities were conducted. SAS® version 9.3 was used to analyze the data, with statistical significance set at 0.05. Results: A total of 114 hours at the non-CPOE site and 197 hours at the CPOE site met the inclusion criteria. Non-parametric linear regressions were modeled and the predicted values were analyzed. The predicted mean number of minutes for each recorded hour were, by activity (predicted mean ± SD for non-CPOE versus CPOE, p-value): clinical (5.10 ± 2.24 versus 3.83 ± 1.34, p<0.05); distributive (44.55 ± 1.07 versus 47.61 ± 1.43, p<0.05); administrative (7.25 ± 2.34 versus 6.67 ± 1.28, p<0.05); and miscellaneous (3.11 ± 0.77 versus 1.89 ± 0.68, p<0.05). Conclusions: Less time was spent in the clinical, administrative, and miscellaneous activities, while more time was spent in the distributive activity after CPOE implementation. These findings were statistically significant.Pharmacological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department o

Validation of an Outdoor-based Passive Optoelectric Motion Capture System

The purpose of this study was to validate the quality of data captured outdoors in full sunlight using a passive optoelectric camera system. A golf swing analysis was performed outdoors and indoors using the same system; the outdoor collection was performed in full sunlight. Golf club rotation (deg) and angular velocity (deg•s-1 ) data were calculated about the X, Y, and Z axes of the golf club for a single male subject. Outdoor and indoor angle and angular velocity data were similar about each of the three primary axes of the club, with r values &#8805; 0.970. The highest correlation values were found to exist among the angle data. This study demonstrated that data quality captured with an outdoor system is comparable in quality to data captured indoors

Descartes, corpuscles and reductionism : mechanism and systems in Descartes' physiology

I argue that Descartes explains physiology in terms of whole systems, and not in terms of the size, shape and motion of tiny corpuscles (corpuscular mechanics). It is a standard, entrenched view that Descartes’s proper means of explanation in the natural world is through strict reduction to corpuscular mechanics. This view is bolstered by a handful of corpuscular-mechanical explanations in Descartes’s physics, which have been taken to be representative of his treatment of all natural phenomena. However, Descartes’s explanations of the ‘principal parts’ of physiology do not follow the corpuscular–mechanical pattern. Des Chene (2001) has identified systems in Descartes’s account of physiology, but takes them ultimately to reduce down to the corpuscle level. I argue that they do not. Rather, Descartes maintains entire systems, with components selected from multiple levels of organisation, in order to construct more complete explanations than corpuscular mechanics alone would allow

Multilevel measurements of surface temperature over undulating terrain planted to barley

A ground and aircraft program was conducted to extend ground based methods for measuring soil moisture and crop water stress to aircraft and satellite altitudes. A 260ha agricultural field in California was used over the 1977-78 growing season. For cloud free days ground based temperature measurements over bare soil were related to soil moisture content. Water stress resulted from too much water, not from lack of it, as was expected. A theoretical examination of the canopy air temperature difference as affected by vapor pressure deficit and net radiation was developed. This analysis shows why surface temperatures delineate crop water stress under conditions of low humidity, but not under high humidity conditions. Multilevel temperatures acquired from the ground, low and high altitude aircraft, and the Heat Capacity Mapping Mission (HCMM) spacecraft were compared for two day and one night overpasses. The U-2 and low altitude temperatures were within 0.5 C. The HCMM data were analyzed using both the pre- and post-launch calibrations, with the former being considerably closer in agreement with the aircraft data than the latter

Chapter 1. The Nitrogen Cycle, Historical Perspective, and Current and Potential Future Concerns

Nitrogen (N) along with carbon and oxygen is the most complex and crucial of the elements essential for life. Supplementing grain and grass forage crops with organic and inorganic N fertilizers has long been recognized as a key to improving crop yields and economic returns. Globally. N fertilizer is largely used for cereal grain production and accounts for an estimated 40(1r of the increase in per capita food production in the past 50 years (Mosier et al.. 200 I). Smil (200 I) estimates that N fertilizer supplies up to 40% of the world\u27s dietary protein and dependence on N from the Haber-Bosch process will increase in the future. Nitrogen compounds also have been recognized for their many potential adverse impacts on the environment and health (Keeney. 2002)