Crop status evaluations and yield predictions

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Crop status evaluations and yield predictions

A model was developed for predicting the day 50 percent of the wheat crop is planted in North Dakota. This model incorporates location as an independent variable. The Julian date when 50 percent of the crop was planted for the nine divisions of North Dakota for seven years was regressed on the 49 variables through the step-down multiple regression procedure. This procedure begins with all of the independent variables and sequentially removes variables that are below a predetermined level of significance after each step. The prediction equation was tested on daily data. The accuracy of the model is considered satisfactory for finding the historic dates on which to initiate yield prediction model. Growth prediction models were also developed for spring wheat

The monoclinic phase of PZT ceramics: Raman and phenomenological theory studies

This work reports on the first Raman detection of the tetragonal to monoclinic phase transition in PZT ceramics near morphotropic phase boundary at low temperatures. The transition is characterized by changes in the frequency of lattice modes with the temperature. The results presented here confirm the previous one recently reported by Noheda et al. using high-resolution synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction technique and dielectric measurements. The stability of the new phase is discussed within the framework of phenomenological Landau-Devonshire Theory.Comment: 6 pages including 4 figures, Latex, submitted to Applied Physics Letter

Reply to Farine and Aplin: Chimpanzees choose their association and interaction partners

Farine and Aplin (1) question the validity of our study reporting group-specific social dynamics in chimpanzees (2). As alternative to our approach, Farine and Aplin advance a “prenetwork permutation” methodology that tests against random assortment (3). We appreciate Farine and Aplin’s interest and applied their suggested approaches to our data. The new analyses revealed highly similar results to those of our initial approach. We further dispel Farine and Aplin’s critique by outlining its incompatibility to our study system, methodology, and analysis.First, when we apply the suggested prenetwork permutation to our proximity dataset, we again find significant population-level differences in association rates, while controlling for population size [as derived from Farine and Aplin’s script (4); original result, P < 0.0001; results including prenetwork permutation, P < 0.0001]. Furthermore, when we … ↵1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: ejcvanleeuwen{at}gmail.com

UAS in the NAS

Operations - Today and Tomorro

The Grief Reaction

For most parents the death of their infant is the first serious crisis in their lives. This event is regarded by all young parents as more stressful than previous deaths in the family, divorce, separation, alcoholism, or suicide. The infant death may be the first death in the family. The grief reaction is not stereotyped; it is as varied as the individuals experiencing it and the families of which they are a part. Several patterns of grief will be treated here

The Rescue of Jones: the False Human/Animal Distinction and Worth in the Animal Kingdom

Generally, we humans believe human life is superior to all other animal life. Humans are the most intelligent, most capable, most feeling, and thus most valuable creatures on the planet, and thus they are distinct from all other animal species. This concept is pervasive in western philosophy, laws, religions, uses of language, and general society. Yet in the 1979 movie Alien, we see a human risk her life to save a cat, going against both the instinct to survive and the implications of the human/animal distinction. The idea that human life always holds precedence over other animal life is largely based in false assumptions and pretenses, pretenses which cannot hold up in light of many non-human animal abilities, and the fact of animal evolution. Yes, there is worth to be seen in the animal kingdom, but worth based not in simplistic species-based distinctions, but in a spectrum of animal ability and degrees of personhood - and humans, as highly intelligent, capable, and feeling animals, are indeed morally obligated to some non-human animals, as Ripley was obligated to Jones