Bulb, root, and leafy vegetable harvester

A harvester for bulb, root and leafy vegetable products including stationary blades (31, 32), rotatable discs (131, 132) or the like which are transported at an angle through opposite sides of a product plant bed to loosen the soil, cut the root system, and prepare the products for removal from the plant bed; a pair of opposing, rotatable belts (51, 51\u27) which follow an inclined path and cooperate to define a product passageway therebetween, said belts (51, 51\u27) defining a product lifting and transport section (41) in which adjustable, pressure pulleys (48, 48\u27) ensure proper gripping pressure on the products, and a product orienting section (42) in which the products are transformed from a vertical to a horizontal disposition; support means (70) adjacent said product orienting section (42) for receiving tops of products oriented to a horizontal disposition; and conveyor means (75) adjacent an end of said product passageway for receiving freed, horizontally disposed product. A soil removal means (80) may also be employed beneath and axial to the product passageway along belts 51, 51\u27 and includes an oscillatible rod (88) which vibrates the root system of the product to dislodge soil therefrom

Harvesting machinery

A harvester adapted for harvesting low-lying fruit, such as typical with high-density, dwarf trees, includes an intra-loop conveyor for collecting detached fruit relatively close to the ground and elevating same with a single flighted belt. The harvester straddles a single row of the trees and detaches the fruit therefrom by repeatedly impacting the tree canopies as the harvester moves along the row. Spring-loaded deflection plates close around the tree trunks and deflect detached fruit outwardly to interior surfaces of a pair of single-loop conveyors. Baffles cooperating with the interior of each conveyor restrains fruit therein as the conveyor passes overhead to an inverted position. Fruit is discharged from the conveyor elevated segment onto an output conveyor passing beneath the discharge area. The output conveyor includes a multi-segment, foldable conveyor frame over which a single conveyor belt is entrained. The conveyor belt may be folded over the harvester during non-harvesting transport. Canopy-impacting tines function as fruit detachment devices, and are rotatably driven in a single plane with both constant rotational and oscillatory rotational components of motion. The constant component is synchronized with vehicle forward speed to permit unimpeded feeding of trees through the harvester. The superimposed oscillatory component causes tines to sharply impact tree canopies for detaching fruit therefrom. Both the amplitude and frequency of such impacting action may be varied

Pregnancy and Delivery Costs in Georgia Medicaid: PCCM Versus Fee-for-Service Enrollees

This study examines the enrollment, resource utilization, and prenatal care cost patterns among pregnant black and white women in Georgia’s PCCM program, Georgia Better Health Care (GBHC), compared with those acquiring pregnancy and delivery services through Georgia’s Fee for Service (FFS) sector. Birth certificate data from 1998 were linked with Medicaid enrollment and claims data from 1997 and 1998 to construct a retrospective pregnancy history for each Medicaid woman giving birth in Georgia hospitals in 1998. Total payments for pregnancy and delivery services and on the total number of prenatal care visits were derived for each woman in the sample. Multivariate logistic analyses were employed to assess the role of PCCM versus FFS in determining total payments and the likelihood of a prenatal hospitalization, length of hospital stay longer than 2 days following delivery, and cesarean section delivery. While prenatal pregnancy services and delivery costs were higher for those in PCCM than FFS, PCCM women had fewer prenatal care visits and were less likely to have delivery stays longer than 2 days postpartum compared with FFS women. The higher costs under PCCM are apparently related to the finding that this delivery system was highly associated with having more prenatal hospitalizations compared with FFS. In similar analyses conducted separately for white and black pregnant women, black women served by PCCM followed these overall results across delivery systems while there were no differences in the likelihood of a prenatal hospitalization or total prenatal care visits for whites served by PCCM versus FFS. In light of Georgia’s turn toward full capitation under its new managed care initiative, many issues regarding pregnancy services and delivery such as earlier program enrollment, coordination of care, payment policies and capitation rates will need to be addressed

Overview of the Field Phase of the NASA Tropical Cloud Systems and Processes (TCSP)Experiment

The Tropical Cloud Systems and Processes experiment is sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to investigate characteristics of tropical cyclone genesis, rapid intensification and rainfall using a three-pronged approach that emphasizes satellite information, suborbital observations and numerical model simulations. Research goals include demonstration and assessment of new technology, improvements to numerical model parameterizations, and advancements in data assimilation techniques. The field phase of the experiment was based in Costa Rica during July 2005. A fully instrumented NASA ER-2 high altitude airplane was deployed with Doppler radar, passive microwave instrumentation, lightning and electric field sensors and an airborne simulator of visible and infrared satellite sensors. Other assets brought to TCSP were a low flying uninhabited aerial vehicle, and a surface-based radiosonde network. In partnership with the Intensity Forecasting Experiment of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Hurricane Research Division, two NOAA P-3 aircraft instrumented with radar, passive microwave, microphysical, and dropsonde instrumentation were also deployed to Costa Rica. The field phase of TCSP was conducted in Costa Rica to take advantage of the geographically compact tropical cyclone genesis region of the Eastern Pacific Ocean near Central America. However, the unusual 2005 hurricane season provided numerous opportunities to sample tropical cyclone development and intensification in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico as well. Development of Hurricane Dennis and Tropical Storm Gert were each investigated over several days in addition to Hurricane Emily as it was close to Saffir-Simpson Category 5 intensity. An overview of the characteristics of these storms along with the pregenesis environment of Tropical Storm Eugene in the Eastern Pacific will be presented

Liver Transplantation for Advanced Liver Disease with Alpha-1antitrypsin Deficiency

ALPHA-1-antitrypsin deficiency associated with chronic obstructive airway disease was recognized in 1963 by Laurell and Ericksson.1 In 1969, Sharp2 described the first cases of alpha-1-antitrypsin-deficiency disease in children with cirrhosis. Since then, this inborn error has been recognized as one of the more common factors in cirrhosis of infancy and childhood,3 including “neonatal hepatitis.”4 Alpha-1-antitrypsin is a glycoprotein that accounts for a major portion of the alpha-1 globulin fraction of the serum.5 It is responsible for approximately 90 per cent of the antitrypsin activity6 of the serum, and it also inhibits several other plasma enzymes, including plasmin,7 elastase,8 collagenase,9 and. © 1980, Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved

The Ursinus Weekly, October 26, 1953

British foreign policy is subject of Forum speaker • China collection now on display in Library • Trinity Church holds special student class • Sororities schedule rush week parties • PAC to sponsor bus trip to United Nations, Nov. 14 • Baby sitters made available to faculty for school events • Retreat yields extensive plans for Y activity • Junior class to hold dance November 7 • 1953 alumni news • Freshmen elect officers; Hummel named president • All my sons to be directed by Abramson • Cub and Key plans reunion • Alumnus receives appointment at Washington University • Tonsorial quartets to present program • Editorials: Do we want culture? • From scenery to sex • Engagements • Campus sororities open week of rushing activity • Quartet performs with spirit and versatility • Meistersingers schedule includes concerts, tour • Third team wins, tops Bryn Mawr, 4-0 • Belles tie E. Stroudsburg, Merrifield, Heller counter • Ursinus defeats Swarthmore, 38-21 • Bakermen win 3rd game; Lose fourth to Rutgers • JVs triumph, 6-1, defeating Albright • All-college hockey starts Saturdayhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/weekly/1480/thumbnail.jp

Evaluation of Two Computational Techniques of Calculating Multipath Using Global Positioning System Carrier Phase Measurements

Two computational techniques are used to calculate differential phase errors on Global Positioning System (GPS) carrier war phase measurements due to certain multipath-producing objects. The two computational techniques are a rigorous computati electromagnetics technique called Geometric Theory of Diffraction (GTD) and the other is a simple ray tracing method. The GTD technique has been used successfully to predict microwave propagation characteristics by taking into account the dominant multipath components due to reflections and diffractions from scattering structures. The ray tracing technique only solves for reflected signals. The results from the two techniques are compared to GPS differential carrier phase ns taken on the ground using a GPS receiver in the presence of typical International Space Station (ISS) interference structures. The calculations produced using the GTD code compared to the measured results better than the ray tracing technique. The agreement was good, demonstrating that the phase errors due to multipath can be modeled and characterized using the GTD technique and characterized to a lesser fidelity using the DECAT technique. However, some discrepancies were observed. Most of the discrepancies occurred at lower devations and were either due to phase center deviations of the antenna, the background multipath environment, or the receiver itself. Selected measured and predicted differential carrier phase error results are presented and compared. Results indicate that reflections and diffractions caused by the multipath producers, located near the GPS antennas, can produce phase shifts of greater than 10 mm, and as high as 95 mm. It should be noted tl the field test configuration was meant to simulate typical ISS structures, but the two environments are not identical. The GZ and DECAT techniques have been used to calculate phase errors due to multipath o the ISS configuration to quantify the expected attitude determination errors

Pharmacological Blockade of the Calcium Plateau Provides Neuroprotection Following Organophosphate Paraoxon Induced Status Epilepticus in Rats

Organophosphate (OP) compounds which include nerve agents and pesticides are considered chemical threat agents. Currently approved antidotes are crucial in limiting OP mediated acute mortality. However, survivors of lethal OP exposure exhibit delayed neuronal injury and chronic behavioral morbidities. In this study, we investigated neuroprotective capabilities of dantrolene and carisbamate in a rat survival model of paraoxon (POX) induced status epilepticus (SE). Significant elevations in hippocampal calcium levels were observed 48-h post POX SE survival, and treatment with dantrolene (10 mg/kg, i.m.) and carisbamate (90 mg/kg, i.m.) lowered these protracted calcium elevations. POX SE induced delayed neuronal injury as characterized by Fluoro Jade C labeling was observed in critical brain areas including the dentate gyrus, parietal cortex, amygdala, and thalamus. Dantrolene and carisbamate treatment provided significant neuroprotection against delayed neuronal damage in these brain regions when administered one-hour after POX-SE. These results indicate that dantrolene or carisbamate could be effective adjuvant therapies to the existing countermeasures to reduce neuronal injury and behavioral morbidities post OP SE survival