A make vs buy truck logistics decision for grain companies

Master of AgribusinessDepartment of Agricultural EconomicsKeith D. HarrisGrain companies in the United States face many different challenges operating in a mature industry with a rich history in agriculture. The purpose of this thesis project is to examine a solution for a grain companies operating in a geographical region with considerable competition. By focusing on differentiation in level of services offered to customers, grain companies can become more profitable. The results of this study offer a solution, which centers on supply chain logistics. The objective of this project is to examine the make vs buy decision for operating a truck and trailer for grain transportation. Determining the decision factors that influence which method is the most optimal and to provide a method of relating the costs associated with each choice. In order to make an economic decision, a Truck Cost Calculator will be created to best reflect the most realistic cost structure for owning and operating a truck and trailer in house during an average crop year for a facility in Pratt County, KS. Other decision factors that are non-economic that provide a strategic benefit to a business will also be part of the project. Using industry data and relevant variables for the cost calculator, the end result is that operating choosing to operate truck logistics in house is the most cost effective option in the make vs buy decision. The optimal choice will differ individually between businesses when a strategic approach is taken to assess whether or not logistics is a core competency in the supply chain

The Effect of Sleep on Perceptual Learning and Memory Consolidation

An ability to segregate speech accurately is essential given that most auditory environments contain other overlapping conversations or environmental noise. While perceiving speech among background noise can be difficult in and of itself, those with hearing impairments can experience considerable difficulty. While training has been shown to benefit perceptual segregation of trained sounds, it is unclear how such training transfers to sounds not included in a training regimen. The current study aimed to address this question by training listeners on a portion of sounds during a vowel segregation task, and subsequently testing on both the trained sounds and untrained sounds. Additionally, the dependency on sleep in consolidating generalization was investigated by testing listeners at two additional time points: before sleep (12 hours later) and after sleep (24 hours later). Finally, neural correlates specific to generalization was investigated by recording brain activity (EEG) during all test and training sessions. Trained listeners significantly improved on trained and untrained vowel pairs, demonstrating training-induced learning and generalization. The control group also significantly improved across test sessions, demonstrating testing-induced learning. Spatio-temporal analyses of EEG data revealed that generalization learning was paralleled by a source configuration change, while rote learning was paralleled by a change in the power of the neural response. These results confirm that learning gained through speech segregation is generalizable to new sounds, as well as revealed a neural pattern of activity that may index the processes responsible for transferring learning to untrained sounds. Finally, time and additional practice appear to greater contribute to learning overall, as compared to sleep

Age-related deficits in dip-listening evident for isolated sentences but not for spoken stories

Fluctuating background sounds facilitate speech intelligibility by providing speech ‘glimpses’ (masking release). Older adults benefit less from glimpses, but masking release is typically investigated using isolated sentences. Recent work indicates that using engaging, continuous speech materials (e.g., spoken stories) may qualitatively alter speech-in-noise listening. Moreover, neural sensitivity to different amplitude envelope profiles (ramped, damped) changes with age, but whether this affects speech listening is unknown. In three online experiments, we investigate how masking release in younger and older adults differs for masked sentences and stories, and how speech intelligibility varies with masker amplitude profile. Intelligibility was generally greater for damped than ramped maskers. Masking release was reduced in older relative to younger adults for disconnected sentences, and stories with a randomized sentence order. Critically, when listening to stories with an engaging and coherent narrative, older adults demonstrated equal or greater masking release compared to younger adults. Older adults thus appear to benefit from ‘glimpses’ as much as, or more than, younger adults when the speech they are listening to follows a coherent topical thread. Our results highlight the importance of cognitive and motivational factors for speech understanding, and suggest that previous work may have underestimated speech-listening abilities in older adults

The Effect Of Toe-In/Toe-Out Variation On Locomotion: A Comprehensive Review

Gait modifications can alter energy demands and cost of transport. Specifically, alterations in toe-in and toe-out alignment have been found to affect force production abilities during gait. However, the terminology used when describing alterations in toe-in/toe-out alignment is somewhat differential. The aims of this thesis were to conduct a literature review to define terminology associated with toe-in/toe-out gait as well as determine implications on force production, injury, disability, trainability, performance, and analyze possibilities for further investigations. Reference articles were collected from journal databases such as PubMed,Web of Science, Google Scholar, and SPORTDiscuss, by searching for studies related to intoeing gait, foot progression angle, and metatarsophalangeal joint during running. After reviewing the literature it was concluded that toe-in/toe-out modification could alter the gear ratio of the foot and result in a more mechanically advantageous gait pattern. Further inquiries are necessary to determine the exact parameters for degrees of intoeing and outtoeing that are beneficial, as well as its impact on performance during different phases of gait movement patterns

The effect of musical training on speech and sound perception

We are going to carry out such a study, in conjunction with research labs at five other institutions. With six universities involved, we will be able to recruit a sufficiently large number of people in the study and decrease the likelihood of any regional bias influencing the outcomes. We will be trying to validate the following claims: that musicians have an improved ability to understand speech in noisy environments that the responses of a musician\u27s brainstem to speech sounds is enhanced, and that older musicians have reduced symptoms from age-related hearing loss.https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/brainscanprojectsummaries/1036/thumbnail.jp

Cortical responses to the amplitude envelopes of sounds change with age

Many older listeners have difficulty understanding speech in noise, when cues to speech-sound identity are less redundant. The amplitude envelope of speech fluctuates dramatically over time, and features such as the rate of amplitude change at onsets (attack) and offsets (decay), signal critical information about the identity of speech sounds. Aging is also thought to be accompanied by increases in cortical excitability, which may differentially alter sensitivity to envelope dynamics. Here, we recorded electroencephalography in younger and older human adults (of both sexes) to investigate how aging affects neural synchronization to 4 Hz amplitude-modulated noises with different envelope shapes (ramped: Slow attack and sharp decay; damped: Sharp attack and slow decay). We observed that subcortical responses did not differ between age groups, whereas older compared with younger adults exhibited larger cortical responses to sound onsets, consistent with an increase in auditory cortical excitability. Neural activity in older adults synchronized more strongly to rapid-onset, slow-offset (damped) envelopes, was less sinusoidal, and was more peaked. Younger adults demonstrated the opposite pattern, showing stronger synchronization to slow-onset, rapid-offset (ramped) envelopes, as well as a more sinusoidal neural response shape. The current results suggest that age-related changes in the excitability of auditory cortex alter responses to envelope dynamics. This may be part of the reason why older adults experience difficulty understanding speech in noise

Bakteri Tanah Sampah Pendegradasi Plastik dalam Kolom Winogradsky

Penggunaan plastik berupa kantong kresek hasil daur ulang dengan berbagai warna sangat diminati oleh masyarakat. Sifat plastik yang tidak mudah terdegradasi di alam mengakibatkan masalah lingkungan. Penelitian ini dilakukan untuk mengisolasi dan mengkarakterisasi bakteri tanah sampah yang mampu mendegradasi plastik secara biokimia. Parameter biodegradasi plastik yang diukur adalah prosentase kehilangan berat kering, pengukuran densitas sel biofilm, densitas sel kolom air dan pH tiap bulan selama 4 bulan masa inkubasi. Dari penelitian didapatkan persentase kehilangan berat kerig plastk hitam lebih tinggi daripada plastik putih Bening. Hasil yang diperoleh menunjukkan bahwa isolat bakteri tanah sampah pendegradasi plastik yaitu Gram positif basil (PPs 2, PPs 7, PPs 9, dan PPs 11) dan Gram negatif basil (PPs 1, PPs 4, PPs 5, PPs 6, PPs 8, PPs 10, PPs 12 dan PPs 13 )dan hanya PPs 3 termasuk Gram negatif kokus

The normal increase in insulin after a meal may be required to prevent postprandial renal sodium and volume losses

Despite the effects of insulinopenia in type 1 diabetes and evidence that insulin stimulates multiple renal sodium transporters, it is not known whether normal variation in plasma insulin regulates sodium homeostasis physiologically. This study tested whether the normal postprandial increase in plasma insulin significantly attenuates renal sodium and volume losses. Rats were instrumented with chronic artery and vein catheters, housed in metabolic cages, and connected to hydraulic swivels. Measurements of urine volume and sodium excretion (UNaV) over 24 h and the 4-h postprandial period were made in control (C) rats and insulin-clamped (IC) rats in which the postprandial increase in insulin was prevented. Twenty-four-hour urine volume (36 ± 3 vs. 15 ± 2 ml/day) and UNaV (3.0 ± 0.2 vs. 2.5 ± 0.2 mmol/day) were greater in the IC compared with C rats, respectively. Four hours after rats were given a gel meal, blood glucose and urine volume were greater in IC rats, but UNaV decreased. To simulate a meal while controlling blood glucose, C and IC rats received a glucose bolus that yielded peak increases in blood glucose that were not different between groups. Urine volume (9.7 ± 0.7 vs. 6.0 ± 0.8 ml/4 h) and UNaV (0.50 ± 0.08 vs. 0.20 ± 0.06 mmol/4 h) were greater in the IC vs. C rats, respectively, over the 4-h test. These data demonstrate that the normal increase in circulating insulin in response to hyperglycemia may be required to prevent excessive renal sodium and volume losses and suggest that insulin may be a physiological regulator of sodium balance

Sex dependent differences in renal angiotensinogen as an early marker of diabetic nephropathy

AIM: The renal renin-angiotensin system (RAS) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy. The aim of this study was to investigate sex differences in renal renin-angiotensin system (RAS) and the roles of androgens in diabetes-associated renal injury. METHODS: Renal injury and fibrosis was studied in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats by albuminuria and by gene expression of collagen-I and fibronectin. RAS was investigated by analyzing the plasma angiotensinogen (AOGEN) and renin activity (PRA) and their renal gene expression. Also, a group of diabetic rats was treated with the antiandrogen flutamide. RESULTS: Albuminuria was significantly lower in diabetic females than in males (1.2 [0.8-1.5] vs. 4.4 [2.2-6.1] mg/24h, data are median [IQR] values, p0.05), as were collagen-I and fibronectin mRNAs. Furthermore, AOGEN mRNA levels were strongly correlated with albuminuria (Spearman r = 0.64, 95%[CI] 0.36 to 0.81, p< 0.0001). Diabetes decreased PRA, renal renin mRNA and plasma AOGEN in both females and males. Antiandrogen treatment decreased albuminuria only in diabetic males without affecting the endocrine or renal RAS. CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate that renal but not hepatic AOGEN or renin is positively associated with diabetic albuminuria and contribute to the sex-dependent differences in renal injury. Androgens may contribute to albuminuria in male independently of the RAS

Linking disease epidemiology and livestock productivity: the case of bovine respiratory disease in France

Concerns are growing over the impact of livestock farming on environment and public health. The livestock industry is faced with the double constraint of limiting its use of natural resources and antimicrobials while ensuring its economic sustainability. In this context, reliable methods are needed to evaluate the effect of the prevention of endemic animal diseases on the productivity of livestock production systems. In this study, an epidemiological and productivity model was used to link changes in Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD) incidence with the productivity of the beef and dairy cattle sectors in France. Cattle production parameters significantly affected by BRD were selected through literature review. Previous field study results and national cattle performance estimates were used to infer growth performances, mortality rates and carcass quality in the cattle affected and not affected by BRD. A steady-state deterministic herd production model was used to predict the productivity of the dairy and beef sector and their defined compartments (breeding-fattening, feedlot young bulls, and feedlot veal) in case of BRD incidence reduction by 20%, 50% or 100%. Results suggested that BRD should be controlled at a priority in beef breeding farms as eradication of BRD in beef calves would increase the whole beef sector’s productivity by 4.7–5.5% while eradication in other production stages would result in lower productivity gain in their respective sectors. However, the analysis performed at compartment level showed that, in both the beef and dairy sector, young bull and veal feedlot enterprises derive more economic benefits from BRD eradication for their own compartment (increase in productivity of 8.7–12.8% for beef young bulls) than the breeding farms (increase in productivity of 5.1–6% for beef calves), which may limit the investments in BRD control