A METHOD FOR DETERMINING RANCH PROFIT PROBABILITIES WHEN LIVESTOCK YIELDS ARE NORMALLY DISTRIBUTED

Data on net turnoff for small, medium-sized and large cow-calf and small and large size yearling ranches were tested for normality using the Shapiro - Wilk test. The yield data examined were accepted as normally distributed at the alpha = .10 level. The probability of profit for each type of ranch was assessed using normal curve techniques for nine different cost-price alternatives and weather conditions. Yearling cattle ranchers had higher profit probabilities than cow-calf ranchers. Prices received had more influence on profit probabilities than weather conditions.Livestock Production/Industries,

Baryogenesis by Brane-Collision

We present a new scenario for baryogenesis in the context of heterotic brane-world models. The baryon asymmetry of the universe is generated at a small-instanton phase transition which is initiated by a moving brane colliding with the observable boundary. We demonstrate, in the context of a simple model, that reasonable values for the baryon asymmetry can be obtained. As a byproduct we find a new class of moving-brane cosmological solutions in the presence of a perfect fluid.Comment: 20 pages, Latex, 2 eps-figure

Detection of bacterial spores with lanthanide-macrocycle binary complexes

The detection of bacterial spores via dipicolinate-triggered lanthanide luminescence has been improved in terms of detection limit, stability, and susceptibility to interferents by use of lanthanide−macrocycle binary complexes. Specifically, we compared the effectiveness of Sm, Eu, Tb, and Dy complexes with the macrocycle 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,7-diacetate (DO2A) to the corresponding lanthanide aquo ions. The Ln(DO2A)^+ binary complexes bind dipicolinic acid (DPA), a major constituent of bacterial spores, with greater affinity and demonstrate significant improvement in bacterial spore detection. Of the four luminescent lanthanides studied, the terbium complex exhibits the greatest dipicolinate binding affinity (100-fold greater than Tb^(3+) alone, and 10-fold greater than other Ln(DO2A)^+ complexes) and highest quantum yield. Moreover, the inclusion of DO2A extends the pH range over which Tb−DPA coordination is stable, reduces the interference of calcium ions nearly 5-fold, and mitigates phosphate interference 1000-fold compared to free terbium alone. In addition, detection of Bacillus atrophaeus bacterial spores was improved by the use of Tb(DO2A)^+, yielding a 3-fold increase in the signal-to-noise ratio over Tb^(3+). Out of the eight cases investigated, the Tb(DO2A)^+ binary complex is best for the detection of bacterial spores

TRAP CROP RADISH: A SUSTAINABLE ALTERNATIVE FOR NEMATICIDE IN SUGAR BEETS

Chemical treatment of nematodes in sugar beets can be very costly ($190 per acre), and hazardous, representing significant environmental risks to air, water and human health. Substituting trap crop radish for chemicals, represents a win-win case of sustainable pest control, yielding environmental benefits, higher profit and reduced risk.Crop Production/Industries,

A New Method for Finding Vacua in String Phenomenology

One of the central problems of string-phenomenology is to find stable vacua in the four dimensional effective theories which result from compactification. We present an algorithmic method to find all of the vacua of any given string-phenomenological system in a huge class. In particular, this paper reviews and then extends hep-th/0606122 to include various non-perturbative effects. These include gaugino condensation and instantonic contributions to the superpotential.Comment: 27 pages, 5 .eps figures. V2: Minor corrections, reference adde

AXIS--a suitable case for treatment. UK Coordinating Committee on Cancer Research (UKCCCR) Colorectal Cancer Subcommittee.

Decisions about the role of adjuvant therapy in the management of colorectal cancer are rarely taken on the basis of sound scientific evidence. This is not because surgeons are capricious, but because sound scientific evidence is, unfortunately, a little thin on the ground. Since the first randomised trial in the UK was initiated some 15 years ago, less than 1% of the 26,000 cases of colorectal cancer each year have been entered into randomised clinical trials and a similar situation exists elsewhere. A recent overview of all of the published evidence worldwide from trials of radiotherapy in rectal cancer identified trials involving in total only some 5,000 patients. The individual trials were all too small to detect reliably (or refute reliably) any realistically moderate improvement in survival and, even when combined, their results are equivocal (Buyse et al., 1988). It is thus hardly surprising that surgeons are divided in their views of whether or not radiotherapy is a useful adjuvant treatment in this disease. A similar situation exists when considering the role of chemotherapy where, again, there is considerable uncertainty about whether adjuvant chemotherapy has any effect on mortality at all and, if it does have an effect, no consensus about the likely size of that effect. Recently, however, evidence that chemotherapy usually with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) containing regimens - can moderately improve survival has been accumulating. The most promising treatments that have been examined are a 1-week post-operative infusion of 5-FU through the portal vein (Taylor et al., 1985), 18 months systemic administration of MOF (Fisher et al., 1988; Wolmark et al., 1988) and a year of systemic 5-FU given in conjunction with levamisole (Moertel et al., 1990). There is clearly a need for a more precise definition of the effect of adjuvant therapy on long term survival and so, in November 1989, the UKCCCR launched AXIS, an international randomised trial designed to be large enough to get definite evidence about any survival benefit of intraportal 5-FU and of perioperative radiotherapy. Even a moderate improvement in survival in this disease would be important because, since colorectal cancer is so common, an improvement of 'only' 5% in 5-year survival (say from 50% to 55%) could save many thousands of lives each year