Goal setting in planning : myths and realities

Occasional paper (University of Vermont. Center for Research on Vermont) ; no. 3

Access to Scientific Literature in Rural Veterinary Practice

The advent and use of new technologies is affecting rural veterinary practices in a number of ways, including increasing access to digital information in even the least urbanized areas of the country. Veterinary practitioners who can connect to the internet have access to much of the veterinary, medical, and agriculture literature published anywhere in the world. This access to scientific literature in rural areas is equal to that available anywhere in the U.S. with the possible exception of within the walls of a library at one of the colleges of veterinary medicine

CDM analysis

The C Data Manager (CDM) is an advanced tool for creating an object-oriented database and for processing queries related to objects stored in that database. The CDM source code was purchased and will be modified over the course of the Arachnid project. In this report, the modified CDM is referred to as MCDM. Using MCDM, a detailed series of experiments was designed and conducted on a Sun Sparcstation. The primary results and analysis of the CDM experiment are provided in this report. The experiments involved creating the Long-form Faint Source Catalog (LFSC) database and then analyzing it with respect to following: (1) the relationships between the volume of data and the time required to create a database; (2) the storage requirements of the database files; and (3) the properties of query algorithms. The effort focused on defining, implementing, and analyzing seven experimental scenarios: (1) find all sources by right ascension--RA; (2) find all sources by declination--DEC; (3) find all sources in the right ascension interval--RA1, RA2; (4) find all sources in the declination interval--DEC1, DEC2; (5) find all sources in the rectangle defined by--RA1, RA2, DEC1, DEC2; (6) find all sources that meet certain compound conditions; and (7) analyze a variety of query algorithms. Throughout this document, the numerical results obtained from these scenarios are reported; conclusions are presented at the end of the document

PRACTICES USED BY DAIRY FARMERS TO REDUCE SEASONAL PRODUCTION VARIABILITY

Results of this study further support the effectiveness of the seasonal pricing plan in reducing seasonal production variability. Florida Dairy farmers were able to change factors that affect production in order to take advantage of the seasonal pricing plan and that farmers that chose not to participate were able to affect factors to increase production seasonality.seasonality, Demand and Price Analysis, Livestock Production/Industries,

A Review of Heat Stroke and Its Complications in the Canine

A review of heat stroke and its complications is presented. The etiology, physiology, clinical signs, secondary complications, diagnosis, treatment, necropsy results and prevention of heat stroke are discussed. A clinical case is then presented to illustrate the disorder of heat stroke

Mature open cows are rarely persistently infected with bovine viral diarrhea virus

Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDv) is an immunosuppressive virus affecting cattle in a multitude of ways. The varied presentation makes this disease difficult to identify in cow herds and the signs of a BVD infection may be very subtle. The syndrome causes economic problems by reducing herd fertility and increasing disease rates. The persistently infected (PI) animal is a unique reservoir for BVDv. These cattle are the result of in utero exposure to the noncytopathic biotype of BVDv prior to the development of a competent fetal immune system at about 125 days of gestation. Persistently infected animals are the primary method for the disease to propagate over time. PI cattle consistently shed BVD virus in relatively high levels and this exposure to the breeding herd can result in new PI calves. PI animals propagate BVDv in the herd and decrease pregnancy percentages compared to herds without PI animals. Farms must assess risk and manage for biosecurity when purchasing adult animals with an unknown history of disease exposure. Breeding herds that introduce new animals to the herd face the risk of importing a BVD PI animal. To mitigate this risk, PI animals must be accurately identified prior to herd introduction, but visual appraisal is not an accurate method of discovering these animals. Multiple diagnostic tests are available to determine the BVD status of incoming animals and all have an associated cost. Economic feasibility of determining the BVD PI status of animals depends to a large degree on the frequency with which PI animals occur in a population. Previous research has illustrated that PI calves entering the feedyard phase of production are fairly rare (about three per 1,000 calves); however, very little work has been done in mature animals. This project provides an estimate of BVD PI frequency for a specific population. This assessment should allow the formulation of a BVD-specific risk management plan which addresses the economic efficiency of testing mature females upon arrival. The primary objective of this research is to determine the prevalence of BVD PI animals in a population of young (3- to 6-year-old) cows purchased as non-pregnant mature animals. The results can guide biosecurity decisions for producers when purchasing and introducing this class of animal to the herd