Investment Analysis of Alternative Dairy Systems under MILC

Three dairy systems, 120-cow grazing, 120-cow conventional, and 600-cow concentrated, were evaluated by internal rate of return (IRR) accounting for the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC). With MILC, the grazing and conventional systems had higher IRRs. Without MILC, the 600-cow dairy had the highest IRR. Results were sensitive to assumptions.Concentrated feeding, conventional, grazing, internal rate of return, Livestock Production/Industries,

The application of amino acid racemization in the acid soluble fraction of enamel to the estimation of the age of human teeth

Estimation of age-at-death for skeletonised forensic remains is one of the most significant problems in forensic anthropology. The majority of existing morphological and histological techniques are highly inaccurate, and show a bias towards underestimating the age of older individuals. One technique which has been successful in forensic age estimation is amino acid racemization in dentine. However, this method cannot be used on remains where the post-mortem interval is greater than 20 years. An alternative approach is to measure amino acid racemization in dental enamel, which is believed to be more resistant to change post-mortem. The extent of amino acid racemization in the acid soluble fraction of the enamel proteins was determined for modem known age teeth. A strong correlation was observed between the age of the tooth and the extent of racemization. No systematic bias in the direction of age estimation errors was detected. For the majority of teeth analyzed, the presence of dental caries did not affect the results obtained. In a minority of cases, carious teeth showed a higher level of racemization than would be expected given the age of the individual. These results indicate that amino acid racemization in enamel has the potential to be used in age estimation of skeletal remains. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved

Pedogenic Processes in Thick Sand Deposits on a Marine Terrace, Central California

Pedological studies in thick sedimentary sequences are generally limited to the upper few meters. Field investigation of thick (~50 m) sand deposits on an emergent Pleistocene marine terrace in central California showed morphological differences between the solum at the surface and the deep regolith. Based on morphological and geochemical features, four units were identified within the regolith. Two zones of active pedogenesis occur within three of these units. The surficial unit is in Holocene sand deposits (mixed, thermic, Argic Xeropsamments), and has darkened A horizons, a slightly reddened subsoil, and incipient lamellae at the depth of wetting front infiltration. These lamellae have slightly more day and Fe oxides than the soil above. Mineral weathering is intense at the surface. The other zone of active pedogenesis is at the base of the regolith, where a lithologic discontinuity above the terrace platform forms an aquitard, and throughflow occurs. Meteoric water percolates through thin regolith deposits above the shoreline angle, and at other locations on the terrace where sediment has been removed by erosion. Percolating water carries clay, organic matter, and solutes to the water table. Weathering is intense within this basal unit. Illuviation of clays and Fe oxides, and precipitation of Fe oxides and silica occur within this unit. As pore space is filled, fractures and channels become paths for saturated water flow. Eluviation of Fe occurs at these sites. Most of the intervening regolith is isolated from current pedogenesis by its great depth and a relatively dry Holocene climate. Well-developed lamellae are preserved as relicts of Pleistocene episodes of soil formation. These lamellae formed by illuviation of clay and Fe oxides, and were sites of silica precipitation. The conceptual model presented here is intended to facilitate understanding of pedogenic and geomorphological evolution of marine terrace deposits, and to assist with the interpretation of groundwater flow in these terrace systems

Mechanisms of cognitive-behavioral therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder involve robust and extensive increases in brain network connectivity.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is effective for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD); however, little is understood about its mechanisms related to brain network connectivity. We examined connectivity changes from resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data pre-to-post-CBT in 43 OCD participants, randomized to receive either 4 weeks of intensive CBT or 4 weeks waitlist followed by 4 weeks of CBT, and 24 healthy controls before and after 4 weeks of no treatment. Network-based-statistic analysis revealed large-magnitude increases in OCD connectivity in eight networks. Strongest increases involved connectivity between the cerebellum and caudate/putamen, and between the cerebellum and dorsolateral/ventrolateral prefrontal cortices. Connectivity increases were associated with increased resistance to compulsions. Mechanisms of CBT may involve enhanced cross-network integration, both within and outside of classical cortico-striatal-thalamo-cortical regions; those involving cerebellar to striatal and prefrontal regions may reflect acquisition of new non-compulsive goal-directed behaviors and thought patterns. Our findings have implications for identifying targets for enhancing treatment efficacy and monitoring treatment progress

Strike Your Colors

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-me/1743/thumbnail.jp

Perfection of materials technology for producing improved Gunn-effect devices

Chemical vapor deposition system for improved Gunn effect devices using arsenic chloride 3 metho

Icosahedral multi-component model sets

A quasiperiodic packing Q of interpenetrating copies of C, most of them only partially occupied, can be defined in terms of the strip projection method for any icosahedral cluster C. We show that in the case when the coordinates of the vectors of C belong to the quadratic field Q[\sqrt{5}] the dimension of the superspace can be reduced, namely, Q can be re-defined as a multi-component model set by using a 6-dimensional superspace.Comment: 7 pages, LaTeX2e in IOP styl

Reduction of laser intensity scintillations in turbulent atmospheres using time averaging of a partially coherent beam

We demonstrate experimentally and numerically that the application of a partially coherent beam (PCB) in combination with time averaging leads to a significant reduction in the scintillation index. We use a simplified experimental approach in which the atmospheric turbulence is simulated by a phase diffuser. The role of the speckle size, the amplitude of the phase modulation, and the strength of the atmospheric turbulence are examined. We obtain good agreement between our numerical simulations and our experimental results. This study provides a useful foundation for future applications of PCB-based methods of scintillation reduction in physical atmospheres.Comment: 18 pages, 14 figure