DEMAND FOR PLANT NUTRIENTS IN TENNESSEE DISAGGREGATED BY MIXED FERTILIZERS AND DIRECT APPLICATION MATERIALS

When obtaining nitrogen (N), phosphate (P) and potash (K), purchasing decisions concerning the quantity and the form of each plant nutrient must be made. Logit models are estimated for the choice-of-form decision by considering those variables influencing the probability that plant nutrients will be purchased in Tennessee as part of a mixed fertilizer or as direct application materials. Parameter and elasticity estimates can be used by fertilizer manufacturers and distributors to anticipate changes in the composition of demand for plant nutrients in Tennessee.Crop Production/Industries,

CHOICE OF TECHNOLOGY: THE CASE OF GRASS FED VERSUS GRAIN FED CATTLE IN HAWAII

A model describing the choice of technology is developed from theoretical considerations. It is shown that the model can be approximated using a logit function. Estimates of short-run elasticities are easily obtained. The model is then applied to the decision to place feeder cattle in confined feeding situations or on range. With one possible exception, the results are consistent with theoretical expectations and with previous studies.Livestock Production/Industries,

Antiphosphatidylserine antibody as a cause of multiple dural venous sinus thromboses and ST-elevation myocardial infarction

Objective: Rare disease Background: Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is an autoimmune disease characterized by antibodies directed against phos-pholipids on plasma membranes. Through unclear mechanisms, APS confers hypercoagulability. APS may cause recurrent thromboses in the arterial and venous vasculature. We report a case of primary APS resulting in cerebral venous thrombosis and ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) for which only antiphosphatidylserine (aPS) IgM antibody was positive after extensive investigation. Case Report: A 48-year-old male was admitted after a witnessed generalized seizure with subsequent confusion. Imaging demonstrated thrombosis of multiple central nervous system (CNS) sinuses, including the superior sagittal sinus and bilateral transverse sinuses. The patient was heparinized with aggressive hydration, which proved inadequate, prompting endovascular thrombectomy. Three months later, despite anticoagulation therapy, the patient developed a STEMI when International Normalized Ratio (INR) was 1.8. Echocardiogram (ECHO) and PAN CT scan were normal. Initial coagulation studies demonstrated normal anticardiolipin antibody, prothrombin time, partial thromboplastin time, and platelet count. Outpatient coagulation studies revealed normal an-tithrombin III, protein C/S, hemoglobin electrophoresis, homocysteine, anti-b2 glycoprotein 1 antibodies, and D-Dimer. Factor V Leiden, JAK 2 mutation, prothrombin gene mutation, and tests for paroxysmal nocturnal he-moglobinuria (PNH) were negative. A positive phosphatidylserine IgM was detected. The patient was continued on warfarin (10 mg daily) with a target INR of 3.0–3.5 and clopidogrel (75 mg daily). Conclusions: Despite extensive investigation, this patient only showed evidence of elevated aPS IgM antibodies, likely contributing to his CNS venous sinus thromboses and STEMI. It is important to screen for antiphosphatidylserine antibodies in cases of unprovoked thrombosis when standard thrombophilia analysis is unrevealing. This will assist in identifying pathogenicity and help prevent recurrence of subsequent thromboses. © Am J Case Rep, 2018

Efflorescence of Ammonium Sulfate and Coated Ammonium Sulfate Particles: Evidence for Surface Nucleation

Using optical microscopy, we investigated the efflorescence of ammonium sulfate (AS) in aqueous AS and in aqueous 1:1 and 8:1 (by dry weight) poly(ethylene glycol)-400 (PEG-400)/AS particles deposited on a hydrophobically coated slide. Aqueous PEG-400/AS particles exposed to decreasing relative humidity (RH) exhibit a liquid−liquid phase separation below 90% RH with the PEG-400-rich phase surrounding the aqueous AS inner phase. Pure aqueous AS particles effloresced in the RH range from 36.3% to 43.7%, in agreement with literature data (31−48% RH). In contrast, aqueous 1:1 (by dry weight) PEG-400/AS particles with diameters of the AS phase from 7.2 to 19.2 μm effloresced between 26.8% and 33.9% RH and aqueous 8:1 (by dry weight) PEG-400/AS particles with diameters of the AS phase from 1.8 to 7.3 μm between 24.3% and 29.3% RH. Such low efflorescence relative humidity (ERH) values have never been reached before for AS particles of this size range. We show that these unprecedented low ERHs of AS in PEG-400/AS particles could not possibly be explained by the presence of low amounts of PEG-400 in the aqueous AS phase, by a potential inhibition of water evaporation via anomalously slow diffusion through the PEG coating, or by different time scales between various experimental techniques. High-speed photography of the efflorescence process allowed the development of the AS crystallization fronts within the particles to be monitored with millisecond time resolution. The nucleation sites were inferred from the initial crystal growth sites. Analysis of the probability distribution of initial sites of 31 and 19 efflorescence events for pure AS and 1:1 (by dry weight) PEG-400/AS particles, respectively, showed that the particle volume can be excluded as the preferred nucleation site in the case of pure AS particles. For aqueous 1:1 (by dry weight) PEG-400/AS particles preferential AS nucleation in the PEG phase and at the PEG/AS/substrate contact line can be excluded. On the basis of this probability analysis of efflorescence events together with the AS ERH values of pure aqueous AS and aqueous PEG-400/AS particles aforementioned, we suggest that in pure aqueous AS particles nucleation starts at the surface of the particles and attribute the lower ERH values observed for aqueous PEG-400/AS particles to the suppression of the surface-induced nucleation process. Our results suggest that surface-induced nucleation is likely to also occur during the efflorescence of atmospheric AS aerosol particles, possibly constituting the dominating nucleation pathway

Flash ionization of the partially ionized wind of the progenitor of SN 1987A

The H II region created by the progenitor of SN 1987A was further heated and ionized by the supernova flash. Prior to the flash, the temperature of the gas was 4000 - 5000 K, and helium was neutral, while the post-flash temperature was only slightly less than 10^5 K, with the gas being ionized to helium-like ionization stages of C, N and O. We have followed the slow post-flash cooling and recombination of the gas, as well as its line emission, and find that the strongest lines are N V 1240 and O VI 1034. Both these lines are good probes for the density of the gas, and suitable instruments to detect the lines are STIS on HST and FUSE, respectively. Other lines which may be detectable are N IV] 1486 and [O III] 5007, though they are expected to be substantially weaker. The relative strength of the oxygen lines is found to be a good tracer of the color temperature of the supernova flash. From previous observations, we put limits on the hydrogen density, n_H, of the H II region. The early N V 1240 flux measured by IUE gives an upper limit which is n_H ~ 180 \eta^{-0.40} cm^{-3}, where \eta is the filling factor of the gas. The recently reported emission in [O III] 5007 at 2500 days requires n_H = (160\pm12) \eta^{-0.19} cm^{-3}, for a supernova burst similar to that in the 500full1 model of Ensman & Burrows (1992). For the more energetic 500full2 burst the density is n_H = (215\pm15) \eta^{-0.19} cm^{-3}. These values are much higher than in models of the X-ray emission from the supernova (n_H ~ 75 cm^{-3}), and it seems plausible that the observed [O III] emission is produced primarily elsewhere than in the H II region. We also discuss the type of progenitor consistent with the H II region. In particular, it seems unlikely that its spectral type was much earlier than B2 Ia.Comment: LaTeX, 23 pages including 4 figures. To appear in ApJ (Main Journal

Honey bee colony losses

No description supplie

Dynamics of open quantum systems initially entangled with environment: Beyond the Kraus representation

We present a general analysis of the role of initial correlations between the open system and an environment on quantum dynamics of the open system.Comment: 5 revtex pages, no figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.