Interactions Between the Feed and Feeding Environment

This information was presented at the 2016 Cornell Nutrition Conference for Feed Manufacturers, organized by the Department of Animal Science In the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University. Softcover copies of the entire conference proceedings may be purchased at http://ansci.cals.cornell.edu/extension-outreach/adult-extension/dairy-management/order-proceedings-resources

Irving Fisher and the UIP Puzzle: Meeting the Expectations a Century Later

We review Irving Fisher’s seminal work on UIP and on the closely related equation linking interest rates and inflation. Like Fisher, we find that the failures of UIP are connected to individual episodes in which errors surrounding exchange rate expectations are persistent, but eventually transitory. We find considerable commonality in deviations from UIP and PPP, suggesting that both of these deviations are driven by a common factor. Using a dynamic latent factor model, we find that deviations from UIP are almost entirely due to expectational errors in exchange rates, rather than attributable to the risk premium; a result consistent with those reported by Fisher a century ago.exchange rates;PPP;interest rates;UIP;inflation;Irving Fisher

High precision U-Pb zircon ages for Mesozoic igneous rocks from Hong Kong

Sixteen new high precision U–Pb zircon ages are reported from Jurassic and Early Cretaceous silicic volcanic and plutonic rocks of HongKong. When combined with the existing age dataset, the new ages constrain more tightly the timing of major periods of volcanism and plutonism at 162.6 ± 4.5 Ma, 146.7 ± 1.1 Ma, 143.0 ± 1.0 Ma and 140.8 ± 0.6 Ma. However, two ages of 151.9 ± 0.2 Ma and 148.1 ± 0.2 Ma, from eastern New Territories and southern HongKong indicate additional and therefore more continuous, albeit pulsed, magmatic activity than previously thought

Pedestrian Solution of the Two-Dimensional Ising Model

The partition function of the two-dimensional Ising model with zero magnetic field on a square lattice with m x n sites wrapped on a torus is computed within the transfer matrix formalism in an explicit step-by-step approach inspired by Kaufman's work. However, working with two commuting representations of the complex rotation group SO(2n,C) helps us avoid a number of unnecessary complications. We find all eigenvalues of the transfer matrix and therefore the partition function in a straightforward way.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures; eqs. (101) and (102) corrected, files for fig. 2 fixed, minor beautification

The response of the Ligurian and Tyrrhenian Seas to a summer Mistral event: A coupled atmosphere–ocean approach

In this paper the effect of a summer Mistral event on the Ligurian and Tyrrhenian Seas in the northwestern Mediterranean is discussed, using a coupled numerical model and satellite and in situ observations. The focus is on the spatial and temporal distribution of the ocean mixed layer response to the strong winds, and on how this is affected by atmosphere–ocean coupling. The model used is the Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS®1), developed at the Naval Research Laboratory. This system includes an atmospheric sigma coordinate, non-hydrostatic model, coupled to a hydrostatic sigma-z level ocean model (Naval Coastal Ocean Model), using the Earth System Modeling Framework (ESMF). The model is run at high (km scale) resolution to capture the fine structure of wind jets and surface cooling. Two non-assimilating numerical experiments, coupled and uncoupled, are run for a 3-day period of a Mistral event, to examine more closely the impact of coupling on the surface flux and sea surface temperature (SST) fields. The cooling of SST up to 3 °C over 72 h in the coupled run significantly reduced the surface momentum and heat fluxes, relative to the uncoupled simulation, where the SST was kept fixed at the initial value. Mixed layer depths increase by as much as 30 m during the event. A heat budget analysis for the ocean is carried out to further explain and investigate the SST evolution. Shear-induced mixing in inertial waves is found to be important to the surface cooling. Effects of coupling on the atmospheric boundary layer are found to be significant, but overall the effect of coupling on the synoptic low pressure system is small

How can we compare multispecies livestock rearing households? – an analysis of the impact of health and production parameters on multispecies livestock rearing outcomes

Background The Central Dry Zone (CDZ) of Myanmar is a critical region of livestock production. This region supports 10 million people whose livelihoods depend on small-scale, dry-land agriculture, but it is also one of the poorest regions of Myanmar. Little is known about the constraints to animal health in multi-species livestock farms in this region or the relationships between husbandry practices and measures of the success of livestock rearing such as income, and successful health management. Results In this study, we describe associations between husbandry practices and animal health problems affecting different body systems. We also develop a biosecurity and livestock disease prevention index by taking account of different activities (i.e. treatment, vaccination, reducing disease transmission practice, sanitation) that can be compared between livestock species, estimate the income generated from livestock production, and identify factors influencing these parameters. Cross-sectional study was used to collect data on livestock production and health from cattle (N = 382), sheep, goat (N = 303) and village chicken (N = 327) farmers in 40 villages of the CDZ. Survey-design based techniques and F-statistics, ordinal, and binomial regression were used for data analysis. Our results indicate that a significant proportion of farmers’ income in the CDZ comes from crop production (43.2%) and livestock production (23.1%) and the rest of the farmers’ income is derived from trading, supported by other relatives and employment. Our results indicate that animal health management practices, herd/flock size, and experience of farmers contributed significantly to the presence of animal health problems, in particular related to the physical, respiratory and digestive systems. Animal health management was usually conducted in traditional ways. Among different livestock species farms, cattle farms (cattle median BDPI: 45; IQR: 35–55) practised better biosecurity than other livestock species farms (i.e. small ruminant and village chicken farms) (small ruminant and village chicken BDPI: 10; IQR: 0–20). Interestingly, the ownership groups (i.e. rearing singly or multispecies) did not show any impact on biosecurity and disease prevention index of the farms. Conclusions This study identified good practice households and these findings will be useful for designing intervention trials to improve the production and health outcomes evaluated in this study

Irving Fisher and the UIP Puzzle: Meeting the Expectations a Century Later

We review Irving Fisher’s seminal work on UIP and on the closely related equation linking interest rates and inflation. Like Fisher, we find that the failures of UIP are connected to individual episodes in which errors surrounding exchange rate expectations are persistent, but eventually transitory. We find considerable commonality in deviations from UIP and PPP, suggesting that both of these deviations are driven by a common factor. Using a dynamic latent factor model, we find that deviations from UIP are almost entirely due to expectational errors in exchange rates, rather than attributable to the risk premium; a result consistent with those reported by Fisher a century ago

Characteristics of Livestock Husbandry and Management Practice in the Central Dry Zone of Myanmar

The central dry zone of Myanmar is the area with the highest density of small-scale livestock farmers under harsh environmental condition. In this study, we describe and quantify ownership patterns for various livestock species and characterised management and husbandry practices of small-scale farmers. In addition, we identify the husbandry factors associated with selected outcome indicators, ‘herd or flock size’ and ‘purpose of rearing’. A total of 613 livestock farmers in 40 villages were interviewed. Multispecies rearing was common with 51.7% of farmers rearing more than one livestock species. Rearing animals to be sold as adults for slaughter (meat production) was more common for small ruminants (98.1%) and chickens (99.8%) compared to cattle (69.8%). Larger cattle herds were more likely to practice grazing (p < 0.001) and to employ labour from outside the household to manage cattle than medium or small herds (p = 0.03). Patterns of grazing differed significantly between seasons (p < 0.01) for cattle, but not for small ruminants and village chicken. Overall, multispecies rearing and species-specific husbandry practices are used to raise livestock under harsh environmental conditions. Our results reveal that herd/flock size and purpose of rearing across different livestock species were significantly associated with feeding and housing practices and experience of farmers