Profitability of Northeast Organic Dairy Farms

Livestock Production/Industries,

The percutaneous absorption of soman in a damaged skin porcine model and the evaluation of WoundStat™ as a topical decontaminant

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate a candidate haemostat (WoundStat™), down-selected from previous in vitro studies, for efficacy as a potential skin decontaminant against the chemical warfare agent pinacoyl methylfluorophosphonate (Soman, GD) using an in vivo pig model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An area of approximately 3 cm2 was dermatomed from the dorsal ear skin to a nominal depth of 100 µm. A discrete droplet of 14C-GD (300 µg kg-1) was applied directly onto the surface of the damaged skin at the centre of the dosing site. Animals assigned to the treatment group were given a 2 g application of WoundStat™ 30 s after GD challenge. The decontamination efficacy of WoundStat™ against GD was measured by the direct quantification of the distribution of 14C-GD, as well as routine determination of whole blood cholinesterase and physiological measurements. RESULTS: WoundStat™ sequestered approximately 70% of the applied 14C-GD. Internal radiolabel recovery from treated animals was approximately 1% of the initially applied dose. Whole blood cholinesterase levels decreased to less than 10% of the original value by 15 min post WoundStat™ treatment and gradually decreased until the onset of apnoea or until euthanasia. All treated animals showed signs of GD intoxication that could be grouped into early (mastication, fasciculations and tremor), intermediate (miosis, salivation and nasal secretions) and late onset (lacrimation, body spasm and apnoea) effects. Two of the six WoundStat™ treated animals survived the study duration. CONCLUSIONS: The current study has shown that the use of WoundStat™ as a decontaminant on damaged pig ear skin was unable to fully protect against GD toxicity. Importantly, the findings indicate that the use of WoundStat™ in GD contaminated wounds would not exacerbate GD toxicity. These data suggest that absorbent haemostatic products may offer some limited functionality as wound decontaminants.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

B851: A Comparative Analysis of Organic Dairy Farms in Maine and Vermont: Farm Financial Information from 2004 to 2006

The purpose of this bulletin is to provide an insight into the relative financial performance of organic dairy farming through the examination of three years of detailed farm financial records. Farm financial records were collected in person by trained enumerators from organic dairy operations in Maine and Vermont for the 2004–2006 production years. These farm records are complemented by surveys on farm and farmer characteristics along with farmers’ motivational interests for organic dairy production and performance satisfaction. This report, therefore, provides a rich financial perspective on the evolution of organic dairy farming performance unlike single-season surveys.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/aes_bulletin/1003/thumbnail.jp

Noncognitive skills in the classroom

This book provides an overview of recent research on the relationship between noncognitive attributes (motivation, self efficacy, resilience) and academic outcomes (such as grades or test scores). We focus primarily on how these sets of attributes are measured and how they relate to important academic outcomes. Noncognitive attributes are those academically and occupationally relevant skills and traits that are not “cognitive”—that is, not specifically intellectual or analytical in nature. We examine seven attributes in depth and critique the measurement approaches used by researchers and talk about how they can be improved.Publishe

Analysis of Lithium

The technology of lithium and its compounds was accorded little consideration a few years ago. Immediately following World War II fundamental knowledge of lithium began to be greatly expanded and its importance in industry has risen. Lithium and its compounds are used in porcelain enamels, and glazes; in air conditioning units; in greases, cosmetics and the like, just to cite a few examples. Lithium is the lightest of all the metals having an atomic weight of 6.94. The lithium ion has the smallest ionic radius of the alkalies and is approximately the same size as the magnesium ion. Its chemical properties frequently parallel those attributed to alkaline earths; this is the property which sets lithium apart from the other alkalies

An Automated Cluster Finder: the Adaptive Matched Filter

We describe an automated method for detecting clusters of galaxies in imaging and redshift galaxy surveys. The Adaptive Matched Filter (AMF) method utilizes galaxy positions, magnitudes, and---when available---photometric or spectroscopic redshifts to find clusters and determine their redshift and richness. The AMF can be applied to most types of galaxy surveys: from two-dimensional (2D) imaging surveys, to multi-band imaging surveys with photometric redshifts of any accuracy (2.5D), to three-dimensional (3D) redshift surveys. The AMF can also be utilized in the selection of clusters in cosmological N-body simulations. The AMF identifies clusters by finding the peaks in a cluster likelihood map generated by convolving a galaxy survey with a filter based on a model of the cluster and field galaxy distributions. In tests on simulated 2D and 2.5D data with a magnitude limit of r' ~ 23.5, clusters are detected with an accuracy of Delta z ~ 0.02 in redshift and ~10% in richness to z < 0.5. Detecting clusters at higher redshifts is possible with deeper surveys. In this paper we present the theory behind the AMF and describe test results on synthetic galaxy catalogs.Comment: 32 pages, 12 figures, accepted to Ap

Clonal Expansion of Lgr5-Positive Cells from Mammalian Cochlea and High-Purity Generation of Sensory Hair Cells

Death of cochlear hair cells, which do not regenerate, is a cause of hearing loss in a high percentage of the population. Currently, no approach exists to obtain large numbers of cochlear hair cells. Here, using a small-molecule approach, we show significant expansion (>2,000-fold) of cochlear supporting cells expressing and maintaining Lgr5, an epithelial stem cell marker, in response to stimulation of Wnt signaling by a GSK3β inhibitor and transcriptional activation by a histone deacetylase inhibitor. The Lgr5-expressing cells differentiate into hair cells in high yield. From a single mouse cochlea, we obtained over 11,500 hair cells, compared to less than 200 in the absence of induction. The newly generated hair cells have bundles and molecular machinery for transduction, synapse formation, and specialized hair cell activity. Targeting supporting cells capable of proliferation and cochlear hair cell replacement could lead to the discovery of hearing loss treatments.United States. National Institutes of Health (DE-013023)United States. National Institutes of Health (DC-007174)United States. National Institutes of Health (DC-013909)United States. National Institutes of Health (RR-00168