AN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF A CORN-SOYBEAN CROP ROTATION UNDER VARIOUS INPUT COMBINATIONS IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS

Eight input combinations of commercial fertilizer, insecticides, and herbicides on a corn-soybean crop rotation in the Brazos River Bottom of Texas are evaluated. Input combinations which do not fully utilize all three inputs are consistently ranked higher by all criteria as the preferred input strategy for the corn-soybean rotation system. These results, which indicate limited input crop rotations that fall somewhere between the extremes of conventional agricultural production and organic agriculture, deserve further attention as a possible production alternative.corn, limited input, soybean, Crop Production/Industries,

An electromagnetic radome model using an interactive micro-computer finite element algorithm.

http://archive.org/details/electromagneticr00vincN

What’s Germany really thinking? Vince Cable, Simon Hix and Jeromin Zettelmeyer discuss Brexit

German economic policy advisor Jeromin Zettelmeyer (far left) joined the LSE’s Simon Hix (near left) and former UK business secretary Vince Cable on 7 September to discuss how Germany plans to negotiate Brexit. How much will Angela Merkel – herself under domestic pressure – be prepared to concede to keep the UK in the Single Market (assuming Britain wants to do so)? What does Germany want out of the final agreement? Robert van Geffen reports on the discussion

Golden Eagle Migration Corridors along The Rocky Mountain Front and Intermountain Flyways

Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) have been receiving increased attention in the western United States due to an increase in anthropogenic population threats, including wind and other industrial energy developments. Conservation of migratory Golden Eagles hinges on knowledge of threats within breeding ranges, migratory corridors, and over-wintering areas. Often, understanding threats along migration corridors can be difficult due to the short temporal use of migration paths and because pathways can often be dispersed across the landscape. We used satellite tracking data from three Golden Eagle studies across Montana to estimate key migration routes and bottlenecks for migratory Golden Eagles wintering or passing through Montana, with an emphasis on the Rocky Mountain Front. We gathered data from 35 individuals, including from 21 adult and 14 sub-adult Golden Eagles. We created individual dynamic Brownian Bridge Movement Models (dBBMM) for each migration event to estimate migratory pathways of individuals. We also created a population level migratory pathway estimate to determine key migration corridors and bottlenecks by summing the individual dBBMMs after accounting for age and study location. These models can be used for future risk assessments for developments and conservation measures for Golden Eagle migration routes

Quenching of the radio jet during the X-ray high state of GX 339-4

We have observed the black hole candidate X-ray binary GX 339-4 at radio wavelengths before, during and after the 1998 high/soft X-ray state transition. We find that the radio emission from the system is strongly correlated with the hard X-ray emission and is reduced by a factor > 25 during the high/soft state compared to the more usual low/hard state. At the points of state transition we note brief periods of unusually optically-thin radio emission which may correspond to discrete ejection events. We propose that in the low/hard state black hole X-ray binaries produce a quasi-continuous outflow, in the high/soft state this outflow is suppressed, and that state transitions often result in one or more discrete ejection events. Future models for low/hard states, such as ADAF/ADIOS solutions, need to take into account strong outflow of relativistic electrons from the system. We propose that the inferred Comptonising corona and the base of the jet-like outflow are the same thing, based upon the strong correlation between radio and hard X-ray emission in GX 339-4 and other X-ray binaries, and the similarity in inferred location and composition of these two components.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

Sustainable Tiny Home

As housing prices and environmental concerns continue to increase, many people are looking for cheaper and more sustainable ways to live. A solution to both problems is building homes with smaller footprints which incorporate renewable energy and water-reclamation systems. In addition, adding a roof pond system to the dwelling also reduces the need for heating and cooling. The roof pond system uses a water bladder on the roof which acts as a heat-sink and moveable insulation panels. This document contains the process for our final design along with results from testing the verification prototype

Reduced executive and default network functional connectivity in cigarette smokers

Altered functional connectivity has been associated with acute and chronic nicotine use. Connectivity alterations, specifically in the right and left executive control networks (RECN/LECN) and the default mode network (DMN), may contribute to the addiction cycle. The objective of this study was to determine if executive control network (ECN) and DMN connectivity is different between non‐smokers and smokers and whether reductions in connectivity are related to chronic cigarette use. The RECN, LECN, and DMN were identified in resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging data in 650 subjects. Analyses tested for group differences in network connectivity strength, controlling for age and alcohol use. There was a significant group effect on LECN and DMN connectivity strength with smokers (n = 452) having lower network strengths than non‐smokers (n = 198). Smokers had lower connectivity than non‐smokers associated with key network hubs: the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and parietal nodes within ECNs. Further, ECN connectivity strength was negatively associated with pack years of cigarette use. Our data suggest that chronic nicotine use negatively impacts functional connectivity within control networks that may contribute to the difficulty smokers have in quitting. Hum Brain Mapp 36:872–882, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/110754/1/hbm22672.pd