Development of the interactive broiler income spreadsheet

The poultry industry has experienced unprecedented increased efficiencies since 1960 in large part due to vertical integration facilitated by production contracts between growers and integrators. As growers seek information about contract production they need to be well informed about all aspects of the process, especially potential income. Recent poultry grower complaints have surfaced as a result of incorrect expense and revenue expectations. The Interactive Broiler Income Spreadsheet (IBIS) is being developed to enable current and prospective poultry producers to better estimate income. IBIS, an unbiased Excel™ spreadsheet tool to assist in decision making regarding broiler production profitability, uses actual grower expense and revenue information or, alternatively, grower-panel default data to assess income under various growerspecified production, expense, and price scenarios. Poultry integrator grower service personnel, lenders, and Cooperative Extension professionals will utilize IBIS to assist growers in operational planning and risk tolerance identification in varying economic situations. Growers may also gauge effects of capital improvements, equipment upgrades, chick placements, and time between flocks on income. Development of IBIS is continuing with collection of additional data and revision of procedures based upon results of field testing

Increasing dispersion, performance, and pot-life in cellulose nanocrystal/waterborne epoxy composites

Recent emphasis on the pilot scale production of cellulosic nanomaterials, cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs), has increased interest in the effective use of these materials as reinforcements for polymer composites. These studies have been motivated in part by the combination of attractive specific mechanical properties of cellulosic nanomaterials as well as their renewable and possibly sustainable manufacturing routes. The objective of this research complements these efforts and is concerned with more fully understanding the materials design space available for CNC reinforced polymer composites, specifically CNC/waterborne epoxy composites. These composites were processed using different protocols and the structure and properties of the resulting materials were characterized [1, 2]. The different protocols were termed one-step and two-step mixing, and the order of component addition was different in these methods. Relatively simple changes in processing resulted in significant differences in CNC dispersion (Figure 1) and physical properties. These changes were attributed to an association between the CNCs and the epoxy particles in the emulsion, similar in nature to a Pickering emulsion. Both processing protocols produced composites with improved mechanical properties relative to the neat epoxy, but the magnitude of the changes were dependent on the processing. Changes in glass transition temperature and thermal degradation were not sensitive to the processing method when observed in the as-processed condition. Additionally, the CNC colloidal stabilization mechanism was explored to incorporate freeze-dried CNCs into the epoxy/crosslinker formulation, resulting in an extension of the pot life by three orders of magnitude compared to the neat system. Overall, these results indicate that CNCs produced at pilot scale can be incorporated effectively into waterborne epoxies, leading to the development of higher performing composites for coating applications as well as the potential for the formulation of a one-part epoxy stabilized by CNCs

Improved Generation of Anti-Tumor Immunity by Antigen Dose Limitation

The malignant cells of cutaneous T cell lymphoma (CTCL) display immunogenic peptides derived from the clonal T cell receptor (TCR) providing an attractive model for refinement of anti-tumor immunization methodology. To produce a clinically meaningful anti-tumor response, induction of cytotoxic anti-CTCL cells must be maximized while suppressive T regulatory cells (Treg) should be minimized. We have demonstrated that engulfment of apoptotic CTCL cells by dendritic cells (DC) can lead to either CD8 anti-CTCL responses or immunosuppressive Treg induction. Treg generation is favored when the number of apoptotic cells available for ingestion is high. In this study, we sought to determine whether the balance between immunity and immunosuppression could be shifted towards a CD8 anti-CTCL response by lowering the ratio of apoptotic CTCL cells available for DC ingestion. CTCL cell apoptosis was produced by engagement of the TCR by anti-CD3 antibody affixed to magnetic beads. The physical perturbation inherent in passage through a separation column induced monocytes to differentiate into DC, demonstrated by increased expression of class II and CD86 and decreased expression of the monocyte marker CD14. The immature DC internalized and processed apoptotic CTCL cells and could potentially present the tumor-derived peptides in the context of MHC class I and II. As the number of apoptotic cells increased, there was a dose-dependent increase in the expression of Treg markers CTLA-4, CD25, and FoxP3, with a ratio of apoptotic cell/DC loading of \u3e10:1 corresponding to the greatest Treg induction. These inducible phenotypic Treg also functionally inhibited CD8-mediated perforin expression in vitro. At lower levels of apoptotic cell/DC loading of \u3c5:1, there was an expansion of the CD8 T cell compartment with increased perforin expression and increased CTCL cell death, indicating anti-tumor activity. These findings demonstrate that the ratio of apoptotic cells supplied to DC is an important determinant of whether CD8 anti-tumor immunity or immunosuppression is generated

Evaluation of three tractor-guidance methods for parallel swathing at two field speeds

This study compared the accuracy (mean error and rms error) and precision (standard deviation of error) of three tractor-guidance methods (foam-marker, light-bar, and assisted-steering systems) at two field speeds (5.6 – and 11.5 km/h) for parallel swathing operations. Eighty-four replications of each combination of guidance method and field speed were conducted between 15 October and 22 December 2006 (504 total field passes). The foam-marker system was found to be significantly less accurate [larger mean error (p \u3c .0001) and had a larger rms error (p \u3c .0001)] than either the light-bar or the assisted-steering system. There was no significant difference in mean error (p = .6718) or rms error (p = .8841) by field speed. There was a significant interaction between guidance method and field speed for both mean error (p = .0009) and rms error (p = .003). Mean and rms errors for the foam-marker and the assisted-steering systems increased at higher field speed, while the mean and rms errors for the light-bar system decreased at higher speed. The assisted-steering system had a significantly lower (p = .0164) standard deviation of error (higher precision) than the foam-marker or the light-bar systems. There was no significant difference in the standard deviation of error by field speed (p = .6258) or by the interaction of guidance method and field speed (p = .2748)

Florida in the Balance: The Electoral Count of 1876

For a few weeks following the 1876 election, Florida’s role in national affairs was greater than the state’s four electoral votes would normally warrant. With the presidency depending on one electoral vote and the Florida election in doubt, both the Democratic and Republican parties concentrated attention on the electoral count in Tallahassee. The activities of influential “visiting statesmen” representing the national parties affected the decision of the state canvassing board and caused temporary excitement in Florida. After their departure and the ultimate resolution of the election dispute, political affairs in the state returned to normal with little permanent influence from the visitors or the events surrounding their visit

Sea Island Cotton in Ante-Bellum Florida

In the late 1850’s Florida surpassed Georgia and South Carolina in the production of Sea Island cotton. This development was made possible by three factors: climate, soil, and technological progress. While nature supplied the first two requisites, the latter factor was the result of inventive Floridians who designed and patented cotton gins that made the production of Sea Island cotton profitable. A combination of environment and mechanical development thus enabled Florida to supplant the traditional leaders and become the nation’s largest producer of long staple cotton

Fraud and Intimidation in the Florida Election of 1876

The Presidential Election of 1876 was the most controversial election in American history. It is remembered because of the extended dispute over its outcome and because it has since been regarded as the end of Reconstruction in the South. The uncertain outcome was due to duplicate electoral certificates from Florida, South Carolina, and Louisiana. These were the only Southern states which still had Republican governors. By various combinations of fraud and violence, both Democratic and Republican parties in these three states had managed to secure electoral certificates for their respective presidential candidates. Samuel J. Tilden, the Democratic candidate, received 184 undisputed electoral votes, and needed only one more for election. Rutherford B. Hayes, the Republican candidate, had only 166. There were nineteen disputed votes in the three southern states and Hayes would have to win all of them if he were to be seated

Florida Courts and the Disputed Election of 1876

When the election of November 7, 1876 failed to resolve the presidential contest between Republican Rutherford B. Hayes and Democrat Samuel J. Tilden because of uncertain results in Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina, both national parties sent prominent representatives to the three southern capitals to observe and work for their partys’ interests. With Tilden only one electoral vote short of victory, the Republicans needed every one of the nineteen disputed votes. Because there had been less violence and corruption in Florida and because only a few votes separated the parties, many politicians believed it to be the crucial state. Under Florida law, a state canvassing board was empowered to exercise quasi-judicial authority in its examination of returns from the thirty-nine county canvassing boards. It could rule on the validity of those returns and decide whether or not to exclude them from the count. On the board there were two Republicans-Secretary of State Samuel B. McLin, a Southerner and long-time resident of Florida, and Comptroller Clayton A. Cowgill, an ex-Union army surgeon from Delaware and one Democrat, Attorney General William Archer Cocke, a Virginian who came to Florida in 1863

A Note on Governor George F. Drew

For the proponents of the legend of the “Lost Cause” George F. Drew ranks high in the galaxy of heroes as the “Redeemer,” whose election as governor in 1876 saved Florida from the “Radical” Republicans, and restored “home rule” to the native white population. Of course, many Floridians had known during the 1876 election campaign that Drew was a New Hampshire native, that he had been a Unionist in Georgia during the war years, and that he was only recently converted to the Conservative-Democratic cause, after supporting Ulysses S. Grant for President in 1868. Nor was it any secret that the United States Court of Claims had awarded him a cash settlement for cotton which had been confiscated by General Sherman’s army and that such claims were only paid to Unionists who could prove their unswerving loyalty to the United States between 1861-1865. All this was enough to convince Conservative-Democrat Edwin W. L’Engle that, even though Drew could probably be elected, he would not be much better than a “Radical.” The Republican Tallahassee Sentinel raged that “Mr. Drew was nominated for the Union flavor that his record might give the ‘Lost Cause’.

Exploring Mental Health & COVID-19: How a Pandemic Could Become America\u27s Next Mental Health Crisis

A pandemic can be described as an epidemic disease that has spread over a large geographical area and has become prevalent in numerous sectors of the globe. In 2020, just over 100 years since our last major pandemic, the 1918 Influenza outbreak, the global community is facing yet another threat: COVID-19. While an individual’s physical health has consistently been of concern, research has failed to adequately consider the other dimensions of health. Among these additional dimensions of health is mental health and psychosocial wellbeing. Pandemics and emerging infectious diseases have become modern influencers of mental health patterns. By analyzing the history of pandemics, like the Spanish Flu, or novel viruses such as Ebola or COVID-19, health care practitioners and other community leaders will come to better understand the correlation between a pandemic and reported mental health status of a community’s members. This will improve future mental health education programs and interventions. The core focus of this thesis project will be to analyze the correlation between COVID-19 and the self-reported mental health status of Eastern Kentucky University students. While many interdisciplinary academics agree that this novel virus has affected the mental health of college students, the depth and breadth of this impact is still unknown