Light Spectrum and its Implications on Milk Production

This information was part of the August 2013 issue of Eastern DairyBusiness Magazine. The Manager, a section within the Eastern DairyBusiness Magazine, is authored and organized by the PRO-DAIRY program in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University

Hydrogen Sulfide Removal at Spruce Haven Farm, LLC Case Study

Spruce Haven Farm, LLC, managed by Doug Young, is located in Cayuga County, New York. The farm herd comprised of 3,360 Holsteins and milks ~1,500 cows. Digester construction began in Spring 2014, with the system operating by October 2014. See “Anaerobic Digestion at Spruce Haven Farm, LLC: Case Study” for more information

Hydrogen Sulfide Removal at Sunnyside Farms, Inc. Case Study

Sunnyside Farms, Inc., managed by Neil and Greg Rejman, is located in Scipio Center, New York. The farm milks ~4,200 cows. The digester was commissioned in May 2009. See “Anaerobic Digestion at Sunnyside Farms, Inc.: Case Study” for more informatio

The Risk Of Pythium Aphanidermatum In Hydroponic Baby-Leaf Spinach Production

Pythium aphanidermatum has been identified as the main obstacle/risk in the production of hydroponically grown babyleaf spinach. This organism is so prevalent that even crops grown in fresh nutrient solution will often show signs of Pythium damage at harvest time. Previous studies have identified nutrient solution temperature as a key factor in determining the growth and development of Pythium. The goal of this study was to estimate the risk of Pythium outbreaks under different hydroponic production strategies. To provide these estimates, a greenhouse simulation model was coupled with a spinach growth and Pythium disease model. Through Monte-Carlo simulation, estimates of the time between and the seasonality of outbreaks were determined. The strategies modeled included using nutrient solution temperatures of 18, 20, 22, 24C and unregulated temperature. Within these temperature regimes different harvesting schedules were examined. Assuming supplemental lighting control to a daily light integral of 17 mol m-2, crop durations of 12, 14 and 16 days in pond were examined. To quantify the importance of supplemental lighting, crop durations were replaced with target harvest biomasses. The target harvest biomasses were then achieved without supplemental lighting. A further strategy examined within the fixed duration conditions was the use of a two pond system where crop cohorts older than half the total crop duration were moved to a separate pond. A nutrient solution temperature of 18C with a 12 day crop duration resulted in an expected frequency of Pythium outbreak of 0.032 per year, compared to 1.47 outbreaks per year for a 16 day crop grown without nutrient solution temperature control. The same conditions without supplemental lighting resulted in outbreaks frequencies of 7.9 per year and 16 per year respectively. Under a two pond system the expected frequency of outbreak was approximately halved at 18C and increased with increasing temperature until there was no difference between the one and two pond systems for the uncontrolled temperature conditions

Using Affimers to dissect a multiprotein complex in living cells

Accurate cell division depends on the precise segregation of chromosomes to generate two genetically identical daughter cells. High fidelity in this process is achieved by the formation of a bipolar mitotic spindle, an array of microtubules that are organised and regulated by the concerted action of motor and non-motor proteins. One known non-motor protein complex composed of TACC3, ch-TOG, clathrin and GTSE1, has been implicated in mitotic spindle stability. This complex is important for the organisation of microtubules that form the kinetochore fibres, which facilitate the movement of chromosomes during mitosis. Owing to the importance of this complex in ensuring accurate mitosis, it is an attractive target to disrupt in a cancer context. Affimers are novel synthetic binding proteins based on the consensus sequence of a phytocystatin cysteine protease inhibitor found in plants. Here, we used Affimers as a research tool to dissect the TACC3{ch-TOG{clathrin{GTSE1 complex in human cells, with a goal of developing specific inhibitors to disrupt cell division in an anti-cancer context. Expression of Affimers in HeLa cells as mCherry-fusion proteins led to specific disruption of the TACC3{ch-TOG interaction at the mitotic spindle, displacing ch-TOG while leaving the localisation of the other complex components intact. Inhibition of TACC3{ch-TOG had no effect on a number of functions previously ascribed to these proteins, such as MT growth and plus-end tracking. Inhibition of this interaction led to unexpected fragmentation of the pericentriolar material (PCM) in metaphase cells following the formation of a bipolar spindle, coupled with a delayed transition to anaphase. This effect was not observed with a control Affimer. Thus, this work has uncovered a novel role of TACC3{ch-TOG in maintaining PCM integrity during mitosis to ensure timely cell division. More broadly, this thesis demonstrates that Affimers are useful tools for dissecting the functional properties of multiprotein complexes in living cells

Ultrafast optical modification of magnetic anisotropy and stimulated precession in an epitaxial Co2 MnAl thin film

Copyright © 2007 American Institute of PhysicsAn all-optical pump-probe method was used to study magnetization precession in an epitaxial Co2MnAl Heusler alloy thin film. The frequency and amplitude of precession showed a clear fourfold variation as the orientation of the static field was applied in different directions within the plane of the film, revealing that the precession is induced by an ultrafast modification of the magnetocrystalline anisotropy field. The effective fields acting upon the magnetization have been determined and the damping parameter is found to decrease rapidly as the strength of the applied field is increased

Ferromagnetic resonance of patterned chromium dioxide thin films grown by selective area chemical vapour deposition

This is the final version of the article. Available from the American Institute of Physics via the DOI in this record.A selective area chemical vapour deposition technique has been used to fabricate continuous and patterned epitaxial CrO2 thin films on (100)-oriented TiO2 substrates. Precessional magnetization dynamics were stimulated both electrically and optically, and probed by means of time-resolved Kerr microscopy and vector network analyser ferromagnetic resonance techniques. The dependence of the precession frequency and the effective damping parameter upon the static applied magnetic field were investigated. All films exhibited a large in-plane uniaxial anisotropy. The effective damping parameter was found to exhibit strong field dependence in the vicinity of the hard axis saturation field. However, continuous and patterned films were found to possess generally similar dynamic properties, confirming the suitability of the deposition technique for fabrication of future spintronic devices