A List of the Tenebrionidae of Michigan (Coleoptera)

The family Tenebrionidae, the darkling beetles, containing more than 14,000 species, is found primarily in the tropics and arid regions. As would therefore be expected, Michigan\u27s cool, moist environment is not attractive to very many tenebrionids. This list contains 50 identified species and six previously recorded species that were not confirmed by me

Dynamic response and control of a jet-transport aircraft encountering a single-axis vortex

The dynamic responses of a jet-transport aircraft to two types of single-axis wind vortex encounters are studied. Aircraft attitude, flight path angle, and aerodynamic angle excursions are analyzed and dominating dynamic forcing effects are identified for each encounter. A simple departure-preventing LQR controller is designed to demonstrate the benefits of using automatic control to reduce the wind vortex hazard. A Proportional-Integral-Filter controller structure successfully regulates the critical parameters, roll angle, phi, and sideslip angle, beta, for the two different vortex encounters considered in this study

Municipal government in Great Britain

Citation: Spilman, Harold Addison. Municipal government in Great Britain. Senior thesis, Kansas State Agricultural College, 1903.Morse Department of Special CollectionsIntroduction: Within the last few years events in some of our larger cities have caused no little agitation regarding municipal government and municipal reform. That public attention should be turned to such matters is eminently proper, and in fact, necessary. Good municipal government is essential to the continued good government of a nation. To-day over one-third of our people reside in cities of over eight thousand inhabitants and as the country increases in age the percentage will increase. Anything which so directly affects the welfare of one-third of our population should deeply concern, not only that one-third, of our population should deeply concern, not only that one-third, but the other two-thirds as well. Bryce says that there are “two tests of the practical efficiency of the government of a city: what does it provide for the people and what does it cost the people. Measured by these tests, it has become more and more evident in recent years that municipal administration in this country is a disgraceful failure. A failure because the people have paid tens, perhaps hundreds, of thousands of dollars for that which could have cost them thousands only, and have received therefore inefficient police service, defective paving, poor work of every kind. Disgraceful because of the boodling and corruption and viciousness which have caused such extravagance. It would seem that, although we have given the world what is probably the most perfect form of national government, yet, in this matter of municipal administration we still have much to learn; and in this event it is but natural that we should turn to the older countries of Europe and see in what manner that have solved this problem. Naturally, in any such study, one looks first to the country from whose institutions are derived, in part, our own principles of government. And there we find a municipal administrative system which stands in marked contrast to our own

Pompeiian Pottery

Non

Determination of the effect of air-entraining agents on certain physical properties of concrete at early ages

Air entrained concrete over the past eighteen years has received national recognition as a result of its satisfactory performance in highway concrete pavements and other concrete structures subjected to outside exposure. Numerous highway departments over the entire United States have laid test slabs made of air entrained concrete. Among those to date are Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, Illinois, Missouri and California. The primary purpose in building these test slabs was to investigate their durability or resistance to freezing and thawing and the action of various salts on air entrained concrete. The results of the test slabs were excellent. It was also found that air entrainment increased the workability, reduced bleeding and water-gain after placing and lessened the segregation. The use of air entrainment of concrete is not limited to highway slabs. It is used in airport runways, in concrete structures such as building dams, bridges, etc. and by ready-mix plants in almost all of their projects. The Corp of Engineers uses air entrained concrete in all exposed structures that will be subjected to extreme weather conditions, salt-water action or de-icing chemicals. In the near future the Missouri Highway Commission contemplates the building of prestressed highway slabs. A most important factor to be resolved is the effect of air entrained concrete on the strength of prestressed concrete highway slabs. Very little literature is to be found on air entrained concrete at the early ages of 6 hours to 72 hours. In order to design concrete slabs for prestressing, it would be most desirable to know at what early age the slabs could be prestressed advantageously. This knowledge of the strength of concrete at early ages will enable the engineers to prestress the slabs, and would minimize the interruption or delay that will be necessary due to the prestressing operations during the construction of the new highway. This will mean a saving of time and money to the taxpayer…. The results indicated that the concrete strength decreased uniformly with the increase in air content. With a constant Water-Cement ratio by weight, the decrease in strength amounted to 195 psi (about 5 percent average) for each percent of air entrained. Also, where the Water-Cement ratio is held constant, the test show about the same reduction in strength for each percent of air entrained for the higher Water-Cement ratio cf .65 as for the lower constant Water- Cement ratio of .45* It was also found from the average curve of all tests, that with the same Water-Cement ratio being maintained, a loss of approximately 105,000 psi static modulus of elasticity for each percent of air entrained can be expected for average concrete mixes --Introduction, pages 1-2, 4

Deformable Nanovesicles Synthesized through an Adaptable Microfluidic Platform for Enhanced Localized Transdermal Drug Delivery.

Phospholipid-based deformable nanovesicles (DNVs) that have flexibility in shape offer an adaptable and facile method to encapsulate diverse classes of therapeutics and facilitate localized transdermal delivery while minimizing systemic exposure. Here we report the use of a microfluidic reactor for the synthesis of DNVs and show that alteration of input parameters such as flow speeds as well as molar and flow rate ratios increases entrapment efficiency of drugs and allows fine-tuning of DNV size, elasticity, and surface charge. To determine the ability of DNV-encapsulated drug to be delivered transdermally to a local site, we synthesized, characterized, and tested DNVs carrying the fluorescently labeled hydrophilic bisphosphonate drug AF-647 zoledronate (AF647-Zol). AF647-Zol DNVs were lyophilized, resuspended, and applied topically as a paste to the calvarial skin of mice. High-resolution fluorescent imaging and confocal microscopy revealed significant increase of encapsulated payload delivery to the target tissue-cranial bone-by DNVs as compared to nondeformable nanovesicles (NVs) or aqueous drug solutions. Interestingly, NV delivery was not superior to aqueous drug solution. Our studies show that microfluidic reactor-synthesized DNVs can be produced in good yield, with high encapsulation efficiency, reproducibility, and stability after storage, and represent a useful vehicle for localized transdermal drug delivery

New insights into AI semen use and objective semen evaluation in UK Veterinary Practice

The reproductive performance of breeding cattle is a key driver of sustainable beef and dairy production. Good fertility performance in breeding cattle is a multifactorial phenomenon and the male factors of fertility should not be overlooked. The aim of this study was to investigate the semen handling and storage practices on 47 farms utilising Artificial Insemination (AI) through a questionnaire, and then to use objective multi parametric semen analysis equipment in a veterinary practice to assess the quality of the AI semen in storage on the same beef and dairy farms in North Yorkshire. From these data, the proportion still above breeding company pre-release standards, and differences between conventional and sexed semen, beef and dairy, breed of bull, beef and dairy type of farm were investigated for all assays performed using Students t-test. Fresh semen from bull breeding soundness evaluations was also assessed and in the same laboratory and subjective and objective assessments of motility and morphology assessments compared. Finally semen evaluation results were compared with field fertility data on one farm and correlations reported. There were inconsistencies in how farmers stored and handled semen in storage on their farms. 12.1% of flasks in use were over 14 years old, over half of the herds surveyed (51.7%) did not respond with the age of flask, but 13.8% were new in the last 4 years. Of the herds that responded, the most common response (45.1%) was that liquid nitrogen levels were not checked at all and 6.1% herds checked their liquid nitrogen levels weekly. The majority (19.5%) of farms used a thaw temperature between 370C and 37.90C, next most common was 35 – 35.90C, 36 -36.90C accounted for 2.4% of farms, and only 1.2% of farms used >380C. The majority (28%) of farms that responded thawed straws for between 21 and 30 seconds, but some farms (2.4%) were using short thaw times of less than 10 seconds. Only 9.8% of farms thawed straws for longer than 30 seconds. 70.7% of herds in the study were using DIY AI; less than 25% of herds were using a technician service. 40.2% of herds were carrying out less than 50 serves/month. 30.5% of herds were serving more than 99 times per month. Semen analysis of straws of frozen semen taken from farm storage in North Yorkshire, UK was compared to pre-release standards used in UK and N America. Analysis of conventional and sex sorted semen showed respectively 65% and 70% were above the viability standard; 46% and 0% were above mitochondrial activity standard; 44% and 10% above CASA motility standard; 32% and 10% above CASA progressive motility standard in the UK; 86% and 40% above CASA progressive motility standard in North America (see table 3). Categories of semen were then compared using students t test, following visual assessment of normality. Comparisons between sex sorted and conventional straws showed significant differences in CASA motility (p=0.0182), progressive motility (p=0.0024), mitochondrial activity (p<0.0001) and morphology (p=0.0257). 11 | Page - Straws from dairy sires had significantly greater viability (p=0.0432) and morphology (p<0.0001) than beef sires, whereas straws from dairy farms had significantly greater acrosome integrity (p=0.0043), CASA motility (p=0.0129), progressive motility (p=0.0243) and morphology (p=0.0271) than straws from beef farms. There was no significant difference in motility (p=0.1001) or progressive motility between dairy and beef sires (p=0.0804). There was no significant difference in acrosome integrity between beef and dairy sire (p=0.1959). Investigation of field fertility outcomes on one dairy farm showed significant positive correlations between the flow cytometry viability assay and conception rate (r2 = 85.3% and P = 0.025), and also the CASA % motile at 2 hours post thaw and conception rate (r2 = 90% and P = 0.05). 70 semen samples from bull breeding soundness evaluations were evaluated in the same manner, as well as having manual assessment of morphology performed. Significant differences were present when on farm subjective motility assessments were compared with laboratory-based assessments (CASA motility and subjective), (p<0.0001) but not between CASA motility assessment in the lab and subjective assessment in the lab. There was no difference between morphological evaluations assessed by CASA or manually, despite CASA limitations in picking up sperm head abnormalities. Multiparametric objective semen analysis in a Veterinary practice-based laboratory can offer additional information on the semen in use on farm (AI and natural service), to complement traditional subjective methods. This may allow investigation as to what factors impact on semen quality and which parameters may therefore be most important when selecting semen to use on farm