Vitamins D and A in Alfalfa Hay

Every farmer knows that adequate amount of vitamin D and A are needed in order to maintain vigorous health, good growth, and efficient production in his livestock. This need has been well established by carefully controlled experimental work and by farm observations. It brings into sharp focus problem of finding the most economical means of providing these important nutrients

Visual fields and ocular conditions in accessory sinus affections

• The optic nerves, optic canals, sphenoid bone, chiasma and central artery of the retina vary greatly in their relations. The optic canals vary greatly in length in different subjects, and often slightly in the same subject. They are much longer than is usually supposed. The central artery of the retina arises from the ophthalmic much further back than is usually believed, and sometimes within the optic canal if that structure be long. The intra cranial portions of the optic nerves vary in length from 7 m.m. to 14.5 m.m., and the diameter from 3.5 m.m. to 6.5 m.m. in different subjects. The table of bone between the limbus sphenoidalis and the olivary eminence (i.e.,the roof of the sphenoid sinus) varies in antero -posterior length from 4.5. m.m. to 9 m.m. ,but is usually about 5 m.m. This is of importance because only when it is large can the optic chiasma rest upon it, explaining the infrequency of bi- temporal heinianopsia in sphenoidal sinusitis. The Pituitary fossa,in antero -posterior diameter, from 5.5. m. ?2. to 11.5 m.m. ,more usually the latter; when it is large the table of bone above -mentioned is small and vice versa. The optic chiasma may be so anterior as to occupy the usually accepted position in the optic sulcus of the sphenoid bone, but only very rarely, much more usually it lies over the pituitary fossa. • Some form of visual field contraction occurs in 90 per cent of all cases. The visual fields for green and red, particularly the former, are, with rare exceptions, much more contrac- ted than the field for white. Therefore, white and green are the best tests to employ. General - more or less concentric - contraction occurred in about 76 per cent of cases, and is the most frequently observed. Temporal contraction occurred 15 times, or 50 per cent, and 8 of those 15 were bitemporal contractions; but bi-temporal hemianopsia is extremely rare. Altitudinal contraction occurred in 8 cases. A small island of vision may remain long after the rest of the nerve has become blind from papilloedema. Central scotoma is said to be the field defect usually observed in sinus affections, it is uncommon only occurring twice in this series, because most of the cases are chronic, and the toxins only affect the nerve by filtration and therefore affect the peripheral fibres (producing peripheral contractions), as the macular fibres of the nerve, excepting near the globe, are central in position (within the nerve); whereas in acute cases central scotoma is observed as it is either produced by pressure or by the toxins being conveyed by the blood stream. Bi-temporal hemianopsia is the only characteristic field of vision of a particular sinus, and that sinus the sphenoidal: because it can only be produced by involvement of the chiasma. Bi-temporal contractions are most usually observed in sphenoidal sinusitis, because the nasal sides of the nerves are in contact with that sinus. The visual field contractions are of much the sane_ character in the acute and chronic cases, though differing greatly in onset. Visual field contractions in association with nasal suppuration point: strongly to the suppuration being of sinus origin, and therefore the fields are an aid to diagnosis. Visual field contractions do not occur apparently in mucoceles, because they are unassociated with toxins. The contractions observed are not due to reflex irritation of the nose. They may be caused by direct pressure either within the optic canal by swelling, or within the nerve sheath by hydrops vaginae nervi optici, causing pressure, or by optic neuritis. But in chronic cases most frequently by percolation of toxins from the sinus cavity through the wall into the orbit affecting the nerve directly. This is usually unassociated with ophthalmoscopic changes. The visual fields may be contracted by post -operative oedema, pressing upon the optic nerve. The visual fields may become rapidly contracted, and restored by treatment; but treatment in the chronic has often little or no effect, because either the nerve is permanently damaged, or that sufficient toxin passes through from the pus which is usually secreted for a long time after operation, to keep up the contraction; or that the nerves only slowly recover in these chronic cases. • Optic neuritis may be in the form of Retro-bulbar which is rare and only occurs in acute cases: or as a Fine Hazy Neuritis usually observed in chronic cases, and is not uncommon; or as Choked Disc (Papilloedema) which is rare, and generally associated with chronic cases; and as Gross Neuritis, which, when present, is usually in acute cases. The Hazy neuritis may be observed in any of the sinuses and is probably due to toxins causing hydrops vaginae nervi optici and pressure upon the nerve. Choked Disc can probably only occur in the posterior group of sinuses, and is due to oedema within the optic canal caused by the toxin; and gross neuritis by inflammatory changes within the nerve by toxins brought by the blood stream and lymphatics, and mostly observed in the posterior group of sinuses. The kind of neuritis and its intensity is some guide to the sinus involved and the variety of sinusitis, but not absolutely. The neuritic process may be very intense and very acute in onset, and under appropriate treatment recovery may by very rapid. Vision may be almost completely restored after weeks of absolute blindness, and after neuritis has been present for even years with suitable treatment of the sinus affected, blindness and intense neuritis do not necessarily mean a bad prognosis. Atrophy may supervene in some degree, either as post-neuritic, or presenting the appearance of a primary atrophy. • Hippus reaction of the pupils in sinus affections is not infrequently observed, and for which there is no cdequate explanation. • The Central Artery may become obstructed from pressure or inflammatory oedema of the vascular coats, and present the appearance of embolus. • Muscular paralysis and paresis is not commonly due to sinus affections as is generally supposed. Myositis may occur. • Acute and chronic, primary, and secondary glaucoma may be excited by sinusitis; the primary by venous stasis, and the secondary by inflammatory affections of the uveal tract. • Affections of the Uveal tract are very uncommon, because the ciliary arteries by which toxins enter the globe are so well protected by a thick mass of fat from the sinuses. • From the foregoing conclusions, it is clear that the nose must be examined in all obscure ocular conditions

De Novo Genome Sequence of "Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum" from a Single Potato Psyllid in California.

The draft genome sequence of "Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum" strain RSTM from a potato psyllid (Bactericera cockerelli) in California is reported here. The RSTM strain has a genome size of 1,286,787 bp, a G+C content of 35.1%, 1,211 predicted open reading frames (ORFs), and 43 RNA genes

How Fine should Grain be Ground for Milk Cows?

IntroductionThe ground beef bin on the Jones farm was empty. Mr. Jones pulled the switch and soon the little mill was humming a song that scarcely changed a note as the first few shovels of grain disappeared down its mouth. Mr. Jones noted that the grain was scarcely more than cracked. He readjusted the mill to grind it finer, and soon it was spewing out an entirely different product. Did Mr. Jones make a mistake when he readjusted his mill to grind the feed finer for his dairy cows?Results of an experiment conducted at the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station would indicate that Jones did make a mistake by grinding the grain fine – one that is common in the dairy industry. These are a few results of the experiment:1. It made little difference in the case of milk cows whether grain was ground coarse or fine in relation to the food value obtained by the cow from the entire ration. Feeds need only to be cracked sufficiently to expose the kernel interiors to digestive juices.2. More benefit was derived from grinding corn than from grinding oats. A total of 110 pounds of alfalfa hay and whole corn ration was required to equal 100 pounds of an alfalfa hay and medium-ground corn ration in food value. For whole oats the comparison was 102 pounds to 100 pounds.3. After subtracting the food value of the alfalfa hay, it was found 119 pounds of whole corn were required to equal 100 pounds of medium ground corn in food value, and 105 pounds of whole oats were required to equal 100 pounds of medium ground oats. These figures may be used when combining these grains with o�her roughages in a ration. Little difference was noted in the food value of either grain when ground medium or fine.4. Greater benefits were derived from grinding corn largely because greater amounts pass through the animal undigested when whole corn is fed. Nearly one-fifth (19.9 percent) of the whole corn fed was recovered from the feces (solid manure). For whole oats, recoveries in the feces ranged from 10.8 to 14.8 percent.5. Ground grain rations were much more palatable than whole grain, and were more convenient for mixing with other ingredients in the ration.Futhermore, it is generally understood that it costs more in time and money for fine grinding than for medium coarse grinding. The power cost is greater chiefly because of the greater length of time that the power must be used in grinding fine as compared with coarse. Calculations made from figures obtained from the South Dakota, Indiana and Ohio Stations indicate that it would take about 2 or 2Yz times as much power to grind the finely ground grain as for the medium coarse as used in this experiment. For instance, Indiana reported that it took 0.21 kilowatt hours (K.W.H. electrical power) for coarse grinding of 100 pounds of corn and oats and 0.57 kilowatt hours for fine grinding. If one were paying for electrical power from a highline the cost would be directly proportional to the kilowatt hours used. Essentially the same relationships would exist if tractors or gas engines were used as a source of power

Media Presence and Inner Presence: The Sense of Presence in Virtual Reality Technologies

Abstract. Presence is widely accepted as the key concept to be considered in any research involving human interaction with Virtual Reality (VR). Since its original description, the concept of presence has developed over the past decade to be considered by many researchers as the essence of any experience in a virtual environment. The VR generating systems comprise two main parts: a technological component and a psychological experience. The different relevance given to them produced two different but coexisting visions of presence: the rationalist and the psychological/ecological points of view. The rationalist point of view considers a VR system as a collection of specific machines with the necessity of the inclusion \ud of the concept of presence. The researchers agreeing with this approach describe the sense of presence as a function of the experience of a given medium (Media Presence). The main result of this approach is the definition of presence as the perceptual illusion of non-mediation produced by means of the disappearance of the medium from the conscious attention of the subject. At the other extreme, there \ud is the psychological or ecological perspective (Inner Presence). Specifically, this perspective considers presence as a neuropsychological phenomenon, evolved from the interplay of our biological and cultural inheritance, whose goal is the control of the human activity. \ud Given its key role and the rate at which new approaches to understanding and examining presence are appearing, this chapter draws together current research on presence to provide an up to date overview of the most widely accepted approaches to its understanding and measurement

A method for exploratory repeated-measures analysis applied to a breast-cancer screening study

When a model may be fitted separately to each individual statistical unit, inspection of the point estimates may help the statistician to understand between-individual variability and to identify possible relationships. However, some information will be lost in such an approach because estimation uncertainty is disregarded. We present a comparative method for exploratory repeated-measures analysis to complement the point estimates that was motivated by and is demonstrated by analysis of data from the CADET II breast-cancer screening study. The approach helped to flag up some unusual reader behavior, to assess differences in performance, and to identify potential random-effects models for further analysis.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/11-AOAS481 the Annals of Applied Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aoas/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Growth, Body Composition, and Lung Function in Prepubertal Children with Cystic Fibrosis Diagnosed by Newborn Screening

Background: Children with cystic fibrosis (CF) are at risk of altered body composition (BC). Newborn screening (NBS) may lead to improved BC outcomes. We investigated BC and its relationship with lung function in prepubertal children diagnosed with CF by NBS. Secondary aims explored predictors of fat‐free mass (FFM) and lung function. / Methods: Thirty‐seven screened (non‐meconium ileus) children with CF (20 boys) born 2007–2012 had a dual‐energy x‐ray absorptiometry scan at 5–8 years to determine whole‐body (WB) and appendicular BC. Anthropometry was performed and routine spirometry recorded. Results were converted to z‐scores, height‐adjusted (fat mass index [FMI] and FFM index [FFMI]) and compared with population mean values. Predictors of forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) were assessed using linear regression. / Results: Height, body mass index (BMI), and FEV1 were within normal limits, however, weight and BC were significantly low compared with reference data (weight, P = .03; WB FMI, P = .001; WB FFMI, P = .009). Gender differences were detected, with lower appendicular BC in boys and lower weight, BMI, and BC in girls. The association between FEV1 and WB FFMI (r = 0.38; P = .02) was stronger than with BMI (r = 0.29; P = .08). WB FFMI was the only significant predictor of FEV1 in a multivariable model (95% CI, 0.11–0.99; P = .016). / Conclusion: In this NBS CF population, gender differences in growth and BC were apparent despite preserved lung function. These results support BC assessment in prepubertal children, particularly girls, with an opportunity to direct interventions to optimize FFM