Gothic Ecclesiastical Architecture of Northern France: Where Art Meets Economics

Gothic cathedrals were financed in many ways and their building could take centuries to complete. The process was long and arduous costing enormous sums of money over a sustained period of time. Their construction depleted both capital and skilled labor from the surrounding areas spurring both the donors and workers to be represented in the cathedral. The materials used to build these massive structures drew greatly on the region and dictated their architectural form. When the donors, religious figures, aristocracy, and workers are represented it validates the sacrifices they made towards building the cathedral as well as showing their social and economic standing in society to the viewer

Application of Fuzzy Logic in Automated Cow Status Monitoring

Sensors that measure yield, temperature, electrical conductivity of milk, and animal activity can be used for automated cow status monitoring. The occurrence of false-positive alerts, generated by a detection model, creates problems in practice. We used fuzzy logic to classify mastitis and estrus alerts; our objective was to reduce the number of false-positive alerts and not to change the level of detected cases of mastitis and estrus. Inputs for the fuzzy logic model were alerts from the detection model and additional information, such as the reproductive status. The output was a classification, true or false, of each alert. Only alerts that were classified true should be presented to the herd manager. Additional information was used to check whether deviating sensor measurements were caused by mastitis or estrus, or by other influences. A fuzzy logic model for the classification of mastitis alerts was tested on a data set from cows milked in an automatic milking system. All clinical cases without measurement errors were classified correctly. The number of false-positive alerts over time from a subset of 25 cows was reduced from 1266 to 64 by applying the fuzzy logic model. A fuzzy logic model for the classification of estrus alerts was tested on two data sets. The number of detected cases decreased slightly after classification, and the number of false-positive alerts decreased considerably. Classification by a fuzzy logic model proved to be very useful in increasing the applicability of automated cow status monitoring

NF03-589 New Onsite Wastewater Treatment Law Protects Nebraska\u27s People and Environment

New Law Requires Certification to Perform On-site Wastewater Treatment Work Beginning Jan. 1, 2004, a new Nebraska law allows only certified professionals or Nebraska-licensed professional engineers to perform work on on-site wastewater treatment systems (septic systems and individual lagoons). There is a concern that failing septic systems are having a negative impact on the environment and creating potentially harmful health conditions. This legislation will protect public health and the environment by authorizing development of a certification system so that people in the industry have, and demonstrate, the knowledge base necessary to minimize risks. This NebFact discusses what this law will cover for Nebraska\u27s people and the environment

EC95-742 Pollution Prevention: A Tool Kit for Vehicle Maintenance Shops

Would you like to: • Reduce your operating costs by using fewer materials and supplies? • Reduce hazardous and nonhazardous waste transportation and disposal costs? • Reduce liability and risks associated with hazardous waste? • Reduce the paperwork and record keeping requirements associated with hazardous waste? • Improve workplace safety and employee health? • Help safeguard the environment? • Improve your company\u27s image? • Increase your company\u27s business activities? If you answered Yes, to any of the above questions, you may want to look at the materials in this pollution prevention tool kit

Rev-erb-alpha modulates skeletal muscle oxidative capacity by regulating mitochondrial biogenesis and autophagy

The nuclear receptor Rev-erb-α modulates hepatic lipid and glucose metabolism, adipogenesis and the inflammatory response in macrophages. We show here that Rev-erb-α is highly expressed in oxidative skeletal muscle and plays a role in mitochondrial biogenesis and oxidative function, in gain- and loss-of function studies. Rev-erb-α-deficiency in skeletal muscle leads to reduced mitochondrial content and oxidative function, resulting in compromised exercise capacity. This phenotype was recapitulated in isolated fibers and in muscle cells upon Rev-erbα knock-down, while Rev-erb-α over-expression increased the number of mitochondria with improved respiratory capacity. Rev-erb-α-deficiency resulted in deactivation of the Stk11–Ampk–Sirt1–Ppargc1-α signaling pathway, whereas autophagy was up-regulated, resulting in both impaired mitochondrial biogenesis and increased clearance. Muscle over-expression or pharmacological activation of Rev-erb-α increased respiration and exercise capacity. This study identifies Rev-erb-α as a pharmacological target which improves muscle oxidative function by modulating gene networks controlling mitochondrial number and function

Systematic review of metrics used to characterise dietary nutrient supply from household consumption and expenditure surveys.

OBJECTIVE: To review existing publications using Household Consumption and Expenditure Survey (HCES) data to estimate household dietary nutrient supply to (1) describe scope of available literature, (2) identify the metrics reported and parameters used to construct these metrics, (3) summarise comparisons between estimates derived from HCES and individual dietary assessment data and (4) explore the demographic and socio-economic sub-groups used to characterise risks of nutrient inadequacy. DESIGN: This study is a systematic review of publications identified from online databases published between 2000 to 2019 that used HCES food consumption data to estimate household dietary nutrient supply. Further publications were identified by 'snowballing' the references of included database-identified publications. SETTING: Publications using data from low- and lower-middle income countries. RESULTS: In total, fifty-eight publications were included. Three metrics were reported that characterised household dietary nutrient supply: apparent nutrient intake per adult-male equivalent per day (n 35), apparent nutrient intake per capita per day (n 24) and nutrient density (n 5). Nutrient intakes were generally overestimated using HCES food consumption data, with several studies finding sizeable discrepancies compared with intake estimates based on individual dietary assessment methods. Sub-group analyses predominantly focused on measuring variation in household dietary nutrient supply according to socio-economic position and geography. CONCLUSION: HCES data are increasingly being used to assess diets across populations. More research is needed to inform the development of a framework to guide the use of and qualified interpretation of dietary assessments based on these data

NF589 New Onsite Wastewater Treatment Law Protects Nebraska’s People and Environment

Only certified professionals can work on on-site wastewater treatment systems (septic systems and individual lagoons). This NebFact explains the steps necessary for certification