Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Interpreting Forage Quality Test Reports, Donna M. Amaral-Phillips

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Forages are the foundation for building diets for beef and dairy cattle, horses, sheep and goats. The quality of these forages directly impacts forage intake, animal performance, and, ultimately, the profitability to their owners. As the quality of forages decline, consumption of that forage decreases and the amount of grain or byproducts which must be fed increases. The cost for a unit of performance increases and/or the animal can not perform (i.e. milk or gain) to the optimum level thus lowering profitability to the animal owner. These relationships are especially true with young and high performance ruminants, such as high …

Moisture Management In Hay Making And Storage, Tom Keene, Doug Overhults

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Making hay in central Kentucky can be one of the most trying on farm endeavors a producer can undertake. Our plentiful moisture, rolling topography, and climate make Kentucky ideal for producing high quality forage for either grazing or hay making. However, that same moisture, either in the form of rain or high humidity, can sometimes make it devilishly hard to make hay here in Kentucky.

Storing Alfalfa As Round Bale Silage, David C. Ditsch

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Hay is the most popular method for storing alfalfa because it stores well for long periods and is better suited to cash sale and transportation than silage. However, silage may be a suitable option when and/or where hay curing is difficult. Due to numerous improvements in baling and wrapping equipment, it is possible to make high quality round bale silage using long (unchopped) alfalfa crops.

Alfalfa As A Grazing Crop, Garry D. Lacefield

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Over the past decade we have had several people address “Alfalfa as a Grazing Crop” including Warren Thompson, Jim Moutray, Gary Bates, Ken Johnson, Jason Sandefur, Byron Sleugh, and myself. Each has done an excellent job discussing the merits of this remarkable crop and the opportunities it offers for grazing. At the end of the Conference last year, I (as I always do) asked for your suggestions concerning topics for this years’ conference. As it has been for the past decade, “Grazing” was the most requested topic. In today’s presentation, let’s go back and revisit the question, “Is Grazing Alfalfa …

Fertilizing Alfalfa For Profit, Greg Schwab

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Alfalfa is a high quality, valuable forage crop that can be successfully produced on most well drained soils in Kentucky. Fertilizing alfalfa can be uniquely challenging because it is a perennial crop. In addition, high yielding alfalfa removes a tremendous amount of soil nutrients when compared to other crops grown in Kentucky. A thorough understanding of alfalfa’s growth habits, nutrient requirements, and the soil nutrient supply mechanisms for alfalfa is necessary to effectively manage fertilizer inputs and maximize profitability.

Principles And Practices Of Successful Alfalfa Establishment, Gary Bates

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Alfalfa is the most widely known forage crop, due to its high quality and the versatility of use. There are few forages that are as widely distributed as alfalfa, and none that can produce the high yields and high quality. Even with all of the positives of alfalfa, growing this crop profitably is often difficult. An evaluation of alfalfa budgets shows that a key factor in the success with alfalfa is the stand life. Because of the establishment expense, an extra year or two of production can increase the lucrativeness of the stand. The start of having a long life …

Advances In Alfalfa Seed Coating, Bill Talley

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Seed coating for alfalfa has been available since the mid to late 70’s. Over the last 30 years, advances in the industry have made it the choice of many producers. The purpose of the coatings at that time was mainly to add weight to increase the ballistic properties and to be a carrier for the rhizobia. Through research and new technology, coatings have evolved and shown great agronomic benefits. Seed coating can provide an opportunity to supply effective quantities of needed materials to each seed, which can influence both the physical property, and the microenvironment of the seed. Coatings can …

New Alfalfa Varieties, S. Ray Smith

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Commercial alfalfa breeding companies have continued to make great strides in the development of new varieties with unique traits. New traits include Roundup Ready®, potato leafhopper resistance, hybrids, lodging resistance, rapid regrowth, higher quality, resistance to new diseases, and more… I will address some of these new developments in the following pages. In addition, producers often ask the question: “Are improved varieties really worth the higher seed cost?” Dr. Jimmy Henning recently summarized 24 location years of Kentucky alfalfa yield data and found that the best 5 varieties in each test yielded 0.9 tons/A higher than the checks. Over a …

Foreword And Recipients Of Kentucky Alfalfa Awards [2006], Garry D. Lacefield, Christi L. Forsythe

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

No abstract provided.

Results Of Chemical Analyses For Alcove 8/ Niche 3 Tracer Studies, Jeanette Daniels, Amy J. Smiecinski

Publications (YM)

This is the final report detailing the analyses performed under ORD-FY04-011 "Chemical Analyses for Alcove 8/Niche 3 Tracer Studies," The work was performed under The University and Community College System of Nevada (UCCSN) and the Department of Energy (DOE) Cooperative Agreement DE-FC28-04RW12232, This task provided method development and analytical support for the Alcove 8/Niche 3 Tracer Studies in the Exploratory Studies Facility (ESF). Concentrations of tracers as well as major anions and cations were reported for samples provided by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and the US Geological Survey (USGS). Samples were analyzed using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and …

Vaccines Against Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Lynette B. Corbeil, Carlos M. Campero, Jack C. Rhyan, Robert H. Bondurant

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Human sexually transmitted infections are prevalent throughout the world. Several have been associated with adverse pregnancy outcome and increased susceptibility to HIV infection, in addition to the discomfort of inflammation of the genital tract. Yet vaccines to protect against the infection at the genital mucosa are not available. Hepatitis B is an exception, but this virus becomes systemic and protection may be at the systemic level. Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) have long been associated with reproductive failure in cattle. These infections cause considerable economic loss, which has been a stimulus to investigation. Consequently, vaccines and mechanisms of immune protection have …

What Carnivore Biologists Can Learn From Bugs, Birds, And Beavers: A Review Of Spatial Theories, Julie K. Young, John A. Shivik

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Information on the ecology and evolution of a species can be enhanced by studying spatial ecology. Even though space use has been a focus of carnivore research for decades, the theoretical framework for such studies remains poorly developed. Most spatial ecology theory has instead been developed and tested with invertebrates and expanded into fishery and ornithological research. The goal of this review is to examine spatial theories being tested in other taxonomic groups that could positively influence how carnivore biologists design studies. Details are provided from studies that illustrate methods to quantify space use, and four broad areas of spatial …

A Comparison Of Coyote Ecology After 25 Years: 1978 Versus 2003, J. K. Young, W.F. Andelt, P.A. Terletzky, J.A. Shivik

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Most ecological studies of coyotes are of short duration and studies are generally never repeated, thus the opportunity to compare changes in coyote (Canis latrans Say, 1823) ecology over time is rare. We compared coyote home ranges, activity patterns, age, and diet at the Welder Wildlife Refuge in south Texas between 1978-1979 and 2003-2004 (25 years later). The Minta index of overlap between 1978 and 2003 home ranges was 51.7 ± 7.0 (n = 7), much greater than the Minta index value based on randomized tests (28.7 ± 8.6), indicating similar spatial patterns between time periods. The Minta …

An Experimental Study Of Single Mode Fiber-Optic Sensors, Joumana Mohamed Taysir El-Rifai

Archived Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is intended to investigate and study various types of single-mode fiber optic sensors. Single-mode fibers will be first defined and understood in order to proceed. We will provide a description of their geometry, the method by which they propagate light and how they can be utilized as sensors. Attention will also be paid to the nature of the optical components used with single-mode fibers, such as: optical sensors and detectors. Since single-mode fiber sensors depend essentially on the interference and the coherence of light, they will also be discussed. Finally, three different single-mode fiber sensor setups will be …

Different Public Health Interventions Have Varying Effects, Paula Diehr, Anne B. Newman, Liming Cai, Ann Derleth

UW Biostatistics Working Paper Series

Objective: To compare performance of one-time health interventions to those that change the probability of transitioning from one health state to another. Study Design and Setting: We used multi-state life table methods to estimate the impact of eight types of interventions on several outcomes. Results: In a cohort beginning at age 65, curing all the sick persons at baseline would increase life expectancy by 0.23 years and increase years of healthy life by .54 years. An equal amount of improvement could be obtained with a 12% decrease in the probability of getting sick, a 16% increase in the probability of …

Red Rock Desert Learning Center Core Group Meeting: February 21, 2006, Red Rock Desert Learning Center

Reports (RRLC)

Meeting cancelled

1. Introductions & Announcements (5 min.)
2. Approval of Minutes from January 17, 2006 Meeting (5 min.)
3. Update on Project Schedule – Michael Reiland (10 min.)
   A. Utilities
   B. Water Line
   C. Operator RFP
   D. NEPA
4. Report on Value Analysis Workshops – Michael Reiland / Line & Space
   (10 min.)
5. Curriculum Update – Jeanne Klockow (10 min.)
6. Standing Reports (10 min.)
   A. BLM Capital Improvements – Michael Reiland
   B. Community Outreach – LaNelda Rolley
7. Committee Reports (5 min.)
   A. Building Committee
   B. Design Oversight
   C. Educational Programs
   D. Fund-raising and Partnerships
   E. NEPA
   F. Operations
   G. Other Uses
   H. Wild …

Structure And Stability Of Con(Pyridine)M − Clusters: Absence Of Metal Inserted Structures, B. Douglas Edmonds, Anil K. Kandalam, S. N. Khanna, X. Li, A. Grubisic, I. Khanna, K. H. Bowen

Physics & Engineering Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Similarity-Based Constitutive Relations For Local Mass Fluxes In Incompressible Mixing Layers, John D. Ramshaw

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

The local concentrations of the two fluids within a mixing layer produced by an interfacial instability are determined by their individual continuity equations. Solution of these equations requires constitutive relations for the local mass fluxes of the two fluids. We derive explicit analytical expressions for these fluxes in planar incompressible mixing layers characterized by a single integral length scale h(t), which is presumed to be provided by a suitable mix or turbulence model. Elementary scaling arguments imply that in mixing layers of this type, the mean volume fraction profile α(x,t) depends on x and t only through the similarity variable …

Bufo Woodhousii (Woodhouse's Toad) Survival, Richard M. Engeman, Melvin A. Engeman

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Records that demonstrate maximal natural longevity are virtually nonexistent for anurans, or amphibians in general. Records from captive specimens have demonstrated longevities as high as 36 yr for Bufo bufo (Duellman and Trueb 1986. Biology of Amphibians. McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York. 670 pp.). Here, we describe the longevity of a wild Bufo woodhousii that was initially monitored in 1978 (Engeman and Engeman 1996. Northwest. Nat. 77:23; Engeman and Engeman 2003. Northwest. Nat. 84:45), including 9 yrs of records on its emergence from hibernation (Engeman and Engeman 1996. op. cit.). The toad first appeared as an adult in 1978 …

Gopherus Polyphemus (Gopher Tortoise) Coyote Predation, Jon A. Moore, Richard M. Engeman, Henry T. Smith, John Woolard

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Gopherus polyphemus is listed as a species of special concern by the state of Florida (Florida Wildlife Code Chap. 39 F.A.C.), and as a threatened species by the Florida Committee on Rare and Endangered Plants and Animals (Moler 1992. Rare and Endangered Biota of Florida: Volume 111, Reptiles and Amphibians. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida. 291 pp.). Coyotes (Canis latrans) are invasive to Florida with ranges that are expanding within the state (Schmitz and Brown 1994. An Assessment of Invasive Non-Indigenous Species in Florida's Public Lands. Florida Dept. Environmental Protection. Tallahassee, Florida. 283 pp.; Wooding and Hardinsky …

Efficacy Of Scent Dogs In Detecting Black-Footed Ferrets At A Reintroduction Site In South Dakota, Sara A. Reindl-Thompson, John A. Shivik, Alice Whitelaw, Aimee Hurt, Kenneth F. Higgins

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Endangered black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes) are difficult to monitor because of their nocturnal and fossorial habits, but land use and management are influenced by their potential presence. Detector dogs have been suggested as a method for determining ferret presence, although its efficacy has not been thoroughly investigated. We evaluated 2 dogs trained specifically for determining ferret presence in field evaluations conducted in black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) colonies at the Conata Basin reintroduction site in South Dakota, USA, during September and October 2003. We tested the dogs on 4 test colonies that had no record of …

Leiocephalus Carinatus Armourz (Northern Curlytail Lizard) Predation, Henry T. Smith, Richard M. Engeman, Walter E. Meshaka Jr.

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Leiocephalus carinatus armouri is a well-established exotic species in Florida (Meshaka et al. 2004. The exotic amphibians and reptiles of Florida, Krieger Publishing Company, Malabar, Florida. 155 pp.; Meshaka et al., in press, Southeastern Nat. 4); however, few vertebrate predators of this species have been documented within its introduced range (e.g., Smith and Engeman 2003. Herpetol. Rev. 34:245-246; Smith and Engeman 2004a. Herpetol. Rev. 35: 169-1 70; Smith and Engeman 2004b. Florida Field Nat. 32: 107-1 13). To date, only one avian predator of L. c. annouri, the Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea), has been recorded in …

Leiocephalus Carinatus Armouri (Northern Curlytail Lizard) Scavenged Road-Kill, Henry T. Smith, Richard M. Engeman, Walter E. Meshaka Jr., Ernest M. Cowan

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Little is known about the vertebrate predators and scavengers of Leiocephalus carinatus armouri within its introduced range in Florida, with few of these consumers currently documented (e.g., Meshaka et al. 2004. The Exotic Amphibians and Reptiles of Florida, Krieger Publishing Company, Malabar, Florida. 155 pp.; Smith and Engeman 2004a. Herpetol. Rev. 35: 169-170; Smith and Engeman 2004b. Florida Field Nat. 32: 107-113; Dean et al. 2005. Herpetol. Rev. 36: 451). Thus far, only one mammal in Florida has been verified, feral cats (Felis catus) (Smith and Engeman 2004b, op. cit.). Here we report Eastern Gray Squirrel ( …

Orientation Of Optically Trapped Nonspherical Birefringent Particles, Wolfgang Singer, Timo A. Nieminen, Ursula J. Gibson, Norman R. Heckenberg

Dartmouth Scholarship

While the alignment and rotation of microparticles in optical traps have received increased attention recently, one of the earliest examples has been almost totally neglected—the alignment of particles relative to the beam axis, as opposed to about the beam axis. However, since the alignment torques determine how particles align in a trap, they are directly relevant to practical applications. Lysozyme crystals are an ideal model system to study factors determining the orientation of nonspherical birefringent particles in a trap. Both their size and their aspect ratio can be controlled by the growth parameters, and their regular shape makes computational modeling …

Survival Analysis Methods In Genetic Epidemiology, Hongzhe Li

UPenn Biostatistics Working Papers

Mapping genes for complex human diseases is a challenging problem due to the fact that many such diseases are due to both genetic and enviromental risk factors and many also exhibit phenotypic heterogeneity, such as variable age of onset. Information on variable age of disease onset is often a good indicator for disease heterogeneity and incorporation of such information together with enviromental risk factors into genetic analysis should lead to more powerful tests for genetic analysis. Due to the problem of censoring, survival analysis methods have proved to be very useful for genetic analysis. In this paper, I review some …

On The Violation Of Bounds For The Correlation In Generalized Estimating Equation Analyses Of Binary Data From Longitudinal Trials, Justine Shults, Wenguang Sun, Xin Tu, Jay Amsterdam

UPenn Biostatistics Working Papers

It is well-known that the correlation among binary outcomes is constrained by the marginal means, yet approaches such as generalized estimating equations (GEE) do not check that the constraints for the correlations are satisfied. We explore this issue for Markovian dependence in the context of a GEE analysis of a clinical trial that compares Venlafaxine with Lithium in the prevention of major depressive episode. We obtain simplified expressions for the constraints for the logistic model and the equicorrelated and first-order autoregressive correlation structures. We then obtain the limiting values of the GEE and quasi-least squares (QLS) estimates of the correlation …

Use Of Infrared Thermography To Detect Signs Of Rabies Infection In Raccoons (Procyon Lotor), Mike R. Dunbar, Kathleen A. Maccarthy B.S.

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Infrared thermography was evaluated as a technique to determine if raccoons (Procyon lotor) experimentally infected with rabies virus could be differentiated from non-infected raccoons. Following a 10-day adjustment period, raccoons (n = 6) were infected with a virulent rabies street strain raccoon variant by injection into the masseter muscle at a dose of 2 x 10⁴ tissue-culture infectious dose (TCID₅₀) in 0.2 ml (n = 4) or 10⁵ TCID₅₀ in 1 ml (n = 2). Five of the six raccoons developed prodromal signs of rabies 17 to 22 days post-inoculation …

Comparing The Predictive Values Of Diagnostic Tests: Sample Size And Analysis For Paired Study Designs, Chaya S. Moskowitz, Margaret S. Pepe

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Dept. of Epidemiology & Biostatistics Working Paper Series

In this paper we consider the design and analysis of studies comparing the positive and negative predictive values of two diagnostic tests that are measured on all subjects. Although statistical methodology is well developed for comparing diagnostic tests in terms of their sensitivities and specificities, comparative inference about predictive values is not. We derive analytic variance expressions for the relative predictive values. Sample size formulas for study design ensue. In addition, two new methods for analyzing the resulting data are presented and compared with an existing marginal regression methodology.

Assessment Of An Outdoor Recreation And Education Program, Daphne Sewing, Jeanne A. Klockow, Public Lands Institute

Presentations (DM)

• Introduce economically disadvantaged urban youth, ages 8-12, to outdoor recreation and education.
• Foster a belief that outdoor recreation plays an important and positive role in the health and fitness of America’s youth.

Integration Of Ecological And Socioeconomic Indicators For Estuaries And Watersheds Of The Atlantic Slope, Atlantic Slope Consortium

Reports

No abstract provided.