The stage sequence concept in cognitive and social development.

Presents a model for cognitive and social developmental stages that preserves the concept of ordered stages without assuming that Ss exhibit reasoning at the same developmental stage regardless of the situation. The model was tested on 174 undergraduates' responses to a sentence completion test of ego development (J. Loevinger et al, 1970) and on 169 undergraduates' responses to a paragraph completion test of cognitive complexity (O. J. Harvey et al, 1961). On the ego development and cognitive complexity measures, 69% and 72% respectively, of the Ss displayed responses consistent with the stage ordering model. Data partially support dependency predictions suggested by the stage model. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Combined use of an electrostatic precipitator and a high‐efficiency particulate air filter in building ventilation systems: Effects on cardiorespiratory health indicators in healthy adults

High‐efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration in combination with an electrostatic precipitator (ESP) can be a cost‐effective approach to reducing indoor particulate exposure, but ESPs produce ozone. The health effect of combined ESP‐HEPA filtration has not been examined. We conducted an intervention study in 89 volunteers. At baseline, the air‐handling units of offices and residences for all subjects were comprised of coarse, ESP, and HEPA filtration. During the 5‐week long intervention, the subjects were split into 2 groups, 1 with just the ESP removed and the other with both the ESP and HEPA removed. Each subject was measured for cardiopulmonary risk indicators once at baseline, twice during the intervention, and once 2 weeks after baseline conditions were restored. Measured indoor and outdoor PM_2.5 and ozone concentrations, coupled with time‐activity data, were used to calculate exposures. Removal of HEPA filters increased 24‐hour mean PM_2.5 exposure by 38 (95% CI: 31, 45) μg/m³. Removal of ESPs decreased 24‐hour mean ozone exposure by 2.2 (2.0, 2.5) ppb. No biomarkers were significantly associated with HEPA filter removal. In contrast, ESP removal was associated with a ?16.1% (?21.5%, ?10.4%) change in plasma‐soluble P‐selectin and a ?3.0% (?5.1%, ?0.8%) change in systolic blood pressure, suggesting reduced cardiovascular risks.     

The Borel measure of sequences with bounded run-length

Infinite sequences defined with a finite alphabet are studied and it is shown that the set of sequences with bounded run-length has measure zero with respect to the Borel measure. Such sequences arise in many applications including digitization of certain linear systems involving flows on the circle and 2-torus, large scale simulation, and cryptology. They are basic objects of study in ergodic theory.     

A confocal video-rate laser-beam scanning reflected-light microscope with no moving parts

A no-moving-parts, 30 frames/s, laser-beam scanning confocal reflected-light microscope has been developed. In principle, the technique can be extended to fluorescence and transmission light microscopy. Acousto-optic beam deflectors controlled by digital electronics move a laser beam in a 512-line interlaced 8·5 times 8·5-mm raster. The light passes through a beam splitter, enters an inverted microscope through the side camera port, and is imaged at the object by the microscope objective. Reflected light returns through the objective, exits the camera port, is reflected off the beam splitter, and is imaged on to the photocathode of an image dissector tube (IDT). Confocality is provided by raster scanning the IDT aperture coincident with the congruent image of the laser beam incident on the object. Real-time jitter-free reflected light images of a variety of biological objects have been produced. Computer-controlled alignment of the laser scan and IDT is performed in several seconds.     

Ordinal judgments of symbolic stimuli by capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) and rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta): The effects of differential and nondifferential reward.

Ordinal learning was investigated in capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) and rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). In Experiment 1, both species were presented with pairings of the Arabic numerals 0 to 9. Some monkeys were given food rewards equal to the value of the numeral selected and some were rewarded with a single pellet only for choosing the higher numeral within the pair. Both species learned to select the larger numeral, but only rhesus monkeys that were differentially rewarded performed above chance levels when presented with novel probe pairings. In Experiment 2, the monkeys were first presented with arrays of 5 familiar numerals (from the range 0 to 9) and then arrays of 5 novel letters (from the range A to J) with the same reward outcomes in place as in Experiment 1. Both species performed better with the numerals, suggesting that an ordinal sequence of all stimuli had been learned during Experiment 1, rather than a matrix of two-choice discriminations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluation of animal age and muscle type on beef log juice colour and residual GOT activity when cooked to target end-point temperature of 79.4 °C†

The effectiveness of the pink-juice test to determine 79.4 °C end-point temperature (EPT) of cooked beef logs was appraised. Logs made from five cuts of meat from three animal age groups were fabricated in triplicate to simulate products received at ports of entry and then cooked to EPTs of 78.0–81.8 °C. CIELAB L*, a*, b*, C and h ° values of internal surfaces of freshly sliced meat and pressed juices from samples were determined. Sensory ratings were made by six trained panelists to determine intensities of residual red color of the juices. Animal age and cut of meat had little effect on the CIELAB color values. Residual red color was apparent in all samples by both sensory and a* values analysis. Sensory ratings did not vary significantly (P < 0.05) by animal age or cut of meat. Average values of 3.2 (intensity range, 1–9) corresponded to an EPT slightly greater than 80 °C; absence of red color in the juices would therefore indicate an EPT in excess of the target temp of 79.4 °C. Residual glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase activity (GOT) activity, used as a collateral test for EPT, ranged from 482.5 to 1641.8 SFU ml⁻¹ of juice and differed significantly by cut of meat (P < 0.05), but not by animal age. © 1999 Society of Chemical Industry     

Comparison of the pharmacokinetics of plant-based treatments in milk and plasma of USDA organic dairy cattle with and without mastitis

Organic dairy products are the second largest sector of the organic food market. Organic dairy products come from United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) certified organic dairy cattle that meet USDA organic standards. Organic dairy cattle in the US cannot be treated with antibiotics for mastitis, one of the costliest diseases of dairy cattle, and thus effective alternatives are needed. When any compound (medication or other non-food product) is used in a food producing animal, a withhold time for that compound that meets US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards for food safety must be applied to the animal and its products (like milk). However, there are no US FDA products approved for mastitis that maintain USDA certified organic dairy cattle’s organic status. Thus, we studied the pharmacokinetics of 3 compounds (garlic, thymol and carvacrol) used on organic both healthy and mastitic organic dairy cattle. We also used this information to estimate a milk withhold time using methods consistent with US FDA requirements. For thymol intra-mammary and carvacrol intra-mammary or topical administration, all compounds were partially absorbed into the body from the milk or skin. Thymol and carvacrol are measurable in plasma (at 0.0183 and 0.0202 µg/mL, respectively) after intramammary administration with similar elimination half lives of 1.7 h. Milk concentrations of thymol and carvacrol are much higher at 2.958 and 4.487 µg/mL in healthy cattle, respectively. Concentrations are not significantly different in cows with mastitis as compared to those in healthy cows. Despite these compounds being natural products, they should have a withhold time for milk of at least 24 h after administration. For garlic, levels remained below the limit of detection in milk and plasma and thus no withdrawal time appears to be needed for milk.     

Special relativity-on-a-chip: impact of optical loss in the performance of an optical analogue of Thomas Effect

ABSTRACT

We investigate the effect of the unavoidable optical loss on the recently reported optical analogue of the relativistic Thomas Effect which uses a photonic chip-based lossless All-Pass Filter (APF) circuit [J. of Mod. Optics 65.19 (2018): 2171-2178]. When the APF has loss, both its phase and amplitude responses are altered. This impacts the accuracy and operating range of the APF-based Thomas Effect analogue. To evaluate its impact on the phase output, we carry out a systematic evaluation of the phase response of the APF to explore when this Thomas Effect analogue breaks down. A lossy APF produces three dissimilar phase responses and varying dip in the amplitude response depending on the relative values of the coupling coefficient and the loss parameter. Numerical and analytical results show that APF must (i) be operated at an Over-Coupling (OC) condition (ii) with a loss parameter α ≥ 0.95 in order to have less than 1% phase error with the widest possible band coverage.     

Effects of feeding strategy on milk production, reproduction, pasture utilization, and economics of autumn-calving dairy cows in eastern North Carolina

A balance among stocking rate (SR), pasture management, and supplementary feeding is required to optimize overall farm performance and profitability in pasture-based dairying. Beginning in September 2003, a seasonal, autumn-calving, pasture-based farming system was established to address the effects of feeding strategy (FS; i.e., a unique combination of stocking and supplementation rate) on productive, reproductive, and economic performance of lactating herds over 3 yr. Eighty lactating cows (1/3 Holsteins, 1/3 Jerseys, and 1/3 crosses of those breeds) were randomly assigned to either a lesser stocking, lesser supplementation group [LSR; 2.2 cows/ha, 6.3 kg of dry matter (DM) of a corn-based concentrate consumed daily, n=40] or a greater stocking, greater supplementation group (HSR; 3.3 cows/ha, 9.2 kg of DM of a corn-based concentrate consumed daily, n=40). Pasture/forage crop rotations included annual ryegrass and sorghum-Sudan (50%), annual ryegrass and bermudagrass (20%), and a tall fescue-white clover pasture (30%). Pre- and postgrazing herbage mass values and grazing intervals (3,347±255.8 kg of DM/ha, 1,861±160.6 kg of DM/ha, 23.6±1.9 d) did not differ between FS. The nutritive value of fresh and conserved forages was similar between feeding strategies, except for acid detergent fiber in freshly grazed bermudagrass (29.6 vs. 26.3% of DM for LSR and HSR, respectively). Cows on HSR tended to spend more time on an adjacent feeding area where conserved forages were offered (85 vs. 61 d/yr) as opposed to grazing paddocks (204 vs. 228 d/yr). Lactation performance was greater for HSR; cows on HSR produced 10.8% more milk fat and 6.3% more milk protein than cows on LSR. Holstein cows produced the greatest amounts of mature-equivalent milk, but did not differ from crossbred cows in terms of energy-corrected milk, and mature-equivalent fat and protein yields. Reproductive efficiency did not differ among feeding strategy, but breed differences were observed; conception rates at first and all services, as well as pregnancy rates, were greater for Jersey and crossbred cows compared with Holsteins. The greater stocking rate required additional supplemental concentrate and time away from grazing paddocks, but reproductive efficiency was similar and overall lactation performance was greater. The greater stocking rate resulted in increased productivity and greater income over feed costs per unit of land.