Mastitis control practices: differences between herds with high and low milk somatic cell counts

Effects of differences in herd mastitis control management in maintaining low herd average SCC, was studied. Washington State DHI herds with Holstein cattle and enrolled in the SCC program (n = 309) were ranked by percentage of cows in their herd with SCC less less than or equal to 283,000 cells/ml. "Low herds" (n = 28) were among the 56 herds with the highest percentage of cows with SCC less than or equal to 283,000 cells/ml and "high herds" (n = 31) were among the 75 with the lowest percentage of cows with SCC less than or equal to 283,000 cells/ml. Herds were visited annually for 2 yr by a technician who collected samples and recorded data. Geometric mean bulk tank SCC during the year between herd visits was 175,000 and 460,000 cells/ml for low and high herds. Milking time hygiene practices, teat dipping, and dry cow therapy were practiced with equal frequency on low and high herds. Differences in function and maintenance of milking equipment did not discriminate between herd groups. Differences in mastitis control management of low versus high SCC herds were that managers of excellent control herds more frequently had highest producers milked first and clinical cows milked last; had automatic milking unit detachers; kept moisture content of cow bedding lower; and had workers disinfect teat ends prior to intramammary antibiotic treatment. Managers of low herds were more likely to use computers and attend dairy informational meetings. Results suggest subtle differences in mastitis control strategies differentiate the low and high SCC herd groups.     

Correcting raw diagnostic data for oscilloscope recording system distortions at the National Ignition Facility

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) is now producing experimental results for the study of inertial confinement fusion (ICF). These results are captured by complex diagnostic systems and are key to achieving NIF's goal to demonstrate thermonuclear burn of deuterium and tritium fuel in a laboratory setting. High bandwidth gamma-ray fusion-burn measurements and soft X-ray indirect and direct drive energetic measurements are both captured with oscilloscope recording systems that distort or modulate the raw data. The Shot Data Analysis team has developed signal processing corrections for these oscilloscope recording systems through an automated engine. Once these corrections are applied, accurate fundamental quantities can be discerned.     

An analytical study on the effect of rigid body translational degree of freedom on the vibration characteristics of elastically constrained rotating disks

This study concerns the linear vibration behavior of annular spinning disk whose inner boundary is free to move in the axial direction while the body of the disk is constrained by a space fixed linear spring. It is shown, using analytical techniques based upon a three mode approximation, that constraining a spinning disk, free to have rigid body translation, with one space fixed spring does not change the critical speeds. Using an analysis, based on a two-mode approximation, the stability characteristics of a guided spinning disk due to the interaction between a rigid body translational mode and a forward or backward or reflected traveling wave are studied. It is shown that the interaction between the rigid body translational mode and a forward or backward traveling wave does not induce instability. In contrast to this situation it is shown that when the rigid body translational degree of freedom interacts with a reflected wave, depending on the speed and the stiffness of the spring, it may induce instability.     

Raja Deen Dayal and Sons: Photographing Hyderabad’s Famine Relief Efforts

This paper studies a collection of photographs that document a famine relief effort organized by the sixth Nizam of Hyderabad (India). Made by the firm of Raja Deen Dayal and Sons and assembled in an album now preserved in the Andhra Pradesh State Archives, the photographs reveal much about the relationship between photography, modernity and statecraft in late nineteenth-century princely India.     

Fabrication and characterization of an all-diamond tubular flow microelectrode for electroanalysis

The development of the first all-diamond hydrodynamic flow device for electroanalytical applications is described. Here alternate layers of intrinsic (insulating), conducting (heavily boron doped), and intrinsic polycrystalline diamond are grown to create a sandwich structure. By laser cutting a hole through the material, it is possible to produce a tubular flow ring electrode of a characteristic length defined by the thickness of the conducting layer (for these studies ～90 μm). The inside of the tube can be polished to 17 ± 10 nm surface roughness using a diamond impregnanted wire resulting in a coplanar, smooth, all-diamond surface. The steady-state limiting current versus volume flow rate characteristics for the one electron oxidation of FcTMA(+) are in agreement with those expected for laminar flow in a tubular electrode geometry. For dopamine detection, it is shown that the combination of the reduced fouling properties of boron doped diamond, coupled with the flow geometry design where the products of electrolysis are washed away downstream of the electrode, completely eradicates fouling during electrolysis. This paves the way for incorporation of this flow design into online electroanalytical detection systems. Finally, the all diamond tubular flow electrode system described here provides a platform for future developments including the development of ultrathin ring electrodes, multiple apertures for increased current response, and multiple, individually addressable ring electrodes incorporated into the same flow tube.     

Similarity in gallstone formation from 900 kcal/day diets containing 16 g vs 30 g of daily fat: evidence that fat restriction is not the main culprit of cholelithiasis during rapid weight reduction

Diets containing essentially no fat, 1-2 g fat per day, have resulted in cholesterol gallstones. Greater fat may result in less gallbladder stasis. Do gallstones form with greater fat content? We studied 272 moderately obese subjects who had normal gallbladder ultrasonograms. The 900 kcal/day liquid diets contained either 16 g fat (N = 94) or 30 g fat (N = 178) each day for 13 weeks. A second gallbladder ultrasound was performed. Sixteen of 94 (17.0%) of the 16-g fat group developed stones with a weight loss of 18 (+/- 7) kg and a body mass index (BMI) decrease of 6 (+/- 2) kg/m2. Twenty of 178 (11.2%) of the 30-g fat group developed stones (P = 0.18, no difference in stone formation) with similar weight loss of 20 (+/- 7) kg (P = 0.08) and BMI decrease of 7 (+/- 2) kg/m2 (P = 0.04). Substantial fat for rapid weight-reducing diets resulted in gallstone formation. Since experiments have shown that our higher fat diet, containing 10 g fat per meal, results in maximal gallbladder emptying, cholelithiasis from rapid weight loss may not be solely attributable to gallbladder stasis.     

Functional differences between keratins of stratified and simple epithelia

We present a simple method for extracting interference effects between chemical shift anisotropy (CSA) and dipolar coupling from spin relaxation measurements in macromolecules, and we apply this method to extracting cross-correlation rates involving interference of amide 15N CSA and 15N-1H dipolar coupling and interference of carbonyl 13C' CSA and 15N-13C' dipolar coupling, in a small protein. A theoretical basis for the interpretation of these rates is presented. While it proves difficult to quantitatively separate the structural and dynamic contributions to these cross-correlation rates in the presence of anisotropic overall tumbling and a nonaxially symmetric chemical shift tensor, some useful qualitative correlations of data with protein structure can be seen when simplifying assumptions are made.     

Biomechanical comparison of hybrid external fixators

OBJECTIVES: To determine the stiffness characteristics of the hybrid ring fixator in the treatment of (OTA 41-C) proximal metaphyseal and shaft tibial fractures. DESIGN: Five identical composite tibiae were fixed with a Synthes, ACE Fischer, Howmedica Monticelli-Spinelli, or Smith & Nephew Trauma Ilizarov hybrid external fixator or with the conventional Ilizarov wire fixator. The Synthes and Monticelli-Spinelli fixators were tested twice, the first time with the connectors on the outside of the ring and the second time with the connectors on the inside of the ring. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: A materials testing machine was used to apply pure compression, anterior and posterior bending, medial and lateral bending, and torsion. Stiffness values were calculated from the load deformation and torque angle curves. RESULTS: Overall, the Synthes and Monticelli-Spinelli fixators were the most rigid of the fixators when the wire-to-ring connectors were placed inside the ring. In general, the fixators were stiffest in axial compression and least stiff in posterior bending. Wire length had a significant effect on overall stiffness. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that the four hybrid external fixators in standard configuration have stiffness characteristics similar to those of the conventional Ilizarov fixator when used to treat proximal metaphyseal and shaft fractures of the tibia.     

Bond strengths of the adhesive resin-amalgam interface

Generalized (diffuse) plane xanthoma (GPX) is a normolipaemic xanthomatosis that is very frequently associated with a haematological disorder, and especially with monoclonal gammapathies, which it may precede by several months or years. Here, we report a case of GPX associated with idiopathic Bence-Jones proteinuria, a very rare type of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance. To our knowledge, this association has not been previously described.