AN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF A CORN-SOYBEAN CROP ROTATION UNDER VARIOUS INPUT COMBINATIONS IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS

Eight input combinations of commercial fertilizer, insecticides, and herbicides on a corn-soybean crop rotation in the Brazos River Bottom of Texas are evaluated. Input combinations which do not fully utilize all three inputs are consistently ranked higher by all criteria as the preferred input strategy for the corn-soybean rotation system. These results, which indicate limited input crop rotations that fall somewhere between the extremes of conventional agricultural production and organic agriculture, deserve further attention as a possible production alternative.corn, limited input, soybean, Crop Production/Industries,

Accuracy of Wrist-worn Physical Activity Monitors to Measure Energy Expenditure

IIn recent years, the popularity and demand of physical activity monitors has drastically risen with the need and want to improve physical fitness. Newer devices worn on the wrist measure both heart rate and energy expenditure but the accuracy of these measurements is unclear. PURPOSE: To measure the accuracy of three separate wrist-worn activity monitors to estimate energy expenditure during structured periods of aerobic exercise. METHODS: Twelve men and three women (22 ± 3 years, 25 ± 3 kg/m2) consented to participate in this study. Three different physical activity monitors, TomTom Cardio (TT), Microsoft Band (MB), and Fitbit Surge (FB), were randomly assigned to either the left or right wrist of each participant. The instructions for the testing procedure were thoroughly explained to every participant at the start of each trial. The treadmill started at a speed of 2 mph and increased by 1 mph every three minutes up to a max speed of 6 mph. Energy expenditure was estimated through direct measurement of oxygen consumed and carbon dioxide produced through a metabolic cart (MC, Parvo Medics True One ®2400). The mean bias in energy expenditure between MC and each device was calculated. Pearson product-moment correlations and 95% equivalence testing were also calculated. Statistical significance was set at an alpha level of 0.05. RESULTS: The mean bias between the MC and devices at 2 mph varied from -1.9 ± 1.1 kcal/min (FB) to 0.7 ± 1.0 kcal/min (MB) while the mean bias at 6 mph varied from -1.7 ± 2.1 kcal/min (MB) to 5.2 ± 1.7 kcal/min (TT). For total energy expenditure, all devices were significantly correlated with the MC (FB: r=0.66, p=0.007; TomTom: r=0.77, p\u3c0.001; MB: r=0.59, p=0.02). The mean bias for total energy expenditure was -25 ± 16 kcal for the FB, 26 ± 13 kcal for the TT, and -11 ± 17 kcal for the MB. The equivalence zone for MC was 88 kcal to 108 kcal but 90% confidence intervals of devices did not fall within this zone. CONCLUSION: The wrist-worn physical activity monitors used in this study that measure heart rate and energy expenditure tend to either underestimate or overestimate total energy expenditure from treadmill walking and running

Validity of Wrist-worn Physical Activity Monitors to Measure Heart Rate

Numerous physical activity monitors exist and are used to track and improve fitness levels. Due to the increasing popularity of these devices, newer products have been developed that measure heart rate (HR) at the wrist. Little is known about how accurate these devices are at measuring HR at the wrist and how they compare to each other. PURPOSE: To determine how accurately HR was measured by three different wrist-worn physical activity monitors. METHODS: Recreationally active men (n=9) and women (n=3) participated in this study. The average age and weight of participants was 22 ± 3 years and 73.9 ± 12 kg. TomTom Cardio (TT), Fitbit Surge (FB) and Microsoft Band (MB) physical activity monitors were used. The TT, FB, and MB were randomly assigned to the right or left wrist for each participant. The testing procedure included speeds of 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 mph with each speed lasting three minutes. HR was measured by electrocardiography (ECG) using standard limb lead II and by the three different physical activity monitors. HR was recorded from each device every minute throughout the duration of the procedure. Pearson product moment correlations and bias between electrocardiography (ECG) and physical activity monitors with 95% limits of agreement (Bland-Altman analysis) were calculated. Repeated measures ANOVA [Speed x Device] were also calculated. Statistical significance was set at pRESULTS: At 2 mph and 3 mph, only TT HR was significantly correlated with ECG heart rate (r=0.693, p=0.012 and r=0.592, p=0.043). At 4 mph and 6 mph TT was significantly correlated with ECG (r=0.911, pCONCLUSION: With increasing speeds, physical activity monitors more accurately measure HR but individuals should be aware that these devices may overestimate HR during slower walking speeds

Fermi Large Area Telescope Constraints on the Gamma-ray Opacity of the Universe

The Extragalactic Background Light (EBL) includes photons with wavelengths from ultraviolet to infrared, which are effective at attenuating gamma rays with energy above ~10 GeV during propagation from sources at cosmological distances. This results in a redshift- and energy-dependent attenuation of the gamma-ray flux of extragalactic sources such as blazars and Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs). The Large Area Telescope onboard Fermi detects a sample of gamma-ray blazars with redshift up to z~3, and GRBs with redshift up to z~4.3. Using photons above 10 GeV collected by Fermi over more than one year of observations for these sources, we investigate the effect of gamma-ray flux attenuation by the EBL. We place upper limits on the gamma-ray opacity of the Universe at various energies and redshifts, and compare this with predictions from well-known EBL models. We find that an EBL intensity in the optical-ultraviolet wavelengths as great as predicted by the "baseline" model of Stecker et al. (2006) can be ruled out with high confidence.Comment: 42 pages, 12 figures, accepted version (24 Aug.2010) for publication in ApJ; Contact authors: A. Bouvier, A. Chen, S. Raino, S. Razzaque, A. Reimer, L.C. Reye

Space charge in ionization detectors and the NA48 electromagnetic calorimeter

The subject of space charge due to positive ions slowly moving in parallel plate ionization chambers is considered. A model for the degradation of the detector response is developed, with particular emphasis on electromagnetic calorimeters. The topics discussed include: (a) the stationary and (b) the time dependent cases; (c) the limit of very large space charge; (d) the electric field dependence of the electron drift velocity; (e) the effect of longitudinal development of showers; (f) the behavior of the average reductions of response and (g) the non-uniformity of response for different positions of the shower axis inside the cell defined by the electrodes. The NA48 calorimeter is used as application and for comparison of results

Observation of an Excited Bc+ State

Using pp collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 8.5 fb-1 recorded by the LHCb experiment at center-of-mass energies of s=7, 8, and 13 TeV, the observation of an excited Bc+ state in the Bc+π+π- invariant-mass spectrum is reported. The observed peak has a mass of 6841.2±0.6(stat)±0.1(syst)±0.8(Bc+) MeV/c2, where the last uncertainty is due to the limited knowledge of the Bc+ mass. It is consistent with expectations of the Bc∗(2S31)+ state reconstructed without the low-energy photon from the Bc∗(1S31)+→Bc+γ decay following Bc∗(2S31)+→Bc∗(1S31)+π+π-. A second state is seen with a global (local) statistical significance of 2.2σ (3.2σ) and a mass of 6872.1±1.3(stat)±0.1(syst)±0.8(Bc+) MeV/c2, and is consistent with the Bc(2S10)+ state. These mass measurements are the most precise to date

Incidence and predictors of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome in a rural area of Mozambique.

There is limited data on the epidemiology of Immune Reconstitution Inflammatory Syndrome (IRIS) in rural sub-Saharan Africa. A prospective observational cohort study was conducted to assess the incidence, clinical characteristics, outcome and predictors of IRIS in rural Mozambique

Measurement of the inelastic pp cross-section at a centre-of-mass energy of 13TeV

The cross-section for inelastic proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13TeV is measured with the LHCb detector. The fiducial cross-section for inelastic interactions producing at least one prompt long-lived charged particle with momentum p > 2 GeV/c in the pseudorapidity range 2 < η < 5 is determined to be ϭ acc = 62:2 ± 0:2 ± 2:5mb. The first uncertainty is the intrinsic systematic uncertainty of the measurement, the second is due to the uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The statistical uncertainty is negligible. Extrapolation to full phase space yields the total inelastic proton-proton cross-section ϭ inel = 75:4 ± 3:0 ± 4:5mb, where the first uncertainty is experimental and the second due to the extrapolation. An updated value of the inelastic cross-section at a centre-of-mass energy of 7TeV is also reported

Direct search for light gluinos

We present the results for a direct search for light gluinos through the appearance of $\eta\rightarrow 3\pi^{0}$ with high transverse momentum in the vacuum tank of the NA48 experiment at CERN. We find one event within a lifetime range of $10^{-9}-10^{-3}$s and another one between $10^{-10}-10^{-9}$s. Both events are consistent with the expected background from neutrons in the beam, produced by 450 GeV protons impinging on the Be targets, which interact with the residual air in the tank. From these data we give limits on the production of the hypothetical $g\widetilde{g}$ bound state, the $R^0$ hadron, and its $R^0\rightarrow\eta\widetilde{\gamma}$ decay in the $R^0$ mass range between 1 and 5~GeV