Our objective was to enable an end-user to create complex queries to drug information sources through functional composition, by creating sequences of functions from application program interfaces (API) to drug terminologies. The development of a functional composition model seeks to link functions from two distinct APIs. An ontology was developed using Protégé to model the functions of the RxN...

An index of forage quality, milk per ton of forage DM (Undersander et al., 1993), was developed using an energy value of forage predicted from ADF content and DMI potential of forage predicted from NDF content as its basis. The milk per ton quality index was later modified for corn silage (Schwab et al., 2003) using an energy value derived from summative equations (Schwab et al., 2003; NRC, 200...

To verify whether a diabetes family history might be a risk factor for the development, in adult age, of metabolic disorders, leptin, anthropometric and endocrine parameters were analysed in 95 babies with grandparents affected by type 2 diabetes (DF) and in 95 matched babies without diabetes family history (NDF). A sexual dimorphism for leptin was present in the NDF group (males: 6.7+/-4.1 ng/...

The objectives of this study were to partition corn grain into three digestible fractions and to measure the rate of disappearance of these fractions in vitro. Seventeen corn grain samples with varied fiber concentrations were extracted with either 80% ethanol or neutral detergent to obtain estimates of the pool size and digestion kinetics of the A, B1, B2, and C fractions. The carbohydrate sol...

In this study, we develop a spectral method for assessment of pasture quality based only on the spectral information obtained with a small number of wavelengths. First, differences in spectral behavior were identified across the near infrared–shortwave infrared spectral range that were indicative of changes in chemical properties. Then, slopes across different spectral ranges were calculated an...

The ErbB signaling module consists of four receptor tyrosine kinases and several dozen ligands that activate specific homo- and heterodimeric complexes of ErbB proteins. Combinatorial ligand/receptor/effector interactions allow large potential for signal diversification. Here we addressed the possibility that turn-off mechanisms enhance the diversification potential. Concentrating on ErbB-1 and...

Effects of harvesting ruminal micro-organisms from ruminal ̄uid on patterns of gas production were investigated in experiment 1 by incubating 200 mg DM of pure cellulose, oatfeed, ryegrass, cocksfoot, wet and dry season kikuyu grasses with either diluted ruminal ̄uid or harvested ruminal bacteria. Gas production degradability parameters obtained from ®tting the data to the model Gas ˆ B(1ÿ expÿ...

Forage quality testing defines the language of value between the dairy and forage sector. From a nutritionist’s viewpoint, forage quality consists of many analyses that, together, provide a prediction of performance in a balanced ration for the dairy cow. Marketing systems, on the other hand, require a few simple criteria that can be related to value and price discovery. Currently, most trading...

Elements of forage testing as it relates to markets include 1) Standardization of Sampling, 2) Standardization of between-lab variation, and 3) Standardization of what is analyzed. None of these elements can be ignored. While the current ‘fiber based’ system of utilizing Relative Feed Value and TDN has been useful, incorporation of more dynamic analyses are needed. A ‘core alfalfa test’ consist...

This paper investigates whether external political pressure for faster renminbi (RMB) appreciation affect both the daily returns and the conditional volatility of the RMB central parity rate. We construct several political pressure indicators pertaining to the RMB exchange rate, with a special emphasis on the US pressure, to test the hypothesis. After controlling for Chinese macroeconomic surpr...