Effects of energy conservation in residential and commercial buildings

In 1977, heating, cooling, lighting, and other operations in residential and commercial buildings used 27 quads (1 quad = 10(15) British thermal units) of energy. This is more than one-third of the nation's total energy budget. Future trends in energy use in buildings are likely to depend strongly on fuel prices and government policies designed to save energy. Three scenarios are examined: (i) a base line in which fuel prices rise as projected by the Department of Energy; (ii) a conservation case that includes higher gas and oil prices plus the regulatory, financial incentive, and information programs authorized by the 94th Congress and proposed in the April 1977 National Energy Plan; and (iii) another conservation case that also includes new technologies (more efficient equipment, appliances, and structures). These scenarios are analyzed for changes in energy use, costs, and employment by means of detailed engineering-economic models of energy use in residential and commercial buildings developed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and input-output analyses developed at the University of Illinois.     

Determination of progesterone directly in milk fat as an improved method for fertility control in cattle

A simple and reliable method for the determination of progesterone in milk fat by radioimmunoassay has been developed. Application of the assay under field conditions has shown that all samples diagnosed " questionable" in the former milk progesterone test (MPT) could be characterized as positive or negative. Thus the total figure of animals daignosed correctly rose from 72.3% to 85.8%. The borderlines (ng progesterone / 10 mcl milk fat) set up for this assay were (1) pregnant and (1) nonpregnant (Day 20) and (.3) in estrus and (.3) not in estrus ( Day 0). Within the application for diagnosis of pregnancy, 81.4% were diagnosed correctly as pregnant while 96.3% were diagnosed correctly as not pregnant. The latter figure is somewhat lower than in the MPT (100%), but under the practical conditions the error lies within the range of false diagnosis due to problems with sample identification.