Liikunnan vaikutus glykolyyttiseen potentiaaliin M. pectoralis major -lihaksessa normaaleissa ja puurintaisissa broilereissa

Siipikarjanlihasta on tullut suosittu ihmisten ruokavaliossa. Kasvavan kysynnän turvaamiseksi kasvattajat ovat kehittäneet nopeakasvuisia ja suuren lihassaannon tuottavia broilereita. Tämän vuoksi nykyaikaiset broilerit kärsivät rintalihasten erilaisista laatuongelmista, joista yhtä kutsutaan WB-myopatiaksi. Maisteritutkielman tarkoituksena oli tutkia liikunnan, WB: n vakavuusasteen ja iän vaikutuksia lopulliseen pH-arvoon ja glykolyyttiseen potentiaaliin nykyaikaisen broilerin Ross 308 hybridin M. pectoralis major -lihaksessa. Kokonaisuudessaan 154 post-rigor-näytettä tutkittiin. Broilerit jaettiin satunnaisesti kolmeen ryhmään (A-C). Ryhmän A linnuille ei tehty mitään harjoitusta kokeen aikana. Ryhmän B linnut elivät 25 päivää täsmälleen kuten ryhmä A, mutta sen jälkeen juomaveden annostelijat nostettiin korkeammalle tasolle. Ryhmän C lintujen juomavesiannostelijat nostettiin 5 cm korkeammalle tasolle kolmen päivän kuluttua, ja se nousi tutkimuksen aikana vaiheittain 25 cm: iin. Broilerit teurastettiin satunnaisesti eri ryhmistä 20, 30 tai 41 päivän ikäisinä. Ryhmän B tuloksia ei otettu huomioon useimmissa analyyseissä teknisten ongelmien vuoksi. Rintalihasnäytteistä määritettiin alkuperäinen ja lopullinen pH, glukoosin kokonaismäärä sekä maitohappopitoisuus glykolyyttisen potentiaalin laskemista varten. Tulokset osoittivat, että ryhmien A ja C välillä ei ollut eroja (p > 0,05). Normaalien ja WB-tapausten välillä oli merkitseviä eroja lopullisessa pH:ssa (pHu; p = 0,000), glukoosin kokonaispitoisuudessa (p = 0,000), glykolyyttisessä potentiaalissa (p = 0,000) ja laktaattipitoisuudessa (p = 0,007), mutta pH-arvoissa 5 minuuttia kuoleman jälkeen (pH5) ollut eroja (p = 0,190). Teurastusiän välillä 20, 30 ja 41 päivän ikäisissä oli erot lopullisessa pH:ssa (pHu), glukoosin kokonaispitoisuudessa ja glykolyyttisessa potentiaalissa (p = 0,000) sekä laktaattipitoisuudessa (p = 0,007). Kun WB:n vakavuus lisääntyi rintalihaksessa, pHu nousi ja glukoosin kokonaispitoisuus, laktaattipitoisuus ja glykolyyttinen potentiaali laskivat. Korrelaatiot osoittivat riippuvuuden WB:n vakavuuden ja tutkittujen muuttujien välillä (p <0,000). Tämän tutkimuksen tulokset osoittavat, että liikunnalla ei ole vaikutusta hiilihydraattipitoisuuksiin broilereiden rintalihaksessa, mutta WB:n vakavuusasteen ja teurastusiän kasvu johtavat glykolyyttisen potentiaalin laskuun ja lopullisen pH-arvon nousuun.Poultry meat has become popular in human diet and to secure the growing demand of poultry meat, breeders have developed broilers with fast growth and high breast muscle yield. Because of this genetic selection modern broilers are suffering from various quality defects in their breast muscles, one of which is called WB myopathy. The aim of the thesis was to study whether exercise, WB status or age have effects on ultimate pH and glycolytic potential (sum of total glucose and lactic acid content, given as lactate) in M. pectoralis major of modern broilers chickens. A total of 154 post-rigor breast muscle samples of male broilers of hybrid Ross 308 were used in this study. Broilers were divided randomly into three groups (A-C). Group A birds were not subjected to any exercise during the experiment. Group B birds lived 25 days exactly like group A but after that the drinking water dispensers was elevated to a higher level. Group C birds had their drinking water dispensers elevated to a 5 cm higher level after three days, and it was risen stepwise to 25 cm during the study. Broilers were slaughtered randomly from different groups at 20, 30 or 41 days old. Group B results were disregarded due to technical problems. Initial and ultimate pH, total glucose, free and in glycogen, and lactic acid contents for glycolytic potential, were determined from the breast muscle samples. The results showed that there were no differences between groups A and C (p > 0.05). There were differences between normal and WB cases in ultimate pH (pHu; p = 0.000), total glucose content (p = 0.000), lactate content (p = 0.007) and glycolytic potential (p = 0.000), but the pH values 5 minutes after death showed no significance (pH5; p = 0.190). There were differences in pHu, total glucose and glycolytic potential (p = 0.000), and lactate (p = 0.007), between ages 20, 30 and 41 days old birds. As the severity of WB increased in the breast muscle, the pHu increased and total glucose, lactate content and glycolytic potential decreased. The correlations showed significant relationships between WB score and all the above variables (p < 0.000). The results of the current study show that exercise does not have an effect on the levels of carbohydrates in M. pectoralis major of modern broiler chickens, but WB status and increasing slaughter age result a decrease in glycolytic potential and increase in ultimate pH

Program Management

A review if the book Program Managment authored by Michel Thir

Historic Museum Collections as Primary Sources: Thomas Wilson\u27s Robenhausen Material at the Smithsonian Institution\u27s National Museum of Natural History

This thesis investigates the role of early museum curators and their collecting practices in the construction and transmission of archaeological knowledge. During the late 19th century, artifacts from Swiss lake-dwelling sites, including Robenhausen, a Neolithic and early Bronze Age site located on Lake Pfäffikon in Switzerland, were sold and traded in a lake-dwelling diaspora to many collectors and museums in the US and UK (Arnold 2013:877). A collection of Robenhausen material acquired by the Smithsonian Institution\u27s (SI) United States National Museum (USNM) in 1904 is used as a proxy for the collecting practices of the time and serves as a primary source of information regarding the material and social networks that were crucial to the development of archaeology as a discipline in the US (Leckie 2011:iii; Smithsonian Institution 2013). Amassed in 1883 by former US Consul to Europe and Curator of Prehistoric Archaeology at the USNM Thomas Wilson (1832-1902), the collection was chosen for its well-documented excavation history, well-preserved organic materials and the perspective it provides on early museum collecting and curation practices (Arnold 2013:879). Robenhausen has also been recently reinvestigated more systematically than was possible in the late 19th and 20th centuries, adding to the research relevance of the material from this site in museums worldwide (Altorfer 2000; 2004). The Wilson SI collection and associated archival material is compared to Robenhausen collections at other contemporary institutions, situating his collecting practices in the general 19th century context of such activity (Díaz-Andreu 2007:3; Gosden and Larson 2007:52-56). Additionally, this thesis contributes to the efforts of scholars currently engaged in virtually reuniting Swiss lake-dwelling collections, ensuring that they may be researched and exhibited in the future (Arnold 2013:888)

Towards a predictive multi-phase model for alpine mass movements and process cascades

Alpine mass movements can generate process cascades involving different materials including rock, ice, snow, and water. Numerical modelling is an essential tool for the quantification of natural hazards. Yet, state-of-the-art operational models are based on parameter back-calculation and thus reach their limits when facing unprecedented or complex events. Here, we advance our predictive capabilities for mass movements and process cascades on the basis of a three-dimensional numerical model, coupling fundamental conservation laws to finite strain elastoplasticity. In this framework, model parameters have a true physical meaning and can be evaluated from material testing, thus conferring to the model a strong predictive nature. Through its hybrid Eulerian–Lagrangian character, our approach naturally reproduces fractures and collisions, erosion/deposition phenomena, and multi-phase interactions, which finally grant accurate simulations of complex dynamics. Four benchmark simulations demonstrate the physical detail of the model and its applicability to real-world full-scale events, including various materials and ranging through five orders of magnitude in volume. In the future, our model can support risk-management strategies through predictions of the impact of potentially catastrophic cascading mass movements at vulnerable sites

Elliptic Curve Cryptography on Modern Processor Architectures

Abstract Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) has been adopted by the US National Security Agency (NSA) in Suite "B" as part of its "Cryptographic Modernisation Program ". Additionally, it has been favoured by an entire host of mobile devices due to its superior performance characteristics. ECC is also the building block on which the exciting field of pairing/identity based cryptography is based. This widespread use means that there is potentially a lot to be gained by researching efficient implementations on modern processors such as IBM's Cell Broadband Engine and Philip's next generation smart card cores. ECC operations can be thought of as a pyramid of building blocks, from instructions on a core, modular operations on a finite field, point addition & doubling, elliptic curve scalar multiplication to application level protocols. In this thesis we examine an implementation of these components for ECC focusing on a range of optimising techniques for the Cell's SPU and the MIPS smart card. We show significant performance improvements that can be achieved through of adoption of EC

A checklist of the hawkmoths (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) of the Cayman Islands: with implications for the pollination of the ghost orchid \u3ci\u3eDendrophylax fawcettii \u3c/i\u3eRolfe (Orchidaceae: Angraecinae) and consideration of bat predation

This checklist synthesises historic collections of Sphingidae (Lepidoptera) made during the summer months in the Cayman Islands in 1938 and 1975 with modern records drawn from a variety of sources. We report observations and collections made in all seasons of the year and provide natural history and larval food details. Four species, Phryxus caicus (Cramer) in all three islands, plus Isognathus rimosa (Grote), Enyo lugubris (Linnaeus), and Eumorpha satellitia (Linnaeus) in Grand Cayman only, are here reported as new records, for a total of 25 sphingid species occurring in the Cayman Islands. Seven species are new records for Grand Cayman, five are added for Little Cayman and two for Cayman Brac. Potential hawkmoth pollinators for the Cayman Islands endemic ghost orchid, Dendrophylax fawcettii Rolfe (Orchidaceae: Angraecinae) are reviewed and Cayman records of hawkmoths as prey of the big-eared bat Macrotus waterhousii minor Gundlach (Phyllostomidae) are discussed. The hawkmoths (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) of the Cayman Islands are the only moths to have received more than passing treatment as a group in the published literature. The catalogue provided by Askew (1994) remains the most recent, and with one exception, is based only on collections made in the early rainy seasons of 1938 and 1975. The results of the Oxford University Biological Expedition to all three Cayman Islands, conducted between April and August 1938, were reported by Jordan (1940), and those of the Royal Society–Cayman Islands Government Expedition to Little Cayman in June–July 1975 by Askew (1980). These combined lists, to which Askew (1994) was able to add the 1911 specimen of Pachylia ficus (Linnaeus) from Grand Cayman deposited at the Natural History Museum, London by T.M. Savage English, resulted in a total of twenty-one species of Sphingidae reported from the Cayman Islands as of 1994. Since that time, insect collections have been established at the National Trust for the Cayman Islands, the Department of Environment and the Department of Agriculture. The authors have also made personal collections. Particularly since the advent of digital equipment, photographic images of hawkmoths made by resident and visiting naturalists have provided significant primary records and supplemental data. This checklist synthesises the historic collections and the modern records, reports occurrence for all months of the year, and provides natural history information where available. We assess the larval food plant availability, the affinities and permanence of the sphingid fauna of the islands

Multiscale Modelling of Molecules and Continuum Mechanics Using Bridging Scale Method

his PhD dissertation is about developing a multiscale methodology for coupling two different time/length scales in order to improve properties of new space materials. Since the traditional continuum mechanics models cannot describe the influence of the nanostructured upon the mechanical properties of materials and full atomistic description is still computationally too expensive, millions of degrees of freedom are needed just for modeling few hundred cubic nanometers, this leads to a coupled system of equations of finite element (FE) in continuum and molecular dynamics (MD) in atomistic domain. Coupling efficiently and accurately two dissimilar domains presents challenges especially in handshaking area where the two domains interact and transfer information. The objective of this study is (i) develop a novel nodal position FE method that can couple with the MD easily, (ii) develop a proper methodology to couple the FE with MD for FE/MD multi-scale modeling and let the information transfer in a seamless manner between the two domains, and (iii) implement complicated cases to confirm accuracy and validity of the proposed model