8 research outputs found
Confirmation of the Dietary Background of Beef from its Stable Isotope Signature
End of project reportConsumers are increasingly demanding information on the authenticity and source of the food they purchase. Molecular DNA-based technology allows animal identification, but without certification or a “paper-trail” but does not provide information about feed history or the production system under which the animal was reared. The stable isotopes of chemical elements (e.g.13C/12C, 15N/14N) are naturally present in animal tissue and reflect the isotopic composition of the diet. The overall aim of this project was to determine the feasibility of using the stable isotopic composition as an intrinsic, biochemical marker to gain information about feed components used in the production of beef. Factors likely to affect the isotopic signature such as source of tissue, duration of feeding and production systems were examined. It is expected that this highly innovative and original technique will permit the identification of country of origin and dietary history of beef and so greatly assist efforts to market Irish beef, particularly in lucrative European markets. Sequential sampling and stable isotope analysis of bovine tail hair and hoof revealed that the two tissues can provide a detailed and continuous record of animal dietary history. Because hair can be sampled repeatedly and noninvasively, we anticipate that this approach will also prove useful for the investigation of short-term wildlife movements and changes in dietary preferences
A study of isotope ratio measurement by inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy
SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN008670 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo
A study of isotope ratio measurement by inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy
SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN008670 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo
Confirmation of the Dietary Background of Beef from its Stable Isotope Signature
End of project reportConsumers are increasingly demanding information on the authenticity and source of the food they purchase. Molecular DNA-based technology allows animal identification, but without certification or a “paper-trail” but does not provide information about feed history or the production system under which the animal was reared. The stable isotopes of chemical elements (e.g.13C/12C, 15N/14N) are naturally present in animal tissue and reflect the isotopic composition of the diet. The overall aim of this project was to determine the feasibility of using the stable isotopic composition as an intrinsic, biochemical marker to gain information about feed components used in the production of beef. Factors likely to affect the isotopic signature such as source of tissue, duration of feeding and production systems were examined. It is expected that this highly innovative and original technique will permit the identification of country of origin and dietary history of beef and so greatly assist efforts to market Irish beef, particularly in lucrative European markets. Sequential sampling and stable isotope analysis of bovine tail hair and hoof revealed that the two tissues can provide a detailed and continuous record of animal dietary history. Because hair can be sampled repeatedly and noninvasively, we anticipate that this approach will also prove useful for the investigation of short-term wildlife movements and changes in dietary preferences
Sensing magnetic nanoparticles using nano-confined ferromagnetic resonances in a magnonic crystal
We demonstrate the use of the magnetic-field-dependence of highly spatially
confined, GHz-frequency ferromagnetic resonances in a ferromagnetic
nanostructure for the detection of adsorbed magnetic nanoparticles. This is
achieved in a large area magnonic crystal consisting of a thin ferromagnetic
film containing a periodic array of closely spaced, nano-scale anti-dots. Stray
fields from nanoparticles within the anti-dots modify resonant dynamic
magnetisation modes in the surrounding magnonic crystal, generating easily
measurable resonance peak shifts. The shifts are comparable to the resonance
linewidths for high anti-dot filling fractions with their signs and magnitudes
dependent upon the modes' localisations (in agreement with micromagnetic
simulation results). This is a highly encouraging result for the development of
frequency-based nanoparticle detectors for high speed nano-scale biosensing.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure