A Mathematical Model of Meat Cooking Based on Polymer-solvent Analogy

Mathematical modelling of transport phenomena in food processes is vital to understand the process dynamics. In this work, we study the process of double sided cooking of meat by developing a mathematical model for the simultaneous heat and mass transfer. The constitutive equations for the heat and mass transport are based on Fourier conduction, and the Flory–Huggins theory respectively, formulated for a two-phase transport inside a porous medium. We investigate a reduced one-dimensional case to verify the model, by applying appropriate boundary conditions. The results of the simulation agree well with experimental findings reported in literature. Finally, we comment upon the sensitivity of the model to the porosity of meat

School head leadership style and its perceived influence on teachers' performance in Bikita District rural secondary schools of Masvingo Province

A study aimed at ascertaining the importance of shrewd management skills to a productive and motivated workforce in the education sector of Zimbabwe.This study was carried out to establish the perceived influence of school head leadership styles on teachers' performance. In this study the researchers used a mixed method research design that incorporated both the quantitative and qualitative approaches. The population consisted of ten school heads and sixty teachers, thus a total of seventy respondents. The research instruments were opened and closed ended questionnaire and semi-structured interview. The major findings revealed that the school heads in Bikita district of Masvingo province were generally perceived to display a high degree of democratic style of leadership based on the frequency of responses. It also emerged that leadership style of school heads influence performance of teachers. Calibre of students, teacher incompetence, lack of professional development and lack of motivation were also some of the factors that affected performance of some teachers

An evaluation of a bank’s clients’ preference for particular communication channels

This study aims to establish clients’ preference for particular communication channels of a particular bank in Alice. The study, focusing on marketing communication, was guided by the tenets of media richness theory. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative research methods. This particular bank is one of the biggest banks in South Africa and it has many branches across the country and abroad. However, this study only focused on clients in the small town of Alice in the Eastern Cape. Alice has three major groups of clients: those who are highly educated, those who are illiterate and those who fall in between. This diversity in the demographics of the clients affects the way people react to the communication channels used by this bank including modern communication channels and traditional channels. It was discovered that education level, age (as related to literacy level), language, geographical location and access to computers and the internet have an impact on the way the clients evaluate the preference for particular communication channels of this bank. The results of the study show that the majority of the clients prefer communication channels that are interactive like face-to-face communication and cell phone calls. The other channels at the clients’ disposal are television, radio, newspapers, printed mail, internet and emails. However, some of these channels are not regarded as very effective by the clients in Alice for several reasons such as the rural nature of Alice, lack of access and resources, being illiterate, and a lack of education. The clients suggested that the bank make use of other communication channels that suit a rural and less developed area in order to effectively communicate with the clients. The study also brought to light that the use of the new ICTs in Alice is still lagging, resulting in many customers experiencing problems when they want to use some of the communication channels offered by the bank.Thesis (MSoc ) -- Faculty of Social Sciences & Humanities, 202

An evaluation of a bank’s clients’ preference for particular communication channels

This study aims to establish clients’ preference for particular communication channels of a particular bank in Alice. The study, focusing on marketing communication, was guided by the tenets of media richness theory. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative research methods. This particular bank is one of the biggest banks in South Africa and it has many branches across the country and abroad. However, this study only focused on clients in the small town of Alice in the Eastern Cape. Alice has three major groups of clients: those who are highly educated, those who are illiterate and those who fall in between. This diversity in the demographics of the clients affects the way people react to the communication channels used by this bank including modern communication channels and traditional channels. It was discovered that education level, age (as related to literacy level), language, geographical location and access to computers and the internet have an impact on the way the clients evaluate the preference for particular communication channels of this bank. The results of the study show that the majority of the clients prefer communication channels that are interactive like face-to-face communication and cell phone calls. The other channels at the clients’ disposal are television, radio, newspapers, printed mail, internet and emails. However, some of these channels are not regarded as very effective by the clients in Alice for several reasons such as the rural nature of Alice, lack of access and resources, being illiterate, and a lack of education. The clients suggested that the bank make use of other communication channels that suit a rural and less developed area in order to effectively communicate with the clients. The study also brought to light that the use of the new ICTs in Alice is still lagging, resulting in many customers experiencing problems when they want to use some of the communication channels offered by the bank.Thesis (MSoc ) -- Faculty of Social Sciences & Humanities, 202

Ante‐natal and post‐natal influences on neonatal immunity, growth and puberty of calves—a review

Calf immunity, growth and puberty are important factors affecting heifer productivity. The first four weeks of age are critical for reducing calf morbidity and mortality. It is well documented that colostrum is paramount to neonatal nutrition and passive immunity, however, adap-tation to extra‐uterine life starts early during embryonic development. Therefore, successful calf rearing strategies are underpinned by adequate maternal nutrition during gestation, and good co-lostrum management. A deeper understanding of these interactions paves the way for developing strategies to improve immune responses to environmental pathogens, optimal growth and timely attainment of puberty in calves. The literature reviewed here shows that there are opportunities to enhance the future performance of cattle paying attention to the interaction of nutrition and immunity at each developmental stage. Therefore, the objective of this review is to give the reader an overview of interactions between immunity, growth and puberty in dairy calves and highlight how these influence future performances

Improvement of Energy Efficiency for Wastewater Treatment

Wastewater treatment requires the elimination of pathogens and reduction of organic matter in the treated sludge to acceptable levels. One process used to achieve this is Autothermal Thermophylic Aerobic Digestion (ATAD), which relies on promoting non-pathogenic thermophilic bacteria to digest organic matter and kill pathogens through metabolic heat generation. This process requires continuous aeration that may be energy consuming, and the final aim of the study is to identify how the process design can minimize the energy input per mass of treated sludge. Appropriate modeling of the reactor process is an essential ingredient, so we explore properties of an existing model and propose a simplified alternative model

An explicit nonstandard finite difference scheme for the Allen-Cahn equation

We design explicit nonstandard finite difference schemes for the nonlinear Allen-Cahn reaction diffusion equation in the limit of very small interaction length ". In the proposed scheme, the perturbation parameter is part of the argument of the functional step size, thereby minimis- ing the restrictions normally associated with standard explicit finite difference schemes. The derivation involves splitting the equation into the space independent and the time independent different models. An exact nonstandard scheme is proposed for the space independent model and energy conservative schemes are proposed for the time independent model. We show the power of the derived scheme over the existing schemes through several numerical examples.South African DST/NRF SARChI Chair on Mathematical Models and Methods in Bioengineering and Biosciences (M3B2).http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/gdea202016-07-31hb201

A mathematical model of meat cooking based on polymer-solvent analogy

Mathematical modelling of transport phenomena in food processes is vital to understand the process dynamics. In this work, we study the process of double sided cooking of meat by developing a mathematical model for the simultaneous heat and mass transfer. The constitutive equations for the heat and mass transport are based on Fourier conduction, and the Flory–Huggins theory respectively, formulated for a two-phase transport inside a porous medium. We investigate a reduced one-dimensional case to verify the model, by applying appropriate boundary conditions. The results of the simulation agree well with experimental findings reported in literature. Finally, we comment upon the sensitivity of the model to the porosity of meat.Science Foundation Ireland Grant SFI/12/IA/1683, and the South African DST/NRF SARChI Chair on Mathematical Methods in Bioengineering and Biosciences (M3B2).http://www.elsevier.com/locate/apm2016-07-31hb201

Improved detection of biomarkers in cervico-vaginal mucus (CVM) from postpartum cattle

peer-reviewedBackground In the postpartum cow, early diagnosis of uterine disease is currently problematic due to the lack of reliable, non-invasive diagnostic methods. Cervico-vaginal mucus (CVM) is an easy to collect potentially informative source of biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of uterine disease in cows. Here, we report an improved method for processing CVM from postpartum dairy cows for the measurement of immune biomarkers. CVM samples were collected from the vagina using gloved hand during the first two weeks postpartum and processed with buffer alone or buffer containing different concentrations of the reducing agents recommended in standard protocols: Dithiothriotol (DTT) or N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine (NAC). Total protein was measured using the bicinchoninic acid (BCA) assay; interleukin 6 (IL-6), IL-8 and α1-acid glycoprotein (AGP) were measured by ELISA. Results We found that use of reducing agents to liquefy CVM affects protein yield and the accuracy of biomarker detection. Our improved protocol results in lower protein yields but improved detection of cytokines and chemokines. Using our modified method to measure AGP in CVM we found raised levels of AGP at seven days postpartum in CVM from cows that went on to develop endometritis. Conclusion We conclude that processing CVM without reducing agents improves detection of biomarkers that reflect uterine health in cattle. We propose that measurement of AGP in CVM during the first week postpartum may identify cows at risk of developing clinical endometritis