Review: Improving the nutritional, sensory and market value of meat products from sheep and cattle

This paper focuses on improving the sensory, health attributes and meat yield of beef and lamb meats. Value for meat is defined as the weight of meat × price/kg received with price linked to eating quality. To maximise value across the supply chain, accurate carcass grading systems for eating quality and yield are paramount. Grading data can then be used to target consumers’ needs at given price points and then to tailor appropriate production and genetic directions. Both the grading methodologies and key phenotypes are complex and still under intensive research with international collaboration to maximise opportunities. In addition, there is value in promoting the health aspects of red meats served as whole trimmed meats. Typically, the total fat content is relatively low (less than 5%) and for forage systems, they deliver a very significant content of long-chain n-3 fatty acids. Further research is needed to clarify the healthiness or otherwise of ground beef served as burgers given the fat content is typically 20% or more. It is important to continue to improve the feedback to producers regarding the quantity and quality of the products they produce to target new value opportunities in a transparent and quantitative manner

Beyond Gross-Pitaevskii Mean Field Theory

A large number of effects related to the phenomenon of Bose-Einstein Condensation (BEC) can be understood in terms of lowest order mean field theory, whereby the entire system is assumed to be condensed, with thermal and quantum fluctuations completely ignored. Such a treatment leads to the Gross-Pitaevskii Equation (GPE) used extensively throughout this book. Although this theory works remarkably well for a broad range of experimental parameters, a more complete treatment is required for understanding various experiments, including experiments with solitons and vortices. Such treatments should include the dynamical coupling of the condensate to the thermal cloud, the effect of dimensionality, the role of quantum fluctuations, and should also describe the critical regime, including the process of condensate formation. The aim of this Chapter is to give a brief but insightful overview of various recent theories, which extend beyond the GPE. To keep the discussion brief, only the main notions and conclusions will be presented. This Chapter generalizes the presentation of Chapter 1, by explicitly maintaining fluctuations around the condensate order parameter. While the theoretical arguments outlined here are generic, the emphasis is on approaches suitable for describing single weakly-interacting atomic Bose gases in harmonic traps. Interesting effects arising when condensates are trapped in double-well potentials and optical lattices, as well as the cases of spinor condensates, and atomic-molecular coupling, along with the modified or alternative theories needed to describe them, will not be covered here.Comment: Review Article (19 Pages) - To appear in 'Emergent Nonlinear Phenomena in Bose-Einstein Condensates: Theory and Experiment', Edited by P.G. Kevrekidis, D.J. Frantzeskakis and R. Carretero-Gonzalez (Springer Verlag

Review of the projected impacts of climate change on coastal fishes in southern Africa

The coastal zone represents one of the most economically and ecologically important ecosystems on the planet, none more so than in southern Africa. This manuscript examines the potential impacts of climate change on the coastal fishes in southern Africa and provides some of the first information for the Southern Hemisphere, outside of Australasia. It begins by describing the coastal zone in terms of its physical characteristics, climate, fish biodiversity and fisheries. The region is divided into seven biogeographical zones based on previous descriptions and interpretations by the authors. A global review of the impacts of climate change on coastal zones is then applied to make qualitative predictions on the likely impacts of climate change on migratory, resident, estuarine-dependent and catadromous fishes in each of these biogeographical zones. In many respects the southern African region represents a microcosm of climate change variability and of coastal habitats. Based on the broad range of climate change impacts and life history styles of coastal fishes, the predicted impacts on fishes will be diverse. If anything, this review reveals our lack of fundamental knowledge in this field, in particular in southern Africa. Several research priorities, including the need for process-based fundamental research programs are highlighted

The effect of nutrition and exercise on the level of glycogen in skeletal muscle of sheep

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Controlling carbohydrate induced laminitis in horses

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