Evaluating Consumer Acceptability and Willingness to Pay for Various Beef Chuck Muscles

In-home consumer steak evaluations, followed by centralized laboratory-setting auctions, were used to determine consumer (n = 74 consumers) acceptability and willingness to pay for various beef chuck muscles. The infraspinatus (IF), serratus ventralis (SV), supraspinatus (SS), and triceps brachii (TB) from the beef chuck were evaluated against LM steaks from the rib to determine price and trait differentials. Muscles from USDA Choice, boneless, boxed-beef subprimals were aged 14 d, frozen, and cut into 2.5-cmthick steaks. Consumers received two steaks from each muscle for in-home evaluations of uncooked steak appearance and cooked steak palatability. After in-home evaluation of steaks, consumers participated in a random nth price auction session to determine willingness to pay for those steaks. Muscles differed (P \u3c 0.05) for overall like of appearance, like of size, like of shape, and like of leanness; LM generally rated the highest. Steaks from the LM rated highest (P \u3c 0.05) for overall like, and steaks from the SS and SV were lowest (P \u3c 0.05) for overall like. Juiciness and beef flavor intensity scores were highest (P \u3c 0.05) for steaks from the LM and IF, whereas SS steaks received the lowest (P \u3c 0.05) juiciness scores, and SS and SV steaks were rated lowest (P \u3c 0.05) for beef flavor intensity. Average auction price differentials differed (P \u3c 0.05) from the LM, and were $−0.71,$−0.79, $−1.75, and$−2.44/0.45 kg for the TB, IF, SS, and SV, respectively. Average appearance trait differentials and average palatability trait differentials were correlated significantly with average price differentials. Results indicate the IF and TB were acceptable to consumers as steaks but only at prices lower than the LM

Oxide formation at the surface of late 4d transition metals: Insights from first-principles atomistic thermodynamics

Using density-functional theory we assess the stability of bulk and surface oxides of the late 4d transition metals in a ``constrained equilibrium'' with a gas phase formed of O2 and CO. While the stability range of the most stable bulk oxide extends for ruthenium well into gas phase conditions representative of technological CO oxidation catalysis, this is progressively less so for the 4d metals to its right in the periodic system. Surface oxides could nevertheless still be stable under such conditions. These thermodynamic considerations are discussed in the light of recent experiments, emphasizing the role of (surface) oxides as the active phase of model catalysts formed from these metals.Comment: 7 pages including 3 figures, Related publications can be found at http://www.fhi-berlin.mpg.de/th/paper.htm

Nonperturbative Corrections to One Gluon Exchange Quark Potentials

The leading nonperturbative QCD corrections to the one gluon exchange quark-quark, quark-antiquark and $q \bar{q}$ pair-excitation potentials are derived by using a covariant form of nonlocal two-quark and two-gluon vacuum expectation values. Our numerical calculation indicates that the correction of quark and gluon condensates to the quark-antiquark potential improves the heavy quarkonium spectra to some degree.Comment: LaTex, 16 pages, three figures, to appear in Nucl. Phys.

A new silicon tracker for proton imaging and dosimetry

For many years, silicon micro-strip detectors have been successfully used as tracking detectors for particle and nuclear physics experiments. A new application of this technology is to the field of particle therapy where radiotherapy is carried out by use of charged particles such as protons or carbon ions. Such a treatment has been shown to have advantages over standard x-ray radiotherapy and as a result of this, many new centres offering particle therapy are currently under construction around the world today. The Proton Radiotherapy, Verification and Dosimetry Applications (PRaVDA) consortium are developing instrumentation for particle therapy based upon technology from high-energy physics. The characteristics of a new silicon micro-strip tracker for particle therapy will be presented. The array uses specifically designed, large area sensors with technology choices that follow closely those taken for the ATLAS experiment at the HL-LHC. These detectors will be arranged into four units each with three layers in an x–u–v configuration to be suitable for fast proton tracking with minimal ambiguities. The sensors will form a tracker capable of tracing the path of ~200 MeV protons entering and exiting a patient allowing a new mode of imaging known as proton computed tomography (pCT). This will aid the accurate delivery of treatment doses and in addition, the tracker will also be used to monitor the beam profile and total dose delivered during the high fluences used for treatment. We present here details of the design, construction and assembly of one of the four units that will make up the complete tracker along with its characterisation using radiation tests carried out using a 90 Sr source in the laboratory and a 60 MeV proton beam at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre

Can a CPT Violating Ether Solve ALL Electron (Anti)Neutrino Puzzles?

Assuming that CPT is violated in the neutrino sector seems to be a viable alternative to sterile neutrinos when it comes to reconciling the LSND anomaly with the remainder of the neutrino data. There are different (distinguishable) ways of incorporating CPT violation into the standard model, including postulating m different from \bar{m}. Here, I investigate the possibility of introducing CPT violation via Lorentz-invariance violating effective operators (``Ether'' potentials) which modify neutrino oscillation patterns like ordinary matter effects. I argue that, within a simplified two-flavor like oscillation analysis, one cannot solve the solar neutrino puzzle and LSND anomaly while still respecting constraints imposed by other neutrino experiments, and comment on whether significant improvements should be expected from a three-flavor analysis. If one turns the picture upside down, some of the most severe constrains on such CPT violating terms can already be obtained from the current neutrino data, while much more severe constraints can arise from future neutrino oscillation experiments.Comment: 10 pages, 1 eps figure; version to appear in PRD. Comment added, mistake corrected, results and conclusions unchange

An observation of spin-valve effects in a semiconductor field effect transistor: a novel spintronic device

We present the first spintronic semiconductor field effect transistor. The injector and collector contacts of this device were made from magnetic permalloy thin films with different coercive fields so that they could be magnetized either parallel or antiparallel to each other in different applied magnetic fields. The conducting medium was a two dimensional electron gas (2DEG) formed in an AlSb/InAs quantum well. Data from this device suggest that its resistance is controlled by two different types of spin-valve effect: the first occurring at the ferromagnet-2DEG interfaces; and the second occuring in direct propagation between contacts.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

The Flare-energy Distributions Generated by Kink-unstable Ensembles of Zero-net-current Coronal Loops

It has been proposed that the million degree temperature of the corona is due to the combined effect of barely-detectable energy releases, so called nanoflares, that occur throughout the solar atmosphere. Alas, the nanoflare density and brightness implied by this hypothesis means that conclusive verification is beyond present observational abilities. Nevertheless, we investigate the plausibility of the nanoflare hypothesis by constructing a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model that can derive the energy of a nanoflare from the nature of an ideal kink instability. The set of energy-releasing instabilities is captured by an instability threshold for linear kink modes. Each point on the threshold is associated with a unique energy release and so we can predict a distribution of nanoflare energies. When the linear instability threshold is crossed, the instability enters a nonlinear phase as it is driven by current sheet reconnection. As the ensuing flare erupts and declines, the field transitions to a lower energy state, which is modelled by relaxation theory, i.e., helicity is conserved and the ratio of current to field becomes invariant within the loop. We apply the model so that all the loops within an ensemble achieve instability followed by energy-releasing relaxation. The result is a nanoflare energy distribution. Furthermore, we produce different distributions by varying the loop aspect ratio, the nature of the path to instability taken by each loop and also the level of radial expansion that may accompany loop relaxation. The heating rate obtained is just sufficient for coronal heating. In addition, we also show that kink instability cannot be associated with a critical magnetic twist value for every point along the instability threshold

Non-Kaehler String Backgrounds and their Five Torsion Classes

We discuss the mathematical properties of six--dimensional non--K\"ahler manifolds which occur in the context of ${\cal N}=1$ supersymmetric heterotic and type IIA string compactifications with non--vanishing background H--field. The intrinsic torsion of the associated SU(3) structures falls into five different classes. For heterotic compactifications we present an explicit dictionary between the supersymmetry conditions and these five torsion classes. We show that the non--Ricci flat Iwasawa manifold solves the supersymmetry conditions with non--zero H--field, so that it is a consistent heterotic supersymmetric groundstate.Comment: 33 pages, LaTeX; references added; one more reference adde