Detection of embryo mortality and hatch using thermal differences among incubated chicken eggs

Accurate diagnosis of both the stage of embryonic mortality and the hatch process in incubated eggs is a fundamental component in troubleshooting and hatchery management. However, traditional methods disturb incubation, destroy egg samples, risk contamination, are time and labour-intensive and require specialist knowledge and training. Therefore, a new method to accurately detect embryonic mortality and hatching time would be of significant interest for the poultry industry if it could be done quickly, cheaply and be fully integrated into the process. In this study we have continuously measured individual eggshell temperatures and the corresponding micro-environmental air temperatures throughout the 21 days of incubation using standard low-cost temperature sensors. Moreover, we have quantified the thermal interaction between eggs and air by calculating thermal profile changes (temperature drop time, drop length and drop magnitude) that allowed us to detect four categories of egg status (infertile/early death, middle death, late death and hatch) during incubation. A decision tree induction classification model accurately (93.3%) predicted the status of 105 sampled eggs in comparison to the classical hatch residue breakout analyses. With this study we have provided a major contribution to the optimisation of incubation processes by introducing an alternative method for the currently practiced hatch residue breakout analyses.status: publishe

Comment on "Magnetoviscosity and relaxation in ferrofluids"

It is shown and discussed how the conventional system of hydrodynamic equations for ferrofluids was derived. The set consists of the equation of fluid motion, the Maxwell equations, and the magnetization equation. The latter was recently revised by Felderhof [Phys. Rev. E, v.62, p.3848 (2000)]. His phenomenological magnetization equation looks rather like corresponding Shliomis' equation, but leads to wrong consequences for the dependence of ferrofluid viscosity and magnetization relaxation time on magnetic field.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure, Submitted to Phys. Rev.

GABA-mediated changes in inter-hemispheric beta frequency activity in early-stage Parkinson's disease

In Parkinson's disease (PD), elevated beta (15-35Hz) power in subcortical motor networks is widely believed to promote aspects of PD symptomatology, moreover, a reduction in beta power and coherence accompanies symptomatic improvement following effective treatment with l-DOPA. Previous studies have reported symptomatic improvements that correlate with changes in cortical network activity following GABAA receptor modulation. In this study we have used whole-head magnetoencephalography to characterize neuronal network activity, at rest and during visually cued finger abductions, in unilaterally symptomatic PD and age-matched control participants. Recordings were then repeated following administration of sub-sedative doses of the hypnotic drug zolpidem (0.05mg/kg), which binds to the benzodiazepine site of the GABAA receptor. A beamforming based 'virtual electrode' approach was used to reconstruct oscillatory power in the primary motor cortex (M1), contralateral and ipsilateral to symptom presentation in PD patients or dominant hand in control participants. In PD patients, contralateral M1 showed significantly greater beta power than ipsilateral M1. Following zolpidem administration contralateral beta power was significantly reduced while ipsilateral beta power was significantly increased resulting in a hemispheric power ratio that approached parity. Furthermore, there was highly significant correlation between hemispheric beta power ratio and Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). The changes in contralateral and ipsilateral beta power were reflected in pre-movement beta desynchronization and the late post-movement beta rebound. However, the absolute level of movement-related beta desynchronization was not altered. These results show that low-dose zolpidem not only reduces contralateral beta but also increases ipsilateral beta, while rebalancing the dynamic range of M1 network oscillations between the two hemispheres. These changes appear to underlie the symptomatic improvements afforded by low-dose zolpidem

An Anglo-Saxon execution cemetery at Walkington Wold, Yorkshire

This paper presents a re-evaluation of a cemetery excavated over 30 years ago at Walkington Wold in east Yorkshire. The cemetery is characterized by careless burial on diverse alignments, and by the fact that most of the skeletons did not have associated crania. The cemetery has been variously described as being the result of an early post-Roman massacre, as providing evidence for a ‘Celtic’ head cult or as an Anglo-Saxon execution cemetery. In order to resolve the matter, radiocarbon dates were acquired and a re-examination of the skeletal remains was undertaken. It was confirmed that the cemetery was an Anglo-Saxon execution cemetery, the only known example from northern England, and the site is set into its wider context in the paper

Hyperbolic phase and squeeze-parameter estimation

We define a new representation, the hyperbolic phase representation, which enables optimal estimation of a squeeze parameter in the sense of quantum estimation theory. We compare the signal-to-noise ratio for such measurements, with conventional measurement based on photon counting and homodyne detection. The signal-to-noise ratio for hyperbolic phase measurements is shown to increase quadratically with the squeezing parameter for fixed input power

Statistical distribution of quantum entanglement for a random bipartite state

We compute analytically the statistics of the Renyi and von Neumann entropies (standard measures of entanglement), for a random pure state in a large bipartite quantum system. The full probability distribution is computed by first mapping the problem to a random matrix model and then using a Coulomb gas method. We identify three different regimes in the entropy distribution, which correspond to two phase transitions in the associated Coulomb gas. The two critical points correspond to sudden changes in the shape of the Coulomb charge density: the appearance of an integrable singularity at the origin for the first critical point, and the detachement of the rightmost charge (largest eigenvalue) from the sea of the other charges at the second critical point. Analytical results are verified by Monte Carlo numerical simulations. A short account of some of these results appeared recently in Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 104}, 110501 (2010).Comment: 7 figure

NMR Self Diffusion and Relaxation Time Measurements for Poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) Based Polymer Gel Electrolytes Containing LiBF4 and Propylene Carbonate

Polymer gel electrolytes (PGEs) have been prepared using lithium tetrafluoroborate (LiBF4), propylene carbonate (PC) and poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF). Self diffusion coefficients have been measured using pulse field gradient nuclear magnetic resonance (PFG-NMR) for the lithium cation, BF4 anion and solvent molecules using 7Li, 19F and 1H nuclei, respectively. It was found that lithium ion diffusion was slow compared to the much larger fluorinated BF4 anion, which is attributed to a large solvation shell around the lithium ions. The 7Li and 1H diffusion measurements also exhibited two unique environments for the diffusive species. The measurement of NMR transverse relaxation times has confirmed the presence of lithium ions in multiple phases as shown by the diffusion measurements

Spinor condensates and light scattering from Bose-Einstein condensates

These notes discuss two aspects of the physics of atomic Bose-Einstein condensates: optical properties and spinor condensates. The first topic includes light scattering experiments which probe the excitations of a condensate in both the free-particle and phonon regime. At higher light intensity, a new form of superradiance and phase-coherent matter wave amplification were observed. We also discuss properties of spinor condensates and describe studies of ground--state spin domain structures and dynamical studies which revealed metastable excited states and quantum tunneling.Comment: 58 pages, 33 figures, to appear in Proceedings of Les Houches 1999 Summer School, Session LXXI