Surface exploration geophysics applied to the moon

With the advent of a permanent lunar base, the desire to explore the lunar near-surface for both scientific and economic purposes will arise. Applications of exploration geophysical methods to the earth's subsurface are highly developed. This paper briefly addresses some aspects of applying this technology to near surface lunar exploration. It is noted that both the manner of application of some techniques, as well as their traditional hierarchy as assigned on earth, should be altered for lunar exploration. In particular, electromagnetic techniques may replace seismic techniques as the primary tool for evaluating near-surface structure

Discriminant Canonical Analysis as a Validation Tool for Multivariety Native Breed Egg Commercial Quality Classification

This study aimed to develop a tool to validate multivariety breed egg quality classification depending on quality-related internal and external traits using a discriminant canonical analysis approach. A flock of 60 Utrerana hens (Franciscan, White, Black, and Partridge) and a control group of 10 Leghorn hens were placed in individual cages to follow the traceability of the eggs and perform an individual internal and external quality assessment. Egg groups were determined depending on their commercial size (S, M, L, and XL), laying hen breed, and variety. Egg weight, major diameter, minor diameter, shell b*, albumen height, and the presence or absence of visual defects in yolk and/or albumen showed multicollinearity problems (variance inflation factor (VIF) > 5) and were discarded. Albumen weight, eggshell weight, and yolk weight were the most responsible traits for the differences among egg quality categories (Wilks’ lambda: 0.335, 0.539, and 0.566 for albumen weight, eggshell weight, and yolk weight, respectively). The combination of traits in the first two dimensions explained 55.02% and 20.62% variability among groups, respectively. Shared properties between Partridge and Franciscan varieties may stem from their eggs presenting heavier yolks and slightly lower weights, while White Utrerana and Leghorn hens’ similarities may be ascribed to hybridization reminiscences

The Study of Growth and Performance in Local Chicken Breeds and Varieties: A Review of Methods and Scientific Transference

A review of the scientific advances in the study of the growth and performance in native chicken breeds and varieties over the past 20 years was performed. Understanding the growth patterns of native breeds can only be achieved if the constraints characterizing these populations are considered and treated accordingly. Contextually, the determination of researchers to use the same research methods and study designs applied in international commercial poultry populations conditions the accuracy of the model, variability capturing ability, and the observational or predictive performance when the data of the local population are fitted. Highly skewed sex ratios favouring females, an inappropriate census imbalance compensation and a lack of population structure render models that are regularly deemed effective as invalid to issue solid and sound conclusions. The wider the breed diversity is in a country, the higher the scientific attention paid to these populations. A detailed discussion of the most appropriate models and underlying reasons for their suitability and the reasons preventing the use of others in these populations is provided. Furthermore, the factors conditioning the scientific reception and impact of related publications used to transfer these results to the broad scientific public were evaluated to serve as guidance for the maximization of the success and dissemination of local breed information

Discriminant Canonical Tool for Differential Biometric Characterization of Multivariety Endangered Hen Breeds

This study aimed to develop a tool to perform the morphological characterization of Sureña and Utrerana breeds, two endangered autochthonous breeds ascribed to the Mediterranean trunk of Spanish autochthonous hens and their varieties (n = 608; 473 females and 135 males). Kruskal–Wallis H test reported sex dimorphism pieces of evidence (p 5 variables were discarded) white nails, ocular ratio, and back length (Wilks’ lambda values of 0.191, 0.357, and 0.429, respectively) to have the highest discriminant power in female morphological characterization. For males, ocular ratio and black/corneous and white beak colors (Wilks’ lambda values of 0.180, 0.210, and 0.349, respectively) displayed the greatest discriminant potential. The first two functions explained around 90% intergroup variability. A stepwise discriminant canonical analysis (DCA) was used to determine genotype clustering patterns. Interbreed and varieties proximity was evaluated through Mahalanobis distances. Despite the adaptability capacity to alternative production systems ascribed to both avian breeds, Sureña and Utrerana morphologically differ. Breed dimorphism may evidence differential adaptability mechanisms linked to their aptitude (dual purpose/egg production). The present tool may serve as a model for the first stages of breed protection to be applicable in other endangered avian breeds worldwide

Variability of Meat and Carcass Quality from Worldwide Native Chicken Breeds

The present research aimed to determine the differential clustering patterns of carcass and meat quality traits in local chicken breeds from around the world and to develop a method to productively characterize minority bird populations. For this, a comprehensive meta-analysis of 91 research documents that dealt with the study of chicken local breeds through the last 20 years was performed. Thirty-nine traits were sorted into the following clusters: weight-related traits, histological properties, pH, color traits, water-holding capacity, texture-related traits, flavor content-related nucleotides, and gross nutrients. Multicollinearity problems reported for pH 72 h post mortem, L* meat 72 h post mortem, a* meat 72 h post mortem, sex, firmness, and chewiness, were thus discarded from further analyses (VIF < 5). Data-mining cross-validation and chi-squared automatic interaction detection (CHAID) decision tree development allowed us to detect similarities across genotypes. Easily collectable trait, such as shear force, muscle fiber diameter, carcass/pieces weight, and pH, presented high explanatory potential of breed variability. Hence, the aforementioned variables must be considered in the experimental methodology of characterization of carcass and meat from native genotypes. This research enables the characterization of local chicken populations to satisfy the needs of specific commercial niches for poultry meat consumers

Sexual Dimorphism for Coping Styles Complements Traditional Methods for Sex Determination in a Multivariety Endangered Hen Breed

Sex determination is key to designing endangered poultry population conservation and breeding programs when sex distribution departs from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. A total of 112 Utrerana chickens (28 per variety, partridge, black, white, and franciscan) were selected for hatching day sexing. Sex assignation was performed through 10 methods. Three sex assignment criteria comprised criteria found in literature, opposite criteria to that in the literature, and composite criteria combining methods reporting the highest predictive success from the previous ones. This study aims to determine which method combinations may more successfully determine sex across the four varieties of Utrerana endangered hen breed to tailor noninvasive early specific models to determine sex in local chicken populations. Although the explanatory power of the three assignation criteria is equal (75%), assignation criteria 2 resulted to be the most efficient as it correctly assigns males more frequently. Only methods 3 (English method), 5 (general down feathers coloration), 7 (wing fan), and 10 (behavior/coping styles) reported significant differences regardless of the variety, hence, are appropriate for early sexing. Sex confirmation was performed at 1.5 months old. Identifying sex proportions enhances genetic management tasks in endangered populations, complementing more standardized techniques, which may result inefficient given the implicit diversity found in local populations

Geophysical study of the crust and upper mantle beneath the central Rio Grande rift and adjacent Great Plains and Colorado Plateau

As part of the national hot dry rock (HDR) geothermal program conducted by Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, a regional deep magnetotelluric (MT) survey of Arizona and New Mexico was performed. The main objective of the MT project was to produce a regional geoelectric contour map of the pervasive deep electrical conductor within the crust and/or upper mantle beneath the Colorado Plateau, Basin and Range Province, and Rio Grande rift. Three MT profiles cross the Jemez lineament. Preliminary one-dimensional analysis of the data suggest the lineament is associated with anomalously high electrical conductivity very shallow in the crust. An MT/audiomagnetotelluric (AMT) study of a 161 km/sup 2/ HDR prospect was performed on the Zuni Indian Reservation, New Mexico. Two-dimensional gravity modeling of a 700-km gravity profile at 34/sup 0/30'N latitude was used to study the crust and upper mantle beneath the Rio Grande rift. Several models of each of three consecutive layers were produced using all available geologic and geophysical constraints. Two short-wavelength anomalies along the gravity profile were analyzed using linear optimization techniques

Geological and geophysical signatures of the Jemez lineament: a reactivated Precambrian structure

The Jemez lineament (N52/sup 0/E) is one of several northeast-trending lineaments that traverse the southwestern United States. It is defined by a 500-km-long alignment of late Cenozoic volcanic fields extending southwest from at least the Jemez Mountains in the north-central New Mexico to the San Carlos-Peridot volcanic field in east-central Arizona. Geochronologic data from Precambrian basement rocks indicate that the lineament is approximately coincident with a boundary between Precambrian crustal provinces. Characteristics of the lineament are high heat flow (>104.5 mW/m/sup 2/), an attenuated seismic velocity zone from 25 to 140 km depth, and an upwarp of the crustal electrical conductor inferred from magnetotelluric studies. The high electrical conductivity is probably caused by the presence of interstitial magma in the rocks of the mid-to-upper crust. The average electical strike within the Precambrian basement is N60/sup 0/E, supporting a relationship between the Precambrian structural grain and the Jemez lineament. The geological and geophysical data suggest that the lineament is a structural zone that extends deep into the lithosphere and that its location was controlled by an ancient zone of weakness in the Precambrian basement. Ages of late Cenozoic volcanic rocks along the lineament show no systematic geographic progression, thus indicating that a mantle plume was not responsible for the alignment of the volcanic fields.Most of the faults, dikes, and cinder cone alignments along the lineament trend approximately N25/sup 0/E and N5/sup 0/W. These trends may represent Riedel shears formed by left-lateral transcurrent movement along the structure. Less common trends of cinder cone alignments and dikes are approximately N65/sup 0/W and N85/sup 0/W. The diversity in orientation indicates that the magnitudes of the two horizontal principal stresses within the lineament have been approximately equal for at least the last 5 m.y