FORVAL: A computer program for FORest VALuation

FORVAL (FORest VALuation) is a computer program for cash-flow analysis of forestry investments. The FORTRAN 77 program is available from the MAFES Forestry Department for Data General computers using the Advanced Operating System with Virtual Storage, and for IBM-compatible personal computers (send letter of request and 51!.-inch diskette to P.O. Drawer FR, Mississippi State, MS 39762)

Influence of Carcass Fat Iodine Value and Packaging Type on Shelf-life of Bacon Slices Packaged for Hotels, Restaurants, and Institutions (HRI)

Pork carcasses were selected for fat iodine value (IV) using a NitFom™ sensor. Carcasses were sorted into 3 IV categories, with the target IV range defined as 58 to 63 (low), 68 to 73 (intermediate), and 78 to 83 (high). Seventy-two pork carcasses were identified and bellies collected from both the right and left sides of the carcass for a total of 144 bellies in the study, with 48 bellies (24 carcasses) in each IV category. This experiment had 3 IV treatments, with an average measured carcass IV of 66.5 g/100g (low), 72.6 g/100g (intermediate), and 77.9 g/100g (high) and 2 packaging treatments (aerobic and anaerobic). Fresh bellies were analyzed for dimensional characteristics (weight, length, width, and thickness) and belly firmness. From each belly, 10 sheets of bacon with 7 slices per divider sheet were laid out representing 10 storage dates (d 0, 28 56, 70, 84, 98, 112, 126, 140, and 154) for lipid oxidation analysis. Bacon slices were analyzed for oxidative rancidity and fat color (L* a* b*) for every shelf life storage date. After packaging, bacon slices were stored at 0 ºF for the remainder of the storage period. Day 0 bacon was analyzed for fatty acid composition, pH, and proximate composition. Bacon manufactured from high IV category carcasses had a greater (P \u3c 0.05) analyzed IV compared to the intermediate or low IV category, with mean IV values of 76.9, 70.9, and 67.7 g/100g respectively. Belly firmness decreased (P \u3c 0.05) as the IV category increased. Bacon slices were not different in proximate composition (fat, moisture, and protein) or pH. High IV bacon samples had greater (P \u3c 0.05) percentages of linoleic acid, linolenic, and total polyunsaturated fatty acids; and decreased (P \u3c 0.05) percentages of myristic, palmitic, stearic, and total saturated fatty acids compared with the low IV category. Aerobic and anaerobically packaged bacon from the high IV group had lower (P \u3c 0.05) L* compared with low IV group. After d 0, aerobically packaged bacon had lower a* values on every sample day through d 154 (P \u3c 0.05). Anaerobically packaged bacon had higher a* values on every sample day after d 0 through d 154 (P \u3c 0.05). Increasing storage time from d 0 to 154 increased (P \u3c 0.05) b* values for both aerobic and anaerobic packaging treatments. Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) did not differ between IV categories. Aerobically packaged bacon had greater (P \u3c 0.05) TBARS from d 0 compared to d 28. Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances values were also greater from d 28 to d 154 for aerobically packaged bacon. Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances values for anaerobically packaged bacon did not increase from d 0 to 84. Soluble collagen, insoluble collagen, and total collagen were higher (P \u3c 0.05) in the high IV category than the low IV category. No differences were detected in fat cell size or the number of fat cells in bacon fat between IV categories. In conclusion, IV category had minimal impact on frozen bacon quality. However, frozen bacon stored in aerobic packaging resulted in rapid development of lipid oxidation and more pronounced changes in fat color compared with bacon stored in anaerobic packaging

Simulation of Micron-Sized Debris Populations in Low Earth Orbit

The update of ORDEM2000, the NASA Orbital Debris Engineering Model, to its new version ORDEM2010, is nearly complete. As a part of the ORDEM upgrade, this paper addresses the simulation of micro-debris (greater than 10 m and smaller than 1 mm in size) populations in low Earth orbit. The principal data used in the modeling of the micron-sized debris populations are in-situ hypervelocity impact records, accumulated in post-flight damage surveys on the space-exposed surfaces of returned spacecrafts. The development of the micro-debris model populations follows the general approach to deriving other ORDEM2010-required input populations for various components and types of debris. This paper describes the key elements and major steps in the statistical inference of the ORDEM2010 micro-debris populations. A crucial step is the construction of a degradation/ejecta source model to provide prior information on the micron-sized objects (such as orbital and object-size distributions). Another critical step is to link model populations with data, which is rather involved. It demands detailed information on area-time/directionality for all the space-exposed elements of a shuttle orbiter and damage laws, which relate impact damage with the physical properties of a projectile and impact conditions such as impact angle and velocity. Also needed are model-predicted debris fluxes as a function of object size and impact velocity from all possible directions. In spite of the very limited quantity of the available shuttle impact data, the population-derivation process is satisfactorily stable. Final modeling results obtained from shuttle window and radiator impact data are reasonably convergent and consistent, especially for the debris populations with object-size thresholds at 10 and 100 m

Charged Coupled Device Debris Telescope Observations of the Geosynchronous Orbital Debris Environment - Observing Year: 1998

NASA has been using the charged coupled device (CCD) debris telescope (CDT)--a transportable 32-cm Schmidt telescope located near Cloudcroft, New Mexico-to help characterize the debris environment in geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO). The CDT is equipped with a SITe 512 x 512 CCD camera whose 24 m2 (12.5 arc sec) pixels produce a 1.7 x 1.7-deg field of view. The CDT system can therefore detect l7th-magnitude objects in a 20-sec integration corresponding to an approx. 0.6-m diameter, 0.20 albedo object at 36,000 km. The telescope pointing and CCD operation are computer controlled to collect data automatically for an entire night. The CDT has collected more than 1500 hrs of data since November 1997. This report describes the collection and analysis of 58 nights (approx. 420 hrs) of data acquired in 1998