OPPORTUNITIES FOR MARKETING FRESH PRODUCE TO THE INSTITUTIONAL SECTOR OF THE FOOD SERVICE INDUSTRY

The authors investigated the possible barriers to marketing fresh fruits and vegetables to the institutional sector of the food service industry.Agribusiness, Marketing,

Low-density genotype panel for both parentage verification and discovery in a multi-breed sheep population

peer-reviewedThe generally low usage of artificial insemination and single-sire mating in sheep, compounded by mob lambing (and lambing outdoors), implies that parentage assignment in sheep is challenging. The objective here was to develop a low-density panel of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for accurate parentage verification and discovery in sheep. Of particular interest was where SNP selection was limited to only a subset of chromosomes, thereby eliminating the ability to accurately impute genome-wide denser marker panels. Data used consisted of 10,933 candidate SNPs on 9,390 purebred sheep. These data consisted of 1,876 validated genotyped sire–offspring pairs and 2,784 validated genotyped dam–offspring pairs. The SNP panels developed consisted of 87 SNPs to 500 SNPs. Parentage verification and discovery were undertaken using 1) exclusion, based on the sharing of at least one allele between candidate parent–offspring pairs, and 2) a likelihood-based approach. Based on exclusion, allowing for one discordant offspring–parent genotype, a minimum of 350 SNPs was required when the goal was to unambiguously identify the true sire or dam from all possible candidates. Results suggest that, if selecting SNPs across the entire genome, a minimum of 250 carefully selected SNPs are required to ensure that the most likely selected parent (based on the likelihood approach) was, in fact, the true parent. If restricting the SNPs to just a subset of chromosomes, the recommendation is to use at least a 300-SNP panel from at least six chromosomes, with approximately an equal number of SNPs per chromosome

Using colocation to support human memory

The progress of health care in the western world has been marked by an increase in life expectancy. Advances in life expectancy have meant that more people are living with acute health problems, many of which are related to impairment of memory. This paper describes a pair of scenarios that use RFID to assist people who may suffer frommemory defects to extend their capability for independent living. We present our implementation of an RFID glove, describe its operation, and show how it enables the application scenarios

Comparative grazing behaviour of lactating suckler cows of contrasting genetic merit and genotype

peer-reviewedThe objective of this study was to determine if differences in grazing behaviour exist between lactating suckler cows diverse in genetic merit for the national Irish Replacement index and of two contrasting genotypes. Data from 103 cows: 41 high and 62 low genetic merit, 43 beef and 60 beef x dairy (BDX) cows were available over a single grazing season in 2015. Milk yield, grass dry matter intake (GDMI), cow live weight (BW) and body condition score (BCS) were recorded during the experimental period, with subsequent measures of production efficiency extrapolated. Grazing behaviour data were recorded twice in conjunction with aforementioned measures, using Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research headset behaviour recorders. The effect of genotype and cow genetic merit during mid- and late-lactation on grazing behaviour phenotypes, milk yield, BW, BCS and GDMI were estimated using linear mixed models. Genetic merit had no significant effect on any production parameters investigated, with the exception that low genetic merit had a greater BCS than high genetic merit cows. Beef cows were heavier, had a greater BCS but produced less milk per day than BDX. The BDX cows produced more milk per 100 kg BW and per unit intake and had greater GDMI, intake per bite and rate of GDMI per 100 kg BW than beef cows. High genetic merit cows spent longer grazing and took more bites per day but had a lower rate of GDMI than low genetic merit cows, with the same trend found when expressed per unit of BW. High genetic merit cows spent longer grazing than low genetic merit cows when expressed on a per unit intake basis. Absolute rumination measures were similar across cow genotype and genetic merit. When expressed per unit BW, BDX cows spent longer ruminating per day compared to beef. However, on a per unit intake basis, beef cows ruminated longer and had more mastications than BDX. Intake per bite and rate of intake was positively correlated with GDMI per 100 kg BW. The current study implies that despite large differences in grazing behaviour between cows diverse in genetic merit, few differences were apparent in terms of production efficiency variables extrapolated. Conversely, differences in absolute grazing and ruminating behaviour measurements did not exist between beef cows of contrasting genotype. However, efficiency parameters investigated illustrate that BDX will subsequently convert herbage intake more efficiently to milk production

Thin film dielectric microstrip kinetic inductance detectors

Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors, or MKIDs, are a type of low temperature detector that exhibit intrinsic frequency domain multiplexing at microwave frequencies. We present the first theory and measurements on a MKID based on a microstrip transmission line resonator. A complete characterization of the dielectric loss and noise properties of these resonators is performed, and agrees well with the derived theory. A competitive noise equivalent power of 5$\times10^{-17}$ W Hz$^{-1/2}$ at 1 Hz has been demonstrated. The resonators exhibit the highest quality factors known in a microstrip resonator with a deposited thin film dielectric.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, APL accepte

Propagation of Avalanches in Mn12_{12}-acetate: Magnetic Deflagration

Local time-resolved measurements of fast reversal of the magnetization of single crystals of Mn12-acetate indicate that the magnetization avalanche spreads as a narrow interface that propagates through the crystal at a constant velocity that is roughly two orders of magnitude smaller than the speed of sound. We argue that this phenomenon is closely analogous to the propagation of a flame front (deflagration) through a flammable chemical substance.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Tuning Magnetic Avalanches in Mn12-ac

Using micron-sized Hall sensor arrays to obtain time-resolved measurements of the local magnetization, we report a systematic study in the molecular magnet Mn$_{12}$-acetate of magnetic avalanches controllably triggered in different fixed external magnetic fields and for different values of the initial magnetization. The speeds of propagation of the spin-reversal fronts are in good overall agreement with the theory of magnetic deflagration of Garanin and Chudnovsky \cite{Garanin}.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures; discussion expanded and revise