An evaluation of earth banked tanks for slurry storage

End of project reportThis study examines the feasibility of using earth-banked tanks (EBT’s) as an alternative and economical means of winter storage for animal and other farmyard wastes. The study contains a detailed literature review on the subject, the results of a series of laboratory-scale experiments, field studies and a predictive model of the transport process through the soil liner of an earth-banked tank

Case Study On The Assessment Of Sinkhole Risk For The Development Of Infrastructure Over Karstic Ground

Practical Applications and Case Studie

Networked Geotechnical Near Real-Time Monitoring for Large Urban Excavation Using Multiple Wireless Sensors

A massive urban excavation is required to construct the below-grade rail platforms for the Transbay Transit Center. A performance-based approach was used to design the minimum stiffness of the shoring system to limit excavation-induced ground movements to appropriate magnitudes and minimize impact to adjacent infrastructure. During construction, a fully-automated near real-time digital geotechnical monitoring system that integrates wireless sensor data streams into an integrated database and decision support system called the Global Analyzer is used to track the performance of this excavation. Instrumentation used for monitoring includes inclinometers, deep settlement markers, extensometers, piezometers, and an automated total station network. Some of the advantages of the Global Analyzer system include (a) integration of all project monitoring data and construction history information in a centralized database, (b) the ability to compare measured and estimated or target performance, (c) the use of early indicators to understand problems areas prior to excavation reaching critical stages, (d) the distribution of geotechnical monitoring data to adjacent building owners and other stakeholders through a web-based portal, and (e) the generation of computer generated email alerts when threshold values are exceeded by a given instrument. The Global Analyzer is a key tool in supporting an efficient decision process informed by more complete and timely performance data. It represents a component of the decision support process needed in the observational approach and deformation control. This application is relatively new to such a large scale project in the US and provides an example of a large complex data collection and distribution system. The monitoring process used for this project takes advantage of the latest communications technologies in the monitoring of the construction of the Transbay Transit Center excavation in its complex urban environment

An observational study on passive immunity in Irish suckler beef and dairy calves: Tests for failure of passive transfer of immunity and associations with health and performance

peer-fundedThe study objectives were to: 1) evaluate the diagnostic performance of passive immunity tests for classification of failure of passive transfer (FPT) risk, based on their relationships with calf health and performance, and 2) describe the epidemiology of morbidity and mortality in suckler beef and dairy calves under Irish conditions. A total of 1392 suckler beef calves (n = 111 farms) and 2090 dairy calves (84 farms) were included in this observational study. Blood samples were collected by jugular venipuncture. Serum samples were analysed for total IgG concentration using an ELISA assay, total protein concentration by clinical analyser (TP – CA), globulin concentration, zinc sulphate turbidity (ZST) units, total solids percentage by Brix refractometer (TS – BRIX), and total protein concentration by digital refractometer (TP – DR). Crude and cause-specific morbidity, all-cause mortality, and standardised 205-day body weight (BW) were determined. Generalised linear mixed models were used to evaluate associations between suckler beef and dairy calves for morbidity, mortality, growth and passive immunity. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed to determine optimal test cut-offs for classification of health and growth outcomes. Overall, 20% of suckler beef and 30% of dairy calves were treated for at least one disease event by 6 mo. of age. Suckler beef calves had greater odds of bovine respiratory disease (BRD; odds ratio (OR), 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.8, 1.2–6.5, P = 0.01), navel infection (5.1, 1.9–13.2, P < 0.001), and joint infection/lameness (3.2, 1.3–7.8, P = 0.01) during the first 6 mo. of life than dairy calves. In addition, from birth to 6 mo. of age, suckler beef calves had greater rates of navel infection (incidence rate ratio (IRR), 95% CI: 3.3, 1.3–8.4, P = 0.01), but decreased rates of diarrhoea (0.9, 0.2–0.9, P = 0.03) compared to dairy calves. Optimal test cut-offs for classification of morbidity and mortality outcomes in suckler beef calves ranged from 8 to 9 mg/ml ELISA, 56 to 61 g/l TP – CA, 26 to 40 g/l globulin, 12 to 18 ZST units, 8.4% TS – BRIX, and 5.3 to 6.3 g/dl TP – DR. Optimal test cut-offs for classification of morbidity and growth outcomes in dairy calves ranged from 10 to 12 mg/ml ELISA, 57 to 60 g/l TP – CA, 29 to 34 g/l globulin, 19 ZST units, 7.8 to 8.4% TS – BRIX, and 5.7 to 5.9 g/dl TP – DR

Does Finishing at Pasture Influence the Colour of Muscle from Suckler Bulls and Can Colour Be Used to Authenticate Their Pre-Slaughter Diet?

[EN] The primary objective of this study was to compare the colour of muscle from bulls finished at pasture or indoors on a high concentrate diet. The ancillary objectives were to identify possible explanations for any differences in the colour observed and the potential of muscle colour to discriminate between bull beef from different production systems. Growth, longissimus muscle colour, fibre type composition and metabolic profile were measured in late-maturing breed sired suckler bulls slaughtered at 19 months of age after 199 days at pasture (G0), 100 days indoors after 98 days at pasture (G0AL) and indoors for 199 days (AL). When compared to bulls finished indoors and offered a high concentrate ration, the carcass weight of G0 bulls was lower, their carcasses were leaner, and their longissimus muscle was similar in lightness but less red and had a lower glycolytic metabolism. The temperature at which the longissimus muscle reached pH 6.0 was lower (19.7 °C) for G0 than for G0AL (29.9 °C) and AL (31.6 °C), which did not differ. Co-variate adjustment for this variable removed the differences in redness. Adjusting the chill settings appears to be a practical strategy for abattoirs to minimise early post-mortem differences in muscle colour between lighter grass-fed and heavier concentrate-fed carcasses. The preliminary results demonstrate the potential of both L*, a*, b* values and the visible reflectance spectra of muscle to discriminate between grass- finished and concentrate-finished bull beef, but further refinement and validation of the models is required.This project (11/SF/322, “BullBeef”) was funded by the competitive research programmes of the Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Visual search for basic emotional expressions in autism: impaired processing of anger, fear and sadness, but a typical happy face advantage

Facial expression recognition was investigated in 20 males with high functioning autism (HFA) or Asperger syndrome (AS), compared to typically developing individuals matched for chronological age (TD CA group) and verbal and non-verbal ability (TD V/NV group). This was the first study to employ a visual search, "face in the crowd" paradigm with a HFA/AS group, which explored responses to numerous facial expressions using real-face stimuli. Results showed slower response times for processing fear, anger and sad expressions in the HFA/AS group, relative to the TD CA group, but not the TD V/NV group. Reponses to happy, disgust and surprise expressions showed no group differences. Results are discussed with reference to the amygdala theory of autism. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd

The Colour, Composition and Eating Quality of Beef from Late- or Early-Maturing Suckler Bulls Finished at Pasture with or without Concentrate Supplementation

Carcasses from pasture-finished early-maturing (EM), rather than late-maturing (LM), breed bulls may be more suited to meet the minimum carcass fatness classification of 2+ (6.0 on a 15-point scale) required for some markets. The comparative colour and eating quality of beef from grass-fed bulls of different maturities are unknown. Sixty yearling suckler-bred bulls were assigned to a 2 (maturities: EM and LM) × 2 (finishing strategies: grass only (G0) or grass + 4.0 kg concentrate daily (GC)) factorial design. Bulls were at pasture from 7 April, concentrates were introduced (or not) 97 days later, and bulls were slaughtered at 192 d post-turnout (approximately 19 mo of age). Carcass fat scores averaged 5.02, 6.20, 6.33 and 7.30 for LMG0, LMGC, EMG0 and EMGC bulls, respectively. Muscle colour did not differ between treatments. Muscle from LM had lower intramuscular fat concentration, collagen solubility and a tendency (p < 0.1) towards lower ratings for tenderness, texture, and acceptability of 14 d aged beef. Concentrate supplementation decreased the ratings for muscle tenderness but ratings for acceptability were not affected. Achieving the minimum carcass fatness was therefore not required to produce beef of acceptable eating quality and suckler bulls can access the “grass-fed” beef market.This project (11/SF/322, “BullBeef”) was funded by the Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s competitive research programmes

Building productive relationships with young people with SEBD in transition: the role of identity

This article reports a study of the experiences of school leavers with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD), which identified supportive relationships as key elements in young people demonstrating resilience through this transitional period. Almost all the young people involved in the study had access to potential helpers, but few managed to establish productive relationships with them. Analysis of interviews, conducted over a 15 month period with a group of 15 school leavers, their parents and those who worked with them, suggested that barriers and facilitators to relationship development existed at two levels: institutional and individual. This article focuses on the individual level, in which identity processes appear to play a key role. These processes are used to explain why some school leavers built productive relationships and thrived, whilst many failed to do so, and struggled. These findings have implications for policy, practice and theory

Investigation of noise suppression, pulse intensity and chirp of an actively mode-locked semiconductor fiber ring laser

An actively mode-locked fiber ring laser that utilizes an EDFA and semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) is presented. The SOA enhances noise suppression. Active mode-locking was demonstrated at repetition rates up to 20 GHz. The effects of intra-cavity power and SOA current on noise suppression are studied for two types of commercially available SOA. The frequency resolved optical gating technique is used to characterize the output pulse stream intensity and frequency chirp