VALUE OF ULTRASOUND-BASED PREDICTIONS OF CARCASS QUALITY GRADE

This paper addresses the quality and value of data derived from ultrasound technology. It attempts to determine whether or not ultrasound is a strong enough predictor of beef carcass quality grade to be an economical tool used to improve the current state of the beef industry.Marketing,

Online learning : towards enabling choice

Education is rapidly evolving from an opportunity that was provided mainly for an elite to one that is available to a mass markets and as such is prone to the forces generated by this environment. Where, in the established pattern, commercial interest was limited mainly to the use of skills developed during the educational process, the future model of educational provision will involve extensive commercial activity in the production, delivery and marketing of material. Already there are a number of commercial companies offering framework products enabling "off the shelf solutions" for the construction and delivery of web based courses in any subject area. The commercialisation of education is underway and it is inevitable that it will be viewed, by entrepreneurs and customers alike, as any other commercial product. It would seem reasonable that the consumer should be able to evaluate the performance of these new modes of working in a similar manner to other commercial products. This paper draws together current thinking on the problems associated with evaluating computer and communication based learning

A collaborative approach to learning programming: a hybrid learning model

The use of cooperative working as a means of developing collaborative skills has been recognised as vital in programming education. This paper presents results obtained from preliminary work to investigate the effectiveness of Pair Programming as a collaborative learning strategy and also its value towards improving programming skills within the laboratory. The potential of Problem Based Learning as a means of further developing cooperative working skills along with problem solving skills is also examined and a hybrid model encompassing both strategies outlined

Twisted [(R3P)PdX] groups above dicarbaborane ligands: 4-dimethylsulfido-3-iodo-3-triphenylphosphine-closo-3-pallada-1,2-dicarbadodecaborane and 3-dimethylphenylphosphine-3-chloro-4-dimethylsulfido-closo-3-pallada-1,2-dicarbadodecaborane

The structural analyses of [3-(PPh₃)-3-I-4-(SMe₂)-closo-3,1,2-PdC₂B₉H₁₀] or [Pd(C₄H₁₆B₉S)I(C₁₈H₁₅P)], (I), and [3-(PPhMe₂)-3-Cl-4-(SMe₂)-closo-3,1,2-PdC₂B₉H₁₀] or [Pd(C₄H₁₆B₉S)Cl(C₈H₁₁P)], (II), show that in comparison with [3-(PR₃)2-closo-3,1,2-PdC₂B₉H₁₁] the presence of the 4-SMe₂ group causes the [PdX(PR₃)] unit (X = halogen) to twist about an axis passing through the Pd atom and the directly opposite B atom of the carbaborane ligand. The halogen atoms are located almost directly above a C atom in the C₂B₃ face, and the conformations of the [PdX(PR₃)] units above the C₂B₃ faces are not those predicted from molecular orbital calculations of the closo-3,1,2-PdC₂B₉ system. The fact that the variation from the predicted conformation is greater in the case of (I) than in (II) may be ascribed to the greater steric interactions induced by the I atom in (I) compared with the Cl atom in (II)

Making a difference - the appropriate use of web technology

Much has been written elsewhere about how, different Information Technology tools, can in principle be used by groups or communities to make their web sites more effective for Continued Professional Development. In practice, complex use is not often the case. In particular, three sites were studied in Scotland, which provided web facilities for the over 60s. The sites, and the communities they served, used only simple Information Technology. Nevertheless, they enabled their communities to participate effectively, on the 'right side', of the European population's 'digital divide'

Initial Flight Test Evaluation of the F-15 ACTIVE Axisymmetric Vectoring Nozzle Performance

A full envelope database of a thrust-vectoring axisymmetric nozzle performance for the Pratt & Whitney Pitch/Yaw Balance Beam Nozzle (P/YBBN) is being developed using the F-15 Advanced Control Technology for Integrated Vehicles (ACTIVE) aircraft. At this time, flight research has been completed for steady-state pitch vector angles up to 20' at an altitude of 30,000 ft from low power settings to maximum afterburner power. The nozzle performance database includes vector forces, internal nozzle pressures, and temperatures all of which can be used for regression analysis modeling. The database was used to substantiate a set of nozzle performance data from wind tunnel testing and computational fluid dynamic analyses. Findings from initial flight research at Mach 0.9 and 1.2 are presented in this paper. The results show that vector efficiency is strongly influenced by power setting. A significant discrepancy in nozzle performance has been discovered between predicted and measured results during vectoring

Process re-design and online learning

Although information technology is at the core of business process reengineering (BPR), the radical restructuring that can accompany the deployment of IT in industry does not produce consistent improvements in business performance. Failures of BPR projects are often due to insensitive implementation in the context of the interests and aspirations of the workforce. These problems present a challenge and sound a note of caution for the current and ongoing revolution in the delivery of educational content via web-centric learning environments. It is essential that new ways forward for education be chosen with care to enhance open-ended interactions between students and educators and to achieve this in an economically efficient framework. In this paper, the authors compare and contrast the introduction of new technology in industry, commerce and education and conclude by introducing details of current work incorporating an exemplar that highlights the issues faced when developing economically efficient and effective, redesigned educational systems

Branched polymers, complex spins and the freezing transition

We show that by coupling complex three-state systems to branched-polymer like ensembles we can obtain models with gamma-string different from one half. It is also possible to study the interpolation between dynamical and crystalline graphs for these models; we find that only when geometry fluctuations are completely forbidden is there a crystalline phase.Comment: 14 pages plain LateX2e, 4 eps figures included using eps

Comparison of an ultra-low volume (ULV) sprayer against a conventional sprayer, for foliar fertiliser and fungicide applications in turfgrass

Two field studies (I and II) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln: John Seaton Anderson Turfgrass Research Facility near Mead, NE, USA, were conducted to determine if a new ultra-low volume (ULV) sprayer can apply foliar nutrient, growth regulator, and fungicide treatments, in a manner similar to that of a conventional sprayer. Treatments were applied over creeping bentgrass ‘L-93’ (Agrostis stolonifera L.) managed as a fairway at 561 l · ha−1 and 47 l · ha−1 with the conventional and ULV sprayer, respectfully. Data were collected for chlorophyll content with a chlorophyll meter, and for the normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) with a turf colour meter. Each plot was harvested for biomass at 21 days after treatment. Study II compared the ULV sprayer and a conventional sprayer, for the control of brown patch (Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn) in creeping bentgrass. The treatments were propiconazole and azoxystrobin. Spray volume was 561 l · ha−1 for the conventional sprayer, and 19 l · ha−1 for the ULV sprayer. Statistical differences in turf quality or dry weight reductions between the conventional and ULV sprayer were not detected. Brown patch control was also similar between the two sprayers, but azoxystrobin provided better control than propiconazole. Even with a 30-fold decrease in application volume, the results indicated that the Kamterter ULV sprayer may be a useful and effective management option for foliar fertiliser and fungicide applications in turfgrass

Fractional flow reserve–guided coronary artery bypass grafting: Can intraoperative physiologic imaging guide decision making?

ObjectivesFractional flow reserve–guided coronary artery bypass grafting is emerging in cardiac surgery, in which the nature (anatomic and functional characteristics) of the target vessel epicardial coronary artery stenosis is important in graft site selection. The nature of the stenosis might determine a different physiologic response to bypass grafting. We report our recent experience using near infrared fluorescence complex angiography and perfusion analysis to identify the nature of stenoses in the target vessel by imaging the physiologic response to grafting.MethodsIn 167 patients who underwent consecutive multivessel coronary artery bypass grafting cases (63% off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting) with traditional anatomy-based revascularization, we imaged and analyzed 359 grafts (53% arterial). This platform provides angiographic data of both the target vessel epicardial coronary artery and graft simultaneously (to assess the imaged competitive flow); and because a change in fluorescence intensity is proportional to the change in blood flow and perfusion, the quantified change (if any) in regional myocardial perfusion surrounding the grafted target vessel epicardial coronary artery.ResultsThe patient outcomes in our series were excellent. All 359 grafts were widely patent by angiography, and 24% of the arterial and 22% of the saphenous vein grafts showed no regional myocardial perfusion change in response to bypass grafting. In 165 in situ internal mammary artery grafts to the left anterior descending artery (>70% stenosis), 40 had no change in regional myocardial perfusion, and 32 of the 40 had competitive flow imaged.ConclusionsAn important number of angiographically patent bypass grafts demonstrated no change in regional myocardial perfusion, suggesting anatomic, but nonfunctional, stenoses in those target vessel epicardial coronary arteries. In in situ arterial grafts, imaged competitive flow is associated with nonfunctional stenoses in the target vessel epicardial coronary artery. Imaging these physiologic responses to target vessel revascularization might be useful in the emerging fractional flow reserve–guided era