The design of a new bacon product : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Technology in Food Technology at Massey University

An initial examination of the New Zealand domestic meat market showed that the bacon industry was most in need of help from the development of new products. Per capita consumption of bacon and ham, products which provided almost 70% of the bacon industry's revenue, were shown to be declining. The aim of the project was to design new cured meat products which would replace bacon as the major revenue centre for the industry. A market survey and two consumer surveys were carried out in Palmerston North with the aim of determining the reasons for the apparent decline in bacon and ham consumption. The three surveys were extended to include beef, sheep meat and pork cuts as well as ham, bacon and smallgoods so that the most consumer-acceptable cuts could be identified.The market survey showed that the industry was in fact selling their bacon and ham through the most important retail outlets and while poor advertising and packaging might have been partly responsible for the decline in per capita consumption of bacon and ham, they did not appear to be the major cause. The first consumer survey was carried out to see whether any changes in socio-economic factors such as household size, gross income of the household head or age of the housewife were responsible for the decline in consumption of bacon and ham. Trends evidenced in the New Zealand society since 1966, rather than contributing to the apparent decline in consumption of these products, were in actual fact favouring the consumption of these two meats. The second consumer survey evaluated the attitudes of thirty Palmerston North housewives towards bacon and ham as well as a number of other meats. This survey identified the reasons for the apparent decline in consumption of bacon and ham. Bacon, in particular, was seen to have intermediate properties, intermediate between fresh meat and smallgoods. The data from this second survey was examined by way of Principal component factor analysis and the following variables were isolated as being common to all meats: preference, nutrition, flavour, prestige and length of cooking. An analysis of main meal and snack meats identified additional variables which were unique to each meat group and still other variables were isolated for individual meat cuts. Together, these were hypothesised to be the blueprints for the individual products which enabled consumers to identify each meat product from a whole host of other meat products. The consumer-acceptable meats were examined and the attributes responsible for the success of these products were identified and new cured products were designed, and these attributes were built into them

The new AM CVn star in Hydra

High speed photometry of the new AM CVn star in Hya (previously known as SN2003aw), spectroscopically identified by Chornock & Filippenko, shows it to have a superhump period of 2041.5 +/- 0.3 s. We find a range of brightness from V ~ 16.5 to 20.3, presumably caused by variations in the rate of mass transfer. In the intermediate state the system cycles in brightness with a period of ~ 16 h and range >= 0.4 mag. There are sidebands to the principal frequencies in the Fourier transform which have constant frequency difference from the superhump harmonics.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA

Beyond Scope of Practice: Inferring High School Tennis Coaches' Behavior from their Nutrition and Eating Disorder Knowledge

The primary purpose of this study was to assess high school tennis coaches’ knowledge of macronutrients and disordered eating (e.g., etiology). Other purposes included identifying confidence in knowledge and any differences between the participating coaches’ knowledge and demographic variables. To address these purposes, the 27-question Nutrition and Eating Disorders in Tennis (“NET”) Survey was created. The study design involved a one-time voluntary assessment of the Indiana coaches’ demographic variables, knowledge, sources of knowledge, and level of confidence (e.g., Not At All or Very Confident). Overall, the results revealed that the coaches lacked knowledge. The average score was 70.6%, which was below the criterion for adequate knowledge. Furthermore, the coaches lacked adequate knowledge in three of the five knowledge domains: Treatment and Prevention of Disordered Eating (63.6% ± 22.9%), Disordered Eating Signs and Symptoms (60.0% ± 21.7%), and Macronutrients (57.0% ± 22.4%). There were no significant differences between coaches’ education level, gender, or type and knowledge. However, there was in experience; the more years coached, the lower the scores. Finally, there was a trend of overconfidence in answers

Rapid Oscillations in Cataclysmic Variables, and a Comparison with X-Ray Binaries

We compare some of the properties of rapid oscillations in cataclysmic variables and X-Ray binaries. In addition to the earlier recognition that both types possess the same correlation between high and low frequency quasi-periodic oscillations, we have now found that the dwarf nova VW Hyi in its late stages of outburst shows the 1:2:3 oscillations harmonics that are seen in some neutron star and black hole X-Ray binaries. We point out that the behaviour of the dwarf nova WZ Sge has some similarities to those of accreting millisecond pulsars.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures (needs AIP style file). To appear in the conference proceedings of `Interacting Binaries: Accretion, Evolution & Outcomes' (Cefalu, July 4-10 2004