Development of Near-Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy to Estimate Oil Content in Safflower

The oil of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is a valuable oil for human nutrition. It contains a high amount of unsaturated fatty acids, in particular linoleic acid (up to 90 %). There is a great demand for ecologically produced oil in Germany, though oil crops are cultivated on 2 % of the ecological acreage. In Germany, hardly any variety test exists, moreover there has been no breeding efforts so far, although genetic variation in safflower is large. The aim of this study was the development of a rapid and non-destructive method to determine oil content in safflower seed using NIRS (Near-Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy). A total of 203 seed samples were scanned with NIRS to estimate the oil content. Intact seeds as well as milled seeds were tested. The reference values for calibration were obtained with the Soxhlet extraction technique. The oil content analysed by Soxhlet ranged from 10% to 29.6%. NIRS-scanning of milled seed showed better values of calibration compared to intact seed (milled seed: coefficient of determination of calibration: RSQ=0.96, coefficient of determination of cross validation: 1-VR=0.93; intact seed RSQ=0.90, 1-VR=0.82). These results show that NIRS appears to be a suitable, rapid method to estimate oil content in safflower

A Thematic Reconsideration of the Galleria Rucellai of Jacopo Zucchi

This dissertation presents new research into the Galleria Rucellai, a longitudinal, decorated interior created by Jacopo Zucchi for Orazio Rucellai sometime between 1586 and 1591, arguing for a unifying theme, namely time. Zucchi's technical and artistic formation, his social and patronal milieu in the years leading up to the execution of the Galleria's frescoes, and the identities of the patron and his family are key considerations, each connected to the proposed theme. The linearity of time, both as a sequence of lived or historical weeks and years and as an experiential index for the visual material assembled and subsequently described by Zucchi in his later treatise on the Galleria, constitutes the unifying thread. In selecting time as a theme for this monumental domestic decoration program for Rucellai's Roman palace, Zucchi meditates on its very nature, from intangible and distant mythological origin narratives from antiquity and Rucellai lore to the biographies of figures both famous and forgotten from Ancient Rome, in the era of the Gregorian Reform of the calendar, which changed how time's passage is marked. Concepts of lineage and descent, whether mythological, familial, or dynastic, express the theme and allow digression into examinations of biography and character, oscillating between the exemplary and the infamous and culminating in a uniquely Italian iteration of vanitas imagery. This combination of exemplum virtutis and memento mori both emphasizes the persistence of a complex form of identity, composed of the physical body, recorded actions, and external, sometimes posthumous character appraisal, and exhorts the viewer to careful consideration of behavior and life choices in the face of death as an end to the human experience of time. Specific appeals to the histories of Florence and Rome, the two chief cities of both Zucchi and Rucellai, link the figures' own biographies, which flower into encomia that visually revisit, at indexical spots within the room itself, the accomplishments and character each. The entire project is crowned and completed in Zucchi's Discorso, a treatise that both elucidates the imagery and furthers the artist's carefully-constructed self-presentation through rhetoric, engagements with contemporary art theoretical debates, and challenges to Michelangelo's insuperability

Outcrossing rate of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) genotypes under the agro climatic conditions of Northern Germany

Safflower oil is considered to be one of the highest quality vegetable oils for human nutrition, containing up to 90% linoleic acid. The cultivation of safflower would enlarge the number of species to increase biodiversity and widen crop rotation. Very little effort on safflower breeding has been done in Germany. The knowledge of the pollination system is a prerequisite of efficiently designing future breeding programmes. The cross pollination rate between and within plots was investigated in Göttingen (Latitude: 51° 32' North and Longitude: 9° 57' East ) in 2004 and 2005. A plot of 10 m2 of non-spiny plants was surrounded by plots of spiny plants. Ten nonspiny plants each of the border rows and of the core were harvested individually. The rate of cross pollination was calculated as the ratio of spiny to non-spiny offsprings. The average cross pollination was 6.5% (core), 9.7% (border no.1) and 18.1% (border no. 2). In a second experiment the rate of cross pollination within plots was estimated from non-spiny plants grown in mixture with spiny plants. The outcrossing rate was about 63% in 2004, but about 30% in 2005. Isolating or covering flowers by bags or cloth should be considered in pedigree breeding

Migrant Women’s Bodies in Transit: From Sub-Saharan Africa to Spain in Real Life and Film

[Abstracts] The purpose of this chapter is to focus on African women’s bodies in transit from West Africa to Spain, in view of Gerardo Olivares’s42 pioneer film on the topic, 14 Kilometros (2007). Although the protagonist Violet’s journey does not speak for all African migrant women’s passage to Spain, it is my intention to highlight and analyze certain experiences that female migrant subjects share—even before the actual journey starts—as well as to address specific gender-oriented issues, such as prostitution or sex trafficking, that assault them throughout the duration of their excruciatingly painful voluntary or forced self-exile. In this sense, I would maintain that for the African women in transit, whether real or fictional, the journey of migration to Spain is written on their bodies. Finally, throughout the chapter I comment on and establish a parallel between the transatlantic slave trade and contemporary human trafficking and migration subjects

"Marriage doesn't make love" : Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God

Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) fue una mujer auto-suficiente, extravertida, educada, culta, irresistible -a veces-, con una personalidad muy atractiva y que comparte con Toni Morrison la obsesión por escribir "sobre el amor y el desamor". Irónicamente, esta mujer extremadamente liberada e independiente decide escribir sobre mujeres que sufren relaciones sentimentales opresivas. El propósito de este artículo es demostrar que en la obra de Hurston There eyes were watching God (1937), "marriage doesn't make love", porque en el discurso literario de Hurston el matrimonio victimiza a la mujer castrándola física y espíritualmente. El mensaje de Hurston es provocativo y revolucionario ya que es la propia autora quien libera a algunos de sus personajes femeninos de la trampa del matrimonio. Como a ella misma le ocurre en su vida personal, en su discurso narrativo Hurston prefiere ver a sus mujeres solas pero libres, antes que encadenadas y casadas

"Marriage doesn't make love" : Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God

Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) fue una mujer auto-suficiente, extravertida, educada, culta, irresistible -a veces-, con una personalidad muy atractiva y que comparte con Toni Morrison la obsesión por escribir "sobre el amor y el desamor". Irónicamente, esta mujer extremadamente liberada e independiente decide escribir sobre mujeres que sufren relaciones sentimentales opresivas. El propósito de este artículo es demostrar que en la obra de Hurston There eyes were watching God (1937), "marriage doesn't make love", porque en el discurso literario de Hurston el matrimonio victimiza a la mujer castrándola física y espíritualmente. El mensaje de Hurston es provocativo y revolucionario ya que es la propia autora quien libera a algunos de sus personajes femeninos de la trampa del matrimonio. Como a ella misma le ocurre en su vida personal, en su discurso narrativo Hurston prefiere ver a sus mujeres solas pero libres, antes que encadenadas y casadas

Integration and needs of Iowa high school agricultural educators regarding agricultural safety and health education

Agricultural safety and health education has been an agenda item for various government and non-profit organizations working to reduce the number of agricultural injuries and deaths to young people. Agricultural safety and health education has been recognized as effectively helping to reduce the number of on-farm injuries and deaths, despite facing barriers and challenges. One of the largest challenges agricultural safety and health professionals face is reaching a captivated audience of the desirable age. When audience, learning theories, and teaching methods are considered, one viable route for teaching agricultural safety and health education is in the secondary agricultural education classroom. The purpose of this study was to determine the current practices and attitudes of Iowa high school agricultural educators regarding agricultural safety and health education. The accessible population for this census study consisted of 216 Iowa agriculture teachers. Findings were based on data obtained through a web-based survey from 137 Iowa high school agricultural educators. Non-response error was controlled. Findings from this study indicated that most Iowa high school agriculture teachers are teaching some aspect of agricultural safety and health in their classroom utilizing a variety of teaching tools from various resources. Agricultural safety and health is most commonly taught as part of a larger agricultural science unit, as opposed to being taught as its own unit of study. Iowa agriculture teachers recognized strengths, such as the quality of materials, and weaknesses, including the need for professional development, to agricultural safety and health education and identified limitations they face in teaching the topic. Ultimately, the results of this study brought greater understanding of Iowa high school agriculture teachers\u27 practices in agricultural safety and health education and their attitudes towards agricultural safety and health education. Agricultural safety and health professionals can benefit from addressing the findings and the recommendations of this study in the development of agricultural safety and health education materials

Beam-Flattener Design for High Energy Radiographic Inspection

This report documents the work done to develop a beam flattener for use in the inspection of rocket motors at ATK Space Systems Utah facilities. The following pages provide a brief introduction to the necessity of this project, comprehensive description of the design methodology, and experimentally-based conclusions regarding project success