1,029 research outputs found
The effects of freezing and storage time on the quality of reindeer meat
Master's Project University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2017Restaurants, wholesalers and retailers of fresh meat require a year round consistent supply of uniform quality product to sustain demand and justify niche market costs such as advertisement and stocking product. Frozen reindeer meat could be stored, short or long term to increase availability provided there are no adverse effects of freezing. No studies to date have evaluated the effects of freezing and storage time on reindeer meat quality. Nine reindeer steers (castrated bulls; age 2.5 years) were fed a balanced milled ration at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Reindeer Research Program (RRP) facility at the Agricultural Forestry Experiment Station (AFES). In February, animals were transported to a USDA approved meat processing facility for slaughter where both striploins (M. longissimus dorsi) were removed from the carcasses. The striploin samples were allocated to four subsamples consisting of fresh (control), freshly frozen, 6 month frozen and 12 month frozen treatment groups to determine if freezing and frozen storage of reindeer meat for up to one year effects meat quality. All samples underwent shear force measurement, water holding capacity (WHC) determination, proximate analysis, sensory evaluation, TBARS (rancidity) and fatty acid methyl ester profile (FAMES) analysis. Meat was sampled after 6 months of frozen storage for amino acid and mineral analysis. Shear force values were not significantly different amongst treatment groups fresh to 12 month (P=0.992). Purge and cooking loss variation were significant between fresh and 12 months (P = 1e-05,1e-04). There was no significant difference from fresh to 12 month in moisture, ash and protein content while lipid content variation was significantly different (P = 0.99, 1.00, 1.00 and < 1e -6 respectively). Tenderness and juiciness attributes were not significantly different among treatment groups fresh and 12 month (P=0.91 and P=0.53); however, an off flavor attribute was significantly different (P=0.005) amongst treatment groups suggesting that off flavor diminishes with freezing. While not detected in sensory evaluation, mean TBARS (rancidity) values increased significantly (P = <.1e-04) between fresh and 12 months. Characterization of reindeer muscle indicated that the amino acid profile and selected mineral were consistent with that of a high quality nutritional meat product. Omega 3 fatty acid (W3), Omega 6 fatty acid (W6), Monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA), Polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), the ratio between Omega 3 and Omega 6 (W3/W6) and the ratio between PUFA and MUFA (PS) were not significantly different while Saturated fatty acid (SAFA) was significantly different amongst treatments groups from fresh to 12 months. (P= 0.35, 1.00, 0.96, 0.12, 1.00, 0.14 and 0.03). Results of this study suggest reindeer meat can be frozen for up to a year without compromising quality. This could facilitate the marketing flexibility for the reindeer industry to be able to provide a consistent supply of product year round to niche restaurants and wholesalers while commanding a premium price
Static Output Feedback: On Essential Feasible Information Patterns
In this paper, for linear time-invariant plants, where a collection of
possible inputs and outputs are known a priori, we address the problem of
determining the communication between outputs and inputs, i.e., information
patterns, such that desired control objectives of the closed-loop system (for
instance, stabilizability) through static output feedback may be ensured.
We address this problem in the structural system theoretic context. To this
end, given a specified structural pattern (locations of zeros/non-zeros) of the
plant matrices, we introduce the concept of essential information patterns,
i.e., communication patterns between outputs and inputs that satisfy the
following conditions: (i) ensure arbitrary spectrum assignment of the
closed-loop system, using static output feedback constrained to the information
pattern, for almost all possible plant instances with the specified structural
pattern; and (ii) any communication failure precludes the resulting information
pattern from attaining the pole placement objective in (i).
Subsequently, we study the problem of determining essential information
patterns. First, we provide several necessary and sufficient conditions to
verify whether a specified information pattern is essential or not. Further, we
show that such conditions can be verified by resorting to algorithms with
polynomial complexity (in the dimensions of the state, input and output).
Although such verification can be performed efficiently, it is shown that the
problem of determining essential information patterns is in general NP-hard.
The main results of the paper are illustrated through examples
Probing gravitational self-decoherence in a Stern-Gerlach interferometer
The understanding of the emergence of classicality has challenged the
scientific community since the beginning of quantum mechanics. Among the
proposals to resolve this issue is the gravitational self-decoherence
mechanism. Despite all efforts, this mechanism has been proven extremely
difficult to probe. Here, we propose a simple Stern-Gerlach-like experiment to
try it out.Comment: 4 pages and 3 figure
Brazilian savannah tree as bio-inspiration for hydraulic transient control in a penstock of a small hydropower plant
This study proposes an innovation, which is to use a non-circular and bio-inspired forced conduit (a new penstock with a cross section inspired by a tree trunk), to control the effects of hydraulic transients in Brazilian small hydropower plants (SHPs). The aim is to demonstrate that natural structures, adapted to periodic environmental disturbances, are better at hydraulic transient control than traditional conduits. The proposed methodology includes the following steps: (1) problem identification; (2) potential biological model identification; (3) development of alternatives; (4) implementation and testing; and (5) solution selection. This research was conducted at the São Tadeu I SHP, in the city of Santo Antônio de Leverger/MT, Brazil. The following tree biological models from the Brazilian savannah (Cerrado) were used: Handroanthus capitatus and Strychnos pseudoquina. The proposed innovation improves the conduit of the traditional circular section and the relief valve solution of the criteria studied. The reason for this improvement was the reduction of wave speed in the non-circular section (from 1126 to 583 m s−1)
Measles outbreak after 12 years without endemic transmission, Portugal, February to May 2017
We report a measles outbreak in two Portuguese health regions (Algarve and Lisbon and the Tagus Valley) since February 2017, and which by 31 May resulted in 28 confirmed cases, of which 16 were unvaccinated. Thirteen cases were healthcare workers. One unvaccinated teenager died. Genotype B3 was identified in 14 cases from both regions. This outbreak occurs after 12 years without endemic measles transmission, and in a context of high measles vaccination coverage and immunity.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
The impact of failure to achieve symptom control after resection of functional neuroendocrine tumors: An 8â institution study from the US Neuroendocrine Tumor Study Group
Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/147162/1/jso25306_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/147162/2/jso25306.pd
The SCAPA LWFA beamline
The Scottish Centre for the Application of Plasma based Accelerators situated at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, UK, is coming online. It comprises three radiation shielded concrete bunkers housing a total of seven beamlines and interaction chambers, each driven by one of a pair of high power Ti sapphire laser systems a 350 TW and a 40 TW
Taxonomic notes on Monoeca and description of a new species of Protosiris.
60 p. : ill. ; 26 cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. 52-54).The nesting biologies of Monoeca haemorrhoidalis (Smith) and Lanthanomelissa betinae Urban (Tapinotaspidini) are described from southeastern Brazil. Both are ground nesting; the nests of the former are attacked by the cleptoparasite Protosiris gigas Melo (Osirini), and those of the latter are attacked by Parepeolus minutus Roig-Alsina (Osirini). Egg eclosion, larval feeding behavior, and cocoon spinning of M. haemorrhoidalis are detailed. A female of P. gigas opens the closed cell of M. haemorrhoidalis by making a large opening in the cell cap (which is plugged after ovipositioning) through which she apparently extends her metasoma. Indirect evidence suggests that she uses her metasomal apex, and perhaps even the sting, to kill the host egg or early instar. Protosiris eggs are either attached to the cell-wall surface of the nearly vertical host cells or dropped onto the surface of the provisions. First instars of P. gigas, with strongly curved, sharply pointed mandibles, are also capable of killing host immatures or competing cleptoparasites. Cocoons of all four species are compared and contrasted. The egg, all larval instars, and pupa of Monoeca haemorrhoidalis are described, as are the egg and postdefecating larva of Lanthanomelissa betinae. The egg, all larval instars, and pupa of Protosiris gigas are described, as is the postdefecating larva of Parepeolus minutus. Both Monoeca haemorrhoidalis and Protosiris gigas have four ovarioles per ovary. The egg indices and other ovarian features of both species are identified and discussed. The possible phylogenetic relationship of the Tapinotaspidini with the Osirini is briefly explored on the basis of data from this study. Possible phylogenetic relationships of the Osirini with other cleptoparasitic apids are analyzed. In the appendix, the identity of the species of Monoeca, whose nesting biology is presented in the main paper, is discussed. The species is M. haemorrhoidalis (Smith, 1854), a species closely related to M. schrottkyi (Friese, 1902) and M. xanthopyga Harter-Marques, Cunha, and Moure, 2001. An identification key for distinguishing these three species is presented. Tetrapedia piliventris Friese is placed as a junior synonym of M. haemorrhoidalis (new synonymy). A lectotype is designated for Pachycentris schrottkyi Friese. The species of Protosiris found attacking M. haemorrhoidalis is here described as new, P. gigas Melo sp. nov. It is structurally most similar to P. caligneus (Shanks), from which it differs by its abundant yellow marks, plumose pubescence on the lower paraocular area, protruding anterior mesoscutum, and sparser punctation on the metasomal terga
First narrow-band search for continuous gravitational waves from known pulsars in advanced detector data
Spinning neutron stars asymmetric with respect to their rotation axis are potential sources of
continuous gravitational waves for ground-based interferometric detectors. In the case of known pulsars a
fully coherent search, based on matched filtering, which uses the position and rotational parameters
obtained from electromagnetic observations, can be carried out. Matched filtering maximizes the signalto-
noise (SNR) ratio, but a large sensitivity loss is expected in case of even a very small mismatch
between the assumed and the true signal parameters. For this reason, narrow-band analysis methods have
been developed, allowing a fully coherent search for gravitational waves from known pulsars over a
fraction of a hertz and several spin-down values. In this paper we describe a narrow-band search of
11 pulsars using data from Advanced LIGO’s first observing run. Although we have found several initial
outliers, further studies show no significant evidence for the presence of a gravitational wave signal.
Finally, we have placed upper limits on the signal strain amplitude lower than the spin-down limit for 5 of
the 11 targets over the bands searched; in the case of J1813-1749 the spin-down limit has been beaten for
the first time. For an additional 3 targets, the median upper limit across the search bands is below the
spin-down limit. This is the most sensitive narrow-band search for continuous gravitational waves carried
out so far
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