A community-based geological reconstruction of Antarctic Ice Sheet deglaciation since the Last Glacial Maximum

A robust understanding of Antarctic Ice Sheet deglacial history since the Last Glacial Maximum is important in order to constrain ice sheet and glacial-isostatic adjustment models, and to explore the forcing mechanisms responsible for ice sheet retreat. Such understanding can be derived from a broad range of geological and glaciological datasets and recent decades have seen an upsurge in such data gathering around the continent and Sub-Antarctic islands. Here, we report a new synthesis of those datasets, based on an accompanying series of reviews of the geological data, organised by sector. We present a series of timeslice maps for 20ka, 15ka, 10ka and 5ka, including grounding line position and ice sheet thickness changes, along with a clear assessment of levels of confidence. The reconstruction shows that the Antarctic Ice sheet did not everywhere reach the continental shelf edge at its maximum, that initial retreat was asynchronous, and that the spatial pattern of deglaciation was highly variable, particularly on the inner shelf. The deglacial reconstruction is consistent with a moderate overall excess ice volume and with a relatively small Antarctic contribution to meltwater pulse 1a. We discuss key areas of uncertainty both around the continent and by time interval, and we highlight potential priorit. © 2014 The Authors

Performances of the Piétrain ReHal, the new stress negative Piétrain line. In quality of meat and fat in pigs affected by genetics and nutrition

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The new stress negative Piétrain line developped at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Liège

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Le porc Piétrain résistant au stress (ReHal) dans la filière porcine

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A comparison of the Fat Lean Meter (CGM), the ultrasonic device Pie Medical 200 and the Piglog 105 for estimation of the lean meat proportion in Pietrain carcasses

A comparison of the Fat Lean Meter (CGM), the ultrasonic device Pie Medical 200 (PIE) and the Piglog 105 (SFK) for estimation of the carcass lean meat proportion was realized with 307 Pietrain and negative-stress Pietrain. The day before slaughter, carcass lean content was measured with two types of ultrasonic devices on the live animal: the Piglog 105 and the Pie Medical Scanner 200. The carcass lean meat content was estimated by CGM at the slaughterhouse. The effect of the machine was highly significant (P < 0.001) for the carcass lean measurements. The percentages of lean meat were 65, 65.7 and 63.9%, respectively, for CGM, PIE and SFK (P < 0.05). The effect of the machine X genotype interaction was highly significant (P < 0.001). Regardless of the machine type, the carcass lean content increased from homozygote negative stress (CC) to heterozygote negative stress (CT) and from CT genotype to homozygote positive stress (TT). The effect of machine X sex interaction was also highly significant (P < 0.001). For each machine, gilts had more lean meat percentage than barrows (P < 0.05). The bias between each apparatus was significantly different according to the halothane genotype sensibility (P < 0.01), whereas the sex influenced only the difference between CGM and PIE lean meat content and the absolute value of this difference. The PIE and the SFK lean value overestimated the CGM lean, respectively from 52 to 67% and from 52 to 65% of CGM lean, whereas the PIE overestimated the SFK lean

Bleue des prés, Porc Fleuri, Poulet d'Ardenne, trois productions de qualité différenciée en Région Wallonne

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Non-Invasive Methods to Predict Breast Muscle Weight in Slow-Growing Chickens

peer reviewedThis experiment aims to compare in vivo breast morphometric and ultrasound measurements, as well as live body weight to predict breast meat weight in slow-growing chickens. Traits included Thoracic Circumference (TC), Chest Width (CW), Keel Length (KL) and angle (KA), Live Weight (LW), thickness of muscle determined by sonography (TM) and Breast Meat Weight (BMW). Birds were then slaughtered and total breast muscles (Pectoralis major and Pectoralis minor) were dissected and weighed. A linear model including sex effect and the different predictor measurements, as covariates, were adjusted to the data. Homogeneity test of slopes between sexes showed no difference. Means of the traits were 115.58g (±19.72) for BMW, 1031 g (±163.44) for LW, 68.65o (±6.89) for KA, 26.81 cm (±1.57) for TC, 10.40 cm (±0.62) for KL, 4.67 cm (±0.47) for CW and 11.52 mm (±1.11) for TM. All traits were highly correlated to BMW: TC (0.85), LW (0.84), KL (0.81) and TM (0.79), except for KA (0.28) and CW (0.19). Finally, TC, LW, KL and TM appear to be valuable indicators for estimating BMW in slow-growing chickens but KA and CW remain poor predictor

Les attentes des consommateurs, des nouveaux critères de sélection porcine

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