Variation in light scattering and water-holding capacity along the porcine Longissimus dorsi muscle

The meat quality of M. longissimus muscle was evaluated in 851 pigs by using the Fibre Optic Probe (FOP) at three sites in the muscle and in both halves of the carcass. A systematic difference between sites was found, with the lowest light scattering (indicating the best meat quality) in the mid-part of the muscle and higher light scattering in the anterior and posterior parts. A non-systematic variation was also observed, with the opposite pattern in some animals, even though it was not frequent. A negative influence of the shackling was found, yielding higher FOP values in the shackled half.

Drip loss measurements in the Longissimus muscle, taken from another 100 pig carcasses, were evaluated using three methods. Drip loss, too, showed a considerable variation along the Longissimus muscle, with minimum losses around the last rib. Repeatability estimates, calculated from two non-consecutive pieces of the Longissimus dorsi muscle from each carcass, varied from 0·4 when keeping samples vacuum packed for 2 days, to 0·5 when the samples were either kept in plain plastic bags for 2 days or in a meat container with a squared inset for 1 or 2 days.     

The nearest neighbor and the bayes error rates

The (k, l) nearest neighbor method of pattern classification is compared to the Bayes method. If the two acceptance rates are equal then the asymptotic error rates satisfy the inequalities Ek,l + 1 ? E*(?) ? Ek,l dE*(?), where d is a function of k, l, and the number of pattern classes, and ? is the reject threshold for the Bayes method. An explicit expression for d is given which is optimal in the sense that for some probability distributions Ek,l and dE* (?) are equal.     

AN EXPERIMENTAL-NUMERICAL METHOD FOR MEASURING CRACK PROPAGATING VELOCITIES UNDER STRESS WAVE LOADING

An experimental-numerical method for measuring dynamic crack propagating velocities under stress wave loading is established in this paper. The experiments of the three-point bend specimen are done on the improved Hopkinson bar. Deflection of loading point, dynamic load and instantaneous crack length are measured, then crack propagating velocities are calculated. Experiments on 40Cr steel show that the results given by this method have a good agreement with that obtained by the resistance fracture gage method. Therefore this method is feasible for measuring crack propagating velocities under high loading rate and will have wide application.     

Influence of initial textures on dynamic recrystallization and textures in AZ31 magnesium alloys

1　INTRODUCTIONMagnesiumisthelightestmetallicstructurema terialwithhighspecificstrengthandthereforeiswidelyusedinautomotive ,electronicsandaerospaceindustries[1,2 ] .However ,magnesiumoftenshowsinsufficientplasticityatroomtemperatureduetoitsHCPstructurewithlessindependentsystemsofbasalslip .Toenhanceformabilityofmagnesium ,ahigherdeformingtemperatureisusuallyusedwithtwopur poses .Thefirstistoactivatenewslipsystemsbesidesbasalslip ,sothatmorethanfiveindependentslipsystemscanbeprovided ,be…