Alternative methods of pig chilling

Comparisons were made of the effect on cooling rate, weight loss, texture, bacterial numbers, drip and appearance of pork sides (average dead weight 75 kg) in refrigeration systems using high humidity (ice bank) or conventional chilling, both with and without a rapid pre-chill or delayed chilling, with and without a water spray. All treatments took between 15·7 and 19h post mortem to cool the deep leg of sides to 7°C. Weight loss varied between 0·95% for sides in the delay and spray treatment to 2·17% for conventional chilling. The texture of the M. longissimus dorsi of sides from the rapid pre-chill and conventional chilling treatment was significantly tougher than from the other methods, including those from the rapid pre-chill and high humidity system. Variation in texture between animals within treatments was far greater than between treatments, and could not be explained by variations in cooling and glycolytic rate. There were no significant differences (P > 0·05) in bacterial numbers, drip and appearance between treatments. The choice of chilling system can be made on the basis of weight loss and capital and running costs. The delay and spray treatment would save ￡37 800 on an annual throughout of 3 080 tonnes of pork compared with a conventional system.     

A multimode 0.3-200-kb/s transceiver for the 433/868/915-MHz bands in 0.25-/spl mu/m CMOS

A fully integrated transceiver suitable for low-data-rate wireless telemetry and sensor networks operating in the license-free ISM frequency bands at 433, 868, or 915 MHz implemented in 0.25-/spl mu/m CMOS is presented. G/FSK, ASK, and OOK modulation formats are supported at data rates from 0.3 to 200 kb/s. The transceiver's analog building blocks include a low-noise amplifier, mixer, channel filter, received signal-strength indication, frequency synthesizer, voltage-controlled oscillator, and power amplifier. FSK demodulation is implemented using a novel digital complex-frequency correlator that operates over a wide modulation-index range and approximates matched filter detection performance. Automatic gain control, automatic frequency control, and symbol timing recovery loops are included on chip. Operating in the 915-MHz band in FSK mode at 9.6 kb/s, the receiver consumes 19.7 mA from a 3-V supply and achieves a sensitivity of -112.8dBm at 0.1% BER. The transmitter consumes 28.5 mA for an output power of 10 dBm and delivers up to 14 dBm.     

Grounded coplanar waveguide-fed aperture-coupled cavity-backedmicrostrip antenna

Microstrip antennas aperture coupled to a grounded coplanar waveguide (GCPW) have been fabricated on a single layer substrate and studied experimentally and theoretically. Through-plated via holes are used to suppress spurious parallel plate modes. Measurements demonstrate that this antenna element has good performance for both bandwidth and radiation patterns. Calculations using a commercial CAD package are in reasonable agreement with measured data     

Photocatalyst TiO2–Co: the effect of doping depth profile on methylene blue degradation

In this work, we study the effect of doping depth profile on the photocatalytic and surface properties of TiO₂ films. Two thin film layers of TiO₂ (200 nm) and Co (5 nm), respectively, were deposited by physical evaporation on glass substrate. These films were annealed for 1 s at 100 and 400 °C and the Co layer was removed by chemical etching. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) phase images showed changes in the surface in function of thermal treatment. The grazing-incidence X-ray fluorescence (GIXRF) measurements indicated that the thermal treatment caused migration of Co atoms to below the surface, the depths found were between 19 and 29 nm. The contact angle showed distinct values in function of the doped profile or Co surface concentration. The UV–vis spectra presented a red shift with the increasing of thermal treatment. Photocatalytical assays were performed by methylene blue discoloration and the higher activity was found for TiO₂–Co treated at 400 °C, the ESI-MS showed the fragments formed during the methylene blue decomposition.     

Numerical calibration of donor systems for some GAP tests

Numerical models of various donor/attenuator systems utilized in gap tests were evaluated with the DYNA2D hydrocode. Three donor (pressed pentolite)/attenuator (PMMA) configurations were tested. Case I and Case 2 had a pentolite donor which was 2 cm × 2 cm right cylinder; the cell size was smaller in Case 1. Case 3 utilized a composite pentolite donor 2.07 cm long but having stepped diameters of one and two cm; the cell size was quite similar to that of Case 2. Peak (axial) pressure versus distance results from Case 1 were scaled and Compared to experimental data for both the NOL large scale gap test (LSGT) and the NSWC expanded large scale gap test (ELSGT). The comparison was found to be very good for the LSGT but less satisfactory for the ELSGT. Peak (axial) pressure versus distance results from Case 1 were the also compared to Case 2, a coarser zoned model similar to Case 1, and Case 3. This comparison showed that the composite donor produced peak (axial) pressures similar to those from the LSGT model. Normalized peak pressure versus radial distance and shock profiles were compared for the three cases and found to be quite similar. Additional normalized peak pressure versus radial distance and normalized pressure versus time information from Case 1 is plotted to show how the pentolite/PMMA rarefaction affects both the axial and radial pressure-time histories.     

Intracellular location of inapparently infecting Chlamydia in synovial tissue from patients with Reiter's syndrome

Culture of Chlamydia trachomatis from synovial tissues/fluids from Reiter's syndrome (RS) patients frequently yields negative results. However, we have identified chlamydial RNA at that site in such patients, suggesting that viable organisms may be present. Here we define the cellular location of chlamydia within the synovium via in situ hybridization. Using a chlamydial ribosomal RNA-directed probe, we show that synovial tissue from culture-negative RS patients gives strong hybridization which is often localized to a subsynovial cell layer, rather than to the synovial lining; in some cases, hybridizing cells are dispersed through the synovium. All hybridization signal is located within host cells, indicating that infectious extracellular elementary bodies are rare or absent. These data confirm the extensive intracellular presence of inapparent chlamydia in the synovia of RS patients and provide some insight into the usual culture negativity of synovial tissues for the organism.     

Effect of radiographic positioning on interpretation of cubital joint congruity in dogs

OBJECTIVE: To ascertain effects of x-ray beam centering and limb position on apparent congruity of a normal cubital joint (elbow). ANIMALS: 6 skeletally mature male Treeing Walker Coonhounds without physical, radiographic, or gross evidence of elbow abnormalities. PROCEDURE: Relative movement among humerus, radius, and ulna and measured joint space width on mediolateral and craniocaudal radiographic views was compared, using various x-ray beam centering and limb positions. RESULTS: Highest agreement and greatest certainty on subjective determination of congruity was for the flexed 90 degrees mediolateral radiographic view with the x-ray beam centered on the elbow. Distortion artifact of the proximal ulnar measurements was significant when the x-ray beam was centered on the midpoint of the radius. On the mediolateral view, the humeroradial joint space became significantly wide when the elbow was flexed. On the craniocaudal view, maximal humeroradial joint space width was obtained when the x-ray beam bisected the angle of the joint or was angled +30 degrees toward the humerus. CONCLUSIONS: Artifact distortion of joint width affected objective and subjective assessment of elbow congruity when the limb was placed in extreme flexion or extension or when the x-ray beam was not centered over the area of interest. Optimal visualization of the humeroradial joint space on the craniocaudal view was achieved when the x-ray beam bisected the angle of the elbow or was slightly angled toward the humerus. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Elbow congruity was best assessed on the flexed 90 degrees lateral radiographic view with the x-ray beam centered on the joint.     

Hypoxia-ischemia induces a rapid elevation of ubiquitin conjugate levels and ubiquitin immunoreactivity in the immature rat brain

Postnatal rats at 7 and 21 days of age were subjected to unilateral hypoxia-ischemia (H/I) by right carotid artery ligation followed by 1.5 to 2 hours of hypoxia (8% oxygen). Brains were frozen at specific intervals of recovery from 0 to 24 hours. Western blots of samples of right and left forebrain were immunodeveloped with a monoclonal antibody specific for ubiquitin, RHUb1. An elevation of ubiquitin conjugate levels in the right compared with the left forebrain of 7-day-old animals was detectable immediately following H/I and increased by close to 60% of control level within 1 hour of recovery. The conjugate immunoreactivity remained at this level for 6 hours but had declined to control levels by 24 hours of recovery. No such increase was observed in response to hypoxia alone. Similar changes were observed in samples from the 21-day-old rat brain. However, the elevation of ubiquitin conjugate levels was of slower onset and persisted longer than observed for the 7-day-old animals. Immunocytochemical studies of brain fixed by immersion in formaldehyde/acetone/methanol showed that ubiquitin-like immunoreactivity was increased in the right, but not left, cerebral cortex and hippocampus of animals subjected to H/I. The data suggest that elevated ubiquitination may represent a neuroprotective response to H/I.     

Two Specific Sulfatide Species Are Dysregulated during Renal Development in a Mouse Model of Alport Syndrome

Alport syndrome is caused by mutations in collagen IV that alter the morphology of renal glomerular basement membrane. Mutations result in proteinuria, tubulointerstitial fibrosis, and renal failure but the pathogenic mechanisms are not fully understood. Using imaging mass spectrometry, we aimed to determine whether the spatial and/or temporal patterns of renal lipids are perturbed during the development of Alport syndrome in the mouse model. Our results show that most sulfatides are present at similar levels in both the wild-type (WT) and the Alport kidneys, with the exception of two specific sulfatide species, SulfoHex-Cer(d18:2/24:0) and SulfoHex-Cer(d18:2/16:0). In the Alport but not in WT kidneys, the levels of these species mirror the previously described abnormal laminin expression in Alport syndrome. The presence of these sulfatides in renal tubules but not in glomeruli suggests that this specific aberrant lipid pattern may be related to the development of tubulointerstitial fibrosis in Alport disease.     

Characteristics and 3D formation of PVA and PEO electrospun nanofibers with embedded urea

The behavior of electrospun polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and polyethylene oxide (PEO) nanofibers embedded with urea is studied as a function of various process parameters. Our results show that three‐dimensional nanofiber networks can be obtained when high concentrations of urea in the solution are used during electrospinning. The nanofibers are characterized using both scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The stability of the nanofiber as a function of electric field has also been studied. The successful formation of three‐dimensional nanofiber networks can open new trends toward applications in fertilizers containing nanofibers in the nanoagricultural field. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 39840.