Electromagnetic Theory of the Binding Energy of the Hydrogen Isotopes

Bieler of the Rutherford laboratory imagined in 1924 a magnetic attraction equilibrating an electrostatic repulsion between the protons. Since the discovery of the neutron and the magnetic moments of the nucleons proving that the neutron contains electric charges, nobody, as far as I know, has tried to apply electromagnetism to the nuclear interaction. As it is well known, there is an attraction between an electric charge and a neutral conductor. In the deuteron, the positive charge of the neutron is repelled and the negative charge is attracted by the proton with a net attraction. The repulsion between the magnetic moments equilibrates the electrostatically induced attraction. The calculated value is −1.6 MeV not too far from the experimental value (−2.2 MeV). The calculated 7 hydrogen isotopes stay satisfactorily along the experimental isotopic parabola. No arbitrary fitting parameter is used, only universal physical constants. The electromagnetic theory predicts a theoretical ratio between nuclear and chemical energies: \fracm_pm_e a.\frac{m_p}{m_e \alpha}.     

Estimation of genetic parameters for stayability in Canadian Holsteins

Hazard functions were plotted and troughs were used to define stayability traits that best coincided with the time of culling decisions. Traits evaluated were stayability to 17, 30, 43, and 55 mo of productive life and stayability to 42, 54, 66, and 78 mo of total life. Holstein data from Record of Performance and supervised Dairy Herd Improvement and Dairy Herd Analysis Service testing programs formed two data sets with 243,348 and 118,362 daughters of 10,723 and 4,583 sires, respectively, and were used to estimate stayability heritabilities and correlations. Variance components were estimated by Henderson's new method using a model that included a fixed herd-year-season of first calving effect and random sire and error effects. Heritabilities for stayability to 17, 30, 43, and 55 mo of productive life were .025, .040, .039, and .033, respectively, for the Record of Performance data and .010, .017, .023, and .033, respectively, for the Dairy Herd Improvement-Dairy Herd Analysis Service supervised data. Heritability estimates for stayability to 42, 54, 66, and 78 mo of total life were .051, .040, .045, and .059, respectively, for the Dairy Herd Improvement-Dairy Herd Analysis Service supervised data. Genetic correlations among productive life traits were usually very high and approached unity. Genetic correlations among total life traits were lower and more variable. Most phenotypic correlations were moderately high but some were low. Stayability to 17 mo of productive life was concluded to be the best trait for incorporation into a selection program if evaluation of sires for longevity is desired.     

Circumpolar study of perfluoroalkyl contaminants in polar bears (Ursus maritimus)

Perfluoroalkyl substances were determined in liver tissues and blood of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) from five locations in the North American Arctic and two locations in the European Arctic. Concentrations of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorohexane sulfonate, heptadecafluorooctane sulfonamide, and perfluoroalkyl carboxylates with C(8)-C(15) perfluorinated carbon chains were determined using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. PFOS concentrations were significantly correlated with age at four of seven sampling locations, while gender was not correlated to concentration for any compound measured. Populations in South Hudson Bay (2000-2730 ng/g wet wt), East Greenland (911-2140 ng/g wet wt), and Svalbard (756-1290 ng/g wet wt) had significantly (P < 0.05) higher PFOS concentrations than western populations such as the Chukchi Sea (435-729 ng/g wet wt). Concentrations of perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs) with adjacent chain lengths (i.e., C9:C10 and C10:C11) were significantly correlated (P < 0.05), suggesting PFCAs have a common source within a location, but there were differences in proportions of PFCAs between eastern and western location sources. Concentrations of PFOS in liver tissue at five locations were correlated with concentrations of four polychlorinated biphenyl congeners (180, 153, 138, and 99) in adipose tissue of bears in the same populations, suggesting similar transport pathways and source regions of PFOS or precursors.     

Reductive dechlorination of the vinyl chloride surrogate chlorofluoroethene in TCE-contaminated groundwater

At many trichloroethene (TCE)-contaminated field sites, microbial transformation of TCE results in the accumulation of vinyl chloride (VC), a known carcinogen and neurotoxin. Quantitative tools are needed to determine the in situ rates of VC transformation to ethene in contaminated groundwater. For this study, E-/Z-chlorofluoroethene (E-/Z-CFE) was evaluated as a surrogate for VC in laboratory microcosm and field push-pull tests. Single-well push-pull tests were conducted at a TCE-contaminated field site by injecting E-/Z-CFE and monitoring for the formation of fluoroethene (FE) over a period of up to 80 days. The rates for VC transformation to ethene and E-CFE transformation to FE were within a factor of 2.7 for laboratory microcosm systems and all preferentiallytransformed E-CFE over Z-CFE. In the field, the in situ rates of FE production from injected E-CFE ranged from 0.0018 to 1.15 microM/day, while the in situ rates of E-CFE disappearance ranged from 0.17 to 0.99 microM/day. No significant Z-CFE transformation was observed in field tests, which indicated preferential utilization of E-CFE over Z-CFE under in situ field conditions. The results of this study indicate E-CFE as a potential surrogate for estimating the in situ rates of VC transformation.     

Relationships between fertility and production in Holstein dairy cattle in different lactations

Record of Performance and Dairy Herd Improvement Corporation production records of Ontario Holstein cows were merged with breeding receipts of three Ontario AI units from September 1981 through December 1985. Relationships between fertility and production in the first three lactations were investigated for 97,368 daughters of 3806 sires in 22,768 herd-hear-seasons of calving. Fertility traits were days from calving to first insemination, number of inseminations per conception, and days open. Production traits were age and month of calving adjusted 305-d milk and fat yields and fat percentage. Multiple-trait maximum likelihood was used to estimate variances and covariances. Heritabilities for the first three lactations were .18, .18, and .19 for milk yield; .20, .19, and .19 for fat yield; and .58, .52, and .48 for fat percentage. Heritabilities of fertility traits ranged from .03 to .06. Genetic and phenotypic correlations between fertility and production traits in all three lactations were essentially 0. Genetic correlations between different lactation production traits ranged from .2 to .65. Repeatabilities of fertility traits ranged from .05 to .16 in different lactations. Repeatabilities for production traits in different lactations ranged from .51 to .77. Genetic and phenotypic correlations between fertility and production in the subsequent lactation and between production and subsequent lactation fertility were also very low or zero.     

Furosine is a useful indicator in pre‐baked breads

There is increasing demand for pre‐baked bread. Bakers can meet consumer requirements for breads of specific flavour and colour by pre‐baking an amount of bread in the morning and completing the baking process in the afternoon. This type of product is of special interest to sandwich bars, restaurants and large communities. In order to obtain an indicator of utility to monitor the processing of pre‐baked bread, the browning indicators furosine, hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and glucosylisomaltol were analysed in two independent assays of bread pre‐baked at 175 °C for between 5 and 30 min. No furosine was detected in raw or fermented dough. In the pre‐baking stage, furosine increased from 1.5‐ to 5‐fold between 5 and 30 min. The furosine values obtained in the two independent experiments were similar. HMF and glucosylisomaltol were only detected after 15 min, which is the time period commonly used for processing by the industry. Thus, among these indicators, furosine is the only one with utility for monitoring the pre‐baking process. On the other hand, a study of the baking of pre‐baked bread at 220 °C showed that HMF and glucosylisomaltol can be used to monitor the latter process. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

消减食品加工过程中的真菌毒素：来自欧洲和东南亚的经验分享（网络首发、推荐阅读）

在世界范围内,由真菌毒素造成的经济损失估计达数十亿美元,给人类和动物带来安全风险。粮食中真菌毒素的预防可以通过食品加工过程中进行真菌毒素的消减处理。在过去几十年里,虽然发表的科技论文中报道了大量真菌毒素防控措施,但实际生产往往需要更容易实施的、简单易行的建议和指导方针。欧洲和东南亚在真菌毒素处理到数据分析、风险评估到污染防控、差异分析到流通途径等方面可以做到相互协作,互相补充。欧洲和东南亚政府及相关行业必须在综合考虑地域、农业系统和不同国家消费者偏好的背景下,寻求平衡食品安全和地区贸易二者关系,协同管控食品供应链。以谷物为例,加工过程包括初级加工（谷物清理和碾磨操作）和二次加工（如烘焙过程中的发酵和烘烤）,欧洲尤其关注烘焙食品安全性及全麦面包生产工艺对呕吐毒素的影响。结合农业、咖啡工业和科学研究人员的专业知识及亚洲咖啡生产者的具体情况,重点关注东南亚地区咖啡中赭曲霉毒素A污染问题。在农场环境中减少真菌毒素的措施给咖啡农民带来了较大的挑战,包括在规范种植农场模式下咖啡生产者和消费者之间社会经济效益和个人行为模式的相关影响因素。随着世界变得更加全球化,食品和饲料供应链也变得日趋复杂,因此,需要制定更全面的策略来确保食品供给及品质安全。     

Raptor wing morphing with flight speed

In gliding flight, birds morph their wings and tails to control their flight trajectory and speed. Using high-resolution videogrammetry, we reconstructed accurate and detailed three-dimensional geometries of gliding flights for three raptors (barn owl, Tyto alba; tawny owl, Strix aluco, and goshawk, Accipiter gentilis). Wing shapes were highly repeatable and shoulder actuation was a key component of reconfiguring the overall planform and controlling angle of attack. The three birds shared common spanwise patterns of wing twist, an inverse relationship between twist and peak camber, and held their wings depressed below their shoulder in an anhedral configuration. With increased speed, all three birds tended to reduce camber throughout the wing, and their wings bent in a saddle-shape pattern. A number of morphing features suggest that the coordinated movements of the wing and tail support efficient flight, and that the tail may act to modulate wing camber through indirect aeroelastic control.     

Relativistic red‐black trees

This paper presents algorithms for concurrently reading and modifying a red‐black tree (RBTree). The algorithms allow wait‐free, linearly scalable lookups in the presence of concurrent inserts and deletes. They have deterministic response times for a given tree size and uncontended read performance that is at least 60% faster than other known approaches. The techniques used to derive these algorithms arise from a concurrent programming methodology called relativistic programming. Relativistic programming introduces write‐side delay primitives that allow the writer to pay most of the cost of synchronization between readers and writers. Only minimal synchronization overhead is placed on readers. Relativistic programming avoids unnecessarily strict ordering of read and write operations while still providing the capability to enforce linearizability. This paper shows how relativistic programming can be used to build a concurrent RBTree with synchronization‐free readers and both lock‐based and transactional memory‐based writers. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.