488 research outputs found
Establishing the relationships among carcass characteristics and meat quality traits of pork
No full textBarrows and gilts (N=1238) with the same genetic background, housing, and management were raised under commercial conditions and marketed when the average pig weight in a pen reached 138 kg. Pigs were slaughtered over 7 weeks in a commercial processing facility. Carcass length was measured on the left side of each carcass from the anterior of the aitch bone to the anterior of the first rib at 1-d postmortem. Carcasses were fabricated and boneless Canadian back loins (IMPS #414) were vacuum-packaged and transported to the University of Illinois Meat Science Laboratory. At the end of the 14-d aging period, loins were weighed, measured for stretched length (stretched to maximum length without distortion), compressed length (compressed to minimum length without distortion) and sliced into 2.54cm chops using a Treif Puma slicer. Complete boneless chops were counted and ends and incomplete chops were weighed. From the initial population, 286 boneless loins (NAMP #414) were further selected based on instrumental L* color and extractable lipid content resulting in a 5 x 6 factorial arrangement of treatments. Using these values, chops were also assigned a quality grade using the newly developed National Pork Board (NPB) quality grade standards. Low (n = 33) quality includes loins with color scores 4.0 with marbling scores ≥ 2.0. Chops were assigned to sensory panel sessions in an incomplete block arrangement, cooked to a medium-rare degree-of-doneness (63 °C) and evaluated for tenderness, juiciness, and pork flavor by trained sensory panelists. Slice shear force (SSF) and cooking loss were also determined from each loin cooked to 63 °C.
Data were analyzed using the REG procedure in SAS and the effect of NPB quality grade was analyzed using the MIXED procedure in SAS as a one-way ANOVA where quality grade was considered a fixed effect. Carcass length varied from a minimum of 78.2 cm to a maximum of 96.5 cm. Boneless loin yield varied from a minimum of 13 chops to a maximum of 20 chops. Carcass length explained 15% (P < 0.0001) of the variation in boneless loin chop yield. Loin weight explained 33% (P < 0.0001) of the variation in boneless loin chop yield. Compressed loin length explained 28% (P < 0.0001) of the variation in boneless loin chop yield. Stretched loin length explained only 9% (P < 0.0001) of the variation in boneless loin chop yield. The combination of loin weight and compressed loin length was able to explain 39.3% (P < 0.0001; C(p) = 12.399) of the variation in boneless loin chop yield using a required F statistic at the SLENTRY and SLSTAY level = 0.15. Instrumental L* color score ranged from 43.11 to 57.60 and extractable lipid ranged from 0.80% to 5.52%. Extractable lipid content and instrumental chop color individually accounted for a maximum of 2% (R2 = 0.02) of the variation of tenderness, juiciness or pork flavor. Chops categorized as NPB high quality (SSF = 17.50 kg) were 6.5% more tender (P≤ 0.02) than chops categorized as medium (SSF = 18.68 kg) and 11.2% more tender then chops categorized as low quality (SSF = 19.59 kg), but medium and low quality chops did not differ in SSF. However, trained sensory panelists did not discern tenderness differences (P = 0.13) among NPB quality grades. Juiciness (P = 0.43) and flavor (P = 0.11) scores did not differ among NPB quality grades. Cook loss tended (P = 0.06) to decrease from 16.86% to 15.32% as quality grade increased.
Overall, carcass length is a poor predictor of boneless loin chop yield. However, using boneless loin parameters such as boneless loin weight and compressed loin length may be more predictive of the number of chops produced from a boneless pork loin. Further, when color or marbling was used as a single trait, it was not predictive of sensory quality. However, using these traits in combination such as with the NPB quality grades may result in differences in sensory quality between pork loins.Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'Closed Access', the embargo will last until 2018-12-01The student, Kyle Wilson, accepted the attached license on 2016-12-07 at 10:10.The student, Kyle Wilson, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2016-12-07 at 10:27.This Thesis was approved for publication on 2016-12-08 at 16:48.DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #10464 on 2017-02-28 at 14:43:21Made available in DSpace on 2017-03-01T17:02:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2
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UA12/2/16 Spirit Masters Class of 2017-2018
No full textWKU Spirit Masters\u27 booklet with photos and brief biographies of members. Bernard, Hailee Bonzo, Madison Botts, Makayle Bush, Johnny Carter, Michaela Childress, Nicole Deaton, Thomas Ellis, Cathryn Gadd, Steven Gaiko, Kathrine Guelde, Molli Harshbarger, Dalton Hopper, Benjamin Jones, Haley Kuhl, Carson Latham, Jeremy Lord, Haley Mize, Mallory Murray, Chelsea Pinilla, Juan Pride, Emily Ravishankar, Nikil Reynolds, Logan Sadrinia, Yasmine Shelton, LaRosa Smith, Kyle Smith, Sally Starks, Destiny Suggs, Sarah Wilson, McKenzi
Multi-contact protocol-constrained collision avoidance for autonomous marine vehicles
No full textThesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2016.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (pages [294]-[301]).The field of autonomous collision avoidance has continued to advance in many areas including sensory and perception, navigation, payload integration, and collision avoidance. The advances in collision avoidance, however, have largely focused on iterative changes to the velocity obstacle - an algorithm that inherently loses important collision avoidance information key to replicating a human-like decision space. This thesis examines algorithms that generalize the traditional velocity obstacle into a multi-threshold based approach that more realistically represent and evaluate human ship driving practices. Novel protocol-constrained collision avoidance evaluation algorithms are proposed including the ability to perform both on-line and post-mission analysis of both robots and humans. These algorithms become especially important when considering complex missions of competing objectives in a contact-dense, protocol-constrained collision avoidance environment. Introduction of competing performance metrics consistent with human ship driving practices allows autonomous collision avoidance algorithm designers to consider previously unexplored tradespaces. On-water results of up to five simultaneously interacting autonomous vessels validate the collision avoidance algorithms using four key areas of evaluation: spatial efficiency, temporal efficiency, protocol compliance, and safety. Testing of 10 complex scenarios totaled over 6,150 vehicle-pair on-water encounters. Human-robot field experimentation demonstrated autonomous collision avoidance performance under conflicting protocol requirements of COLREGS while interacting with human-driven vessels. An autonomous collision avoidance "road test" framework is proposed to incorporate testing of arbitrary collision avoidance algorithms both in the field and in simulation.by Kyle Woerner.Ph. D
Lithic technological responses to Late Pleistocene glacial cycling at Pinnacle Point Site 5-6, South Africa
No full textabstract: There are multiple hypotheses for human responses to glacial cycling in the Late Pleistocene, including changes in population size, interconnectedness, and mobility. Lithic technological analysis informs us of human responses to environmental change because lithic assemblage characteristics are a reflection of raw material transport, reduction, and discard behaviors that depend on hunter-gatherer social and economic decisions. Pinnacle Point Site 5–6 (PP5-6), Western Cape, South Africa is an ideal locality for examining the influence of glacial cycling on early modern human behaviors because it preserves a long sequence spanning marine isotope stages (MIS) 5, 4, and 3 and is associated with robust records of paleoenvironmental change. The analysis presented here addresses the question, what, if any, lithic assemblage traits at PP5-6 represent changing behavioral responses to the MIS 5-4-3 interglacial-glacial cycle? It statistically evaluates changes in 93 traits with no a priori assumptions about which traits may significantly associate with MIS. In contrast to other studies that claim that there is little relationship between broad-scale patterns of climate change and lithic technology, we identified the following characteristics that are associated with MIS 4: increased use of quartz, increased evidence for outcrop sources of quartzite and silcrete, increased evidence for earlier stages of reduction in silcrete, evidence for increased flaking efficiency in all raw material types, and changes in tool types and function for silcrete. Based on these results, we suggest that foragers responded to MIS 4 glacial environmental conditions at PP5-6 with increased population or group sizes, ‘place provisioning’, longer and/or more intense site occupations, and decreased residential mobility. Several other traits, including silcrete frequency, do not exhibit an association with MIS. Backed pieces, once they appear in the PP5-6 record during MIS 4, persist through MIS 3. Changing paleoenvironments explain some, but not all temporal technological variability at PP5-6.The article is published at http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.017405
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A comparative study of cortical computations in the mammalian visual cortex
No full texttextA common feature of all mammals is the cerebral cortex, which is essential for higher-order functions and processing information to generate motor actions. While cortical circuits exhibit a striking uniformity in anatomical organization, it is unknown whether these circuits preform similar computations across mammalian species. In this dissertation I compare the emergence of two computations in the primary visual cortex (V1) of carnivores and rodents. A cortical computation is a transformation in neural representation, such that the spiking output of a cortical neuron exhibits a selectivity not present in the inputs from upstream neurons. Here I explore two computations: orientation selectivity, the preference of neurons for oriented edges in the visual world, and binocularity, the integration of signals from the two eyes. In the first section, I compare the emergence of orientation selectivity in the early visual pathway of mouse and cat. Recordings from thalamic relay cells and V1 neurons in both species reveal orientation selectivity in mouse V1 is not emergent, and could be inherited subcortically. In a second set of experiments, I measure orientation selectivity and the organization of V1 orientation preference in a grasshopper mouse with predatory behavior, compared to the scavenger lab mouse. Here I find the same functional properties. In the second section, I focus on the integration of ocular inputs in V1 of mouse and cat. I first compare disparity selectivity in cats, where convergence of ocular inputs has long been established, with mice, where ocular integration had not previously been investigated. Similar to cats, mouse V1 neurons were sensitive to binocular disparity, albeit to a lesser degree, and could be described by a linear feed-forward model. I next explore the disruption of binocular disparity tuning in both animals. In cats, strabismus induced during development causes increased monocularity in V1 and a loss of disparity selectivity. In mice, monocular deprivation causes increased ocular input, which also manifests as decreased disparity selectivity. Finally, I explore how excitatory and inhibitory neurons in mouse V1 integrate binocular signals. Paravalbumin-expressing inhibitory interneurons are more binocular but less disparity tuned than surrounding cortical neurons, providing a canonical mechanism explaining loss of disparity selectivity in both carnivores and rodents.Neuroscienc
Designing a Walkable Suburban Landscape: New Urbanism and Light Rail as Methodologies
No full textThe suburban landscape is a landscape of opportunity. Historically, the suburban landscape has been a desirable place for living. Because it demands the use of automobiles, it is also a landscape undesirable for pedestrians. Optimistically, through principles of New Urbanism, walkability, and mass transportation via light rail, there is an opportunity to transform the auto dominated suburban landscape into one that promotes walkability.
Located in the suburbs of Alexandria, Virginia, an atypical intersection is analyzed for its characteristics of walkability. This intersection consists of several major roads converging to create a location overly dominated by busy roads and automobiles. Though there are accommodations that signify this intersection is also a place for pedestrians, a walkability checklist and a walkability study prove otherwise.
The author investigates transforming this otherwise unwalkable landscape into one that promotes walkability by providing a safe, comfortable, and enjoyable experience for suburban pedestrians. Design intentions are focused on preserving much of the existing land use and not re-developing suburbia into a new urban center. Yet, through using new urbanist principles for walkability, there is the opportunity to create a new suburban center.Master of Landscape Architectur
Assessment of the COVID-19 infection risk at a workplace through stochastic microexposure modeling
No full textBackground: The COVID-19 pandemic has a significant impact on economy. Decisions regarding the reopening of businesses should account for infection risks. Objective: This paper describes a novel model for COVID-19 infection risks and policy evaluations. Methods: The model combines the best principles of the agent-based, microexposure, and probabilistic modeling approaches. It takes into account specifics of a workplace, mask efficiency, and daily routines of employees, but does not require specific inter-agent rules for simulations. Likewise, it does not require knowledge of microscopic disease related parameters. Instead, the risk of infection is aggregated into the probability of infection, which depends on the duration and distance of every contact. The probability of infection at the end of a workday is found using rigorous probabilistic rules. Unlike previous models, this approach requires only a few reference data points for calibration, which are more easily collected via empirical studies. Results: The application of the model is demonstrated for a typical office environment and for a real-world case. Conclusion: The proposed model allows for effective risk assessment and policy evaluation when there are large uncertainties about the disease, making it particularly suitable for COVID-19 risk assessments.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Network Architectures and Service
Conceptual Fuselage Design with Direct CAD Modeling
No full textabstract: In today’s day and age, the use of automated technology is becoming increasingly prevalent. Throughout the aerospace industry, we see the use of automated systems in manufacturing, testing, and, progressively, in design. This thesis focuses on the idea of automated structural design that can be directly coupled with parametric Computer-Aided Drafting (CAD) and used to support aircraft conceptual design. This idea has been around for many years; however, with the advancement of CAD technology, it is becoming more realistic. Having the ability to input design parameters, analyze the structure, and produce a basic CAD model not only saves time in the design process but provides an excellent platform to communicate ideas. The user has the ability to change parameters and quickly determine the effect on the structure. Coupling this idea with automated parametric CAD provides visual verification and a platform to export into Finite Element Analysis (FEA) for further verification.Dissertation/ThesisMasters Thesis Aerospace Engineering 201
"Baptized by Saltwater": Acts of Remembrance and Commemoration Surrounding the USS Block Islands, CVE-21 & CVE-106
No full textabstract: The Second World War has been portrayed as the central event for understanding the history of America in the 20th Century. This dissertation will examine the acts of commemoration and remembrance by veterans who served on the escort carriers, USS Block Island, CVE-21 & CVE-106. Acts of remembrance and commemoration, in this case, refer to the authorship of memoirs, the donation of symbolic objects that represent military service to museums, and the formation of a veteran's organization, which also serves as a means of social support. I am interested in the way stories of the conflict that fall outside the dominant narratives of the Second World War, namely the famous battles of land, sea, and air, have been commemorated by the veterans who were part of them. Utilizing primary source material and oral histories, I examine how acts of remembrance and commemoration have changed over time. An analysis of the shifting meanings sheds light on how individual memories of the war have changed, in light of the history of the larger war that continues to ignore small ships and sea battles.Dissertation/ThesisPh.D. History 201
Self-Affirmation and Identity-Driven Political Behavior
No full textThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Cambridge University Press via the DOI in this recordData availability: The data, code, and any additional materials required to replicate all analyses in this article are available at the Journal of Experimental Political Science Dataverse within the Harvard Dataverse Network, at: doi:10.7910/DVN/HUJZMOPsychological attachment to political parties can bias people’s attitudes, beliefs, and group evaluations. Studies from psychology suggest that self-affirmation theory may ameliorate this problem in the domain of politics on a variety of outcome measures. We report a series of studies conducted by separate research teams that examine whether a self-affirmation intervention affects a variety of outcomes, including political or policy attitudes, factual beliefs, conspiracy beliefs, affective polarization, and evaluations of news sources. The different research teams use a variety of self-affirmation interventions, research designs, and outcomes. Despite these differences, the research teams consistently find that self-affirmation treatments have little effect. These findings suggest considerable caution is warranted for researchers who wish to apply the self-affirmation framework to studies that investigate political attitudes and beliefs. By presenting the “null results” of separate research teams, we hope to spark a discussion about whether and how the self-affirmation paradigm should be applied to political topics.European Union Horizon 2020NASAEnergy FoundationUniversity of MinnesotaNational Science Foundation (NSF
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