Factors affecting the use of chlorine in the spin‐chilling of eviscerated poultry

Conditions have been determined under which chlorination can be used to eliminate both faecal and spoilage bacteria from the water used for chilling eviscerated poultry carcasses, thus avoiding any hazard from cross‐contamination.

All combinations of three rates of water usage (2.5, 5 or 8 1 per carcass) and three concentrations of total residual chlorine (10 to 15, 25 to 30 or 45 to 50 ppm), obtained by the addition of sodium hypochlorite, were compared. It was found that the majority of bacteria present were destroyed by the use of 45 to 50 ppm of total chlorine in conjunction with 5 1 of water per carcass. When the rate of water usage was increased to 8 1 per carcass it was found that 25 to 30 ppm of residual chlorine in the chill‐water gave comparable results.

The effect of water usage on the concentrations of free residual chlorine present in the chill‐water during processing is discussed. When chlorine gas was added continuously at a fixed concentration to the input water the concentration of total residual chlorine decreased in each chiller. This method of chlorination was found to be less effective in destroying bacteria than the hypochlorite method which could be used to vary the amount of added chlorine in order to maintain the required total residual concentration during processing.     

Lipids of the living coelacanth, Latimeria chalumnae

The muscle of Latimeria chalumnae contains 30 to 71 percent (dry weight) of lipid deposited extracellularly. Wax esters constituted 90 percent or more of the lipids from muscle and fat storage tissues. These esters, by gaschromatographic analysis, consisted of C(30) to C(40) homologs with one or two double bonds.     

Pulmonary ventilation measured from body surface movements

Changes in anteroposterior diameters of the rib cage and abdomen are sensed with magnetometers and summed to give outputs which are very nearly linearly related to changes in lung volume. The volume events of breathing can be measured without recourse to a mouthpiece or face mask, other than for calibration, and with minimal encumbrance to the subject.     

The efficiency of between and within full-sib family selection in a recurrent selection programme in sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.)

The efficiency of between and within family selection in a full-sib family recurrent selection programme was investigated using data from three cycles of recurrent selection. Correlations between mid-parent values and offspring were high for sugar content and juice purity characters, but low for root weight and sugar yield. This suggests that single root selection within full-sib families is effective in the improvement of sugar content and juice purity, but ineffective for root weight and sugar yield. Root weight and sugar yield will respond better to between full-sib family selection. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Quantifying inherent predictability and spatial synchrony in the aphid vector Myzus persicae: field-scale patterns of abundance and regional forecasting error in the UK

Background

Sugar beet is threatened by virus yellows, a disease complex vectored by aphids that reduces sugar content. We present an analysis of Myzus persicae population dynamics with and without neonicotinoid seed treatment. We use 6 years' yellow water trap and field-collected aphid data and two decades of 12.2 m suction-trap aphid migration data. We investigate both spatial synchrony and forecasting error to understand the structure and spatial scale of field counts and why forecasting aphid migrants lacks accuracy. Our aim is to derive statistical parameters to inform regionwide pest management strategies.

Results

Spatial synchrony, indicating the coincident change in counts across the region over time, is rarely present and is best described as stochastic. Uniquely, early season field populations in 2019 did show spatial synchrony to 90 km compared to the overall average weekly correlation length of 23 km. However, 70% of the time series were spatially heterogenous, indicating patchy between-field dynamics. Field counts lacked the same seasonal trend and did not peak in the same week. Forecasts tended to under-predict mid-season log₁₀ counts. A strongly negative correlation between forecasting error and the proportion of zeros was shown.

Conclusion

Field populations are unpredictable and stochastic, regardless of neonicotinoid seed treatment. This outcome presents a problem for decision-support that cannot usefully provide a single regionwide solution. Weighted permutation entropy inferred that M. persicae 12.2 m suction-trap time series had moderate to low intrinsic predictability. Early warning using a migration model tended to predict counts at lower levels than observed. © 2022 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.     

Water movement and macroporosity of an Australian Alfisol under different tillage and pasture conditions

We assessed the effect of different tillage practices (i.e. conventional tillage and direct drilling) and pasture conditions on the infiltration and distribution of infiltrated rain water in an Australian Alfisol. Bromide was used as a tracer for the infiltrated rain under simulated rainfall conditions. The different infiltration patterns were then related to the macroporosity of the soils.

A 25-year-old permanent pasture was found to have the highest density (number per area) of macropores and percentages of transmitting macropores. A 9-year-old pasture phase in a pasture/crop rotation did not fully restore the macroporosity of the soil. Conventional cultivation by scarifying to 0.1 m for 4 years significantly reduced macropore density as well as continuity when compared with the pasture soil. The reduced macroporosity led to increased run-off by reducing preferential flow and altered the pathway of infiltrated water movement. As a consequence, the increase in water content below 0.1 m in the cultivated soil was predominantly from downward displacement of original soil solution, resulting in more leaching. The infiltrated rain water largely remained on the surface 0.1-m layer. In contrast, macroporosity found under direct drilling was similar to that of the pasture soil.