Moisture Effects on the Prediction Performance of a Single‐Kernel Near‐Infrared Deoxynivalenol Calibration

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a serious disease in wheat that affects grain quality owing to the accumulation of mycotoxins such as deoxynivalenol (DON) in grains. Near‐infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has been used to develop techniques to estimate DON levels in single wheat kernels to facilitate rapid, nondestructive screening of FHB resistance in wheat breeding lines. The effect of moisture content (MC) variation on the accuracy of single‐kernel DON prediction by NIR spectroscopy was investigated. Sample MC considerably affected accuracy of the current NIR DON calibration by underestimating or overestimating DON at higher or lower moisture levels, respectively. DON in single kernels was most accurately estimated at 13–14% MC. Major NIR absorptions related to Fusarium damage were found around 1,198–1,200, 1,418–1,430, 1,698, and 1,896–1,914 nm. Major moisture related absorptions were observed around 1,162, 1,337, 1,405–1,408, 1,892–1,924, and 2,202 nm. Fusarium damage and moisture related absorptions overlapped in the 1,380–1,460 and 1,870–1,970 nm regions. These results show that absorption regions associated with water are often close to absorption regions associated with Fusarium damage. Thus, care must be taken to develop DON calibrations that are independent of grain MC.     

Comparison of Near‐Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy and Texture Analyzer for Measuring Wheat Bread Changes in Storage

Bread staling affects bread texture properties and is one of the most common problems in bread storage. Bread firmness, as measured in compression mode by a texture analyzer (TA) has been commonly used to measure bread staling. This study investigated the potential of visible and near‐infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) to detect bread changes during storage by comparing NIRS results with those obtained by TA. Twenty‐five loaves of commercial wheat white pan bread from one batch were studied over five days. NIRS and TA measurements were made on the same slice at approximately the same time. The experiment was repeated five times using the same kind of commercial samples from five different batches. NIRS measurements of slices, loaf averages, and daily averages were compared with TA measurements. NIRS spectra had a high correlation to TA firmness. NIRS measurements correlated better with the actual storage time and had smaller standard deviations than the TA measurements. The batch differences had less effect on NIRS measurements than on the TA measurements. The results indicate that NIRS could follow bread changes during storage more accurately than the TA. NIRS is probably based on both physical and chemical changes during bread staling, unlike the TA method that only measures bread firmness, which is only one aspect of the staling phenomenon.     

Reflectance and Transmittance Spectroscopy Applied to Detecting Fumonisin in Single Corn Kernels Infected with Fusarium verticillioides

Reflectance and transmittance visible and near‐infrared spectroscopy were used to detect fumonisin in single corn kernels infected with Fusarium verticillioides. Kernels with >100 ppm and <10 ppm could be classed accurately as fumonisin positive or negative, respectively. Classification results were generally better for oriented kernels than for kernels that were randomly placed in the spectrometer viewing area. Generally, models based on reflectance spectra have higher correct classification than models based on transmittance spectra. Statistical analyses indicated that including near‐infrared wavelengths in calibrations improved classifications, and some calibrations were improved by including visible wavelengths. Thus, the color and chemical constituents of the infected kernel contribute to classification models. These results show that this technology can be used to rapidly and nondestructively screen single corn kernels for the presence of fumonisin, and may be adaptable to on‐line detection and sorting.     

Automated Color Classification of Single Wheat Kernels Using Visible and Near-Infrared Reflectance

Modification of an existing single kernel wheat characterization system allowed collection of visible and near-infrared (NIR) reflectance spectra (450–1,688 nm) at a rate of 1 kernel/4 sec. The spectral information was used to classify red and white wheats in an attempt to remove subjectivity from class determinations. Calibration, validation, and prediction results showed that calibrations using partial least squares regression and derived from the full wavelength profile correctly classed more kernels than either the visible region (450–700 nm) or the NIR region (700–1,688 nm). Most results showed >99% correct classification for single kernels when using the visible and NIR regions. Averaging of single kernel classifications resulted in 100% correct classification of bulk samples.     

Predicting Scab,Vomitoxin, and Ergosterol in Single Wheat Kernels Using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) was used to detect scab damage and estimate deoxynivalenol (DON) and ergosterol levels in single wheat kernels. Results showed that all scab-damaged kernels identified by official inspectors were correctly identified by NIRS. In addition, this system identified more kernels with DON than did a visual inspection. DON and ergosterol were predicted with standard errors of ≈40 and 100 ppm, respectively. All samples with visible scab had single kernels with DON levels >120 ppm, and some kernels contained >700 ppm of DON. This technology may provide a means of rapidly screening samples for potential food safety and quality problems related to scab damage.     

High‐Speed NIR Segregation of High‐ and Low‐Protein Single Wheat Seeds

Wheat breeders need a nondestructive method to rapidly sort high‐ or low‐protein single kernels from samples for their breeding programs. For this reason, a commercial color sorter equipped with near‐infrared filters was evaluated for its potential to sort high‐ and low‐protein single wheat kernels. Hard red winter and hard white wheat cultivars with protein content >12.5% (classed as high‐protein, 12% moisture basis) or < 11.5% (classed as low‐protein) were blended in proportions of 50:50 and 95:5 (or 5:95) mass. These wheat blends were sorted using five passes that removed 10% of the mass for each pass. The bulk protein content of accepted kernels (accepts) and rejected kernels (rejects) were measured for each pass. For 50:50 blends, the protein in the first‐pass rejects changed as much as 1%. For the accepts, each pass changed the protein content of accepts by ≈0.1%, depending on wheat blends. At most, two re‐sorts of accepts would be required to move 95:5 blends in the direction of the dominant protein content. The 95:5 and 50:50 blends approximate the low‐ and high‐protein mixture range of early generation wheat populations, and thus the sorter has potential to aid breeders in purifying samples for developing high‐ or low‐protein wheat. Results indicate that sorting was partly driven by color and vitreousness differences between high‐ and low‐protein fractions. Development of a new background specific for high‐ or low‐protein and fabrication of better optical filters for protein might help improve the sorter performance.     

Detecting Vitreous Wheat Kernels Using Reflectance and Transmittance Image Analysis

The proportion of vitreous durum kernels in a sample is an important grading attribute in assessing the quality of durum wheat. The current standard method of determining wheat vitreousness is performed by visual inspection, which can be tedious and subjective. The objective of this study was to evaluate an automated machine‐vision inspection system to detect wheat vitreousness using reflectance and transmittance images. Two subclasses of durum wheat were investigated in this study: hard and vitreous of amber color (HVAC) and not hard and vitreous of amber color (NHVAC). A total of 4,907 kernels in the calibration set and 4,407 kernels in the validation set were imaged using a Cervitec 1625 grain inspection system. Classification models were developed with stepwise discriminant analysis and an artificial neural network (ANN). A discriminant model correctly classified 94.9% of the HVAC and 91.0% of the NHVAC in the calibration set, and 92.4% of the HVAC and 92.7% of the NHVAC in the validation set. The classification results using the ANN were not as good as with the discriminant methods, but the ANN only used features from reflectance images. Among all the kernels, mottled kernels were the most difficult to classify. Both reflectance and transmittance images were helpful in classification. In conclusion, the Cervitec 1625 automated visionbased wheat quality inspection system may provide the grain industry with a rapid, objective, and accurate method to determine the vitreousness of durum wheat.     

Multi-atom resonant photoemission: A method for determining near-neighbor atomic identities and bonding

Measurements and theoretical calculations are reported for an interatomic multi-atom resonant photoemission (MARPE) effect that permits direct determination of near-neighbor atomic identities (atomic numbers). MARPE occurs when the photon energy is tuned to a core-level absorption edge of an atom neighboring the emitting atom, with the emitting level having a lower binding energy than the resonant level. Large peak-intensity enhancements of 33 to 105 percent and energy-integrated effects of 11 to 29 percent were seen in three metal oxides. MARPE should also be sensitive to bond distance, bonding type, and magnetic order, and be observable via the secondary processes of x-ray fluorescence and Auger decay.     

The Impact of Reproductive Technologies on Stallion Mitochondrial Function

The traditional assessment of stallion sperm comprises evaluation of sperm motility and membrane integrity and identification of abnormal morphology of the spermatozoa. More recently, the progressive introduction of flow cytometry is increasing the number of tests available. However, compared with other sperm structures and functions, the evaluation of mitochondria has received less attention in stallion andrology. Recent research indicates that sperm mitochondria are key structures in sperm function suffering major changes during biotechnological procedures such as cryopreservation. In this paper, mitochondrial structure and function will be reviewed in the stallion, when possible specific stallion studies will be discussed, and general findings on mammalian mitochondrial function will be argued when relevant. Especial emphasis will be put on their role as source of reactive oxygen species and in their role regulating sperm lifespan, a possible target to investigate with the aim to improve the quality of frozen–thawed stallion sperm. Later on, the impact of current sperm technologies, principally cryopreservation, on mitochondrial function will be discussed pointing out novel areas of research interest with high potential to improve current sperm technologies.     

Comparison of two injectable anesthetic regimes in feral cats at a large-volume spay clinic

Same‐day mass sterilization of feral cats requires rapid onset, short‐duration anesthesia. The purpose of this study was to compare our current anesthetic protocol, Telazol–ketamine–xylazine (TKX) with medetomidine–ketamine–buprenorphine (MKB). Feral female cats received either IM TKX (n = 68; 0.25 mL cat^?1; tiletamine 12.5 mg, zolazepam 12.5 mg, K 20 mg, and X 5 mg per 0.25 mL) or MKB (n = 17; M 40 µg kg^?1, K 15 mg kg^?1, and B 10 µg kg^?1). Intervals measured included time from injection to recumbency, time to surgery, duration of surgery, and time from reversal of anesthesia (TKX: yohimbine 0.50 mg cat^?1 IV; MKB: atipamezole 0.50 mg cat^?1 IM) to sternal recumbency. Following instrumentation (Vet/Ox 4403 and Vet/BP Plus 6500), physiological measurements were recorded at 5‐minute intervals, and included rectal temperature, heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR), SpO₂ (lingual or rectal probes), and indirect mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) (oscillometric method). Nonparametric means were compared using Mann–Whitney U‐tests. Parametric means were compared using a two‐factorial anova with Bonferroni's t‐tests. The alpha‐priori significance level was p < 0.05. Values were mean ± SD. Body weight (TKX: 2.9 ± 0.5 kg, MKB: 2.7 ± 0.7 kg), time to recumbency (TKX: 4 ± 1 minutes, MKB: 3 ± 1 minutes), time to surgery (TKX: 28 ± 7 minutes, MKB: 28 ± 5 minutes), and duration of surgery (TKX: 11 ± 7 minutes, MKB: 8 ± 5 minutes) did not differ between groups. In contrast, MKB cats required less time from reversal to sternal recumbency (TKX: 68 ± 41 minutes, MKB: 7 ± 2 minutes) and were recumbent for shorter duration (TKX: 114 ± 39 minutes, MKB: 53 ± 6 minutes). Temperature decreased during the study in both groups, but overall temperature was higher in MKB cats (38.0 ± 0.95 °C) than in TKX cats (37.5 ± 0.95 °C). RR, HR, and SpO₂ did not change during the study in either group. However, overall HR and RR were higher in TKX cats (RR: 18 ± 8 breaths minute^?1, HR: 153 ± 30 beats minute^?1) compared to MKB cats (RR: 15 ± 7 breaths minute^?1, HR: 128 ± 19 beats minute^?1). In contrast, overall SpO₂ was lower in the TKX group (90 ± 6%) compared to the MKB group (94 ± 4%). MAP was also lower in the TKX group (112 ± 29 mm Hg) compared to that in the MKB group (122 ± 20 mm Hg). However, MAP increased in the TKX group during surgery compared to pre‐surgical values, but did not change in the MKB group. The results of this study suggested that MKB might be more suitable as an anesthetic for the purpose of mass sterilization of feral female cats.