Carcass measurements

The tire constmction influences both cornering and longitudinal slip stiffness. These include the tire carcass, breaker construction, inflation pressure, and tread pattern design. However, since the two stiffness components can be measured, knowledge of the construction details is not necessary. The vehicle geometry influences the tire wear through the air resistance, which it creates, and through the load distribution between front and rear axles. 

Experiments with rats given oral doses of tritiated food-grade mineral oil provide supporting evidence that the absorption of hydrocarbons in mineral oils is limited. Five hours after dosing with 0.66 mL/kg of tritiated mineral oil ("liquid petrolatum U.S.P."), -75% of the administered radioactivity remained in the alimentary tract, and only 3% of the administered radioactivity was accounted for by radioactivity in other parts of the rat carcass (Ebert et al. 1966). About 80% of the administered radioactivity was recovered in feces during the first 2 days after treatment, and over 90% of the radioactivity in the feces was in the form of mineral oil. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that ingested mineral oil was poorly absorbed. Neither biliary excretion nor enterohepatic circulation of mineral oils was measured in this study, and thus, any quantitative estimates of the extent of absorption based on these data should be viewed as tentative. 

Slaughter performance (important for butcher) slaughter yield, balanced carcass weight, composition of carcass Meat quality (important for consumer) measurable or sensory meat quality criteria (appearance, colour, tenderness, juiciness, flavour, roast and boil capacity, biochemical values (e.g. pH-value)), and nutritional value... 

Pork is the product of a very complex process. All the various characteristics of pork quality cannot be assessed directly in each carcass because these measurements and assessments would be too expensive. Therefore, previous scientific quality assessment of meat is primarily an indirect approach based on a few easily detectable quantitative traits and on the prescription of minimal standards in relation to the product in terms of size or composition and in relation to the production process. The prescriptions and the exclusion criteria vary between countries or between labelling programmes. The most encompassing prescriptions are enshrined in the EC regulation on organic livestock production (EEC No. 2092/91). Owing to this approach, extreme deviations in quality traits and deleterious effects are prevented. However, there is still space left within these framework conditions for huge variability in pork quality. 

Intestinal absorption of diflubenzuron in laboratory rats, measured as the sum of urinary and biliary excretion, decreases with increasing dose from 50% at a single oral dose of 4 mg/kg BW to 4% at 900 mg/kg BW. Excretion is almost complete after 75 h at that time, up to 4% of the administered dose is recovered from skinned carcasses (Willems etal. 1980). About 80% of diflubenzuron metabolites excreted by rats seem to have the basic diflubenzuron structure intact. Three metabolites are largely excreted as conjugates in the bile. One metabolite, 2,6-difluorobenzoic acid, is excreted largely in urine. Its counterpart, 4-chlorophenylurea, was not present in urine or bile in appreciable quantity, nor was 4-chloroaniline detected (Willems et al. 1980). Lifetime feeding studies of 4-chloroaniline, a relatively common diflubenzuron metabolite, showed no compound-related effects in laboratory mice and rats (Gartrell 1981). 

The turkey vulture s sense of smell has even been recruited to detect leaks in natural gas pipelines. In 1938, Union Oil Co. injected ethanethiol into gas lines and watched for turkey vultures to appear over leaks (Stager, 1964). The vultures were attracted from up to 61 m altitude and 183 m downwind. To achieve this attraction, a detection threshold of 1 x 10 to 1 x 10 mol/l was necessary. Later, the vulture s detection thresholds were measured and found to be much higher even than that (Smith and Paselk, 1986 see p. 115). It still is not clear what compounds turkey vultures use to detect carcasses and at what concentrations. 

Seo et al. (1999) used a planar optic biosensor that measures the phase shift variation in refractive index due to antigen binding to antibody. In this method, they were able to detect S. enterica serovar T) himurium with a detection limit of 1 x 10 cfu/ml. When chicken carcass fluid was inoculated with 20 cfu/ml, the sensor was able to detect this pathogen after 12 h of nonselective enrichment. A compact fiber optic sensor was also used for detection of S. T) himurium at a detection limit of 1 X 10" cfu/ml (Zhou et al., 1997, 1998) however, its efficacy with food samples is unproven. Later, Kramer and Lim (2004) used the fiber optic sensor, RAPTOR , to detect this pathogen from spent irrigation water for alfalfa sprouts. They showed that the system can be used to detect Salmonella spiked at 50 cfu/g seeds. An evanescent wave-based multianalyte array biosensor (MAAB) was also employed for successful testing of chicken excreta and various food samples (sausage, cantaloupe, egg, sprout, and chicken carcass) for S. T) himurium (Taitt et ah, 2004). While some samples exhibited interference with the assay, overall, the detection limit for this system was reported to be 8 x 10 cfu/g. 

For residue monitoring purposes, it is frequently useful to define MRLs for a particular marker residue. A specific quantitative analytical method for measuring the concentration of the residue with the required sensitivity must be available. The MRL establishes the concentration of the marker residue permitted in the target tissue. Marker residue and target tissue are selected in such a way that total residues in each edible tissue are at or below its safe concentration if the marker residue is at or below the MRLs. For milk or eggs, it may be necessary to select a marker residue different from the marker residue selected for the target tissue representing the edible carcass. 

Conducting body composition analysis on rat carcasses presents challenges that are usually not faced when taking representative samples, because of hair, bone fragments, etc. Taking additional samples for analysis is recommended, until the standard error for these measurements falls into line with lab averages with more conventional samples. 

Jones, H.E., Lewis, R.M., Young, M.J., and Simm, G. 2004. Genetic parameters for carcass composition and muscularity in sheep measured by X-ray computer tomography, ultrasound and dissection. Livestock Prod. Sci. 90, 167-179. 

Chemical carcass analysis is considered the gold standard for accurate whole body composition analysis (13). It is, however, terminal and time consuming. The adiposity index can also be measured by dissecting and weighing of fat depots in individual animals (14). This method is also terminal and less accurate. The collection of visceral fat required can be particularly challenging as it is often spread throughout internal organs. 

At the first measuring time (6 h after dosing), the highest levels for dams were detected in the plasma (mean 58.99 xg equivalents/g), followed by the liver (43.50 xg equivalents/g) and the blood (38.16 ig equivalents/g) indicating a considerable extent of absorption. In the placenta, a mean of 16.10 (ig equivalents/g were found, in the amniotic fluid 3.06 xg equivalents/g (0.30%). Concentrations in fetal plasma (13.96 xg equivalents/g), fetal blood (11.19 xg equivalents/g), fetal carcass (7.39 (ig equivalents/g) and fetal liver (6.31 ig equivalents/g) were lower than the concentration in the maternal blood. Thus a close barrier function of the placenta with complete retention of radioactivity in this organ was not present. 

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