Ante-mortem detection of PSE and DFD by infrared thermography of pigs before stunning.
Using water-holding capacity and colour measurements (L and b values) as objective quality parameters, we have observed an increasing incidence of meat quality defects with the increasing skin surface temperature of pigs by infrared thermography prior to stunning. Below 32·2°C, 50% of the 32 pigs measured had normal meat while the other half showed meat quality defects. Above 32·2°C, however, 71% of the 49 pigs showed meat quality problems classified as moderate PSE (6%), PSE (30%), moderate DFD (22%) and DFD (37%). At this temperature level, meat quality of the remaining pigs was normal and decreased to 29%. Although infrared thermography of live animals cannot predict whether the meat will be PSE or DFD, it seems to be a practical and rapid method to detect pigs who will yield a significant proportion of meat quality defects. An early post-mortem identification of meat quality could supply the missing information.
Title : Infrared Thermography of Market Hogs as a Predictor of Pork Quality-NPB # 02-025
Infrared thermography (IRT) was used as a non-invasive, rapid method of detecting pigs with surface temperatures warmer and/or cooler than normal, to predict pork quality. We used four replications consisting of a total of 556 pigs (154, 98, 145, 158, respectively) were conducted in ambient temperatures ranging from -2 to 26 ̊C (9 to 14, 21 to 26, -2 to 1, 6 to 9, respectively). Hot pigs (higher than 1.3 sd from the mean) in replications 1 and 4 had a higher percentage of “high expressible moisture pigs” (EM>170 mg/g) than normal pigs (44 vs. 31% and 36 vs. 12%, respectively). Cold pigs (lower than 1.3 SD from the mean) in replication 2 (pigs were misted with water) had a higher percentage of “high expressible moisture” pigs (EM>170mg/g) than normal pigs (44 vs. 22%). However in replication three where environmental temperatures were the coldest, no differences in the percentage of high expressible moisture pigs were detected. Infrared thermography detected pigs more susceptible of producing poor meat quality, but the effectiveness of infrared thermography was dependent on environmental conditions, which may trigger physiological changes in the flow of blood to the skin’s surface. Introduction: Unrealized revenue due to the PSE condition exceeds $275 million annually for the U.S. pork industry. Currently, rapid methods for identifying individual or groups of pigs likely to produce in PSE meat are not in commercial use. If a method was utilized prior to slaughter that was practical and accurate, intervention strategies could be put in place to reduce the risk or prevalence of PSE carcasses. Antemortem use of infrared thermography may offer the potential to identify pigs that have warmer and cooler temperatures than normal and which have an increased risk of poor meat quality. Once identified, these pigs could be segregated and management decisions made to help optimize their pork quality.
Code switching in Ahdaf Soueif's The Map of Love
This article examines the phenomenon of code switching in The Map of Love (1999) by the Egyptian—British writer Ahdaf Soueif. Though she chooses English as a medium for her creative expression, Soueif deploys Arabic in her narrative to represent different aspects of the linguistic and cultural norms of Egyptian society. The article's methodology is informed by Kachru's framework on contact literature and his categorization of the occurrence of literary code switching or bilingual creativity into different strategies that encompass cultural and linguistic processes. The results indicate the predominance in The Map of Love of the discourse strategies of employing lexical borrowing, culture-bound references and translational transfer. Finally, the article analyzes the functional motivation of code switching in the postcolonial context of the novel and how the use of certain creative strategies might enhance or diminish the narrative's effectiveness and readability.