SENSORY AND INSTRUMENTAL TEXTURE ANALYSIS OF CASSAVA (MANIHOT ESCULENTA, CRANTZ) ROOTS

Two cassava varieties, at three harvesting ages, 6, 12 and 24 months, were analyzed for sensory flavor and texture development. Maximum shear force, Texture Profile Analysis (TPA) and water absorption during cooking were determined at various sampling times. Changes during cooking were described by pseudo‐zero order models for water absorption, flavor and texture development for the fast cooking samples. The 24‐month‐old roots had higher variability and never reached optimum texture or flavor development. Significant pseudo first order models could represent hardness, cohesiveness and chewiness of the TPA, while springiness and adhesiveness varied in a non‐linear fashion. Maximum shear force was 111 N for raw samples and 8.1 N for samples that cooked in less than 25 min. Samples that required longer cook time had on the average a maximum shear force of 19 N.     

Gel-Forming Characteristics and Rheological Properties of Kefiran

A water soluble polysaccharide “kefiran” produced by Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens was examined for its gel-forming and rheological properties. Kefiran (3%) formed gel in the presence of ethanol (4–10%). The gel strength in 8% ethanol was comparable to that of 3% gelatin gel in water. Addition of casein (3%) increased gel strength 1.5–2.0 fold. The unique properties of kefiran may make it a useful food additive.     

Decision Support for DCs Location and Distribute Range Planning: Case Study in Asia-Pacific Region

A major concern is to locate manufacturing plants and/or distribution centers to serve the needs of consumers widely and rapidly with reasonably distributive cost and flexible delivery time. The purpose of this research is to help enhance a decision support for three distribution center locations with different ranges of area in order that the distributors are able to serve appropriately the retailers in twelve large cities or capitals of the nine countries in Asia-Pacific region. The researcher applies the theory of supply chain and logistics management systems with Excel, Visual Basic and Genetic Algorithms programs to find the research results. The research results revealed that the interfaces of Excel, Visual Basic, and Genetic Algorithms programs helped decision support in distribution range selection for 3 distribution center locations. Each of which had different ranges of area for distribution with a rapidly, flexibly distributed time. However, variables resulting in a decision-making should be adjusted under certain circumstances for more reliable, specific needs.     

Evaluation of the Fatigue Characteristics of Laser-processed Hot Work Tool Steel Based on Reliability

It is reported that laser-processing is effective to repair the heat checks, which are fine shallow cracks on a surfaceof die-casting dies.     

DNA ANALYSIS FOR IDENTIFICATION OF FOOD-ASSOCIATED FOREIGN SUBSTANCES

To identify food‐associated foreign substances, a DNA analysis consisting of 18S rDNA sequencing and homology search analysis has been developed. In this method, we designed universal primer pairs for specific amplification of animal and plant 18S rDNA and constructed an original DNA database storing partial 18S rDNA sequences of 222 organisms commonly used for culinary purposes. In the model experiments, food materials were successfully identified, indicating that our DNA analysis method can be practically applied to the identification of food‐associated foreign substances. It is also expected that this method complements conventional morphological and compositional analysis, leading to more accurate and reliable identification of food‐associated foreign substances.     

Bound Water Associated with 7S and 11S Soy Proteins Determined by Vapor Sorption Isotherms and Pulsed NMR

Bound water associated with freeze-dried 7S and 11S proteins was characterized by applying both sorption isotherm and proton pulsed NMR techniques. Over the a_w range 0.10 to 0.97, the water binding capacity of the 7S protein was superior to that of the US protein. There was no significant difference in sorption capacity between unhealed and heated proteins. The isotherms showed a biphasic linear relation so that two states of bound water, namely polymer and capillary water, were distinguished. NMR data followed isotherm data. The NMR mobility of the polymer water was less than that of the capillary water, as expected. However, high mobility was not related to high moisture content in the capillary water region.     

A SPECIFIC QUALITATIVE DETECTION METHOD FOR PEANUT (ARACHIS HYPOGAEA) IN FOODS USING POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION

A qualitative method for detection of peanuts in foods using polymerase chain reaction was developed. A universal primer pair CP 03‐5′/CP 03‐3′ was designed to confirm the validity of the DNAs for PCR. The plant‐specific amplified fragments were detected from 13 kinds of plants using the universal primer pair. In addition, for the specific detection of peanuts with high sensitivity, the primer pair agg 04‐5′/agg 05‐3′ was designed to detect the gene encoding the peanut agglutinin precursor. The primer pair specifically generates a 95‐bp amplified fragment from peanut genomic DNA. Five hundred femto grams of peanut genomic DNA can be detected using the established method. The same qualitative results were obtained from both model processed and nonprocessed food samples containing 0.001, 0.01 and 0.1% of peanut. Moreover, it was shown that the trace amount of peanut in the commercial food products could be qualitatively detected using this method. The reproducibility and applicability of the proposed methods were verified in a six‐laboratory collaborative study.     

桥梁交通振动辐射的低频噪声声场分布研究

交通荷载引起的桥梁振动辐射低频噪声为环境噪声污染的重要来源,分析该低频噪声声场分布特性对评价环境噪声污染程度提供重要依据。结合车桥耦合振动理论和声传播理论,建立了车桥耦合振动辐射低频噪声问题的边界元法求解体系,结合一座钢桥面板连续梁桥,对交通荷载作用下桥梁振动产生的低频噪声声场进行了实验分析和数值模拟,并考察了地面的声反射作用对桥梁附近声场分布和声压水平的影响。分析结果表明,边界元方法用于评价车桥振动辐射低频噪声问题具有较好的适用性和较高的精度,并且能够很好地反映声场在空间的分布规律。算例中的钢桥面板梁桥在车辆荷载作用下由振动引起的低频噪声声压水平与测点距离桥面的距离相关,桥面下方和上方的声压分布规律及水平相似。地面声反射对桥面附近声场的影响显著,考虑地面声反射时,地面与桥面间的距离是影响声压水平的重要因素。     

Transmission Electron Microscopy of Annealed ZrO2+8 Mol% Sc2O3

The influence of heat treatment (800°C for 200 h) on the micro-structure of 8 mol% Sc₂O₃-ZrO₂ was investigated by XRD and TEM. The starting material was initially characterized and found to contain predominantly cubic-fluorite phase grains, with <5% of the grain containing the rhombohedral β phase. The β phase was positively identified by the analysis of electron diffraction pattern and by quantitative energy dispersive X-ray analysis. On aging, the relative amount of β phase was found to increase to about 15 to 20% by XRD measurement; this was confirmed by TEM observation. The orientation relation between the different variants of the β phase within a grain was determined to be (100)_r||(010)_r, and the geometrical arrangement of these variants within the grain was deduced using a 2¹/₂D imaging electron microscopy technique.     

基于遗传算法的车辆参数识别方法

为了识别桥梁交通振动试验中行走车辆的参数,提出基于遗传算法的参数识别方法.利用小波变换方法由车辆自由衰减振动响应获得车辆的模态参数,进一步联合应用遗传算法及复数特征值计算方法,由模态参数反算车辆的转动惯量性质、刚度以及阻尼系数等物理参数.通过3组模拟数据的计算分析,验证了遗传算法用于车辆参数识别的有效性.以实际车辆的振动试验实测结果为例,检验了遗传算法在车辆参数识别中的适用性.算例以及应用实例表明：应用遗传算法能精确识别出车辆的物理参数.