Nutritional quality and acceptability of a product formulated with mechanically deboned poultry meat,plasma and bovine red cell

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the nutritional quality and acceptability of a meat product formulated with mechanically deboned poultry meat (40%), bovine plasma (40%) and bovine red cells (3%) as major ingredients. Proteins, fat, humidity and ash were determined by AOAC procedure, iron and calcium by Atomic Absorption Spectrometry and essential amino acids by HPLC. Biological evaluation was performed using digestibility and PER procedures. To evaluate the acceptability (flavor, color and odor) of the product were used 277 children. Results indicated that 100 g of the formulated meat product contain 10.7 g of proteins, 4.4 g of fat, 68.6 g of humidity, 2.9 g of ash, 4.9 mg of iron, 46.6 mg of calcium. Essential amino acids are above the FAO requirements for a highly nutritional protein digestibility (92.4%) and PER (2.18). Acceptability was 91.3% for flavor, 81.2% for color and 92.4% for odor. The high nutritional quality and acceptability along with the low cost make this meat product suitable for government social programs.     

Relationship among turbidity, particle counts and bacteriological quality within water distribution lines

The turbidity standard for water quality was evaluated in relation to total particle counts, heterotrophic plate counts and epifluorescence direct cell counts of three different municipal drinking-waters. Turbidity and particle counts were directly proportional. There was no predictable relationship between bacteriological quality and turbidity or particle counts. Heterotrophic plate counts under-estimated epifluorescence direct cell counts by a factor of at least 500. Water quality degradation occurred in municipal drinking-water systems because of intermittent short duration events that resulted in high turbidity, particle counts and heterotrophic plate counts. Further, for all parameters measured variability increased with distance traveled within a pipe except for ground water.     

Farmers,fires, and forests: a green alternative to shifting cultivation for conservation of the Maya forest?

When fires blazed through Mexico's forests in 1998, the country experienced a new sense of urgency in its attempts to combat ecosystem degradation and loss of biodiversity. Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (SEMARNAT, the federal environmental protection agency) identified the use of fire in agriculture as a major contributor to the conflagration. Traditional “slash-and-burn” systems are still widely practiced in the southeast of Mexico, and finding a substitute for burning, especially in and near protected areas, became imperative (SEMARNAT, 2001). Experience from different parts of Central America indicated that green manure/cover crop systems (g/cc) could increase soil fertility, reduce erosion, control weeds and raise the yield of maize; the hope was that this system could replace slash-and-burn practices with their attendant risk of forest fires. We present the case study of a project introducing a green cover crop to traditional, resource-poor, maize farmers in one community of the Yucatan peninsula and preliminary results from a similar project in the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, discussing the data in the light of the on-going debates concerning both fire policy and soil erosion. We conclude that, in spite of demonstrating some advantages, adoption in the peninsula has been hindered by environmental, economic and socio-cultural factors. Mexican efforts to eliminate fire from the forests must also be assessed with reference to the scientific literature by fire experts and historical ecologists, indicating that prohibition of small fires may actually decrease total biodiversity, while increasing the probabilities of catastrophic forest fires.     

Variation in Cyanogenic Glycosides Across Populations of Wild Lima Beans (Phaseolus lunatus) Has No Apparent Effect on Bruchid Beetle Performance

Cyanogenic glycosides (CNGs) act as feeding or oviposition deterrents and are toxic after enzymatic hydrolysis, thus negatively affecting herbivore performance. While most studies on CNGs focus on leaf herbivores, here we examined seeds from natural populations of Phaseolus lunatus in Mexico. The predominant CNGs, linamarin and lotaustralin, were quantified for each population by using ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. We also examined whether there was a correlation between the concentration of CNGs and the performance of the Mexican bean beetle, Zabrotes subfasciatus, on seeds from each population^. The concentrations of CNGs in the seeds were relatively high compared to the leaves and were significantly variable among populations. Surprisingly, this had little effect on the performance of the bruchid beetles. Zabrotes subfasciatus can tolerate high concentrations of CNGs, most likely because of the limited β-glucosidase activity in the seeds. Seed herbivory does not appear to liberate hydrogen cyanide due to the low water content in the seed. This study illustrates the importance of quantifying the natural variation and activity of toxic compounds in order to make relevant biological inferences about their role in defense against herbivores.     

Cuticular hydrocarbons ofAedes hendersoni cockerell andA. triseriatus (SAY)

Field-caught adult male and femaleAedes hendersoni are difficult to distinguish from the sibling speciesA. triseriatus. We found that mosquitoes from the same sex of the sibling species can not be readily separated either by unique cuticular hydrocarbon components or by differences in percent composition of those components. Multivariate analysis of the cuticular hydrocarbon data does not provide good separation. Cuticular hydrocarbons were identified using gas chromatography electron-impact mass spectrometry and gas chromatography chemical-ionization mass spectrometry. Flame-ionization capillary gas chromatography was used for quantitative analysis of individual mosquitoes. Sixty-four hydrocarbons with chain lengths from C₁₆ to greater than C₄₆ were common to both species. Identified hydrocarbon components weren-alkanes, monomethylalkanes, dimethylalkanes, trimethylalkanes, and alkenes.Diptera: Culicidae.     

Functionalized polymer foams as metal ion chelating agents with rapid complexation kinetics

Foams prepared from vinylbenzyl chloride and crosslinked with divinylbenzene were functionalized with trialkylphosphite and tetralkylvinylidene diphosphonate. It was determined that the foams could be uniformly functionalized. Batch studies with the functionalized foams show that high levels of metal ion complexation can be achieved. Foams may therefore offer an important alternative to beads for rapid complexation reactions due to their highly porous structure. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 68: 1911–1916, 1998     

Uncertainties in modeling secondary organic aerosols: three-dimensional modeling studies in Nashville/western Tennessee

The formation of secondary organic aerosols (SOA) is simulated for the Nashville/western Tennessee domain using three recent SOA modules incorporated into the three-dimensional air quality model, CMAQ. The Odum/Griffin et al. and CMU/STI modules represent SOA absorptive partitioning into a mixture of primary and secondary particulate organic compounds (OC), with some differences in the formulation of the absorption process and the selection of SOA species and their precursors. Empirical representations based on measured laboratory SOA yields are used for condensable organic products in both these modules. The AEC module simulates SOA absorption into organic and aqueous particulate phases, and a representation based on an explicit gas-phase mechanism is used in the AEC module. Predicted SOA concentrations can vary by a factor of 10 or more. In general, the gas-phase mechanistic approach predicts a higher yield of SOA than those based on laboratory yields. There exist some differences in the two empirical modules despite their similar basis on experimental data. All three modules predict a dominance of SOA of biogenic origin as compared to SOA of anthropogenic origin. The causes for differences among the three SOA modules include the representation of terpenes, the mechanistic versus empirical representation of SOA-forming reactions, the identities of SOA, and the parameters used in the gas/particle partitioning calculations. Two sensitivity studies show that formation of water-soluble SOA and temperature dependence may be areas of key uncertainties affecting current models.     

Organizational impact of system quality,information quality,and service quality

Increased organizational dependence on information systems drives management attention towards improving information systems’ quality. A recent survey shows that “Improve IT quality” is one of the top concerns facing IT executives. As IT quality is a multidimensional measure, it is important to determine what aspects of IT quality are critical to organizations to help Chief Information Officers (CIOs) to devise effective IT quality improvement strategies. In this research, we model the relationship between information systems’ (IS) quality and organizational impact. We hypothesize greater organizational impact in situations in which system quality, information quality and service quality are high. We also hypothesize a positive relationship between system quality and information quality. We test our hypotheses using survey data. Our structural equation model exhibits a good fit with the observed data. Our results show that IS service quality is the most influential variable in this model (followed by information quality and system quality), thus highlighting the importance of IS service quality for organizational performance. This paper contributes theoretically to IS success models through the system quality-to-information quality and IS quality-to-organizational impact links. Implications of our results for practice and research are discussed.     

The uncertainty interaction problem in self-adaptive systems

Software and Systems Modeling - The problem of mitigating uncertainty in self-adaptation has driven much of the research proposed in the area of software engineering for self-adaptive systems in...     

Synthesis and characterization of novel alkyd-silicone hyperbranched nanoresins with high solid contents

Hyperbranched alkyd-silicone nanoresins (ASiHBRs) with high solid content were synthesized by etherification reaction between a hyperbranched alkyd resin (HABR) and Z-6018 silicone. ASiHBRs were characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and several other techniques. NMR spectra show the presence of aromatic rings, -Si-O and -C-O; grafting was successful. The molar masses of ASiHBRs determined by GPC are higher than that of HABR. The hydroxyl values decrease with increasing silicone content. ASiHBRs have low viscosities what allows easier film formation. Hydrodynamic dimensions, refractive indices, glass transition temperatures, gloss and hardness of ASiHBRs increase with increasing silicone contents. Low contents of volatile organic compounds provide more environmentally friendly coatings.