Pasta with Unripe Banana Flour: Physical, Texture, and Preference Study

ABSTRACT:  Banana is a starchy food that contains a high proportion of undigestible compounds such as resistant starch and nonstarch polysaccharides. Products with low glycemic response such as pasta are considered favorable to health. The objective of this study was to use unripe banana flour to make spaghetti with low-carbohydrates digestibility and evaluate its physical and texture characteristics, as well as consumer preference. Formulations with 100% durum wheat semolina (control) and formulations with 3 semolina: banana flour ratios (85: 15, 70: 30, and 55: 45) were prepared for spaghetti processing. The use of banana flour decreased the lightness and diameter of cooked spaghetti, and increased the water absorption of the product. Hardness and elasticity of spaghetti were not affected by banana flour, but adhesiveness and chewiness increased as the banana flour level in the blend rose. Spaghettis prepared in the laboratory (control and those with banana flour) did not show differences in preference by consumers. In general, the preference of spaghettis with different banana flour level was similar. The addition of a source of undigestible carbohydrates (banana flour) to spaghetti is possible without affecting the consumer preference.     

Delineation of female performance on the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure.

103 female college students (aged 18–24 yrs) were administered the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure on Copy, Immediate Recall, and 20-min Delayed Recall. Ss were grouped based on handedness, familial handedness, and academic major (mathematics/science and nonmath/science). Based on the scoring system of D. Waber and J. Holmes (see PA, Vols 72:24305 and 74:9917) the mathematics/science anomalous dominance groups obtained higher mean scores than all other subgroups, and the non-math/science familial right-handers were the low performers. The high-performing groups may have an increased ability to coordinate the use of left- and right-hemisphere processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Antimicrobial Activity and Hydrophobicity of Edible Whey Protein Isolate Films Formulated with Nisin and/or Glucose Oxidase

The use of edible antimicrobial films has been reported as a means to improve food shelf life through gradual releasing of antimicrobial compounds on the food surface. This work reports the study on the incorporation of 2 antimicrobial agents, nisin (N), and/or glucose oxidase (GO), into the matrix of Whey protein isolate (WPI) films at pH 5.5 and 8.5. The antimicrobial activity of the edible films was evaluated against Listeria innocua (ATCC 33090), Brochothrix thermosphacta (NCIB10018), Escherichia coli (JMP101), and Enterococcus faecalis (MXVK22). In addition, the antimicrobial activity was related to the hydrophobicity and water solubility of the WPI films. The greatest antibacterial activity was observed in WPI films containing only GO. The combined addition of N and GO resulted in films with lower antimicrobial activity than films with N or GO alone. In most cases, a pH effect was observed as greater antimicrobial response at pH 5.5 as well as higher film matrix hydrophobicity. WPI films supplemented with GO can be used in coating systems suitable for food preservation.     

Improved biocomposite development of poly(vinyl alcohol) and hydroxyapatite for tissue engineering scaffold fabrication using selective laser sintering

In scaffold guided tissue engineering (TE), temporary three-dimensional scaffolds are essential to guide and support cell proliferation. Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) is studied for the development of such scaffolds by eliminating pore spatial control problems faced in conventional scaffolds fabrication methods. SLS offers good user control over the scaffold’s microstructures by adjusting its main processing parameters, namely the laser power, scan speed and part bed temperature. This research focuses on the improvements in the fabrication of TE scaffolds using SLS with powder biomaterials, namely hydroxyapatite (HA) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). Grinding of as-received PVA powder to varying particle sizes and two methods of mixing are investigated as the preparation process to determine a better mixing method that would enhance the mixture homogeneity. Suitable sintering conditions for the improved biocomposite are then achieved by varying the important process parameters such as laser power, scan speed and part bed temperature. SLS fabricated samples are characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). FTIR results show that the grinding and sintering processes neither compromise the chemical composition of the PVA nor cause undue degradation. Visual analysis of the grinding, powder mixing and sintering effect are carried out with SEM. The SEM observations show improvements in the sintering effects. The favorable outcome ascertains PVA/HA biocomposite as a suitable material to be processed by SLS for TE scaffolds.     

Inactivation of E. coli, B. subtilis spores, and MS2, T4, and T7 phage using UV/H2O2 advanced oxidation

The goal of this study was to evaluate the potential of an advanced oxidation process (AOP) for microbiocidal and virucidal inactivation. The viruses chosen for this study were bacteriophage MS2, T4, and T7. In addition, Bacillus subtilis spores and Escherichia coli were studied. By using H(2)O(2) in the presence of filtered ultraviolet (UV) irradiation (UV/H(2)O(2)) to generate wavelengths above 295nm, the direct UV photolysis disinfection mechanism was minimized, while disinfection by H(2)O(2) was also negligible. Virus T4 and E. coli in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) were sensitive to >295nm filtered UV irradiation (without H(2)O(2)), while MS2 was very resistant. Addition of H(2)O(2) at 25mg/l in the presence of filtered UV irradiation over a 15min reaction time did not result in any additional disinfection of virus T4, while an additional one log inactivation for T7 and 2.5 logs for MS2 were obtained. With E. coli, only a slight additional effect was observed when H(2)O(2) was added. B. subtilis spores did not show any inactivation at any of the conditions used in this study. The OH radical exposure (CT value) was calculated to present the relationship between the hydroxyl radical dose and microbial inactivation.     

Betontechnologie und Dauerhaftigkeit von glasfaserbewehrten Bauteilen

Concrete Technology and Durability of Glass Fibre Reinforced Structures The durability of glass fibre reinforced concrete structures is significantly determined by matrix composition, the type of glass and its surface quality including necessary coatings. In the paper an experimental overview is given concerning special material influences and their interaction in the composite.     

Age, executive functions, and visuospatial functioning in healthy older adults.

Visuospatial test performance declines with age, whereas verbal test performance remains fairly constant. This pattern has been attributed to an age-related decline in either right-hemisphere functioning or executive functions (EFs), which may be associated with prefrontal cortical decline. Timed and untimed EF tests, and visuospatial tests requiring substantial integrative skill (I-VS) or little or no integrative skill (non-I-VS) were administered to young-old (aged 74 yrs and younger) and old-old (aged 75 yrs and older) healthy volunteers. Groups differed on I-VS tests and on many EF tests but not on non-I-VS tests. I-VS tests correlated highly with tests of EFs, but non-I-VS tests did not. These results are interpreted as supporting the proposal that an age-related decline in EF underlies the decline in visuospatial test performance observed with advancing age. Other issues regarding the relationship between age and EF are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Discovering a junction tree behind a Markov network by a greedy algorithm

In our paper (Annals of Operations Research, 193:71–90, 2012) we introduced a special kind of k?1-width junction tree, called k-th order cherry tree in order to approximate a joint probability distribution. The approximation is the best if the Kullback–Leibler divergence between the true joint probability distribution and the approximating one is minimal. Finding the best approximating k?1-width junction tree probability distribution is NP-complete if 2<k<d?1, where d is the dimension of the joint probability distribution (see Karger and Srebro in 12th ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms (SODA), 2001, Malvestuto in Kybernetika 48:825–844, 2012). In Broad Research in Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience (BRAIN), special issue on complexity in sciences and artificial intelligence, pp. 40–45, 2010 we also proved that the best approximating k?1-width junction tree probability distribution can be embedded into a k-th order cherry tree probability distribution. We introduce here a greedy algorithm resulting very good approximations in reasonable computing time. We prove then that if the Markov network which encodes the conditional independences of the multivariate probability distribution fulfills some requirements then our greedy algorithm is able to find the true probability distribution. Our algorithm uses just the k-th order marginal probability distributions as input. We compare the results of the greedy algorithm proposed in this paper with the greedy algorithm proposed by Malvestuto (IEEE Trans. Syst. Man Cybern. 21:1287–1294, 1991).     

Self-assembly and magnetically induced phase transition of three-dimensional colloidal photonic crystals

Charged superparamagnetic colloidal Fe(3)O(4)@SiO(2) core-shell particles were chosen as model dipolar soft spheres to study their crystallization and magnetically induced phase transition in suspensions. The 3D colloidal crystals feature excellent magnetically responsive photonic properties with strong diffraction, fast response and wide tunability.