Effect of pre-slaughter physiological conditions on the oxidative stability of colour and lipid during chill storage of pork

The potential to tenderize beef muscles by the injection of lactic acid (0.5 M, 10% w/w) was studied using the pectoralis profundus muscle from cull cows. The injection was performed either 1 h (pre rigor) or 24 h (post rigor) post mortem, and the meat was stored for 2 or 14 days post mortem. Both treatments caused a rapid pH drop to around 5.0 within 4 h of injection. Other effects were: (1) an accelerated release of lysosomal enzymes into the cytosol; (2) a greater degradation of myosin heavy chains; (3) ultrastructural alterations of the myofibrils which included a general weakening or rupture in the M-lines and, to a lesser extent, in the I-bands; (4) a decreased heat stability of perimysial collagen indicated by a lower insoluble collagen content, lower differential scanning calorimetry transition temperature, and lower transition temperatures in isometric tension tests on muscle strips. The lactic acid injections improved significantly the textural traits of the meat (shear value, tensile strength, sensory scores) at 2 days post mortem with little further improvement when storage was extended to 14 days post mortem. Changes in texture were of similar amplitude at both post mortem injection times. The tenderization mechanisms of lactic acid injection are discussed.     

The face in the crowd effect unconfounded: Happy faces, not angry faces, are more efficiently detected in single- and multiple-target visual search tasks.

Is it easier to detect angry or happy facial expressions in crowds of faces? The present studies used several variations of the visual search task to assess whether people selectively attend to expressive faces. Contrary to widely cited studies (e.g., ?hman, Lundqvist, & Esteves, 2001) that suggest angry faces “pop out” of crowds, our review of the literature found inconsistent evidence for the effect and suggested that low-level visual confounds could not be ruled out as the driving force behind the anger superiority effect. We then conducted 7 experiments, carefully designed to eliminate many of the confounding variables present in past demonstrations. These experiments showed no evidence that angry faces popped out of crowds or even that they were efficiently detected. These experiments instead revealed a search asymmetry favoring happy faces. Moreover, in contrast to most previous studies, the happiness superiority effect was shown to be robust even when obvious perceptual confounds—like the contrast of white exposed teeth that are typically displayed in smiling faces—were eliminated in the happy targets. Rather than attribute this effect to the existence of innate happiness detectors, we speculate that the human expression of happiness has evolved to be more visually discriminable because its communicative intent is less ambiguous than other facial expressions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fatigue and cyclic creep of replicated microcellular aluminium

The cyclic behaviour of 400 μm pore size replicated aluminium foam is assessed in tension-tension fatigue with a stress ratio equal to 0.1, keeping the load amplitude constant, for relative density values comprised between 0.175 and 0.220. The number of cycles to failure ranges from 6 × 10² (lowest relative density) to 5 × 10⁶ (highest relative density). The foams display cyclic creep coupled with a strong influence of relative density on their general fatigue performance. Data analysis shows that the foam fatigue behaviour is dominated by cyclic creep, which governs both the deformation and the fatigue life of the cycled specimens, yielding characteristics globally in line with what is expected knowing the metal making the foam.     

Design and performance characterization of electronic structure calculations on massively parallel supercomputers: a case study of GPAW on the Blue Gene/P architecture

Density function theory (DFT) is the most widely employed electronic structure method because of its favorable scaling with system size and accuracy for a broad range of molecular and condensed‐phase systems. The advent of massively parallel supercomputers has enhanced the scientific community's ability to study larger system sizes. Ground‐state DFT calculations on ∼ 10³ valence electrons using traditional algorithms can be routinely performed on present‐day supercomputers. The performance characteristics of these massively parallel DFT codes on > 10⁴ computer cores are not well understood. The GPAW code was ported an optimized for the Blue Gene/P architecture. We present our algorithmic parallelization strategy and interpret the results for a number of benchmark test cases.Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Single-chamber atrial pacing is better than single chamber ventricular pacing in patients with sick sinus syndrome. Results of long-term follow up in a prospective randomized study

In a study of 225 patients with sick sinus syndrome randomized to single chamber atrial pacing (n = 110) or ventricular pacing (n = 115), atrial pacing was associated with less atrial fibrillation and thromboembolism after 3.3 years follow-up. To determine whether this beneficial effect of atrial pacing is maintained at long-term, follow-up was extended. Follow-up visits were at 3 months, 12 months, and then once every year, and included physical examination, ECG, and pacemaker check-up. After 5.5 years follow-up, all-cause mortality, cardiovascular deaths, atrial fibrillation, thromboembolism, and heart failure were significantly less in the atrial group. AV block occurred in four patients in the atrial group. The beneficial effect of atrial pacing observed previously is enhanced substantially after extended follow-up. Patients with sick sinus syndrome should be treated with an atrial pacing system.     

The importance of viscoplastic strain rate in the formation of center cracks during the start-up phase of direct-chill cast aluminum extrusion ingots

A comparison of experimental observations and computer simulations shows that trends in the occurrence and severity of center cracks in direct-chill (DC) cast ingots due to different initial casting speed histories may best be explained by the changes in viscoplastic strain rate close to the center of the base of the ingot. The thermomechanical histories of five ingots were simulated and correlations between stresses, strains, strain rates, and liquid pressure drops due to feeding restrictions were considered.     

Quality changes in semi-hard cheese packaged in a poly(lactic acid) material

A study was performed in order to evaluate the influence of barrier properties of a poly(lactic acid) (PLA) relative to an amorphous poly(ethylene terephthalate)/polyethylene (APET/PE) packaging material on quality of Danbo cheese during light exposure and storage in the dark. Results showed that moisture loss from cheeses packaged in PLA was approximately 10 times higher than from the reference packages, but dry surface spots were not observed before 56 days of storage in the PLA packages. Secondary lipid oxidation products were primarily developed when both oxygen and light were present. During light exposure, lipid oxidation of cheeses packaged in PLA was rather limited for the first 56 days of storage, whereas lipid oxidation was almost negligible when the cheeses were protected from light during the 84 days of shelf life. The results indicate that the present PLA can be used for packaging of Danbo cheese for a shelf life maximum of 56 days in order to protect against both moisture loss and lipid oxidation.     

Is schizophrenia really on the decrease?

The viscoelastic properties of a widely used temporary soft lining material have been monitored in vivo and in vitro using a force distance probe. Over a period of 8 weeks' clinical use, Coe Soft demonstrated a significant and continued reduction in compliance with time, the reduction being particularly rapid over the first week. These changes were not associated with a reduction in measured lining thickness for which significant changes were not found. In vitro immersion in water, saline or artificial saliva was characterized by a rapid and significant reduction in compliance values over the first week. Further continued reductions in compliance values were only observed in artificial saliva over 8 weeks, and on prolonged immersion in distilled water over 96 weeks. All reductions in compliance were significantly less than those seen clinically.     

Experimental hypothermia: effects of core cooling and rewarming on hemodynamics, coronary blood flow, and myocardial metabolism in dogs

Conflicting results have been reported as to the extent that cardiovascular function can be reestablished after rewarming from hypothermia. We measured hemodynamic function, myocardial metabolism and tissue water content in dogs core-cooled to 25 degrees C and later rewarmed. At 25 degrees C left ventricular (LV) systolic pressure (LVSP) was 54% +/- 4%, maximum rate of LV pressure rise (LV dP/dtmax) 44% +/- 5%, aortic pressure (AOP) 50% +/- 6%, heart rate (HR) 40% +/- 0%, cardiac output (CO) 37% +/- 5%, myocardial blood flow (MBF) 34% +/- 5%, and myocardial oxygen consumption (MVO2) 8% +/- 1%, compared to precooling. Stroke volume (SV) and LV end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP) were unchanged. As normothermia (37 degrees C) was reestablished, the depression of cardiac function and myocardial metabolism remained the same as that at 25 degrees C: LVSP 71% +/- 6%, LV dP/dtmax 73% +/- 7%, SV 60% +/- 9%, AOP 70% +/- 6%, CO 57% +/- 9%, MBF 53% +/- 8%, and MVO2 44% +/- 8% HR, in contrast, recovered to precooling values. The arterial concentrations of glucose and free fatty acids (FFA) did not change significantly during the experimental period, whereas an increase in lactate of nonmyocardial origin appeared after rewarming. Increased myocardial contents of creatine phosphate and water were found during both hypothermia and rewarming. The present study demonstrates a persistent depression of cardiac function after hypothermia and rewarming in spite of adequate energy stores. Thus, a direct influence on myocardial contractile function by the cooling and rewarming process is suggested.     

Beyond fusion,annihilation reactions of confined hydrogen

Theoretical mechanisms showing how antineutrons can enter a region of confined hydrogen or deuterium and decay into antiprotons is given. An annihilation reaction of a proton and antiproton releases energy. This starts a series of deuterium fissions that increase the probability of annihilation reactions. The gamma rays produced lose momentum via radiation pressure vibrations of the surrounding confinement lattice. This constitutes a change of radiation energy to kinetic energy, exhibited as heating of the lattice material. A likely mechanism of mass changing to energy is the annihilation of large particles breaking into a multiplicity of repeated less energetic positron annihilations. The explanation given shows that it is possible in theory to utilize the tremendous energy available from annihilation reactions. The harnessing of this final frontier of energy and power could ultimately prove to be the most useful energy source, particularly for propulsion systems. The reaction cited may be the initial step in using the energy from annihilation reactions. Excess heat from a Pons — Fleischmann-type reaction can be accounted for as annihilation, not fusion.