Flaxseed in Breadmaking: Effects on Sensory Quality, Aging, and Composition of Bakery Products

ABSTRACT:  This paper describes the effect of flaxseed on two bread formulations. The quality of bread rolls—containing flaxseed—and the quality of cinnamon rolls—containing flaxseed and flaxseed oil—is determined by sensory evaluation (texture, odor, and flavor), instrumental texture measurement and chemical analysis (fatty acids, fiber, secoisolarisiresinol diglycoside, and cadmium). Bread aging is monitored by measuring sensory attributes during storage. The results indicate that the flaxseed rolls retain moisture and softness more efficiently than the control rolls that do not contain flaxseed. No off-odors were detected during the storage period from 0 to 6 d at room temperature (+22 °C), although flaxseed rolls and cinnamon rolls were discovered to be high in unsaturated fats. The major fatty acid in both bakery samples that contained flaxseed was α-linolenic acid. The flaxseed rolls were also high in fiber. Therefore, from a nutritional viewpoint flaxseed shows beneficial properties in breadmaking. It has a positive impact on the texture parameters during storage as well as on the nutritional composition, for example, the content of fiber and unsaturated fats.     

Gas-liquid mass transfer in bubble columns with a T-junction nozzle for gas dispersion

Bubble break-up, gas holdup, and the gas-liquid volumetric mass transfer coefficient are studied in a bubble column reactor with simultaneous injection of a gas and liquid through a T-junction nozzle. The theoretical dependence of bubble break-up and the volumetric mass transfer coefficient on liquid velocity in the nozzle is developed on the basis of isotropic turbulence theory. It is shown that correlations which are developed based on liquid jet kinetic power per nozzle volume explain average gas holdup and the volumetric mass transfer coefficient within an error of 15% for all gas and liquid flow rates and nozzle diameters used. Experiments with a larger scale column, height 4.64 m and diameter 0.98 m, show a transition from homogeneous to heterogeneous flow at a certain liquid flow rate through the nozzle. Liquid composition was found to have a significant effect on gas-liquid mass transfer. A phenol concentration of 10–30 mg/l in water increases the volumetric mass transfer coefficient of oxygen by 100%. This phenomenon may have significance in the chemical oxidation of wastewater.     

Temperature Coefficient of Microwave Resonance Frequency of a Low-Temperature Cofired Ceramic (LTCC) System

A family of low-temperature cofired ceramics (LTCC) based on mixtures of a commercial dielectric, MgTiO₃–CaTiO₃(designated MMT-20) and ZnO, SiO₂, and B₂O₃, has been investigated for microwave applications. The main objective was to optimize the three key properties—relative permittivity (ɛ_r), dissipation factor (DF), and the temperature dependence of the microwave resonance frequency (τ_f)—through adjustment of the composition. A further objective was to estimate the limits on compositional variability while maintaining acceptable properties. The developed microstructures, after firing at 900°C, were studied using X-ray diffractometry and scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive spectrometry techniques and compared with the dielectric parameters. The optimum composition (wt%) was found to lie in the ranges 45.8–44.9, ZnO; 17.25–17.55, B₂O₃; 6.95–7.05, SiO₂; and 30–30.5, MMT-20, yielding values of ɛ_r= 8.5–9.5, DF < 0.93 × 10⁻³ ppm/K, and τ_f< ±10 ppm/K.     

Fluid dynamics of a stationary weld pool

Flow driven by a combination of thermocapillary, Lorentz, and buoyant forces has been investigated in an axisymmetric and stationary weld pool numerically. By assuming a small value for the capillary number, the top and bottom boundaries can be taken to be flat, and the surface deflections can be calculateda posteriori as a domain perturbation. Owing to thin boundary layers that exist at the top free surface and next to the vertical wall, very fine grids are required in these regions in order to obtain an accurate solution to the Boussinesq form of the Navier-Stokes equations. This was done by solving the governing equations by multigrid methods to which a local grid refinement technique was added. Welding of both aluminum and steel were considered. The essential difference between these two materials for this analysis is that the Prandtl number of aluminum is an order of magnitude smaller than that of steel. Through a parametric study, the thermocapillary forces and Lorentz forces were found to dominate buoyancy forces in a typical welding situation. Although the flows in weld pools include a pronounced recirculating region near the top surface, isotherms could be determined in the case of aluminum to a good approximation by a conduction analysis, owing to the smallness of its Prandtl number and the relative thinness of the welded plate considered. For steel, the isotherms deflect considerably for high current inputs. Formerly with the Department of Mechanical Engineering, The Ohio State University.     

Anti-collagenolytic mechanism of action of doxycycline treatment in rheumatoid arthritis

Tetracyclines exert, independently of their antimicrobial activity, anti-collagenolytic effects by inhibiting activities of human interstitial collagenases and by preventing the oxidative activation of latent pro-collagenases. We tested the clinical response to a 3-month doxycycline in concert with collagenase activity in 12 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. Patients received 150 mg/day of doxycycline for 3 months. Clinical assessments at zero, six and 12 weeks comprised classification of the functional class, joint score index, Hb, CRP, ESR, health assessment questionnaire, visual analogue scale (VAS) of pain, pain disability index, comprehensible psychopathological rating scale (CPRS), SDS-PAGE laser densitometric collagenase activity measurements and Western blots. Significant reductions were seen in joint score index (P < 0.01), pain VAS (P < 0.05) and some CPRS parameters. Furthermore, collagenase activities measured from saliva by quantitative SDS-PAGE electrophoresis were significantly reduced during the 12-week intervention (P < 0.01). Western blots demonstrated intact 75-80 kDa enzyme protein (classic neutrophil collagenase), but also a newly discovered mesenchymal, less glycosylated 40-55 kDa MMP-8 subtype of fibroblast/chondrocytic origin. These results indicate that the documented favourable clinical response may in part be due to in vivo inhibition of classic neutrophil and mesenchymal collagenase/MMP-8 activities produced by doxycycline. This anti-collagenolytic doxycycline effects is mediated through inhibition of the enzyme activity and not through degradation of the enzyme, which may have contributed to the reportedly reduced tissue destruction, as has been seen in clinical studies concerning RA as well as reactive arthritis.     

Competitive exclusion of enteropathogens from human intestinal mucus by Bifidobacterium strains with acquired resistance to bile--a preliminary study

The ability to inhibit the adhesion and to displace selected pathogens from human intestinal mucus of two Bifidobacterium strains with acquired resistance to bile, were assessed and compared with those of their bile sensitive original strains. A preliminary characterization of the macromolecules involved in the adhesion was also carried out. The inhibition of adhesion and the displacement of enteropathogens previously adhered were found to be specific, depending on the strains used. The cholate-resistant strain Bifidobacterium bifidum M6dCo, that adhered more to mucus than its original, was able to inhibit the adhesion and to displace pathogens from mucus significantly more than its original cholate-sensitive strain B. bifidum M6. Contrary to this, two strains showing similar adhesion levels, B. bifidum A1 and its bile resistant derivative B. bifidum A1dOx, did not display any differences. Different molecules appear to be involved in the adhesion of the strains B. bifidum M6 and B. bifidum M6dCo. These differences in the cellular surface may explain the differences in competitive exclusion observed between both strains.     

Early integration of safety to the mechatronic system design process by the functional failure identification and propagation framework

The research goal of this paper is to introduce a risk analysis methodology that can be applied at the early concept design phase, whose purpose is to identify fault propagation paths that cross disciplinary boundaries, and determine the combined impact of several faults in software-based automation subsystems, electric subsystems and mechanical subsystems. Specifically, the Functional Failure Identification and Propagation (FFIP) analysis framework is proposed to perform a simulation-based analysis of functional failure propagation. The focus is on risk assessment, the earliest activities of the safety process, in which hazards are identified and safety requirements are derived. It is argued that current risk assessment methods are not sufficient for concurrent integration of the safety process to the design process of a complex mechatronic system. In order to facilitate the integration of risk assessment to such systems at the earliest design stages, the design is expressed with syntax and semantics that is able to describe the propagation of failures throughout the system and especially across the boundaries of the mechatronic domains. A boiling water nuclear reactor (limited to the reactor core and steam outlets) is used as a case study. The results demonstrate the capability to handle several fault propagation paths in one scenario for hazard identification at the early, functional, design stage. Specifically, it is shown that FFIP is able to identify fault propagation paths that cross disciplinary boundaries, and which in turn is able to determine the combined impact of several faults in software-based automation subsystems, electric subsystems and mechanical subsystems. The impact is expressed in degradation or loss of safety related functions.     

Resistance of European and hybrid aspen wood against two brown-rot fungi

The decay resistance of European (Populus tremula L.) and hybrid (P. tremula x tremuloides) aspen wood against brown-rot fungi was investigated after three different treatments, i.e. conventional drying, press drying and heat treatment. For both aspen species, the mass loss after exposure to Gloeophyllum trabeum was higher than after exposure to Coniophora puteana, regardless of the wood treatment. Conventionally and press dried aspen wood had similar mass losses. However, heat treatment appears to be an effective method to improve the decay resistance of aspen wood, reducing the mass loss by about 30% compared with conventional and press drying. As a function of mass loss, wood exposed to G. trabeum had lower moisture content than wood exposed to C. puteana. This is thought to be due to differences in the degradation pattern between the two brown-rot fungi. On the other hand, European aspen appears to be slightly more resistant to decay than hybrid aspen.     

Monotonicity of approximate entropy during transition from awareness to unresponsiveness due to propofol anesthetic induction

The ability to monitor the physiological effects of sedative medication accurately is of interest in clinical practice. During the anesthetic agent driven transition to unresponsiveness, nonstationary changes such as signal amplitude variations appear in electroencephalography. In this paper, it is studied whether the application of the approximate entropy (ApEn) method to electroencephalographic (EEG) signal produces a monotonic response curve during the transition from awareness to unresponsiveness. Data from fourteen patients, undergoing propofol anesthetic induction were studied. To optimize the ApEn performance, different parameter choices were carefully evaluated. It was assumed with our protocol, that the level of anesthesia changes monotonically with the elapsed induction time. The monotonicity of the ApEn change was assessed with the prediction probability statistic (PK). The monotonicity of the ApEn time-series depends on the parameters employed in the algorithm and the varying signal amplitude. Depending on the parameter values, the median PK value ranged from 0.886 to 0.527. Thus, a good directionality and concordance was observed, but the nonstationarity of the signal affected the results. In conclusion, EEG-based ApEn measure shows a nonlinear response during propofol induction. With a judicious choice of parameters, a monotonic response is confirmed using PK statistic.