Effect of dietary vitamin E supplementation on textural and aroma attributes of enhanced beef clod roasts in a cook/hot-hold situation

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of supplementing vitamin E into the diets of finishing cattle on quality characteristics of beef pumped with a phosphate/salt solution (enhanced) the cooked and held in a simulated foodservice situation. Twelve steers were fed either a control (E-) diet or a diet supplemented with dl-α-tocopheryl-acetate (E+). Paired clod roasts were either used as controls (C) or were pumped (P) to 110% of raw weight to contain 0.4% sodium chloride and 0.4% phosphate in the finished product. Following injection, clods were allowed to equilibrate then frozen. A flavor profile panel evaluated texture attributes and aroma characteristics of roasts immediately after cooking and after 1 and 2 h of hot-holding. Pumping improved taste and textural attributes of the hot-held clod roasts. Dietary vitamin E supplementation reduced thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) from ～0.61 to ～0.42, but over the 2-h time period, did not significantly improve aroma quality of beef roasts.     

Excitation control design of local machines in a large-scale power system by using dynamic equivalencing technique

A linear optimal control design for machine excitation is developed to improve the local system stability in a large-scale power system. Dynamic equivalents for the external system are used to provide the controller with information about the original external system. The paper investigates whether external system information helps the controller to stabilize the local system and whether the dynamic equivalents are a reliable source of that information. The validity and accuracy of the proposed method is demonstrated by simulated tests on two sample power systems.     

Cholera in Portugal, 1974.I. Modes of transmission

In April-November 1974, Portugal had a cholera epidemic caused by Vibrio cholerae El Tor Inaba with 2467 bacteriologically confirmed hospitalized cases and 48 deaths. Most of the country was affected, with 17 of the 18 districts reporting cases. V. cholerae was isolated from 42 per cent of shellfish tested during the epidemic, and an epidemiologic study found that a history of consumption of raw or poorly cooked cockles was significantly more common among cholera patients than among paired controls. Water from a spring and a brand of commercially bottled water were also found to be vehicles of transmission of cholera. Although night soil was sometimes used on gardens, consumption of raw fruits and vegetables was not associated with illness.     

The Canter Background Interference Procedure (BIP): effects of demographic variables on diagnosis

This paper reports a positive association between demographic variables and Canter BIP diagnostic classification. Ss are 209 middle-aged men and include psychiatric and medical patients and non-patients. To evaluate the joint effects of the demographic variables, a discriminate analysis was performed on the total sample. Race and educational level alone predicted BIP diagnosis in 67% of the cases. While none of the demographic variables was related significantly to BIP diagnosis when a discriminate analysis was performed on whites alone, age and educational level were related significantly to BIP diagnosis when a discriminate analysis was performed on blacks alone.     

Preparative polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic purification of human alpha- and beta-globin messenger RNAs

Previous studies have reported the use of globin chain-specific complementary DNAs to quantitate the amount of human globin mRNA and human globin genes in normal and abnormal cells. In order to obtain larger amounts and more purified globin mRNAs as templates for these experiments, preparative polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in formamide has been used to separate alpha- and beta-globin mRNA from polyadenylate containing RNA of human reticulocytes. Fifty to one hundred-fifty micrograms of RNA can be applied to the preparative gel and the recovery of the globin mRNA is about 50%. The isolated alpha- and beta-globin mRNAs were assayed in a wheat germ cell-free system, and the alpha- and beta-globin synthesized quantitated by cellulose acetate electrophoresis. The purified alpha- and beta-globin mRNAs direct globin synthesis which is more than 90% either alpha- or beta-globin, respectively. The cDNAs prepared using each of the isolated mRNAs as template are also shown to be specific for alpha- or beta-mRNA sequences. The gel electrophoresis technique used permits the relatively large scale isolation of alpha- or beta-globin mRNAs from human cells.     

Effect of carbon monoxide and high oxygen modified atmosphere packaging and phosphate enhanced, case-ready pork chops

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of CO-MAP compared to traditional high oxygen MAP (HiOx-MAP) packaging and enhanced with different phosphate on enhanced pork quality. Pork loins were enhanced to 10.5% over initial weight to contain 0.3% salt and 0.4% phosphate (either sodium tripolyphosphate [STP] or a blend of STP and sodium hexametaphosphate) on a finished weight basis. Chops were cut, packaged in atmospheres containing 0.4% CO/30.0% CO₂/69.6% N₂ (CO-MAP) or 80% O₂/20% CO₂ (HiOx-MAP), aged in the dark, then placed in a lighted retail display case for 48 h. Chops packaged in CO-MAP were redder (higher Minolta a^* values) and darker (lower Minolta b^* values) than chops packaged in HiOx-MAP. Based on sensory scores, the CO-MAP chops were pinker than the HiOx chops after cooking. CO-MAP chops also experienced less purge loss than chops in HiOx-MAP. Results indicate that CO-MAP had no effect on flavor or consumer acceptability and only minimal effects on other characteristics.     

Escherichia coli and Lactobacillus plantarum responses to osmotic stress

Artificial insemination using cryopreserved semen is a common management tool of the contemporary livestock producer. However, cryopreservation is detrimental to sperm function and fertility, killing some 50% of the spermatozoa during the process. Prediction of cryopreservation damage from prefreeze samples remains elusive. Computer-automated sperm head morphometry was used in this study to determine the effects of cryopreservation on bovine sperm head morphometry. Semen was collected from 18 bulls and was divided. One portion was extended to 200 x 10(6) sperm/ml and a microscope slide was prepared, while the remaining portion was cryopreserved in a Triscitrate-yolk extender. After thawing, the cryopreserved samples were prepared on microscope slides. All slides were air dried and were stained with hematoxylin and rose bengal. The morphometric dimensions for length, width, width/length, area, and perimeter for a minimum of 200 sperm heads were analyzed from each slide by computer-aided sperm head morphometry analysis, and the mean measurements were recorded. Bull sperm heads were significantly (P < 0.01) smaller in cryopreserved spermatozoa than in the companion extended samples for length (8.56+/-0.07 vs. 8.63+/-0.08 microm), width (4.39+/-0.05 vs. 4.48+/-0.05 microm), area (28.42+/-0.07 vs. 29.14+/-0.08 microm), and perimeter (23.33+/-0.21 vs. 23.70+/-0.23 microm) for all bulls. Width/length was also different (0.513 vs. 0.519). In addition, differences (P < 0.05) were found within 14 of 18 bulls for at least four of the morphometric parameters. The percent change in measures after cryopreservation were correlated (P < or = 0.05) to the variability of the extended sample. Variations in sperm head measurements were lower (P < or = 0.05) in extended samples of the four bulls in which no changes occurred than in extended samples of the remaining 14 bulls. These data suggest that the variability in sperm head measurements of individual bulls, or ejaculates, may be an indicator of sperm cryosurvivability.