Comparative study of flavor, texture, and sensory in cream cheese and cholesterol-removed cream cheese

This study was performed to compare flavor, texture, and sensory profiles of cream cheese and cholesterolremoved cream cheese made from whole milk and cream. The cholesterol was removed by crosslinked β-cyclodextrin and the cheeses were stored at 7°C for 4 week. To quantify the flavor compounds, the cheeses (0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 week) were extracted by solid-phase microextraction, analyzed by GC-MS and quantified by GC-flame ionization detector (FID). Tentatively identified flavor compounds were 11 acids, 2 ketones, 1 amine, 1 alcohol, 2 lactone, and 1 alkene. In texture profile analysis such as hardness, cohesiveness, adhesiveness, and sensory analysis such as appearance, flavor, taste, and texture properties were not significantly different (p>0.05) between two cheeses. On the basis of our results, it is concluded that no adverse changes was shown in the cholesterol-removed cream cheese in flavor, texture, and sensory characteristics during 4-week storage.     

Heat and Mass Transport during Microwave Heating of Mashed Potato in Domestic Oven—Model Development,Validation, and Sensitivity Analysis

A 3‐dimensional finite‐element model coupling electromagnetics and heat and mass transfer was developed to understand the interactions between the microwaves and fresh mashed potato in a 500 mL tray. The model was validated by performing heating of mashed potato from 25 °C on a rotating turntable in a microwave oven, rated at 1200 W, for 3 min. The simulated spatial temperature profiles on the top and bottom layer of the mashed potato showed similar hot and cold spots when compared to the thermal images acquired by an infrared camera. Transient temperature profiles at 6 locations collected by fiber‐optic sensors showed good agreement with predicted results, with the root mean square error ranging from 1.6 to 11.7 °C. The predicted total moisture loss matched well with the observed result. Several input parameters, such as the evaporation rate constant, the intrinsic permeability of water and gas, and the diffusion coefficient of water and gas, are not readily available for mashed potato, and they cannot be easily measured experimentally. Reported values for raw potato were used as baseline values. A sensitivity analysis of these input parameters on the temperature profiles and the total moisture loss was evaluated by changing the baseline values to their 10% and 1000%. The sensitivity analysis showed that the gas diffusion coefficient, intrinsic water permeability, and the evaporation rate constant greatly influenced the predicted temperature and total moisture loss, while the intrinsic gas permeability and the water diffusion coefficient had little influence.     

An artificial biomineral formed by incorporation of copolymer micelles in calcite crystals

Biominerals exhibit morphologies, hierarchical ordering and properties that invariably surpass those of their synthetic counterparts. A key feature of these materials, which sets them apart from synthetic crystals, is their nanocomposite structure, which derives from intimate association of organic molecules with the mineral host. We here demonstrate the production of artificial biominerals where single crystals of calcite occlude a remarkable 13 wt% of 20 nm anionic diblock copolymer micelles, which act as 'pseudo-proteins'. The synthetic crystals exhibit analogous texture and defect structures to biogenic calcite crystals and are harder than pure calcite. Further, the micelles are specifically adsorbed on {104} faces and undergo a change in shape on incorporation within the crystal lattice. This system provides a unique model for understanding biomineral formation, giving insight into both the mechanism of occlusion of biomacromolecules within single crystals, and the relationship between the macroscopic mechanical properties of a crystal and its microscopic structure.     

Adhesion of Dry Seasoning Particles onto Tortilla Chip

ABSTRACT: In a wind tunnel experiment, the amount of seasoning retained by a fried tortilla chip when exposed to air at different flow rates (0.516 to 1.115 m/s) and angles of inclination (0° to 60°) was measured. The inferred adhesion force of seasoning particle and chip surface using boundary layer theory increased with seasoning particle size (32 to 300 μm), oil content of tortilla chip (24% to 32%), viscosity (55.9 to 72.2 cP), and surface tension (27.5 to 34.1 mN/m) of oil and was in the range of 1.6 × 10⁻⁹to3.3 × 10⁻⁷N. The calculated values of adhesion force accounting for van der Waals, electrostatic, and capillary forces showed the same qualitative trend as the experimental data.     

A methodology to measure and monitor level of operational effectiveness of a CSOC

In a cybersecurity operations center (CSOC), under normal operating conditions in a day, sufficient numbers of analysts are available to analyze the amount of alert workload generated by intrusion detection systems (IDSs). For the purpose of this paper, this means that the cybersecurity analysts can fully investigate each and every alert that is generated by the IDSs in a reasonable amount of time. However, there are a number of disruptive factors that can adversely impact the normal operating conditions such as (1) higher alert generation rates from a few IDSs, (2) new alert patterns that decreases the throughput of the alert analysis process, and (3) analyst absenteeism. The impact of all the above factors is that the alerts wait for a long duration before being analyzed, which impacts the readiness of the CSOC. It is imperative that the readiness of the CSOC be quantified, which in this paper is defined as the level of operational effectiveness (LOE) of a CSOC. LOE can be quantified and monitored by knowing the exact deviation of the CSOC conditions from normal and how long it takes for the condition to return to normal. In this paper, we quantify LOE by defining a new metric called total time for alert investigation (TTA), which is the sum of the waiting time in the queue and the analyst investigation time of an alert after its arrival in the CSOC database. A dynamic TTA monitoring framework is developed in which a nominal average TTA per hour (avgTTA/hr) is established as the baseline for normal operating condition using individual TTA of alerts that were investigated in that hour. At the baseline value of avgTTA/hr, LOE is considered to be ideal. Also, an upper-bound (threshold) value for avgTTA/hr is established, below which the LOE is considered to be optimal. Several case studies illustrate the impact of the above disruptive factors on the dynamic behavior of avgTTA/hr, which provide useful insights about the current LOE of the system. Also, the effect of actions taken to return the CSOC to its normal operating condition is studied by varying both the amount and the time of action, which in turn impacts the dynamic behavior of avgTTA/hr. Results indicate that by using the insights learnt from measuring, monitoring, and controlling the dynamic behavior of avgTTA/hr, a manager can quantify and color-code the LOE of the CSOC. Furthermore, the above insights allow for a deeper understanding of acceptable downtime for the IDS, acceptable levels for absenteeism, and the recovery time and effort needed to return the CSOC to its ideal LOE.     

The physicochemical properties of yoghurt supplemented with microencapsulated peanut sprout extract,a possible functional ingredient

This study was designed to determine the physicochemical and sensory properties of yoghurt supplemented with powdered peanut sprout extract microcapsules (PPSEM) (3–10 μm) during storage at 4 °C for 16 days. The releasing rates of the polyphenol, resveratrol, from yoghurts were minimised at lower concentrations of PPSEM (0.25 and 0.5%, w/v). The viscosity decreased gradually with higher concentrations of PPSEM added. In the sensory test, there were significant increases in yellowness, peanut and cooked scores (P < 0.05). Based on the results, it is concluded that the low concentrations (0.25 and 0.50%, w/v) could be used to produce PPSEM‐supplemented yoghurt without significant adverse effects on the physicochemical and functional properties.     

Structural Studies and Valence Band Splitting Parameters in Ordered Vacancy Compound AgGa7Se12

The threefold absorption in the fundamental absorption region of the ternary chalcopyrite AgGa₇Se₁₂, an ordered defect compound of AgGaSe₂, is analyzed to elucidate the three closely spaced band gaps in its valence band due to the lifting of degeneracy of the Γ₁₅ level. Hopfield’s quasi cubic model is employed to extract the crystal-field and spin–orbit splitting parameters and the linear hybridisation of orbitals model for evaluating the percentage contribution of Ag d-orbital and Ga and Se p-orbitals to the p–d hybridization of orbitals. The observed optical properties are correlated with the structural parameters like deformation parameter, anion displacement and anion–cation bond lengths that are deduced from X-ray diffraction data. The compound films for the studies are prepared by a modified form of Gunther’s three temperature technique and the compositional analysis was done by energy dispersive analysis of X-rays. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirms the compound formation while atomic force microscopic technique was used for surface morphological analysis. The electrical resistivity of these n-type semi-conducting films is assessed to be ~5 Ωm and the films are found to be photosensitive.     

Removal of manganese from water by electrocoagulation: Adsorption,kinetics and thermodynamic studies

The present study provides an electrocoagulation process for the removal of manganese (Mn) from water using magnesium as anode and galvanised iron as cathode. The various operating parameters like effect of initial pH, current density, electrode configuration, inter‐electrode distance, coexisting ions and temperature on the removal efficiency of Mn were studied. The results showed that the maximum removal efficiency of 97.2% at a pH of 7.0 was achieved at a current density 0.05 A/dm² with an energy consumption of 1.151 kWhr/m³. Thermodynamic parameters, including the Gibbs free energy, enthalpy and entropy, indicated that the Mn adsorption of water on magnesium hydroxides was feasible, spontaneous and endothermic. The experimental data were fitted with several adsorption isotherm models to describe the electrocoagulation process. The adsorption of Mn preferably fitting the Langmuir adsorption isotherm suggests monolayer coverage of adsorbed molecules. In addition, the adsorption kinetic studies showed that the electrocoagulation process was best described using the second‐order kinetic model at the various current densities. © 2012 Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering     

Utilizing Space-Time Diversity for Wireless Communications

In this paper we consider the use of multiple antennas for wireless communication over fading channels.The fading we consider is quasi-static flat Rayleigh fading. For such a scenario optimal SNR schemes are derived when the transmitter knows the channel and when the transmitter does not know the channel. But in both cases the receiver has to estimate the channel. When the SNR during channel estimation is reasonably high we derive expressions to show the impact of channel estimation errors on SNR.