Consumer Acceptability of Fresh‐Market Muscadine Grapes

The objective of this research was to investigate the acceptability of muscadine grape (Vitis rotundifolia) genotypes (cultivars and selections) and to correlate overall liking to other quality measurements to determine the main drivers of liking. Twenty‐two genotypes grown at the Univ. of Georgia–Tifton Campus were evaluated. Four retail commercial grape genotypes (Vitis vinifera and “Concord”) were also evaluated for comparison. Panelists familiar with muscadine grapes used the hedonic general labeled magnitude scale (HgLMS, –100 = strongest disliking of any kind ever experienced, +100 = strongest liking of any kind ever experienced) to rate overall liking and the liking of appearance, flavor, pulp texture, and skin texture. Puncture testing was done to assess grape berry texture, and compositional attributes soluble solids and pH were also measured. The sensory results indicated that the grapes were variable with overall liking scores from 12.2 to 39.6. The factors highly correlated with overall liking scores were muscadine flavor, pulp and skin liking, while a significant negative correlation was found between skin liking and skin texture and mechanical texture measures. The muscadine grapes with the highest overall liking scores were Ga. 5‐1‐34 and Ga. 2‐8‐21. Principal component analysis confirmed that grapes with a thinner skin and a higher pH tended to group around overall liking and flavor points. These results indicate that even among panelists familiar with muscadine grapes, skin thickness is a negative characteristic. Breeding for thinner skins may be a positive step in muscadines gaining a more widespread appeal in the fresh fruit market.     

Short‐Fluorinated iCVD Coatings for Nonwetting Fabrics

Water repellency is often generated by taking advantage of surface textures and low surface energy coatings such as the one afforded by long perfluorinated side‐chains polymers. However, new regulations are phasing out these polymers because of their related health and safety hazard concerns. This is a particular challenge for water‐repellent fabrics as consumers expect safer products with stable performance and new functionalities. In this work, an approach is developed that allows for iCVD deposition of durable, conformal short fluorinated polymers stabilized with a crosslinking agent. As a result, high hydrophobicity and low liquid adhesion are achieved simultaneously while maintaining initial substrate breathability. It is explained why this polymeric coating—1H,1H‐perfluorooctyl methacrylate co divinylbenzene—exhibits remarkable hydrophobic properties amidst a wide range of other possible candidates. In order to further enhance the dynamic water repellency performance, the chemical treatment is combined with physical texturing—obtained through microsandblasting, a process particularly suitable for fabrics—thus making this combined approach a suitable candidate to meet the industrial needs. This work paves the way for the development of environmentally friendly, highly repellent coatings for large volume production and the application of roll‐to‐roll coating techniques, and multifunctionalization of fabrics and wearable devices.     

Investigating a Suitable Empirical Model and Performing Regional Analysis for the Suspended Sediment Load Prediction in Major Rivers of the Aegean Region,Turkey

This study investigates the appropriateness of four major empirical methods [Lane and Kalinske, Einstein, Brooks, Chang—Simons—Richardson] for predicting suspended sediment loads (SSLs) in three major rivers in the Aegean Region, Turkey. The measured data from 1975 to 2005 were used to test performance of the models. It was found that Brooks method was more appropriate, among the others, for predicting suspended sediment loads from each river. The prediction results of Brooks method were further improved by the use of genetic algorithm (GA_Brooks) optimizing a fitting parameter and showing a comparable performance to those of artificial neural networks (ANNs) and neuro-fuzzy (ANFIS) models for the same rivers. GA_Brooks, ANNs, and ANFIS models can be used for predicting loads at a regional scale. The sensitivity analysis results revealed that suspended and bed material particle diameters affect suspended sediment loads significantly.     

Experience with continuous venovenous hemodiafiltration in four newborns: A case series and review of the literature

When conventional methods for treating complicated problems such as acute and chronic renal failure or metabolic diseases fail, the therapy of choice is peritoneal dialysis (PD) in neonatal period. However, in cases that involve technical difficulties, such as bulky lesions in the abdomen or complications from previous abdominal surgeries, it is not always possible to place a peritoneal catheter. In such situations, continuous venovenous hemodiafiltration (CVVHDF) can be effective. This case series presents our experience in 2013 with the administration of CVVHDF to four patients in our neonatal intensive care unit who could not undergo PD for various reasons.     

Carotenoid content impacts flavor acceptability in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)

BACKGROUND: Tomatoes contain high levels of several carotenoids including lycopene and β‐carotene. Beyond their functions as colorants and nutrients, carotenoids are precursors for important volatile flavor compounds. In order to assess the importance of apocarotenoid volatiles in flavor perception and acceptability, we conducted sensory evaluations of near‐isogenic carotenoid biosynthetic mutants and their parent, Ailsa Craig. RESULTS: The carotenoid contents of these tomatoes were extremely low in the r mutant, increased in lycopene in old gold, and higher in tetra‐cis‐lycopene and ζ‐carotene in tangerine. The volatiles derived from these carotenoids (β‐ionone, geranylacetone and 6‐methyl‐5‐hepten‐2‐one) were proportionally altered relative to their precursors. Fruits were also analyzed for soluble solids, sugars, acids and flavor volatiles. Consumer panels rated the r mutant lowest for all sensory attributes, while Ailsa Craig was generally rated highest. Old gold and tangerine were rated intermediate in two of the three harvests. CONCLUSIONS: Several chemicals were negatively correlated with at least one of the hedonic scores while several others were positively correlated with tomato flavor acceptability. The results permitted identification of positive and negative interactions of volatiles with tomato flavor. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry     

A segment-based approach to classify agricultural lands by using multi-temporal optical and microwave data

This research study aims to classify crop diversity in agricultural land with a segment-based approach using multi-temporal Kompsat-2 and Environmental Satellite (Envisat) advanced synthetic aperture radar (ASAR) data acquired in June, July and August on Karacabey Plain, Turkey. Analyses start with the image segmentation process applied to the fused optical images to search homogenous objects. The segmentation outputs are evaluated using multiple goodness measures, which take into consideration area and location similarities. Image classifications are performed on each multispectral (MS) single date image. In order to combine the most probable classes of the thematic maps, distance maps are generated. Evaluations of the thematic maps are performed through confusion matrices based on pixel-based and segment-based approaches. The results indicate that the highest overall accuracy of 88.71% and a kappa result of 0.86 are provided for the segment-based approach of the combined thematic map along with the microwave data, which is around 10% higher than the related pixel-based results.     

Dynamic Recrystallization Behavior of a Fe-Cr-Ni Super-Austenitic Stainless Steel

The super-austenitic stainless steels are extensively utilized in the seamless tubes production for oil extraction industries.Due to the importance of thermo-mechanical processing in the production of these tubes, the dynamic recrystallization(DRX)characteristics of a Cr-Ni super austenitic stainless steel(1.4563)were investigated in the present study.This was performed using the hot compression testing method in the temperature range of 950-1150-C and the strain rate of 10-3-10-1 s-1.The initiation and evo...