ɛ-(γ-Glutamyl)lysine Crosslink Formation in Sardine Myofibril Sol during Setting at 25°C

The quantitative change of ?-(y-glutamyl)lysine (EGL) crosslink and relationship between crosslink content and gel-strength were examined on salt-ground myofibril sol from sardine (Sardinops melanostictus) during incubation at 25°C. In the presence of EGTA, no EGL crosslinks were detected in myofibril sol and gelation did not occur. The EGL crosslink content and breaking strength of gels increased in proportion to incubation time. High correlation was observed between the logarithm of breaking strength and logarithm of EGL crosslink content (r=0.987). The EGL crosslinks formed by transglutaminase are important in the setting of sardine meat sol at < 30°C.     

COMPARISON OF PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF AGAR, LOW GEL STRENGTH AGAR AND GELATIN, AS SUPPLEMENTARY FOOD FOR PEOPLE WITH SWALLOWING DIFFICULTY

Low gel strength agar (LGSA), recently developed as a supplementary food for swallowing was compared with ordinary agar and gelatin. LGSA was developed to have physical properties close to that of gelatin, while keeping one property of agar, i. e. its setting temperature which can be controlled comparatively easier than gelatin. Each specimen was prepared with and without orange flavor. After determination of their basic properties, i. e. hardness, adhesiveness, cohesiveness and gumminess, three samples of two flavors, six in all, were studied for ease of swallowing using electromyography and sensory evaluation, on middle age (40 to 60 years old) and senior age (60 to 70 years old) subjects. Those experiments revealed nearly the same results with all samples, except for a slight difference in gumminess in LGSA and gelatin. No significant difference in electromyograms were noted in six samples or with age of subjects. It is feasible to employ agar materials together with gelatin in institutions whose members have swallowing disorders.     

Rheological Properties of Dried Squid Mantle Change on Softening

TO CLARIFY differences between raw squid and softened dried squid, dried squid mantle was softened under various conditions, degree of swelling and certain properties were measured, and the musculature was examined by electron microscopy. Swelling the dried squid to the original level of raw squid required softening in three steps: presoaking, alkali-soaking, and post-soaking. The alkali-soaking was mainly responsible for the swelling effect. Resulting properties were largely changed from those of raw squid. Electron microscopy showed much water permeation throughout the muscle fibrils and fibers, while there was almost no permeation of water inside the individual fibrils.     

Steady-state error covariances of fixed-point smoothers

The estimation error covariance of a fixed-point smoother in the steady-state, which has the steady-state solution of the Kalman filter as the initial condition, is considered for both continuous- and discrete-time systems. Applying some results on a stabilizing solution for a forward-pass fixed-interval smoother, a necessary and sufficient condition is given for assuring the existence of a unique stabilizing solution for such a fixed-point smoother. It is then shown that the resulting condition is equivalent to a well-known condition for the existence of a unique stabilizing solution of the Kalman filter or of the backward information filter.     

Application of the singular control test to periodic control problems of a continuous distillation process

The singular control test is applied to periodic control problems of a continuous distillation process in order to determine if the optimal periodic control is proper. It is also shown that the singular control test is easier to apply than the w-teat for the problems of concern. Some numerical calculations are carried out for seeking the optimal periodic controls.     

Design of digital controllers for double-loop systems based on series expansions

A method of designing digital controllers for a double-loop system is presented based on series expansions of pulse transfer functions. The controllers can achieve approximately an arbitrarily specified response. Simulation studies are performed for some plants, and the results are compared with those for single-loop systems reported before. Both systems give similar responses to a step reference input. However, the double-loop system gives a smaller response to a step disturbance.     

AVERAGE SPECIFIC CAKE RESISTANCE DETERMINED IN the PRESENCE of SEDIMENTATION to FILTRATION of STARCH SLURRY UNDER CONSTANT PRESSURE

An equation for predicting filtration flow rates in the presence of sedimentation at constant pressure drop was developed. It was applied to determine the average specific cake resistance infiltration of starch slurries at 18.8 to 115 kPa pressure drop range. At these conditions, corn, potato and sweet potato starch filter cakes were incompressible but wheat starch cake was compressible.     

Heat-Induced Aggregation and Denaturation of Egg White Proteins in Acid Media

Heat-induced aggregation and denaturation of egg white proteins adjusted to pH 5.5, 4.5, 3.5 and 2.5 were investigated by vertical flat-sheet polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic and differential scanning calorimetric methods. The fractional and step-wise aggregation of egg white proteins was caused by heating. As the acidity was increased from pH 5.5 to 2.5, ovotransferrin, ovomacroglobulin, globulin G3A, globulins A1 and A2, and ovalbumin became much more unstable to heat. However, ovomucoid and ovoinhibitor did not aggregate in the acidified egg white under heat treatments of 3 min at 90°C or 20 min at 74°C. The heat-induced aggregation of flavoprotein was slightly greater at pH 4.5 and 3.5 than at pH 5.5 and 2.5.