Sourdough derived strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and their potential for farmhouse ale brewing

The Finnish farmhouse ale sahti is unique in that it is fermented with baking, rather than brewing strains of Saccharomyces cerevisae. The custom of maintaining farmhouse yeast cultures is however no longer practiced in Finland, and much yeast derived diversity in sahti beers has presumably been lost as a consequence. Here, the brewing potential of a number of sourdough derived strains was tested with respect to a number of different fermentation traits. Seven strains originally isolated from Finnish or Italian sourdough cultures were used to ferment high gravity sahti wort (20°P), and fermentation performance together with production of volatile compounds were assessed and compared with a reference baking yeast. Strains differed in terms of fermentation rate, yield, yeast viability and beer flavour profile. All were maltotriose positive, but utilisation varied so that alcohol yield could be greater or lower than that of the reference strain, with values ranging from 6.6 to 7.9% (v/v). Production of aroma compounds was also variable so that it was possible to identify strains producing high levels of esters and those with lower production, which could be used to emphasise flavours originating from raw materials. All strains generated 4-vinyl guaiacol and so would be suitable for other beers where this is a part of the normal flavour profile. Results suggest that sourdough isolates of S. cerevisiae are suitable for sahti production, but could also be applied to other beer styles as a way to differentiate products. © 2020 The Authors. Journal of the Institute of Brewing published byJohn Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Institute of Brewing & Distilling     

Evolving and combining facial composites: Between-witness and within-witness morphs compared.

Student participant-witnesses produced 4 composites of unfamiliar faces with a system that uses a genetic algorithm to evolve appearance of artificial faces. Morphs of 4 composites produced by different witnesses (between-witness morphs) were judged better likenesses (Experiment 1) and were more frequently named (Experiment 2) by participants who were familiar with the target actors than were morphs of 4 composites produced by a single witness (within-witness morphs). Within-witness morphs were judged better likenesses and more frequently named than the best or the first-produced individual composites. The same results for likeness judgments were observed after possible artifacts in the comparison of between- and within-witness morphs were eliminated (Experiment 3). Experiment 4 showed that both internal and external features were better represented in morphs than in the original composites, although the representation of internal features improved more. The results suggest that morphing improves the representation of faces by reducing random error. Between-witness morphs yield more benefit than within-witness morphs by reducing consistent but idiosyncratic errors of individual witnesses. The experiments provide the first demonstration of an advantage for within-witness morphs produced using a single system. Experiment 2 provides the first demonstration of a reliable advantage for between-witness morphs in the most forensically relevant task: naming a composite of a familiar person produced by a witness who was unfamiliar with the target. Morphing would enhance the recognition of facial composites of criminals. Within-witness morphing provides a methodology for use in crimes in which the victim is the only witness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anxiety sensitivity and panic reactivity to bodily sensations: Relation to quit-day (acute) nicotine withdrawal symptom severity among daily smokers making a self-guided quit attempt.

The current investigation explored the main and interactive effects of panic attacks in response to laboratory-induced bodily sensations and anxiety sensitivity in predicting acute nicotine withdrawal symptoms among daily smokers making a self-guided quit attempt. Participants were 99 daily smokers (58% women; Mage = 28.4 years, SD = 11.7) who completed a battery of questionnaires, a voluntary hyperventilation challenge, and a measure of nicotine withdrawal symptoms 12 hr after making a self-guided quit attempt. Results indicated that the interaction of anxiety sensitivity and panic responsivity to the challenge predicted quit-day nicotine withdrawal symptom severity above and beyond the main effects (p     

Recency in verb phrase attachment.

Four experiments investigated attachment preferences in constructions involving 3 verb phrases (VPs) followed by an attaching modifier. Readers preferred attachment to the most recent (lowest) VP site overall and preferred to attach the modifier to the middle VP over the highest VP, demonstrating a monotonic recency-based preference ordering. This pattern could not be attributed to lexical or plausibility-based preferences. The results contrast with the pattern for relative clause attachment into 3 potential noun phrase sites, where the preference ordering is nonmonotonic, and support the multiple-constraint theory described by E. Gibson and N. J. Pearlmutter (1998), which proposes that recency/locality and a secondary factor, predicate proximity, combine with lexical, grammatical, prosodic, and contextual constraints to determine attachment preferences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transforming communities: Towards a research agenda

The term 'community' has re-entered policy debates in recent times in connection with new views on economic management and increasing concern about spatial disparities in Australian society. In this paper we review current research on communities and policy interventions into community transformation as a way of outlining a possible research agenda.     

A review of recent research on mechanics of multifunctional composite materials and structures

In response to the marked increase in research activity and publications in multifunctional materials and structures in the last few years, this article is an attempt to identify the topics that are most relevant to multifunctional composite materials and structures and review representative journal publications that are related to those topics. Articles covering developments in both multiple structural functions and integrated structural and non-structural functions since 2000 are emphasized. Structural functions include mechanical properties like strength, stiffness, fracture toughness, and damping, while non-structural functions include electrical and/or thermal conductivity, sensing and actuation, energy harvesting/storage, self-healing capability, electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding, recyclability and biodegradability. Many of these recent developments are associated with polymeric composite materials and corresponding advances in nanomaterials and nanostructures, as are many of the articles reviewed. The article concludes with a discussion of recent applications of multifunctional materials and structures, such as morphing aircraft wings, structurally integrated electronic components, biomedical nanoparticles for dispensing drugs and diagnostics, and optically transparent impact absorbing structures. Several suggestions regarding future research needs are also presented.     

An accurate solution method for the static and dynamic deflections of orthotropic plates with general boundary conditions

Extending the previous work on isotropic beams and plates by the second author [Li WL, et al. An exact series solution for the transverse vibration of rectangular plates with general elastic boundary supports. J Sound Vib 2009;321:254–69], this paper describes an accurate analytical method for calculating the static deflections and modal characteristics of orthotropic plates with general elastic boundary supports. The displacement function is expressed as a 2-D Fourier cosine series supplemented with several terms in the form of 1-D series. The series expansions for all the relevant derivatives can be directly obtained through term-by-term differentiations of the displacement series. Thus, a classical solution can be derived by letting the series exactly satisfy the governing differential equation at every field point and all the boundary conditions at every boundary point, respectively. Several numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the excellent accuracy and convergence of the current solutions.     

A study of preproject planning and project success using ANNs and regression models

It has long been recognized by the industry practitioners that how well preproject planning is conducted has a great impact on project outcome. Through industry project data collection and model analysis, this research intends to investigate the relationship between preproject planning and project success. Preproject planning and project performance information from 62 industrial projects and 78 building projects, representing approximately $5 billion U.S.D. in total construction cost, is collected and used for this research analysis. Based on the information obtained, preproject planning is identified as having direct impact on the project success (cost and schedule performance). Two techniques were then used to develop models for predicting cost and schedule performance: statistical regression analysis, and artificial neural networks (ANNs). The research results provide a valuable source of information that supports better planning in the early stage of the project life cycle and have positive impact on the final project outcome.     

Designing technology to improve quality of life for people with dementia: user-led approaches

This paper addresses the design of assistive technology that specifically aims to support an improvement in the quality of life of people with dementia. Starting from interviews with users, a grounded theory approach was used to compile a wish list of issues important for maintaining quality of life. A large list of potential technologies that could address these issues was generated, and four were selected for initial development: a music player, a device to reduce social isolation, a conversation prompter, and a device to support sequences of tasks. The music player and social isolation device are described in this paper in detail. A user-led approach to their design was followed, including approaches to finding control interfaces that were intuitive for people with dementia. The paper concludes with a list of recommendations for designers looking to develop equipment of this kind.