New developments in shockwave technology intended for meat tenderization: Opportunities and challenges. A review

Meat tenderness is an important quality parameter determining consumer acceptance and price. Meat tenderness is difficult to ensure in the global meat chain because the production systems are not always aiming at this purpose (ex.: cattle derived from milk production) and by the existence within the carcass of “tough” primals.     

High hydrostatic pressure/temperature modeling of frankfurter batters

The impact of high pressure/temperature treatment on structure modification and functional sensory properties of frankfurter batter was investigated. The degree of solubilization of meat proteins, particularly of myosin, was identified as a key process with significant effect on the batter's structural properties. The maximal solubilization level was at 200 MPa/40 °C IT for all formulations which was found to be treatment time dependent. The impact of the pressurizing gradient — PG = 40 MPa/s and PG = 2.5 MPa/s was investigated and estimated to have a significant effect on the protein network and functional properties, respectively. These were improved at low PG (2.5 MPa/s) as a phenomenon of secondary network formation parallel to the main matrix. Batter secondary-structure characteristics were found to be ionic-strength dependent. According to SDS-PAGE analysis, the major role in the solubilization, aggregation and gelation processes occurring in the aqueous phase was due to the myosin S-1 and S-2, N-terminal, C-terminals, the MLC and actin during the high pressure/temperature treatment.     

Low-latency histogram equalization for infrared image sequences: a hardware implementation

This work describes a hardware implementation of the contrast-limited adaptive histogram equalization algorithm (CLAHE). The intended application is the processing of image sequences from high-dynamic-range infrared cameras. The variant of histogram equalization implemented is the one most commonly used today. It involves dividing the image into tiles, computing a transformation function on each of them, and interpolating between them. The contrast-limiting is modified to facilitate the hardware implementation, and it is shown that the error introduced by this modification is negligible. The latency of the design is minimized by performing its successive steps simultaneously on the same frame and by exploiting the vertical blank pause between frames. The resource usage of the histogram equalization module and how it depends on its parameters has been determined by synthesis. The design has been synthesized and tested on a Xilinx FPGA. The implementation supports substituting other dynamic range reduction modules for the histogram equalization component by partial dynamic reconfiguration.     

Das System sicherheitstechnischer Regelungen für die chemische Industrie im europäischen Vergleich

Comparison of safety regulations for chemical plant in Europe . The purpose of this review is to demonstrate the status of the safety of chemical plant in selected Western countries. It is shown what demands on the safety of chemical plant have to be fulfilled, how these demands are transformed into practice, and how their fulfillment is monitored. The starting point is a short overview of the technical requirements in the Federal Republic of Germany and the associated system of approval and monitoring of chemical plant. The corresponding systems in various other European countries are then briefly described. Thus a survey is presented of the measures required for chemical plant safety in Europe, and in particular of the stipulations for operating approval and surveillance.     

Shelyubskii Method of Studying Phase Separation in the System Li2O-SiO2

The experimental performance of the Shelyubskii method has been improved and applied to studying the change in glass homogeneity of the system Li₂O-SiO₂ caused by phase separation. Binodal temperatures obtained by this method are in good agreement with literature data obtained by an alternative method. The Shelyubskii method is capable of monitoring changes in glass homogeneity from a change in refractive index of the material with an accuracy of Δn×10⁻⁵.     

Stability of Anthocyanin‐Rich W/O/W‐Emulsions Designed for Intestinal Release in Gastrointestinal Environment

Abstract: Anthocyanins belong to the most important hydrophilic plant pigments. Outside their natural environment, these molecules are extremely unstable. Encapsulating them in submicron‐sized containers is one possibility to stabilize them for the use in bioactivity studies or functional foods. The containers have to be designed for a target release in the human gastrointestinal system. In this contribution, an anthocyanin‐rich bilberry extract was encapsulated in the inner aqueous phase of water‐in‐oil‐in‐water‐double emulsions. The physical stability as well as the release of free fatty acids and encapsulated, bioactive substances from the emulsions during an in vitro gastrointestinal passage were investigated. The focus was on the influence of emulsion microstructural parameters (for example, inner and outer droplet size, disperse phase content) and required additives (emulsifier systems), respectively. It could be shown that it is possible to stabilize anthocyanins in the inner phase of double emulsions. The release rate of free fatty acids during incubation was independent of the emulsifier used. However, the exterior (O/W)‐emulsifier has an impact on the stability of multiple emulsions in gastrointestinal environment and, thus, the location of release. Long‐chained emulsifiers like whey proteins are most suitable to transport a maximum amount of bioactive substances to the effective location, being the small intestine for anthocyanins. In addition, it was shown that the dominating release mechanism for entrapped matter was coalescence of the interior W₁‐droplets with the surrounding W₂‐phase. Practical Application: Microencapsulation of phytochemicals and bioactives is in the focus of functional food development. Here, the influence of matrix material, formulation, and structural parameters on stabilization and release of the molecules encapsulated has to be known for target product and process design. As the results are representative for hydrophilic active ingredients encapsulated in double emulsion systems a cross‐sectoral use in the pharmaceutical sector is possible.