Use of fat replacers in the production of reduced‐calorie vanilla ice cream

The purpose of this research was to determine the effects of different fat replacers on the sensory and texture attributes of vanillin‐flavored ice cream. Inulin is a fairly new fat replacer which has been proven to be a health promoter. Two vanilla ice cream formulations were produced using different ratios of inulin and Simplesse® as fat replacers to provide better flavor and textural properties. Aspartame and acesulfam‐K were used as sweeteners in the low‐calorie ice creams. Sensory and instrumental analyses were used to evaluate the texture quality of light (4.55%) (control group), low‐fat (2%) and fat‐free vanilla ice creams. The experimental mixes were significantly more viscous than the control mix due to the water binding capacity of carbohydrate‐ and protein‐based substances. The texture scores of the ice creams (sensory evaluation) paralleled the viscosity values. Ice creams manufactured with fat replacers were free of cooked‐milk flavor. The energy value of ice cream was reduced compared to full‐fat ice cream (207 kcal/100 g): by 75% for non‐fat ice cream, 71% for low‐fat ice cream and 41% for light ice cream. An increase in total solids in the mix resulted in better texture, a lower melting rate and better shape retention.     

Culture-led regeneration of Istanbul waterfront: Golden Horn Cultural Valley Project

The regeneration of declining waterfronts has been one of the crucial tasks of urban policy since the 1970s; whereas culture has become an important theme as means for responding to the socio-economic decline that waterfronts have been facing through the re-functioning of abandoned factories and warehouses, the rehabilitation of historic neighborhoods and the utilization of events and amenities. At the same time, many academics are critical on the attempts to reform post-industrial spaces of consumption in creating privatized spaces and commodified cultures excluding social milieu. Within this context, the research attempts to discuss the contribution of culture-led approaches in the regeneration of Istanbul waterfront by using a case study of the Golden Horn Cultural Valley Project (GHCVP) as empirical evidence. The GHCVP is not only one of the most important indicators of wider governmental emphasis on culture as a way of reviving Istanbul’s waterfront; but also it provides major discussions and claims on the impact of these developments, especially those regarding the historic environment, local community and economy. The results of this research respond to questions about what makes waterfront regeneration a success and what role the culture-led approaches should play in the process of waterfront regeneration.     

Watermarking via zero assigned filter banks

In order to identify the owner and distributor of digital data, a watermarking scheme in frequency domain for multimedia files is proposed. The scheme satisfies the imperceptibility and persistence requirements and it is robust against additive noise. It consists of a few stages of wavelet decomposition of several subblocks of the original signal using special zero assigned filter banks. By assigning zeros to filters on the high frequency portion of the spectrum, filter banks with frequency selective response are obtained. The information is then inserted in the wavelet-decomposed and compressed signal. Several robustness tests are performed on male voice, female voice, and music files, color and gray level images. The algorithm is tested under white Gaussian noise and against JPEG compression and it is observed to be robust even when exposed to high levels of corruption.     

The sol–gel transition temperature of skim milk concentrated by microfiltration as affected by pH and protein content

This study aimed at determining sol–gel transition temperatures of microfiltered skim milk retentates for different protein levels (6, 8 and 10% (w/w)) and a wide pH range (native pH to 4.6) by means of small‐amplitude oscillatory shear rheology. For a pH of 5.4 to 5.0, the sol–gel transition temperatures decreased significantly with increasing protein content, which did not differ for pH 4.8 and 4.6. The sol–gel transition temperatures of retentates with 10% (w/w) protein at pH 5.4 and 4.6 were 58.4 °C and 10.9 °C, respectively.     

Impact of Resources and Strategies on Construction Company Performance

Globalized competition and customer needs forced construction companies to measure their performance beyond the financial measures such as profitability, turnover, etc. As qualitative determinants were added to measurement systems, their investigation and evaluation became a major area of research. In this study, the impact of “resources and capabilities,” “strategic decisions,” “project management competencies,” and “strength of relationships with other parties” on “company performance” was investigated. A questionnaire survey was administered to 73 Turkish contractors and the results of the survey were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The findings indicate that, as expected, resources and capabilities and strategic decisions have an important and direct impact on company performance, whereas project management competencies and strength of relationships with other parties impact company performance only indirectly, through their impact on companies’ resources and capabilities and strategic decisions.     

Decomposition of intramuscular EMG signals using a heuristic fuzzy expert system

Although increasingly sophisticated algorithms have been proposed to decompose intramuscular electromyography signals into the concurrent activities of individual motor units (MUs), the human operator is still able to improve decomposition results by visual inspection. The rationale for this paper was to combine components from previous decomposition procedures in an expert systems approach utilizing fuzzy logic and attempting to replicate the thought process of an accomplished decomposer in order to minimize the user interaction subsequently needed to enhance decomposition results. The decomposition procedure is discussed and examples are given of the type of information it can yield. The method has been used to identify the discharge activities of up to 15 MUs with up to 95$%$ accuracy.      

Miscibility,phase separation,and volumetric properties in solutions of poly(dimethylsiloxane) in supercritical carbon dioxide

Miscibility conditions and volumetric properties of solutions of poly(dimethylsiloxane) in supercritical carbon dioxide have been determined as a function of polymer molecular weight, polymer concentration, temperature, and pressure. Measurements have been conducted in a variable volume view cell equipped with an LVDT sensor to identify the position of a movable piston and thus the internal volume of the cell and consequently the density of the solution at a given pressure and temperature. The demixing data (in the form of P‐T curves for a given concentration, or as P‐x diagrams at a given T) and the density isotherms are presented for solutions of two polymer samples with different molecular weights (M_w = 38,600; M_w/M_n = 2.84 and M_w = 94,300; M_w/M_n = 3.01) at several concentrations in the range from 0.05 to 10 mass % over a temperature range from 302–425 K. Solution densities corresponding to the demixing points also have been identified. Representation of the demixing densities on the density isotherms, i.e., pressure‐density plots is a new methodology that gives a direct assessment of the volumetric expansion the solution must undergo before phase separation. The temperature–composition diagrams generated at selected pressures show that the poly(dimethylsiloxane) + CO₂ solutions display both lower critical solution and upper critical solution type behavior. The lower critical solution temperature moves to lower temperatures and the upper critical solution temperature moves to higher temperatures with decreasing pressure and they eventually merge together at lower pressures forming an hourglass‐shaped region of immiscibility. This behavior is linked to the solvent quality of supercritical carbon dioxide that changes with pressure. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 75: 1397–1403, 2000