Studies of the fracture surface of rice grains using environmental scanning electron microscopy

Raw and processed grains of rice (Oryza sativa) were examined using the environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM), which allows specimens to be imaged at high resolution with minimal preparation. Images were obtained for milled rice grains that were fractured along natural transverse fracture planes. The images showed two distinct features: a smooth surface, where the fracture plane is suggested to be between endosperm cells, and a rough, more disorganised surface, which is likely to correspond to the fracture plane passing through an endosperm cell. Individual starch granules exposed in the fractured surface ranged from 3 to 11 µm in diameter. The ESEM revealed morphological differences between grains of different varieties. Parboiled rice showed a glassy fracture surface in which features of endosperm cells and starch granules were clearly recognisable but smaller than those of uncooked rice grains. Rice grains that had been heated and puffed showed a complete loss of organisational structure. The ESEM was able to capture the effect of processing treatments on the organisational structure of the grains. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

Effect of Modified Starches on Rheological Properties of Ketchup

The aim of this work was to study the effect of commercial modified starches of different origin on rheological properties of ketchup. The following starches were used to produce the ketchup samples: chemically modified potato (acetylated distarch adipate from potato starch), waxy maize (acetylated distarch adipate from waxy maize starch and hydroxypropyl distarch phosphate from waxy maize starch), and cassava (acetylated distarch adipate from cassava starch) starches and physically modified cassava and waxy maize starches (physically modified cassava starch and physically modified waxy maize starch). The SEM microphotographs revealed that swollen or disrupted starch granules were present in the ketchup samples. As was evaluated by particle size distribution analysis, two peaks characteristic for different starch granule sizes were observed, the first peak at about 100 μm for ketchup thickened with potato starch and the second one at about 50 μm for the rest of the samples. Ketchups showed non-Newtonian, shear-thinning flow with tendency to yield stress. Values of the rheological parameters describing the flow curves significantly correlated with Bostwick consistency. Ketchup samples exhibited different susceptibility for temperature changes, while values of flow activation energy were from 4.18 to 9.00 kJ/mol. On the basis of mechanical spectra, it is noted that values of G′ were higher than these of G″ showing that elastic properties dominated over the viscous ones. Ketchup samples exhibited properties of weak gels which were estimated from the values of G′ and G″ moduli and their relation and from values of tangent of phase angle (tan δ = 0.14???0.37). Principal component analysis revealed both similarities and differences in rheological behavior of the examined ketchup samples thickened with different modified starches.     

Sex Pheromone of Queens of the Slave-Making Ant, Polyergus breviceps

The sex attractant pheromone produced in mandibular glands of queens of the slave-making ant Polyergus breviceps has been identified as a blend of methyl 6-methylsalicylate and 3-ethyl-4-methylpentanol. In field trials, each compound alone was completely unattractive to males, whereas blends of the two compounds attracted hundreds of males within a couple of hours.     

Characterization and evaluation of TCP and UDP-based transport on real networks

StandardTcp (RenoTcp) does not perform well on fast long distance networks, due to its AMD congestion control algorithm. In this paper we consider the effectiveness of various alternatives, in particular with respect to their applicability to a production environment. We then characterize and evaluate the achievable throughput, stability and intra-protocol fairness of differentTcp stacks (Scalable,Hstcp,Htcp, FastTcp, Reno,Bictcp, hstcp-lp andLtcp) and aUdp based application level transport protocol (Udtv2) on both production and testbed networks. The characterization is made with respect to both the transient traffic (entry and exit of different streams) and the steady state traffic on production Academic and Research networks, using paths withRtts differing by a factor of 10. We also report on measurements made with 10 Gbit/secNics with and withoutTcp Offload Engines, on 10 Gbit/s dedicated paths set up forSc2004.