EFFECT OF WATER ACTIVITY ON CRISPNESS OF BREAKFAST CEREALS

Three breakfast cereals (two commercial products and one experimental product made by extrusion cooking) were placed over 10 saturated salt solutions in desiccators for 3 weeks and then studied by sensory and mechanical analysis. A slight decrease of sensory crispness intensity occurs between 0 and 0.50 (a_w) or 7% (water content), after which there is a very rapid decrease. The value of critical water activity given by the intersection between the two straight lines which can be adjusted seems not to depend on the product. Moreover this value is confirmed by the mechanical analysis and, partially, by a Differential Scanning Calorimetry analysis. There is a good correlation between sensory crispness and deformation to the first fracture.     

Assessment of the conformational stability of various classes of human lens crystallins using a monomolecular layer method

Surface denaturation kinetics of different classes of crystallins have been studied by monolayer technique at air-NaCl solution interfaces. An increase of the conformation stability puts in the following order: pre-alpha < alpha approximately equal to beta H approximately equal to beta L approximately equal to gamma.     

Contribution to modelling of process planning

The process planning activities have been performed up to now manually and based on personal experience of those who are engaged. Development in computer based planning attempts to make the planning process to be carried out easier for the staff and to make use of experiences gained in the past with help of expert systems. The two principles used are the variant and the generic approach.     

Treatment of the triphalangeal thumb

The triphalangeal thumb is a rare congenital malformation, but not as rare as the literature would imply. Forty-two patients with 68 triphalangeal thumbs, represent an incidence of about 3 per cent of a population of upper extremity abnormalities. Although little is written about the details of treatment, surgery is frequently necessary. Age makes a great difference as to hom the extra phalanx should be treated. The associated abnormalities present major surgical problems that must be treated early.     

Magnetoresistive Sensoren

Depending on the angle between magnetization and current density in a thin permalloy film, the anisotropic magnetoresistive effect is utilized for high performance sensors. Both the parameters of the sputtering process and the sensor layout have to be optimized. Aiming a magnetic field resolution of some nT in a frequencey range from 0–1 kHz, the results of Wheatston-bridge circuits are discussed.     

Mechanosensitive afferent units in the hypogastric nerve of the cat

1. Recordings have been made from ninety single afferent units in the hypogastric and lumbar splanchnic nerves of the cat. 2. The majority of units examined had properties similar to those previously described in the splanchnic nerve: they were slowly adapting mechanoreceptors with one to six punctate mechanosensitive sites distributed mainly along blood vessels as they approached the viscera in peritoneal ligaments; they had a wide range of mechanical thresholds and conduction velocities in the range 0.5-24 m s-1. 3. Receptive fields were found over the bladder base or its peritoneal ligaments or both, on the uterus or broad ligament or both, on the colon or mesocolon or both, and in association with the ureter, vas deferens, prostate or pelvic fat pads. 4. Discharges from afferent units associated with the bladder were investigated during spontaneous (or reflex) bladder contractions, passive distensions, and tetanic contractions induced by electrical stimulation of the sacral spinal cord. The mean spike rates of the adapted (tonic) discharges, observed during distensions and induced tetani, differed over part of the range of intravesical pressures examined. Their behaviour is discussed in relation to the concept of 'in series' tension receptors within the bladder wall.