Effect of muscle restraint on sheep meat tenderness with rigor mortis at 18°C

The effect on shear force of skeletal restraint and removing muscles from lamb m. longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LT) immediately after slaughter and electrical stimulation was undertaken at a rigor temperature of 18°C (n=15). The temperature of 18°C was achieved through chilling of electrically stimulated sheep carcasses in air at 12°C, air flow 1-1.5 ms(-2). In other groups, the muscle was removed at 2.5 h post-mortem and either wrapped or left non-wrapped before being placed back on the carcass to follow carcass cooling regimes. Following rigor mortis, the meat was aged for 0, 16, 40 and 65 h at 15°C and frozen. For the non-stimulated samples, the meat was aged for 0, 12, 36 and 60 h before being frozen. The frozen meat was cooked to 75°C in an 85°C water bath and shear force values obtained from a 1 × 1 cm cross-section. Commencement of ageing was considered to take place at rigor mortis and this was taken as zero aged meat. There were no significant differences in the rate of tenderisation and initial shear force for all treatments. The 23% cook loss was similar for all wrapped and non-wrapped situations and the values decreased slightly with longer ageing durations. Wrapping was shown to mimic meat left intact on the carcass, as it prevented significant prerigor shortening. Such techniques allows muscles to be removed and placed in a controlled temperature environment to enable precise studies of ageing processes.     

Training concurrent multistep procedural tasks

This study assessed the effectiveness of traditional whole-task, pure part-task, and two forward-chaining part-task techniques to train rapidly presented concurrent multistep tasks. When training was equated for the total number of training trials, the forward-chaining technique that included practice with concurrent responses promoted as much transfer to whole-task conditions as whole-task training and more than traditional pure part-task training. When training was equated for the total number of response opportunities, the same concurrent forward-chaining technique also promoted superior whole-task transfer. Actual or potential applications of this research include suggestions that trainers should (a) structure concurrent-task training around critical intratask invariants to promote whole-task transfer, (b) realize that the concurrent-task training techniques that promote the best training performance may not promote the best transfer to whole-task situations, and (c) consider using forward-chaining techniques that provide practice with concurrent responses when training concurrent multistep tasks.     

Performance testing of lubricants based on high oleic vegetable oils

Owing to growing environmental concerns, vegetable oils are finding their way into lubricants for industrial and transportation applications. Vegetable oils can of Ser significant environmental advantages with respect to resource renewability and biodegradability, as well as offering satisfactory performance in a variety of applications. Synthetic ester-based fluids may also offer these advantages, however their cost can be prohibitively high. Formulating with vegetable oil does, however, present unique challenges. These are, most notably, the oxidative and hydrolytic instability and low temperature problems associated with the triglyceride. However, through advanced plant breeding techniques, vegetable oils are becoming available which exhibit excellent thermal and oxidative stability and other improved performance properties. The cost of these oils is much lower than synthetic esters, thereby making them attractive ‘environmental’ base fluids.     

Surgeons'' opinions about the NHMRC clinical practice guidelines for the management of early breast cancer

BACKGROUND: In-vitro and in-vivo studies demonstrated the radiosensitizing effect of interferon beta on malignant tumor tissue as well as simultaneously a radioprotective effect on normal lung tissue. In this phase II study the outcome of combining radiotherapy with interferon beta in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer was evaluated. PATIENTS AND METHOD: From February 1994 until November 1996 14 patients with non-small cell lung cancer, stage IIIB were treated with locoregional radiation up to 59.4 Gy, with daily doses of 1.8 Gy and 5 fractions per week. Five million units of interferon beta (Fiblaferon) were given intravenously immediately preceding radiotherapy on the first 3 days of week 1, 3 and 5. RESULTS: Four of 14 patients (28.6%) showed complete response and 7 patients (50%) partial response, resulting in an overall response rate of 78.6%. After a mean follow-up time of 23.3 months the 1-, 2- and 3-year survival rates were 56.3%, 37.5% and 37.5%, respectively. The median survival time was 13 months. Three of 14 patients (21.4%) suffered from 7 Grade-3 acute side effects and 2 patients (14.3%) from 1 Grade-3 late toxicity in each case. One further patient, whose right lung was resected 3 months after completion of radiotherapy, developed as a consequence of this operation 2 Grade-4 complications. CONCLUSION: Considering the toxicity and the preliminary results of combining irradiation and interferon beta in the treatment of locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer it seems, that this procedure is worth to be tested in a phase III study.     

Designed Self‐Assembled β‐Sheet Peptide Fibrils as Templates for Silica Nanotubes

Sol–gel condensation of tetraethoxysilane in the presence of designed self‐assembled β‐sheet peptide fibril templates, followed by template extraction, yields hollow silica nanotubes. The nanotubes are hundreds of nanometers long and possess a central pore of ～ 3.5 nm, determined by the fibril template diameter. The effects of synthesis conditions have been investigated and the resultant silica materials characterized by various techniques. Silica nanostructures with various morphologies have been produced previously using supramolecular organic assemblies as templates. Hollow nano‐ or microtubes, which may have applications in separations, catalysis, nano‐optics, and ‐electronics have been of particular interest. Peptide‐based templates are especially interesting because of their relevance to biological silica microstructure formation. The new fibrillar peptide templates described here have the advantages of prescribed diameter, twist pitch, and handedness, which should impart chirality on the resulting silica nanotubes, providing control of the internal surface architecture by appropriate peptide design.     

Probing Bacterial Uptake of Glycosylated Ciprofloxacin Conjugates

Mono‐ and disaccharide‐functionalised conjugates of the fluoroquinolone antibiotic ciprofloxacin have been synthesised and used as chemical probes of the bacterial uptake of glycosylated ciprofloxacin. Their antimicrobial activities against a panel of clinically relevant bacteria were determined: the ability of these conjugates to inhibit their target DNA gyrase and to be transported into the bacteria was assessed by using in vivo and in vitro assays. The data suggest a lack of active uptake through sugar transporters and that although the addition of monosaccharides is compatible with the inhibition of DNA gyrase, the addition of a disaccharide results in a significant decrease in antimicrobial activity.     

The effect of word frequency, word predictability, and font difficulty on the eye movements of young and older readers.

Young adult and older readers' eye movements were recorded as they read sentences containing target words that varied in frequency or predictability. In addition, half of the sentences were printed in a font that was easy to read (Times New Roman) and the other half were printed in a font that was more difficult to read (Old English). Word frequency, word predictability, and font difficulty effects were apparent in the eye movement data of both groups of readers. In the fixation time data, the pattern of results was the same, but the older readers had larger frequency and predictability effects than the younger readers. The older readers skipped words more often than the younger readers (as indicated by their skipping rate on selected target words), but they made more regressions back to the target words and more regressions overall. The E-Z Reader model was used as a platform to evaluate the results, and simulations using the model suggest that lexical processing is slowed in older readers and that, possibly as a result of this, they adopt a more risky reading strategy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)