Loss of Amino Acids and Water Soluble Vitamins During Potato Processing

Processing potatoes to potato flakes almost totally eradicated ascorbic acid, but better than 50% of the original amount of riboflavin and niacin was retained. Thiamin content of potato flakes can vary from 0-65% of its amount in the raw potato depending on the amount of sulfite added during processing. If sulfite addition is controlled, a 100g portion of rehydrated potato flakes can supply about 1/6 of the Recommended Dietary Allowance of thiamin. Some losses of arginine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, and gamma aminobutyric acid occurred during hot water blanching, and a significant loss of methionine occurred during drum drying. However, amino acids can be considered quite stable during potato flake production.     

Acceptance of a Military Ration After 24-Month Storage

A study of a new military ration, the Meal, Ready-to-Eat, Individual (MRE) after 2 yr of storage at four different temperatures was conducted. The main emphasis is on the statistical analysis of data on consumer-acceptance, in particular the estimation of shelf-life. The principal finding is that the ration as a whole can be stored for at least 2 yr at temperatures up to 38°C without serious loss of acceptance, although a few individual items may be affected.     

Neural net based model predictive control

Neural networks hold great promise for application in the general area of process control. This paper focuses on using a back propagation network in an optimization based model predictive control scheme. Since an analytical expression for the gradient of the neural net model can be derived and this expression can be calculated in parallel, extremely fast computation times are possible. The control approach is illustrated on a pH CSTR example.     

Treating mineral metabolism disorders in patients undergoing long hemodialysis: A search for an optimal strategy

In hemodialysis (HD) patients, mineral metabolism (MM) disorders have been associated with an increased mortality rate. We report the evolution of MM parameters in a stable HD population undergoing long hemodialysis by performing an annual cross-sectional analysis for every year from 1994 to 2008. The therapeutic strategy has changed: the dialysate calcium concentration has decreased from a mean of 1.7 ± 0.1 to 1.5 ± 0.07 mmol/L and has been adapted to parathyroid hormone serum levels (from 1 to 1.75 mmol/L). The use of calcium-based and aluminum-based phosphate binders has decreased and they have been replaced by sevelamer; alfacalcidol has partly been replaced by native vitamin D. The percentage of patients with a parathyroid hormone serum level between 150 and 300 pg/mL has increased from 9% to 67% (P<0.001); the percentage of patients with phosphataemia between 1.15 and 1.78 mmol/L has increased from 39% to 84% (P<0.001). The percentage of those with albumin-corrected calcemia between 2.1 and 2.37 mmol/L has increased from 29% to 61% (P<0.001), and that of patients with a calcium-phosphorous product (Ca × P) level >4.4 mmol/L decreased from 8.8% to 2% (P=0.02). Although patients undergo long and intensive HD treatment, MM disorders are common. However, an appropriate strategy, mostly consisting of native vitamin D supplementation, progressive replacement of calcium-based phosphate binders with non–calcium-based ones, and individualization of dialysis session duration and dialysate calcium concentration, would result in a drastic improvement.     

Adsorption of Hexavalent Chromium on Chitosan Beads: Sorption Isotherms and Kinetics

Abstract

Chitosan is a biopolymer that is usually obtained in a flaked form, nonporous and partially soluble in acidic media. The low porosity of the polymer introduces diffusion constraints which are rate limiting. Modifying the structure of the chitosan is a way to improve the accessibility of the adsorption sites. In this study, the modifications were carried out by dissolving chitosan flakes in an acetic acid solution followed by precipitation in a sodium hydroxide solution to form gel beads. The study deals with the influence of several parameters (metal ion concentration, size of the beads, Chitosan conditioning) on metal ion diffusion. Both sorption isotherms and kinetics were taken into account. The use of this material allowed an adsorption capacity of 76 mg g^?1 to be obtained.     

COMPOSITION OF THE SOLUBLE, NONDIALYZABLE COMPONENTS IN RAW CANE SUGAR

The high molecular weight (HMW) material (> 12,000 Da) of ten raw cane sugars from seven countries and two U.S. states was isolated by dialysis and analyzed by gel permeation chromatography (GPC). Simultaneous detection of colorant polymers and polysaccharides was accomplished by using two detectors in series — UV at 214 nm for colorant polymers and refractive index (RI) for carbohydrate polymers. The monosaccharide composition of the nondialyzable raw sugar fraction (the tenate) was determined by hydrolysis with trifluoroacetic acid and with oxalic acid. Aconitic acid was associated with the tenate. The raw sugars were categorized into two types according to their GPC patterns and aconitic acid content. Hydrolysis of individually collected GPC peaks demonstrated that one particular peak contained most of the aconitic acid.     

Characterization of Culturable PAH and BTEX Degrading Bacteria from Heavy Oil of the Rancho La Brea Tarpits

Novel petroleum degrading bacteria have been identified in heavy oil from natural asphalt seeps using DNA-based methods, but there is little knowledge of the extent to which these bacteria can be cultured by selective enrichments on different aromatic hydrocarbons. Here we report the species composition of bacterial communities from a 40,000 yr-old asphalt deposit that could be grown on selected petroleum compounds. Species compositions of the degrader communities determined by PCR-DGGE and 16S rDNA sequencing showed that selective enrichment using (PAHs) and BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, and xylene) as growth substrates produced relatively simple degrader communities, and included a predominant species, Pseudomonas stutzeri, which grew on multiple compounds. PCR-based techniques further identified genes encoding naphthalene dioxygenase and catechol 2,3-dioxygenase from P. stutzeri in the enrichment cultures. The results suggest that only a small portion of the asphalt-inhabiting community can be cultured under aerobic conditions on individual substrates. Within these communities were several new species that merit further characterization as consortia, as well as new isolates of the cosmopolitan degrader, P. stutzeri.