Consumer attitudes toward new technique for preserving organic meat using herbs and berries

This study aims to explore consumers' attitude toward a new preservation technique using herbs and berries in organic meat production, which enables to minimize the amount of chemical additives and to reduce the salt content in meat products. Consumer acceptance of the preservation technique using herbs and berries and intention to purchase products preserved with herbs and berries were investigated through a qualitative approach by means of three focus groups. In general, most participants were positive toward the preservation technique using herbs and berries and there were only few concerns related to the technique. Concerns were related not as much to the technique but more to the products. Four factors seem important in this relation: shelf life, taste, appearance and texture. The intention to purchase products preserved with herbs and berries is generally high, but is dependent on taste and appearance of the products, the price and information level.     

A study of leakage rates through mine seals in underground coal mines

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health conducted a study on leakage rates through underground coal mine seals. Leakage rates of coal bed gas into active workings have not been well established. New seal construction standards have exacerbated the knowledge gap in our understanding of how well these seals isolate active workings near a seal line. At a western US underground coal mine, we determined seal leakage rates ranged from about 0 to 0.036 m³/s for seven 340 kPa seals. The seal leakage rate varied in essentially a linear manner with variations in head pressure at the mine seals.     

Electroremediation of air pollution control residues in a continuous reactor

Air pollution control (APC) residue from municipal solid waste incineration is considered hazardous waste due to its alkalinity and high content of salts and mobile heavy metals. Various solutions for the handling of APC-residue exist, however most commercial solutions involve landfilling. A demand for environmental sustainable alternatives exists and electrodialysis could be such an alternative. The potential of electrodialysis for treating APC-residue is explored in this work by designing and testing a continuous-flow bench-scale reactor that can work with a high solids content feed solution. Experiments were made with raw residue, water-washed residue, acid washed residue and acid-treated residue with emphasis on reduction of heavy metal mobility. Main results indicate that the reactor successfully removes toxic elements lead, copper, cadmium and zinc from the feed stream, suggesting that the electrodialytic technique is an alternative to land deposition of APC-residues.     

Structures of Emulsifier-Water Mesophases Related to Emulsion Stability

The physical properties of absorbed emulsifier films at the surface of oil droplets in an emulsion are an important factor for emulsion stability. When mixtures of a hydrophilic and a lipophilic emulsifier are used in a specific molecular ratio, optimum emulsion stability has been found. Low angle X-ray diffraction data of aqueous bulk solutions of various emulsifier blends forming liquid crystalline phases with a lamellar structure have been investigated. The structure parameters of the lamellar phase: the thickness of the lipid bilayer (da) and the average surface per molecule of emulsifier in contact with water (S) are calculated at various water contents of the systems. The optimum molecular ratio of mixed emulsifiers provides close packing conditions of the hydrocarbon chains in the lipid bilayer, and these properties seem to be related to the rheological properties of surface films and thereby to the stabilizing effect of the emulsifiers in O/W emulsions.     

The Lean Approach

This paper identifies the need for Telecom operators in the competitive environment to become lean. To reduce costs and to focus on the merchant side rather than the technological side of the business as the means of surviving.     

Distribution of Penicillium commune isolates in cheese dairies mapped using secondary metabolite profiles, morphotypes, RAPD and AFLP fingerprinting

In an 8-year study of the diversity and distribution of Penicillium commune contaminants in two different cheese dairies, swab and air samples were taken from the production plants, the processing environment and contaminated cheeses. A total of 321 Penicillium commune isolates were characterized using morphotypes (colony morphology and colours) and secondary metabolite profiles. Based on production of secondary metabolites the P. commune isolates were classified into 6 groups. The genetic diversity of the P. commune isolates was assessed using randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP). For a sub-set of 272 P. commune isolates RAPD analysis generated 33 RAPD groups whereas AFLP profiling revealed 55 AFLP groups. This study conclusively showed that the discriminatory power of AFLP was high compared to RAPD and that AFLP fingerprinting matched morphotyping. P. commune isolates with identical profiles using all four typing techniques were interpreted as closely related isolates with a common origin and the distribution of these isolates in the processing environment indicated possible contamination points in the cheese dairies. The coating process and unpacking of cheeses with growth of P. commune seemed to cause the contamination problems. Several identical P. commune isolates remained present in the processing environment for more than 7 years in both dairies.     

Pro- and antioxidative activity of protein fractions from pork (longissimus dorsi)

Protein fractions from pork (longissimus dorsi), isolated in search of the factor in meat enhancing non-heme iron absorption, have been analysed for their effect on radical formation and oxidation processes. In heat-treated minced meat samples with the protein fractions incorporated, the water-soluble proteins showed a prooxidative effect on lipid oxidation compared to the salt-soluble and the insoluble proteins, which did not influence oxidation in the meat system relative to control samples. The level of secondary oxidation products in meat samples with water-soluble proteins added was, however, not as high as would be expected from the ability of this protein fraction to initiate oxidation as measured by spin-trapping ESR-spectroscopy in meat emulsions and by oxygen depletion rates in a lipid model system with the protein fraction added. In agreement with this observation, the water-soluble protein fraction was found, in addition to being prooxidative, also to have the highest antioxidative potential of the three protein fractions as measured by spin probing ESR-spectroscopy (Fremy's salt method). The prooxidative activity of the water-soluble proteins was assigned to myoglobin and hemoglobin derivatives (detected spectrophotometrically), emphasising the role of iron-catalysis in oxidative deterioration of meat products.     

Effects of Emulsifiers on Protein-Fat Interaction in Ice Cream Mix during Ageing I: Quantitative Analyses

Ageing of ice cream mix at 0 to 10°C for a minimum of 3 up to 24 hours prior to ice cream production in the ice cream machine is generally used to improve various physical properties. During ageing the fat phase of the mix crystallizes and protein is slowly desorbed from the surface of the fat globules. In the presence of emulsifiers fat crystallization and protein desorption is distinctly enhanced resulting in increased agglomeration of fat globules during ice cream manufacture which is important for the formation and stability of the final ice cream. The effect of emulsifiers on ageing is due to their strong interfacial activity at low temperature.     

Total Synthesis of desB30 Insulin Analogues by Biomimetic Folding of Single‐Chain Precursors

Insulin is a peptide hormone consisting of 51 amino acids in two chains with three disulfide bridges. Human insulin and various analogues are used for the treatment of diabetes and are produced recombinantly at ton scale. Herein, we report the chemical synthesis of insulin by the step‐wise, Fmoc‐based, solid‐phase synthesis of single‐chain precursors with solubilising extensions, which under redox conditions, spontaneously fold with the correct pairing of the three disulfide bridges. The folded, single‐chain, insulin precursors can be transformed into bioactive two‐chain desB30 insulin by the simultaneous removal of the solubilising extension (4–5 residues) and the chain‐bridging C‐peptide (3–5 residues) by employing Achromobacter lyticus protease—a process well‐known from the yeast‐based recombinant production of insulin. The overall yields of synthetic insulins were as much as 6 %, and the synthetic process was straightforward and not labour intensive.     

Kinetics of electrodialytic extraction of Pb and soil cations from a slurry of contaminated soil fines

The objective of this work was to investigate the kinetics of Pb-removal from soil fines during electrodialytic remediation in suspension, and study the simultaneous dissolution of common soil cations (Al, Ca, Fe, Mg, Mn, Na and K). This was done to evaluate the possibilities within control of the remediation process to leave a final product suitable for reuse. The Pb-remediation process could be divided into four phases: (1) a "lag-phase", (2) a period with a high removal rate (7.4 mg/day in average at 40 mA), (3) a period with a low removal rate, and (4) a period where no further Pb-removal was obtained. During the first phase, dissolution of carbonates was the prevailing process, resulting in a corresponding loss of soil mass. During this phase, the investigated ions accounted for the major current transfer, while, as remediation proceeded, hydrogen ions increasingly dominated the transfer. During phase (3) the high conductivity and low voltage suggested that removal may be accelerated by increasing the current density. Overall, 97% of the Pb could be extracted, reducing the final Pb-concentration to 25 mg/kg. The order of removal rates was: Ca>Pb>Mn>Mg>K>(Al and Fe).