DIVERSITY OF PERCEPTIONS OF MEAT TENDERNESS AND JUICINESS BY CONSUMERS: A TIME-INTENSITY STUDY

Seven judges, untrained in sensory assessment, were trained in the use of Time Intensity (TI) and asked to monitor the tenderness and juiciness of a range of cooked beef and pork samples. The subjects were given no definitions concerning sensory cues to monitor in their assessments, nor did they confer with each other. The shapes of the TI curves they recorded for tenderness and juiciness differed between individuals, although there were similarities in the curve shapes for the 2 attributes for each individual. Correlations between the intensity parameters of the curves (maximum intensity and area under curve) and the chewing time were not significant for the subjects as a group for tenderness, although significant correlations were found for some of the subjects when examined individually. The results indicate that subjects differ in their concepts of sensory tenderness and juiciness, and that perceived tenderness does not correlate with chewing time for all subjects. In more general terms the study supports the use of TI assessments for interpreting individual differences in sensory perceptions.     

Texturization of Sweetened Mango Pulp: Optimization using Response Surface Methodology

Sugar added mango pulp was texturized with alginate. To optimize both the mechanical properties and thermostability of the products, an experimental design was used combined with response surface methodology. Alginate concentration was the major factor affecting mechanical properties of texturized pieces with higher strength as the gelling agent concentration increased. Furthermore, gel strength and thermostability generally increased as calcium and glucono-δ-lactone concentrations, and/or heat treatment duration increased. As large quantities of sweetened pulp were used, texturized pieces with high dry matter content and good flavor qualities were obtained.     

A new method for skin care product evaluation based on the laser Doppler imaging technique

Laser Doppler perfusion imaging was used to assess the vasoactive effect of a cosmetic product on a cutaneous inflammation model: erythema induced by methyl nicotinate. Measurements were carried out on ten healthy volunteers after a rest in an environmental controlled room, and trials were performed on the ventral surface of the forearms. Recordings of cutaneous perfusion were made every 10 min after application of the vasodilator. The decrease in the highest value of perfusion on the test site was significantly higher with the cosmetic compared to the control site 30 min after its application. Fifty minutes after application, the difference between the test and control sites was 53%.     

A Distributed and Cooperative Environment for Computer Algebra

In this paper, we describe theCentral Control, a software component that enables several symbolic systems to cooperate and exchange data. The Central Control has been designed to be the kernel of an environment for scientific computations which can offer a common and concurrent access to several tools needed by the scientist and the engineer: general purpose and specialized computer algebra systems, visualization tools, links with numerical libraries and tools to manipulate numerical programsetc. The user can interact with the Central Control through one or more (graphical) user interfaces. The Central Control achieves its goals by requiring as little as possible from the tools and by using a particular programming language to provide a unified view for the objects and the operations performed by the connected tools. The Central Control will be used as the basis of theComprehensive Solverthat will provide common access to all the programs developed within the project. We give a simple example of an actual use of the Central Control for computing primary decompositions of ideals.     

EFFECT OF THIN KNbO3 SEED LAYERS ON PULSED LASER DEPOSITED FERROELECTRIC KTa0.65Nb0.35O3 FILMS FOR MICROWAVE TUNABLE APPLICATION

ABSTRACT

Ferroelectric KTa_0.65Nb_0.35O₃ thin films were grown by pulsed laser deposition on R-plane sapphire substrates. The potassium enriched ceramic targets were used for compensating potassium losses. In order to improve the KTa_0.65Nb_0.35O₃ film growth on sapphire, a thin KNbO₃ layer was introduced as seed layer. The experimental results show that the crystalline quality is lowered when increasing the K-excess. Simultaneously, phase purity, orientation and crystalline quality of perovskite (h00)-oriented KTa_0.65Nb_0.35O₃ are greatly improved by the use of the KNbO₃ seed layer. In particular, the presence of the latter effectively suppresses any pyrochlore secondary phase formation.     

Electropolymerization of 2-hydroxybenzothiazole (2-OHBT) in water–methanol media: electrochemical behaviour in NaCl (3%) solution

A new insulating thin polymer (<0.1m) formed by the electropolymerization of 2-OHBT is reported. The anodic oxidation of 2-OHBT on copper, iron and platinum in alcohol and alcohol–water solutions are investigated using cyclic polarization and chronoamperometry. Scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDX) are performed to confirm the presence of the organic layer. Based on the results obtained, a model for the formation mechanism is proposed. The corrosion behaviour of the coated copper is studied in NaCl (3%) solution by impedance spectrometry and anodic polarization. The results of these experiments show a decrease in the dissolution of copper due to the barrier properties of the organic coating.     

Optical gratings in the collective interaction between radiation and atoms,including recoil and collisions

The introduction of collisions and of a thermal distribution for the atomic momentum in the model for the Collective Atomic Recoil Laser (CARL) is at the origin of important modifications in the interpretation of the mechanisms that give rise to the amplification of the backreflected wave. It is shown that the atomic density grating, considered to be the cause of gain in CARL, disappears in the presence of collisions, while other gratings—in population and polarization phase—survive. While the population grating appears to be merely a consequence of the collective interaction, the latter is the likely cause for the instability. Finally, simulations show that models that make use of an exponential relaxation mechanism for the atomic momentum,rather than accounting for collisions explicitly, largely overestimate the strength of the interaction.