High-pressure-induced changes in bovine milk: a review

High-pressure (HP) treatment of food products is a novel processing technique during which the product is treated in a vessel of suitable strength at a high pressure, generally in the range 100–1000 MPa. As a result, several constituents and properties of the treated product are altered. HP-induced changes in the constituents and properties of milk are arguably among the most extensive of the range of food products studied to date. HP treatment of milk induces solubilization of minerals associated with the casein micelles, denatures whey proteins and, depending on pressure, can either induce aggregation or disruption of the casein micelles. These HP-induced changes in milk constituents affect the properties of the milk; cheesemaking properties of milk can be enhanced considerably, indicating potential application of HP treatment in this area; furthermore, encouraging results have also been reported for HP treatment of milk prior to yogurt manufacture. HP treatment of milk also affects its microflora; however, considerable variation in baroresistance between bacterial species and strains exists. Further applied research appears warranted to establish the full commercial potential of HP treatment of milk.     

A HUMAN RELIABILITY ANALYSIS OF REINFORCED CONCRETE BEAM CONSTRUCTION

A significant proportion of performance failures (e.g., structural failure, cost overruns, delays) are due to human error in the construction of in-situ reinforced concrete elements. A Human Reliability Analysis (HRA) model has been developed to simulate the effect of human error on the construction of a reinforced concrete beam. The proposed HRA model incorporates the effect of (i) initial errors (i.e., before engineering inspections) and (ii) errors remaining after engineering inspections. The following typical construction tasks are considered: number and size of reinforcing bars, effective depth of steel reinforcing, beam width, and quality of concrete mix. Human performance models are described for each of these microtasks. It was found that human error leads to a significant loss of structural safety. It was also shown that engineering inspections significantly increased structural reliability, but the resulting structural reliability was still an order of magnitude lower than "nominal" estimates of structural reliability.     

Adsorption of Admixtures on Portland Cement Hydration Products

The adsorption of calcium lignosulfonate and salicylic acid was studied on the hydration products of the four principal components of portland cement. To investigate the adsorption as a function of development of hydration product, the determinations were made after varying hydration times. The times allowed were from 5 min to 24 hr for tricalcium aluminate (C₃A) and tetracalcium aluminoferrite (C₄AF) and from 1 hr to 28 days for β-dicalcium silicate (β-C₂S) and tricalcium silicate (C₃S). Samples were characterized with respect to surface area and poresize distribution. The effect of gypsum on the adsorption was also investigated. The results indicate that the amounts of salicylic acid and calcium lignosulfonate adsorbed on the hydration products of C₃A, and of calcium     

ADVANCES IN THE MICROBIOLOGY OF MILK AND DAIRY PRODUCTS

The techniques of microbiology from the seventeenth century up to the present time are reviewed and the problems of disease in dairy herds with its effect on raw milk supplies assessed. Progress in the cleaning of milk vessels and sterilization is detailed and the history of pasteurization with its affect on the keeping quality of milk is shown. The introduction of starters in cheese manufacture during the last century is described and the important advances made are stressed.