Buffer Capacity of Cheese Wheys

Titration and buffer capacity curves of Mozzarella, Cheddar and Cottage cheese-type wheys were studied at concentrations of 6–24% solids. Buffer maxima due to lactate and phosphate occurred at pH 3.2 – 4.0 and 5.6 – 7.0, respectively, and were dependent on the type and concentration of whey. Titration curves of all whey varieties intersected at pH 3.7. An equation was developed to define whey pH as a function of pH at dipping, concentration and level of HCI or NaOH (r = 0.99, p < 0.01). The pH of Mozzarella and Cheddar cheese-type whey decreased during concentration but the pH of Cottage cheese whey increased. This difference is explained by calcium-phosphate equilibria in whey.     

Chemical Ecology of the host searching behavior in an Egg Parasitoid: are Common Chemical Cues exploited to locate hosts in Taxonomically Distant Plant Species?

Parasitoids are known to exploit volatile cues emitted by plants after herbivore attack to locate their hosts. Feeding and oviposition of a polyphagous herbivore can induce the emission of odor blends that differ among distant plant species, and parasitoids have evolved an incredible ability to discriminate them and locate their hosts relying on olfactive cues. We evaluated the host searching behavior of the egg parasitoid Cosmocomoidea annulicornis (Ogloblin) (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae) in response to odors emitted by two taxonomically distant host plants, citrus and Johnson grass, after infestation by the sharpshooter Tapajosa rubromarginata (Signoret) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae), vector of Citrus Variegated Chlorosis. Olfactory response of female parasitoids toward plants with no herbivore damage and plants with feeding damage, oviposition damage, and parasitized eggs was tested in a Y-tube olfactometer. In addition, volatiles released by the two host plant species constitutively and under herbivore attack were characterized. Females of C. annulicornis were able to detect and significantly preferred plants with host eggs, irrespectively of plant species. However, wasps were unable to discriminate between plants with healthy eggs and those with eggs previously parasitized by conspecifics. Analysis of plant volatiles induced after sharpshooter attack showed only two common volatiles between the two plant species, indole and β-caryophyllene. Our results suggest that this parasitoid wasp uses common chemical cues released by many different plants after herbivory at long range and, once on the plant, other more specific chemical cues could trigger the final decision to oviposit.

     

Portable erythema meter and its application to use in human skin

In this study a compact, hand-held, solid state erythema meter using light emitting diodes is described. This device has been constructed and used to compare with visual assessments of ultraviolet radiation in human subjects. A statistically significant correlation was obtained between erythema index and visual assessment in 24 ultraviolet irradiated subjects. Furthermore, the effects of three aftersun treatments have also been assessed objectively using the meter and subjectively using visual assessments. The ultraviolet-irradiated areas were less red following treatment than the irradiated and untreated areas. The results obtained by the meter were similar to and statistically significant with those obtained by visual assessment.
It is concluded that widespread use of an erythema meter such as that described would greatly improve all cutaneous erythema assessments.     

A notion of passivity for switched systems with state-dependent switching

A passivity concept for switched systems with state-dependent switching is presented. Each subsystem has a storage function to describe the “energy” stored in the subsystem. The passivity property of a switched system is given in terms of multiple storage functions. Each storage function is allowed to grow on the “switched on” time sequence but the total growth is bounded by a certain function. Stability is inferred from passivity and asymptotic stability is achieved under further assumptions of a detectivity property of a local form and boundedness of the total change of some storage function on its inactive intervals. A state-dependent switching law that renders the system passive is also designed.     

USE OF ULTRAFILTRATION/REVERSE OSMOSIS SYSTEMS FOR THE CONCENTRATION AND FRACTIONATION OF WHEY

SUMMARY– Existing ultrafiltration/reverse osmosis technology provides a means of fractionating and concentrating cheese whey into liquid fractions containing a variety of protein: lactose ratios. These ratios may range from about 1:8 (raw whey) through 3:5 (a "skim milk equivalent") to 2:1 or higher. If a two- or three-stage ultrafiltration system were used with water injection between stages, a product with a protein:lactose ratio of 20:1 could be obtained. The exact protein:lactose ratio in the concentrate stream is a function of the permeability and selectivity characteristics of the membrane, and the system design and operating conditions. Some of the sanitation problems associated with the introduction of these new unit operations in the dairy and food processing industries are also treated at length.