The effect of refrigerated storage of raw milk on the physicochemical and microbiological quality of Tunisian semihard Gouda‐type cheese during ripening

A Tunisian semihard Gouda‐type cheese made from milk kept at 4 °C for 24, 48, 72 and 96 h was monitored during 45 days of ripening. The effect of milk refrigeration on the evolution of physicochemical parameters in relation to the quantitative variation of the microbial population during ripening of Gouda‐type cheese was investigated. Microbiological and physicochemical analyses were performed on raw milk and cheese samples after curding, 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, 37 and 45 days of ripening time. The raw milk kept under refrigeration at 4 °C for 96 h showed the highest microbial count and proteolysis level. The duration of storage significantly reduced the cheese yield as a result of important solubilisation casein in proteoses‐peptones. Results of different nitrogenous fractions by Kjeldahl method showed enzymatic hydrolysis products of casein whose intensity depended on the maturing stage as well as the refrigeration time. Besides the evident action of the plasmin, original milk protease, on the hydrolysis of casein in soluble fractions, the proteolysis of cheese caseins is also initiated by proteolytic action of the chymosin and extracellular heat‐resistant proteases notably produced by the same psychrotrophic microflora. Lactic acid bacteria starters that constitute the dominant microflora of this type of cheese are also considered as aroma precursors.     

Synthesis of spherical parallel manipulator for dexterous medical task

This paper deals with the design and the analysis of a spherical parallel manipulator (SPM) for a haptic minimally invasive surgery application. First the medical task was characterized with the help of a surgeon who performed a suture technique called anastomosis. A Vicon system was used to capture the motion of the surgeon, which yielded the volume swept by the tool during the anastomosis operation. The identified workspace can be represented by a cone with a half vertex angle of 26°. A multi objective optimization procedure based on genetic algorithms was then carried out to find the optimal SPM. Two criteria were considered, i.e., task workspace and mechanism dexterity. The optimized SPM was then analyzed to determine the error on the orientation of the end effector as a function of the manufacturing errors of the different links of the mechanism.