The Effect of Lactates on the Quality of Microwave-Cooked Chicken Patties during Storage

ABSTRACT:  The aim of this study was to determine the effect of adding 3.3% sodium lactate (SL), 0.25% calcium lactate (CL), and 1.65% SL along with 0.125% CL (SL+CL) on the physicochemical properties, cooking characteristics, and microbiological quality of microwave-cooked chicken patties compared to control (no added lactates). The addition of lactates did not affect the proximate composition of cooked chicken patties. The pH of CL- or SL+CL-containing patties was significantly ( P < 0.05) reduced compared to control or SL patties. The SL-containing patties had lower ( P < 0.05) a _w values compared to control or CL patties. The CL- or SL+CL-containing patties had lower denatured myoglobin and higher ( P < 0.05) cooking yield, surface redness (CIE a *), and chroma values. However, addition of CL alone resulted in higher total expressible fluid, indicating lower water-holding capacity. The CL-containing patties exhibited lower Warner–Bratzler shear force values and higher ( P < 0.05) penetrometer reading compared to the SL-containing patties, indicating soft texture. Thiobarbituric acid (TBA) values were significantly ( P < 0.05) reduced in all lactate-containing patties compared to control up to the 7th day of refrigerated storage under aerobic conditions. No difference ( P > 0.05) was observed in aerobic plate counts between control and lactate-added patties during 28-d storage.     

Analysis of Frequency,Intensity, and Interference of Discomfort in Computerized Numeric Control Machine Operations

The introduction of Computerized Numeric Control (CNC) technology in manufacturing industries revolutionized the production process a few decades back. There are some health and safety problems associated with these machine operations, however. The main objectives of the present work is to study the health and safety issues associated with the CNC machines with respect to control and display, specifically to determine the frequency, intensity of discomfort, and its interference in operating different CNC machines as reported by the workers operating them. The postural discomfort associated with CNC machines was studied, and the frequency, intensity of discomfort, and interference of the level of discomfort with the participants' ability to work were recorded and analyzed. The study revealed that 20.5% of the operators reported discomfort 1 or 2 times, 25.4% experienced discomfort 3 to 4 times in a week, 37.7% had discomfort daily, and 16.4% reported discomfort several times a day. Discomfort was reported in all the body parts involved (lower back, neck, upper back, shoulder, and leg), but the highest discomfort scores were associated with the shoulder and arm region. Workers reporting discomfort several times a day also reported high mean discomfort scores. The study established that the frequency and intensity of the discomfort in all body parts is related to the position of the control panel and display. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Single Molecule with Dual Function on Nanogold: Biofunctionalized Construct for In Vivo Photoacoustic Imaging and SERS Biosensing

Multimodal imaging provides complimentary information that is advantageous in studying both cellular and molecular mechanisms in vivo, which has tremendous potential in pre‐clinical research and clinical translational imaging. It is desirable to design probes for multimodal imaging that can be administered minimally but provides multifaceted information. Herein, we demonstrate the complementary dual functional ability of a nanoconstruct for molecular imaging in both photoacoustic (PA) and surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) biosensing simultaneously in tandem. To realize this, a group of NIR active organic molecules are designed and synthesized that possess both SERS and PA activity. Nanoconstructs realized by anchoring such molecules onto gold nanoparticles are demonstrated for targeting cancer biomarkers in vivo while providing complimentary information about biodistribution and targeting efficiency. In future, such nanoconstructs could play a major role in identifying surgical margins and also for disease monitoring in translational medicine.     

Long‐term impact of nitrogen and potassium fertilizers on yield,soil nutrients and biochemical parameters of tea

A field experiment was conducted with tea cultivar UPASI‐9 over a period of 9 years to evaluate the long‐term effects of nitrogen (N) and potassium (K) fertilizers on yield, biochemical parameters, soil and leaf nutrient status. The yield increase was as high as 66% over the control for N application of 450 kg ha^?1 year^?1. Polyphenol and amino acid contents increased with increase in K application rate. Positive and significant correlation was found between nitrate reductase activity and the amino acid content of the tea shoots. While ammoniacal nitrogen in the soil was not affected by the application of fertilizer, ammonium acetate extractable K increased. The failure to apply fertilizer resulted in depletion of the organic matter status of the soil. Although increased rate of nitrogen application increased the overall yield of made tea (kg ha^?1 year^?1), the specific yield (kg kg^?1 N) declined. The soil tended to become acidic from frequent application of high doses of nitrogenous fertilizer. The leaf NK status was significantly influenced by the various treatments. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

Thermal modeling and performance analysis of industrial-scale metal hydride based hydrogen storage container

In this paper, a performance analysis of a metal hydride based hydrogen storage container with embedded cooling tubes during absorption of hydrogen is presented. A 2-D mathematical model in cylindrical coordinates is developed using the commercial software COMSOL Multiphysics 4.2. Numerical results obtained are found in good agreement with experimental data available in the literature. Different container geometries, depending upon the number and arrangement of cooling tubes inside the hydride bed, are considered to obtain an optimum geometry. For this optimum geometry, the effects of various operating parameters viz. supply pressure, cooling fluid temperature and overall heat transfer coefficient on the hydriding characteristics of MmNi_4.6Al_0.4 are presented. Industrial-scale hydrogen storage container with the capacity of about 150 kg of alloy mass is also modeled. In summary, this paper demonstrates the modeling and the selection of optimum geometry of a metal hydride based hydrogen storage container (MHHSC) based on minimum absorption time and easy manufacturing aspects.     

Decoloration of acid dye effluent with ozone: effect of pH, salt concentration and treatment time

A study of the ozone treatment of textile effluent containing acid dyes has been carried out to explore the influence of their chemistry, and the pH, salt concentration, ozone dose and time of treatment. The experiments were constructed using a Box-Hunter second-order composite design for three variables. The study has demonstrated that the type of aromatic rings and the number of sulphonic acid groups in the dye have a marked effect on decoloration. The pH, salt concentration and treatment time are also found to have a predictable influence. The ozone oxidation of acid dye effluent results in a reduction in pH and total organic carbon content.     

Improving Readability through Individualized Summary Extraction,Using Interactive Genetic Algorithm

The impact of individualized summarization is high, because a summary would be difficult to understand by all if summarized in a generic manner. When sentences are important as well as readable to the learner with reading difficulties, the summary might be useful for better comprehension of the text. In this article, we propose an Interactive Genetic Algorithm-based individualized summarization to maximize the readability of selected important sentences. The individualized summarization applies to the educational domain using readability-based features to extract readable important sentences. Inclusion of features representing reading difficulty should not dilute the informative score of the summary, moreover it aids the learner who has reading difficulties to comprehend the complete text better, using the summary as supplementary to the complete text and not as a substitute for it. The experimental results derived from intrinsic evaluation shows that individual summary extraction performs better than a GA-based approach and a baseline approach. Moreover, user -based direct evaluation also supports individualized summarization for improving the readability by the target audience.     

Effect of weight,height and BMI on injury outcome in side impact crashes without airbag deployment

A comprehensive analysis is performed to evaluate the effect of weight, height and body mass index (BMI) of occupants on side impact injuries at different body regions. The accident dataset for this study is based on the National Automotive Sampling System-Crashworthiness Data System (NASS-CDS) for accident year 2000–08. The mean BMI values for driver and front passenger are estimated from all types of crashes using NASS database, which clearly indicates that mean BMI has been increasing over the years in the USA. To study the effect of BMI in side impact injuries, BMI was split into three groups namely (1) thin (BMI < 21), (2) normal (BMI 24–27), (3) obese (BMI > 30). For more clear identification of the effect of BMI in side impact injuries, a minimum gap of three BMI is set in between each adjacent BMI groups. Car model years from MY1995–1999 to MY2000–2008 are chosen in order to identify the degree of influence of older and newer generation of cars in side impact injuries. Impact locations particularly side-front (F), side-center (P) and side-distributed (Y) are chosen for this analysis. Direction of force (DOF) considered for both near side and far side occupants are 8 o’clock, 9 o’clock, 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock, 3 o’clock and 4 o’clock respectively. Age <60 years is also one of the constraints imposed on data selection to minimize the effect of bone strength on the occurrence of occupant injuries. AIS2+ and AIS3+ injury risk in all body regions have been plotted for the selected three BMI groups of occupant, delta-V 0–60 kmph, two sets (old and new) of car model years. The analysis is carried with three approaches: (a) injury risk percentage based on simple graphical method with respect to a single variable, (b) injury distribution method where the injuries are marked on the respective anatomical locations and (c) logistic regression, a statistical method, considers all the related variables together. Lower extremity injury risk appears to be high for thin BMI group. It is found that BMI does not have much influence on head injuries but it is influenced more by the height of the occupant. Results of logistic analysis suggest that BMI, height and weight may have significant contribution towards side impact injuries across different body regions.