High‐intensity sweeteners in espresso coffee: ideal and equivalent sweetness and time–intensity analysis

The efficient substitution of sucrose by a sweetener in beverages requires the application of some sensory techniques. First, one must determine the concentrations of the sweeteners under study, equivalent in sweetness to the ideal sucrose concentration. In addition, it is fundamental to determine which is most similar to sucrose. The objectives of this study were to determine the ideal sweetness for espresso coffee and the equivalent concentrations in sweetness of different sweeteners, as well as characterise the time–intensity profile of each sweetener in relation to sweetness. The sweeteners evaluated were sucralose, aspartame, neotame, a cyclamate/saccharin mixture (2:1) and stevia. The sucrose concentration considered ideal by consumers was 12.5% (w/v), and the equivalent concentrations of the sweeteners were 0.0159% for sucralose, 0.0549% for aspartame, 0.0016% for neotame, 0.0359% for the cyclamate/saccharin mixture and 0.0998% for stevia. The time–intensity analysis indicated that possibly the sweeteners neotame, aspartame and sucralose would be the best substitutes for sucrose.     

Terminal velocity of non-spherical particles falling through a Carreau model liquid

A procedure has been proposed for the estimation of the terminal falling velocity of non-spherical particles moving in a Carreau model fluid in the transition flow region. The procedure is based on a modification of the relationship formerly developed for the fall of spherical particles including the particle dynamic shape factor. The suitability of the proposed procedure has been confirmed by good agreement between experimental and calculated terminal falling velocity data. In the experiments, the terminal falling velocity of short cylinders and rectangular prisms in polymer solutions of different measure of shear thinning and elasticity has been measured.     

Source separation using a criterion based on second-orderstatistics

It is often assumed that blind separation of dynamically mixed sources cannot be done with second-order statistics. It is shown that separation of dynamically mixed sources indeed can be performed using second-order statistics only. A criterion based on second-order statistics for the purpose of separating crosswise mixtures is stated. The criterion is used in order to derive a gradient-based separation algorithm, as well as a Newton-type separation algorithm. The uniqueness of the solution representing the separation is also investigated. This reveals that (1) the channel system is parameter identifiable under weak conditions, and (2) if the sources have the same color, there exists at most two solutions. The local convergence behavior of the proposed algorithm is studied and reveals a sufficient condition for local convergence. Furthermore, the estimates of the channel system are shown to be consistent or to locally minimize the criterion     

A combined queueing network and stochastic Petri-net approach for evaluating the performability of fault-tolerant computer systems

In this paper the performability analysis of fault-tolerant computer systems using a hierarchical decomposition technique is presented. A special class of queueing network (QN) models, the so-called BCMP [4], and generalized stochastic Petri nets (GSPN) [1] which are often used to separately model performance and reliability respectively, have been combined in order to preserve the best modelling features of both.

A conceptual model is decomposed into GSPN and BCMP submodels, which are solved in isolation. Then, the remaining GSPN portion of the model is aggregated with flow-equivalents of BCMP models, in order to compute performability measures. The substitutes of BCMP models are presented by means of simple GSPN constructs, thereby preserving the 1st and 2nd moments of the throughput. A simple example of a data communication system where failed transmissions are corrected, is presented.     

Bulk modification of styrene–butadiene–styrene triblock copolymer with maleic anhydride

The bulk modification of SBS rubber with maleic anhydride in a mixing chamber of a Haake rheomixer was studied. The effect of temperature, maleic anhydride, and benzoyl peroxide concentrations on the grafting efficiency was evaluated. High grafting efficiency was achieved when the ratio of peroxide and maleic anhydride concentration was high. On the other hand, on this condition high insoluble fraction was generated. The addition of a diamine, 4,4′‐diaminediphenylmethane to the reaction mixture minimizes the amount of insoluble polymer. However, the grafted MAH content also decreases. The graft copolymer was characterized by infrared spectroscopy and the grafting extension was determined by titration. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 83: 2953–2960, 2002; DOI 10.1002/app.10355     

The response of mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) to lodgepole pine trees baited with verbenone and exo-brevicomin

exo-brevicomin, a multifunctional pheromone of the mountain pine beetle,Dendroctonus ponderosae, was tested at release rates of 0.5 and 2.5 mg/day alone and in combination with the antiaggregation pheromone verbenone against unbaited controls. Significantly more lodgepole pinePinus contorta var.latifolia trees were attacked, and at higher densities, with both release rates ofexo-brevicomin than with all other treatments. Verbenone significantly reduced the response of mountain pine beetles toexo-brevicomin. Verbenone alone did not reduce the number of trees attacked by mountain pine beetle or the attack density when compared to the unbaited controls.