IPTV: challenges and future directions

The move to IP Protocol Television (IPTV) has challenged the traditional television industry by opening the Internet to high quality real time television content delivery. Thus it has provided an enabling set of key technologies to understand and foster further innovations in the multimedia landscape and to create dynamics in the TV value chain. This editorial provides a brief overview of this special issue. It begins with a short introduction to IPTV Technology and then summarizes the main contributions of the selected papers for this special issue, highlighting their salient features and novel results.     

Medical-economic models of benign prostatic hypertrophy

This article is designed to explain the importance of medico-economic models for evaluation of the impact of treatments of benign prostatic hyperplasia. The authors illustrate this approach by comparing two hypotheses: transurethral resection of the prostate versus watchful waiting using a Markov type of model. This model is able to simulate the probability of development of events such as transurethral resection of the prostate, acute urinary retention over a 40-year period by 3-month cycles. The model is also able to simulate the mean cost of management of a patient over this period. This type of model may appear slightly artificial and complicated, but it is the only model which could allow long-term simulations of the respective value of the various therapeutic strategies for BPH. This type of model is also evolutive, its performance is gradually improved as new data become available in the literature, allowing refinement of a number of hypotheses.     

Influence of ageing time on the quality of yearling calf meat under vacuum

The objective of this study is to determine the effect of the ageing time on the quality characteristics of yearling calf meat under vacuum. Ninety-six Rubia Gallega yearling calves were used. Samples of the Longissimus thoracis at 1 day post slaughter as a control, and vacuum-packaged for 7, 14 and 21 days were analysed. Colour (lightness, L*, redness, a*, yellowness, b*, hue, H^o, chroma, C*, and pigment concentration), water-holding capacity (expressible juice and cooking losses), pH and toughness were measured. The statistical analysis showed an increase in a*, b*, H^o and C* and a decrease in expressible juice, cooking losses and toughness as the ageing time increased. Discriminant analysis divided the samples into two groups; i.e., 1-day post-slaughter samples and vacuum-packaged samples. Considering vacuum-packaged samples only, canonical discriminant analysis separated the long-ageing samples (21 days) from the short-ageing samples (7 days).     

Optical absorption and selective thermal emission in directionally solidified Al2O3-Er3Al5O12 and Al2O3-Er3Al5O12-ZrO2 eutectics

Al₂O₃-Er₃Al₅O₁₂ and Al₂O₃-Er₃Al₅O₁₂-ZrO₂ eutectic ceramic rods were directionally solidified using the laser floating zone technique at several growth rates. Binary eutectic microstructure consisted in a three-dimensional interpenetrated network of the eutectic phases whereas the ternary eutectic showed a geometrical microstructure at low growth rates and a nanofibrillar pattern at high rates. The microstructure size was strongly dependent on the growth rate, decreasing when the processing rate increased. The optical absorption was measured in the samples at room temperature and Judd–Ofelt analysis was used to model the optical absorption of the Er³⁺ ions. Thermal emission of the eutectic rods was studied at temperatures up to 1600 °C. An intense narrow emission band at 1.55 μm matching with the sensitive region of the GaSb photoconverter was obtained. The intensity of the selective emission band is larger for the binary eutectic than for the ternary compound and increases as the microstructural size decreases.     

Effect of fibre size on the quality of fibre-enriched layer cakes

The effects of fibre type (wheat bran, oat bran, cellulose microcrystalline), size (50, 80, 250 μm) and percentage of substitution (0%, 12%, 24%, 36%) on batter and layer cake characteristics were determined. Batter density, and the rheological parameters (G′ and G″) increased with fibre size, but the flow index decreased. Especially with 20% wheat bran, large-sized fibre gave the most firm, chewy and yellow cakes, while providing the most significant sensory differences with the control. Cakes with microcrystalline cellulose were the most similar to the control. All cakes obtained high sensory scores, indicating that they were not disagreeable for consumers. It is possible to obtain high quality cakes when adding up to 20% of fibre, but selection of an adequate fibre is necessary.     

Characterisation and corrosion studies of steel electrodes covered by polypyrrole/phosphotungstate using Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy

Polypyrrole/PW₁₂O₄₀³⁻ hybrid material was electrosynthesised on carbon steel electrodes in acetonitrile medium. The coatings obtained were characterised by Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS). On free-standing polypyrrole films the electrical response was mainly due to ion–ion charge transfer resistance, with a value of 175 Ω cm². A value of 2 × 10⁻⁵ S/cm was determined for the hybrid material conductivity. A charge transfer resistance about 7000 Ω cm² was obtained due to steel/oxide interface. Corrosion tests showed an important improvement in the protection against corrosion when the carbon steel electrodes were coated by these polymeric films.     

Effect of the milling process on quality characteristics of rye flour

BACKGROUND: Most of rye flour is obtained by a gradual reduction system using roller flour mills, which generate different flour streams. The study of the different flour streams composition is necessary since it determines the flour quality and the flour uses. Four break streams and nine reduction streams were analysed for moisture, ash, starch, protein, damaged starch, falling number, amylose/amylopectin ratio, β‐glucans and colour. Mixing and pasting properties were also determined with a doughLAB and a Rapid Visco Analyser respectively. RESULTS: As the milling process advanced, moisture and starch content decreased but protein, ash, β‐glucans and damaged starch increased. The differences in composition are probably related to the effect of the roller mills and the increase in the contamination with bran. The absorption, development time, and pasting viscosity increased as the milling proceeded, in detriment of the peak time. The β‐glucan content was positively correlated to absorption, mixing tolerance index and pasting viscosity, and negatively correlated to peak time. CONCLUSION: Differences in composition, above all, in bran, showed different mixing and pasting properties in rye streams. The most different streams corresponded to the last streams in the break process, in the sizings and in the middlings. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Microstructure and mechanical properties of Al2O3/Er3Al5O12 eutectic rods grown by the laser-heated floating zone method

Eutectic rods of Al₂O₃-Er₃Al₅O₁₂ were grown by directional solidification using the laser-heated floating zone method at rates in the range 25-1500 mm/h. Their microstructure and mechanical properties (hardness, toughness and strength) were investigated as a function of the growth rate. A homogeneous and interpenetrated microstructure was found in most cases, and interphase spacing decreased with growth rate following the Hunt-Jackson law. Hardness increased slightly as the interphase spacing decreased while toughness was low and independent of the microstructure. The rods presented very high bending strength as a result of the homogeneous microstructure, and their strength increased rapidly as the interphase spacing decreased, reaching a maximum of 2.7 GPa for the rods grown at 750 mm/h. The bending strength remained constant up to 1300 K and decreased above this temperature. The relationship between the microstructure and the mechanical properties was established from the analysis of the microstructure and of the fracture mechanisms.     

Short communication: Intra- and inter-individual milk microbiota variability in healthy and infected water buffalo udder quarters

The concept that ruminant mammary gland quarters are anatomically and physiologically unrelated has been recently challenged by immunological evidence. How this interdependence reflects on individual quarter milk microbiota is unknown. The aim of the present study was to cover this gap by investigating the interdependence of quarters among the same mammary gland at the milk microbiota level using next-generation sequencing of the V4–16S rRNA gene. A total of 52 samples were included in this study and classified as healthy or affected by subclinical mastitis. Extraction of DNA, amplification of the V4–16S rRNA gene, and sequencing using Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA) were carried out. We found that the intra-individual variability was lower than the inter-individual one. The present findings further support at milk microbiota level the hypothesis of the interdependence of quarters, as previously demonstrated following immunological studies, suggesting that individual factors (e.g., immunity, genetics) may have a role in modulating milk microbiota.