Studies on Desi and Kabuli Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Cultivars.The Levels of Amylase Inhibitots, Levels of Oligosaccharides and In Vitro Starch Digestibility

Amylase inhibitor activity (AIA) of chickpea extracts was investigated usmg pancreatic and salivary amylases. The extracts showed higher inhibitor activity towards pancreatic amylase than salivary amylase..Mean values indicated slightly higher inhibitory activity in desi than kabuli cultivars, though clear-cut differences were..not observed among- the cultivars. While in vitro starch digestibility of meal samples indicated no large differences among desi and kabuli types of chickpea, the mean values of digestibility of- isolated starches of kabuli -types wasp higher than those -of desi types: The mean values of stachyose were higher in desi cultivars. When desi and kabuli types were considered together, stachyose- and raffmose contents were not found significantly related to the concentrations of total soluble sugars while stachyose showed a significant correlation with raftinose

A fast and low-power microelectromechanical system-based non-volatile memory device

Several new generation memory devices have been developed to overcome the low performance of conventional silicon-based flash memory. In this study, we demonstrate a novel non-volatile memory design based on the electromechanical motion of a cantilever to provide fast charging and discharging of a floating-gate electrode. The operation is demonstrated by using an electromechanical metal cantilever to charge a floating gate that controls the charge transport through a carbon nanotube field-effect transistor. The set and reset currents are unchanged after more than 11 h constant operation. Over 500 repeated programming and erasing cycles were demonstrated under atmospheric conditions at room temperature without degradation. Multinary bit programming can be achieved by varying the voltage on the cantilever. The operation speed of the device is faster than a conventional flash memory and the power consumption is lower than other memory devices

Obtaining Extension Stakeholder Input to Influence Extension Education Programming and Staff Needs

Cooperative extension has had to adapt communication and outreach efforts for the past several years because of changes in funding, technology, farmer demographics, and overall industry demands and needs. Given decreasing resources, effective program planning is necessary to optimize output and impact. The Michigan State University Extension Beef Team conducted a needs assessment using an online producer survey. As an interdisciplinary team, the Beef Team was able to address all facets of the Michigan beef industry. Specifically, agricultural economists contributed to the needs assessment with core economic concepts, as well as survey design and analysis. Upon data collection, producers identified marketing, profitability, and animal health as the biggest challenges facing their operations in the next 5 to 10 years. The Beef Team utilized these results for program planning and to make staffing recommendations to administration

Thermal inactivation kinetics of Sporolactobacillus nakayamae spores, a spoilage bacerium isolated from a model mashed potato-scallion mixture.

Sporolactobacillus species have been occasionally isolated from spoiled foods and environmental sources. Thus, food processors should be aware of their potential presence and characteristics. In this study, the heat resistance and influence of the growth and recovery media on apparent heat resistance of Sporolactobacillus nakayamae spores were studied and described mathematically. For each medium, survivor curves and thermal death curves were generated for different treatment times (0 to 25 min) at different temperatures (70, 75, and 80°C) and Weibull and first-order models were compared. Thermal inactivation data for S. nakayamae spores varied widely depending on the media formulations used, with glucose yeast peptone consistently yielding the highest D-values for the three temperatures tested. For this same medium, the D-values ranged from 25.24 ± 1.57 to 3.45 ± 0.27 min for the first-order model and from 24.18 ± 0.62 to 3.50 ± 0.24 min for the Weibull model at 70 and 80°C, respectively. The z-values determined for S. nakayamae spores were 11.91 ± 0.29°C for the Weibull model and 11.58 ± 0.43°C for the first-order model. The calculated activation energy was 200.5 ± 7.3 kJ/mol for the first-order model and 192.8 ± 22.1 kJ/mol for the Weibull model. The Weibull model consistently produced the best fit for all the survival curves. This study provides novel and precise information on thermal inactivation kinetics of S. nakayamae spores that will enable reliable thermal process calculations for eliminating this spoilage bacterium