Nutritional, physical and sensory quality of gingerbread prepared using different sweeteners

Received: February 11th, 2023 ; Accepted: May 28th, 2023 ; Published: June 16th, 2023 ; Correspondence: [email protected] aim of the study was to investigate the effects of replacing refined beet sucrose in gingerbread with different types of sweeteners (cane sugar, sorbitol, xylitol, maple syrup). The content of fat, dry matter, dietary fibre, ash, crude protein, amino acids, selected microelements, and caloric value were determined. Organoleptic and dimensional (3D-analysis) properties were also evaluated. The fat content in samples ranged from 11.13% to 11.97%, crude fibre content - from 0.53% to 0.55%, ash content - from 0.72% to 1.06%, and crude protein - from 7.92% to 8.12%. The analysis of amino acids revealed that glutamic acid was dominant in the samples with its concentration ranging from 19.14 mg g-1 (control sample) to 23.88 mg g-1 (sample with maple syrup). The caloric value was the highest in the control sample which contained sucrose from sugar beet and the one containing xylitol (~4,480 cal g-1 ). The lowest - in the sample with maple syrup (4,247 cal g-1 ). The total content of selected microelements determined in the tested samples with atomic absorption spectrometry (Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Co, Ni, Cr, Cd and Pb) were within the limits permitted by the regulations of the Slovak legislation. The 3D analysis of samples with Volscan Profiler indicated that volume, width and height was better in the samples with sweeteners than in the control sample. The gingerbread with xylitol had best organoleptic properties, as evaluated by sensory panellists

Moduli spaces of toric manifolds

We construct a distance on the moduli space of symplectic toric manifolds of dimension four. Then we study some basic topological properties of this space, in particular, path-connectedness, compactness, and completeness. The construction of the distance is related to the Duistermaat-Heckman measure and the Hausdorff metric. While the moduli space, its topology and metric, may be constructed in any dimension, the tools we use in the proofs are four-dimensional, and hence so is our main result.Comment: To appear in Geometriae Dedicata, minor changes to previous version, 19 pages, 6 figure

Disc-oscillation resonance and neutron star QPOs: 3:2 epicyclic orbital model

The high-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations (HF QPOs) that appear in the X-ray fluxes of low-mass X-ray binaries remain an unexplained phenomenon. Among other ideas, it has been suggested that a non-linear resonance between two oscillation modes in an accretion disc orbiting either a black hole or a neutron star plays a role in exciting the observed modulation. Several possible resonances have been discussed. A particular model assumes resonances in which the disc-oscillation modes have the eigenfrequencies equal to the radial and vertical epicyclic frequencies of geodesic orbital motion. This model has been discussed for black hole microquasar sources as well as for a group of neutron star sources. Assuming several neutron (strange) star equations of state and Hartle-Thorne geometry of rotating stars, we briefly compare the frequencies expected from the model to those observed. Our comparison implies that the inferred neutron star radius "RNS" is larger than the related radius of the marginally stable circular orbit "rms" for nuclear matter equations of state and spin frequencies up to 800Hz. For the same range of spin and a strange star (MIT) equation of state, the inferrred radius RNS is roughly equal to rms. The Paczynski modulation mechanism considered within the model requires that RNS < rms. However, we find this condition to be fulfilled only for the strange matter equation of state, masses below one solar mass, and spin frequencies above 800Hz. This result most likely falsifies the postulation of the neutron star 3:2 resonant eigenfrequencies being equal to the frequencies of geodesic radial and vertical epicyclic modes. We suggest that the 3:2 epicyclic modes could stay among the possible choices only if a fairly non-geodesic accretion flow is assumed, or if a different modulation mechanism operates.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures (in colour), accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

A European aerosol phenomenology -4: Harmonized concentrations of carbonaceous aerosol at 10 regional background sites across Europe

Although particulate organic and elemental carbon (OC and EC) are important constituents of the suspended atmospheric particulate matter (PM), measurements of OC and EC are much less common and more uncertain than measurements of e.g. the ionic components of PM. In the framework of atmospheric research infrastructures supported by the European Union, actions have been undertaken to determine and mitigate sampling artefacts, and assess the comparability of OC and EC data obtained in a network of 10 atmospheric observatories across Europe. Positive sampling artefacts (from 0.4 to 2.8 μg C/m3) and analytical discrepancies (between −50% and +40% for the EC/TC ratio) have been taken into account to generate a robust data set, from which we established the phenomenology of carbonaceous aerosols at regional background sites in Europe. Across the network, TC and EC annual average concentrations range from 0.4 to 9 μg C/m3, and from 0.1 to 2 μg C/m3, respectively. TC/PM10 annual mean ratios range from 0.11 at a Mediterranean site to 0.34 at the most polluted continental site, and TC/PM2.5 ratios are slightly greater at all sites (0.15–0.42). EC/TC annual mean ratios range from 0.10 to 0.22, and do not depend much on PM concentration levels, especially in winter. Seasonal variations in PM and TC concentrations, and in TC/PM and EC/TC ratios, differ across the network, which can be explained by seasonal changes in PM source contributions at some sites