Gelled vegetable desserts containing pea protein, k-carrageenan and starch

Due to recent animal diseases, cholesterol in take worries and strong demand for healthy food, there is a greater pressure for the direct consumption of vegetable proteins in food products. In this work, the objective is to develop alternative of strictly vegetable origin desserts based on gelled systems with required physical structure and perceived texture. For this reason, it is important to control the properties of the biopolymer mixtures and understand the phase separation behaviour un- der different physicochemical conditions. The firmness and storage modulus of different formulations of pea protein/k-carrageenan/starch systems processed and cooled at different conditions are compared with those parameters obtained for commercial products. Formulation and thermal conditions were determined to influence the texture and storage modulus of the mixed systems. Confocal microscopic images showed that phase separation between pea protein and k-carrageenan takes place, leading to the formation of two network systems. The binding of water effect, of the starch swollen granules, promotes the concentration of pea protein and k-carrageenan, reinforcing the gel structure

Rheological behaviour and microstructure of pea protein/K-carrageenan/starch gels with different setting conditions

The aim of this work was to study the rheological properties and microstructure of pea protein/k-carrageenan/starch gels as affected by different cooling conditions. Dynamic oscillatory measurements for mixed gels, cooled at different rates, were conducted in a stress- controlled rheometer in order to clarify the kinetics of gel formation and characterise the structure of the matured gels. Texture parameters were determined from the texture profile analysis using a texturometer. Microstructure was observed using confocal laser scanning microscopy. In order to understand the role of each hydrocolloid on the gel network, rheology of single component gels were also studied. The results showed that gel setting conditions had a significant influence on the phase separation process of pea protein and k-carrageenan, and hence on the final structure and textural properties of the mixed gel. Slower cooling promotes an extensive phase separation between pea protein and k-carrageenan. Consequently, the size of pea protein aggregates was larger at the lowest cooling rate and decreased with increasing cooling rate. At faster cooling, an increase in elastic modulus and texture parameters of the gels were observed. Comparison of cooling and maturation profiles for the mixed system with those obtained for the individual components suggested that the gelation mechanism of k-carrageenan should govern that of the multicomponent gel

Robust optimization methodologies for water supply systems design

Open Access journalWater supply systems (WSSs) are vital infrastructures for the well-being of people today. To achieve good customer satisfaction the water supply service must always be able to meet people's needs, in terms of both quantity and quality. But unpredictable extreme conditions can cause severe damage to WSSs and lead to poorer levels of service or even to their failure. Operators dealing with a system's day-to-day operation know that events like burst water mains can compromise the functioning of all or part of a system. To increase a system's reliability, therefore, designs should take into account operating conditions other than normal ones. Recent approaches based on robust optimization can be used to solve optimization problems which involve uncertainty and can find designs which are able to cope with a range of operating conditions. This paper presents a robust optimization model for the optimal design of water supply systems operating under different circumstances. The model presented here uses a hydraulic simulator linked to an optimizer based on a simulated annealing heuristic. The results show that robustness can be included in several ways for varying levels reliability and that it leads to more reliable designs for only small cost increases.Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade – COMPETEFundação para a Ciência e Tecnologi

A novel framework to improve motion planning of robotic systems through semantic knowledge-based reasoning

The need to improve motion planning techniques for manipulator robots, and new effective strategies to manipulate different objects to perform more complex tasks, is crucial for various real-world applications where robots cooperate with humans. This paper proposes a novel framework that aims to improve the motion planning of a robotic agent (a manipulator robot) through semantic knowledge-based reasoning. The Semantic Web Rule Language (SWRL) was used to infer new knowledge based on the known environment and the robotic system. Ontological knowledge, e.g., semantic maps, were generated through a deep neural network, trained to detect and classify objects in the environment where the robotic agent performs. Manipulation constraints were deduced, and the environment corresponding to the agent’s manipulation workspace was created so the planner could interpret it to generate a collision-free path. For reasoning with the ontology, different SPARQL queries were used. The proposed framework was implemented and validated in a real experimental setup, using the planning framework ROSPlan to perform the planning tasks. The proposed framework proved to be a promising strategy to improve motion planning of robotics systems, showing the benefits of artificial intelligence, for knowledge representation and reasoning in robotics.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Nasal cavity vascular leiomyoma: case report and literature review

Leiomioma de cavidade nasal e seios paranasais é raro. Ele constitui menos de 1% de todos os leiomiomas do corpo humano. Isto se deve à escassez de células musculares no nariz. Estas neoplasias podem ser classificadas em três grupos: leiomioma, angiomioma e leiomioma epitelióide. Somente 15 casos de angiomioma foram encontrados na literatura. O tratamento de escolha é a excisão cirúrgica. Um novo caso e a revisão da literatura são apresentados.Liomyomas of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses are rare. They make up less than 1% of all leiomyomas in the human body. This is due to the paucity of smooth muscle in the nose. They are classified in three groups: leiomyoma, angiomyoma and epithelioid leiomyoma. Only 15 cases of vascular leiomyomas have been found in the literature. The treatment of choice is surgical excision. Hereby we present a new case and review the literature

Vegetable proteins and milk puddings

In recent years, interest in animal free foods has increased tremendously due to factors like BSE crisis, rise of nutritionally dependent illnesses, like diabetes type II, cardiovascular and digestive diseases, along with ethic orientations of denying animal intakes of any kind. The use of proteins from leguminous seeds as an alternative to the animal proteins in dairy desserts was studied. Lupin, pea and soya protein isolates were used in combination with k- carrageenan, gellan and xanthan gum, in order to obtain a synergistic effect. Milk puddings were also produced for comparison. Texture studies suggested that mixed protein /polysaccharide systems, with vegetable proteins and k- carrageenan or gellan gum, would be good systems to develop vegetable gelled desserts. Rheological oscillatory measurements were carried out to clarify the kinetics of gelation and characterise the microstructure of the best performing products. Results from time sweep tests showed that formulations with gellan gum present an industrial advantage over formulations with k-carrageenan, since the maturation time for gellan gels is of the order of 5 /10 h compared with 4 /6 days in the case of k-carrageenan. All the mixed gels presented the typical weak gel structure; therefore, it was possible to perform steady-state measurements, which allowed the observation of a shear-thinning behaviour for all gels

Results of the First Exchange on Pouting Otoliths 2015

El documento muestra los resultados obtenidos en el primer intercambio ibérico de lectura de otolitos de faneca (Trisopterus luscus

Report of 4th Exchange on European hake age readings

In 2002 the ICES WGSSDS showed the difficulties in the assessment of hake due to uncertainty on age estimation of older fish which has led the WG to use a plus group at age 8. To solve these problems an otolith exchange was recommended between readers involved in the assessment and focused mainly on older fishes. Preliminary results of the fourth hake otoliths exchange, conducted in 2003, indicate that the age estimation criteria used up to age 3 was the one adopted previously, however, for older fishes, otolith interpretation presents a higher complexity. The results indicate that the precision of age readings has decreased and a strong bias has been found in age readings of older fishes. Thus, the values of APE and CV in (%) for all readers are 41, and 45 respectively, while the values for assessment readers are 24 and 32. The comparison of these results with those from the previous exchange in 2001 shows the difficulty of this task, and to solve these problems a specific international workshop will be carried out

Northern Shrimp (Pandalus borealis) Stock on Flemish Cap According to 1988-1996 surveys

Shrimp was regularly caught in Flemish Cap bottom trawl surveys from 1988 to 1996. Sampling results were previously published: Escalante et al., 1990; Mena, 1991-1992; Sainza, 1993a-1993b-1994-1995 and del Rio, 1996. The whole information is now reviewed to document the evolution of the stock abundance and structure during the period. This was a singular time period because of the active fishery started in April 1993