Optimum hexametaphosphate concentration to inhibit efflorescence formation in dry fermented sausages.

The occurrence of efflorescences on the surface of dry fermented sausages represents a current issue for the meat processing industry. Preventing the efflorescence formation by the addition of sodium hexametaphosphate (SHMP) was shown to be promising in a previous study. The optimum SHMP addition was studied by adding SHMP (0.0, 1.0, 3.0, and 5.0g/kg) directly to the sausage batter. Visual and chemical analyses were conducted during 8weeks of storage under modified atmosphere. Visual analyses revealed significant lower amounts of efflorescences on the sausage surface after 8weeks when 1.0 (27.1%), 3.0 (9.0%), and 5.0g/kg SHMP (3.4%) were added, compared to the control with 38.0% efflorescences. SHMP significantly affected the occurrence (8weeks) of magnesium on the surface: +85.5%, +23.7%, +3.5%, and -28.2% for 0.0, 1.0, 3.0, and 5.0g/kg, respectively. The addition of 4.785g/kg was calculated to fully inhibit the formation of efflorescences by complexing magnesium ions.

Inhibitory effect of phosphates on magnesium lactate efflorescence formation in dry-fermented sausages.

This study aimed to prevent the phenomena of efflorescence formation on the surface of dry fermented sausages due to the complexation of efflorescence forming cations with phosphates. Efflorescence formation is a critical issue constituting a major quality defect, especially of dry fermented sausages. Different phosphates (di- and hexametaphosphate) were added (3.0g/kg) to the sausage batter. As a hypothesis, these additives should complex with one of the main efflorescence-causing substances such as magnesium. The formation of efflorescences was determined for dry fermented sausages without phosphate addition, with diphosphate, or hexametaphosphate addition during 8weeks of storage under modified atmosphere. The visual analyses of the sausage surface revealed high amounts of efflorescences for the control (42.2%) and for the sausages with added diphosphate (40.9%), whereas the sausages containing hexametaphosphate had significantly reduced amounts of efflorescence formation, showing only 11.9% efflorescences after 8weeks of storage. This inhibition was a result of strong complexation of hexametaphosphate with magnesium ions, thus preventing the diffusion of magnesium towards the sausage surface. This can be explained by the magnesium content on the sausage surface that increased by 163.9, 127.8, and 52.8% for the sausages without phosphate, diphosphate, and hexametaphosphate addition, respectively. The mass transport of lactate and creatine was not affected by phosphate addition. Isothermal titration calorimetry confirmed that, theoretically, 4.5g/kg of diphosphate or 2.8g/kg hexametaphosphate are required to complex 0.2g/kg magnesium ions naturally occurring in dry fermented sausages and, thus, the chosen overall phosphate concentration of 3.0g/kg was enough when adding hexametaphosphate, but not for diphosphate, to inhibit the efflorescence formation.

Chemical and optical characterization of white efflorescences on dry fermented sausages under modified atmosphere packaging.

BACKGROUND: Dry fermented sausages that are packed under modified atmosphere are often affected by the formation of white crystals on the surface. These so called efflorescences are rejected by consumers and lead to high financial losses for the meat processing industry. In this study, the distribution of efflorescence-causing components was investigated over the sausage profile during 8 weeks of storage under modified atmosphere at 4 °C. In addition, two visual methods (image and sensory analyses) were compared regarding the ability to quantify the efflorescence content. RESULTS: The initial formation of efflorescences was observed after 2 weeks (7%). After 4 weeks of storage, 23.4% of the sausage surface was covered with efflorescences, and the amount of efflorescences did not change significantly by the end of storage. Furthermore, chemical analyses revealed that magnesium (increased by 98.1%), lactate (increased by 54.2%) and creatine (increased by 51.8%) are enriched on the sausage surface during storage. CONCLUSION: Sensory and image analyses lead to comparable results (r = 0.992) and therefore both are suitable to quantify the amount of efflorescences. The moisture gradient in the interior of the sausages which is built upon drying is supposed to be the driving force for the movement of efflorescence-causing compounds. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Saccadic eye movement performance as an indicator of driving ability in elderly drivers.

OBJECTIVE: Regular checking of the fitness to drive of elderly car-license holders is required in some countries, and this will become increasingly important as more countries face aging populations. The present study investigated whether the analysis of saccadic eye movements could be used as a screening method for the assessment of driving ability. METHODS: Three different paradigms (prosaccades, antisaccades, and visuovisual interactive (VVI) saccades) were used to test saccadic eye movements in 144 participants split into four groups: elderly drivers who came to the attention of road authorities for suspected lack of fitness to drive, a group of elderly drivers who served as a comparison group, a group of neurology patients with established brain lesion diagnoses, and a young comparison group. The group of elderly drivers with suspected deficits in driving skills also underwent a medical examination and a practical on-road driving test. The results of the saccadic eye tests of the different groups were compared. RESULTS: Antisaccade results indicated a strong link to driving behaviour: elderly drivers who were not fit to drive exhibited a poor performance on the antisaccade task and the performance in the VVI task was also clearly poorer in this group. CONCLUSIONS: Testing saccadic eye movements appears to be a promising and efficient method for screening large numbers of people such as elderly drivers. This study indicated a link between antisaccade performance and the ability to drive. Hence, measuring saccadic eye movements should be considered as a tool for screening the fitness to drive.

Saccadic eye movements after low-dose oral alcohol exposure.

OBJECTIVES: The influence of low-dose alcohol intake on reflexive visually guided saccades was investigated. METHODS: 40 healthy human subjects were orally given alcohol resulting in low-dose alcohol concentration (less than 0.8‰) blood alcohol concentration. Before and after exposure, horizontal saccadic eye movements were recorded at several points in time. The recordings were evaluated with regard to accuracy of the eye movements, latency, the peak eye velocity and the time constant that characterizes the main sequence. The results were compared to recordings from a reference group. RESULTS: It was found that the saccadic eye movement was clearly altered by low-dose alcohol intake. However, its characteristics were not unambiguously pathological when compared to the reference group, even though the subjects reported a moderate to strong effect of alcohol and there were clear signs of inebriation. CONCLUSIONS: The findings render the evaluation of saccades unsuitable as a simple test for the detection of low-dose alcohol intake.

Risk of injury of the cervical spine in sled tests in female volunteers.

BACKGROUND: The description of cervical spine motion and the risk to sustain a cervical spine injury is mainly based on cadaver studies. As the active influence of soft tissue is neglected in cadaver studies, our understanding of the kinematic model for whiplash is limited. Therefore the objective of this study was, to describe the in vivo cervical spine motion and acceleration during rear-end sled collisions to identify sequences of motion in which the risk of injury to the cervical spine is increased. METHODS: A rear-end collision with a speed change (DeltaV) of 6.3 km/h was simulated in a sled test with eight female subjects with no history of prior injury or pain of the cervical spine. A high-speed camera was used to document motion data. Acceleration data were recorded using accelerometers. Acceleration input to the cervical spine was assessed by the simultaneous analysis of the head angle and angular head acceleration as well as the simultaneous analysis of the relative motion and the relative acceleration between the head and T1 to define intervals of increased risk of cervical spine injuries during rear-end collision. FINDINGS: The motion sequence is characterized by the same phases that have already been described for male volunteers. Increasing angular head acceleration can explain facet joint injuries during the extension movement (100-120 ms) and hence occur about 50 ms later than shown in cadaver models. In the late rebound the combination of maximal ventral head acceleration and head movement is underestimated and can be responsible for soft tissue injuries. INTERPRETATION: The study shows that during the extension phase and the late rebound phase, acceleration and movement pattern occur that could lead to cervical spine injuries.

Comparing eye movements recorded by search coil and infrared eye tracking.

OBJECTIVE: The performance of a new video-based infrared eye tracker (IR) was compared to the magnetic search coil technique (SC). Since the IR offers interesting possibilities as a diagnostic tool in neuro-ophthalmology, it was investigated whether the new device has overcome shortcomings that were reported from former IR systems. METHODS: Horizontal saccades were recorded using the IR and the SC. The IR allowed eye movement recordings at different sampling rates ranging from 250 Hz to 1000 Hz while the SC recorded at 1000 Hz. RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS: The results show that the IR and the SC were in good agreement and produced similar results. In contrast to other studies, the influence of the sampling rate of the IR was small. The saccade main-sequences did not show significant differences. The latency times observed for both systems were mainly in the short-latency range.

Assessment of pelvis and upper leg injury risk in car-pedestrian collisions: comparison of accident statistics, impactor tests and a human body finite element model.

In this study, we first present a comparison between pelvis/upper leg injuries observed in real-world accidents as recorded in the database of the Medical University of Hanover, and the EEVC test results of corresponding cars as published by EuroNCAP. The fact that modern cars with rounded hood edges cause very few pelvis/upper leg injuries is discussed against the findings of the EEVC tests, where these cars do not perform significantly better than their older counterparts with sharper hood leading edges. This discrepancy could be due to the fact that the radius of the hood edge is not accounted for in the current version of the test protocol. In a second step, various impacts against several different simplified hood shapes were simulated using a detailed finite element model of a 50(th) percentile male pedestrian. The finite element model (THUMS) has been extensively validated against PMHS experiments in previous studies. The validated model affords detailed insight into pelvic and femoral deformations and loading patterns, and reveals, as expected, that the shape of the hood leading edge plays a critical role in the resulting biomechanical loading patterns. Based upon the results of this study, recommendations are offered for a more appropriate characterization of the hood shape with regard to pelvis/upper leg injury risk.