The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between water-holding capacity (WHC) attributes and protein denaturation in broiler breast meat. Boneless skinless breast fillets (n = ...72) were collected from a commercial processing plant at 2 h postmortem and segregated into low-WHC and high-WHC groups based on muscle pH and color (L*a*b*). At 6 and 24 h postmortem, brine uptake (%), cooking loss (%), and protein solubility (sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar) were measured and protein fractions were analyzed using SDS-PAGE. Drip loss accumulation (%) was measured after storage for 2 and 7 days postmortem. High-WHC fillets exhibited lower L*-lightness values and greater pH values at 2 and 24 h postmortem than low-WHC fillets. High-WHC fillets had greater brine uptake and less cooking loss at both 6 and 24 h postmortem compared to low-WHC fillets. Aging from 6 to 24 h postmortem increased brine uptake in high-WHC fillets, but did not affect cooking loss in either low-WHC or high-WHC fillets. Drip loss accumulation was greater in low-WHC fillets at both 2 and 7 days postmortem. Myofibrillar protein solubility decreased with postmortem time but was not different between low-WHC and high-WHC fillets. Sarcoplasmic protein solubility increased with postmortem time and was greater in high-WHC fillets. SDS-PAGE analysis indicated that low-WHC fillets exhibited more glycogen phosphorylase denaturation than high-WHC fillets as evidenced by a more extensive shift of the protein from the sarcoplasmic to the myofibrillar protein fraction. Correlation analysis revealed that overall protein solubility measurements were not related to WHC attributes but that the degree of glycogen phosphorylase denaturation was significantly correlated (|r| = 0.52 to 0.80) to measures of WHC. Data indicated that WHC differences in broiler breast fillets were not due to differences in myofibrillar protein denaturation and suggested that the denaturation of sarcoplasmic proteins onto myofibrils may influence WHC in breast meat.
As the largest developing country in the world, China is urgently in short of energy and natural resources. However, biological resources such as crop residues are burnt in the field, which cause ...serious environmental pollution. Still it is not clear how much storage and potential of these huge crop residues are in China. This paper firstly reported the distribution, utilization structure and potential of crop biomass and provided the tangible information of crop residues in rural China through careful collecting and recalculating data. From 1995 to 2005, China produces some 630 million tons of crop residues per year, 50% of which comes from east and central south of China. The amount of crop residues is 1.3 times of the total yield of crops, 2 times of the total fodder of grassland, which covers 41% of China's territory. Crop residues of corn, wheat and rice amounted to 239, 137 and 116 million tons, respectively, accounting for nearly 80% of the total crop residues. Unfortunately, the utilizing structure is seriously improper for such abundant biomass resources. Although 23% of the crop residues are used for forage, 4% for industry materials and 0.5% for biogas, the large parts are used with lower efficiency or wasted, with 37% being directly combusted by farmers, 15% lost during collection and the rest 20.5% discarded or directly burnt in the field. Reasonable adjustment of the utilizing pattern and popularization of the recycling agriculture are essential out-ways for residues, with the development of the forage industry being the breakthrough point. We suggested that utilizing the abandoned 20.5% of the total residues for forage and combining agriculture and stock raising can greatly improve the farm system and cut down fertilizer pollution. Through the development of forage industries, the use efficiency of crop residues could be largely enhanced. Commercializing and popularizing technologies of biomass gasification and liquefaction might be substitute solutions of China's energy shortage.
Published studies have shown that the wooden breast (WB) condition affects the macroscopic appearance, quality, and functionality of raw broiler breast fillets (pectoralis major) as well as the ...texture of both raw and cooked fillets. In this study, we demonstrated for the first time that the WB condition also significantly affects the color and appearance of cooked breast fillets. Fresh broiler breast fillets (deboned at 3 h post-mortem) were collected from a commercial plant and sorted into normal (no WB) and severe WB condition categories based on palpable hardness and rigidity throughout the breast fillets. The fillets were either cooked directly from a fresh state, after marination with a target concentration of 0.75% NaCl and 0.45% phosphate at the end, or after storage at -20°C. Samples were cooked to 76°C in individual cooking bags in a combi-steam oven. Color measurements (CIEL*a*b*) on both the ventral and dorsal surfaces of cooked fillets were assessed using a Minolta spectrophotometer CM-700d. There were no significant CIE color value differences on the dorsal surfaces (bone side) of cooked fillets (P > 0.01). However, on the cooked ventral surfaces (skin side), the WB condition caused increases (P < 0.01) in a* and b* values and a decrease (P < 0.01) in the L* value regardless of marination treatment or frozen storage. The average L* values of cooked WB fillets were more than 6 units lower than in cooked normal fillets. After cooking, WB fillets showed higher a* and b* values by more than 0.5 and 2 units, respectively, than normal fillets. Data demonstrate that the WB condition can negatively influence the ventral surface color of cooked broiler breast fillets. The cooked surface of WB fillets was darker, redder, and more yellow than that of fillets without the WB condition. The detrimental effect of WB on the surface color and appearance of cooked breast fillets was noticeable and was not eliminated by marination or frozen storage.
A monitoring program for particulate matter pollution was designed and implemented in six Asian cities/metropolitan regions including Bandung, Bangkok, Beijing, Chennai, Manila, and Hanoi, within the ...framework of the Asian regional air pollution research network (AIRPET), coordinated by the Asian Institute of Technology. As uniform the methodologies as possible were intended with an established QA/QC procedure in order to produce reliable and comparable data by the network. The monsoon effects and seasonal changes in the sources/activities require long-term monitoring to understand the nature of air pollution in the cities. During phase 1 (2001–2004) of the AIRPET around 3000 fine and coarse particulate matter samples were collected from characteristic urban sites, which provide insight into temporal and spatial variations of PM in the cities. In all six cities, the levels of PM
10 and PM
2.5 were found high, especially during the dry season, which frequently exceeded the corresponding 24
h US EPA standards at a number of sites. The average concentrations of PM
2.5 and PM
10 in the cities ranged, respectively, 44–168 and 54–262
μg
m
−3 in the dry season, and 18–104 and 33–180
μg
m
−3 in the wet season. Spatial and temporal distribution of PM in each city, the ratios of PM
2.5 to PM
10, and the reconstructed mass were presented which provide useful information on possible PM sources in the cities. The findings help to understand the nature of particulate matter air pollution problems in the selected cities/metropolitan regions.
The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of meat temperature on moisture loss, muscle water properties, and protein profiles in broiler pectoralis major with the severe woody ...breast (WB) condition. Broiler breast samples were collected from a commercial plant and sorted into normal, WB, and pale, soft, and exudative (PSE). Temperature treatments included 23°C, 40°C, 53°C, 57°C, 68°C, and 90°C based on denaturation of major muscle protein types during heating. Moisture loss was estimated with weight changes, water properties were measured with time-domain nuclear magnetic resonance measurements, and protein profiles were determined with SDS electrophoresis gel. There were no differences in moisture loss between 3 groups at meat temperature 23°C, 40°C, and 57°C. Moisture loss of WB samples was greater than normal and PSE at either 68°C or 90°C; however, it was the least at 53°C. Only close changing trend was noted between the intramyofibrillar water (T21) reduction and moisture loss. The extramyofibrillar (T22) water content and reduction in WB meat during heating were consistent greater, and electrophoretic profiles differed among 3 muscle conditions. Data suggest that greater reductions in intramyofibrillar and extramyofibrillar water are responsible for the increased moisture loss in WB meat at higher temperature.
Characterizing the performance of segmentation algorithms in brain images has been a persistent challenge due to the complexity of neuroanatomical structures, the quality of imagery and the ...requirement of accurate segmentation. There has been much interest in using the Jaccard and Dice similarity coefficients associated with Sensitivity and Specificity for evaluating the performance of segmentation algorithms. This paper addresses the essential characteristics of the fundamental performance measure coefficients adopted in evaluation frameworks. While exploring the properties of the Jaccard, Dice and Specificity coefficients, we propose new measure coefficients Conformity and Sensibility for evaluating image segmentation techniques. It is indicated that Conformity is more sensitive and rigorous than Jaccard and Dice in that it has better discrimination capabilities in detecting small variations in segmented images. Comparing to Specificity, Sensibility provides consistent and reliable evaluation scores without the incorporation of image background properties. The merits of the proposed coefficients are illustrated by extracting neuroanatomical structures in a wide variety of brain images using various segmentation techniques.
Vacuum-tumbling marination is often used to improve the yield and quality of whole or portioned broiler breast fillets. The relationship between the marination performance of whole Pectoralis major ...muscles and breast fillet sub-samples is not well understood. The objective was to determine the effects of sub-sampling and freezing-thawing on the marination performance and cook loss of broiler breast meat. Paired right and left breast fillets were marinated as whole fillets or sub-samples (cranial and mid-caudal portions). Samples were marinated at 48 h postmortem (fresh) or stored at -20°C and then thawed prior to marination (frozen-thawed). Samples were vacuum-tumbled in 20% wt/wt brine (5% NaCl, 3% STP) and weighed pre-marination, during marination (15, 30, and 45 min), and 24 h post-marination. Samples were then cooked to 75°C for determination of cook loss. Marinade uptake was greater in caudal sub-samples than intact fillets and cranial sub-samples after 15 min of marination (P < 0.0001). After 30 min, marinade uptake was greater in caudal sub-samples and intact fillets than cranial sub-samples (P < 0.05). After 45 min, marinade uptake for fresh samples was greatest in intact fillets and lowest in cranial sub-samples. For frozen-thawed samples, marinade uptake at 45 min was greater in caudal sub-samples and intact fillets than cranial sub-samples (P < 0.0001). Marinade uptake in sub-samples at 30 min was greater in frozen-thawed versus fresh fillets (P < 0.05). Differences in marinade retention were not observed. Cook loss was similar between fresh and frozen-thawed samples but was greater in sub-samples compared to intact fillets (P < 0.0001). Correlations between marinade uptake in intact fillets and cranial sub-samples were greater in fresh (r = 0.64 to 0.78) than frozen-thawed samples (r = 0.39 to 0.59). Correlations between marinade uptake in intact fillets and caudal sub-samples were greater in frozen-thawed (r = 0.79 to 0.82) than fresh samples (r = 0.46 to 0.63). Data suggest that the relationships between marination performance of whole breast fillets and fillet sub-samples are dependent upon prior sample handling and intra-fillet sampling location.
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