bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
COMPARISON OF THE IMPEDANCE SPLITTING METHOD TO THE AGAR DILUTION METHOD FOR THE ESTIMATION OF THE ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF FOOD PRESERVATIVES
Authors: GEROLIMATOU CHRISA N. , BATRINOU ANTHIMIA M. , TSAKNIS JOHN P. , SPILIOTIS VASSILIS K. 
Published: September 2010

ABSTRACT The antimicrobial activity of 10 substances with antimicrobial activity used as food preservatives and antioxidants was evaluated by the Impedance Splitting (IS) method and the Agar Dilution Method on five microorganisms (Escherichia coli (ATCC 10536), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 6538), Ps. aeruginosa (ATCC 9027), Candida albicans (ATCC 10231) and Aspergillus niger (ATCC 6275)). In both methods the Maximum Inhibitory Dilution (MID) of the preservatives was determined. MID was equal in 68% of cases and different by one dilution cycle in 32% of cases. The results suggest that the IS method, which is more automated and less laborious, could be used as an alternative method for the estimation of the antimicrobial activity of food antimicrobial substances.
CRISPY/CRUNCHY CRUSTS OF CELLULAR SOLID FOODS: A LITERATURE REVIEW WITH DISCUSSION
Authors: LUYTEN HANNEMIEKE , J. PLIJTER JOHAN , VAN VLIET TON 
Published: September 2010

ABSTRACT Literature on the crispy/crunchy behavior of cellular solid foods with a crust is discussed. The emphasis is on products with a dry crispy or crunchy crust as bread and various snacks and especially on mesoscopic and macroscopic aspects. Successively, the sensory sensations involved, the mechanical and fracture behavior of crispy/crunchy products, morphological aspects, and the relation between crispy and crunchy behavior and mobility of the macromolecules and plasticizer (primarily water) involved, are discussed. Finally, some ideas for an integrated approach of crispy/crunchy behavior of cellular solid foods with a dry crust will be discussed.
APPLICATION OF SURFACE FRICTION MEASUREMENTS FOR SURFACE CHARACTERIZATION OF HEAT‐SET WHEY PROTEIN GELS
Authors: CHEN JIANSHE , MOSCHAKIS THOMAS , NELSON PHILIP 
Published: September 2010

ABSTRACTThe surface properties of heat‐set whey protein gels (14 wt %) was studied by measuring the friction at the gel's surface. A simple device was constructed that can be conveniently attached to a Texture Analyzer. Surface friction forces of gels with and without addition of salt were measured as a function of sliding speed and surface load. Surface friction strongly depended on the sliding speed for all three gel systems over the speed range 0.01 mm/s to 10 mm/s. The gel without salt addition showed the highest speed dependency, while the gel containing 200 mM NaCl had the lowest speed dependency. Surface load tests showed nearly linear relationships for both protein gels (with and without salt addition). Unlike solid materials, both protein gels exhibited a surface friction even as the surface load approached zero. Possible contributions of surface attraction and viscous flow to the measured forces are discussed. Results from surface friction tests were further confirmed by optical observation of the surface using a confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM), where a very smooth surface was observed for the whey protein gel without salt addition, but a much rougher surface was observed for the gel containing 200 mM NaCl.
EFFECT OF AMYLASE ACTIVITY ON STARCH PASTE VISCOSITY AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR FLAVOR PERCEPTION
Authors: FERRY A.‐L. , HORT J. , MITCHELL J.R. , LAGARRIGUE S. , PAMIES B.V. 
Published: September 2010

ABSTRACTThe viscosity of starch pastes prepared from waxy maize and wheat starches was measured as a function of concentration. Concentrations at which the two starches had comparable viscosities were selected and the decrease in viscosity with time on amylase addition was determined at 37C using a rapid viscosity analyzer (RVA). At the same level of enzyme addition the decrease in viscosity with time was much faster for waxy maize starch compared to wheat starch. For the latter, the time for the RVA viscosity to be reduced to half its value was of the order of 10 s. Volatile release was substantially increased with amylase addition. It is suggested that, at comparable initial viscosities, starch‐thickened products have better flavor and taste perception than products prepared with other thickeners because of the in‐mouth viscosity decrease resulting from amylase degradation. This could be explained by a reduction in perceived viscosity, which may enhance flavor perception as a consequence of signal processing within the brain, and/or an increase in the concentrations of volatiles reaching the olfactory receptors.
DIRECT MEASUREMENT OF LIP PRESSURE WHEN INGESTING SEMI‐LIQUID FOOD
Authors: KOHYAMA KAORU , HAYAKAWA FUMIYO , SASAKI TOMOKO , AZUMA TERUAKI 
Published: September 2010

ABSTRACTA spoon sensor to measure lip pressure when slurping liquid food was developed. Several sheet‐type sensors of 3 mm diameter were aligned along the back‐center line of the bowl of a spoon, at intervals of 5 mm and the lip pressure was evaluated while average adults ingested five samples of semi‐liquid foods with varying viscosities. Samples with greater viscosity required correspondingly greater lip pressure and maximum force, as well as a greater impulse or time integral of the force detected by a single sensor. The sum of the force, the impulse, duration and velocity using pressure data from a sequence of four sensors were calculated. Thicker samples required greater force and impulse, and longer duration, but lower velocity. The test subjects slurped semi‐liquid foods differently, adapting to viscosity. Mechanoreceptors in the lips may play an important role in the discrimination of food viscosity.
POLYACRYLAMIDE GELS AS ELASTIC MODELS FOR FOOD GELS: FRACTURE PROPERTIES AFFECTED BY DEXTRAN AND GLYCEROL
Authors: ZHANG JUNHUA , DAUBERT CHRISTOPHER R. , FOEGEDING E. ALLEN 
Published: September 2010

ABSTRACT Influence of dextran and glycerol on fracture properties of 10% polyacrylamide (PAAm) gels was studied as a representative model system for food gels. No direct relationship was found between the fracture properties and gel liquid‐phase viscosity. In general, addition of dextran and glycerol did not affect gel network crosslink density and chain length. With minimal dextran addition, fracture stress and strain experienced large increases. Increase of the fracture stress and strain was attributed to fracture mode transition from elastic to elasto‐plastic fracture, resulting from dextran addition. Plastic deformation at the crack tips, acting as fracture‐initiating points, prior to fracture propagation lowered stress concentration effect. Sensitivity of 10% PAAm gels, with/without dextran, to induced imperfections showed the fracture stress to be higher than expected based on Griffith's energy balance criteria, manifesting in a delayed fracture process. The plastic deformation was ascribed to the delayed crack nucleation resulting from dextran addition. The fracture stress and strain of 10% PAAm gels increased with glycerol addition. The increase in fracture properties was attributed to plastic deformation, caused by a delayed crack nucleation prior to fracture propagation. The mechanism of delayed crack nucleation remains unclear, but the results obtained from this investigation can be used to understand reasons for the change in fracture property of food gels created by additives.
Private Equity: Boom and Bust?
Authors: Acharya Viral V. , Franks Julian , Servaes Henri 
Published: September 2010

The private equity or leveraged buyout (LBO) market in Europe and the U.S. has grown enormously over the last two decades, from $7.5 billion in 1991 to $500 billion in 2006. Much of the financing of recent transactions has come in the form of syndicated debt, which is dispersed after origination to many non‐bank financial institutions. This financing practice has two important possible consequences:First, bankers' incentives to engage in effective ex‐ante screening and ex‐post monitoring of deals have been weakened, which may have led to excessive lending while encouraging buyers to overpay. Consistent with this possibility, the authors provide new evidence that some recent transactions have occurred at very low EBITDA‐to‐capital ratios, financed with high levels of debt that recall those of the late 1980s and early 1990s.Second, there is a scarcity of information about the identity of the ultimate holders of the LBO debt; and as a consequence of the resulting uncertainty, a few defaults of major LBO deals could cause a drying up of new funding for financial institutions. The end result could be that the veil covering the repackaging of LBO debt converts a small shock to the LBO sector into a liquidity crisis for its financiers. Such liquidity problems could in turn affect not the financing and re‐financing of just LBO deals, but other as set classes as well, including lending by banks to public firms. The authors offer a number of suggestions for increasing the transparency of this market.
What Companies Need to Know About International Cross‐Listing
Authors: King Michael R. , Mittoo Usha R. 
Published: September 2010

This article addresses four questions about cross‐listing by non‐U.S. companies on a U.S. stock exchange: Why do companies cross‐list? Does a U.S. listing increase firm value? If so, what are the sources of the increased valuation? And finally, how has the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act (SOX) affected the value of a U.S. listing?Both managerial surveys and academic research show that companies list in the U.S. to increase visibility and share liquidity, to broaden their shareholder base, to gain access to cheaper financing and reduce the cost of capital, and, in some cases, to implement a global business strategy. Foreign companies also typically cross‐list after periods of strong market performance and experience a positive valuation effect around the time of listing, but then underperform the market in the period after the cross‐listing. On average, cross‐listed companies exhibit higher valuations than their home‐market peers, but with significant variation based on firm characteristics: The valuation premiums are larger for smaller companies with higher past sales growth, higher ROAs, and lower financial leverage. In the long run, the companies that show a permanent increase in valuation are those that succeed in expanding their U.S. shareholder base and improving their levels of shareholder protection. Finally, the evidence suggests that SOX, while perhaps deterring some would‐be overseas listings, has not seriously eroded the net benefits of a U.S. listing.
Ten Common Misconceptions About Enterprise Risk Management
Authors: Fraser John R. S. , Simkins Betty J. 
Published: September 2010

A well‐designed and carefully executed ERM program can increase firm value by strengthening the confidence of investors in management's ability to carry out its business plan—and, perhaps equally important, the rating agencies' confidence in the company's ability to meet its debt service—under most foreseeable circumstances. While only about 10% of companies responding to recent surveys claim to have achieved successful implementations of ERM, the authors begin by arguing that even these claims overstate the degree of progress in establishing truly enterprise‐wide systems. In their view, there are a large number of common misconceptions about both the approach and the process that have become obstacles to successful implementation.After arguing that ERM is a more simple and straightforward undertaking than most people realize, the authors go on to correct what they take to be the ten most common corporate misconceptions that now stand in the way of effective applications of ERM. Among the most important errors of thinking or execution is widespread confusion about concepts like “inherent risk” and “risk appetite,” and an equally common failure to tie such concepts to the firm's overall business and financial strategy. Another common mistake is continued reliance on decentralized risk management practices while failing to achieve an effective corporate‐wide purview and controls. In a related failing, the development of highly specialized risk management skill sets without a solid grounding in the firm's strategy and culture is a prescription for trouble. Finally, the widespread view that ERM is simply another category of response to Sarbanes‐Oxley reflects a near total misunderstanding of the spirit and aspirations of ERM. Whereas compliance with SOX is mainly a backward‐looking exercise, the intent of ERM is to help senior management maximize value. For that reason the shortest, most reliable path to a successful implementation is to get executive management or board‐level buy‐in, reach agreement on business objectives and risk tolerances, and allocate resources through the business planning process to manage identified risks from all sources that could pose a threat to those objectives.
Choices and Best Practice in Corporate Risk Management Disclosure
Authors: Emm Ekaterina E. , Gay Gerald D. , Lin Chen‐Miao 
Published: September 2010

For over a decade, the SEC has required corporations to disclose in their 10‐K filings the nature and extent of their risk exposures using one or more of the following three methods: (1) sensitivity analysis; (2) the so‐called “tabular” format; and (3) value‐at‐risk (VaR). After discussing the significant differences in the type and level of information revealed by each method, this article presents the findings of a study that examines how corporate choices of disclosure method vary with firm‐specific and industry characteristics.While sensitivity analysis has been the “middle of the road” chosen by the majority of companies, there have also been significant minorities adopting the tabular and VaR methods. Those companies that have chosen the tabular method—in the authors' view, the most revealing of the three methods—have also had the largest interest rate and commodity exposures as well as the greatest demand for external financing. The propensity of companies to use VaR, the least revealing method, has been associated with larger size, perhaps reflecting scale economies in risk management, greater use of derivatives, and competitiveness concerns about revealing proprietary information.
How Banks Price Loans to Public‐Private Partnerships: Evidence from the European Markets
Authors: Blanc‐Brude Frederic , Strange Roger 
Published: September 2010

This article presents the findings of a recent analysis of the drivers of credit spreads in project finance loans to public‐private partnerships, or PPPs, an increasingly popular form of procurement worldwide. PPPs are project finance transactions in which project output is a function of government policy in fields such as health, transport, and education. Because of the controversy that now surrounds the use of private finance in PPPs, understanding the determinants of the cost of debt in such highly leveraged projects is of interest to policy makers as well as originators and participants in the transactions.Using a large sample of credit spreads on debt extended to PPP projects in Europe over the past 15 years, the authors' study reports that market risk is the only significant driver of PPP debt credit spreads in a large portfolio of PPP debt; at the same time, technical risks appear to be diversified “away” by the structuring of the projects. Most important, and contrary to standard debt pricing models, factors like loan size, maturity, and leverage do not show up as significant determinants of the cost of debt in PPPs, reflecting a high degree of confidence by lenders that loans will be repaid or recovered. These results support the view that the use of project finance in PPPs is premised on effective risk management as well as confidence in the private sector's ability to manage public projects.
Dietary and Physical Activity Behaviors of Middle School Youth: The Youth Physical Activity and Nutrition Survey*
Authors: Zapata Lauren B. , Bryant Carol A. , McDermott Robert J. , Hefelfinger Jennie A. 
Published: September 2010

ABSTRACTBackground:  Obesity has become a national epidemic among youth. Declining physical activity and poor nutrition contribute to this epidemic. The purpose of this study was to obtain data on middle school students’ physical activity and nutrition knowledge and practices.Methods:  The Youth Physical Activity and Nutrition Survey was developed and distributed to a probability sample of Florida public middle schools (n = 73) in spring 2003, producing data from 4452 students in grades 6‐8.Results:  Results showed that less than one fourth of youth met expert recommendations for daily fruit and vegetable intake and less than one fifth identified the daily fruit and vegetable serving recommendation. Less than half of students reported eating breakfast daily. More non‐Hispanic black youth reported not engaging in vigorous or moderate physical activity during the previous 7 days, and more girls and Hispanic youth reported not attending any physical education classes during the average school week.Conclusion:  These findings demonstrate that dietary and physical activity behaviors and knowledge among these middle school youth are setting the stage for the obesity epidemic to continue.
ORGANIC GEOCHEMISTRY, BURIAL HISTORY AND HYDROCARBON GENERATION MODELLING OF THE UPPER JURASSIC MADBI FORMATION, MASILA BASIN, YEMEN
Authors: Hakimi Mohammed H. , Abdulah Wan H. , Shalaby Mohamed R. 
Published: September 2010

The Masila Basin is an important hydrocarbon province in Yemen but the origin of its hydrocarbons is not fully understood. In this study, we evaluate Upper Jurassic source rocks in the Madbi Formation and assess the results of basin modelling in order to improve our understanding of burial history and hydrocarbon generation. This source rock has generated commercial volumes of hydrocarbons which migrated into Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous reservoir rocks.Cuttings samples of shales from the Upper Jurassic Madbi Formation from boreholes in the centre‐west of the Masila Basin were analysed using organic geochemistry (Rock‐Eval pyrolysis, extract analysis) and organic petrology. The shales generally contain more than 2.0 wt % TOC and have very good to excellent hydrocarbon potential. Kerogen is predominantly algal Type II with minor Type I. Thermal maturity of the organic matter is Rr 0.69–0.91%.Thermal and burial history models indicate that the Madbi Formation source rock entered the early‐mature to mature stage in the Late Cretaceous to Early Tertiary. Hydrocarbon generation began in the Late Cretaceous, reaching maximum rates during the Early Tertiary. Cretaceous subsidence had only a minor influence on source rock maturation and OM transformation.
DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENTS AND SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY OF THE EARLY TRIASSIC KANGAN FORMATION IN THE NORTHERN PART OF THE PERSIAN GULF: IMPLICATIONS FOR RESERVOIR CHARACTERISTICS
Authors: Peyravi M. , Kamali M. R. , Kalani M. 
Published: September 2010

The Early Triassic Kangan Formation is the main reservoir for natural gas in SW Iran and the northern Persian Gulf and is equivalent to the Upper Khuff Formation. Analyses of the formation at the offshore Salman and Minab oilfields indicate that it is composed of 14 facies deposited in tidal flat, lagoon and oolitic barrier settings in the inner part of a carbonate ramp or platform. Vertical variations of microfacies and gamma‐ray log profiles show that the formation consists of three depositional sequences (KG1–3), each consisting of transgressive and highstand systems tracts and each bounded above by a type 2 unconformity. Porosity in the Kangan Formation is dominated by fracture and intercrystalline pore types in highstand systems tract deposits.From a study of core plug porosity and permeability, ten flow units were recognized. Flow units GF1, GF5 and GF8 represent zones with similar flow and storage capacities. Flow units GF3, GF7 and GF9 were attributed to zones of higher flow capacity, and units GF2, GF4, GF6 and GF10 were interpreted as zones with higher storage capacities. In general, flow units which correspond to highstand systems tracts with grain‐supported facies have enhanced reservoir qualities. These flow units are GF10, GF9, GF8 and GF7, together with the upper parts of GF5 and GF4. The best reservoir quality occurs in flow unit GF9 which is located in the HST of sequence KG3. Flow units GF1 and GF2 from sequence KG1, comprising lagoonal and tidal flat facies, have relatively poor reservoir qualities.
Nurses’ experiences of caring encounters with older people living in Swedish nursing homes
Authors: Westin Lars , Danielson Ella 
Published: September 2010

Aim. The aim of the study was to describe and interpret the meaning of nurses’ experiences of caring encounters with residents in nursing homes.Background. Life for residents in nursing homes can be characterized as a process of decreased physical and psychological resources. Therefore, encounters with nurses are important activities for providing meaning and security for the residents. Research in this field has previously focused on communication, attitudes and job satisfaction, but gives limited knowledge about what the human encounters in this context mean for the nurses.Method. A hermeneutic method was used in this study. Interviews were conducted with 14 nurses from two nursing homes about their experiences of caring encounters. The transcribed interview texts were interpreted as a whole.Results. In the interpretation of the text concerning the meaning of nurses’ experiences of encounters with resident's four themes and 11 subthemes emerged. The comprehensive interpretation mainly showed possible ways availablebeing present,being significantandbeing aware of opportunitiesfor the nurse to find meaning in the encounter with the resident, but impossible ways asbeing inadequatelywere also revealed.Conclusion. This study shows the importance of caring encounters between nurses and residents in nursing homes. The good encounters provide various possible ways for nurses to find meaning and a sense of communion with residents. However, bad encounters, described asbeing inadequate, were found to inhibit nurses from finding meaning in their encounters with residents.Relevance to clinical practice. Meeting the needs of older people in nursing homes requires special knowledge about the importance of the caring encounter. Therefore, nurses in this care context need supervision and continuous education in order to gain relevant knowledge about the meaning of caring encounters for themselves and residents.