Fermentation of a skim milk concentrate with Streptococcus thermophilus and chymosin: structure, viscoelasticity and syneresis of gels

Fermentation of a reconstituted skim milk concentrate (8% protein) was investigated to elucidate the effects of various fermentation parameters on the structural, rheological and visual (wheying-off) properties of the resulting gels (pH 4.60). Fermentation trials were performed with non-exocellular polysaccharide-producing strains of Streptococcus thermophilus at various fermentation temperatures and at various chymosin levels. Oscillatory vane rheometry carried out on the intact gels (at 4 °C) showed that the level of chymosin had a significant impact on the gel strength (storage modulus G′). This can be explained by the arrangement of casein micelles into more compact aggregates and the enhanced fusion of aggregated casein micelles as revealed by transmission electron microscopy for the gels fermented with chymosin. Wheying-off of the stirred gels as measured by a centrifugation test (at 4 °C) and pore size of the intact gel structures investigated by scanning electron microscopy both increased with increasing level of chymosin and increasing fermentation temperature (resulting in an increase in acidification rate). A higher level of syneresis (wheying-off) is explained by the larger pore size, since larger pores present a lower resistance to the outflow of whey from the gel.     

Determination of organophosphorus, triazine and 2,6-dinitroaniline pesticides in aqueous samples via solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and gas chromatography with nitrogen-phosphorus detection

Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) represents a very simple and rapid method for the extraction of organophosphorus, triazine and 2,6-dinitroaniline pesticides from aqueous samples without making use of any solvents. The same fiber can be used repeatedly. Moreover, a sample volume as small as 3 mL can be employed with no loss in sensitivity. 34 compounds have been extracted from aqueous samples by SPME using a 85 m polyacrylate fiber. For organophosphorus pesticides, a 100 m polydimethylsiloxane fiber has been used additionally for comparison. The fibers were directly introduced into the heated split/splitless injector of the gas chromatograph and determined using a nitrogen-phosphorus detector. The method was evaluated with respect to the limit of detection (LOD), linearity and precision. The limit of detection (LOD) depends on the compound and varies from 0.005–0.09 g/L. The method is linear over at least three orders of magnitude with coefficients of correlation usually >0.999. For triazines and 2,6-dinitroanilines the coefficient of variation (precision) is <8% while for organophosphorus compounds it may reach values up to 18% (however, if the latter compounds are extracted using the polydimethylsiloxane phase considerably higher precision is achieved). The partitioning of the analyte between the aqueous phase and the polymeric phase depends on the hydrophobicity of the compound as expressed by the octanol/water partitioning coefficient (P_ow). For triazines it was shown that there is a linear dependence of the logarithm of the analyte response on the log(P_ow) i.e. the higher the hydrophobicity, the higher the affinity of the analytes to the polymeric phase of the fiber and the higher the response. Salt addition has a strong effect on the extraction efficiency. This effect increases with decreasing hydrophobicity (increasing polarity) of the compound. The triazines ametryn, atrazine, propazine, simazine and simetryn have been identified in a ground water well sample by SPMEGC/NPD.     

Complete solutions of a family of quartic Thue and index form equations

Continuing the recent work of the second author, we prove that the diophantine equation

for has exactly 12 solutions except when , when it has 16 solutions. If denotes one of the zeros of , then for we also find all with .

     

Inhomogeneous quantum groups and their quantized universal enveloping algebras

The quantum group IGL _q (N), the inhomogenization of GL _q (N), is formulated with -matrices. Theq-deformed universal enveloping algebra is constructed as the algebra of regular functionals in this formulation and contains the partial derivatives of the covariant differential calculus on the quantum space.     

Franck-Condon matrix elements for bound-continuum vibrational transitions calculated by numerical integration and basis set expansion techniques

Franck-Condon factor distributions for bound-to-continuum transitions of one-dimensional vibrational states are calculated by a) using numerical integration, b) employing a finite number of square integrable harmonic oscillator functions. The methods are generally applicable to any kind of bound or repulsive potential involved. Results are presented and compared to model potential calculations previously reported by Krüger [1].     

First structural characterization of binary AsIII and SbIII azides

The highly explosive molecules As(N(3))(3) and Sb(N(3))(3) were obtained in pure form by the reactions of the corresponding fluorides with (CH(3))(3)SiN(3) in SO(2) and purification by sublimation. The crystal structures and (14)N NMR, infrared, and Raman spectra were determined, and the results compared to ab initio second-order perturbation theory calculations. Whereas Sb(N(3))(3) possesses a propeller-shaped, pyramidal structure with perfect C(3) symmetry, the As(N(3))(3) molecule is significantly distorted from C(3) symmetry due to crystal packing effects.     

Röntgenstrukturanalysen von Cyclododekaschwefel (S12) und Cyclododekaschwefel-1-Kohlendisulfid (S12 · CS2) [1]

X-Ray Structural Analyses of Cyclododecasulfur (S₁₂) and Cyclododecasulfur-1-Carbon-disulfide (S₁₂ · CS₂) S₁₂ · CS₂ crystallizes in space group R&3macr;m–D with hexagonal lattice constants a = 1066.8(3), c = 1155.1(4) pm, Z = 3, d_calc. = 2.04 g · cm^?3. The S₁₂ molecules occupy sites of D_3d symmetry with bond distance (d_ss) of 205.4(1) pm, bond angles (α) of 105.80(5) and 106.65(6)º and torsional angle (τ) of 87.20(7)º. The CS₂ molecule interacts only very weakly with the S₁₂ units. S₁₂ crystallizes in space group Pnnm–D with lattice constants a = 472.5(2), b = 910.4(3), c = 1453.2(3) pm, Z = 2, d_calc = 2.045 g · cm^?3. The molecules with mean parameters d = 205.2 pm, α 106.6º, τ 88.0º occupy sites of C_2h symmetry.     

The Crystal Structures of Eu5Ge3 and EuIrGe2

Eu₅Ge₃ and EuIrGe₂ were prepared from the elements in tantalum tubes, and their crystal structures were determined from single crystal X-ray data. Eu₅Ge₃ adopts the structure of Cr₅B₃: I4/mcm, a = 799.0(1)pm, c = 1 536.7(1)pm, Z = 4, wR2 = 0.0421 for 669 F² values and 16 variables. The structure of Eu₅Ge₃ contains isolated germanium atoms and germanium atom pairs with a Ge? Ge distance of 256.0 pm. Eu₅Ge₃ may be described as a Zintl phase with the formulation [5 Eu²⁺]¹⁰⁺[Ge]^4?[Ge₂]^6?. Magnetic investigations of Eu₅Ge₃ show Curie-Weiss behaviour above 50 K with a magnetic moment of μ_exp = 7.6(1) μ_B which is close to the free ion value of μ_eff = 7.94 μ_B for Eu²⁺. EuIrGe₂ is isotypic with CeNiSi₂: Cmcm, a = 445.5(2) pm, b = 1 737.4(4) pm, c = 426.6(1) pm, Z = 4, wR2 = 0.0507 for 295 F² values and 18 variables. The structure of EuIrGe₂ is an intergrowth of ThCr₂Si₂-like slabs with composition EuIr₂Ge₂ and AlB₂-like slabs with composition EuGe₂ in an AB stacking sequence. Both slabs are distorted when compared to the symmetry of the prototypes. The Ge? Ge distance of 256.6 pm in the AlB₂-like fragment is comparable to that in Eu₅Ge₃.