Food Blender Research Articles

Creating similar food boluses as that in vivo using a novel in vitro bio-inspired oral mastication simulator (iBOMS-Ⅲ): The cases with cooked rice and roasted peanuts

Food bolus is the major outcome of oral processing of foods. Its structure and properties are crucial for safe swallowing and subsequent gastric digestion. However, collecting the ready-to-swallow bolus for further analysis in either normal or deficient human subjects is difficult, regulatorily or practically. Here, a novel in vitro bio-inspired oral mastication simulator (iBOMS-Ⅲ) was developed to be capable of replicating food boluses comparable to those in vivo. Cooked rice and roasted peanuts were used as the model foods (soft and hard) respectively. Particle size distribution, moisture content and rheology of the food boluses produced in the iBOMS-Ⅲ were assessed. A conventional food blender was also employed as a non-consequential comparation. Eighteen healthy young volunteers of the ages from 20-30 years (10 male and 8 female) were invited to provide the in vivo data. For cooked rice boluses produced by the iBOMS-Ⅲ with 10, 12, 14, and 20 chewing number of cycles, the moisture content exhibited minimal variation (68.3–68.8 wt%), aligning closely with values obtained from the average value of the human subjects (67.5 wt%). Similarly, the boluses from roasted peanut displayed similar moisture contents across masticatory number of cycles (36, 40, and 44 number of cycles), averaging at 35.3 %, mirroring the average in vivo results (33.8 wt%). Furthermore, the shear viscosity of both cooked rice and roasted peanut boluses exhibited minimal variations with iBOMS-Ⅲ chewing number of cycles. The particle size distributions of the boluses produced with 14 and 44 chewing number of cycles matched well with the in vivo data for cooked rice and roasted peanuts, with median particle size (d50) being 1.07 and 0.78 mm, respectively. The physical properties of the food boluses collected from the food blender, with varying grinding times, differed significantly. This study demonstrates the value of the iBOMS-Ⅲ in achieving realistic boluses with two very different food textures.

Sound quality studies as a tool for improving the sound of blenders

This paper summarizes various methodologies that were employed to determine design guidelines for improving the perceived sound quality of food blender appliances. These included designing, preparing sounds for, carrying out, and analyzing results from a consumer jury study, where the goal was to evaluate sound quality as determined by actual users, and to measure the impact and value of various possible modification scenarios. This jury study was configured to identify and quantify how various components and mechanisms operating within two types of blenders - a full size "pitcher-type" model, and a smaller "single-serve" model - affect user perceptions of sound quality, as expressed in terms of numerical ratings for two subjective attributes ("Acceptability" and "Overall Impres­sion"), obtained by the jury listening to the sounds of various "virtual" blenders. Using regression models developed from the jury study results, it was then possible to identify several candidate modified designs for improving the attribute ratings, all by a similar degree.

Initial Formulation of Novel Peanut Butter-like Products from Glandless Cottonseed.

Glandless (Gl) cottonseed is a unique cotton variety with only a trace content of toxic gossypol present. This new cottonseed raises the potential of its enhanced utilization as an agro-food for human consumption. In this work, Gl cottonseed kernels were used with additional cottonseed oil to produce novel peanut butter-like products. Kernels roasted at two temperatures (140 or 150 °C) for a given time (15 or 30 min) were first ground with different ratios of cottonseed oil and two other ingredients (i.e., salt and sugar) with a food blender, and then passed through a meat grinder with a 4-mm-hole grinding plate. Per the preliminary result, the butter-like products with Gl kernels roasted at 150 °C were subject to further structural and textural evaluation. The color of the two butter-like products was comparable to a commercial peanut butter, but the formers' textural properties were significantly different (p ≤ 0.05) from the latter. Morphologic examination by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and cryo-SEM revealed that the butter product with a longer (30 min) roasting time possessed a smoother surface than the products with a shorter (15 min) roasting time. Oil stability test showed no substantial oil separation (<3%) from the butter products over 7 weeks at ambient temperature (22 °C). This work provides the basic information and parameters for lab cottonseed butter making so that optimization and characterization of cottonseed butter formation can be designed and performed in future research.

Low-cost alternative biodiesel production apparatus based on household food blender for continuous biodiesel production for small communities

Fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) are sustainable biofuel that can alleviate high oil costs and environmental impacts of petroleum-based fuel. A modified 1200 W high-efficiency food blender was employed for continuous transesterification of various refined vegetable oils and waste cooking oil (WCO) using sodium hydroxide as a homogeneous catalyst. The following factors have been investigated on their effects on FAME yield: baffles, reaction volume, total reactant flow rate, methanol-oil molar ratio, catalyst concentration and reaction temperature. Results indicated that the optimal conditions were: 2000 mL reaction volume, 50 mL/min total flow rate, 1% and 1.25% catalyst concentration for refined palm oil and WCO, respectively, 6:1 methanol-to-oil molar ratio and 62–63 °C, obtaining yield efficiency over 96.5% FAME yield of 21.14 × 10–4 g/J (for palm oil) and 19.39 × 10–4 g/J (for WCO). All the properties of produced FAMEs meet the EN 14214 and ASTM D6751 standards. The modified household food blender could be a practical and low-cost alternative biodiesel production apparatus for continuous biodiesel production for small communities in remote areas.

Drying of Algae: Analysis of Oedogonium Dehydration Kinetics

Algae cultivation has multiple potential applications including biofuel production, wastewater treatment, and carbon capture. However, dewatering and dehydration remain a challenge for commercialization. Research has focused mainly on microalgae, but filamentous algae have recently gained attention due to their larger size and thus relative ease of harvesting. The drying mechanics of filamentous algae has yet to be fully understood and optimized. This study investigated the drying behavior of the filamentous algae Oedogonium at 50℃, 60℃ and 70℃. The moisture content of triplicate samples of microalgae and Oedogonium (intact filaments, fractured filaments, and aggregated forms) was measured during drying. Intact Oedogonium filaments were fractured using a food blender. Intact Oedogonium had an average shorter falling rate phase and higher diffusivity then microalgae at all temperatures, resulting in a 15%, 8.3%, and 11% faster total average drying time at 50℃, 60℃ and 70℃ respectively. Fractured Oedogonium further had a shorter falling rate phase than intact Oedogonium at 50℃ and 60℃ where its average total drying time was respectively 18% and 9% faster, but the effect of the fracturing treatment reduced with increasing temperature and became negligible at 70℃. Thus, Oedogonium appears to dry more effectively than microalgae, and fracturing Oedogonium results in faster dehydration at lower temperatures. These findings could help optimize industrial drying and assist in the commercialization of algae cultivation.

A Blueprint for Life and Love.

A Blueprint for Life and Love.

Energetic analysis of the relevance of WAF preparations to field mixing conditions

Water accommodated fractions (WAFs) are standard laboratory preparations used in toxicity testing to simulate oil exposure in the water column. A traditional WAF is commonly created by mixing water with oil in an aspirator bottle using a stir bar without a vortex (i.e., low energy WAF or LEWAF). However, following the Deepwater Horizon accident, a new “High-Energy Water Accommodated Fraction” (HEWAF) was developed to represent the increased mixing energy from breaking waves. A HEWAF is generated using a commercial food blender to mix an oil and water solution, and the resulting chemical exposure from HEWAFs can be significantly different from the exposure resulting from LEWAF preparations. Consequently, assessment of the relevance of HEWAF toxicity test preparations to surface conditions in the field requires understanding how the energetics of the HEWAF preparation compare to the energetics in the ocean in general, and to the oil spill to which the test data are being applied. This study focused on the use of the HEWAF method used on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. We measured the mixing intensity, or turbulent dissipation rate, generated in HEWAF and LEWAF preparations and compared the results to published turbulent dissipation rates for a variety of oceanic locations and conditions. The results indicate that HEWAFs subject the oil and water mixtures to a mixing intensity that is greater than 60,000 times more intense than the mixing intensity that has been recorded from breaking waves, and, on the basis of mixing intensity alone, even LEWAF preparations are over 7 times stronger than a breaking wave. Understanding the relevance of HEWAFs to environmental conditions is essential to ensure appropriate application of laboratory toxicity tests of oil exposure.

Flexible and transparent chitin/acrylic nanocomposite films with high mechanical strength

Chitin-nanofibers (CNFs) of <50 nm in width were successfully extracted from shrimp shell using ordinary household food blender by introducing electrostatic repulsion force, without altering the original chemical structure of chitin. The generated nanofibers were small enough and compatible with liquid acrylic to retain the transparency of acrylic resin films, even at nanofibers share of about 25 %. Young’s modulus of CNFs reinforced resin films has been increased 115-fold and the tensile strength 3-fold. The resulting nanocomposites had almost the same bending resistance of acrylic resin films. It is conceived that this finding is of a significant step in advancing the field of optoelectronic technology.

Four Square Leagues: Pueblo Indian Land in New Mexico by Malcolm Ebright, Rick Hendricks, Richard W. Hughes (review)

Reviewed by: Four Square Leagues: Pueblo Indian Land in New Mexico by Malcolm Ebright, Rick Hendricks, Richard W. Hughes Richard Flint Four Square Leagues: Pueblo Indian Land in New Mexico. By Malcolm Ebright, Rick Hendricks, and Richard W. Hughes. (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2014. Pp. 464pp. Illustrations, maps, tables, notes, bibliography, index.) One of the testimonial blurbs printed on the dust jacket of Four Square Leagues calls the book “an authoritative masterpiece,” which suits only chapter 8. But that single chapter is worth the whole book. Following U.S. annexation of Nuevo México, Congress created the Office of the Surveyor General of New Mexico, which was charged with investigating Spanish and Mexican land grant claims in the territory and recommending congressional approval or rejection of such claims. That mandate applied to indigenous communities, as well as private citizens. William Pelham, the first surveyor general, soon received documents presented by various Indian pueblos purporting to be authentic grant instruments dating from 1689 and authorized by then governor Domingo Jironza Petríz de Cruzate. Pelham accepted those supposed grant documents and recommended to Congress that the territories described in them be formally approved and patented to the individual tribes, which in due time they were. It was not until almost fifty years later, in 1893, that a man named Will Tipton, working as a translator for the Court of Private Land Claims, pronounced the “Cruzate grants” to be frauds. He pointed out oddities in the handwriting and spelling in the documents, including misspelling the governor’s own name, which undermined any possibility that the grants dated from the seventeenth century as claimed. Subsequent research by historians has shown that the paper on which the Cruzate grants were written probably dates to the nineteenth century. As a result, the grants have been thoroughly discredited, although the patents based on them and issued under congressional authority remain valid. Beginning at least as early as the 1980s, some historians began to wonder if the Cruzate grants were in fact copied from authentic originals. Ebright, Hendricks, and Hughes take the most comprehensive look at the “Cruzate grants” to date, concluding, “The only explanation that seems moderately plausible is that these documents were at least partially based on authentic documents in which, at least to some extent, the events recounted in the extant Cruzate documents were set forth” (234). Even so, who the makers of the nineteenth-century partial copies were and why the copies were made remain, despite Ebright, Hendricks, and Hughes’s impressive research, a confounding mystery of New Mexican and southwestern history. Much of the rest of Four Square Leagues suffers some of the worst defects of multi-authored works: temporal sequences are obliterated by an editorial [End Page 429] process that resembles the work of a food blender, and protagonists suddenly appear or reappear without introductions in the multiple, complex stories of centuries-long Pueblo defense of their lands. Four Square Leagues contains a raft of valuable information in the form of case studies of non-native encroachment on and Pueblo strategies for protection of tribal land. But the repeatedly flawed presentation makes that information virtually inaccessible except to dedicated specialists in the history and legalities of Pueblo land rights. There are moments of incredible drama, such as the Pueblo of Santa Ana’s purchase of the Rancho Viejo in May 1753, when “The people of Santa Ana did not have 739 pesos to pay for the land, so members lined up and proffered livestock and other personal property, each item of which was assigned a value, until the full purchase price was collected” (59). Throughout most of the book, though, such human moments are submerged in a confused whirlwind of institutional intricacies. Richard Flint University of New Mexico Copyright © 2014 The Texas State Historical Association

English

Good quality dry seeds of Moringa oleifera were selected and the seed coat and wings were removed manually. The kernel was ground to fine powder using the coffee mill attachment of the Moulinex domestic food blender. The ground powder was then sieved through 210 µm sieve. The seed powder was de-fatted using hexane in electro-thermal Soxhlet extractor. Moringa seeds extract was obtained using the de-fatted seed cake and aqueous extraction. Different preparations of Moringa extract were added to 10 mL of the Escherichia coli suspension and incubated for 2 h without agitation. Survival of bacterial cells was assessed by making dilution series of bacterial suspensions, plating on non-selective LB medium agar dishes, and incubating for 48 h at 37°C. Duplicates were made of every individual assay. Colonies were counted on dishes and the bacterial cell survival ratio was estimated by comparison to a control experiment where no Moring extract was added. The bacterial removal was optimized by varying the mixing time, mixing speed, and Moringa seeds extract dosage. Statistical optimization was conducted by using central composite design (CCD). The experimental data was analyzed using statistical software DESIGN EXPERT, V6.4.8 DEC 10 2002 for Windows. The response surface model was used to determine the optimum operating condition that yields the highest antimicrobial compounds activities from M. oleifera seeds extracts. A cubic model was fitted to the data. The standard deviation for the cubic model was 0.56, with R2 = 0.9999 and adjusted R2 = 0.9994. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the effects of mixing time, mixing speed and Moringa dosage were significant (p < 0.05) in the extraction process. The Quadratic model was used in predicting the responses and the optimal conditions were determined as 31 min mixing time, 85 rpm mixing speed and 3.25 mg/mL Moringa dosage. The results show that the predicted and experimental values were not significantly different and it was thus concluded that the model obtained can be used to optimize the process of antimicrobial bioactive compound extraction from de-fatted M. oleifera seeds. Key words: Moringa oleifera, seeds extract, bacterial inactivation, optimization, response surface model

Optimization of operating conditions for the application of Moringa oleifera (Zogale) seeds extract in water disinfection using response surface methodology

Good quality dry seeds of Moringa oleifera were selected and the seed coat and wings were removed manually. The kernel was ground to fine powder using the coffee mill attachment of the Moulinex domestic food blender. The ground powder was then sieved through 210 im sieve. The seed powder was de-fatted using hexane in electro-thermal Soxhlet extractor. Moringa seeds extract was obtained using the de-fatted seed cake and aqueous extraction. Different preparations of Moringa extract were added to 10 mL of the Escherichia coli suspension and incubated for 2 h without agitation. Survival of bacterial cells was assessed by making dilution series of bacterial suspensions, plating on non-selective LB medium agar dishes, and incubating for 48 h at 37°C. Duplicates were made of every individual assay. Colonies were counted on dishes and the bacterial cell survival ratio was estimated by comparison to a control experiment where no Moring extract was added. The bacterial removal was optimized by varying the mixing time, mixing speed, and Moringa seeds extract dosage. Statistical optimization was conducted by using central composite design (CCD). The experimental data was analyzed using statistical software DESIGN EXPERT, V6.4.8 DEC 10 2002 for Windows. The response surface model was used to determine the optimum operating condition that yields the highest antimicrobial compounds activities from M. oleifera seeds extracts. A cubic model was fitted to the data. The standard deviation for the cubic model was 0.56, with R 2 = 0.9999 and adjusted R 2 = 0.9994. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the effects of mixing time, mixing speed and Moringa dosage were significant (p < 0.05) in the extraction process. The Quadratic model was used in predicting the responses and the optimal conditions were determined as 31 min mixing time, 85 rpm mixing speed and 3.25 mg/mL Moringa dosage. The results show that the predicted and experimental values were not significantly different and it was thus concluded that the model obtained can be used to optimize the process of antimicrobial bioactive compound extraction from de-fatted M. oleifera seeds. Key words: Moringa oleifera, seeds extract, bacterial inactivation, optimization, response surface model.

Palatability and efficacy of RB soft bag formulated baits in controlling house mouse and Norway rat in animal food blender facilities and pig farm

The Norway rat and house mouse the most important rodent pest at farms eat and polullut the huge food quantity and carry a range of severe infectious deseases to humans and pets. Rodent control is undertaken only after its presence has been registered. Preparations for their control need to meet palatability requirements. Experiments were conducted in animal food blender facilities and pig farm (maternity and rooms with young and adult pigs) in Omoljica following the standard EPPO method. Palatability and efficacy of RB formulated baits (paste in special 10 g paper bags) containing 0.005% bromadiolone and 0.005% brodifacoum were tested against the house mouse and Norway rat . Baits in pelllete formulation were used as the standard. All the baits were placed in special boxes. Rodent abundance was evaluated based on the highest and the lowest daily baits consumption divided by the daily required of food amount, and a census method before and after treatment. Rodent presence was monitored over the next 20 days. The efficacy of the tested RB soft bag and standard formulations was calculated according to Abbott's formula. The results showed that palatability and efficacy of RB soft bag formulations (81-100%) was substantially high especially of brodifacoum-based baits.

Chitin sponge, extraction procedure from shrimp wastes using green chemistry

Chitin sponges were obtained from shrimp residues using green chemistry procedures. Partial deproteinization was performed by grinding fresh residues with water during 30 s in a food blender obtaining 39.3% d.b. partial deproteinized cephalothorax (PDC). Protein reduction in this step was 80%, with 49% of mineral salts (measured as ashes), 97% fat, and 41% being chitin product. To separate chitin from PDC, a mixture of 8.75 mL MeOH, 16.25 mL water, and 25 g of CaCl2 was used (solvent MAC) per gram of PDC. Chitin dissolved in MAC under mechanical agitation to form a sponge, which had an overall composition of 42% chitin, 46% ashes, and 11% proteins. Chitin sponge weathering and biodegradation tests showed that during 30 days, the sponge is stable at ambient conditions in southern Mexico City environment, and when placed in compost-soil mixtures is degraded in about two weeks. These results open new possibilities to the recycling of crustacean residues. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 104: 3909–3916, 2007

POLYVINYL ALCOHOL FILM AS AN OVIPOSITION SUBSTRATE FOR DIAMONDBACK MOTH (LEPIDOPTERA: PLUTELLIDAE)

Paper toweling (Biever & Boldt 1971) and aluminum foil (Shelton et al. 1991) have been shown to be adequate artificial oviposition substrates for the diamondback moth (DBM), Plutella xylostella (L.), and these materials often are used in the culturing of DBM. In experiments where exact numbers of eggs and exact placement of eggs are desired, removal of the eggs from these substrates becomes necessary. This is usually accomplished by syringing with water or the use of substances, such as KOH, to release the eggs from the substrate. These methods can be laborious and result in excessive mortality of the eggs. We found that a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) film product (SolvyTM Original Water Soluble Stabilizer, Item No. 48608, Sulky of America, Harbor Heights, FL), sold for stabilizing fabric and transferring designs to fabric, could be used as an effective oviposition substrate for DBM and provide an easy method of collecting individual eggs. Twenty-cm by 25-cm sheets of PVA film were laid on a flat surface, so that they did not touch. A 10% solution of macerated cabbage leaf was then prepared in a food blender and filtered through a nylon stocking into a hand-pumped mister bottle. A fine mist was sprayed over the sheets until they were covered in fine droplets. The sheets were then left to dry in situ for about 3 h. When dry, the sheets exhibited a puckered surface where the cabbage-water droplets had fallen. The surface provided numerous edges, furrows, and dips, which were ideal for DBM oviposition. The sheets were hung inside the cages by wetting a finger, running a line of water across the ceiling of the cage and then pressing and sticking the top edge of the prepared sheet against the line of water. When hung overnight in the DBM cages, the sheets were usually loaded with eggs by the following morning. After oviposition, the sheets were stored in a refrigerator at 4?C between sheets of paper kitchen toweling to prevent the soluble sheets from sticking together. To free the eggs, the sheets were carefully dissolved in water (when a stirrer was used, it was not allowed to touch the sides or bottom of the container to prevent crushing of the floating eggs) and the water filtered through chiffon squares that were held in place above plastic funnels by elastic bands. Filtering the water has to be done carefully and slowly to prevent damage to the eggs. The eggs accumulated on the chiffon squares. Dark color squares of chiffon worked well because the yellow DBM eggs were easy to spot on the dark background. Pouring the water through all areas of the chiffon resulted in an even spreading of the eggs over the chiffon; it was difficult to separate individual DBM eggs when they were all clumped together. Once all the water was poured through the chiffon, a very fine, gentle spray of distilled water was used to clean the DBM eggs of any residual PVA. The chiffon squares were then removed from the funnels and left to dry on a flat surface. Once dry, the DBM eggs were easily picked off the chiffon squares with a fine camel hair brush. This technique provided an easy and reliable method for acquiring large numbers of undamaged DBM eggs for experimentation.

Proteolytic N-terminal Truncation of Cardiac Troponin I Enhances Ventricular Diastolic Function

Besides the core structure conserved in all troponin I isoforms, cardiac troponin I (cTnI) has an N-terminal extension that contains phosphorylation sites for protein kinase A under beta-adrenergic regulation. A restricted cleavage of this N-terminal regulatory domain occurs in normal cardiac muscle and is up-regulated during hemodynamic adaptation (Z.-B. Yu, L.-F. Zhang, and J.-P. Jin (2001) J. Biol. Chem. 276, 15753-15760). In the present study, we developed transgenic mice overexpressing the N-terminal truncated cTnI (cTnI-ND) in the heart to examine its biochemical and physiological significance. Ca(2+)-activated actomyosin ATPase activity showed that cTnI-ND myofibrils had lower affinity for Ca(2+) than controls, similar to the effect of isoproterenol treatment. In vivo and isolated working heart experiments revealed that cTnI-ND hearts had a significantly faster rate of relaxation and lower left ventricular end diastolic pressure compared with controls. The higher baseline relaxation rate of cTnI-ND hearts was at a level similar to that of wild type mouse hearts under beta-adrenergic stimulation. The decrease in cardiac output due to lowered preload was significantly smaller for cTnI-ND hearts compared with controls. These findings indicate that removal of the N-terminal extension of cTnI via restricted proteolysis enhances cardiac function by increasing the rate of myocardial relaxation and lowering left ventricular end diastolic pressure to facilitate ventricular filling, thus resulting in better utilization of the Frank-Starling mechanism.

Near- Versus Mid-Infrared Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy for Determination of Minerals in Dried Poultry Manure

The objective of this study was to determine if accurate calibrations for mineral content in dried poultry manures could be developed using near- or mid-infrared spectra. Samples (n = 124) were obtained from a commercial testing laboratory along with conventionally determined values for Ca, Cu, K, Mg, Mn, P, S, and Zn. Samples were blended in a food blender, dried at 60 C, ground to 20 mesh, and scanned in the near-infrared (rotating sample cup) on a scanning monochromator. Samples were also scanned in the mid-infrared on a Fourier transform spectrometer using a custom-made sample transport. Results showed that calibrations based on nearor mid-infrared spectra were not satisfactory for the accurate determination of Ca, Cu, K, Mg, Mn, P, S, or Zn in dried poultry manures. At best, most of the calibrations would be suitable for only gross estimates, although the mid-infrared calibration for P might be suitable for some needs in which only a limited degree of accuracy was needed. Either spectral range could be used to separate dried poultry manure samples into those containing less than 3% and greater than 8% Ca but not to accurately differentiate samples within those two groupings. Finally, although the mid-infrared calibrations were the more accurate for five of the eight minerals studied, the differences between the two sets of calibrations were so varied that it would be difficult to say that one region is better for mineral content measurement.

Near-infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy for the analysis of poultry manures.

The objective was to evaluate near-infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) for determining the composition of poultry manures. Poultry manure samples were obtained from a commercial testing laboratory along with conventionally determined analyte values for total N, NH(4)(+)-N, organic N (computed as total minus NH(4)(+)-N), minerals, and moisture. Samples were blended in a food blender and scanned in polyethylene bags on a FOSS-NIRSystems model 6500 scanning monochromator. Initial results indicated that changes had occurred in NH(4)(+)-N contents from the time of analysis, and samples were reanalyzed for NH(4)(+)-N. Using the new analyses, NIRS was able to accurately determine NH(4)(+)-N, organic N, total N, and moisture in 128 poultry manures. Results were more accurate when determinations were made on an "as is" as opposed to dry matter basis. Finally, results indicated that NIRS was not suitable for the determination of minerals (P, K, Ca, etc.) in poultry manures.

The effect of odd pricing on demand

Presents the findings of a study designed to investigate the effect of odd pricing on respondents’ purchase probabilities for six products ranging in price from $5 to $100. The products tested were a block of cheese, a frozen chicken, a box of chocolates, a hair dryer, an electric kettle and a food blender, and the data were collected in a mall intercept of 300 household shoppers. For each product a demand curve was estimated and the differences between expected and actual purchase probabilities at each odd price level examined. For all six products, demand was higher than expected at one or both of the odd price points tested. This effect was particularly marked for the lower‐priced food items (cheese, chicken and chocolates) and for prices ending in the digit 9. Provides support for the assumption that odd pricing generates greater than expected demand and for the common practice of setting retail prices which end in 99 cents or $99.

Isolation of Mature Cereal Embryos and Embryonic Axes

Numerous areas of biological research (e.g., control of seed dormancy and protein synthesis, and development of cell‐free translation systems) are greatly aided by the use of large quantities of viable cereal embryos. The utility of a method that employs a commercial food blender for embryo isolation was assessed for mature caryopses of various grain lots of wheat (Triticum aestivum L. em Thell.), rye (Secale cereale L.), triticale (× Triticosecale Wittmack), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), oat (Avena saliva L.), rice (Oryza saliva L.), pearl millet [Penniselum glaucum (L.) R. Br.], grain sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench.], and maize (Zea mays L.). The yield, physical condition, and morphology of embryos and embryonic axes were characterized using light and scanning electron microscopy. Viability of embryonic axes was assessed by germination assay. Intact embryonic axes free of damage and adhering tissues (i.e., scutellum and pericarp) were easily isolated from wheat, rye, triticale, and oat. The highest yield was obtained with wheat (≈10–15%). In hulless barley, pericarp always remained attached and covered the radicle portion of the embryonic axis. Embryonic axis isolation from hulled barley was poor. Rice embryos with adhering scutellum and pericarp were isolated as a unit with 2% yield, similar to rye, triticale, and oat. Intact axes of millet, sorghum, and maize were isolated infrequently and with difficulty. Viability of embryonic axes selected visually for intactness and lack of physical damage was similar to the viability of the parent grain lot.

Crystal chemistry of calcium oxalate formed in plants

Calcium oxalate crystals, which were produced in plants to protect protoplasm from the toxic action of oxalic acid formed by metabolism, were observed with an optical microscope. In the present investigation, calcium oxalate crystals isolated from many plants were studied from the viewpoint of crystal chemistry.Leaves of spinach, begonia, begonia lucerna, garden sorrel, goose foot, camellia, tea-plant, agave, et al., stem of aloe, and barks of cherry-tree, plum-tree, fir, camphor-tree et al. were used in the investigation. Plants were cut into small pieces and pulverized in water with a food blender. The mixture was filtered through gauze and water was sprinkled onto the residue. Many small crystalline particles sank in the filtrate. Particles were carefully gathered into a beaker. Dried particles were observed with a scanning electron microscope(SEM) and analyzed with an X-ray diffraction(XRD).