“Sound generated during eating of apples plays important role in its texture evaluation by consumers.”

A finding which has recently been backed up a Polish research team at the Institute of Agrophysics, Lublin, working in conjunction with the Research Institute of Pomology and Floriculture, at Skierniewice. The investigators employed recently developed Contact Acoustic Emission (AE) techniques to measure the sounds made as crunchy (and not-so-crunchy) apples were perforated. The instrumental measurements were then compared with the results of sensory evaluation by panelists. And the comparisons were favourable.
“Contact AE can be considered as a useful method for the evaluation of sound properties of wet-crisp foods.” the team conclude in their report Crispness and crunchiness judgment of apples based on contact acoustic emission. which can be found in the Journal of Texture Studies Volume 41 Issue 1, Pages 75 – 91, 22 Jan 2010.
The new paper backs-up previous AE/apple research from the lead author Dr. Artur Zdunek in which three varieties of apple (Elstar, Gloster and Jonagold) were tested via AE.

“Especially high correlation coefficients between attributes related to cracking processes (like juiciness and mealiness) and sound loudness detected by panelists (like crispness and crunchiness) were found. The moist [sic ?] important attributed [sic] for overall texture evaluation was juiciness, crispness and crunchiness.”

It’s hoped that in the future the AE technique may be extendable and applicable for evaluation of other (as yet unspecified) wet-crisp foods.

Still trying to come to terms with the widespread banning of flowers from hospital wards (BMJ 2009;339:b5406, doi:10.1136/bmj.b5406), I learnt recently from senior nursing colleagues that sitting on a patient’s bed, by either visitors or clinicians, is now also prohibited, apparently in the interests of infection control.

Thus the emergence of a new British phenomenon (a sort of counterpart to an old phenomenon): The bed-non-sitting room.

This is one of the few formal studies involving both caffeine and camels:

“The Pharmacokinetics, Metabolism and Urinary Detection Time of Caffeine in Camels,” I.A. WASFI, N.S. Boni, M. Elghazali, A.A. Abdel Hadi, A.M. Almuhrami, I.M. Barezaig, and N.A. Alkatheeri, Research in Veterinary Science, vol. 69, no. 1, August 2000, pp. 69–74, DOI 10.1053/rvsc.2000.0389. [AIR 15:6] The authors, at Camel Racing Laboratory, Forensic Science Laboratory in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, report:

“The pharmacokinetics of caffeine were determined in 10 camels after an intravenous dose of 2·35 mg kg–1…. Caffeine could be detected in the urine for 14 days.”

“Plants grown in space have not produced fruit without astronaut intervention, which raises the question, how do you pollinate plants in space?”

The answer maybe provided by the ‘Bees in Space’ project, organised by the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia. According to their 2006 profile document ‘Bees in Space: Creating a buzz about space science’ the plan is to “ … work with scientists and engineers to investigate an effective pollinator for a micro gravity greenhouse and develop an ecosystem capable of producing food to sustain a human presence on Mars.” The effective pollinators (viz. bees) will be investigated at a specially constructed ‘Mars Analogue‘ greenhouse in the desert near Arkaroola, Australia.
Progress has been slow since 2006 however – the Arkaroola Mars Analogue site (a.k.a. Mars-Oz) has yet to be constructed, and all Improbable’s attempts to contact the Bees in Space project have failed [mailbox full].
Improbable has managed to track down the latest news though (despite the broken link on the Bees in Space website). Although no bees have yet been launched, the project’s newly designed logo (see pic) was blasted towards* space by a Zuni surface-to-air missile at the remote Woomera Rocket Range in the middle of the Australian desert at 0605 hrs on June 8th 2008 – and returned later by parachute.

* The press release uses ‘towards’ rather than ‘into’.

“Blood Collection and Injection Techniques in Snakes,” Mitchell Bush and Johanna Smeller, Veterinary Medicine / Small Animal Clinician, vol. 73, February 1978, pp. 211-4.

Nutter Circulates His Budget Proposals at a Mt. Airy Diner

by KYW’s Mark Abrams

Mayor Michael Nutter circulated among breakfast patrons in Mount Airy on Wednesday morning to gather input on his proposed budget and tax ideas.

The mayor got a warm reception from those having their morning coffee, hot chocolate, or eggs at the Trolley Car Diner as he went from table to table, explaining how the city needs to close a $150-million budget gap.

This event is now fully booked. (But… It’s possible that there will be a few no-shows, in which case a very few tickets will become available at the last minute — if you want to take your chances on that, come to the venue 15 minutes before show time.)

The Association’s announcement mentions a few highlights from the list:

• Trialogue
• Wellderly
• Goldfish bowl facilitated conversation
• Tonality
• Webinar
• Under-capacitated
• Clienting

Streaky dabs of information appear here and there, spread thin, on the pages of medical journals dating back as far as 1931.

The 30s were a sort of golden period for Marmite. A steady diet of Marmite reports oozed deliciously from several medical journals. Likely many physicians ingested them whilst munching Marmite on toast.

Dr Alexander Goodall of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh regaled readers of The Lancet with a case report called The Treatment of Pernicious Anæmia by Marmite. Goodall told how a British Medical Journal article, published the previous year, had inspired him and benefited his patients…

So begins this week’s Improbable Research column in The Guardian.

BONUS: The Guardian is conducting (in connection with this column) a poll about Marmite — “love it or hate it?”

BONUS: A Guardian reader commented of this article: “You learn so much reading the Guardian. Had I not read this article I would never have know that the British Medical Journal published advice against mothers putting Marmite on their nipples. I will let my wife know as soon as possible.”

(Found via Charlie Pierce.)

“Detection and Determination of Theobromine and Caffeine in Urine After Administration of Chocolate-Coated Peanuts to Horses,” T.M. Dyke and R.A. Sams, Journal of Analytical Toxicology, vol. 22, no. 2, March–April 1998, pp. 112–6.  [AIR 15:6]

The classic study is:

“Foreign body in a deciduous incisor: A radiological revelation,” G. Lehl, J Indian Soc Pedod Prev Dent. 2010 Jan-Mar;28(1):45-6. The author, at Government Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh, India, reports: “A 6-year-old boy was brought to the dental department with a history of toothache in the anterior maxillary region. Intraoral examination revealed caries in the deciduous upper central and lateral incisor teeth. Radiological evaluation revealed the silhouette of a metallic paper clip in the pulp chamber of the deciduous right maxillary central incisor. The tooth was extracted as the permanent incisor was erupting below. Children often avoid informing their parents regarding such incidents due to fear of punishment.”