The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of low temperature blanching in calcium chloride solutions to increase firmness retention of frozen carrot slices and to determine optimum conditions to provide a final product with maximum firmness. Low temperature (65C) blanching in CaCl2 solutions (0.05-0.6 molar) for holding times (5-90 min) was performed on carrots 'Apache' cultivar. Calcium absorption was affected (P less than or equal to0.05) by the CaCl2 concentration. Behavior of this variable was adequately fitted by a second order model (R-2=0.99). Firmness was affected (Pless than or equal to0.05) by the CaCl2 solutions and holding times. Optimum conditions gave extrusion forces of 1693-2095 N and calcium levels of 69-144 mg/100 g. These were verified experimentally and agreed closely with predicted calcium absorption and firmness values.

Design-based stereology and phase contrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were combined to monitor changes in the volume of the four chambers of the human heart during the cardiac cycle, The data set consisted of 18 adjacent slices (or 'scanning levels') of 0.5 cm thickness, perpendicular to the long axis of the body, and encompassing the whole heart of a healthy volunteer, At each scanning level, a cardiac gated MR image was obtained at each of 16 equally spaced time frames within the cardiac cycle. Given stationarity with respect to time, absence of image artefacts and appropriate definition of chamber boundaries, for each time frame unbiased estimates of total blood volume in the relevant heart chambers were efficiently obtained using the Cavalieri method and point counting, Combined with a proper MRI acquisition, modern stereological methods constitute an efficient and reliable tool to quantify cardiac function noninvasively.

Summary The classical methods for estimating the volume of human body compartments in vivo (e.g. skin‐fold thickness for fat, radioisotope counting for different compartments, etc.) are generally indirect and rely on essentially empirical relationships — hence they are biased to unknown degrees. The advent of modern non‐invasive scanning techniques, such as X‐ray computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is now widening the scope of volume quantification, especially in combination with stereological methods. Apart from its superior soft tissue contrast, MRI enjoys the distinct advantage of not using ionizing radiations. By a proper landmarking and control of the scanner couch, an adult male volunteer was scanned exhaustively into parallel systematic MR ‘sections’. Four compartments were defined, namely bone, muscle, organs and fat (which included the skin), and their corresponding volumes were easily and efficiently estimated by the Cavalieri method: the total section area of a compartment times the section interval estimates the volume of the compartment without bias. Formulae and nomograms are given to predict the errors and to optimize the design. To estimate an individual's muscle volume with a 5% coefficient of error, 10 sections and less than 10min point counting (to estimate the relevant section areas) are required. Bone and fat require about twice as much work. To estimate the mean muscle volume of a population with the same error contribution, from a random sample of six subjects, the workload per subject can be divided by √6, namely 4 min per subject. For a given number of sections planimetry would be as accurate but far more time consuming than point counting.

ABSTRACTSingle factor changes from a standard canning process indicated that significant reductions in splitting resulted from higher soak Ca concentrations, higher soak temperatures, higher brine Ca concentrations, and shorter cooking times. Splitting in canned kidney beans was markedly reduced by soaking beans before cooking at temperatures of 66–71°C in solutions containing 150–350 ppm CaCl2. Treatments giving lower gain in weight during soaking led to less splitting. Lower splitting was associated with lower drained weight and firmer cooked beans.

A gauge for in situ measurements of soil densities with an accuracy of about 1 per cent which can be used at depths down to 1000 ft is described. A caesium-137 γ-ray source is separated by a cylindrical lead shield from a Geiger counter which detects the γ-radiation scattered by the soil. The optimum source-detector spacing is experimentally determined. Pulses from the Geiger counter are fed along a cable to the scaling unit by means of a transformer impedance-matching circuit. A complete design and the method of calibration is given.