Integrated production and distribution planning for perishable food products

Certain types of food, such as catering foods, decay very rapidly. This paper investigates how the quality of such foods can be improved by shortening the time interval between production and delivery. To this end, we develop an approach that integrates short-term production and distribution planning in an iterative scheme. Further, an aggregation scheme is developed as the interface between the production scheduling and distribution problem. The production scheduling problem is solved through an MILP modeling approach which is based on a block planning formulation. Our implementation shows promising results, elaborated in a numerical investigation, which recollects the real settings of a catering company located in Denmark.     

Determination of serum level of myoglobin and plasma level of autoantibodies to myoglobin in patients with angina pectoris

The serum level of myoglobin (Mb) was determined in 11 male patients with chronic ischemic heart disease (angiographically studied) by the mean of an enzyme immunoassay (EIA). By a second EIA we could detect in all our patients autoantibodies (autoAB) to Mb. While the level of Mb in all cases was normal (less than 100 ng/ml) we found differences in the level of autoAB to Mb (normal value 90-100%). 7 patients with unstable Angina pectoris exhibited decreased levels of autoAB to Mb (65%). In 4 patients with stable Angina pectoris autoAB to Mb were 93%. The physiological role of the autoAB to Mb remains still unclear. The simultaneous determination of Mb and the autoAB to Mb may be helpful in differential diagnosis of stable and unstable Angina pectoris.     

In vitro expansion of autonomously contracting,cardiomyogenic structures from rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss

In primary cell preparations from larvae of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss, the formation of autonomously contracting cell aggregates was observed after 7 days. These contracting elements could be propagated and some aggregates were maintained over a period of 35 days. Electron microscopical and immunocytochemical examination revealed the presence of cardiomyocytes.
     

Transfer and expression of mutations in pleiotropic genes determining the synthesis of extracellular enzymes in Bacillus subtilis

The mutations in the genes determining the levels of extracellular enzymes production were transferred into Bacillus subtilis 168 strain by genetic transformation technique. The method used has permitted registering the transfer of pleiotropic genes. Seven amylase producers were detected among 126 his+ transformants screened, as well as five metalprotease producers among 246 gly+ transformants. Cotransfer of pap and hpr mutant genes linked with his+ or gly+ genes might result in finding the producers among the mentioned prototrophic transformants. Selection of linked markers in transformation, presented in the paper, is discussed to be a useful technique for obtaining producer strains for industrial production.     

Immobilization of yeast ADH by adsorption onto polyaminomethylstyrene

Summary Yeast alcohol dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.1) (Y-ADH) was immobilized by adsorption onto polyaminomethylstyrene (PAMS). The adsorption was rapid and yielded a product, the operational and storage stability of which depended on the initial content of enzyme and to a great extent on the composition of the adsorption buffer. The best results were obtained in the presence of 0.05 M phosphate solution, pH 8.8, containing 2 M sodium chloride. The amount of adsorbed ADH correlates with the position of anions in the Hofmeister series. After 1,000 bed volumes of the standard assay mixture have flowed through the column, there is no decrease in activity. It is possible to prepare adsorbates using crude yeast extracts as enzyme source. The stability of the immobilized enzyme is similar to that obtained with crystalline ADH preparations.     

Purification and various properties of NADP+-dependent alcohol dehydrogenase from Acinetobacter calcoaceticus]

The constitutive NADP+-dependent alcohol dehydrogenase from Acinetobacter calcoaceticus can be accumulated about 50 fold in 3 purification steps. The end-product shows in the analytical polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis only one active enzyme band. The molecular weight of the enzyme was determined to be 235,000 by gel chromatography on Sephadex G 200, the smallest subunit shows a molecular weight of 61 000 on SDS electrophoresis. The isoelectric point is at 5.84. The KM values determined with primary aliphatic alcohols diminish in the range of the homologous order (C2--C10) with growing chain length. The KM value for hexanal is about 20 fold less than that for 1-hexanol.