Hypercholesterolemia is a dominant risk factor for a variety of cardiovascular diseases and involves a chronic inflammatory component in which neutrophil activity plays a critical role. Recently, fluid shear stress mechanotransduction has been established as a control mechanism that regulates the activity of neutrophils by reducing the formation of pseudopods and the surface expression of CD18 integrins, thereby rendering these cells rounded, deformable, and non-adhesive. This is critical for maintaining a healthy circulation, because chronically activated neutrophils not only release excess cytotoxic and degradative agents but also exhibit a reduced efficiency to pass through the small vessels of the microcirculation leading to increased microvascular resistance. We hypothesized that aberrant neutrophil mechanosensitivity to fluid shear stress due to the altered blood environment (i.e., excess plasma cholesterol) is a contributing factor for elevated hemodynamic resistance in the microcirculation associated with hypercholesterolemia. For this purpose, the present work firstly showed that the sensitivity of neutrophils to fluid shear stress depends on the cholesterol-dependent fluidity of the cell membrane, and that, in the face of hypercholesterolemia, the neutrophil mechanosensitivity highly correlated with the plasma levels of free cholesterol. The second part of this project demonstrated that, when subjected to shear stress fields, leukocyte suspensions exhibited transient (within 10 min of flow onset) time-dependent reductions in their apparent viscosity. Moreover, shear-induced changes in viscosity of cell suspensions were influenced by disturbances of membrane cholesterol and fluidity in a fashion similar to that for shear-induced pseudopod retraction. Finally, the third part of this work provided evidence that neutrophils played a role in hypercholesterolemia-related impairment of flow recovery response to transient ischemia. In conclusion, results of the current work provided the first evidence that cholesterol is an important component of the neutrophil mechanotransducing capacity and impaired neutrophil shear mechanotransduction may disturb the blood flow rheology, leading to elevations in the apparent viscosity as well as in the resistance. This cholesterol-linked perturbation may be a contributing factor for the pathologic microcirculation associated with hypercholesterolemia.

<p>With the advent of Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC) that flows freely, under the soleinfluence of gravity, the wish for hassle-free and predictable castings even in complexcases, spurged the simulation of concrete flow as a means to model and predictconcrete workability. To achieve complete and reliable form filling with smoothsurfaces of the concrete, the reinforced formwork geometry must be compatible withthe rheology of the fresh SCC. Predicting flow behavior in the formwork and linkingthe required rheological parameters to flow tests performed on the site will ensurean optimization of the casting process.In this thesis, numerical simulation of concrete flow is investigated, using both discreteas well as continuous approaches.The discrete particle model here serves as a means to simulate details and phenomenaconcerning aggregates modeled as individual objects. The here presented cases aresimulated with spherical particles. However, it is possible to make use of nonsphericalparticles as well. Aggregate surface roughness, size and aspect ratio maybe modeles by particle friction, size and clumping several spheres into forming thedesired particle shape.The continuous approach has been used to simulate large volumes of concrete. Theconcrete is modeled as a homogeneous material, particular effects of aggregates,such as blocking or segregation are not accounted for. Good correspondence wasachieved with a Bingham material model used to simulate concrete laboratory tests(e.g. slump flow, L-box) and form filling. Flow of concrete in a particularly congestedsection of a double-tee slab as well as two lifts of a multi-layered full scale wall castingwere simulated sucessfully.A large scale quantitative analysis is performed rather smoothly with the continuousapproach. Smaller scale details and phenomena are better captured qualitativelywith the discrete particle approach. As computer speed and capacity constantlyevolves, simulation detail and sample volume will be allowed to increase.A future merging of the homogeneous fluid model with the particle approach to formparticles in the fluid will feature the flow of concrete as the physical suspension thatit represents. One single ellipsoidal particle falling in a Newtonian fluid was studiedas a first step.</p> / <p>Med uppkomsten av självkompakterande betong (SKB) och dess möjligheter att flyta ut under inverkan av endast gravitation uppstod ett behov av att kunna förutsäga och kontrollera även mer komplicerade gjutningar. Numerisk simulering av SKBs flöde kan kommma att utgöra ett kraftfullt verktyg för att optimera gjutprocessen, ge möjlighet att förutsäga nödbvändig arbetbarhet och säkerställa kompatibilitet mellan den armerade formen och betongens reologi. I föreliggande avhandling undersöks betongens flöde med både diskreta och kontinuumbaserade simuleringsmetoder. Den diskreta partikelmodellen används för att simulera detaljer och fenomen hos t.ex. ballast i betong. I de här presenterade simuleringarna används sfäriska partiklar, men det är även möjligt att skapa ballastkorn av olika form. Ballastens ytråhet och storlek kan modelleras med parametrar för friktion och storlek medan sammanfogning av ett flertal partiklar kan ge ekvivalent form. Den kontinuumbaserade ansatsen används för att simulera större flödesmängder. Betongen modelleras som ett homogent material, eventuella effekter av ballastens inverkan, till exempel blockering eller separation, ingår ej. God överensstämmelse har uppnåtts med Binghams materialmodell som applicerats på några av SKBs provningsmetoder (bl a flytsättmått och L-låda) liksom även för större gjutningar. Formfyllnad av en hårt armerad sektion av ett STT-element, liksom två pumpade betongleveranser till en hög vägg, har framgångsrikt simulerats. En kvantitativ övergripande analys av betongflödet i formen kan göras med den kontinuumbaserade ansatsen för att upptäcka zoner med eventuella svårigheter. En högupplöst detaljstudie kompletterar sedan analysen på valda delar av och kring dessa zoner för att fånga partikelfenomen kvalitativt med hjälv av den diskreta modellen. Då datorkapaciteten ökar kommer även större volymer med högre detaljrikedom att kunna simuleras. En framtida modell simulerar med stor sannolikhet partiklar i flöde, vilket till fullo kan fånga betongens egenskaper som suspension. Som ett första steg på vägen har en fallande ellipsoid i en newtonsk vätska simulerats.</p>

Cereals contain naturally occurring biopolymers (for example proteins and starches) that can be used as renewable raw materials in a variety of speciality chemical applications. The separation of protein and starch biopolymers from wheat is well established and relies on a group of proteins called glutens that have a unique network-forming functionality. Oat and other cereals do not naturally contain these gluten proteins and typically rely on chemical-based separation techniques which alter the chemical and physical structures and damage the inherent natural functionality of the biopolymers. This research study investigated the separation of the protein and starch fractions from cereals using the Al-Hakkak Process, a new aqueous process. This process involves adding water and wheat gluten protein to cereals that do not contain gluten. The wheat gluten interacts with the cereal proteins, facilitating the separation of the starch and protein fractions whilst retaining their inherent natural functionality. The aim of this research project was to investigate and optimise the pilot scale separation performance of the Al-Hakkak Process using oat flour. As very little prior research had been carried out, the focus was to characterise the oat starch and protein separation performance and gain an understanding of the mechanisms involved. A variety of techniques were employed. Large scale deformation rheology was used to gain an understanding of the oat-gluten dough rheology and establish the relationship between the rheology and the separation performance. Confocal scanning laser microscopy was used to investigate the structure of the oat-gluten protein network. The molecular interactions between the oat and gluten proteins were studied using gel electrophoresis. The network-forming functionality of the new oat-gluten protein was explored. The influence of various processing parameters on the pilot scale separation performance was investigated and the results compared with other data collected through the study to identify key processing parameters. This research programme has resulted in interesting, encouraging and some unexpected outcomes and these are discussed in detail in the thesis. It was concluded that an insoluble protein network formed in the oat-gluten dough and both kneading and extraction processes were found to contribute to the formation of this. A key conclusion was that the changes that took place in the oat-gluten dough were similar to, but not identical to, the changes that occur in wheat dough. It was proposed that the mechanism for the development of a protein network in oat-gluten dough differed from wheat dough for two main reasons: a) the presence of the oat flour disrupted the normal wheat gluten behaviour, and b) components in the oat flour altered the activity of the gluten proteins. The research identified key processing parameters for the Al-Hakkak Process including kneading time, gluten content, and sodium chloride content of the oat-gluten dough as well as sodium chloride concentration, pH, and temperature of the extract liquor. An important discovery was that the oat and gluten proteins interacted at a molecular level through reducible, covalent, bonding (most likely disulphide linkages) to form the insoluble protein network in the oat-gluten dough. It was concluded that these reducible bonds coupled the individual protein subunits to form new hybrid oat-gluten protein molecules (a combination of oat proteins and gluten proteins). Both insoluble and soluble proteins in the oat and gluten flour were involved in the formation of the insoluble protein network in the oat-gluten dough. This outcome has applications beyond the Al-Hakkak Process, as this new knowledge can be applied to the wider dough processing industry. It was concluded that the wheat gluten was the source of the protein network-forming functionality of the hybrid oat-gluten protein and that the oat proteins had a diluting effect. It was proposed that oat-gluten protein flour from the Al-Hakkak Process could be reused to replace the commercial wheat gluten flour in subsequent production batches. During spray drying of the starch stream, the soluble biopolymers in the extract liquor were found to act as an adhesive and glued individual starch granules together to form spherical agglomerates. Acidification of the extract liquor was found to enhance this agglomeration. It was proposed the acidified starch granules were sticker during spray drying due to the partial acid hydrolysis of the starch granule suface which enhanced the agglomeration.

Many different physical systems, such as granular materials, colloids, foams and emulsions exhibit a jamming transition where the system changes from a liquid-like flowing state to a solid jammed state as the packing fraction increases. These systems are often modeled using soft-core particles with repulsive contact forces. In this thesis we explore several different dynamical models for these kinds of systems, and see how they affect the behavior around the jamming transition. We investigate the effect of different types of dissipative forces on the rheology, and study how different methods of preparing a particle configuration affect their probability to jam when quenched. We study the rheology of sheared systems close to the jamming transition. It has been proposed that the athermal jamming transition is controlled by a critical point, point J, with certain scaling properties. We investigate this using multivariable scaling analysis based on renormalization group theory to explore the scaling properties of the transition and determine the position of point J and some of the critical exponents.

Existing specifications for asphalt cement employ insufficient aging and conditioning times prior to testing and low strains during the actual test which are insufficient to predict asphalt performance, especially if the materials are modified with additives such as those used for warm mix technology. However, slightly modified protocols, like increasing the conditioning time in the bending beam rheometer (BBR) test and increasing the aging duration in the pressure aging vessel (PAV), predict asphalt performance better than the current Superpave™ specification. These improved protocols are published as new test standards through the collaborative effort between the Ontario Ministry of Transportation and Queen’s University. In this study, the effects of warm mix and other additives on rheological, aging and failure properties are investigated. The properties are measured by regular tests and by modified protocols. The latter include the extended BBR test (LS-308) and the double-edge-notched tension (DENT) test (LS-299). Changes in ductile strain tolerance within base asphalts due to the various additives as measured with the DENT test were found to be very significant. The DENT results like essential work of fracture, we, plastic work of fracture term, βwp, and critical crack tip opening displacement, CTOD, are usually helped to correlate with the cracking distress survey results of the pavement in service. The addition of amide and polyethylene waxes risks increasing the cracking susceptibility in the pavement. They show a negative effect on strain tolerance in the ductile state, which is likely to show up as premature and/or excessive cracking in service which is similar to their physical hardening behavior from low temperature grading and extended BBR testing. / Thesis (Master, Chemistry) -- Queen's University, 2013-02-26 11:10:41.08

L'effet du temps sur le comportement mécanique du matériau bois est déterminant aussi bien dans l'étude biomécanique de des arbres, que dans la réponse des structures bois ou encore dans l'optimisation des procédé de transformation et de conservation de ce matériau.Du fait de la nature polymérique de ses constituants, le bois présente une viscoélasticité fortement dépendante de l'humidité et de la température de l'environnement. Une variation de la teneur en eau sous chargement mécanique a pour effet d'accroître le fluage ou la relaxation, connu sous le nom d'effet mécanosorptif. Les phénomènes mécanosorptifs sont généralement considérés comme indépendants du temps. Toutefois, les contributions du temps et des variations de teneur en eau sont délicates à séparer.Une approche phénoménologique expérimentale a été mis en oeuvre à partir d'essais de fluage à long terme pour décrire la cinétique d'évolution longitudinale d'origine viscoélastique et l'extrapoler au moyen de modèles paraboliques. Les résultats obtenus ont permit d'évaluer un niveau limite de complaisance pour des temps infinis. Les effets mécanosorptifs ont pu être comparés à cette description viscoélastique semblant mettre en évidence des phénomènes irréversibles.La compréhension des mécanismes en jeu lors de ces processus complexes à fait l'objet d'une étude particulière du comportement in-situ de la cellulose par des expérimentations de diffraction de rayons X. Ce travail a montré un comportement de la cellulose cristalline se déformant proportionnellement à la déformation macroscopique jusqu'à l'application d'une valeur seuil pour laquelle la cellulose ne se déforme plus.Le travail réalisé vise à apporter des éléments fondamentaux pour améliorer la compréhension des mécanismes de déformation du bois, confronter les normes en vigueur dans son usage à long terme en structure (Eurocodes 5) et développer les lois de comportement mécaniques macroscopiques. / The effect of time on mechanical behaviour of wood is decisive for biomechanical study of trees as well as response of timber structures or improvement of transformation process and preservation of this material.Originating from the polymeric nature of its constituents, wood presents a viscoelastic behaviour highly dependent on humidity and temperature of the environment. A moisture content change combined with mechanical loading creates an increase of creep or relaxation, known as mechanosorptive effect. Mechanosorptive effects are usually considered as time-independent. However the contributions of time and moisture content change are delicate to separate.An experimental phenomenological approach has been implemented based on long term creep test to describe longitudinal viscoelastic kinetics of evolution and extrapolate using parabolic models. The results obtained allow to quantify a finite value of compliance to infinite time. Mechanosorptive effects have been compared to this viscoelastic description and figure out irreversible phenomena.To understand the underlying mechanisms a specific analysis of in-situ cellulose behaviour by X-ray diffraction experiments has been conducted. The behaviour of crystalline cellulose reveals a proportional relation to macroscopic strain until a limit value is reached where the cellulose does not deform any more.The work performed aims at gathering fundamental elements for a better understanding of deformation mechanisms of wood, setting actual standards against the long term creep prediction of timber (Eurocode 5) and developping constitutive equations of wood.

L’objectif de ce travail est d’étudier les transitions de phases sol-gel et isotrope-nématique dans des suspensions de smectites dioctaédriques en fonction de la morphologie et de la nature minéralogique des argiles. Bien que tous les systèmes étudiés présentent une transition sol-gel à de faibles fraction volumique, la transition cristal-liquide isotrope-nématique n’a pu être identifiée que dans le cas de suspensions de smectites ayant un déficit de charge tétraédrique. L’effet de la localisation de la charge sur le comportement colloïdal a été déterminée à l’aide de la diffusion des rayons X aux petits angles (SAXS) et par des mesures rhéologiques. La nature des interactions électrostatiques dans ces suspensions est purement répulsive et rejette l’idée d’une structure tridimensionnelle de type « château de carte ». Cependant, les smectites ayant un déficit de charge tétraédrique sont plus répulsives et ont des propriétés viscoélastiques plus faibles que celles ayant un déficit octaédrique. Il a également été montré que la dépendance en taille de particules de la position de la transition sol-gel était liée à une statistique de piégeage hydrodynamique des plaquettes d’argile. Finalement, l’application de champs externes (électrique et magnétique) a permis d’obtenir l’alignement de la phase nématique tandis que dans la phase isotrope, le champ électrique induit un ordre antinématique parfait. Afin de préserver l’ordre induit, ces suspensions ont été polymérisées sous champ permettant l’obtention de nanocomposites orientées et structurés / The aim of this work is to study sol-gel and isotropic-nematic phases transitions in suspensions of dioctahedral smectites depending on the morphology and mineralogical nature of clays. Although all the systems studied exhibit a sol-gel at low volume fraction, the liquid-crystalline isotropic-nematic transition could be identified only in the case of smectites with tetrahedral charge deficit. The effect of charge location on the colloidal behavior was determined using small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and rheological measurements. The nature of electrostatic interactions in these suspensions is purely repulsive and rejects the idea of the so-called “house of card” network. However, smectites with a charge deficit located in the tetrahedron are more repulsive and their viscoelastic properties are lower than octahedrally substituted clays. It was also shown that the particle size dependence of the volume fraction corresponding to the sol-gel transition c was related to a simple statistical hydrodynamic trapping of clay platelets. Finally, the application of external fields (electric and magnetic) has resulted in the alignment of the nematic phase while in the isotropic phase, the electric field induces a perfect antinematic order. To preserve the induced alignment, these suspensions were polymerized under the field to obtain perfectly aligned and patterned nanocomposites

Ein erfolgversprechender Ansatz in der biomedizinischen Forschung besteht im zielgerichteten Transport von Medikamenten und deren lokaler Anreicherung im erkrankten Bereich. Aktuelle Untersuchungen auf dem Gebiet der Krebstherapie beschäftigen sich mit dem magnetischen Drug Targeting, der Kopplung von Chemotherapeutika an magnetische Nanopartikel und der Anreicherung im erkrankten Bereich unter Verwendung externer Magnetfelder. Um derartige Verfahren perspektivisch zu beherrschen sind die Grundlagen des Strömungsverhaltens der eingesetzten sogenannten Ferrofluide, Suspensionen magnetischer Nanopartikel in geeigneten Trägermedien zu ermitteln. Während von Ferrofluiden aus dem technischen Anwendungsbereich eine starke Viskositätserhöhung durch den Einfluss externer magnetischer Felder bekannt ist, gilt es diese auch für biokompatible Ferrofluide zu untersuchen. Ein besonderer Fokus liegt auf der Untersuchung der zahlreichen Einflussparameter wie dem Partikeldurchmesser, der mikroskopischen Struktur oder der magnetischen Konzentration. Weiterhin ist auch das Fließverhalten bei Verdünnung mit Blut in einer Strömungssituation möglichst nahe der medizinischen Anwendung von zentralem Interesse. Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit diesen Problemstellungen. Einerseits wurden durch eine umfassende Charakterisierung wichtige Einflussparameter der Viskositätsveränderung unter dem Einfluss externer magnetischer Felder identifiziert und untersucht. Andererseits wurde ein spezielles Kapillarviskosimeter entwickelt. Dieses zeichnet sich durch die Auslegung hinsichtlich der Kapillardurchmesser sowie der Scherraten an Bereiche des menschlichen Organismus aus und es eröffnet die Möglichkeit, mit Blut verdünnte Ferrofluide unter dem Einfluss starker Magnetfelder zu untersuchen. Im Rahmen der Arbeit wurde Schafblut verwendet und es konnten Effekte gefunden werden, die eine Interaktion der Blutbestandteile mit den magnetischen Nanopartikeln vermuten lassen. Die Bildung von kettenartigen Strukturen unter dem Einfluss von Magnetfeldern, die diese Wechselwirkung verursacht, wurde mikroskopisch untersucht und ein Quantifizierungsverfahren zur Bewertung der Abhängigkeit von Magnetfeldstärke und -applikationsdauer eingeführt. Die ermittelten Resultate zeigen eine starke Beeinflussung des rheologischen und mikroskopischen Verhaltens der biokompatiblen Ferrofluide auf, welche das Potenzial besitzt die Anwendung der Flüssigkeiten zu beeinflussen und in zukünftige Forschungen, sowohl hinsichtlich der theoretischen Modellierung als auch der chemischen Synthese, einbezogen werden sollte.

<p>Promene komponenata i strukture mleka ispitane su tokom fermentacije kori&scaron;ćenjem inokuluma kombuhe kultivisane na crnom čaju zaslađenom saharozom<br />u koncentraciji 10%. Fermentacija mleka sa 2,2% mlečne masti izvr&scaron;ena je na dve različite temperature (37&deg;C i 42&deg;C) i uzorci su analizirani na sledećim pH vrednostima: 6,1; 5,8; 5,4; 5,1; 4,8 i 4,6. Urađena je determinacija i identifikacija produkata fermentacije laktoze kao &scaron;to su: &scaron;ećeri, organske kiseline i masne kiseline. Ispitane su teksturalne i reolo&scaron;ke karakteristike i mikrostruktura uzoraka. Pored toga, utvrđene su sličnosti i razlike uticaja inokuluma kombuhe na proces fermentacije mleka u poređenju sa delovanjem jogurtne, odnosno probiotske starter kulture.<br />Tokom fermentacije mleka u različitim fazama procesa pri odabranim pH vrednostima na 42&deg;C transformi&scaron;e se 14,6% laktoze odnosno 18,2% na 37&deg;C. Sadržaj galaktoze i glukoze koje nastaju fermentacijom i hidrolizom laktoze raste između prve i druge tačke fermentacije (pH=6,07 i pH=5,8). Dominantne organske kiseline tokom fermentacije su L&ndash;mlečna kiselina i sirćetna kiselina. Nije utvrđena značajna razlika u sadržaju masnih kiselina tokom fermentacije mleka kombuhom na 37&deg;C i 42&deg;C. Sadržaj palmitinske kiseline u mleku i uzorcima tokom fermentacije je najveći, zatim slede miristinska, stearinska i oleinska kiselina.<br />Praćenjem procesa fermentacije mleka uz primenu kombuhe na 37&deg;C i 42&deg;C od početne pH vrednosti 6,07 do zavr&scaron;ne 4,6, najznačajnije promene teksturalnih karakteristika (čvrstoće, konzistencije, kohezivnosti i indeksa viskoziteta) i reolo&scaron;kih svojstava zabeležene su između pH=5,4 i 5,1, &scaron;to je u korelaciji sa mikrostrukturom.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Promene viskoziteta u svim uzorcima pokazuju istu regresionu liniju, sa različitim koeficijentima i visokom vredno&scaron;ću r2, osim uzorka proizvedenog primenom jogurtne kulture na pH 5,4. Uzorak dobijen kori&scaron;ćenjem inokuluma kombuhe imao je najveće vrednosti kompleksnog modula, &scaron;to je rezultiralo boljim reolo&scaron;kim karakteristikama gotovog proizvoda.<br />Da bi se definisao empirijski model procesa fermentacije laktoze u mleku delovanjem kombuhe formulisana su prethodno dva matematička modela za kinetiku fermentacije saharoze u tradicionalnom kombuha napitku (na crnom čaju) &ndash; jedan koji opisuje promenu koncentracije saharoze tokom fermentacije, i drugi koji opisuje brzinu fermentacije. Promena koncentracije laktoze na ispitivanim temperaturama 37&deg;C i 42&deg;C sastoji se od dve lag faze između kojih je faza izraženog pada koncentracije. Krive zasićenja pokazuju sigmoidalnu kinetiku na nižim koncentracijama laktoze, ukazujući na kompleksni ne&ndash;Michaelis&ndash;Mentenov tip kinetike.<br />Generalno može se istaći da su primenom inokuluma kombuhe tokom fermentacije mleka u različitim fazama procesa ustanovljene specifične promene komponenata i strukture u poređenju sa efektima delovanja jogurtne odnosno probiotske starter kulture.</p><p>&nbsp;</p> / <p>Changes of milk components and structure were examined during fermentation by kombucha inoculum cultivated on black tea switened with saccharose in a concentration of 10%. The fermentation of milk with 2.2% of milk fat was carried out at two different temperatures (37&deg;C i 42&deg;C) and samples were analyzed at the following pH values: 6.1; 5.8; 5,4; 5.1; 4.8 and 4.6. Determination and identification of the lactose fermentation products, such as: sugars, organic acids and fatty acids were carried out. Textural and rheological characteristics and microstructure of the samples were investigated. Furthermore, the effect of kombucha on the milk fermentation process was compared with the effect of yoghurt and probiotic starter culture.<br />During milk fermentation at various stages of the process 14.6% of lactose content was transformed at 42&deg;C and 18.2% at 37&deg; C. The galactose and glucose content, which are formed by lactose hydrolyses and fermentation, increased between first and second pH point of fermentation (pH = 6.07 and pH = 5.8). Dominant organic acids during fermentation are L&ndash;lactic acid and acetic acid. There is no significant difference between samples in fatty acids content during fermentation on 37&deg;C and 42&deg;C. The level of palmitic acid in milk and samples was the highest of all fatty acids, followed by myristic, stearic, and oleic acid.<br />The most significant changes in textural properties (firmness, consistency, cohesiveness and viscosity index) and viscosity during milk fermentation by kombucha at 37&ordm;C and 42&deg;C, from the initial pH value 6.07 to a final 4.6, were recorded between pH=5.4 and 5.1, which is in correlation with microstructure.<br />Viscosity changes in all samples showed the same regression line with the different coefficients and a rather high r2 except for the sample produced with standard yoghurt culture at the pH 5.4. Samples produced with kombucha had the highest values of the complex modulus, which indicates better rheological characteristics of the final product.<br />In order to define an empirical model of lactose fermentation process in milk by kombucha, two mathematical models (one for the change of saccharose concentration, during its fermentation by kombucha, and the other for the rate of the mentioned fermentation) previously were formulated. Change of lactose concentrations at 37&ordm;C and 42&ordm;C consists of two retaining stages and very steep descend in-between. Saturation curves show a sigmoidal kinetics at low lactose concentrations, indicating a complex non&ndash;Michaelis&ndash;Menten type kinetics.<br />Generally it can be concluded that specific changes in the components and structure of milk by application of kombucha inoculum during fermentation at different stages of the process were established in comparison with the effects of yoghurt and probiotic starter culture.</p>

No description available.