Light-induced off-flavor development in cloudy apple juice

Cloudy apple juice has been found to develop off-flavors during storage in daylight. The development of off-flavors and volatile compounds was monitored in reconstituted juice prepared from 'Golden Delicious' and 'Fuji' apple concentrates stored in glass bottles under fluorescent light (3000 Ix, 8 degrees C). A strong metallic off-flavor was formed by photooxidation. A major contributor to the off-flavor was identified as 1-octen-3-one by gas chromatography-olfactometry. In addition, six volatile compounds, pentanal, 2-methyl-1-penten-3-one, hexanal, (E)-2-heptenal, 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one, and (E)-2octenal, increased significantly after light exposure and could contribute to the off-flavor. Except for pentanal and hexanal, these volatiles were found only after light exposure. Higher levels of volatiles were observed in juice from 'Golden Delicious' apples than in juice from 'Fuji' apples, and this difference was consistent with higher levels of suspended solids. When the suspended solids were removed by centrifugation, the development of volatiles on exposure to light was reduced significantly.

Engaging robots: innovative outreach for attracting cybernetics students

Cybernetics is a broad subject, encompassing many aspects of electrical, electronic, and computer engineering, which suffers from a lack of understanding on the part of potential applicants and teachers when recruiting students. However, once the engineering values, fascinating science, and pathways to rewarding, diverse careers are communicated, appropriate students can be very interested in enrolling. At the University of Reading, Reading, U.K., a key route for outreach to prospective students has been achieved through the use of robots in interactive talks at schools, competitions (often funded by Public Understanding of Science projects), a collectable fortnightly magazine, exhibitions in museums, open days at the University, and appearances in the media. This paper identifies the interactive engagement, anthropomorphic acceptability, and inspirational nature of robots as being key to their successful use in outreach activities. The statistical results presented show that the continued popularity of degrees at Reading in cybernetics, electronic engineering, and robotics over the last 20 years is in part due to the outreach activities to schools and the general public.