OBJECTIVE Fibrinogen and factor XIII (FXIII) have been shown to critically influence clot firmness in the intraoperative setting and thus likely influence intraoperative bleeding. We were interested to identify potential modulators of postoperative clot firmness in a tertiary care hospital surgical intensive care unit setting, independent of their clinical course during surgery. METHODS 272 d...

Production of pork for quality-driven export markets offers economic incentive. Pork processors use subjective firmness as a sorting tool for loins intended for high-quality export. The objectives of this study were to determine 1) durometer efficacy in muscle, 2) if firmness on one portion of the loin is indicative of other locations, 3) if 1 d firmness is related to export quality traits, and...

Nondestructive firmness measurement is critical to assuring postharvest quality and marketability of apples. In this research, two in-house developed sensors (bioyield and spectral scattering) and two commercial sensors (acoustic and visible and shortwave nearinfrared (Vis-SWNIR) spectroscopy), were evaluated for assessing the firmness of apples. Spectral scattering measurements were taken from...

INTRODUCTION Skin is changing over time showing signs of aging: dryness, increase in visual and tactile roughness, decrease in collagen content and stiffness, and eventually formation of deep and surface wrinkles, and fine lines. METHODS Eight-week open experimental study was conducted to test efficacy of MF3 Blue Cell Serum Gel. Main criteria to determine product efficacy by following skin b...

Light scattering is related to the structural characteristics of fruit and hence is potentially useful for estimating fruit firmness. This research investigated hyperspectral scattering as a means for measuring peach fruit firmness. A hyperspectral imaging system was used to simultaneously acquire 153 spectral scattering profiles, generated by a broadband light beam, from ‘Red Haven’ and ‘Coral...

Topical microbicides are a promising solution to address the global threat of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. To be successful, a microbicide not only needs to be biologically functional but also highly acceptable to users. User acceptability of microbicides can be incorporated early in the product formulation and design process. Previous qualitative research revealed women had s...

Fresh blueberries are very susceptible to mechanical damage, which limits postharvest life and firmness. Softening and susceptibility of cultivars "Duke" and "Brigitta" to developing internal browning (IB) after mechanical impact and subsequent storage was evaluated during a 2-year study (2011/2012, 2012/2013). On each season fruit were carefully hand-picked, segregated into soft (<1.60 N), med...