Rebecca Miller

Bio: Rebecca Miller is an academic researcher from Yale University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Mental health & Wheat flour. The author has an hindex of 21, co-authored 71 publications receiving 1984 citations. Previous affiliations of Rebecca Miller include University College London & Kansas State University.

Role of salt in baking

Abstract: The general term salt in baking formulas refers to sodium chloride. Salt is one of the four essential ingredients in bread (flour, salt, yeast, and water). The functions of salt in baking include stabilizing yeast fermentation rate, strengthening the dough, enhancing the flavor of the final product, and increasing dough mixing time. The flavor-enhancing function of salt is well known. Omitting salt from the formula results in baked products that are quite tasteless. At the level used, salt does not impart a salty taste to the product but rather brings out the other flavors in the system. It is also known to increase sweetness and mask metallic, bitter, or other off flavors. The reasons and mechanism of this function of salt are outside the expertise of the authors and will not be discussed further in this manuscript. An important function of salt in breadmaking is its stabilizing effect on fermentation. In dough made without salt, the yeast ferments excessively resulting in gassy, sour dough and baked products with open grain and poor texture (14). Salt inhibits or “controls” fermentation rate by decreasing the rate of gas production (6), which results in longer proof times (18,25). This appears to be the result of increased osmotic pressure and the action of the sodium and chloride ions on the membrane of the yeast cells (14). Salt gives the baker a tool to control the production of carbon dioxide gas and the other products of fermentation, especially in the warm summer months if temperature control is a problem in the bakery. It is well known in the baking industry that salt lengthens the mixing time of dough (Fig. 1). This has been well documented by the farinograph (7,13,17, 21,22,27,29) and in the mixograph (4, 12,24). The longer mix time slows the rate of production in large bakeries that are on tight production schedules and increases the energy cost of mixing. Therefore it is common practice to delay salt addition until the dough has reached the clean-up stage (when the dough forms into a continuous mass and no longer sticks to the sides of the mixer). At this stage the dough is essentially hydrated and the added salt does not affect the time required to finish mixing. Farinograph studies have also shown that salt decreases water absorption (7,13, 21,22,27,29). This effect was not reported in mixograph or baking studies. It is well known that salt has a strengthening effect on dough. This has been documented in the farinograph (7,13,17,22, 27,29), mixograph (4,12,24), ex t ens ig r aph (21,27), and baking studies (5,6,9). FEATURE

Induction of glucose metabolism in stimulated T lymphocytes is regulated by mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling.

Abstract: T lymphocytes play a critical role in cell-mediated immune responses. During activation, extracellular and intracellular signals alter T cell metabolism in order to meet the energetic and biosynthetic needs of a proliferating, active cell, but control of these phenomena is not well defined. Previous studies have demonstrated that signaling from the costimulatory receptor CD28 enhances glucose utilization via the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) pathway. However, since CD28 ligation alone does not induce glucose metabolism in resting T cells, contributions from T cell receptor-initiated signaling pathways must also be important. We therefore investigated the role of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling in the regulation of mouse T cell glucose metabolism. T cell stimulation strongly induces glucose uptake and glycolysis, both of which are severely impaired by inhibition of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), whereas p38 inhibition had a much smaller effect. Activation also induced hexokinase activity and expression in T cells, and both were similarly dependent on ERK signaling. Thus, the ERK signaling pathway cooperates with PI3K to induce glucose utilization in activated T cells, with hexokinase serving as a potential point for coordinated regulation.

Factors in Hard Wheat Flour Responsible for Reduced Cookie Spread

Abstract: Time-lapse photography showed that, during baking, the diameter of sugar-snap cookies increased linearly then suddenly became fixed. Therefore, cookie diameter was a function of spread rate and set time. Cookies made with soft wheat flour were significantly larger in diameter (184 mm) than those made with hard wheat flour (161 mm). Cookies made with soft wheat flour set later (5.8 min) during baking than those made with hard wheat flour (5.1 min). The differences in set time within cookies made with various hard wheat flours or within cookies made with various soft wheat flours appeared to be affected by flour protein content. However, other factors also affected the difference in set time between cookies made with hard wheat and soft wheat flours. Cookies made with soft wheat flour spread at a faster rate (7.8 mm/min) than those made with hard wheat flour (4.6 mm/min). The level of soluble starch in the flour appeared to cause the difference in spread rate between cookies made with hard wheat an...

Effect of formula water content on the spread of sugar-snap cookies

Abstract: Sugar-snap cookie doughs prepared with a commercial soft wheat flour and standard formula water (25%, fwb) produced baked cookies with a mean diameter of 186 mm. Increasing the formula water to 30% resulted in cookies with a mean diameter of 187 mm and decreasing the formula water to 20% resulted in cookies with a mean diameter of 185 mm. A similar effect was seen when the formula water in cookie doughs prepared with the pure hard red spring cultivar Butte 86 or the pure soft white winter club cultivar Paha was varied. Thus, varying the formula water in cookie dough appeared to have little or no effect on final cookie diameter. Formula water content, however, did affect cookie dough spread rate and set time during baking. Increasing the formula water caused the spread rate to increase but shortened the set time. As a result, final cookie diameter was essentially unchanged.

Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life

Abstract: Meanwhile, the authors' antidote to the American sicknessa quest for democratic community that draws on our diverse civic and religious traditionshas contributed to a vigorous scholarly and popular debate. Attention has been focused on forms of social organization, be it civil society, democratic communitarianism, or associative democracy, that can humanize the market and the administrative state. In their new Introduction the authors relate the argument of their book both to the current realities of American society and to the growing debate about the country's future. With this new edition one of the most influential books of recent times takes on a new immediacy.\

Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom

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Democracy in America: An Appreciation On the Occasion of the Centennial of Tocqueville's Death

Abstract: more impressive with each exposure to it. Everything has changed and nothing has changed since Democracy in America was published in the 1830’s. Its author grasped with remarkable perception both the mutable and the immutable qualities of man. There could be nothing more salutary for us today than to assimilate his fine sense of what was permanent in a world which, like ours, was undergoing deep convulsions. Committed to the classical economics of Adam Smith, Tocqueville did not share Smith’s illusions about the eternal nature of the market. On the contrary, as Albert Salomon has emphasized, his point of view

Starch retrogradation: a comprehensive review

Abstract: Starch retrogradation is a process in which disaggregated amylose and amylopectin chains in a gelatinized starch paste reassociate to form more ordered structures. Starch retrogradation has been the subject of intensive research over the last 50 years, mainly due to its detrimental effect on the sensory and storage qualities of many starchy foods. However, starch retrogadation is desirable for some starchy food products in terms of textural and nutritional properties. To better understand the effect of starch retrogradation on the quality of starchy foods, measurement methods of starch retrogradation and factors that influence starch retrogradation have been studied extensively. This article provides a comprehensive review of starch retrogradation including the definition of the process, molecular mechanisms of how it occurs, and measurement methods and factors that influence starch retrogradation. The review also discusses the effect of retrogradation on the in vitro enzyme digestibility of starch. Spectroscopic methods such as FTIR and Raman are considered to be very promising in characterizing starch retrogradation at a molecular level, although more studies are needed in the future.