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February 2014 | To notify a colleague please click here | www.stablemicrosystems.com |
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Launched in December, the book: 'Instrumental assessment of food sensory quality: a practical guide' edited by David Kilcast, is on our list of recommended reads if you are working or studying in the field of Texture Analysis. Whilst it is currently available to buy from Elsevier at £90, we have one ready to give away as part of our Photographic Competition. Provide us with a high resolution photo of yourself using your Stable Micro Systems Texture Analyser in one of your typical applications and we will enter you into our competition. All entrants photographs will be posted to our Pinterest Customer Texture Analysis page and a winner will be chosen by 30th April 2014. All posted photographs must have your permission to use for commercial purposes and will include reference to your company/institution – please include any additional text you would wish to accompany your photograph. The book in summary: Consumer enjoyment of food and drink products is strongly determined by sensory quality. Instrumental measurements of sensory quality are of growing importance in both complementing data provided by sensory panels and in providing valuable data in situations in which the use of human subjects is not feasible. This book reviews the range and use of instrumental methods for measuring sensory quality. Part one covers the principles and practice of food sensory quality assessment, and part two looks at the instrumental assessment of particular foods. If you would like any more information about this competition, please email us. |
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We are often asked by users how to backup and restore user profiles when changing their PC or installing on multiple PCs. This is a relatively simple process and is made possible by a utility which is installed with Exponent. To use it you will need to close down Exponent and be an administrator on the PC. Go to Programs > Exponent > Utilities and select Exponent Backup and Restore. If you see a security message saying that the program wants to make changes, you will need to select Yes so that the application runs with elevated administration rights. You then have two options – to either backup or restore. If you want to save the current settings then make sure the Backup radio button is active. If you want to do a full system backup then make sure both of the Data boxes are checked. You will need to specify the location where you wish the backup to be stored (see illustration left). When you are happy with the selected options, click OK to perform the backup. A message will inform you of success or failure to perform the backup. To restore your user profiles, use the same utility as described above but make sure that the Restore radio button is checked. Make sure that the location points to the same location used to backup your profiles. Click OK to continue. A dialog box will appear giving you the choice of backup to restore (see illustration left). Select the required backup from the list and click OK to restore the settings. A message will inform you of success or failure to perform the backup. If you have multiple installations in your testing location, you can use Backup and Restore to ensure consistent user and security settings on each installation of Exponent. This is especially useful when opening protected files on these other PCs. The Backup and Restore program can also be passed command line parameters to automate the backup procedure. View the Help file of this utility for further details. Should you require further technical support, please click here. |
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Texture analysis instrumentation has been helping manufacturers to measure and perfect texture for decades, and its scope is continually widening. Texture now tops the agenda; sensory panels are being accompanied by sophisticated instruments that quantify attributes such as stickiness, crispness and extensibility. Follow the Texture Analysis Professionals blog to keep track of the direction in which many manufacturing companies are currently moving to not only perfect a specific texture but also create new ones too. Recent topics include: Do you need to measure friction? Making your personal care products more appealing with texture analysis Rapid and simple poultry tenderness measurement Never miss a texture analysis moment Texture Analysis: Is chocolate demoulding an issue for you? Texture Measurement: Testing the Grateness of Cheese Measuring the noise of bread roll crusts Click here to read our latest posts or to sign up. |
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An article published in IFT magazine in December written by Neil Mermelstein summarises the history and future of adding sound to texture analysis. It is an excellent introduction for those interested in adding an additional ‘acoustic’ fingerprint to their existing product analysis and provides a valuable set of reference articles supporting this measurement tool. The sound a food makes when it is being consumed is an important sensory factor influencing consumer acceptance of a product. Much research has been conducted over the years on measuring the sound a food product produces as it is being chewed and correlating it with results of sensory evaluation. To request this article please contact: jo.smewing@stablemicrosystems.com Stable Micro Systems' Acoustic Envelope Detector system, which measures the acoustic energy release during a physical test, has high sensitivity to the frequencies emitted by brittle products but has low sensitivity to mechanical noise emitted by the Texture Analyser. It contains all the necessary components for connection to a TA.XTplus Texture Analyser, which will generate synchronised force, and sound profiles for individual tests to provide the "4th dimension in texture analysis". |
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We have made all of our product manuals available in .pdf format, free upon request to our users. Please ensure that your e-mail account quota is not exceeded by the manual(s) you have requested, as this is the most common delivery failure. To request any of these documents, please select your requirements on the Product Manual Request page of www.stablemicrosystems.com |
There is a range of application area specific videos on Stable Micro Systems’ YouTube Channel, accessible from www.stablemicrosystems.com Use the Video Channel > Texture Channel link from the left menu panel of our website to find the YouTube TextureAnalysis’s Channel screen. If you click on the Videos by Industry option on the right of the page, you'll be able to view a selection of our videos, giving you some insight into how Texture Analysis can have a positive impact on your testing regime, and how Stable Micro Systems in particular can help you maintain the highest standards in both research and development and quality control. Whether your speciality is adhesives, baked products, cosmetics, fruit and vegetables, meat, packaging or powders, we are confident that we can help you achieve better products. |
Download our screensaver, which highlights many of the uses of a TA.XTplus Texture Analyser.
Just as any normal screensaver, this activates when your PC is inactive for a specified period of time (with optional sound) to display a video guiding you through many texture analysis possibilities.
You can either download this free screensaver from the Software Download section of our website, click on the link in the Exponent splashscreen that is displayed when you open your software, or find the file: Install_StableMicroSystemsGen_SCR.exe on our latest DVD (for versions 5,1,1,0 and higher).
Our representatives will be available at each of these events. Please visit us on our stand to discuss your texture analysis problems and requirements – we will be only too pleased to help you! |
Stable Micro Systems will be appearing at the following events in the first few months of 2014: • Nutraformulate • Food Structure & Functionality Symposium • 9th PBP World Meeting • In-Cosmetics • IFST Jubilee Conference 2014 • NAFI - Novel Approaches in Food Industry • Bakery Technology Conference • IFT |
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Our one day user training courses are designed for anyone wishing to obtain the maximum benefit from the use of our texture analysis equipment and software. Places on UK Training Courses for 2014 are now available for booking: • Wednesday 26th February 2014 Book your place today – email: sales@stablemicrosystems.com |
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All of the software packages below are available for download from our website within the Software Download section: • Exponent/Exponent Lite – 6.1.6.0 You may also download our free Texture Analysis Screensaver from this page. |
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E-mail: sales@stablemicrosystems.com | Website: www.stablemicrosystems.com
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