The influence of three ingredients (bran, sucrose, magnesium carbonate) commonly used in extrusion-cooking of wheat flour-type formulations was studied. Extrusion-cooking was carried out in a twinscrew corotating extruder. The effects of the ingredients were analyzed by determining extrusion parameters, physical properties (apparent density, modulus of deformability and breaking stress) and structural properties (computerized image analysis of the transverse cut of extrudate). An increase in apparent density occurred when concentration of any ingredient increased. Cell number per pixel area increased greatly while average cell size decreased as bran concentration increased from 0 to 16%. Average cell size increased as magnesium carbonate increased from 0 to 0.4%, but cell size decreased above 0.4%.

27 patients (26 women and 1 man), all in contact with artificial nails, were tested for acrylic compounds, known to be present in nail cosmetics. The patch test results obtained in these patients demonstrated that 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate and ethyl cyanoacrylate were the only 2 allergens needed to diagnose contact allergy to acrylic-containing nail cosmetics, except for 1 patient who reacted only to her nail preparation used and in which we were unable to identify the allergen. This concerns clearly a limited number of patients. The purpose was, however, to detect the most valuable allergen(s) to be used in a dermatologist's practice, in which not all possible allergens can be tested, in order to diagnose such cases.

A puncture test was used to describe the mechanical and textural behavior of crispy‐puffed food extrudates. Four criteria were identified from the force‐time curves: (1) the average puncturing force, Fm, (2) the spatial frequency of structural ruptures, Nwr, (3) the average specific force of structural ruptures, fwr, and (4) the crispness work, Wc. The discriminating power of these criteria was shown through the effects of moisture content and recipe composition in the extrusion‐cooking process. Relationships between puncture criteria were also studied. The effect of water activity showed that the force related criteria described well the mechanical behavior of expanded extrudates.

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