Food - Receipes : Homemade Apple Butter : A Treat for any age!

Ingredients:-
5 pounds (2.26 kilos) apples, cored and cut into 8 wedges.
1/2 cup (~120 mil) apple cider or natural apple juice.
1/4 to 1/2 cup (~60 – 120 mil) maple syrup.
4 whole cinnamon sticks.

Spices for Apple Butter:-
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

Preparation:

PART 1 –>
Preheat the oven to 350° F/175° C.

In the large roasting pan, toss the apples with the cider and maple syrup, then lay the cinnamon sticks around in the apples. Roast until the apples are very soft and mash easily, 30 to 45 minutes.

Remove the cinnamon sticks. If you left the peels on, mash the apples slightly with a potato masher, then run them through the food mill. Use the fine blade for apple butter and the coarse blade for apple sauce. If you peeled the apples before roasting, then process the cooked apples in a food processor. Applesauce is finished, just set aside to cool, then put into containers and refrigerate or freeze. You can also keep a cup or two of applesauce and turn the rest of the mixture into apple butter, just make sure that the mixture is finely ground so that you get that nice, smooth texture for which apple butter is famous.

PART 2 –>
Reduce oven temperature to 300° F/150° C. Stir the milled apples with any remaining liquid from the roasting pan and the ground cinnamon, cloves, and allspice. Add more maple syrup if desired.

Spread the mixture into the roasting pan, making sure to spread evenly throughout the pan. Cook in the oven for 1 to 1-1/2 hours, depending on how much you started with. Stir every 30 minutes, working the edges into the middle. Test for doneness by dropping a spoonful onto a plate. If no liquid is released, then the apple butter is ready.

Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Spoon into containers and refrigerate or freeze.

Notes:-
Apple Butter will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, or several months in the freezer.
Variations:-
Other spices to use: star anise, ground ginger, ground cardamom.

Technology - Self-cleaning windows using Nanotechnology

Singapore, Aug 3, 2010 - (ACN Newswire) - A*STAR's new 'Industrial Consortium On Nanoimprint', or 'ICON', encourages companies to adopt versatile, industry-ready nanoimprinting technology that allows new chemical and additive-free products for the market.

ICON is a multi-agency effort with support from Singapore's leading trade and industry development bodies - Economic Development Board (EDB), International Enterprise (IE) Singapore and SPRING Singapore. -

Walls that are as colourful as a butterfly's wing, new non-slip materials,adhesives that do not leave sticky residues, waterproof and anti-bacterial surfaces for everyday use? What's more amazing is that these can be produced without using chemicals or potentially harmful, eco-unfriendly coatings but merely by carefully engineering the surface or 'skin' of materials using a unique method called nanoimprint technology, or NIT.

IMRE (Institute of Materials Research and Engineering) scientists have used the method, which involves making uniform, nanometer-sized structures to create a specifically patterned surface that produces a unique property. These often mimic natural surfaces, for example the structures found on lotus leaves so that the new materials are imbued with its waterproofing properties.

Since its introduction as a high-resolution nanopatterning technique in the 1990s, NIT has been proven to produce nanometer-sized structures of greater complexity using fewer processing steps, while minimising wastage of materials. It has since evolved from being a potential next-generation lithography technology for the semiconductor industry to a platform process technology that is applicable to a wide range of industries.

Over the past few years, IMRE has seen requests from the industryto explore NIT for diverse applications triple in number. Responding to this need and because of the vast opportunities that NIT has to offer industries in applications such as optical components, biomedical devices, consumer products and even construction materials, A*STAR's IMRE and Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC), together with EDB, IE and SPRING, have launched the 'Industrial Consortium On Nanoimprint' (ICON).

ICON will be launched with 2 industry projects that demonstrate the versatility of nanopatterning - anti-reflection surfaces and anti-bacterial surfaces. These joint projects are the first two to be launched during the initial 3-year phase. The projects will begin in collaboration with ICON's first group of members, namely Singapore's DSO National Laboratories and Solves Innovative Technology Pte Ltd, Nypro, Inc. (US), Innox Co., Ltd. (Japan), NTT-Advanced Technology Corporation (Japan) and Youngchang Chemical Co., Ltd. (South Korea).

ICON's project on anti-reflection surfaces aims to develop structures that have additional surface functional properties, such as self-cleaning, using novel nanoimprint processes developed in IMRE. The anti-bacterial surfaces project aims to use NIT to create a chemical-free, eco-friendly alternative to existing technologies that prevent bacterial attachment to surfaces. The project also aims to create a database of different surfaces to study how they affect bacterial attachment as there is currently no available design rule on effective anti-bacterial surface topography.

"The goal of ICON is to open up NIT's many benefits to industries and to get them to adopt this versatile technique into some of their existing processes", said Dr Low Hong Yee, Headof IMRE's Patterning and Fabrication Group which is driving the consortium.

"ICON is a proactive way for research institutes like IMRE to give back to our stakeholders - industry and ultimately the community", said Prof Andy Hor, Executive Director of IMRE. "We are confident in the potential of nanoimprint technology and are equally confident that industry will see results in their bottom lines by leveraging on this technology!"

Echoing these views, Prof Low Teck Seng, A*STAR's DeputyManaging Director (Research), and Executive Director, Science and Engineering Research Council said, "A*STAR is keenly aware of our vast technological capabilities and the need for transferring these technologies to industry, which ultimately benefits the public at large. Industry consortia are but one of the many avenues A*STAR uses to shorten the route, and timeframe, that our research takes to reach your homes."

"Nanotechnology is increasingly pervasive and Nanoimprinting is an areathat Singapore is well suited to develop due to our strengths in precision engineering and electronics," said Mr Bernard Nee, Executive Director of EDB's New Technology Group. "We are excited about the potential of this public-private partnership which will not only benefit our Singapore industries but also enable us to push new frontiers in display, bioelectronics and solar energy. Such collaborations will be increasingly important in the next phase of our growth."

"Our involvement in ICONgives Nypro the opportunity to leverage advanced research and technology development initiatives in close proximity to the manufacturing plants capable of commercialising the outcome. This model creates an iterative working dynamic connecting marketdemands and product needs to the research designed to enhance future products. A higher probability of success and faster time to market can be achieved working in this environment," commented Mr Michael McGee, Director of Technology from Nypro Inc., a leading global solutions provider in the field of manufactured precision plastic products which recorded sales of approximately $1.1 billion in the last financial year.

"We were sold on the benefits of nanoimprint technology from the start and having a platform like ICON that helps put that technology into practice was all the convincing we needed to join the consortium," said Mr Tatsuo Shirahama, President of Innox Co Ltd, Japan, which specialises in the design, development, productionand sale of functional nanostructured films for light management and other applications. Innox is confident that NIT can enhance the anti-reflection properties of the company's current display industry-related plastic films by bringing down the optical reflectance to just 0.1%.

"R&D may be seen as unaffordable for most SMEs but in order to stay ahead of others, innovation and R&D are key. ICON is an excellent platform for SMEs to tap on the available resources in A*STAR and jumpstart R&D ata nominal cost," explained Mr Koh Teng Hwee, Managing Director of Solves Innovative Technology, a local company that worked with IMRE to build the first made-in-Singapore tool for advanced manufacturing of nano-sized structures. The production-gradetool is faster and more accurate with features such as double-sided imprinting to reduce processing time, a customised dosing system, and imprinting in vacuum to prevent air bubbles, for precision patterning.

The members of ICON will not only gain first-hand access to the advanced nanoimprint developments in A*STAR but will be able to work on joint, shared cost projects to develop new products and applications resulting in potentially huge savings in R&D costs and resources. Training of their manpower in nanoimprint techniques and tools as well as the prospect of networking with companies that cover the entire spectrum of nanopatterning services are sweeteners for membership.


About the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE)

Established in September 1997, IMRE has built strong capabilities in materials analysis, characterisation, materials growth, patterning, fabrication, synthesis and integration. IMRE is an institute of talented researchers equipped with state-of-the-art facilities such as the SERC Nanofabrication and Characterisation Facility to conduct world-class materials science research. Leveraging on these capabilities, R&D programmes have been established in collaboration with industry partners. These include research on organic solar cells, nanocomposites, flexible organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), solid-state lighting, nanoimprinting, microfluidics and next generation atomic scale interconnect technology. For more information aboutIMRE, please visit www.imre.a-star.edu.sg


About the Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC)

As a national research institute supported by A*STAR through SERC, the Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC) was established in April1998 to provide leadership in high performance computing as a strategic resource for scientific inquiry. IHPC seeks to power discoveries through advanced methodologies, techniques and new tools in modelling, simulation and visualisation. Its researchfocus are in the realm of complex-coupled systems, mechanics and fluid dynamics, large-scale systems, scientific computing and software development, digital modelling, adaptive and collaborative computing, data mining and analyses, computational electronics and electromagnetics and computational material and chemistry. For more information on IHPC, please visit www.ihpc.a-star.edu.sg

About Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)

The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) is the lead agency for fostering world-class scientific research and talent for a vibrant knowledge-based and innovation-driven Singapore. A*STAR oversees 14 biomedical sciences, and physical sciences and engineering research institutes, and nine consortia & centre, which are located in Biopolis and Fusionopolis, as well as their immediate vicinity. A*STAR supports Singapore's key economic clusters by providing intellectual, human and industrial capital to its partners in industry. It also supports extramural research in the universities, hospitals, research centres, and with other local and international partners. For more information about A*STAR, please visit www.a-star.edu.sg.

Source: Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)