95,094 research outputs found
Measuring Plant Genetic Diversity Using Inter-Simple Sequence Repeats (ISSRS)
Simple sequence repeats (SSRs) have great utility as they are conserved and present in all eukaryotic genomes. Here we report the use of a simple PCR with fluorescently-labelled primers to amplify inter-SSR markers (ISSRs) for diversity assessments. The use of ISSR markers does not rely upon specific genetic sequence information, or prolonged method development and may be measured rapidly using the automated equipment. The major restriction of the ISSR method is at the analysis stage, as the markers are dominant it is not possible to distinguish heterozygotes as loci. We obtained ISSR data from ca. 60 phenotypically characterised Capsella bursa pastoris L. Medic (shepherds purse)accessions that had been isolated from a diverse mix of arable field sites throughout the UK. We developed mathematical scripts for use with the free statistical software tool R (http://www.rproject.org/), that processed the molecular data in a binary format to estimate genetic diversity (using the Jaccard co-efficient), and that related genotype to the plant phenotypic and environmental (site specific) traits. The methodology established has the power to predict the relationship between environmental and plant morphological characteristics
Development of free sugar white chocolate, suitable for diabetics, using Stevia and sucralose as sweeteners: study of the thermal degradation kinetic
The purpose of this study was the development of formulations of white chocolate for diabetics with replacement of sucrose by sucralose (Su) and Stevia (St) using a mixture experimental design. The kinetic studies of thermodegradation which showed that binary combinations of Stevia with sucrose had synergistic effects since the matrix presented a lower thermal sensitivity to the non-enzymatic browning reaction than the samples formulated from the individual components. The phenomena of blooming during storage were studied by a computer vision system and image analysis. The results of sensory analysis revealed that the sample 100%St was not acceptable; however, combining Stevia with sucrose and sucralose, acceptable sensory chocolates were obtained with no statistically significant differences, compared to control 100%S (P> 0.05). Our study provides a chocolate suitable for diabetics, with an appropriate combination of sensorially acceptable sweeteners with higher stability than control sample.Fil: Rodriguez Furlan, Laura Teresa. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Invest. En Tecnología Química; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia; ArgentinaFil: Baracco, Yanina. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia; ArgentinaFil: Zaritzky, Noemi. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimentos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimentos. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimentos; ArgentinaFil: Campderrós, Mercedes. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia; Argentin
Visual/infrared interferometry of Orion Trapezium stars: Preliminary dynamical orbit and aperture synthesis imaging of the Theta 1 Orionis C system
Located in the Orion Trapezium cluster, Theta 1 Orionis C is one of the
youngest and nearest high-mass stars (O5-O7) and also known to be a close
binary system. Using new multi-epoch visual and near-infrared bispectrum
speckle interferometric observations obtained at the BTA 6 m telescope, and
IOTA near-infrared long-baseline interferometry, we trace the orbital motion of
the Theta 1 Ori C components over the interval 1997.8 to 2005.9, covering a
significant arc of the orbit. Besides fitting the relative position and the
flux ratio, we apply aperture synthesis techniques to our IOTA data to
reconstruct a model-independent image of the Theta 1 Ori C binary system.
The orbital solutions suggest a high eccentricity (e approx. 0.91) and
short-period (P approx. 10.9 yrs) orbit. As the current astrometric data only
allows rather weak constraints on the total dynamical mass, we present the two
best-fit orbits. From these orbital solutions one can be favoured, implying a
system mass of 48 M_sun and a distance to the Trapezium cluster of 434 pc. When
also taking the measured flux ratio and the derived location in the HR-diagram
into account, we find good agreement for all observables, assuming a spectral
type of O5.5 for Theta 1 Ori C1 (M=34.0 M_sun) and O9.5 for C2 (M=15.5 M_sun).
We find indications that the companion C2 is massive itself, which makes it
likely that its contribution to the intense UV radiation field of the Trapezium
cluster is non-negligible. Furthermore, the high eccentricity of the
preliminary orbit solution predicts a very small physical separation during
periastron passage (approx. 1.5 AU, next passage around 2007.5), suggesting
strong wind-wind interaction between the two O stars.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, Accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysic
Quantifying and containing the curse of high resolution coronal imaging
Future missions such as Solar Orbiter (SO), InterHelioprobe, or Solar Probe
aim at approaching the Sun closer than ever before, with on board some high
resolution imagers (HRI) having a subsecond cadence and a pixel area of about
at the Sun during perihelion. In order to guarantee their scientific
success, it is necessary to evaluate if the photon counts available at these
resolution and cadence will provide a sufficient signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).
We perform a first step in this direction by analyzing and characterizing the
spatial intermittency of Quiet Sun images thanks to a multifractal analysis.
We identify the parameters that specify the scale-invariance behavior. This
identification allows next to select a family of multifractal processes, namely
the Compound Poisson Cascades, that can synthesize artificial images having
some of the scale-invariance properties observed on the recorded images.
The prevalence of self-similarity in Quiet Sun coronal images makes it
relevant to study the ratio between the SNR present at SoHO/EIT images and in
coarsened images. SoHO/EIT images thus play the role of 'high resolution'
images, whereas the 'low-resolution' coarsened images are rebinned so as to
simulate a smaller angular resolution and/or a larger distance to the Sun. For
a fixed difference in angular resolution and in Spacecraft-Sun distance, we
determine the proportion of pixels having a SNR preserved at high resolution
given a particular increase in effective area. If scale-invariance continues to
prevail at smaller scales, the conclusion reached with SoHO/EIT images can be
transposed to the situation where the resolution is increased from SoHO/EIT to
SO/HRI resolution at perihelion.Comment: 25 pages, 1 table, 7 figure
Imaging starspot evolution on Kepler target KIC 5110407 using light curve inversion
The Kepler target KIC 5110407, a K-type star, shows strong quasi-periodic
light curve fluctuations likely arising from the formation and decay of spots
on the stellar surface rotating with a period of 3.4693 days. Using an
established light-curve inversion algorithm, we study the evolution of the
surface features based on Kepler space telescope light curves over a period of
two years (with a gap of .25 years). At virtually all epochs, we detect at
least one large spot group on the surface causing a 1-10% flux modulation in
the Kepler passband. By identifying and tracking spot groups over a range of
inferred latitudes, we measured the surface differential rotation to be much
smaller than that found for the Sun. We also searched for a correlation between
the seventeen stellar flares that occurred during our observations and the
orientation of the dominant surface spot at the time of each flare. No
statistically-significant correlation was found except perhaps for the very
brightest flares, suggesting most flares are associated with regions devoid of
spots or spots too small to be clearly discerned using our reconstruction
technique. While we may see hints of long-term changes in the spot
characteristics and flare statistics within our current dataset, a longer
baseline of observation will be needed to detect the existence of a magnetic
cycle in KIC 5110407.Comment: 32 pages, 15 figures, accepted to Ap
Unified functional network and nonlinear time series analysis for complex systems science: The pyunicorn package
We introduce the \texttt{pyunicorn} (Pythonic unified complex network and
recurrence analysis toolbox) open source software package for applying and
combining modern methods of data analysis and modeling from complex network
theory and nonlinear time series analysis. \texttt{pyunicorn} is a fully
object-oriented and easily parallelizable package written in the language
Python. It allows for the construction of functional networks such as climate
networks in climatology or functional brain networks in neuroscience
representing the structure of statistical interrelationships in large data sets
of time series and, subsequently, investigating this structure using advanced
methods of complex network theory such as measures and models for spatial
networks, networks of interacting networks, node-weighted statistics or network
surrogates. Additionally, \texttt{pyunicorn} provides insights into the
nonlinear dynamics of complex systems as recorded in uni- and multivariate time
series from a non-traditional perspective by means of recurrence quantification
analysis (RQA), recurrence networks, visibility graphs and construction of
surrogate time series. The range of possible applications of the library is
outlined, drawing on several examples mainly from the field of climatology.Comment: 28 pages, 17 figure
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