Thermorheological and textural behaviour of gluten-free gels obtained from chestnut and rice flours

Nowadays, as celiac disease is becoming more common the consumers’ demand for gluten-free products with high nutritional and taste quality is increasing. This work deals with the study of the impact of four novelty gluten-free sources: chestnut flour (Cf), whole rice flour (Rw), Carolino rice flour (Rc) and Agulha rice flour (Ra). Textural, thermorheological and stability performance of gluten-free gels using different experimental techniques were evaluated. Mixed gels were also produced for comparison. Texture parameters were determined from the texture profile analysis using a texturometer. Thermorheological oscillatory measurements were conducted in a stresscontrolled rheometer in order to clarify the kinetics of gel formation and to characterise the structure of the matured gels. The stability of the gels was evaluated using transmittance profiling of the gels under gravitational fields (LUMiSizer®). Texture studies suggested that gels from mixtures of chestnut flour at 30 % and rice flour at 20 % showed the right texture to develop gel-based new desserts. Rheological results showed that the thermal profiles on heating of Cf gels were similar to those obtained for Rw and Ra, whereas Rc gels exhibited a particular pattern. Once the final gelatinisation temperature was achieved, no significant differences on the viscoelastic properties were noticed for all the tested gels. Stability tests showed that gels with Rc should present an industrial advantage over the other assayed formulations, since the stability of these gels is of the order of four times larger

SOIL FAUNA ALONG THE PROCESS OF ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION IN GULLIES REVEGETATED IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF PINHEIRAL \u2013 RJ

O objetivo do trabalho foi avaliar a diversidade, riqueza e composi\ue7\ue3o da comunidade da fauna do solo ep\uedgea em uma vo\ue7oroca revegetada no ano de 2000 com diferentes esp\ue9cies de leguminosas arb\uf3reas. A vo\ue7oroca est\ue1 localizada no Instituto Federal de Educa\ue7\ue3o (IFRJ) campus Nilo Pe\ue7anha no munic\uedpio de Pinheiral \u2013 RJ. Foram avaliadas as seguintes \ue1reas: plantio de Acacia mangium Willd. (PA), plantio de Mimosa caesalpiniifolia Benth. (PM), plantio de leguminosas arb\uf3reas no ter\ue7o superior da encosta (PTS), plantio de leguminosas no interior da vo\ue7oroca (IVR2000). Os plantios de A. mangium e M. caesalpiniifolia foram realizados antes da revegeta\ue7\ue3o. Para efeito comparativo tamb\ue9m foi avaliada uma \ue1rea de floresta secund\ue1ria com 20 anos, pr\uf3xima ao local de coleta. Na coleta da fauna do solo ep\uedgea foram utilizadas 10 armadilhas do tipo pitfall (MOLDENKE, 1994) por \ue1rea. Foram realizadas tr\ueas coletas, uma no in\uedcio da revegeta\ue7\ue3o, em maio de 2000, em junho de 2006 e abril de 2008. Houve um aumento no n\ufamero de grupos e na diversidade da fauna do solo no plantio no ter\ue7o superior, no interior da vo\ue7oroca, e no plantio de Mimosa caesalpiniifolia ap\uf3s 6 anos da interven\ue7\ue3o. Nas coletas realizadas em 2000 e 2006, a APC mostrou que a maioria dos grupos estava associada ao ano de 2006, mostrando total antagonismo com o ano de 2000. O plantio de Acacia mangium foi a \ue1rea com o menor n\ufamero de grupos. Na coleta realizada em 2008, a pastagem foi a \ue1rea com menor n\ufamero m\ue9dio de grupos coletados e na an\ue1lise de componentes principais (ACP) do interior da vo\ue7oroca os grupos estavam associados ao ano de 2008 com total antagonismo com os anos de 2000 e 2006. Os grupos Formicidae e Collembola (Entomobryomorpha) foram os mais dominantes em todas as \ue1reas amostradas no ano de 2000 e 2008 e no interior da vo\ue7oroca ano de 2006.The diversity, richness and composition of the soil epigeous fauna community were evaluated in a revegetated gully at the Instituto Federal de Educa\ue7\ue3o (IFRJ) campus Nilo Pe\ue7anha, in the municipality of Pinheiral, Rio de Janeiro state. Revegetation was performed in 2000, and consisted of four different strategies involving N-fixing trees: planting Acacia mangium Willd. (PA); planting Mimosa caesalpiniifolia Benth. (PM); on the outer edges of the gully head (PTS); and planting a mix of legume tree species into the gully (IVR2000). Acacia mangium and Mimosa caesalpiniifolia were planted above the gully head. A nearby 20-year secondary forest remnant was used as a reference site. Ten pitfall traps were used for the sampling of epigeous fauna at each one of the five areas (MOLDENKE, 1994). Sampling was performe in May 2000, June 2006, and April 2008. Six years after revegetation has started, fauna group richness and diversity increased both into the gully and in Mimosa caesalpiniifolia plantation. For the 2000 and 2006 samplings a PCA showed that groups were mostly associated to 2006, and completely opposite to 2000. Acacia mangium plantation had the lowest group richness. In the 2008 sampling, pasture showed the lowest group richness, and according to the PCA groups into the gully were associated to 2008, and completely opposite to 2000 and 2006. Formicidae and Collembola (Entomobryomorpha) were dominant in all sampled areas, both in 2000 and 2008, and into the gully in 2006 as well

To be or not to be a pseudogene: a molecular epidemiological approach to the mclx genes and its impact in tuberculosis

Tuberculosis presents a myriad of symptoms, progression routes and propagation patterns not yet fully understood. Whereas for a long time research has focused solely on the patient immunity and overall susceptibility, it is nowadays widely accepted that the genetic diversity of its causative agent, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, plays a key role in this dynamic. This study focuses on a particular family of genes, the mclxs (Mycobacterium cyclase/LuxR-like genes), which codify for a particular and nearly mycobacterial-exclusive combination of protein domains. mclxs genes were found to be pseudogenized by frameshift-causing insertion(s)/deletion(s) in a considerable number of M. tuberculosis complex strains and clinical isolates. To discern the functional implications of the pseudogenization, we have analysed the pattern of frameshift-causing mutations in a group of M. tuberculosis isolates while taking into account their microbial-, patient- and disease-related traits. Our logistic regression-based analyses have revealed disparate effects associated with the transcriptional inactivation of two mclx genes. In fact, mclx2 (Rv1358) pseudogenization appears to be primarily driven by the microbial phylogenetic background, being mainly related to the Euro-American (EAm) lineage; on the other hand, mclx3 (Rv2488c) presents a higher tendency for pseudogenization among isolates from patients born on the Western Pacific area, and from isolates causing extra-pulmonary infections. These results contribute to the overall knowledge on the biology of M. tuberculosis infection, whereas at the same time launch the necessary basis for the functional assessment of these so far overlooked genes.This work was supported by Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal, and cofunded by Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON.2-O Novo Norte), Quadro de Referencia Estrategico Nacional (QREN), through the Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER), and from Projeto Estrategico - LA 26 - 2013-2014 (PEst-C/SAU/LA0026/2013). H.N.-G. received a personal FCT Grant (SFRH/BD/33902/2209). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal

Jet energy measurement with the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at root s=7 TeV

The jet energy scale and its systematic uncertainty are determined for jets measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 38 pb-1. Jets are reconstructed with the anti-kt algorithm with distance parameters R=0. 4 or R=0. 6. Jet energy and angle corrections are determined from Monte Carlo simulations to calibrate jets with transverse momenta pT≥20 GeV and pseudorapidities {pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy systematic uncertainty is estimated using the single isolated hadron response measured in situ and in test-beams, exploiting the transverse momentum balance between central and forward jets in events with dijet topologies and studying systematic variations in Monte Carlo simulations. The jet energy uncertainty is less than 2. 5 % in the central calorimeter region ({pipe}η{pipe}<0. 8) for jets with 60≤pT<800 GeV, and is maximally 14 % for pT<30 GeV in the most forward region 3. 2≤{pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy is validated for jet transverse momenta up to 1 TeV to the level of a few percent using several in situ techniques by comparing a well-known reference such as the recoiling photon pT, the sum of the transverse momenta of tracks associated to the jet, or a system of low-pT jets recoiling against a high-pT jet. More sophisticated jet calibration schemes are presented based on calorimeter cell energy density weighting or hadronic properties of jets, aiming for an improved jet energy resolution and a reduced flavour dependence of the jet response. The systematic uncertainty of the jet energy determined from a combination of in situ techniques is consistent with the one derived from single hadron response measurements over a wide kinematic range. The nominal corrections and uncertainties are derived for isolated jets in an inclusive sample of high-pT jets. Special cases such as event topologies with close-by jets, or selections of samples with an enhanced content of jets originating from light quarks, heavy quarks or gluons are also discussed and the corresponding uncertainties are determined. © 2013 CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration

Measurement of the cross-section of high transverse momentum vector bosons reconstructed as single jets and studies of jet substructure in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents a measurement of the cross-section for high transverse momentum W and Z bosons produced in pp collisions and decaying to all-hadronic final states. The data used in the analysis were recorded by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7 TeV;{\rm Te}{\rm V}$and correspond to an integrated luminosity of$4.6\;{\rm f}{{{\rm b}}^{-1}}$. The measurement is performed by reconstructing the boosted W or Z bosons in single jets. The reconstructed jet mass is used to identify the W and Z bosons, and a jet substructure method based on energy cluster information in the jet centre-of-mass frame is used to suppress the large multi-jet background. The cross-section for events with a hadronically decaying W or Z boson, with transverse momentum${{p}_{{\rm T}}}\gt 320\;{\rm Ge}{\rm V}$and pseudorapidity$|\eta |\lt 1.9$, is measured to be${{\sigma }_{W+Z}}=8.5\pm 1.7$ pb and is compared to next-to-leading-order calculations. The selected events are further used to study jet grooming techniques

Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in √sNN=5.02 TeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector

Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (Δϕ) and pseudorapidity (Δη) are measured in √sNN=5.02  TeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1  μb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ΣETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Δη|<5) “near-side” (Δϕ∼0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ΣETPb. A long-range “away-side” (Δϕ∼π) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ΣETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Δη and Δϕ) and ΣETPb dependence. The resultant Δϕ correlation is approximately symmetric about π/2, and is consistent with a dominant cos⁡2Δϕ modulation for all ΣETPb ranges and particle pT

Search for R-parity-violating supersymmetry in events with four or more leptons in sqrt(s) =7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for new phenomena in final states with four or more leptons (electrons or muons) is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of $\sqrt{s}=7\;\mathrm{TeV}$ proton-proton collisions delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in two signal regions: one that requires moderate values of missing transverse momentum and another that requires large effective mass. The results are interpreted in a simplified model of R-parity-violating supersymmetry in which a 95% CL exclusion region is set for charged wino masses up to 540 GeV. In an R-parity-violating MSUGRA/CMSSM model, values of m 1/2 up to 820 GeV are excluded for 10 < tan β < 40