Flour from sprouted wheat as a new ingredient in bread-making

Despite the nutritional and sensory improvements associated with sprouted grains, their use in baking has been limited until recently. Indeed, severe and uncontrolled grain sprouting induces high accumulations of enzymatic activities that negatively affect dough rheology and baking performance. In this study, wheat was sprouted under controlled conditions and the effects of enrichment (i.e. 15%, 25%, 33%, 50%, 75% and 100%) of the related refined flour (SWF) on dough rheological properties, baking performances and starch digestibility were assessed. Adding SWF to flour significantly decreased dough water absorption, development time, and stability during mixing, which suggests a weakening of the gluten network. However, no significant changes in mixing properties and gluten aggregation kinetics were measured from 25 to 75% SWF. Regardless of the amount added, SWF improved dough development and gas production during leavening. Decreases in gas retention did not compromise bread-making performances. The best result – in terms of bread volume and crumb porosity – was obtained with 50% SWF instead of using SWF alone. Interestingly, in 100 % SWF bread the slowly digestible starch fraction significantly increased

A simplified approach for the seismic loss assessment of rc buildings at urban scale: The case study of Potenza (Italy)

Comprehensive methodologies based on a fully probabilistic approach (i.e., the performance- based earthquake engineering approach, PBEE), represent a refined and accurate tool for the seismic performance assessment of structures. However, those procedures are suitable for building-specific evaluations, appearing extremely time-consuming if applied at the urban scale. In the proposed contribution, simplified loss assessment procedure will be applied at the urban scale with reference to the residential building stock of the center of Potenza. After the identification of the main reinforced concrete (RC) structural typologies and the definition of specific archetype building numerical models, the direct estimation of expected annual loss (DEAL) methodology will be applied to derive the EAL (i.e., expected annual loss) of RC buildings, deriving information on the effectively seismic quality (or seismic resilience) of the aforementioned built heritage at urban scale. Similarly, the monetary losses associated with downtime are evaluated. Preliminary considerations on the socio-economic effects of seismic scenarios on the territorial scale are also proposed

The power spectrum of systematics in cosmic shear tomography and the bias on cosmological parameters

Cosmic shear tomography has emerged as one of the most promising tools to both investigate the nature of dark energy and discriminate between General Relativity and modified gravity theories. In order to successfully achieve these goals, systematics in shear measurements have to be taken into account; their impact on the weak lensing power spectrum has to be carefully investigated in order to estimate the bias induced on the inferred cosmological parameters. To this end, we develop here an efficient tool to compute the power spectrum of systematics by propagating, in a realistic way, shear measurement, source properties and survey setup uncertainties. Starting from analytical results for unweighted moments and general assumptions on the relation between measured and actual shear, we derive analytical expressions for the multiplicative and additive bias, showing how these terms depend not only on the shape measurement errors, but also on the properties of the source galaxies (namely, size, magnitude and spectral energy distribution). We are then able to compute the amplitude of the systematics power spectrum and its scaling with redshift, while we propose a multigaussian expansion to model in a non-parametric way its angular scale dependence. Our method allows to self-consistently propagate the systematics uncertainties to the finally observed shear power spectrum, thus allowing us to quantify the departures from the actual spectrum. We show that even a modest level of systematics can induce non-negligible deviations, thus leading to a significant bias on the recovered cosmological parameters.Comment: 19 pages, 5 tables, 4 figure

Results of patch-grafting of tissue infected by ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma pyri’ or by ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma prunorum’, respectively on pear and apricot plants cultivated in pot

Molecular analyses carried out either on the pear varieties ‘Conference’, ‘Comice’ and ‘William’ grafted on different rootstocks or on sixty-eight apricot varieties grafted on Myrobalan, showed the susceptibility of the tested combinations to 'Candidatus Phytoplasma pyri', transmitted by Cacopsylla pyri, and to 'Candidatus Phytoplasma prunorum', transmitted by Empoasca decedens, respectively. In order to find pear and/or apricot combinations immune to the associated Phytoplasma, several varieties grafted on new rootstock were tested in the period 2002-2008. 68 pear plants belonging to seven variety/rootstock combinations and 76 apricot plants belonging to seven combinations, all cultivated in pot, in greenhouse covered by anti-aphid tissue, were grafted with patches of infected tissues containing the specific phytoplasmas. Young healthy potted plants belonging to the pear combination ‘Comice’/P. communis and to the apricot combination ‘Palummella’/Myrobalan, both susceptible in open field to the associated phytoplasmas transmitted by the specific vectors, were also used and patch-grafted. Molecular analyses, carried out on nucleic acids extracted from leaf samples, to detect the presence of the pathogens, showed the pear variety ‘William’ grafted on Pyrus betulaefolia to be susceptible to 'Candidatus Phytoplasma pyri’. Neither the pear combination ‘Comice’/P. communis nor the apricot ‘Palummella’/Myrobalan 29 C, susceptible, in open field, to the associated phytoplasmas, became infected after patchgrafting under greenhouse conditions. Thus the results show that patch-grafting cannot be utilized in young potted plants for artificial transmission of these two phytoplasmas.Keywords: Phytoplasmas, source of immunity, variety/rootstock combination, molecular tests, insect proof green-hous

Nutritional features and bread-making performance of wholewheat: Does the milling system matter?

Despite the interest in stone-milling, there is no information on the potential advantages of using the resultant wholegrain flour (WF) in bread-making. Consequently, nutritional and technological properties of WFs obtained by both stone- (SWF) and roller-milling (RWF) were assessed on four wheat samples, differing in grain hardness and pigment richness. Regardless of the type of wheat, stone-milling led to WFs with a high number of particles ranging in size from 315 to 710 µm), whereas RWFs showed a bimodal distribution with large (>1000 µm) and fine (<250 µm) particles. On average, the milling system did not affect the proximate composition and the bioactive features of WFs. The gluten aggregation kinetics resulted in similar trends for all SWFs, with indices higher than for RWFs. The effect of milling on dough properties (i.e., mixing and leavening) was sample dependent. Overall, SWFs produced more gas, resulting in bread with higher specific volume. Bread crumb from SWF had higher lutein content in the wheat cv rich in xanthophylls, while bread from RWF of the blue-grained cv had a moderate but significantly higher content in esterified phenolic acids and total anthocyanins. In conclusion, there was no relevant advantage in using stone- as opposed to roller-milling (and vice versa)

Emerging roles for ion channels in ovarian cancer: Pathomechanisms and pharmacological treatment

Ovarian cancer (OC) is the deadliest gynecologic cancer, due to late diagnosis, development of platinum resistance, and inadequate alternative therapy. It has been demonstrated that membrane ion channels play important roles in cancer processes, including cell proliferation, apop-tosis, motility, and invasion. Here, we review the contribution of ion channels in the development and progression of OC, evaluating their potential in clinical management. Increased expression of voltage-gated and epithelial sodium channels has been detected in OC cells and tissues and shown to be involved in cancer proliferation and invasion. Potassium and calcium channels have been found to play a critical role in the control of cell cycle and in the resistance to apoptosis, promoting tumor growth and recurrence. Overexpression of chloride and transient receptor potential channels was found both in vitro and in vivo, supporting their contribution to OC. Furthermore, ion channels have been shown to influence the sensitivity of OC cells to neoplastic drugs, suggesting a critical role in chemotherapy resistance. The study of ion channels expression and function in OC can improve our understanding of pathophysiology and pave the way for identifying ion channels as potential targets for tumor diagnosis and treatment

Cosmology and the Hubble Constant: On the Megamaser Cosmology Project (MCP)

The Hubble constant Ho describes not only the expansion of local space at redshift z ~ 0, but is also a fundamental parameter determining the evolution of the universe. Recent measurements of Ho anchored on Cepheid observations have reached a precision of several percent. However, this problem is so important that confirmation from several methods is needed to better constrain Ho and, with it, dark energy and the curvature of space. A particularly direct method involves the determination of distances to local galaxies far enough to be part of the Hubble flow through water vapor (H2O) masers orbiting nuclear supermassive black holes. The goal of this article is to describe the relevance of Ho with respect to fundamental cosmological questions and to summarize recent progress of the the `Megamaser Cosmology Project' (MCP) related to the Hubble constant.Comment: 10 pages, 7 postscript figures (8 ps files), IAU Symposium 287, uses iaus.cl

Global radiant flux from active volcanoes: the 2000–2019 MIROVA database

Since 2000, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) has acquired infrared images of the Earth’s surface daily. These data have made it possible to measure the thermal energy radiated by the world’s most famous volcanoes and also to discover and track eruptions in remote and poorly monitored regions. In this work, we present the database of Volcanic Radiative Power (VRP, in W) time series, recorded by the MIROVA (Middle Infrared Observation of Volcanic Activity) system over 2 decades of MODIS observations (2000–2019) at 111 active volcanoes. The database reveals that globally, the number of thermally active volcanoes each year varies between 60 and 80, almost equally partitioned between volcanoes with a basic (50%) and intermediate (45%) composition, while only 5% is represented by volcanoes erupting acidic lavas. Within the investigated period, the global-scale heat flux was almost stationary, and occasionally punctuated by peaks associated with the largest effusive eruptions (e.g., Bardarbunga and Kilauea). The Volcanic Radiative Energy (VRE, in J) emitted by basic volcanoes (~1.8 × 1018 J) in 20 years constitutes 91% of the total, while intermediates and acids contribute only 8% (~1.8 × 1017 J) and 1% (~1.7 × 1016 J), respectively. A comparison with the volume of lava erupted effusively by the same volcanoes reveals that this difference is attributed to the lower efficiency in radiating thermal energy of increasingly acidic (viscous) lava bodies. Each compositional group is associated with a specific relationship between VRE and erupted volume which characterises most of the effusive volcanoes. On the other hand, some open-vent volcanoes reveal that much more heat is released than that theoretically radiated by the erupted lava. This imbalance (hereby called excess radiation) is attributed to an additional heat source, likely associated with an underlying convective magma column and/or to outgassing through a permeable conduit. We are convinced that the database presented in this work will be useful to support new emerging studies on globalscale volcanism and will contribute to a better understanding of each volcanic system

Influence Of Fusariosis In The Biochemical And Rheological Properties Of Different Wheat Cultivars

Fusarium spp. infection of cereal grain is a common problem, which can result in a decline of grain quality. The objective in this study was to understand the correlation between different degrees of infestation and the quantitative-qualitative changes in flour. The effects of different grades of infection of Fusarium were evaluated on: thousand kernel weight, wet gluten (WG), protein content, Zeleny sedimentation (ZS) and Falling Number (FN). Some of the most important rheological tests used in the industry were conducted on wheat flour of all varieties: Mixolab and GlutoPeak Test. The disease index average was 14.07 % varying from 4.07 % to 34.3% .The crude protein content was not significantly affected by the Fusarium spp. infection; on the contrary, FN, ZS and WG showed distinctively decreased values in all the infected cultivars