HelexKids:a word frequency database for Greek and Cypriot primary school children

In this article, we introduce HelexKids, an online written-word database for Greek-speaking children in primary education (Grades 1 to 6). The database is organized on a grade-by-grade basis, and on a cumulative basis by combining Grade 1 with Grades 2 to 6. It provides values for Zipf, frequency per million, dispersion, estimated word frequency per million, standard word frequency, contextual diversity, orthographic Levenshtein distance, and lemma frequency. These values are derived from 116 textbooks used in primary education in Greece and Cyprus, producing a total of 68,692 different word types. HelexKids was developed to assist researchers in studying language development, educators in selecting age-appropriate items for teaching, as well as writers and authors of educational books for Greek/Cypriot children. The database is open access and can be searched online at www.helexkids.org

Enzyme and acid resistance of amylose-lipid complexes differing in amylose chain length, lipid and complexation temperature

To study parameters that influence enzyme and acid resistance of amylose-lipid complexes, complexes were formed between amylose of different average chain lengths [Degree of Polymerisation (DP); DP60, 400, 950] and docosanoic acid (C22) or glyceryl monostearate (GMS) at 60 or 90 °C. Complexes were hydrolysed with hog pancreatic alpha-amylase or acid (2.2 N HCl). DP400- and DP950-complexes were of type I when formed at 60 °C and of type II when formed at 90 °C. Enzyme and acid resistance increased with increasing amylose DP, lipid chain length and complexation temperature. DP60 yielded only type I complexes, independent of the complexation temperature. Enzymic and acid hydrolysis of all complexes gave rise to two or more dextrin subpopulations, which are interpreted to originate from a sequence of lamellar units (the smallest peak DP) with interconnecting, amorphous amylose chains. The peak DP of such lamellar unit increased with increasing amylose DP and complexation temperature, but remained constant when higher enzyme dosages were applied. Synthesis of amylose-lipid complexes from amylose and lipids of variable structure under variable temperature conditions followed by hydrolysis can yield dextrin populations of defined and relatively narrow molecular weight distributions.status: publishe

Global assessment of seasonal potential distribution of Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae)

The Mediterranean fruit fly (Medfly) is one of the world's most economically damaging pests. It displays highly seasonal population dynamics, and the environmental conditions suitable for its abundance are not constant throughout the year in most places. An extensive literature search was performed to obtain the most comprehensive data on the historical and contemporary spatio-temporal occurrence of the pest globally. The database constructed contained 2328 unique geo-located entries on Medfly detection sites from 43 countries and nearly 500 unique localities, as well as information on hosts, life stages and capture method. Of these, 125 localities had information on the month when Medfly was recorded and these data were complemented by additional material found in comprehensive databases available online. Records from 1980 until present were used for medfly environmental niche modeling. Maximum Entropy Algorithm (MaxEnt) and a set of seasonally varying environmental covariates were used to predict the fundamental niche of the Medfly on a global scale. Three seasonal maps were also produced: January-April, May-August and September-December. Models performed significantly better than random achieving high accuracy scores, indicating a good discrimination of suitable versus unsuitable areas for the presence of the species