What happens at the aroma of coffee beans after roasting?

The coffee aroma is one of the most important quality evaluation criteria employed for coffee commercialization and consumption. The purpose of this study was following the roasting process VOCs creations with the novel Electronic Nose equipped whit 2 of 6 MOX nanowire sensors. The nanowires exhibit exceptional crystalline quality and a very high length-to-width ratio, resulting in enhanced sensing capability as well as long-term material stability for prolonged operation. Four different methods of roasting, made by ROSTAMATIC (Table 1) machine, were applied to gain a clearer picture of the differences in roasted coffee aromas by means of a volatile compound analysis. Different methods applied on four different origins of green coffee (India, Indonesia, Honduras, Santos and Nicaragua). The commercial coffees products are made from a blending from minimum five different kinds of coffee and the consumers have developed an addiction/expectation to a specific flavor and taste. Different methods of roasting process will provide the coffee different aroma that will add flexibility to those one that already posses the matrix due to different origins. This work tests and illustrates the broad spectrum of potential uses of the EN technique in food quality control

A Three-Dimensional Dynamic Supramolecular "Sticky Fingers" Organic Framework.

Engineering high-recognition host-guest materials is a burgeoning area in basic and applied research. The challenge of exploring novel porous materials with advanced functionalities prompted us to develop dynamic crystalline structures promoted by soft interactions. The first example of a pure molecular dynamic crystalline framework is demonstrated, which is held together by means of weak "sticky fingers" van der Waals interactions. The presented organic-fullerene-based material exhibits a non-porous dynamic crystalline structure capable of undergoing single-crystal-to-single-crystal reactions. Exposure to hydrazine vapors induces structural and chemical changes that manifest as toposelective hydrogenation of alternating rings on the surface of the [60]fullerene. Control experiments confirm that the same reaction does not occur when performed in solution. Easy-to-detect changes in the macroscopic properties of the sample suggest utility as molecular sensors or energy-storage materials

Epigenetic inactivation of mir-203 as a key step in neural crest epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition

miR-203 is a tumor-suppressor microRNA with known functions in cancer metastasis. Here, we explore its normal developmental role in the context of neural crest development. During the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition of neural crest cells to emigrate from the neural tube, miR-203 displays a reciprocal expression pattern with key regulators of neural crest delamination, Phf12 and Snail2, and interacts with their 3′UTRs. We show that ectopic maintenance of miR-203 inhibits neural crest migration in chick, whereas its functional inhibition using a ‘sponge’ vector or morpholinos promotes premature neural crest delamination. Bisulfite sequencing further shows that epigenetic repression of miR-203 is mediated by the de novo DNA methyltransferase DNMT3B, the recruitment of which to regulatory regions on the miR-203 locus is directed by SNAIL2 in a negative-feedback loop. These findings reveal an important role for miR-203 in an epigenetic-microRNA regulatory network that influences the timing of neural crest delamination.Fil: Sanchez Vasquez, Estefania. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas (subsede Chascomús) | Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas (subsede Chascomús); ArgentinaFil: Bronner, Marianne E.. California Institute of Technology; Estados UnidosFil: Strobl Mazulla, Pablo Hernan. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas (subsede Chascomús) | Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas (subsede Chascomús); Argentin

DNA methyltransferase 3B regulates duration of neural crest production via repression of Sox10

Neural crest stem cells arise within the central nervous system but then undergo an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition to migrate away and contribute to the peripheral nervous system and craniofacial skeleton. Here we show that DNA methyltransferase 3B (DNMT3B) is responsible for the loss of competence of dorsal neural tube cells to generate emigrating neural crest cells. DNMT3B knockdown results in up-regulation of neural crest markers, prolonged neural crest emigration, and subsequent precocious neuronal differentiation of the trigeminal ganglion. We find that DNMT3B binds to the promoter of Sox10, known to be important for neural crest emigration and lineage acquisition. Bisulfite sequencing further reveals methylation of the Sox10 promoter region upon cessation of emigration in normal embryos, whereas this mark is reduced after DNMT3B loss. Taken together, these results reveal the importance of DNA methylation in regulating the ability of neural tube cells to produce neural crest cells and the timing of peripheral neuron differentiation

A human antibody against Zika virus crosslinks the E protein to prevent infection

The recent Zika virus (ZIKV) epidemic has been linked to unusual and severe clinical manifestations including microcephaly in fetuses of infected pregnant women and Guillian-Barré syndrome in adults. Neutralizing antibodies present a possible therapeutic approach to prevent and control ZIKV infection. Here we present a 6.2 Å resolution three-dimensional cryo-electron microscopy (cryoEM) structure of an infectious ZIKV (strain H/PF/2013, French Polynesia) in complex with the Fab fragment of a highly therapeutic and neutralizing human monoclonal antibody, ZIKV-117. The antibody had been shown to prevent fetal infection and demise in mice. The structure shows that ZIKV-117 Fabs cross-link the monomers within the surface E glycoprotein dimers as well as between neighbouring dimers, thus preventing the reorganization of E protein monomers into fusogenic trimers in the acidic environment of endosomes

Anomalous Surface Compositions of Stoichiometric Mixed Oxide Compounds

The surface compositions of bulk mixed metal oxides stoichiometric vanadate and molybdate compounds have been systematically examined, for the first time, by combined synchroton-based depth-resolved XPS profile analysis, conventional XPS and LEIS spectroscopy. The outer surfaces of many, but not all, of the bulk mixed vanadates and molybdates tend to be enriched with surface VOx and MoOx species approaching monolayer coverage. Furthermore, this surface enrichment phenomenon can be dramatically enhanced in the presence of minor amount of alkali impurities. These new findings have significant implications for the fundamental understanding of how bulk mixed oxide materials function in numerous technical applications.Fil: Merzlikin, Sergiy V. . Ruhr-Universitt Bochum, Lehrstuhl fr Technische Chemie; AlemaniaFil: Tolkachev, Nikolay N. . Russian Academy of Sciences, N. D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry; RusiaFil: Briand, Laura Estefania. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico La Plata. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Ciencias Aplicadas; ArgentinaFil: Strunskus,Thomas . Ruhr-Universitt Bochum, Lehrstuhl Physikalische Chemie; AlemaniaFil: Wöll, Christof. Ruhr-Universitt Bochum, Lehrstuhl Physikalische Chemie; AlemaniaFil: Wachs, Israel E.. Lehigh University Bethlehem, Department of Chemical Engineering, Operando Molecular Spectroscopy and Catalysis Laboratory; Estados UnidosFil: Grüenert, Wolfgang . Ruhr-Universitt Bochum, Lehrstuhl fr Technische Chemie; Alemani

Anomalous Surface Compositions of Stoichiometric Mixed Oxide Compounds

The surface compositions of bulk mixed metal oxides stoichiometric vanadate and molybdate compounds have been systematically examined, for the first time, by combined synchroton-based depth-resolved XPS profile analysis, conventional XPS and LEIS spectroscopy. The outer surfaces of many, but not all, of the bulk mixed vanadates and molybdates tend to be enriched with surface VOx and MoOx species approaching monolayer coverage. Furthermore, this surface enrichment phenomenon can be dramatically enhanced in the presence of minor amount of alkali impurities. These new findings have significant implications for the fundamental understanding of how bulk mixed oxide materials function in numerous technical applications.Fil: Merzlikin, Sergiy V. . Ruhr-Universitt Bochum, Lehrstuhl fr Technische Chemie; AlemaniaFil: Tolkachev, Nikolay N. . Russian Academy of Sciences, N. D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry; RusiaFil: Briand, Laura Estefania. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico La Plata. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Ciencias Aplicadas; ArgentinaFil: Strunskus,Thomas . Ruhr-Universitt Bochum, Lehrstuhl Physikalische Chemie; AlemaniaFil: Wöll, Christof. Ruhr-Universitt Bochum, Lehrstuhl Physikalische Chemie; AlemaniaFil: Wachs, Israel E.. Lehigh University Bethlehem, Department of Chemical Engineering, Operando Molecular Spectroscopy and Catalysis Laboratory; Estados UnidosFil: Grüenert, Wolfgang . Ruhr-Universitt Bochum, Lehrstuhl fr Technische Chemie; Alemani

Anomalous Surface Compositions of Stoichiometric Mixed Oxide Compounds

The surface compositions of bulk mixed metal oxides stoichiometric vanadate and molybdate compounds have been systematically examined, for the first time, by combined synchroton-based depth-resolved XPS profile analysis, conventional XPS and LEIS spectroscopy. The outer surfaces of many, but not all, of the bulk mixed vanadates and molybdates tend to be enriched with surface VOx and MoOx species approaching monolayer coverage. Furthermore, this surface enrichment phenomenon can be dramatically enhanced in the presence of minor amount of alkali impurities. These new findings have significant implications for the fundamental understanding of how bulk mixed oxide materials function in numerous technical applications.Fil: Merzlikin, Sergiy V. . Ruhr-Universitt Bochum, Lehrstuhl fr Technische Chemie; AlemaniaFil: Tolkachev, Nikolay N. . Russian Academy of Sciences, N. D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry; RusiaFil: Briand, Laura Estefania. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico La Plata. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Ciencias Aplicadas; ArgentinaFil: Strunskus,Thomas . Ruhr-Universitt Bochum, Lehrstuhl Physikalische Chemie; AlemaniaFil: Wöll, Christof. Ruhr-Universitt Bochum, Lehrstuhl Physikalische Chemie; AlemaniaFil: Wachs, Israel E.. Lehigh University Bethlehem, Department of Chemical Engineering, Operando Molecular Spectroscopy and Catalysis Laboratory; Estados UnidosFil: Grüenert, Wolfgang . Ruhr-Universitt Bochum, Lehrstuhl fr Technische Chemie; Alemani

Ecosystem-bedrock interaction changes nutrient compartmentalization during early oxidative weathering

Ecosystem-bedrock interactions power the biogeochemical cycles of Earth's shallow crust, supporting life, stimulating substrate transformation, and spurring evolutionary innovation. While oxidative processes have dominated half of terrestrial history, the relative contribution of the biosphere and its chemical fingerprints on Earth's developing regolith are still poorly constrained. Here, we report results from a two-year incipient weathering experiment. We found that the mass release and compartmentalization of major elements during weathering of granite, rhyolite, schist and basalt was rock-specific and regulated by ecosystem components. A tight interplay between physiological needs of different biota, mineral dissolution rates, and substrate nutrient availability resulted in intricate elemental distribution patterns. Biota accelerated CO2 mineralization over abiotic controls as ecosystem complexity increased, and significantly modified stoichiometry of mobilized elements. Microbial and fungal components inhibited element leaching (23.4% and 7%), while plants increased leaching and biomass retention by 63.4%. All biota left comparable biosignatures in the dissolved weathering products. Nevertheless, the magnitude and allocation of weathered fractions under abiotic and biotic treatments provide quantitative evidence for the role of major biosphere components in the evolution of upper continental crust, presenting critical information for large-scale biogeochemical models and for the search for stable in situ biosignatures beyond Earth.Comment: 41 pages (MS, SI and Data), 16 figures (MS and SI), 6 tables (SI and Data). Journal article manuscrip

Perception of medical students about courses based on peer-assisted learning in five Peruvian universities

Objectives: Peer-assisted learning (PAL) is a supportive strategy in medical education. In Peru, this method has been implemented by few universities. However, there are no consistent studies evaluating their acceptability by medical students. The objective of this study was to evaluate the perception of medical students about PAL in five Peruvian universities. Results: A total of 79 medical students were included in the study. The mean age was 20.1 ± 1.9 years, 54% were female, and 87% were in the first 4 years of study. Most of the students were satisfied with classes and peer teachers. Similarly, most of the students agreed with the interest in developing teaching skills. It was also observed that 97% of students approved to implement PAL in medical education programs.Revisión por pare