Learning capability : the effect of existing knowledge on learning

It has been observed that different people learn the same things in different ways - increasing their knowledge of the subject/domain uniquely. One plausible reason for this disparity in learning is the difference in the existing personal knowledge held in the particular area in which the knowledge increase happens. To understand this further, in this paper knowledge is modelled as a 'system of cognitive schemata', and knowledge increase as a process in this system; the effect of existing personal knowledge on knowledge increase is 'the Learning Capability'. Learning Capability is obtained in form of a function; although it is merely a representation making use of mathematical symbolism, not a calculable entity. The examination of the function tells us about the nature of learning capability. However, existing knowledge is only one factor affecting knowledge increase and thus one component of a more general model, which might additionally include talent, learning willingness, and attention

Comparative study of composition and technological quality of amaranth. I. Gross chemical composition, amino acid and mineral content

Eight groups of amaranth grain samples, belonging to the species Amaranthus cruentus and A. hypochondriacus , grown in Austria and Hungary were studied. Gross chemical composition, amino acid content and mineral composition of the whole grain were determined. The effect of heat treatment on amino acid content was also investigated. The range of concentration of main constituents of samples studied corresponded to the average data reported by other researchers. However, the relatively big difference between lowest (14.23%) and highest (17.40%) protein content suggests that genetic potential for increasing the protein content may be realized in breeding. Amino acid composition profile is generally closer to Leguminosae than to cereal grains except for sulphur containing amino acids being present in higher amount in amaranth than in legumes. The concentrations of minerals in seeds varied in a relatively wide range, and the micro-components, like Fe, Cu, Zn, were present in higher amount in amaranth seeds compared to the average values found in wheat. It was confirmed that heat treatment of amaranth grain (e.g. popping) might reduce the available lysine content. Contradictory data published in the literature may be explained by differences in initial sugar and moisture content of grain, which influence the rate of potential Maillard-reaction

Lab-on-a-chip technology in cereal science: Analytical properties and possible application areas

The utilisation of microchip capillary electrophoresis has the potential to improve the capability of high throughput sample analysis of biomolecules. The aim of this study was to review this capability for cereal protein analysis.The commercially available lab-on-a-chip (LOC) technology was characterised in the separation of total proteins extracted from whole wheat meals. Important analytical parameters (such as repeatability) of both qualitative (molecular size estimation) and quantitative (relative percentage of total protein) aspects of LOC data were determined and discussed in the light of the need of possible applications. It revealed that the LOC has very good repeatability and reproducibility parameters; however the non-globular structure of the proteins can highly affect the sizing accuracy. Among other applications, the profiles were found to be suitable for wheat cultivar identification and to monitor environment related alterations on protein composition.After a confirmation process the LOC can be an appropriate tool for fast protein profile screening in cereal science and technology in diverse applications, and it can complement the conventional methods of analysis

A retrospective analysis of HMW and LMW glutenin alleles of cultivars bred in Martonvásár, Hungary

The glutenin allele gene-pool, the distribution of the individual alleles on the 6 loci coding for glutenin subunits and their combinations were determined in a sample population containing 107 cultivars bred and grown in Martonvásár, Hungary at the Agricultural Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The database is based on the results of three independent analytical procedures carried out using the traditional SDS-PAGE based allele identification, the state-of-art MALDI-TOF technology and the high throughput capillary electrophoresis based on the lab-on-a-chip technique. The usefulness of integrating the information on both HMW GS and LMW GS allelic composition for future genetic and technological improvement is discussed

A retrospective analysis of HMW and LMW glutenin alleles of cultivars bred in Martonvásár, Hungary

The glutenin allele gene-pool, the distribution of the individual alleles on the 6 loci coding for glutenin subunits and their combinations were determined in a sample population containing 107 cultivars bred and grown in Martonvásár, Hungary at the Agricultural Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The database is based on the results of three independent analytical procedures carried out using the traditional SDS-PAGE based allele identification, the state-of-art MALDI-TOF technology and the high throughput capillary electrophoresis based on the lab-on-a-chip technique. The usefulness of integrating the information on both HMW GS and LMW GS allelic composition for future genetic and technological improvement is discussed

Gluten alleles and predicted dough-quality for wheat varieties worldwide: a great resource - free on the AACCI international website

The gluten composition of more than 8,500 wheat varieties is provided in two new databases on the AACC International website (www.aaccnet.org/ initiatives/definitions/Pages/Gluten.aspx). The databases augment earlier versions (1-3) by providing a program to screen the large volume of data. For each variety, the program provides the gliadin composition, listed as alleles at the Gli-1 and Gli-2 loci; the high molecular weight subunits of glutenin (HMW-GS), as subunit numbers and alleles at the Glu-1 loci; the low molecular weight subunits of glutenin (LMW-GS), as alleles at the Glu-3 loci; the Payne Glu-1 scores for dough quality; and estimates of dough strength (as Rmax) and extensibility based on both HMW-GS and LMW-GS alleles

One Hundred Years of Grain Omics: Identifying the Glutens That Feed the World.

Glutens, the storage proteins in wheat grains, are a major source of protein in human nutrition. The protein composition of wheat has therefore been an important focus of cereal research. Proteomic tools have been used to describe the genetic diversity of wheat germplasms from different origins at the level of polymorphisms in alleles encoding glutenin and gliadin, the two main proteins of gluten. More recently, proteomics has been used to understand the impact of specific gluten proteins on wheat quality. Here we review the impact of proteomics on the study of gluten proteins as it has evolved from fractionation and electrophoretic techniques to advanced mass spectrometry. In the postgenome era, proteomics is proving to be essential in the effort to identify and understand the interactions between different gluten proteins. This is helping to fill in gaps in our knowledge of how the technological quality of wheat is determined by the interaction between genotype and environment. We also collate information on the various storage protein alleles identified and their prevalence, which makes it possible to infer the effects of wheat selection on grain protein content. We conclude by reviewing the more recent use of transgenesis aimed at improving the quality of gluten