Rice Fortification by Parboiling in Limited-Water Soaking to Alleviate Mineral and Vitamin Deficiency

Fortification of rice by parboiling is considered a potential alternative to currently available fortification technologies to produce rice with higher mineral and vitamin content significantly contributing to nutrient intake in populations with high prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies. Higher nutrient retention rates and improved sensory characteristics are advantages of fortified parboiled rice compared to fortified rice obtained by currently used fortification technologies including dusting, coating, and extrusion. However, conventional parboiling processes employ excess water that presents an environmental hazard if discarded without treatment. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate a limited-water soaking method for the fortification of rice with calcium, iron, folic acid, β-carotene, and vitamin A. Excess- and limited-water soaking method were compared for fortified rice quality attributes including head rice yield and kernel color, mineral and vitamin contents, the amount of wastewater, total solids in wastewater. Limited-water parboiling utilizes only 75% of water and fortificant that is used in the excess-water parboiling process, thus reduced the amount of effluent and solids in wastewater significantly without affecting rice quality attributes. Fortification with lipophilic β-carotene and vitamin A was evaluated and optimized by comparing two different fortificant types, pure β-carotene and vitamin A dissolved in Tween® 80 and water-soluble forms of the respective vitamins. Water-soluble forms of β-carotene and vitamin A were shown to be more feasible fortificants due to higher vitamin uptake and time-efficiency. The limited-water parboiling method obtained fortified rice that contributes to about 15% of the recommended dietary allowances (RDAs) of calcium, 72% (male) and 32% (female) for iron, 75% for folic acid, and 58% (male) and 45% (female) for vitamin A. Thus, limited-water parboiling is a cost-efficient and environmentally friendly alternative to the conventional excess-water parboiling for the fortification of rice with minerals and vitamins

High performance photonic probes and applications of optical tweezers to molecular motors

Optical tweezers are a sensitive position and force transducer widely employed in physics and biology. In a focussed laser, forces due to radiation pressure enable to trap and manipulate small dielectric particles used as probes for various experiments. For sensitive biophysical measurements, microspheres are often used as a handle for the molecule of interest. The force range of optical traps well covers the piconewton forces generated by individual biomolecules such as kinesin molecular motors. However, cellular processes are often driven by ensembles of molecular machines generating forces exceeding a nanonewton and thus the capabilities of optical tweezers. In this thesis I focused, fifirst, on extending the force range of optical tweezers by improving the trapping e fficiency of the probes and, second, on applying the optical tweezers technology to understand the mechanics of molecular motors. I designed and fabricated photonically-structured probes: Anti-reflection-coated, high-refractive-index, core-shell particles composed of titania. With these probes, I significantly increased the maximum optical force beyond a nanonewton. These particles open up new research possibilities in both biology and physics, for example, to measure hydrodynamic resonances associated with the colored nature of the noise of Brownian motion. With respect to biophysical applications, I used the optical tweezers to study the mechanics of single kinesin-8. Kinesin-8 has been shown to be a very processive, plus-end directed microtubule depolymerase. The underlying mechanism for the high processivity and how stepping is affected by force is unclear. Therefore, I tracked the motion of yeast (Kip3) and human (Kif18A) kinesin-8s with high precision under varying loads. We found that kinesin-8 is a low-force motor protein, which stalled at loads of only 1 pN. In addition, we discovered a force-induced stick-slip motion, which may be an adaptation for the high processivity. Further improvement in optical tweezers probes and the instrument will broaden the scope of feasible optical trapping experiments in the future

A note on bacteriological sampling in seawater

In a comparative study, two existing bacteriological samplers and a newly designed device were tested for obtaining uncontaminated seawater samples. Serratia marinorubra was used as a tracer organism. It was possible to eliminate contamination to a large extent

Compatibility between Text Mining and Qualitative Research in the Perspectives of Grounded Theory, Content Analysis, and Reliability

The objective of this article is to illustrate that text mining and qualitative research are epistemologically compatible. First, like many qualitative research approaches, such as grounded theory, text mining encourages open-mindedness and discourages preconceptions. Contrary to the popular belief that text mining is a linear and fully automated procedure, the text miner might add, delete, and revise the initial categories in an iterative fashion. Second, text mining is similar to content analysis, which also aims to extract common themes and threads by counting words. Although both of them utilize computer algorithms, text mining is characterized by its capability of processing natural languages. Last, the criteria of sound text mining adhere to those in qualitative research in terms of consistency and replicability

Associations between exploratory dietary patterns and incident type 2 diabetes : a federated meta-analysis of individual participant data from 25 cohort studies

Purpose In several studies, exploratory dietary patterns (DP), derived by principal component analysis, were inversely or positively associated with incident type 2 diabetes (T2D). However, fndings remained study-specifc, inconsistent and rarely replicated. This study aimed to investigate the associations between DPs and T2D in multiple cohorts across the world. Methods This federated meta-analysis of individual participant data was based on 25 prospective cohort studies from 5 continents including a total of 390,664 participants with a follow-up for T2D (3.8–25.0 years). After data harmonization across cohorts we evaluated 15 previously identifed T2D-related DPs for association with incident T2D estimating pooled incidence rate ratios (IRR) and confdence intervals (CI) by Piecewise Poisson regression and random-efects meta-analysis. Results 29,386 participants developed T2D during follow-up. Five DPs, characterized by higher intake of red meat, processed meat, French fries and refned grains, were associated with higher incidence of T2D. The strongest association was observed for a DP comprising these food groups besides others (IRRpooled per 1 SD=1.104, 95% CI 1.059–1.151). Although heterogeneity was present (I 2=85%), IRR exceeded 1 in 18 of the 20 meta-analyzed studies. Original DPs associated with lower T2D risk were not confrmed. Instead, a healthy DP (HDP1) was associated with higher T2D risk (IRRpooled per 1 SD=1.057, 95% CI 1.027–1.088). Conclusion Our fndings from various cohorts revealed positive associations for several DPs, characterized by higher intake of red meat, processed meat, French fries and refned grains, adding to the evidence-base that links DPs to higher T2D risk. However, no inverse DP–T2D associations were confrmed