Functional compounds of einkorn and emmer genotypes

Three einkorn and two emmer genotypes were analysed for concentration of microelements (Fe, Zn and Se) and lipid soluble antioxidants (α-tocopherol, α-tocotrienol and β-carotene). A diversity was observed in micronutrient content, but most of the genotypes have significantly higher trace element and antioxidant contents than the control wheat variety. The emmer genotypes contain lower Fe and β-carotene concentration than einkorn genotypes. The einkorn genotypes have significant higher antioxidant content than the wheat control. On average einkorn has more than three times more β-carotene than the wheat variety. Our results are useful for species/variety choice in functional food production not only for organic but also for conventional farmers, who have/want to operate under low input conditions, especially in Central Europe

Understanding Flood Regime Changes in Europe: a state-of-the-art assessment

There is growing concern that flooding is becoming more frequent and severe in Europe. A better understanding of flood regime changes and their drivers is therefore needed. The paper reviews the current knowledge on flood regime changes in European rivers that has traditionally been obtained through two alternative research approaches. The first approach is the data-based detection of changes in observed flood events. Current methods are reviewed together with their challenges and opportunities. For example, observation biases, the merging of different data sources and accounting for nonlinear drivers and responses. The second approach consists of modelled scenarios of future floods. Challenges and opportunities associated with flood change scenarios are discussed such as fully accounting for uncertainties in the modelling cascade and feedbacks. To make progress in flood change research, we suggest that a synthesis of these two approaches is needed. This can be achieved by focusing on long duration records and flood-rich and flood-poor periods rather than on short duration flood trends only, by formally attributing causes of observed flood changes, by validating scenarios against observed flood regime dynamics, and by developing low-dimensional models of flood changes and feedbacks. The paper finishes with a call for a joint European flood change research network

Search for black holes and other new phenomena in high-multiplicity final states in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

Peer reviewe

QCD and strongly coupled gauge theories : challenges and perspectives

We highlight the progress, current status, and open challenges of QCD-driven physics, in theory and in experiment. We discuss how the strong interaction is intimately connected to a broad sweep of physical problems, in settings ranging from astrophysics and cosmology to strongly coupled, complex systems in particle and condensed-matter physics, as well as to searches for physics beyond the Standard Model. We also discuss how success in describing the strong interaction impacts other fields, and, in turn, how such subjects can impact studies of the strong interaction. In the course of the work we offer a perspective on the many research streams which flow into and out of QCD, as well as a vision for future developments.Peer reviewe

Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities(.)(1,2) This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity(3-6). Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55% of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017-and more than 80% in some low- and middle-income regions-was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing-and in some countries reversal-of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories.Peer reviewe

Impurity Band in the interfacial Region of GaN Films Grown by Hydride Vapor Phase Epitaxy

Using several derivatives of scanning force microscopy with conducting tips, we find direct evidence for the existence of a highly compensated donor impurity band in GaN films near the sapphire substrate interface. Scanning current-voltage and capacitance microscopy measurements both show that the free electron density is much higher in the interfacial region of these films. However, surface contact potential images reveal that the Fermi level in the interfacial region is 50 meV to 100 meV deeper into the bandgap than it is in the less conducting bulk film. These results are inconsistent with a high density of electrons in the intrinsic conduction band. Rather, they point to the existence of a partially filled donor impurity band with the Fermi level in the impurity band. We show that this anomalous conduction behavior most likely originates from a high concentration of oxygen and the defective microstructure at the GaN/sapphire interface

Impurity Band in the interfacial Region of GaN Films Grown by Hydride Vapor Phase Epitaxy

Using several derivatives of scanning force microscopy with conducting tips, we find direct evidence for the existence of a highly compensated donor impurity band in GaN films near the sapphire substrate interface. Scanning current-voltage and capacitance microscopy measurements both show that the free electron density is much higher in the interfacial region of these films. However, surface contact potential images reveal that the Fermi level in the interfacial region is 50 meV to 100 meV deeper into the bandgap than it is in the less conducting bulk film. These results are inconsistent with a high density of electrons in the intrinsic conduction band. Rather, they point to the existence of a partially filled donor impurity band with the Fermi level in the impurity band. We show that this anomalous conduction behavior most likely originates from a high concentration of oxygen and the defective microstructure at the GaN/sapphire interface