Changes in phenolic composition and antioxidant activity during germination of quinoa seeds (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.)

Quinoa seed (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) has obtained great interest in recent years due to its high nutritional value and its content of natural antioxidants and other phytochemicals with positive biological activity in humans. Their ability as health promoters depends strictly on the processing conditions to which the seeds are submitted. In this work, quinoa seeds were subjected to germination and subsequent oven-drying at 40ºC in order to evaluate changes on phenolic compounds composition as well as on the antioxidant activity along different germination stages. Germination resulted in a 2 fold increase in antioxidant activity measured as DPPH radical scavenging activity, after 3 days of germination. At the same time, the amounts of HPLC identified phenolic acids and flavonoids increased 8.57 fold, and 4.4 fold respectively. Germination and subsequent oven-drying was shown to be a good process to improve the phenolic content and antioxidant activity of quinoa seeds, and thereby obtain an ingredient to be used in functional food formulations.Fil: Carciochi, Ramiro Ariel. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingeniería Olavarría; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Manrique, Guillermo Daniel. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingeniería Olavarría; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Dimitrov, K.. Universite Lille 3; Franci

Horizontal evaluation: Stimulating social learning among peers

Horizontal evaluation is a flexible evaluation method that combines self-assessment and external review by peers. We have developed and applied this method for use within an Andean regional network that develops new methodologies for research and development (R&D). The involvement of peers neutralizes the lopsided power relations that prevail in traditional external evaluations, creating a more favourable atmosphere for learning and improvement. The central element of a horizontal evaluation is a workshop that brings together a group of ‘local participants’ who are developing a new R&D methodology and a group of ‘visitors’ or ‘peers’ who are also interested in the methodology. The workshop combines presentations about the methodology with field visits, small group work and plenary discussions. It elicits and compares the perceptions of the two groups concerning the strengths and weaknesses of the methodology; it provides practical suggestions for improvement, which may often be put to use immediately; it promotes social learning among the different groups involved; and it stimulates further experimentation with and development of the methodology in other settings

On the multiplicity of ALMA Compact Array counterparts of far-infrared bright quasars

We present ALMA Atacama Compact Array (ACA) 870 micron continuum maps of 28 infrared-bright SDSS quasars with Herschel/SPIRE detections at redshifts 2-4, the largest such sample ever observed with ALMA. The ACA detections are centred on the SDSS coordinates to within 1 arcsec for about 80 per cent of the sample. Larger offsets indicate that the far-infrared (FIR) emission detected by Herschel might come from a companion source. The majority of the objects (about 70 per cent) have unique ACA counterparts within the SPIRE beam down to 3-4 arcsec resolution. Only 30 per cent of the sample shows clear evidence for multiple sources with secondary counterparts contributing to the total 870 micron flux within the SPIRE beam to at least 25 per cent. We discuss the limitations of the data based on simulated pairs of point-like sources at the resolution of the ACA and present an extensive comparison of our findings with recent works on the multiplicities of sub-millimetre galaxies. We conclude that, despite the coarse resolution of the ACA, our data support the idea that, for a large fraction of FIR-bright quasars, the sub-mm emission comes from single sources. Our results suggest that, on average, optically bright quasars with strong FIR emission are not triggered by early-stage mergers but are, instead, together with their associated star formation rates, the outcome of either late-stage mergers or secular processes.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figure

Hamiltonian and physical Hilbert space in polymer quantum mechanics

In this paper, a version of polymer quantum mechanics, which is inspired by loop quantum gravity, is considered and shown to be equivalent, in a precise sense, to the standard, experimentally tested, Schroedinger quantum mechanics. The kinematical cornerstone of our framework is the so called polymer representation of the Heisenberg-Weyl (H-W) algebra, which is the starting point of the construction. The dynamics is constructed as a continuum limit of effective theories characterized by a scale, and requires a renormalization of the inner product. The result is a physical Hilbert space in which the continuum Hamiltonian can be represented and that is unitarily equivalent to the Schroedinger representation of quantum mechanics. As a concrete implementation of our formalism, the simple harmonic oscillator is fully developed.Comment: 19 pages, 2 figures. Comments and references added. Version to be published in CQ

Temporal evolution of arch filaments as seen in He I 10830 \r{A}

We study the evolution of an arch filament system (AFS) and of its individual arch filaments to learn about the processes occurring in them. We observed the AFS at the GREGOR solar telescope on Tenerife at high cadence with the very fast spectroscopic mode of the GREGOR Infrared Spectrograph (GRIS) in the He I 10830 \AA\ spectral range. The He I triplet profiles were fitted with analytic functions to infer line-of-sight (LOS) velocities to follow plasma motions within the AFS. We tracked the temporal evolution of an individual arch filament over its entire lifetime, as seen in the He I 10830 \AA\ triplet. The arch filament expanded in height and extended in length from 13" to 21". The lifetime of this arch filament is about 30 min. About 11 min after the arch filament is seen in He I, the loop top starts to rise with an average Doppler velocity of 6 km/s. Only two minutes later, plasma drains down with supersonic velocities towards the footpoints reaching a peak velocity of up to 40 km/s in the chromosphere. The temporal evolution of He I 10830 \AA\ profiles near the leading pore showed almost ubiquitous dual red components of the He I triplet, indicating strong downflows, along with material nearly at rest within the same resolution element during the whole observing time. We followed the arch filament as it carried plasma during its rise from the photosphere to the corona. The material then drained toward the photosphere, reaching supersonic velocities, along the legs of the arch filament. Our observational results support theoretical AFS models and aids in improving future models.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics, 12 pages, 15 figures, 1 online movi

Satisfação com o ensino online em universitários: Análise estrutural de uma escala

The aim of this research study was to analyze the internal structure and reliability of the Student Satisfaction Survey (SSS) in Peruvian university students. A total of 458 students participated (women = 69.9 %; Mage = 27.76 years; SDage = 4.41 years). The SSS was studied under confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM). Regard the results, the original five-dimensional model obtained favorable fit indexes with ESEM, but the dimensions student-teacher interactions and student-student interactions overlap each other, so it was valued as a four-dimensional model that presented better psychometric evidence. Regarding reliability, an acceptable order of magnitudes was observed, both at the level of scores and construct. It can be concluded that the SSS has adequate psychometric properties.El objetivo de esta investigación fue analizar la estructura interna y confiabilidad de la Student Satisfaction Survey (SSS) en estudiantes universitarios peruanos. Participaron 458 estudiantes (mujeres = 69.9 %; Medad = 27.76 años; DEedad = 4.41 años). La SSS se estudió bajo el análisis factorial confirmatorio (AFC) y el modelamiento exploratorio de ecuaciones estructurales (ESEM). Respecto a los resultados, el modelo original de cinco dimensiones obtuvo índices de ajuste favorables con ESEM, pero las dimensiones interacciones alumno-profesor e interacciones alumno-alumno se superponen entre sí, por lo que se valoró un modelo de cuatro dimensiones que presentó mejores evidencias psicométricas. La confiabilidad de las puntuaciones y de constructo presenta magnitudes aceptables. Se concluye que el SSS cuenta con propiedades psicométricas adecuadas.O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar a estrutura interna e a confiabilidade da Student Satisfaction Survey (SSS) em estudantes universitários peruanos. Participaram 458 estudantes (mulheres = 69,9 %; Midade = 27,76 anos; DPidade = 4,41 anos). O SSS foi estudado por meio de análise fatorial confirmatória (CFA) e modelação exploratória de equações estruturais (ESEM). Quanto aos resultados, o modelo original de cinco dimensões obteve índices de ajuste favoráveis com ESEM, mas as interações entre as dimensões aluno-professor e aluno-aluno se sobrepõem, por isso, foi analisado um modelo quatro dimensões que apresentou melhor evidência psicométrica. A confiabilidade das pontuações e de construto apresentaram magnitudes aceitáveis. Conclui-se que o SSS possui propriedades psicométricas adequadas

Peaks theory and the excursion set approach

We describe a model of dark matter halo abundances and clustering which combines the two most widely used approaches to this problem: that based on peaks and the other based on excursion sets. Our approach can be thought of as addressing the cloud-in-cloud problem for peaks and/or modifying the excursion set approach so that it averages over a special subset, rather than all possible walks. In this respect, it seeks to account for correlations between steps in the walk as well as correlations between walks. We first show how the excursion set and peaks models can be written in the same formalism, and then use this correspondence to write our combined excursion set peaks model. We then give simple expressions for the mass function and bias, showing that even the linear halo bias factor is predicted to be k-dependent as a consequence of the nonlocality associated with the peak constraint. At large masses, our model has little or no need to rescale the variable delta_c from the value associated with spherical collapse, and suggests a simple explanation for why the linear halo bias factor appears to lie above that based on the peak-background split at high masses when such a rescaling is assumed. Although we have concentrated on peaks, our analysis is more generally applicable to other traditionally single-scale analyses of large-scale structure.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures; v2 -- minor changes, added discussion in sec2.2, fixed a typo. Accepted in MNRA