Determination of Dehydration Pattern and Sensory Properties variation of Blanched and Un-blanched, Cut and Whole Moringa olifera Leaves

Present dietary scenario necessitates exploring the possibility of incorporating novel ingredients that can improve quality in commonly consumed foods.Moringa olifera is abundant in sub-tropical regions that is an excellent source of beta carotene and other vitamins, minerals and amino acids.This study was conducted to determine effect of cutting and steam blanching before dehydration on organoleptic properties and dehydration pattern of Moringa olifera leaves. Fresh leaves were harvested from same location and dehydrated under four conditions according totwo factor factorial design. Organoleptic properties of dehydrated leaveswere compared forfour sensory attributes ascolour, aroma, taste and overall acceptability using five point hedonic scale. L*a*b* values were determined and drying curves were plotted for each treatment combination. Results revealed that, blanching and cutting can darker the colour and alter the flavour of dehydrated products.Further the surface area of the leaves have a significant effect in dehydrating time while blanching can accelerate the rate of moisture removal

The Urea Carboxylase and Allophanate Hydrolase Activities of Urea Amidolyase Are Functionally Independent

Urea amidolyase (UAL) is a multifunctional biotin-dependent enzyme that contributes to both bacterial and fungal pathogenicity by catalyzing the ATP-dependent cleavage of urea into ammonia and CO2. UAL is comprised of two enzymatic components: urea carboxylase (UC) and allophanate hydrolase (AH). These enzyme activities are encoded on separate but proximally related genes in prokaryotes while, in most fungi, they are encoded by a single gene that produces a fusion enzyme on a single polypeptide chain. It is unclear whether the UC and AH activities are connected through substrate channeling or other forms of direct communication. Here, we use multiple biochemical approaches to demonstrate that there is no substrate channeling or interdomain/intersubunit communication between UC and AH. Neither stable nor transient interactions can be detected between prokaryotic UC and AH and the catalytic efficiencies of UC and AH are independent of one another. Furthermore, an artificial fusion of UC and AH does not significantly alter the AH enzyme activity or catalytic efficiency. These results support the surprising functional independence of AH from UC in both the prokaryotic and fungal UAL enzymes and serve as an important reminder that the evolution of multifunctional enzymes through gene fusion events does not always correlate with enhanced catalytic function

Factorized Variational Autoencoders for Modeling Audience Reactions to Movies

Matrix and tensor factorization methods are often used for finding underlying low-dimensional patterns from noisy data. In this paper, we study non-linear tensor factorization methods based on deep variational autoencoders. Our approach is well-suited for settings where the relationship between the latent representation to be learned and the raw data representation is highly complex. We apply our approach to a large dataset of facial expressions of movie-watching audiences (over 16 million faces). Our experiments show that compared to conventional linear factorization methods, our method achieves better reconstruction of the data, and further discovers interpretable latent factors

Fungal iron availability during deep seated candidiasis is defined by a complex interplay involving systemic and local events

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Neuroinflammation and structural injury of the fetal ovine brain following intra-amniotic Candida albicans exposure.

BackgroundIntra-amniotic Candida albicans (C. Albicans) infection is associated with preterm birth and high morbidity and mortality rates. Survivors are prone to adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes. The mechanisms leading to these adverse neonatal brain outcomes remain largely unknown. To better understand the mechanisms underlying C. albicans-induced fetal brain injury, we studied immunological responses and structural changes of the fetal brain in a well-established translational ovine model of intra-amniotic C. albicans infection. In addition, we tested whether these potential adverse outcomes of the fetal brain were improved in utero by antifungal treatment with fluconazole.MethodsPregnant ewes received an intra-amniotic injection of 10(7) colony-forming units C. albicans or saline (controls) at 3 or 5 days before preterm delivery at 0.8 of gestation (term ~ 150 days). Fetal intra-amniotic/intra-peritoneal injections of fluconazole or saline (controls) were administered 2 days after C. albicans exposure. Post mortem analyses for fungal burden, peripheral immune activation, neuroinflammation, and white matter/neuronal injury were performed to determine the effects of intra-amniotic C. albicans and fluconazole treatment.ResultsIntra-amniotic exposure to C. albicans caused a severe systemic inflammatory response, illustrated by a robust increase of plasma interleukin-6 concentrations. Cerebrospinal fluid cultures were positive for C. albicans in the majority of the 3-day C. albicans-exposed animals whereas no positive cultures were present in the 5-day C. albicans-exposed and fluconazole-treated animals. Although C. albicans was not detected in the brain parenchyma, a neuroinflammatory response in the hippocampus and white matter was seen which was characterized by increased microglial and astrocyte activation. These neuroinflammatory changes were accompanied by structural white matter injury. Intra-amniotic fluconazole reduced fetal mortality but did not attenuate neuroinflammation and white matter injury.ConclusionsIntra-amniotic C. albicans exposure provoked acute systemic and neuroinflammatory responses with concomitant white matter injury. Fluconazole treatment prevented systemic inflammation without attenuating cerebral inflammation and injury

Continuous optical-to-mechanical quantum state transfer in the unresolved sideband regime

Optical-to-mechanical quantum state transfer is an important capability for future quantum networks, quantum communication, and distributed quantum sensing. However, existing continuous state transfer protocols operate in the resolved sideband regime, necessitating a high-quality optical cavity and a high mechanical resonance frequency. Here, we propose a continuous protocol that operates in the unresolved sideband regime. The protocol is based on feedback cooling, can be implemented with current technology, and is able to transfer non-Gaussian quantum states with high fidelity. Our protocol significantly expands the kinds of optomechanical devices for which continuous optical-to-mechanical state transfer is possible, paving the way towards quantum technological applications and the preparation of macroscopic superpositions to test the fundamentals of quantum science

Relaionship between Employee-Organization Congruence (perceived) and Organizational Commitment in the Sri Lankan Apparel Sector

The objective of this research paper was to investigate the relationship between perceived Employee-Organization congruence (EOC) and Organizational Commitment (OC) in the Sri Lankan apparel sector. The present study, which was part of a comprehensive study Employee-Organization congruence (EOC) and attitudes, empirically evaluated seven perceived EOC related factors that could have effect on EOC namely supportiveness, innovation, aggressiveness, attention to detail, outcome orientation, emphasis on rewards, team orientation and three OC factors ,that is affective, normative and effective commitments. The study involved 175 machine operators who were selected from 05 large garment factories in Sri Lanka. The results indicated that all the EOC variables were  positively and significantly correlated to OC. This study would be an effective contribution in the existing body of knowledge. Human Resource Managers and other recruiters may be helped to recognize the significance of perceived EOC and OC as well as their relationship with each other for ensuring selection of machine operators.  Perceived congruence in the organization, will help creating and maintaining a conducive environment for improving organizational commitment of the machine operators which will ultimately result in enhanced efficacy and effectiveness of the organization