558 research outputs found
The prevalence and impact of Fusarium Head Blight pathogens and mycotoxins on malting barley quality in UK
Fusarium head blight (FHB) caused by Fusarium and Microdochium species can significantly affect the yield of barley grain as well as the quality and safety of malt and beer. The present study provides new knowledge on the impacts of the FHB pathogen complex on the malting and brewing quality parameters of naturally infected barley. Quantitative real-time PCR and liquid chromatography double mass spectrometry were used to quantify the predominant FHB pathogens and Fusarium mycotoxins, respectively, in commercially grown UK malting barley samples collected between 2007 and 2011. The predominant Fusarium species identified across the years were F. poae, F. tricinctum and F. avenaceum. Microdochium majus was the predominant Microdochium species in 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2011 whilst Microdochium nivale predominated in 2009. Deoxynivalenol and zearalenone quantified in samples collected between 2007 and 2009 were associated with F. graminearum and F. culmorum, whilst HT-2 and T-2, and nivalenol in samples collected between 2010 and 2011 correlated positively with F. langsethiae and F. poae, respectively. Analysis of the regional distribution and yearly variation in samples from 2010 to 2011 showed significant differences in the composition of the FHB species complex. In most regions (Scotland, the South and North of England) the harvest in 2010 had higher concentrations of Fusarium spp. than in 2011, although no significant difference was observed in the Midlands between the two years. Microdochium DNA was significantly higher in 2011 and in the North of England and Scotland compared to the South or Midlands regions. Pathogens of the FHB complex impacted negatively on grain yield and quality parameters. Thousand grain weight of malting barley was affected significantly by M. nivale and M. majus whilst specific weight correlated negatively with F. avenaceum and F. graminearum. To determine the impact of sub-acute infections of the identified Fusarium and Microdochium species on malting and brewing quality of naturally infected samples, selected malting barley cultivars (Optic, Quench and Tipple) were micromalted and subjected to malt and wort analysis of key quality parameters. F. poae and M. nivale decreased germinative energy and increased water sensitivity of barley. The fungal biomass of F. poae and F. langsethiae correlated with increased wort free amino nitrogen and with decreased extract of malt. DNA of M. nivale correlated with increased malt friability as well as decreased wort filtration volume. The findings of this study indicate that the impact of species such as the newly emerging F. langsethiae, as well as F. poae and the two non-toxigenic Microdochium species should be considered when evaluating the quality of malting barley. © 2014
New method for the quantum ground states in one dimension
A simple, general and practically exact method is developed to calculate the
ground states of 1D macroscopic quantum systems with translational symmetry.
Applied to the Hubbard model, a modest calculation reproduces the Bethe Ansatz
results
New method for the 3D Ising model
A simple, general and practically exact method is developed for the
equilibrium properties of the macroscopic physical systems with translational
symmetry. Applied to the Ising model in two and three dimension, a modest
calculation gives the spontaneous magnetization and the specific heat to less
than 1% error
A scalable quantum computer with an ultranarrow optical transition of ultracold neutral atoms in an optical lattice
We propose a new quantum-computing scheme using ultracold neutral ytterbium
atoms in an optical lattice. The nuclear Zeeman sublevels define a qubit. This
choice avoids the natural phase evolution due to the magnetic dipole
interaction between qubits. The Zeeman sublevels with large magnetic moments in
the long-lived metastable state are also exploited to address individual atoms
and to construct a controlled-multiqubit gate. Estimated parameters required
for this scheme show that this proposal is scalable and experimentally
feasible.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure
Exploration of Strange Electromagnetics in Carbon Films
Results of magnetic force microscopy (MFM), dc SQUID magnetization, reversed
Josephson effect (RJE), and resistance measurements in thin carbon arc (CA)
films are presented. The observation of a RJE induced voltage as well as its rf
frequency, input amplitude, and temperature dependence reveals the existence of
Josephson Junction arrays. Oscillating behavior of the DC SQUID magnetization
reminiscent of the Fraunhofer-like behavior of superconducting (SC) critical
current in the range of 10000 Oe has been observed. The dc SQUID magnetization
measurement indicates a possible elementary 102 nm SC loop; this is compared to
MFM direct observations of magnetic clusters with a median size of 165 nm. All
these data are consistent with the existence of a high temperature SC-like
phase or fluctuations up to 650 K. It is proposed to expose such CA film to
energetic particle (neutron or ion) bombardment to verify this hypothesis. Such
bombardment would change both the structure of film and consequently the
experimental measurements. In addition such bombardment-induced changes will
provide a basis for particle detectors utilizing the Josephson effect.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figure
Chiral Symmetry in Charmonium - Pion Cross Section
We perform a non-perturbative calculation of the cross section
using a effective Lagrangian. Our results differ from those
of previous calculations, specially in the description of vertices involving
pions.Comment: 6 pages, RevTeX including 2 figures in eps file
Mucoadhesive electrospun patch delivery of lidocaine to the oral mucosa and investigation of spatial distribution in tissue using MALDI-mass spectrometry imaging
Many oral mucosal conditions cause considerable and prolonged pain that to date has been difficult to alleviate via topical delivery, and the use of injection causes many patients dental anxiety and needle-prick pain. Therefore, developing a non-injectable drug delivery system as an alternative administration procedure may vastly improve the health and wellbeing of these patients. Recent advances in the development of mucoadhesive electrospun patches for the direct delivery of therapeutics to the oral mucosa offer a potential solution, but as yet, the release of local anaesthetics from this system and their uptake by oral tissue has not been demonstrated. Here, we demonstrate the fabrication of lidocaine-loaded electrospun fibre patches, drug release, and subsequent uptake and permeation through porcine buccal mucosa. Lidocaine HCl and lidocaine base were incorporated into the electrospun patches to evaluate the difference in drug permeation for the two drug compositions. Lidocaine released from the lidocaine HCl-containing electrospun patches was significantly quicker than from the lidocaine base patches, with double the amount of drug released from the lidocaine HCl patches in the first 15 minutes (0.16 ± 0.04 mg) compared to from the lidocaine base patches (0.07 ± 0.01 mg). The permeation of lidocaine from the lidocaine HCl electrospun patches through ex vivo porcine buccal mucosa was also detected in 15 minutes, whereas permeation of lidocaine from the lidocaine base patch was not detected. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation – mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI) was used to investigate localisation of lidocaine within oral tissue. Lidocaine in solution as well as from the mucoadhesive patch penetrated into buccal mucosal tissue in a time-dependent manner and was detectable in the lamina propria after only 15 minutes. Moreover, the lidocaine released from lidocaine HCl electrospun patches retained biological activity, inhibiting veratridine-mediated opening of voltage-gated sodium channels in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells. These data suggest that a mucoadhesive electrospun patch may be used as a vehicle for rapid uptake and sustained anaesthetic drug delivery and may reduce the need for injection
Radiating black hole solutions in arbitrary dimensions
We prove a theorem that characterizes a large family of non-static solutions
to Einstein equations in -dimensional space-time, representing, in general,
spherically symmetric Type II fluid. It is shown that the best known
Vaidya-based (radiating) black hole solutions to Einstein equations, in both
four dimensions (4D) and higher dimensions (HD), are particular cases from this
family. The spherically symmetric static black hole solutions for Type I fluid
can also be retrieved. A brief discussion on the energy conditions,
singularities and horizons is provided.Comment: RevTeX 9 pages, no figure
Fermion zero modes in N=2 supervortices
We study the fermionic zero modes of BPS semilocal magnetic vortices in N=2
supersymmetric QED with a Fayet-Iliopoulos term and two matter hypermultiplets
of opposite charge. There is a one-parameter family of vortices with
arbitrarily wide magnetic cores. Contrary to the situation in pure
Nielsen-Olesen vortices, new zero modes are found which get their masses from
Yukawa couplings to scalar fields that do not wind and are non-zero at the
core. We clarify the relation between fermion mass and zero modes. The new zero
modes have opposite chiralities and therefore do not affect the net counting
(left minus right) of zero modes coming from index theorems but manage to evade
other index theorems in the literature that count the total number (left plus
right) of zero modes in simpler systems.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure. Uses Revtex4. Revised version includes discussion
about the back-reaction of the fermions on the background vortex. Version to
be published in Phys. Rev.
Non-abelian plane waves and stochastic regimes for (2+1)-dimensional gauge field models with Chern-Simons term
An exact time-dependent solution of field equations for the 3-d gauge field
model with a Chern-Simons (CS) topological mass is found. Limiting cases of
constant solution and solution with vanishing topological mass are considered.
After Lorentz boost, the found solution describes a massive nonlinear
non-abelian plane wave. For the more complicate case of gauge fields with CS
mass interacting with a Higgs field, the stochastic character of motion is
demonstrated.Comment: LaTeX 2.09, 13 pages, 11 eps figure
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