180 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
Demonstration of a 9 LP-mode transmission fiber with low DMD and loss
We experimentally demonstrate a 9 LP-mode (15 spatial modes) fiber with low DMD, confirmed by both time of flight and S2 measurements. Low loss (~0.2dB/km) is verified by OTDR measurement of the individual mode groups
An interpretation for the entropy of a black hole
We investigate the meaning of the entropy carried away by Hawking radiations
from a black hole. We propose that the entropy for a black hole measures the
uncertainty of the information about the black hole forming matter's
precollapsed configurations, self-collapsed configurations, and inter-collapsed
configurations. We find that gravitational wave or gravitational radiation
alone cannot carry all information about the processes of black hole
coalescence and collapse, while the total information locked in the hole could
be carried away completely by Hawking radiation as tunneling
Ultracold Atoms in 1D Optical Lattices: Mean Field, Quantum Field, Computation, and Soliton Formation
In this work, we highlight the correspondence between two descriptions of a
system of ultracold bosons in a one-dimensional optical lattice potential: (1)
the discrete nonlinear Schr\"{o}dinger equation, a discrete mean-field theory,
and (2) the Bose-Hubbard Hamiltonian, a discrete quantum-field theory. The
former is recovered from the latter in the limit of a product of local coherent
states. Using a truncated form of these mean-field states as initial
conditions, we build quantum analogs to the dark soliton solutions of the
discrete nonlinear Schr\"{o}dinger equation and investigate their dynamical
properties in the Bose-Hubbard Hamiltonian. We also discuss specifics of the
numerical methods employed for both our mean-field and quantum calculations,
where in the latter case we use the time-evolving block decimation algorithm
due to Vidal.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figures; to appear in Journal of Mathematics and
Computers in Simulatio
Dilatonic current-carrying cosmic strings
We investigate the nature of ordinary cosmic vortices in some scalar-tensor
extensions of gravity. We find solutions for which the dilaton field condenses
inside the vortex core. These solutions can be interpreted as raising the
degeneracy between the eigenvalues of the effective stress-energy tensor,
namely the energy per unit length U and the tension T, by picking a privileged
spacelike or timelike coordinate direction; in the latter case, a phase
frequency threshold occurs that is similar to what is found in ordinary neutral
current-carrying cosmic strings. We find that the dilaton contribution for the
equation of state, once averaged along the string worldsheet, vanishes, leading
to an effective Nambu-Goto behavior of such a string network in cosmology, i.e.
on very large scales. It is found also that on small scales, the energy per
unit length and tension depend on the string internal coordinates in such a way
as to permit the existence of centrifugally supported equilibrium
configuration, also known as vortons, whose stability, depending on the very
short distance (unknown) physics, can lead to catastrophic consequences on the
evolution of the Universe.Comment: 10 pages, ReVTeX, 2 figures, minor typos corrected. This version to
appear in Phys. Rev.
Gravitational field around a time-like current-carrying screwed cosmic string in scalar-tensor theories
In this paper we obtain the space-time generated by a time-like
current-carrying superconducting screwed cosmic string(TCSCS). This
gravitational field is obtained in a modified scalar-tensor theory in the sense
that torsion is taken into account. We show that this solution is comptible
with a torsion field generated by the scalar field . The analysis of
gravitational effects of a TCSCS shows up that the torsion effects that appear
in the physical frame of Jordan-Fierz can be described in a geometric form
given by contorsion term plus a symmetric part which contains the scalar
gradient. As an important application of this solution, we consider the linear
perturbation method developed by Zel'dovich, investigate the accretion of cold
dark matter due to the formation of wakes when a TCSCS moves with speed and
discuss the role played by torsion. Our results are compared with those
obtained for cosmic strings in the framework of scalar-tensor theories without
taking torsion into account.Comment: 21 pages, no figures, Revised Version, presented at the "XXIV-
Encontro Nacional de Fisica de Particulas e Campos ", Caxambu, MG, Brazil, to
appear in Phys. Rev.
Synthesis of Quantum Circuits for Linear Nearest Neighbor Architectures
While a couple of impressive quantum technologies have been proposed, they
have several intrinsic limitations which must be considered by circuit
designers to produce realizable circuits. Limited interaction distance between
gate qubits is one of the most common limitations. In this paper, we suggest
extensions of the existing synthesis flow aimed to realize circuits for quantum
architectures with linear nearest neighbor (LNN) interaction. To this end, a
template matching optimization, an exact synthesis approach, and two reordering
strategies are introduced. The proposed methods are combined as an integrated
synthesis flow. Experiments show that by using the suggested flow, quantum cost
can be improved by more than 50% on average.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures, 3 table
The antiferromagnetic phi4 Model, I. The Mean-field Solution
Certain higher dimensional operators of the lagrangian may render the vacuum
inhomogeneous. A rather rich phase structure of the phi4 scalar model in four
dimensions is presented by means of the mean-field approximation. One finds
para- ferro- ferri- and antiferromagnetic phases and
commensurate-incommensurate transitions. There are several particles described
by the same quantum field in a manner similar to the species doubling of the
lattice fermions. It is pointed out that chiral bosons can be introduced in the
lattice regularized theory.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev.
Endothelial Stomatal and Fenestral Diaphragms in Normal Vessels and Angiogenesis
Vascular endothelium lines the entire cardiovascular system where performs a series of vital functions including the control of microvascular permeability, coagulation inflammation, vascular tone as well as the formation of new vessels via vasculogenesis and angiogenesis in normal and disease states. Normal endothelium consists of heterogeneous populations of cells differentiated according to the vascular bed and segment of the vascular tree where they occur. One of the cardinal features is the expression of specific subcellular structures such as plasmalemmal vesicles or caveolae, transendothelial channels, vesiculo-vacuolar organelles, endothelial pockets and fenestrae, whose presence define several endothelial morphological types. A less explored observation is the differential expression of such structures in diverse settings of angiogenesis. This review will focus on the latest developments on the components, structure and function of these specific endothelial structures in normal endothelium as well as in diverse settings of angiogenesis
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