Effects of roasting on barley β-glucan, thermal, textural and pasting properties

6 pages, 3 figures, 3 tables.-- Available online 14 October 2010.Different hulled barley cultivars were subjected to roasting in hot sand (280 °C) and the effects on β-glucan extractability, physico-chemical, thermal and pasting properties were studied. The grain puffed upon roasting and grain hardness and colour difference ΔE were significantly lowered. The roasted barley flour had significantly higher water absorption and water solubility index. The cultivars DWR-28, RD-2503 and PL-172 had the highest total β-glucan content (up to 5.47%). Roasting brought about a decrease in the soluble β-glucan content in all the cultivars and this decrease ranged from 4.9 to 25.3%. The β-glucan extractability was not affected by the roasting process but roasting lowered the ratio of soluble to insoluble β-glucan content by 8.1–41.9%. Roasting significantly affected the pasting and thermal properties of the flours, together with an increase in the cooked starch content that ranged from 28.8 to 43.1%.Peer reviewe

What Should Congress Members Do? Using Survey Embedded Experiments to Study Citizens’ Clientelistic Expectations in Mexico

How do citizens view the work of their legislators? Do they think representatives should legislate and oversee the executive, or do they believe representatives should deliver resources to their community and help individuals with problems? Do they expect both? In Latin America surveys typically show that popular evaluations of the national congress are overwhelmingly negative but are not able to explain why. Are congresses held in low esteem because people think that congress is not legislating well or efficiently overseeing the executive, or because citizens do not know what legislators are supposed to do and want them to deliver pork for their district and personalistic benefits for themselves? Since clientelism targets the poor and plays an important role in elections in developing democ- racies, it is important to know if poor citizens truly have different views than wealthier citizens about what a member of congress should do once elected. We use quasi-experimental procedures in a public opinion survey administered in Mexico City to begin to address these questions. Our findings indicate that poorer citizens, people with no or very little education, have greater expectations of clientelism than wealthier citizens but that their view of a legislator’s job is more subtle, and more democratic than would be predicted by clientelism theory.How do citizens view the work of their legislators? Do they think representatives should legislate and oversee the executive, or do they believe representatives should deliver resources to their community and help individuals with problems? Do they expect both? In Latin America surveys typically show that popular evaluations of the national congress are overwhelmingly negative but are not able to explain why. Are congresses held in low esteem because people think that congress is not legislating well or efficiently overseeing the executive, or because citizens do not know what legislators are supposed to do and want them to deliver pork for their district and personalistic benefits for themselves? Since clientelism targets the poor and plays an important role in elections in developing democ- racies, it is important to know if poor citizens truly have different views than wealthier citizens about what a member of congress should do once elected. We use quasi-experimental procedures in a public opinion survey administered in Mexico City to begin to address these questions. Our findings indicate that poorer citizens, people with no or very little education, have greater expectations of clientelism than wealthier citizens but that their view of a legislator’s job is more subtle, and more democratic than would be predicted by clientelism theory

Triplet exciton percolation and superexchange: Naphthalene C10H8–C10D8

The phosphorescence of betamethylnaphthalene doped into a naphthalene−h8/naphthalene−d8 mixed crystal has been measured. The results demonstrate that (1) dynamical exciton percolation does occur (i.e., a transition from an exciton insulator to an exciton conductor), that (2) it is very useful for the investigation of energy transfer in molecular aggregates, and that (3) it is a critical test of our current knowledge of exciton exchange and superexchange. (AIP)Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/70872/2/JCPSA6-62-1-292-1.pd

Survey on Electrical Activity in Earth’s Atmosphere

Lightning discharge is a spectacular, luminous and one of the most dangerous short lived phenomenon which occurs in the Earth’s atmosphere ranging from troposphere to the lower ionosphere. Lightning in troposphere is mainly classified as cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning, intra-cloud lightning and inter-cloud lightning discharges. It is assumed that these discharges are caused by the electrically charged thunderclouds. CG lightning has been studied more and is further categorized as positive CG and negative CG lightning. Positive CG lightning is more powerful and accounts only (5-10) percent of the total global lightning and may carry a peak current of >300 kA. An entire family of other electrical discharges also has been reported by the scientific community. They are called “Transient’s Luminous Events (TLE’s)”. TLEs occur from top of the thunderclouds up to the lower ionospheric altitudes. Their first visual evidence was documented in 1989. TLE’s are included as blue starters, blue jets, gigantic jets, red sprites, halos, and elves. They are named according to their optical properties, terminal altitudes and different shapes. It has been observed that TLE’s are associated with underlying thunderstorm activity and strong CG lightning. The exact physical mechanism of lightning and TLE’s and their association with the underlying thunderstorms is still unknown and the research is going on. In this paper, we will study the possible mechanisms of these electrical discharges, their inter-connection and impacts on the atmosphere. This papers is aimed at the readers generally are unfamiliar with the lightning characteristics. We hope that this article will increase the interest among the researchers

Propagation of ELF Radiation from RS-LC System and Red Sprites in Earth-Ionosphere Waveguide

In this paper, two different mechanisms return stroke-lateral corona (RS-LC) system and red sprites which excite Earth-ionosphere waveguide have been discussed. The electric and magnetic fields from RS-LC system and red spites in the Earth-ionosphere waveguide have been calculated. It has been found that red sprites contribute to the Schumann resonances (SR) greatly as compared to the RS-LC system

Importance of Primary Health Care in the Society

Primary health care (PHC) is the frontline care of the health care system that is comprehensive and coordinated. PHC provides multidisciplinary, patient-centered care with a focus on both the treatment and prevention of various conditions. It is the first point of contact to keep people well and improve their quality of life. A strong, accessible PHC system reduces pressure on hospitals by supporting people to manage their health issues in the society. The ultimate goal of primary health care is better health for all. WHO has identified key elements to achieving that goal: reducing exclusion and social disparities in health, organizing health services around people\u27s needs and expectations. The present paper is related to status and role of primary health care in India

Filamentous Soil Fungi from Ny-Ålesund, Spitsbergen, and Screening for Extracellular Enzymes

Soil filamentous fungi from Ny-Ålesund, Spitsbergen, were studied. A total of 30 fungal isolates were identified by morpho-taxonomy, and the identity of some morpho-taxonomically complex isolates was authenticated by ITS1-5.8S and ITS2 rDNA domain sequence similarity. The isolates belonged to 19 species under 14 genera (Acremonium, Arthrinium, Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Corynespora, Emericella, Geomyces, Mortierella, Mucor, Myrothecium, Penicillium, Phialophora, Preussia, Xylaria). To the best of our knowledge, Acremonium roseolum, Aspergillus aculeatus, Emericella nidulans, and Preussia sp. are the first northernmost records from Arctic soils. The viable fungal count in different soil samples varied from 0.5 • 104 to 2.0 • 105 g-1. Species richness in different soil samples was also calculated. Mortierella was one of the most dominant genera in Arctic soils. A temperature tolerance study was carried out for all the isolates, and representative species were screened for their extracellular enzyme activity (amylase, cellulase, phosphatase, and pectinase) at 4˚C and 20˚C. Among the 30 isolates, seven showed cellulolytic activity, two were phosphate solubilizers, three had amylolytic activity, and only one showed pectinolytic activity on solid media. CMCase (β1, 4-endoglucanase) activity was quantified in seven isolates that exhibited positive activity during preliminary screening. The records of enzyme activity for amylases, pectinases, and cellulases are the first from the fungi of Spitsbergen. The present study indicates the dominance in Ny-Ålesund of cellulolytic strains, which may serve as potent decomposers in Arctic tundra. These isolates may be used to facilitate the mineralization of cellulolytic wastes generated by human activities in colder hilly areas across the world, including the Himalayas in India.Nous avons étudié des champignons telluriques filamenteux de Ny-Ålesund, Spitzberg. Grâce à la morpho-taxonomie, nous avons identifié 30 isolats fongiques, et l’identité de certains complexes d’isolats morpho-taxonomiques a été authentifiée au moyen des similarités des séquences de domaines ITS1-5.8S et ITS2 DNAr. Les isolats relevaient de 19 espèces faisant partie de 14 genres (Acremonium, Arthrinium, Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Corynespora, Emericella, Geomyces, Mortierella, Mucor, Myrothecium, Penicillium, Phialophora, Preussia, Xylaria). Au meilleur de nos connais­sances, Acremonium roseolum, Aspergillus aculeatus, Emericella nidulans et Preussia sp. constituent les premiers enregis­trements aussi nordiques des sols arctiques. Le dénombrement viable de champignons dans différents échantillons de sol variait de 0,5 • 104 à 2,0 • 105 g-1. Nous avons également calculé la diversité des espèces prélevées dans différents échantillons de sol. Le genre Mortierella était l’un des plus dominants des sols arctiques. Nous avons étudié la tolérance à la température de tous les isolats, et des espèces représentatives ont été examinées du point de vue de l’activité enzymatique extracellulaire (amylase, cellulase, phosphatase et pectinase) à 4 ˚C et 20 ˚C. Parmi les 30 isolats, sept présentaient de l’activité cellulolytique, deux étaient des solubilisants du phosphate, trois présentaient de l’activité amylolytique et seulement un présentait de l’activité pectolytique dans le cas des solides. L’activité CMCase (β1, 4-endoglucanase) a été quantifiée dans sept isolats qui affichaient une activité positive au cours de l’examen préliminaire. Il s’agissait de la première fois que de l’activité enzymatique pour les amylases, pectinases et cellulases a été détectée dans les champignons de Spitzberg. Cette étude indique la dominance de souches cellulolytiques à Ny-Ålesund, souches qui peuvent servir de décomposeurs puissants dans la toundra arctique. Ces isolats peuvent servir à faciliter la minéralisation des déchets cellulolytiques émanant des activités humaines dans les régions montagneuses plus froides du monde entier, y compris l’Himalaya, en Inde

Evaluation of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Carriage and High Livestock Production Areas in North Carolina through Active Case Finding at a Tertiary Care Hospital

: Recent reports from the Netherlands document the emergence of novel multilocus sequence typing (MLST) types (e.g., ST-398) of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in livestock, particularly swine. In Eastern North Carolina (NC), one of the densest pig farming areas in the United States, as many as 14% of MRSA isolates from active case finding in our medical center have no matches in a repetitive sequence-based polymerase chain reaction (rep-PCR) library. The current study was designed to determine if these non-matched MRSA (NM-MRSA) were geographically associated with exposure to pig farming in Eastern NC. While residential proximity to farm waste lagoons lacked association with NM-MRSA in a logistic regression model, a spatial cluster was identified in the county with highest pig density. Using MLST, we found a heterogeneous distribution of strain types comprising the NM-MRSA isolates from the most pig dense regions, including ST-5 and ST-398. Our study raises the warning that patients in Eastern NC harbor livestock associated MRSA strains are not easily identifiable by rep-PCR. Future MRSA studies in livestock dense areas in the U.S. should investigate further the role of pig–human interactions