Authenticity of Ecuadorian Commercial Honeys

Control of honey frauds is needed in Ecuador to protect bee keepers and consumers because simple syrups and new syrups with eucalyptus are sold as genuine honeys. Authenticity of Ecuadorian commercial honeys was tested with a vortex emulsion consisting on one volume of honey:water (1:1) dilution, and two volumes of diethyl ether. This method allows a separation of phases in one minute to discriminate genuine honeys that form three phase and fake honeys that form two phases; 34 of the 42 honeys analyzed from five provinces of Ecuador were genuine. This was confirmed with 1H NMR spectra of honey dilutions in deuterated water with an enhanced amino acid region with signals for proline, phenylalanine and tyrosine. Classic quality indicators were also tested with this method (sugars, HMF), indicators of fermentation (ethanol, acetic acid), and residues of citric acid used in the syrup manufacture. One of the honeys gave a false positive for genuine, being an admixture of genuine honey with added syrup, evident for the high sucrose. Sensory analysis was the final confirmation to recognize the honey groups studied here, namely honey produced in combs by Apis mellifera, fake honey, and honey produced in cerumen pots by Geotrigona, Melipona, and Scaptotrigona. Chloroform extractions of honey were also done to search lipophilic additives in NMR spectra. This is a valuable contribution to protect honey consumers, and to develop the beekeeping industry in Ecuador

Caracterización físicoquímica de miel de angelita Tetragonisca angustula (Latreille, 1811) producida en Esmeraldas, Ecuador / Physicochemical characterization of “angelita” Tetragonisca angustula (Latreille, 1811) honey produced in Esmeraldas, Ecuador

En Ecuador la megabiodiversidad está presente también en las mieles producidas en potes de cerumen, las cuales no están incluidas en las normas técnicas de calidad del Instituto Ecuatoriano de Normalización NET INEN 1572. Las normas de miel sólo se refieren a la miel producida por la abeja comercial Apis mellifera. “Angelita” es el nombre étnico de la abeja sin aguijón Tetragonisca angustula en Ecuador y en otros países latinoamericanos. A fin de singularizar las mieles de T. angustula, se realizó su caracterización físicoquímica según los métodos clásicos de indicadores de calidad en las normas para miel de abejas. El contenido de nitrógeno se determinó por microKjeldahl. Son mieles claras de color ámbar entre 75 y 102 unidades Pfund. La composición físicoquímica varió así: acidez libre 22,50 – 25,20 meq/kg, azúcares reductores 56,43 – 63,83 g/ 100g, cenizas 0,50 – 0,16 g /100 g, color 75 – 102 unidades Pfund, hidroximetilfurfural 0,44 – 1,41 mg/kg, humedad 23,1 – 25,2 g/100 g, nitrógeno 33,66 – 85,78 mg/100 g, pH 3,66 – 4,22, sacarosa aparente 1,46 – 2,36 g/100 g y sólidos insolubles en agua 0,03 – 0,07 g/100g. ABSTRACTIn Ecuador the mega-biodiversity is also present in the honey produced in cerumen pots, which are not included in the technical quality norms of the Ecuadorian Institute of Norms NET INEN 1572. The honey norms only refer to the honey produced by the comercial honey bee Apis mellifera. “Angelita” is the ethnic name of the stingless honey bee Tetragonisca angustula in Ecuador and in other Latin-American countries. In order to single out the honey of T. angustula, its physicochemical characterization was carried out according to conventional methods of quality indicators in standards for honey. The nitrogen content was determined by microKjeldahl. These are clear amber color honeys from 75 to 102 Pfund units. The physicochemical composition varied as follows: free acidity 22.50 – 25.20 meq/kg, reducing sugars 56.43 – 63.83 g/ 100g, ash 0.50 – 0.16 g /100 g, color 75 – 102 Pfund units, hydroximethylfurfural 0.44 – 1.41 mg/kg, moisture 23.1 – 25.2 g/100 g, nitrogen 33.66 – 85.78 mg/100 g, pH 3.66 – 4.22, apparent sucrose 1.46 – 2.36 g/100 g and water insoluble solids 0.03 – 0.07 g/100g

A Novel Integrative Methodology for Research on Pot-honey Variations During Post-harvest

This novel review of analytical methods for pot-honey research was intended to provide concise references to a 35-day post-harvest experiments at 30 °C, in an integrated study. Diverse methods were selected from specialized literature, from the AOAC (Association of Official Analytical Chemists), and the International Honey Commission. Besides the geographical and seasonal origin, the pot-honey I.D. consists of entomological and botanical identifications, the latter performed by acetolyzed or natural melissopalynology. The methods of this integrative study included: 1. Physicochemical analysis (Aw, color, moisture, pH, free acidity, lactone acidity, total acidity, hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), and sugars by highperformance liquid chromatography HPLC), 2. Targeted proton nuclear magnetic resonance 1H-NMR metabolomics (sugars, ethanol, HMF, aliphatic organic acids, amino acids, and botanical markers), 3. Biochemical composition (flavonoids, polyphenols), 4. Antioxidant activity (ABTS 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid-free radical scavenging assay, DPPH 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging assay, ferric reduction assay FRAP), 5. Microbial counts (aerobic plate, yeast and mold, Bacillus, and lactic acid bacteria count), 6. Honey microbiome profiling via independent-culture method: high-throughput bacteria and fungi based on amplicon sequencing approaches, 7. Sensory evaluation (odor, aroma, taste, persistence), and 8. Honey authenticity and biosurfactant tests by an interphase emulsion. A further section was included to provide basic information on the results obtained using each method. This was needed to explain the interacting components derived from pot-honey processing within the stingless bee nest and post-harvest transformations

A Novel Integrative Methodology for Research on Pot-honey Variations During Post-harvest

This novel review of analytical methods for pot-honey research was intended to provide concise references to a 35-day post-harvest experiments at 30 °C, in an integrated study. Diverse methods were selected from specialized literature, from the AOAC (Association of Official Analytical Chemists), and the International Honey Commission. Besides the geographical and seasonal origin, the pot-honey I.D. consists of entomological and botanical identifications, the latter performed by acetolyzed or natural melissopalynology. The methods of this integrative study included: 1. Physicochemical analysis (Aw, color, moisture, pH, free acidity, lactone acidity, total acidity, hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), and sugars by highperformance liquid chromatography HPLC), 2. Targeted proton nuclear magnetic resonance 1H-NMR metabolomics (sugars, ethanol, HMF, aliphatic organic acids, amino acids, and botanical markers), 3. Biochemical composition (flavonoids, polyphenols), 4. Antioxidant activity (ABTS 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid-free radical scavenging assay, DPPH 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging assay, ferric reduction assay FRAP), 5. Microbial counts (aerobic plate, yeast and mold, Bacillus, and lactic acid bacteria count), 6. Honey microbiome profiling via independent-culture method: high-throughput bacteria and fungi based on amplicon sequencing approaches, 7. Sensory evaluation (odor, aroma, taste, persistence), and 8. Honey authenticity and biosurfactant tests by an interphase emulsion. A further section was included to provide basic information on the results obtained using each method. This was needed to explain the interacting components derived from pot-honey processing within the stingless bee nest and post-harvest transformations

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

Measurement of the top quark forward-backward production asymmetry and the anomalous chromoelectric and chromomagnetic moments in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV

Abstract The parton-level top quark (t) forward-backward asymmetry and the anomalous chromoelectric (d̂ t) and chromomagnetic (μ̂ t) moments have been measured using LHC pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected in the CMS detector in a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb−1. The linearized variable AFB(1) is used to approximate the asymmetry. Candidate t t ¯ events decaying to a muon or electron and jets in final states with low and high Lorentz boosts are selected and reconstructed using a fit of the kinematic distributions of the decay products to those expected for t t ¯ final states. The values found for the parameters are AFB(1)=0.048−0.087+0.095(stat)−0.029+0.020(syst),μ̂t=−0.024−0.009+0.013(stat)−0.011+0.016(syst), and a limit is placed on the magnitude of | d̂ t| < 0.03 at 95% confidence level. [Figure not available: see fulltext.

Measurement of t(t)over-bar normalised multi-differential cross sections in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV, and simultaneous determination of the strong coupling strength, top quark pole mass, and parton distribution functions

Peer reviewe

An embedding technique to determine ττ backgrounds in proton-proton collision data

An embedding technique is presented to estimate standard model tau tau backgrounds from data with minimal simulation input. In the data, the muons are removed from reconstructed mu mu events and replaced with simulated tau leptons with the same kinematic properties. In this way, a set of hybrid events is obtained that does not rely on simulation except for the decay of the tau leptons. The challenges in describing the underlying event or the production of associated jets in the simulation are avoided. The technique described in this paper was developed for CMS. Its validation and the inherent uncertainties are also discussed. The demonstration of the performance of the technique is based on a sample of proton-proton collisions collected by CMS in 2017 at root s = 13 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 41.5 fb(-1).Peer reviewe

MUSiC : a model-unspecific search for new physics in proton-proton collisions at root s=13TeV

Results of the Model Unspecific Search in CMS (MUSiC), using proton-proton collision data recorded at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1), are presented. The MUSiC analysis searches for anomalies that could be signatures of physics beyond the standard model. The analysis is based on the comparison of observed data with the standard model prediction, as determined from simulation, in several hundred final states and multiple kinematic distributions. Events containing at least one electron or muon are classified based on their final state topology, and an automated search algorithm surveys the observed data for deviations from the prediction. The sensitivity of the search is validated using multiple methods. No significant deviations from the predictions have been observed. For a wide range of final state topologies, agreement is found between the data and the standard model simulation. This analysis complements dedicated search analyses by significantly expanding the range of final states covered using a model independent approach with the largest data set to date to probe phase space regions beyond the reach of previous general searches.Peer reviewe