Maximizing alcohol yields from wheat and maize and their co-products for distilling or bioethanol production

The key to optimizing alcohol production from cereals is a full understanding of the physiology and processing characteristics of different cereals. This study examined the maximum alcohol yields that can be obtained from wheat and maize using different processing technologies. Lower processing temperatures (85°C) resulted in high alcohol yields from wheat (a temperate crop), whereas higher processing temperatures (142°C) gave maximum alcohol yields from maize (a tropical crop). Similar trends were also observed when the spent grains from these cereals were processed using commercial enzymes. Mill settings were additional factors in influencing alcohol production. Wheat has the potential to produce higher alcohol yields when compared with maize, when residual biomass (i.e. spent grains) saccharification using selected commercial enzymes is taken into account. While this approach is not applicable for the Scotch whisky industry owing to strict legislation forbidding the use of exogenous enzymes, this is pertinent for bioethanol production to increase the alcohol yield obtained from both starch and lignocellulosic components of whole cereal grains. Wheat and maize processing temperatures and the use of processing aids are of potential economic benefit to bioethanol producers and to beverage alcohol producers seeking to understand the factors influencing the processing properties of different cereals

Measuring disease in dermatology: studies of objective and subjective methods

Itch lies second only to disturbance of body image as a reported symptom in dermatology. This study started by concentrating on improving the measurement of itch. Itch has a paired physical response, scratch. The pairing can be exploited: preliminary work by this unit had validated the use of wrist-worn movement-measuring machines called ‘accelerometers’ to measure itch-related movement (scratch and rub). The first part of this research developed use of these machines. Simple accelerometers (‘Actiwatch Plus’) were used to observe the pattern of variation of itch over clusters of nights and in different conditions. The accelerometer scores were able to identify controls’ scores from those with itchy disease. Considerable variation (56%) was discovered in objective score between subject and considerable variation was noted (46%) even within subject. More complex accelerometers, (‘DigiTrac’) which could potentially specifically identify itch-related movement on the basis of frequency of action derived from Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), were validated against the ‘gold standard’ measurement of itch-related movement, directly observed movement (via infra red video recording). It was necessary to characterise the ‘frequency of action’ of itch on video and, as an aside, the characteristics of human itch-related movement were compared to other mammals’ itch-related movement ‘frequency of action’. The ‘frequency of action’ and video data was used to enrich the DigiTrac readouts to improve specificity of itch-related movement detection. During the accelerometer studies, an unexpected finding came to light: objective score of itch was not related to subjective score. To try to explain the lack of relationship, a 42 day longitudinal study of atopic dermatitis patients’ subjective and objective scores was undertaken. The results demonstrated autocorrelation for subjective scores, but not for the objective scores but still did not fully explain the lack of relationship. In an effort to explain the disconnect between subjective and objective scores a second tranche of experiments and the second part of this research interrogated whether the methods with which we measure disease as a whole in dermatology are robust. One study investigated whether the way patients are asked about subjective symptoms in general was resistant to the effects of focusing and framing bias. The results were reassuring as they suggested that the commonly used and recommended symptom scoring systems were robust in the face of bias. In order to assess whether perspective or perception of disease explained the disconnect, a study was designed in collaboration with the Edinburgh College of Art. A series of computer-generated images of different psoriasis severities were created and used to assess how doctors and patients assessed disease-extent. This study showed that, whilst each group had a naturally divergent opinion of extent of disease, by scoring disease using the models it was possible to unify the perspective and perception of extent. Finally, an exploratory study to reduce recall bias to a minimum, in case this had caused the disconnect between objective and subjective, was undertaken. This employed a novel questionnaire, the Day Reconstruction Method

Voicing Rivers through ontopoetics:A co-operative inquiry

A co-operative inquiry was established to explore the experience of a panpsychic world of sentient beings rather than inert objects, a world in which mind—sentience, subjectivity, and the will of self-realization—is a fundamental aspect of matter, just as matter is a fundamental aspect of mind. The nature of worldviews, the fundamental basis of our perceiving, thinking, valuing, and acting, is addressed and a brief outline of living cosmos panpsychism offered. The inquiry asks, could we humans, through intentional engagement, relate to the rivers as beings, subjects, or other-than-human persons in their own right? How might we engage with the rivers through personal relationship, ceremony, and invocation? What are the possibilities for reciprocal communication? In short, how might rivers speak?.</p

Association mapping of malting quality traits in UK spring and winter barley cultivar collections

Key Message: Historical malting quality data was collated from UK national and recommended list trial data and used in a GWAS. 25 QTL were identified, with the majority from spring barley cultivar sets. Abstract: In Europe, the most economically significant use of barley is the production of malt for use in the brewing and distilling industries. As such, selection for traits related to malting quality is of great commercial interest. In order to study the genetic basis of variation for malting quality traits in UK cultivars, a historical set of trial data was collated from national and recommended list trials from the period 1988 to 2016. This data was used to estimate variety means for 20 quality related traits in 451 spring barley cultivars, and 407 winter cultivars. Genotypes for these cultivars were generated using iSelect 9k and 50k genotyping platforms, and a genome wide association scan performed to identify malting quality quantitative trait loci (QTL). 24 QTL were identified in spring barley cultivars, and 2 from the winter set. A number of these correspond to known malting quality related genes but the remainder represents novel genetic variation that is accessible to breeders for the genetic improvement of new cultivars.Mark E. Looseley, Luke Ramsay, Hazel Bull, J. Stuart Swanston, Paul D. Shaw, Malcolm Macaulay, Allan Booth, Joanne R. Russell, Robbie Waugh, on behalf of the IMPROMALT Consortium, William T.B. Thoma

Genetic dissection of fruit quality traits in the octoploid cultivated strawberry highlights the role of homoeo-QTL in their control

Fruit quality traits are major breeding targets in the Rosaceae. Several of the major Rosaceae species are current or ancient polyploids. To dissect the inheritance of fruit quality traits in polyploid fleshy fruit species, we used a cultivated strawberry segregating population comprising a 213 full-sibling F1 progeny from a cross between the variety ‘Capitola’ and the genotype ‘CF1116’. We previously developed the most comprehensive strawberry linkage map, which displays seven homoeology groups (HG), including each four homoeology linkage groups (Genetics 179:2045–2060, 2008). The map was used to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) for 19 fruit traits related to fruit development, texture, colour, anthocyanin, sugar and organic acid contents. Analyses were carried out over two or three successive years on field-grown plants. QTL were detected for all the analysed traits. Because strawberry is an octopolyploid species, QTL controlling a given trait and located at orthologous positions on different homoeologous linkage groups within one HG are considered as homoeo-QTL. We found that, for various traits, about one-fourth of QTL were putative homoeo-QTL and were localised on two linkage groups. Several homoeo-QTL could be detected the same year, suggesting that several copies of the gene underlying the QTL are functional. The detection of some other homoeo-QTL was year-dependent. Therefore, changes in allelic expression could take place in response to environmental changes. We believe that, in strawberry as in other polyploid fruit species, the mechanisms unravelled in the present study may play a crucial role in the variations of fruit quality

Selective progressive response of soil microbial community to wild oat roots

Roots moving through soil enact physical and chemical changes that differentiate rhizosphere from bulk soil, and the effects of these changes on soil microorganisms have long been a topic of interest. Use of a high-density 16S rRNA microarray (PhyloChip) for bacterial and archaeal community analysis has allowed definition of the populations that respond to the root within the complex grassland soil community; this research accompanies previously reported compositional changes, including increases in chitinase and protease specific activity, cell numbers and quorum sensing signal. PhyloChip results showed a significant change in 7% of the total rhizosphere microbial community (147 of 1917 taxa); the 7% response value was confirmed by16S rRNA T-RFLP analysis. This PhyloChip-defined dynamic subset was comprised of taxa in 17 of the 44 phyla detected in all soil samples. Expected rhizosphere-competent phyla, such as Proteobacteria and Firmicutes, were well represented, as were less-well-documented rhizosphere colonizers including Actinobacteria, Verrucomicrobia and Nitrospira. Richness of Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria decreased in soil near the root tip compared to bulk soil, but then increased in older root zones. Quantitative PCR revealed {beta}-Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria present at about 10{sup 8} copies of 16S rRNA genes g{sup -1} soil, with Nitrospira having about 10{sup 5} copies g{sup -1} soil. This report demonstrates that changes in a relatively small subset of the soil microbial community are sufficient to produce substantial changes in function in progressively more mature rhizosphere zones