The role of molecular sizes of carbohydrates on mouth sensations

The effects of addition to sweet potatoes of varying amounts of dextrin, glucose, maltose, and starch on mouth sensations, apparent viscosity, and static yield were tested. Sensory evaluations were conducted a minimum of four times on each sweet potato-carbohydrate mixture, and mixtures were objectively evaluated by a Brookfield viscosimeter for static yield and a Haake Rotovisco Model RV-l Viscometer for apparent viscosity. A two-way analysis of variance was used to test for differences between mean sensory panel ranks, static yield values, and apparent viscosity values of different sweet potato mixtures. A regression technique was used to determine whether linear, quadratic, or cubic effects were found with increasing amounts of carbohydrates. To further test the effects of variations in starch, maltose, and dextrin on apparent viscosity and static yield, a model system approximating the protein, carbohydrate, fat, and water composition of a cured, uncooked sweet potato was prepared. Nine variations of the model system were made in which the dextrin, starch, and maltose content were varied; all other components remained constant. Mean static yield and apparent viscosity values were tested as a function of quantity of starch, maltose, and dextrin

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead