Effects of Pasteurization (Heating) on Milled Flaxseed Quality

Current food industry practices include the use of pasteurization (heat treatment) as a means to reduce the microbial counts of flaxseed (Linum usitatissimum). Flaxseed was pasteurized using a dry air heat treatment of 148 °C for 16.25 minutes and the oxidative stability was observed over a 20 week storage period. Flaxseed quality was measured using peroxide value, percent free fatty acid (as oleic), and propanal content. Peroxide values of the pasteurized milled flaxseed were found to significantly increase (P ≤ 0.05) by week 2. Propanal formation coincided with peroxide value development over 20 weeks of storage. Pasteurized flaxseed milled under refrigerated temperatures (10 – 18 °C) did not exhibit any significant (P > 0.05) improvement in oxidative stability. Flaxseed pasteurization at 148 °C for 16.25 minutes using dry heat was found to be detrimental to the oxidative stability flaxseed once milled

Antagonistic Gcn5-Hda1 interactions revealed by mutations to the Anaphase Promoting Complex in yeast

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Histone post-translational modifications are critical for gene expression and cell viability. A broad spectrum of histone lysine residues have been identified in yeast that are targeted by a variety of modifying enzymes. However, the regulation and interaction of these enzymes remains relatively uncharacterized. Previously we demonstrated that deletion of either the histone acetyltransferase (HAT) <it>GCN5 </it>or the histone deacetylase (HDAC) <it>HDA1 </it>exacerbated the temperature sensitive (<it>ts</it>) mutant phenotype of the Anaphase Promoting Complex (APC) <it>apc5^CA</it>allele. Here, the <it>apc5^CA</it>mutant background is used to study a previously uncharacterized functional antagonistic genetic interaction between Gcn5 and Hda1 that is not detected in <it>APC5 </it>cells.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Using Northerns, Westerns, reverse transcriptase PCR (rtPCR), chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP), and mutant phenotype suppression analysis, we observed that Hda1 and Gcn5 appear to compete for recruitment to promoters. We observed that the presence of Hda1 can partially occlude the binding of Gcn5 to the same promoter. Occlusion of Gcn5 recruitment to these promoters involved Hda1 and Tup1. Using sequential ChIP we show that Hda1 and Tup1 likely form complexes at these promoters, and that complex formation can be increased by deleting <it>GCN5</it>.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our data suggests large Gcn5 and Hda1 containing complexes may compete for space on promoters that utilize the Ssn6/Tup1 repressor complex. We predict that in <it>apc5^CA</it>cells the accumulation of an APC target may compensate for the loss of both <it>GCN5 </it>and <it>HDA1</it>.</p

Extreme events driving year-to-year differences in gross primary productivity across the US

Solar-Induced chlorophyll Fluorescence (SIF) has previously been shown to strongly correlate with gross primary productivity (GPP), however this relationship has not yet been quantified for the recently launched TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI). Here we use a Gaussian mixture model to develop a parsimonious relationship between SIF from TROPOMI and GPP from flux towers across the conterminous United States (CONUS). The mixture model indicates the SIF-GPP relationship can be characterized by a linear model with two terms. We then estimate GPP across CONUS at 500-m spatial resolution over a 16-day moving window. We find that CONUS GPP varies by less than 4% between 2018 and 2019. However, we observe four extreme precipitation events that induce regional GPP anomalies: drought in west Texas, flooding in the midwestern US, drought in South Dakota, and drought in California. Taken together, these events account for 28% of the year-to-year GPP differences across CONUS

A double peak in the seasonality of California's photosynthesis as observed from space

Solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) has been shown to be a powerful proxy for photosynthesis and gross primary productivity (GPP). The recently launched TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) features the required spectral resolution and signal-to-noise ratio to retrieve SIF from space. Here, we present a downscaling method to obtain 500 m spatial resolution SIF over California. We report daily values based on a 14 d window. TROPOMI SIF data show a strong correspondence with daily GPP estimates at AmeriFlux sites across multiple ecosystems in California. We find a linear relationship between SIF and GPP that is largely invariant across ecosystems with an intercept that is not significantly different from zero. Measurements of SIF from TROPOMI agree with MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) vegetation indices – the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), enhanced vegetation index (EVI), and near-infrared reflectance of vegetation index (NIR_v) – at annual timescales but indicate different temporal dynamics at monthly and daily timescales. TROPOMI SIF data show a double peak in the seasonality of photosynthesis, a feature that is not present in the MODIS vegetation indices. The different seasonality in the vegetation indices may be due to a clear-sky bias in the vegetation indices, whereas previous work has shown SIF to have a low sensitivity to clouds and to detect the downregulation of photosynthesis even when plants appear green. We further decompose the spatiotemporal patterns in the SIF data based on land cover. The double peak in the seasonality of California's photosynthesis is due to two processes that are out of phase: grasses, chaparral, and oak savanna ecosystems show an April maximum, while evergreen forests peak in June. An empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis corroborates the phase offset and spatial patterns driving the double peak. The EOF analysis further indicates that two spatiotemporal patterns explain 84 % of the variability in the SIF data. Results shown here are promising for obtaining global GPP at sub-kilometer spatial scales and identifying the processes driving carbon uptake

Extreme events driving year-to-year differences in gross primary productivity across the US

Solar-Induced chlorophyll Fluorescence (SIF) has previously been shown to strongly correlate with gross primary productivity (GPP), however this relationship has not yet been quantified for the recently launched TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI). Here we use a Gaussian mixture model to develop a parsimonious relationship between SIF from TROPOMI and GPP from flux towers across the conterminous United States (CONUS). The mixture model indicates the SIF-GPP relationship can be characterized by a linear model with two terms. We then estimate GPP across CONUS at 500-m spatial resolution over a 16-day moving window. We find that CONUS GPP varies by less than 4% between 2018 and 2019. However, we observe four extreme precipitation events that induce regional GPP anomalies: drought in west Texas, flooding in the midwestern US, drought in South Dakota, and drought in California. Taken together, these events account for 28% of the year-to-year GPP differences across CONUS

Variation in the Diagnosis and Management of Appendicitis at Canadian Pediatric Hospitals

Objectives The objective was to characterize the variations in practice in the diagnosis and management of children admitted to hospitals from Canadian pediatric emergency departments (EDs) with suspected appendicitis, specifically the timing of surgical intervention, ED investigations, and management strategies. Methods Twelve sites participated in this retrospective health record review. Children aged 3 to 17 years admitted to the hospital with suspected appendicitis were eligible. Site-specific demographics, investigations, and interventions performed were recorded and compared. Factors associated with after-hours surgery were determined using generalized estimating equations logistic regression. Results Of the 619 children meeting eligibility criteria, surgical intervention was performed in 547 (88%). After-hours surgery occurred in 76 of the 547 children, with significant variation across sites (13.9%, 95% confidence interval = 7.1% to 21.6%, p \u3c 0.001). The overall perforation rate was 17.4% (95 of 547), and the negative appendectomy rate was 6.8% (37 of 547), varying across sites (p = 0.004 and p = 0.036, respectively). Use of inflammatory markers (p \u3c 0.001), blood cultures (p \u3c 0.001), ultrasound (p = 0.001), and computed tomography (p = 0.001) also varied by site. ED administration of narcotic analgesia and antibiotics varied across sites (p \u3c 0.001 and p = 0.001, respectively), as did the type of surgical approach (p \u3c 0.001). After-hours triage had a significant inverse association with after-hours surgery (p = 0.014). Conclusions Across Canadian pediatric EDs, there exists significant variation in the diagnosis and management of children with suspected appendicitis. These results indicate that the best diagnostic and management strategies remain unclear and support the need for future prospective, multicenter studies to identify strategies associated with optimal patient outcomes

Robotics for Nuclear Material Handling at LANL:Capabilities and Needs

Nuclear material processing operations present numerous challenges for effective automation. Confined spaces, hazardous materials and processes, particulate contamination, radiation sources, and corrosive chemical operations are but a few of the significant hazards. However, automated systems represent a significant safety advance when deployed in place of manual tasks performed by human workers. The replacement of manual operations with automated systems has been desirable for nearly 40 years, yet only recently are automated systems becoming increasingly common for nuclear materials handling applications. This paper reviews several automation systems which are deployed or about to be deployed at Los Alamos National Laboratory for nuclear material handling operations. Highlighted are the current social and technological challenges faced in deploying automated systems into hazardous material handling environments and the opportunities for future innovations

Political performance and leadership persona:the UK Labour Party Conference of 2012

This article is a contribution to an emerging scholarship on the role of rhetoric, persona and celebrity, and the effects of performance on the political process. We analyse party leader Ed Miliband at the UK Labour Party Conference in Manchester in 2012. Our analysis identifies how, through performance of himself and the beginnings of the deployment of an alternative party narrative centred on One Nation, Ed Miliband began to revise his received persona. By using a range of rhetorical and other techniques, Miliband began to adapt the Labour narrative to the personalized political. The article sets out the theoretical framework for the analysis and returns to the implications for the theory of leadership performance in its conclusion