Microstructure of an Extruded Third-Generation Snack Made from a Whole Blue Corn and Corn Starch Mixture

Blue corn is a potential material for expanded snack production. Whole blue corn meal was mixed with corn starch and processed by extrusion to produce a third-generation snack. Optimum extrusion conditions were calculated with the response surface methodology using expansion index (EI), penetration force (PF), specific mechanical energy (SME) and total anthocyanins content (TAC). Optimum conditions (zone 1, 67°C; cooking zone, 123°C; zone 3, 75°C; feed moisture, 24.6%) were used to extrude the mixture in a single-screw extruder, and EI,PF,SME and TAC of the expanded pellet were compared against predicted optimum values. Starch structural changes in pellets and expanded were analyzed with DSC, viscosity profiles, x-ray diffraction and SEM. Extruded pellet did not differ (p>0.05) from the predicted. However, TAC was lower (p<0.05) in the expanded pellet. Structural analyses showed damage starch granular structure during extrusion and pellet expansion. Blue corn is a promising material for production of third-generation snacks

Neutrino-induced coherent π+\pi^{+} production in C, CH, Fe and Pb at ⟨Eν⟩∼6\langle E_{\nu}\rangle \sim 6 GeV

MINERvA has measured the $\nu_{\mu}$-induced coherent $\pi^{+}$ cross section simultaneously in hydrocarbon (CH), graphite (C), iron (Fe) and lead (Pb) targets using neutrinos from 2 to 20 GeV. The measurements exceed the predictions of the Rein-Sehgal and Berger-Sehgal PCAC based models at multi-GeV $\nu_{\mu}$ energies and at produced $\pi^{+}$ energies and angles, $E_{\pi}>1$ GeV and $\theta_{\pi}<10^{\circ}$. Measurements of the cross-section ratios of Fe and Pb relative to CH reveal the effective $A$-scaling to increase from an approximate $A^{1/3}$ scaling at few GeV to an $A^{2/3}$ scaling for $E_{\nu}>10$ GeV

Simultaneous measurement of muon neutrino quasielastic-like cross sections on CH, C, water, Fe, and Pb as a function of muon kinematics at MINERvA

This paper presents the first simultaneous measurement of the quasielastic-like neutrino-nucleus cross sections on C, water, Fe, Pb and scintillator (hydrocarbon or CH) as a function of longitudinal and transverse muon momentum. The ratio of cross sections per nucleon between Pb and CH is always above unity and has a characteristic shape as a function of transverse muon momentum that evolves slowly as a function of longitudinal muon momentum. The ratio is constant versus longitudinal momentum within uncertainties above a longitudinal momentum of 4.5GeV/c. The cross section ratios to CH for C, water, and Fe remain roughly constant with increasing longitudinal momentum, and the ratios between water or C to CH do not have any significant deviation from unity. Both the overall cross section level and the shape for Pb and Fe as a function of transverse muon momentum are not reproduced by current neutrino event generators. These measurements provide a direct test of nuclear effects in quasielastic-like interactions, which are major contributors to long-baseline neutrino oscillation data samples.Comment: 9 pages, 8 flgures, including supplemental materia

Wheat genetic resources have avoided disease pandemics, improved food security, and reduced environmental footprints: A review of historical impacts and future opportunities

The use of plant genetic resources (PGR)—wild relatives, landraces, and isolated breeding gene pools—has had substantial impacts on wheat breeding for resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, while increasing nutritional value, end-use quality, and grain yield. In the Global South, post-Green Revolution genetic yield gains are generally achieved with minimal additional inputs. As a result, production has increased, and millions of hectares of natural ecosystems have been spared. Without PGR-derived disease resistance, fungicide use would have easily doubled, massively increasing selection pressure for fungicide resistance. It is estimated that in wheat, a billion liters of fungicide application have been avoided just since 2000. This review presents examples of successful use of PGR including the relentless battle against wheat rust epidemics/pandemics, defending against diseases that jump species barriers like blast, biofortification giving nutrient-dense varieties and the use of novel genetic variation for improving polygenic traits like climate resilience. Crop breeding genepools urgently need to be diversified to increase yields across a range of environments (>200 Mha globally), under less predictable weather and biotic stress pressure, while increasing input use efficiency. Given that the ~0.8 m PGR in wheat collections worldwide are relatively untapped and massive impacts of the tiny fraction studied, larger scale screenings and introgression promise solutions to emerging challenges, facilitated by advanced phenomic and genomic tools. The first translocations in wheat to modify rhizosphere microbiome interaction (reducing biological nitrification, reducing greenhouse gases, and increasing nitrogen use efficiency) is a landmark proof of concept. Phenomics and next-generation sequencing have already elucidated exotic haplotypes associated with biotic and complex abiotic traits now mainstreamed in breeding. Big data from decades of global yield trials can elucidate the benefits of PGR across environments. This kind of impact cannot be achieved without widescale sharing of germplasm and other breeding technologies through networks and public–private partnerships in a pre-competitive space