Development of bambangan (Mangifera pajang) carbonated drink

Mangifera pajang Kostermans or bambangan is a popular fruit among Sabahan due to its health and economic values. However, the fruit is not fully commercialized since it is usually been used as traditional cuisine by local people. Thus, development of bambangan fruit into carbonated drink was conducted to produce new product concept. The objectives of this study were to conceptualize, formulate, evaluate consumer acceptance, and determine physicochemical properties and nutritional composition of the accepted product. Method used in conceptualising the product was based on questionnaire. The consumer acceptance was evaluated based on descriptive and affective tests with four product formulations tested. The physicochemical properties on carbon dioxide volume, colour, pH, total acidity, total soluble solid (TSS) and viscosity were highlighted, meanwhile nutritional composition on fat, protein, carbohydrates and energy content were determined. About 77% respondents gave positive feedback, and 69% respondents decided this product is within their budget. The formulation of 5% bambangan pulp, 70% water, 25% sugar and 0.2% citric acid was highly accepted in descriptive and affective tests with 4.4 and 6.39 mean scores, respectively. The physicochemical properties and nutritional composition of the acceptance product were in optimum value except for colour, total acidity and TSS. Overall, this study showed that the product has high potential to be commercialized as new product concept, and heritage of indigenous people can be preserved when this fruit is known regionally

Coulomb Phase Gluon Scattering at Strong Coupling

We calculate corrections to gluon scattering amplitudes in a Coulomb phase using gauge/string duality. The Coulomb phase considered is a maximal rank breaking of $SU(n_1+n_2)\to SU(n_1)\times SU(n_2) \times U(1)$. This problem therefore has 3 scales involved: 1) the scale of the massive fields $M_W$ arising from the spontaneous breaking of the gauge group; 2) The scale of the scattering, characterized by the Mandelstam variables $s,t,u$; 3) The IR regulator $m_{IR}$. We find corrections in the hard scattering limit $|s|,|t|,|u|\gg m_{IR}^2 \gg M_W^2$, and also find below threshold corrections with $M_W^2 \gg |s|,|t|,|u|$. We find that the corrections in the second case are finite, and so are IR regulator independent.Comment: 17+17 pages, 3 figure

The theory of optical dispersive shock waves in photorefractive media

The theory of optical dispersive shocks generated in propagation of light beams through photorefractive media is developed. Full one-dimensional analytical theory based on the Whitham modulation approach is given for the simplest case of sharp step-like initial discontinuity in a beam with one-dimensional strip-like geometry. This approach is confirmed by numerical simulations which are extended also to beams with cylindrical symmetry. The theory explains recent experiments where such dispersive shock waves have been observed.Comment: 26 page

The soil and plant biogeochemistry sampling design for The National Ecological Observatory Network

Human impacts on biogeochemical cycles are evident around the world, from changes to forest structure and function due to atmospheric deposition, to eutrophication of surface waters from agricultural effluent, and increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) will contribute to understanding human effects on biogeochemical cycles from local to continental scales. The broad NEON biogeochemistry measurement design focuses on measuring atmospheric deposition of reactive mineral compounds and CO2 fluxes, ecosystem carbon (C) and nutrient stocks, and surface water chemistry across 20 eco‐climatic domains within the United States for 30 yr. Herein, we present the rationale and plan for the ground‐based measurements of C and nutrients in soils and plants based on overarching or “high‐level” requirements agreed upon by the National Science Foundation and NEON. The resulting design incorporates early recommendations by expert review teams, as well as recent input from the larger natural sciences community that went into the formation and interpretation of the requirements, respectively. NEON\u27s efforts will focus on a suite of data streams that will enable end‐users to study and predict changes to biogeochemical cycling and transfers within and across air, land, and water systems at regional to continental scales. At each NEON site, there will be an initial, one‐time effort to survey soil properties to 1 m (including soil texture, bulk density, pH, baseline chemistry) and vegetation community structure and diversity. A sampling program will follow, focused on capturing long‐term trends in soil C, nitrogen (N), and sulfur stocks, isotopic composition (of C and N), soil N transformation rates, phosphorus pools, and plant tissue chemistry and isotopic composition (of C and N). To this end, NEON will conduct extensive measurements of soils and plants within stratified random plots distributed across each site. The resulting data will be a new resource for members of the scientific community interested in addressing questions about long‐term changes in continental‐scale biogeochemical cycles, and is predicted to inspire further process‐based research

Characterizing the gut microbiome in trauma: significant changes in microbial diversity occur early after severe injury.

Background:Recent studies have demonstrated the vital influence of commensal microbial communities on human health. The central role of the gut in the response to injury is well described; however, no prior studies have used culture-independent profiling techniques to characterize the gut microbiome after severe trauma. We hypothesized that in critically injured patients, the gut microbiome would undergo significant compositional changes in the first 72 hours after injury. Methods:Trauma stool samples were prospectively collected via digital rectal examination at the time of presentation (0 hour). Patients admitted to the intensive care unit (n=12) had additional stool samples collected at 24 hours and/or 72 hours. Uninjured patients served as controls (n=10). DNA was extracted from stool samples and 16S rRNA-targeted PCR amplification was performed; amplicons were sequenced and binned into operational taxonomic units (OTUs; 97% sequence similarity). Diversity was analyzed using principle coordinates analyses, and negative binomial regression was used to determine significantly enriched OTUs. Results:Critically injured patients had a median Injury Severity Score of 27 and suffered polytrauma. At baseline (0 hour), there were no detectable differences in gut microbial community diversity between injured and uninjured patients. Injured patients developed changes in gut microbiome composition within 72 hours, characterized by significant alterations in phylogenetic composition and taxon relative abundance. Members of the bacterial orders Bacteroidales, Fusobacteriales and Verrucomicrobiales were depleted during 72 hours, whereas Clostridiales and Enterococcus members enriched significantly. Discussion:In this initial study of the gut microbiome after trauma, we demonstrate that significant changes in phylogenetic composition and relative abundance occur in the first 72 hours after injury. This rapid change in intestinal microbiota represents a critical phenomenon that may influence outcomes after severe trauma. A better understanding of the nature of these postinjury changes may lead to the ability to intervene in otherwise pathological clinical trajectories. Level of evidence:III. Study type:Prognostic/epidemiological

Robust, Bridge-less Ion-selective Electrodes with Significantly Reduced Need for Pre- and Post-application Handling

We are demonstrating robust, single-layer ion-selective electrode (ISE) utilizing simple Ag/AgCl electrode as solid support without the need for intermediate polymer layer. We have created and chemically linked a family of imidazolium ionic liquids (ILs) with poly (vinyl chloride) (PVC) using click chemistry, resulting in hybrid materials with tunable characteristics. The resultant material inherently contains chloride ion thus offering the ability to stabilize interfacial potential. This allowed us to construct very simple, single-layer membranes with significantly reduced need for conditioning as an added bonus compared to traditional sensors. Chemical immobilization of ISE membrane components also led to extended lifetime as the potential for material loss is reduced and detection limits are lowered. In our characterization we focused on perchlorate as a model ion. It\u27s levels of around 10−7 M could be repeatedly quantified over a 100 day period despite constant exposure of ISEs to aqueous solution over this time. Most importantly, the electrodes exhibited stable and reproducible signal with significantly simplified pre- and post-operation handling protocols. This offers potential for in situ applications as well as to advanced fabrication techniques and miniaturization. Simplicity of construction and operation, and low cost of the solid substrate allows for disposable ISE formats

Pipeline quantum processor architecture for silicon spin qubits

Noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices seek to achieve quantum advantage over classical systems without the use of full quantum error correction. We propose a NISQ processor architecture using a qubit `pipeline' in which all run-time control is applied globally, reducing the required number and complexity of control and interconnect resources. This is achieved by progressing qubit states through a layered physical array of structures which realise single and two-qubit gates. Such an approach lends itself to NISQ applications such as variational quantum eigensolvers which require numerous repetitions of the same calculation, or small variations thereof. In exchange for simplifying run-time control, a larger number of physical structures is required for shuttling the qubits as the circuit depth now corresponds to an array of physical structures. However, qubit states can be `pipelined' densely through the arrays for repeated runs to make more efficient use of physical resources. We describe how the qubit pipeline can be implemented in a silicon spin-qubit platform, to which it is well suited to due to the high qubit density and scalability. In this implementation, we describe the physical realisation of single and two qubit gates which represent a universal gate set that can achieve fidelities of $\mathcal{F} \geq 0.9999$, even under typical qubit frequency variations.Comment: 21 pages (13 for main + 8 for supplement), 9 figures (4 for main + 5 for supplement

Modulational and Parametric Instabilities of the Discrete Nonlinear Schr\"odinger Equation

We examine the modulational and parametric instabilities arising in a non-autonomous, discrete nonlinear Schr{\"o}dinger equation setting. The principal motivation for our study stems from the dynamics of Bose-Einstein condensates trapped in a deep optical lattice. We find that under periodic variations of the heights of the interwell barriers (or equivalently of the scattering length), additionally to the modulational instability, a window of parametric instability becomes available to the system. We explore this instability through multiple-scale analysis and identify it numerically. Its principal dynamical characteristic is that, typically, it develops over much larger times than the modulational instability, a feature that is qualitatively justified by comparison of the corresponding instability growth rates

Quantitative investigation of the short-range magnetic correlations in candidate quantum spin liquid NaYbO2_2

We present a neutron diffraction study of NaYbO$_2$, a candidate quantum spin liquid compound hosting a geometrically frustrated triangular lattice of magnetic Yb$^{3+}$ ions. We observe diffuse magnetic scattering that persists to at least 20 K, demonstrating the presence of short-range magnetic correlations in this system up to a relatively high energy scale. Using reverse Monte Carlo and magnetic pair distribution function analysis, we confirm the predominant antiferromagnetic nature of these correlations and show that the diffuse scattering data can be well described by noninteracting layers of XY spins on the triangular lattice. We rule out Ising spins and short-range-ordered stripe or 120$^{\circ}$ phases as candidate ground states of NaYbO$_2$. These results are consistent with a possible QSL ground state in NaYbO$_2$ and showcase the benefit of combined reciprocal- and real-space analysis of materials with short-range magnetic correlations