2,524 research outputs found

    The influence of protein concentration on key quality attributes of chickpea-based alternatives to cheese

    Get PDF
    In response to consumer demands, plant protein ingredients are increasingly being used in the formulation of plant-based alternatives to cheese. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of protein concentration on key quality attributes of chickpea-based alternatives to cheese. Moreover, the age-induced changes in such attributes were assessed, with samples analysed after 1 month of storage. After characterisation of the ingredients, the chickpea-based formulations were prepared by blending chickpea flour and protein concentrate in different proportions to obtain four samples of increasing protein content (i.e., 8.68–21.5%). Formulations were developed at pH ∼4.5, and a moisture content of 50%, with shea butter used to obtain 15% fat content. The differential scanning calorimetry thermograms of the samples showed a main peak around 30 °C, corresponding to transition of the shea butter, and a smaller peak around 70 °C related to starch gelatinisation. Analysis of microstructure showed formation of a protein matrix with more extensive protein structure at high protein concentration. Furthermore, none of the chickpea-based samples melted under the testing conditions and all samples showed increasing values for adhesiveness, springiness and cohesiveness with increasing protein content. However, hardness was the highest for the sample with the lowest protein content, likely due to starch retrogradation. After storage, hardness increased further for all samples. This work improves our understanding of the role of chickpea protein in developing plant-based alternatives to cheese and the challenges therein

    Diagnostic validity of early-onset obsessive-compulsive disorder in the Danish Psychiatric Central Register:findings from a cohort sample

    Get PDF
    Employing national registers for research purposes depends on a high diagnostic validity. The aim of the present study was to examine the diagnostic validity of recorded diagnoses of early-onset obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in the Danish Psychiatric Central Register (DPCR)

    Modelling the reversible uptake of chemical species in the gas phase by ice particles formed in a convective cloud

    Get PDF
    The present paper is a preliminary study preparing the introduction of reversible trace gas uptake by ice particles into a 3-D cloud resolving model. For this a 3-D simulation of a tropical deep convection cloud was run with the BRAMS cloud resolving model using a two-moment bulk microphysical parameterization. Trajectories within the convective clouds were computed from these simulation outputs along which the variations of the pristine ice, snow and aggregate mixing ratios and concentrations were extracted. The reversible uptake of 11 trace gases by ice was examined assuming applicability of Langmuir isotherms using recently evaluated (IUPAC) laboratory data. The results show that ice uptake is only significant for HNO<sub>3</sub>, HCl, CH<sub>3</sub>COOH and HCOOH. For H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>, using new results for the partition coefficient results in significant partitioning to the ice phase for this trace gas also. It was also shown that the uptake is largely dependent on the temperature for some species. The adsorption saturation at the ice surface for large gas mixing ratios is generally not a limiting factor except for HNO<sub>3</sub> and HCl for gas mixing ratio greater than 1 ppbv. For HNO<sub>3</sub>, results were also obtained using a trapping theory, resulting in a similar order of magnitude of uptake, although the two approaches are based on different assumptions. The results were compared to those obtained using a BRAMS cloud simulation based on a single-moment microphysical scheme instead of the two moment scheme. We found similar results with a slightly more important uptake when using the single-moment scheme which is related to slightly higher ice mixing ratios in this simulation. The way to introduce these results in the 3-D cloud model is discussed

    The interactive effect of change in perceived stress and trait anxiety on vagal recovery from cognitive challenge

    Get PDF
    The present study tested the hypothesis that the change in state negative affect (measured as perceived stress) after cognitive challenge moderates the relationship of trait anxiety and anger to vagal recovery from that challenge. Cardiac vagal control (assessed using heart rate variability) and respiratory rate were measured in a sample of 905 participants from the Midlife in the United States Study. Cognitive challenges consisted of computerized mental arithmetic and Stroop color–word matching tasks. Multiple regression analyses controlling for the effects of the demographic, lifestyle, and medical factors influencing cardiac vagal control showed a significant moderating effect of change in perceived stress on the relationship of trait anxiety to vagal recovery from cognitive challenges (Beta = .253, p = .013). After adjustment for respiratory rate, this effect became marginally significant (Beta = .177, p = .037). In contrast, for the relationship of trait anger to vagal recovery, this effect was not significant either before (Beta = .141, p = .257) or after (Beta = .186, p = .072) adjusting for respiratory rate. Secondary analyses revealed that among the individuals with higher levels of trait anxiety, greater reductions in perceived stress were associated with greater increases in cardiac vagal control after the challenge. In contrast, among the individuals with lower levels of trait anxiety, changes in perceived stress had no impact on vagal recovery. Therefore, change in perceived stress moderates the relationship of trait anxiety, but not trait anger, to vagal recovery from cognitive challenge

    A hybrid kinetic Monte Carlo method for simulating silicon films grown by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition

    Get PDF
    We present a powerful kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) algorithm that allows one to simulate the growth of nanocrystalline silicon by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) for film thicknesses as large as several hundreds of monolayers. Our method combines a standard n-fold KMC algorithm with an efficient Markovian random walk scheme accounting for the surface diffusive processes of the species involved in PECVD. These processes are extremely fast compared to chemical reactions, thus in a brute application of the KMC method more than 99% of the computational time is spent in monitoring them. Our method decouples the treatment of these events from the rest of the reactions in a systematic way, thereby dramatically increasing the efficiency of the corresponding KMC algorithm. It is also making use of a very rich kinetic model which includes 5 species (H, SiH3, SiH2, SiH, and Si 2H5) that participate in 29 reactions. We have applied the new method in simulations of silicon growth under several conditions (in particular, silane fraction in the gas mixture), including those usually realized in actual PECVD technologies. This has allowed us to directly compare against available experimental data for the growth rate, the mesoscale morphology, and the chemical composition of the deposited film as a function of dilution ratio.open1

    Experimental Evidence of Time Delay Induced Death in Coupled Limit Cycle Oscillators

    Get PDF
    Experimental observations of time delay induced amplitude death in a pair of coupled nonlinear electronic circuits that are individually capable of exhibiting limit cycle oscillations are described. In particular, the existence of multiply connected death islands in the parameter space of the coupling strength and the time delay parameter for coupled identical oscillators is established. The existence of such regions was predicted earlier on theoretical grounds in [Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 5109 (1998); Physica 129D, 15 (1999)]. The experiments also reveal the occurrence of multiple frequency states, frequency suppression of oscillations with increased time delay and the onset of both in-phase and anti-phase collective oscillations.Comment: 4 aps formatted RevTeX pages; 6 figures; to appear in Phys. Rev. Let

    Vagal Recovery From Cognitive Challenge Moderates Age-Related Deficits in Executive Functioning

    Get PDF
    Decline in executive functioning (EF) is a hallmark of cognitive aging. We have previously reported that faster vagal recovery from cognitive challenge is associated with better EF. This study examined the association between vagal recovery from cognitive challenge and age-related differences in EF among 817 participants in the Midlife in the U.S. study (aged 35–86). Cardiac vagal control was measured as high-frequency heart rate variability. Vagal recovery moderated the association between age and EF (β = .811, p = .004). Secondary analyses revealed that older participants (aged 65–86) with faster vagal recovery had superior EF compared to their peers who had slower vagal recovery. In contrast, among younger (aged 35–54) and middle-aged (aged 55–64) participants, vagal recovery was not associated with EF. We conclude that faster vagal recovery from cognitive challenge is associated with reduced deficits in EF among older, but not younger individuals
    corecore