Comparative evaluation of the quality characteristics of composite flour bread produced from wheat-root tuber and wheat-grain legume flour blends

Adoption of composite flours for baked and non-baked goods has been trending and the underlying reasons include economic consideration, nutritional enhancement and amelioration of noncommunicable diseases through consumption of functional foods. Comparative study of the performance of popular food crop flours in bread making is not well documented although a lot work abound in the literature concerning specific blends from wheat and crop flours studied separately. But in the present study, comparative effects of 30% substitution of wheat flour with two common root tuber flours: sweet potato (Ps) and cassava (Ca) and three common grain legume flours in Nigeria: soybean (S), cowpea (Co), bambara groundnut (B) on bread quality were studied. Soybean, cowpea, and bambara groundnut were soaked and decorticated, toasted mildly and milled to obtain flours. Cassava and sweet potato roots were peeled, chopped, oven dried, milled and sieved. All purpose wheat flour was used to form blends with non-wheat flours on a constant ratio of 70:30 replacement weight basis, a total of five flour blends were obtained while 100% wheat flour served as the control. Bread were prepared using straight dough method of AACC. Thereafter, standard procedures were used to evaluate the proximate composition of the blends and bread, as well as the bread physical and sensory properties. Data generated were subjected to analysis of variance and mean values ±SE were reported. Consistently, soybean and bambara groundnut flours had significant higher content of protein, ash, crude fat and crude fibre than cassava and sweet potato flours which contained higher level of carbohydrates. The moisture contents of the flours were low and comparable. The moisture, crude protein, crude fat, total ash, crude fibre and carbohydrate contents of the flour blends and the refined wheat flour varied significantly (p<0.05) from 8.08-10.27%, 7.52-13.93%, 2.08-4.06%, 0.81-1.85%, 2.11-4.51% and 67.75-76.66% respectively. The same trend was repeated in the proximate composition of the composite flour breads although the calorific values decreased due to decrease in carbohydrate contents (58.00-47.64%), protein (6.37-11.98%), and increase in moisture (26.71-29.75%), relative to the values observed in the flour blends. Bread weights (196-223g) were comparable but the bread volumes (429-988ml) and specific loaf volumes (2.24-4.82ml/g) varied significantly (p<0.05) and wheat bread had the highest and legume flour treated breads had the least. Organoleptic properties of the wheat bread were rated better in some attributes however not significantly (p<0.05) different from those of 30% sweet potato and cassava breads. It was concluded that although nutritional value of legume containing breads were greater yet their bread volumes were depressed more, the higher protein of grain legume flours not withstanding confirming the fact that quality not quantity of the protein is the determinant factor in bread making potential of flours

Proximate composition, functional, and sensory properties of kadal (fermented grain flour) produced from whole and decorticated maize and pearl millet grains

Kadals are normally prepared from fermented cereal grains and the kadal flours are usually transformed into stiff dough called tuwo and consumed as staple food in many West African countries. Pearl millet (Mi) and maize (Mz) grains were decorticated and each of them was divided into four portions. The first portion was unfermented and the other portions were soaked in water separately for 48h (K2), for 72h (K3) and 96h (K4). Four portions each of whole maize and millet were subjected to the same soaking time, respectively. At the expiration of soaking time, each portion was washed, thoroughly rinsed, sun dried, milled and sieved to produce kadal flours. The unfermented whole and decorticated millet and maize flours served as the experimental controls. The functional properties and proximate compositions of twenty samples were evaluated using standard procedures and the organoleptic properties of the tuwo (kadal dough) prepared from them were evaluated without soup, and with okro soup. Results revealed significant variations (p<0.05) existed in the functional properties and proximate composition of kadal flours as well as the sensory attributes of the tuwo. Wettability of the kadal flours improved with soaking time, water absorption capacities decreased with fermentation time, as well as bulk densities though marginally. Dispersibility of the kadal flours were generally high (70.50-77%) and no significant difference was observed. Ash, protein and fat contents of the whole grain kadal flours were higher than that of decorticated, and there was slight decrease in these nutrients with soaking time. Again, moisture and carbohydrate were lower in whole grain kadal flours than in decorticated counterparts. On sensory attributes of the various tuwo produced, colour improved with soaking time more in the decorticated millet kadals. Decorticated millet had greater desirable flavor, which was not significantly different from that of whole millet kadals. Texture of 4th day kadal tuwo was better, with whole millet kadal tuwo rated better than that of the decorticated, unlike the texture of maize kadal tuwo. Control tuwo in general had poorer flavour, colour, texture and taste. The overall acceptability of the kadal tuwo was generally higher than the control. Millet kadal tuwo progressively improved with soaking time. The bottom line was that nutritional values were sacrificed to the improvement of sensory properties of the prepared kadal flours

Mean-field and stability analysis of two-dimensional flowing soft-core bosons modeling a supersolid

The soft-core boson system is one of the simplest models of supersolids, which have both off-diagonal long-range order (Bose-Einstein condensation) and diagonal long-range order (crystalline order). Although this model has been studied from various points of view, studies of the stability of current-flowing states are lacking. Solving the Gross-Pitaevskii and Bogoliubov equations, we obtain excitation spectra in superfluid, supersolid, and stripe phases. On the basis of the results of the excitation spectra, we present a stability phase diagram that shows the region of the metastable superflow states for each phase.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Posttranscriptional Upregulation of IDH1 by HuR Establishes a Powerful Survival Phenotype in Pancreatic Cancer Cells.

Cancer aggressiveness may result from the selective pressure of a harsh nutrient-deprived microenvironment. Here we illustrate how such conditions promote chemotherapy resistance in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Glucose or glutamine withdrawal resulted in a 5- to 10-fold protective effect with chemotherapy treatment. PDAC xenografts were less sensitive to gemcitabine in hypoglycemic mice compared with hyperglycemic mice. Consistent with this observation, patients receiving adjuvant gemcitabine (n = 107) with elevated serum glucose levels (HgbA1C \u3e 6.5%) exhibited improved survival. We identified enhanced antioxidant defense as a driver of chemoresistance in this setting. ROS levels were doubled in vitro by either nutrient withdrawal or gemcitabine treatment, but depriving PDAC cells of nutrients before gemcitabine treatment attenuated this effect. Mechanistic investigations based on RNAi or CRISPR approaches implicated the RNA binding protein HuR in preserving survival under nutrient withdrawal, with or without gemcitabine. Notably, RNA deep sequencing and functional analyses in HuR-deficient PDAC cell lines identified isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) as the sole antioxidant enzyme under HuR regulation. HuR-deficient PDAC cells lacked the ability to engraft successfully in immunocompromised mice, but IDH1 overexpression in these cells was sufficient to fully restore chemoresistance under low nutrient conditions. Overall, our findings highlight the HuR–IDH1 regulatory axis as a critical, actionable therapeutic target in pancreatic cancer

Guiding Diamond Spin Qubit Growth with Computational Methods

The nitrogen vacancy (NV) center in diamond, a well-studied, optically active spin defect, is the prototypical system in many state of the art quantum sensing and communication applications. In addition to the enticing properties intrinsic to the NV center, its diamond host's nuclear and electronic spin baths can be leveraged as resources for quantum information, rather than considered solely as sources of decoherence. However, current synthesis approaches result in stochastic defect spin positions, reducing the technology's potential for deterministic control and yield of NV-spin bath systems, as well as scalability and integration with other technologies. Here, we demonstrate the use of theoretical calculations of electronic central spin decoherence as an integral part of an NV-spin bath synthesis workflow, providing a path forward for the quantitative design of NV center-based quantum sensing systems. We use computationally generated coherence data to characterize the properties of single NV center qubits across relevant growth parameters to find general trends in coherence time distributions dependent on spin bath dimensionality and density. We then build a maximum likelihood estimator with our theoretical model, enabling the characterization of a test sample through NV T2* measurements. Finally, we explore the impact of dimensionality on the yield of strongly coupled electron spin systems. The methods presented herein are general and applicable to other qubit platforms that can be appropriately simulated.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure

Targeting the mRNA-binding protein HuR impairs malignant characteristics of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cells.

Post-transcriptional regulation is a powerful mediator of gene expression, and can rapidly alter the expression of numerous transcripts involved in tumorigenesis. We have previously shown that the mRNA-binding protein HuR (ELAVL1) is elevated in human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) specimens compared to normal pancreatic tissues, and its cytoplasmic localization is associated with increased tumor stage. To gain a better insight into HuR\u27s role in PDA biology and to assess it as a candidate therapeutic target, we altered HuR expression in PDA cell lines and characterized the resulting phenotype in preclinical models. HuR silencing by short hairpin and small interfering RNAs significantly decreased cell proliferation and anchorage-independent growth, as well as impaired migration and invasion. In comparison, HuR overexpression increased migration and invasion, but had no significant effects on cell proliferation and anchorage-independent growth. Importantly, two distinct targeted approaches to HuR silencing showed marked impairment in tumor growth in mouse xenografts. NanoString nCounter® analyses demonstrated that HuR regulates core biological processes, highlighting that HuR inhibition likely thwarts PDA viability through post-transcriptional regulation of diverse signaling pathways (e.g. cell cycle, apoptosis, DNA repair). Taken together, our study suggests that targeted inhibition of HuR may be a novel, promising approach to the treatment of PDA

Out of the Orient: Post-Tethyan transoceanic and trans-Arabian routes fostered the spread of Baorini skippers in the Afrotropics

The origin of taxa presenting a disjunct distribution between Africa and Asia has puzzled biogeographers for more than a century. This biogeographic pattern has been hypothesized to be the result of transoceanic long-distance dispersal, Oligocene dispersal through forested corridors, Miocene dispersal through the Arabian Peninsula or passive dispersal on the rifting Indian plate. However, it has often been difficult to pinpoint the mechanisms at play. We investigate biotic exchange between the Afrotropics and the Oriental region during the Cenozoic, a period in which geological changes altered landmass connectivity. We use Baorini skippers (Lepidoptera, Hesperiidae) as a model, a widespread clade of butterflies in the Old World tropics with a disjunct distribution between the Afrotropics and the Oriental region. We use anchored phylogenomics to infer a robust evolutionary tree for Baorini skippers and estimate divergence times and ancestral ranges to test biogeographic hypotheses. Our phylogenomic tree recovers strongly supported relationships for Baorini skippers and clarifies the systematics of the tribe. Dating analyses suggest that these butterflies originated in the Oriental region, Greater Sunda Islands, and the Philippines in the early Miocene c. 23 Ma. Baorini skippers dispersed from the Oriental region towards Africa at least five times in the past 20 Ma. These butterflies colonized the Afrotropics primarily through trans-Arabian geodispersal after the closure of the Tethyan seaway in the mid-Miocene. Range expansion from the Oriental region towards the African continent probably occurred via the Gomphotherium land bridge through the Arabian Peninsula. Alternative scenarios invoking long-distance dispersal and vicariance are not supported. The Miocene climate change and biome shift from forested areas to grasslands possibly facilitated geodispersal in this clade of butterflies.Directorate for Biological Sciences. Grant Numbers: DEB‐1541500, DEB‐1541560.Peer reviewe

RNA extraction from self-assembling peptide hydrogels to allow qPCR analysis of encapsulated cells

Self-assembling peptide hydrogels offer a novel 3-dimensional platform for many applications in cell culture and tissue engineering but are not compatible with current methods of RNA isolation; owing to interactions between RNA and the biomaterial. This study investigates the use of two techniques based on two different basic extraction principles: solution-based extraction and direct solid-state binding of RNA respectively, to extract RNA from cells encapsulated in four β-sheet forming self-assembling peptide hydrogels with varying net positive charge. RNA-peptide fibril interactions, rather than RNA-peptide molecular complexing, were found to interfere with the extraction process resulting in low yields. A column-based approach relying on RNA-specific binding was shown to be more suited to extracting RNA with higher purity from these peptide hydrogels owing to its reliance on strong specific RNA binding interactions which compete directly with RNA-peptide fibril interactions. In order to reduce the amount of fibrils present and improve RNA yields a broad spectrum enzyme solution—pronase—was used to partially digest the hydrogels before RNA extraction. This pre-treatment was shown to significantly increase the yield of RNA extracted, allowing downstream RT-qPCR to be performed