Functional properties of soy-enriched tapioca

The study was conducted to investigate the effect of soy-substitution on functional properties of tapioca a partially gelatinised irregular starch grit made from cassava. Starch was extracted from cassava tubers and soy-tapioca was produced by incorporation of full-fat soy flour into moist starch at four levels of substitution; 15: 85, 25: 75, 50: 50 before granulation and gelatinization. Functional properties of soy-tapioca samples: water absorption, bulk density, swelling capacity, oil absorption capacity, dispersibility, gelation capacity, syneresis, transmittance and pasting characteristics were determined and compared with that of tapioca. Results show that functional properties of soy-tapioca differ from each other as the ratio of soy substitution increases. Gelation, oil absorption, dispersibility, swelling, viscosity and transmittance, decreased as soy-substitution increased while water absorption capacity increased. Functional properties of soy-tapioca (15:85) suggest that it can compare favourably with that of tapioca. Enrichment of tapioca with soy flour to enhance its nutritional value is feasible however; increase in the level of soy substitution beyond 15% will alter the functional properties and affect the gelatinous nature of the tapioca meal. This may affect its acceptability and utilization by the consumers. Soy–tapioca (15: 85) can provide a nutrient dense alternative to tapioca and enhance nutritional security.Keywords: Functional properties, tapioca, cassava, starch grit, soy flour, soy-enriched tapioca, viscosity, soysubstitutionAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(22), pp. 3583-358

Statolith morphometrics can discriminate among taxa of cubozoan jellyfishes

Identification of potentially harmful cubomedusae is difficult due to their gelatinous nature. The only hard structure of medusae, the statolith, has the potential to provide robust measurements for morphometric analysis. Traditional morphometric length to width ratios (L: W) and modern morphometric Elliptical Fourier Analysis (EFA) were applied to proximal, oral and lateral statolith faces of 12 cubozoan species. EFA outperformed L: W as L: W did not account for the curvature of the statolith. Best discrimination was achieved with Canonical Discriminant Analysis (CDA) when analysing proximal + oral + lateral statolith faces in combination. Normalised Elliptical Fourier (NEF) coefficients classified 98% of samples to their correct species and 94% to family group. Statolith shape agreed with currently accepted cubozoan taxonomy. This has potential to assist in identifying levels of risk and stock structure of populations in areas where box jellyfish envenomations are a concern as the severity of envenomation is family dependent. We have only studied 12 (27%) of the 45 currently accepted cubomedusae, but analyses demonstrated that statolith shape is an effective taxonomic discriminator within the Class

Bright Water- hydrosols, water conservation and climate change

Since air-water and water-air interfaces are equally refractive, cloud droplets and microbubbles dispersed in bodies of water reflect sunlight in much the same way. The lifetime of sunlight-reflecting microbubbles, and hence the scale on which they may be applied, depends on Stokes Law and the influence of ambient or added surfactants. Small bubbles backscatter light more efficiently than large ones, opening the possibility of using highly dilute micron-radius hydrosols to substantially brighten surface waters. Such microbubbles can noticeably increase water surface reflectivity, even at volume fractions of parts per million and such loadings can be created at an energy cost as low as J m-2 to initiate and milliwatts m-2 to sustain. Increasing water albedo in this way can reduce solar energy absorption by as much as 100 W m-2, potentially reducing equilibrium temperatures of standing water bodies by several Kelvins. While aerosols injected into the stratosphere tend to alter climate globally, hydrosols can be used to modulate surface albedo, locally and reversibly, without risk of degrading the ozone layer or altering the color of the sky. The low energy cost of microbubbles suggests a new approach to solar radiation management in water conservation and geoengineering: Don't dim the Sun; Brighten the water.Comment: 15 pages, Presented at The Asilomar Confernce on Climate Intervention technologie

Accumulation of Gel Particles in the Sea-Surface Microlayer during an Experimental Study with the Diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii

Since the early 80’s, the sea-surface microlayer (SML) has been hypothesized as being a gelatinous film. Recent studies have confirmed this characteristic, which confers properties that mediate mass and energy fluxes between ocean and atmosphere, including the emission of primary organic aerosols from marine systems. We investigated SML thickness and composition in five replicate indoor experiments between September and December 2010. During each experiment, the SML and underlying seawater were sampled from four seawater tanks: one served as control, and three were inoculated with Thalassiosira weissflogii grown in chemostats at 180, 380 and 780 ppm pCO2. We examined organic material enrichment factors in each tank, paying particular attention to gel particles accumulation such as polysaccharidic Transparent Exopolymer Particles (TEP) and the proteinaceous Coomassie Stainable Particles (CSP). While previous studies have observed carbohydrates and TEP enrichment in the microlayer, little is yet known about proteinaceous gel particles in the SML. Our experiments show that CSP dominate the gelatinous composition of the SML. We believe that the enrichment in CSP points to the importance of bacterial activity in the microlayer. Bacteria may play a pivotal role in mediating processes at the air-sea interface thanks to their exudates and protein content that can be released through cell disruption

On the egg-cases of zebra shark Stegostoma fasciatum caught off Tuticorin, Gulf of Mannar

Landings of zebra shark Stegostoma fasciatum (Hermann), are not uncommon along the Indian coast.On 22-8-91 two female zebra sharks measuring 157 and 165 cm in total length and weighing 30 and 34.5 kg respectively were landed at Tutlcorin landing centre which were caught from a depth of 40-50 m by hooks and- line operated from Tuticorin type of mechanised boat

Comparison of bacterioneuston and bacterioplankton dynamics during a phytoplankton bloom in a fjord mesocosm

The bacterioneuston is the community of Bacteria present in surface microlayers, the thin surface film that forms the interface between aquatic environments and the atmosphere. In this study we compared bacterial cell abundance and bacterial community structure of the bacterioneuston and the bacterioplankton (from the subsurface water column) during a phytoplankton bloom mesocosm experiment. Bacterial cell abundance, determined by flow cytometry, followed a typical bacterioplankton response to a phytoplankton bloom, with Synechococcus and high nucleic acid (HNA) bacterial cell numbers initially falling, probably due to selective protist grazing. Subsequently HNA and low nucleic acid (LNA) bacterial cells increased in abundance but Synechococcus did not. There was no significant difference between bacterioneuston and bacterioplankton cell abundances during the experiment. Conversely, distinct and consistent differences between the bacterioneuston and the bacterioplankton community structure were observed. This was monitored simultaneously by Bacteria 16S rRNA gene terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). The conserved patterns of community structure observed in all of the mesocosms indicate that the bacterioneuston is distinctive and non-random

Production and Fate of Transparent Exopolymer Particles in the Ocean

The production and fate of transparent exopolymer particles (TEP) have been investigated in various oceanic regions (tropical, temperate, and polar), from the sea surface microlayer (SML) to the deep ocean. Accumulation of TEP within the mixed layer was observed even in the absence of phytoplankton blooms, indicating abiotic processes are important in TEP production. The abiotic TEP aggregation rates measured in the tropical and temperate North Pacific and the Arctic Ocean averaged between 8 and 12 μmol C L-1 d-1. Depth profiles from under sea ice in the Arctic revealed the highest TEP concentrations, potentially released by sympagic algal activity at the bottom of the sea ice. The aggregation rates in the SML, the interfacial layer between the ocean and atmosphere, were generally enhanced over those in the bulk surface waters by factors of 2 to 30. This finding further strengthens a developing consensus on the gelatinous nature of the SML, which will also affect microbial life, light penetration, and surface wave properties. We present a conceptual model implying that abiotic aggregation is an important factor for TEP production in the ocean, in particular in sea surface microlayers, while consumption by zooplankton and protists recycle TEP, providing a new pool of dissolved precursor material. Overall, TEP is recycled within the water column through heterotrophic grazing and degradation, providing a new pool of TEP precursor materials, while enhanced aggregation rates of TEP in the SML indicates the importance of this thin surface film in the marine carbon cycle

Clinicopathologic analysis of 14 cases of odontogenic myxoma and review of the literature

Odontogenic myxoma is a rare benign neoplasm that originates from odontogenic ectomesenchyme. There is no standard of care and recurrences are frequent after conservative surgical procedures. A retrospective study conducted at a single cancer center, with analysis of medical records of all patients diagnosed with odontogenic myxoma from 1980 to 2010, along with a literature review. There were 14 patients with diagnosis of odontogenic myxoma (OM). Most patients were female (78.6%) and Caucasian (100%), with ages ranging from 7 to 51 years (21.6 ± 11.6 years). The time period between the first symptom and first consultation ranged from 0 to 60 months (19.4 ± 19.97 months). The most frequent complaints were increased local volume or failure to tooth eruption. The most common tumor site was the mandible (11 cases, 78.5%). About radiological findings, most lesions were multilocular (9 cases, 64.3%) and with imprecise limits (12 cases, 85.7%). Surgery was performed in all cases and curettage was the most applied technique (10 cases, 71.4%). Three patients underwent mandibulectomy and complex reconstructions including iliac crest microvascular flap. Three patients had postoperative complications and 4 had local recurrences of the tumor. The follow up time ranged from 12 to 216 months (112 ± 70.8 months). All patients are without clinical and radiographic evidence of disease. OM is a locally aggressive and rare tumor. There is no gold standard surgical management and the therapeutic decision should be individualized taking into account the characteristics and extension of the tumor