A polymerase chain reaction directed to detect wheat glutenin: Implications for gluten-free labelling

Gluten enteropathy or celiac disease (CD) is treated by strict adherence to gluten-free diet for life. Trace amounts of wheat in food from farm to table manifests as a major risk to these individuals. A qualitative polymerase chain reaction method was developed by selectively amplifying a 135 bp fragment of the glutenin gene to detect wheat DNA in a plethora of raw and heat processed foods. The limit of detection was 21.5 pg of DNA. The absence of amplification in other cereals such as oat, rye, barley and maize renders this method exclusive for detection of wheat. The detection of wheat DNA in thermally processed foods by this method, despite extensive DNA fragmentation, evinces the suitability and applicability of the method for labeling gluten-free foods. This method complements the immunochemical methods toward addressing food safety in CD patients and wheat allergics.     

Bearing capacity of geogrid reinforced sand over encased stone columns in soft clay

Stone columns develop their load carrying capacity from the circumferential confinement provided by the surrounding soils. In very soft soils, the circumferential confinement offered by the surrounding soft soil may not be sufficient to develop the required load carrying capacity. Hence a vertical confinement would yield a better result. The load carrying capacity is further increased with the addition of a sand bed over the stone columns. In the present study, a series of laboratory model tests on an unreinforced sand bed (USB) and a geogrid-reinforced sand bed (GRSB) placed over a group of vertically encased stone columns (VESC) floating in soft clay and their numerical simulations were conducted. Three-dimensional numerical simulations were performed using a finite element package ABAQUS 6.12. In the finite element analysis, geogrid and geotextile were modeled as an elasto-plastic material. As compared to unreinforced clay bed, an 8.45 fold increase in bearing capacity was observed with the provision of a GRSB over VESC. The optimum thickness of USB and GRSB was found to be 0.2 times and 0.15 times the diameter of the footing. A considerable decrease in bulging of columns was also noticed with the provision of a GRSB over VESC. Both the improvement factor and stress concentration ratio of VESC with GRSB showed an increasing trend with an increase in the settlement. It was observed that the optimum length of stone columns and the optimum depth of encasement of the group of floating VESC with GRSB are 6 times and about 3 times the diameter of the column respectively.     

Blocking of CD4 cell receptors for the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) by chemically modified bovine milk proteins: potential for AIDS prophylaxis

An evaluation of the effects of the ABLE (Analyzing Behavior State and Learning Environments) model was presented. Eight teachers received training on observing behavior state and relevant environmental variables; analyzing potential effects of nutrition and medications; identifying strategies for individual students; and participating in a process to generate classroom-based intervention strategies based on their observations. Results showed that teachers were able to reliably implement the model, which produced significant increases in occurrences of the preferred alert and active states and significant decreases in nonpreferred states, such as sleep, drowse, daze, and crying/agitated. Additional findings indicated that the teachers were satisfied with the training procedures and found the model to be relevant and appropriate for students with profound mental retardation. Case studies were briefly presented.     

Colour degradation and rheology of green chilli puree during thermal processing

The kinetics of degradation of both green- and total-colour of green chilli puree was studied at selected temperatures (50–90 °C). A fractional conversion concept was applied to determine the kinetic parameters. The degradation of green- and total-colour followed first order reaction kinetics. In the case of green colour the data was based on changes in Hunter – a value while L  ×  a  ×  b was found to adequately represent total colour change. Dependence of the rate constant during heat treatment obeyed the Arrhenius relationship. The activation energy values for green- and total-colour degradation were 23.04 and 25.02 kJ mol^–1, respectively. These results indicated that total colour should be used as the quality indicator during thermal processing of green chilli puree. The pungency of green chilli puree decreased during thermal processing as the capsaicin content was reduced from 559 to 441 μg g^–1 while the Scoville heat unit decreased from 8500 to 7480. The puree behaved as a shear-thinning fluid and the flow activation energy at 100 r.p.m. equalled 19.22 kJ mol^–1.     

Magnetic-Field-Induced Level Crossing and the Spin Dynamics of Excitons in Zn1?xMnxTe/ZnTe Quantum Wells

Magnetic-field-induced level crossing and the spin dynamics of excitons in a Zn_1–x Mn _x Te/ZnTe single quantum well are studied. The circularly-polarized photoluminescence (PL) shows that the down spin branch of the Zn_1–x Mn _x Te exciton overlaps with both the up and down spin branches of the ZnTe exciton at a crossing field (H _c) of 4 T, due to the giant Zeeman shift of Zn_1–x Mn _x Te. The PL intensities and lifetimes in each layer become gradually equal toward H _c, which shows the mixing of wavefunctions of the excitons generated in each layer. Above H _c, each branch of the spin-polarized exciton separates again. The lifetimes of the spin-polarized exciton PL reflect the spin-flip relaxation in ZnTe and the spin mixing between Zn_1–x Mn _x Te and ZnTe layers.     

Be2+ and Mg2+-decorated sulflower: Potential systems for molecular hydrogen storage

The hydrogen binding efficiency of multiple metal-ion (Be²⁺, Mg²⁺)-decorated “First Generation” Sulflower (C₁₆S₈) systems has been investigated for the first time using density functional ω-B97XD method and 6311++G(d,p) basis set. Our calculations show that the central ring of the aforesaid system can be decorated by a single di-positive metal ion, followed by favorable decoration of at most one pair of metal ions (di-positive each) on the peripheral five-membered rings, both on same and opposite faces with certain preferences. All of the metal ion-decorated complexes are capable of efficient hydrogen binding. Be²⁺ and Mg²⁺-decked single ion complexes effectively bind six and four H₂ molecules respectively. Moreover, each of the double ion-decorated systems can adsorb ten H₂ molecules irrespective of the facial orientation of the metal ions. The average interaction energy (ΔE) between sulflower and metal ions (single and double ions) as well as the average binding energy (ΔBE) per molecular hydrogen of the concerned metal-ion-decorated complexes is found to be much higher for Be²⁺-decked systems. The nature of interaction between hydrogen molecules and metal ions is explicated by the topological analysis (AIM Analysis) and NBO formalisms. In case of Be²⁺-decked systems, the amount of charge transfer from H₂ bonding orbital to metal anti-bonding orbital is much higher than analogous Mg²⁺-decorated systems. The Natural Population Analysis (NPA) evaluates the charge variation on the acceptor metal ions due to hydrogen adsorption. In short, our theoretical study gives a comprehensive account of the relationship between the metal ion-decorated sulflower systems and hydrogen molecules, which will further motivate researchers in the field of efficient hydrogen storage materials.     

Network Coverage in Interference Limited Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless Personal Communications - The performance of a wireless sensor network is limited by the available bandwidth of the shared wireless channel. For the need to share the available bandwidth...