CASA and LEAD: Adaptive Cyberinfrastructure for Real-Time Multiscale Weather Forecasting

Two closely linked projects aim to dramatically improve storm forecasting speed and accuracy. CASA is creating a distributed, collaborative, adaptive sensor network of low-power, high-resolution radars that respond to user needs. LEAD offers dynamic workflow orchestration and data management in a Web services framework designed to support on-demand, real-time, dynamically adaptive systems     

Active management of scientific data

Sophisticated data-distribution schemes and recent developments in sensors and instruments that can monitor the lower kilometers of the atmosphere at high levels of resolution have rapidly expanded the quantity of information available to mesoscale meteorology. The myLEAD personalized information-management tool helps geoscience users make sense of this vastly expanded information space. MyLEAD extends the general globus metadata catalog service and leverages a well-known general and extensible schema. Its orientation makes it an active player in large-scale distributed computation environments characterized by interacting grid and Web services.     

Ultrastructure of biofilms formed on barley kernels during maltingwith and without starter culture

Malted barley is a major raw material of beer, as well as distilled spirits and several food products. In the malting process, dry barley kernels are steeped in water which initiates germination and invigorates microbial growth on the kernels. In the present study, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) was used to visualize the microbial community within the tissues of barley kernels before and after the steeping, with and without Lactobacillus plantarum E76 added as a starter culture. The results show that the community of 10⁸ cfu g⁻¹ on dry, stored barley kernels increased 5–10 fold during the steeping forming a dense biofilm of bacteria and fungi with slimy exopolymeric matrix. FESEM revealed that crevices between the outer epidermis and the testa of sound barley kernels were heavily colonized with microbes, whereas there were only few microbes on the outer surface of the husks, in the aleurone layer or in the endosperm underneath an intact testa layer. The microbes frequently possessed appendages forming bridging them to the kernel and the individual microbial cells to each other. The L. plantarum added to the steeping water reduced the amount of exopolymeric matrix in the biofilm and improved the wort filterability.     

Indigenous Microbial Community of Barley Greatly Influences Grain Germination and Malt Quality

The present study was carried out to investigate the impacts of bacterial and fungal communities on grain germination and on the malting properties of good‐quality two‐row barley. In order to suppress the growth of bacterial and/or fungal communities, various antibiotics were added to the first steeping water of barley. This study was also designed to explore the dynamics of the bacterial community in the malting process after antimicrobial treatments by polymerase chain reaction‐denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR‐DGGE). The diverse microbial community played an active role in the malting ecosystem. Even previously undescribed bacterial species were found in the malting ecosystem. Suppression of the bacterial community mainly consisting of Gram‐negative bacteria was advantageous with respect to grain germination and wort separation. In addition, more extract was obtained after antibacterial treatments. The fungal community significantly contributed to the production of microbial β‐glucanases and xylanases, and was also involved in proteolysis. An improved understanding of the complex microbial community and its role in malting enables a more controlled process management and the production of high quality malt with tailored properties.     

Structural and Enzymic Changes in Germinated Barley and Rye

Germination of barley and rye grains at 15°C and 56% moisture content resulted in the production of α-amylase, β-glucanase, endo-β-xylanase and α-arabinosidase. During germination of rye, enzyme activity increased significantly after the first day, whereas in the case of barley a rapid increase was not observed until after the third or fourth day. Rye varieties produced more xylanase, whereas barley produced more α-amylase and β-glucanase. Of the barley samples, germinated Pokko had the highest activities of β-glucanase, xylanase and α-amylase, and at 46% moisture content highest degradation of cell walls on the basis of image analysis. Arve had the highest α-arabinofuranosidase activity. Of the rye samples, Amando produced more xylanase and α-arabinosidase than Anna. The M_w of barley and rye β-glucan decreased significantly during germination. In rye samples, residual high molecular weight arabinoxylans were still present after 4 days of germination. The mass average molecular weight (M_w) of this fraction was 3 × 10⁶.     

Day‐length effects on protein localisation affect water absorption in barley (Hordeum vulgare) grains

BACKGROUND: Hordeins are major storage proteins of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) grains and are considered to influence malting and brewing by forming a matrix surrounding the starch granules which affects the release of fermentable sugars. However, the extent to which environmental factors affect hordein location, and the impact of this on malting performance, have not so far been studied. Therefore the relationship of hordein location to water uptake and malting quality were studied by growing barley cv. Barke under different daylengths (14 h and 18 h of light) in controlled environment conditions. RESULTS: Differences in the locations of hordein storage proteins were observed, with C hordein being located more deeply within the endosperm of both developing grains at 35 days after anthesis and in mature grains under long‐day conditions. This deeper location of C hordein was correlated positively with water uptake during the steeping phase of malting. CONCLUSION: An effect of environment (daylength) on the localisation of C hordein was demonstrated. This difference in hordein localisation was also associated with differences in malting quality with water uptake in the steeping phase being associated positively with the deeper location of C hordein. These results indicate that environmental effects on protein location may affect malting performance of barley grains. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry