scholarly journals Large-Scale Reassessment of In-Vineyard Smoke-Taint Grapevine Protection Strategies and the Development of Predictive Off-Vine Models

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (14) ◽  
pp. 4311
Author(s):  
James W. Favell ◽  
Osei B. Fordwour ◽  
Sydney C. Morgan ◽  
Ieva Zigg ◽  
Wesley F. Zandberg

Smoke taint in wine is thought to be caused by smoke-derived volatile phenols (VPs) that are absorbed into grape tissues, trapped as conjugates that are imperceptible by smell, and subsequently released into wines as their free odor-active forms via metabolism by yeasts during fermentation. Blocking VP uptake into grapes would, therefore, be an effective way for vineyards to protect ripening grape crops exposed to smoke. Here, we re-evaluated a biofilm that had previously shown promise in pilot studies in reducing levels of smoke-derived VPs. A suite of nine free and acid-labile VPs were quantitated in Pinot Noir grapes that had been exposed to smoke after being coated with the biofilm one, seven or 14 days earlier. In contrast with earlier studies, our results demonstrated that in all cases, the biofilm treatments led to increased concentrations of both free and total VPs in smoke-exposed grapes, with earlier applications elevating concentrations of some VPs more than the later time points. Tracking VP concentrations through the grape ripening process demonstrated that some (phenol, p/m-cresol, and guaiacol) were not entirely sequestered in grapes as acid-labile conjugates, suggesting the presence of VP storage forms beyond simple glycosides. Free VPs in grapes, though a minor portion of the total, most clearly correlated with concentrations present in the resulting wines. Finally, red table grapes, available year round, were observed to replicate the effects of the biofilm treatments and were capable of transforming most VPs into acid-labile conjugates in under 24 h, indicating that they might be an effective model for rapidly assessing smoke-taint prophylactic products in the laboratory.

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 5449-5458
Author(s):  
A. Arokiaraj Jovith ◽  
S.V. Kasmir Raja ◽  
A. Razia Sulthana

Interference in Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) predominantly affects the performance of the WSN. Energy consumption in WSN is one of the greatest concerns in the current generation. This work presents an approach for interference measurement and interference mitigation in point to point network. The nodes are distributed in the network and interference is measured by grouping the nodes in the region of a specific diameter. Hence this approach is scalable and isextended to large scale WSN. Interference is measured in two stages. In the first stage, interference is overcome by allocating time slots to the node stations in Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) fashion. The node area is split into larger regions and smaller regions. The time slots are allocated to smaller regions in TDMA fashion. A TDMA based time slot allocation algorithm is proposed in this paper to enable reuse of timeslots with minimal interference between smaller regions. In the second stage, the network density and control parameter is introduced to reduce interference in a minor level within smaller node regions. The algorithm issimulated and the system is tested with varying control parameter. The node-level interference and the energy dissipation at nodes are captured by varying the node density of the network. The results indicate that the proposed approach measures the interference and mitigates with minimal energy consumption at nodes and with less overhead transmission.


Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 2688
Author(s):  
Tobias Goris ◽  
Rafael R. C. Cuadrat ◽  
Annett Braune

Flavonoids are a major group of dietary plant polyphenols and have a positive health impact, but their modification and degradation in the human gut is still widely unknown. Due to the rise of metagenome data of the human gut microbiome and the assembly of hundreds of thousands of bacterial metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs), large-scale screening for potential flavonoid-modifying enzymes of human gut bacteria is now feasible. With sequences of characterized flavonoid-transforming enzymes as queries, the Unified Human Gastrointestinal Protein catalog was analyzed and genes encoding putative flavonoid-modifying enzymes were quantified. The results revealed that flavonoid-modifying enzymes are often encoded in gut bacteria hitherto not considered to modify flavonoids. The enzymes for the physiologically important daidzein-to-equol conversion, well studied in Slackiaisoflavoniconvertens, were encoded only to a minor extent in Slackia MAGs, but were more abundant in Adlercreutzia equolifaciens and an uncharacterized Eggerthellaceae species. In addition, enzymes with a sequence identity of about 35% were encoded in highly abundant MAGs of uncultivated Collinsella species, which suggests a hitherto uncharacterized daidzein-to-equol potential in these bacteria. Of all potential flavonoid modification steps, O-deglycosylation (including derhamnosylation) was by far the most abundant in this analysis. In contrast, enzymes putatively involved in C-deglycosylation were detected less often in human gut bacteria and mainly found in Agathobacter faecis (formerly Roseburia faecis). Homologs to phloretin hydrolase, flavanonol/flavanone-cleaving reductase and flavone reductase were of intermediate abundance (several hundred MAGs) and mainly prevalent in Flavonifractor plautii. This first comprehensive insight into the black box of flavonoid modification in the human gut highlights many hitherto overlooked and uncultured bacterial genera and species as potential key organisms in flavonoid modification. This could lead to a significant contribution to future biochemical-microbiological investigations on gut bacterial flavonoid transformation. In addition, our results are important for individual nutritional recommendations and for biotechnological applications that rely on novel enzymes catalyzing potentially useful flavonoid modification reactions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (14) ◽  
pp. i417-i426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin K Molloy ◽  
Tandy Warnow

Abstract Motivation At RECOMB-CG 2018, we presented NJMerge and showed that it could be used within a divide-and-conquer framework to scale computationally intensive methods for species tree estimation to larger datasets. However, NJMerge has two significant limitations: it can fail to return a tree and, when used within the proposed divide-and-conquer framework, has O(n5) running time for datasets with n species. Results Here we present a new method called ‘TreeMerge’ that improves on NJMerge in two ways: it is guaranteed to return a tree and it has dramatically faster running time within the same divide-and-conquer framework—only O(n2) time. We use a simulation study to evaluate TreeMerge in the context of multi-locus species tree estimation with two leading methods, ASTRAL-III and RAxML. We find that the divide-and-conquer framework using TreeMerge has a minor impact on species tree accuracy, dramatically reduces running time, and enables both ASTRAL-III and RAxML to complete on datasets (that they would otherwise fail on), when given 64 GB of memory and 48 h maximum running time. Thus, TreeMerge is a step toward a larger vision of enabling researchers with limited computational resources to perform large-scale species tree estimation, which we call Phylogenomics for All. Availability and implementation TreeMerge is publicly available on Github (http://github.com/ekmolloy/treemerge). Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.


1980 ◽  
Vol 37 (11) ◽  
pp. 2202-2208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl J. Walters ◽  
George Spangler ◽  
W. J. Christie ◽  
Patrick J. Manion ◽  
James F. Kitchell

The Sea Lamprey International Symposium (SLIS) has provided a broad spectrum of facts and speculations for consideration in future research and management programs. Many aspects of the laboratory biology and field life history of the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) are now well understood. There is little question that it can now be controlled by chemical larvicides, and perhaps in the future by more efficient integrated control programs. There is correlative evidence (wounds, scars, catch curves) that lamprey caused major mortalities in some fish species, and that control in conjunction with stocking has lead to remarkable recoveries of salmonid stocks in the Great Lakes. However, there are great gaps in understanding about just what the lamprey does under field conditions, and it is not yet possible to reject several hypotheses that assign lamprey a minimum or transient role in fish stock changes. Further studies on details of lamprey biology are, in themselves, unlikely to fill the gaps; one alternative is to conduct a large-scale field experiment involving cessation of lamprey control while holding other factors (fishing, stocking) as steady as possible. If it is decided to proceed with management on the assumption that lamprey are important, without the major field experiments to confirm it, then at least the following steps should be taken: (1) the chemical treatment program should be reviewed in detail, with a view to finding treatment schedules that will minimize frequency and dose rates for lampricide applications; (2) pilot studies on alternative control schemes (sterile male, attractants, barriers) should only be funded if they are statistically well designed (several replicate and control streams), and involve quantitative monitoring of lamprey spawning success and subsequent total production of transforming larvae; (3) the lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) stocking program should be maintained at its present level, and should involve diverse genotypes rather than a few hatchery strains; (4) growth in the sport fisheries for lake trout should be curtailed, and commercial fisheries should not yet be permitted; (5) a multispecies harvesting policy should be designed that takes into account the buffering effect of each species on lamprey mortality suffered by others (i.e. should some species not be harvested at all, and viewed instead as buffers for more valuable species?); and (6) a program should be developed for restoring, by culture if necessary, native forage species in case the introduced smelt and alewife should collapse under pressure from fishing and prédation by the growing salmonid community.Key words: sea lamprey, proposed research, fishery management, mathematical models, population dynamics


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominik Rumlich

This article summarizes the essential theoretical and empirical findings of a large-scale doctoral dissertation study on content and language integrated learning (CLIL) streams at German secondary schools (Gymnasium) with up to three content subjects taught in English (Rumlich, 2016). A theoretical account rooted in teaching English as a foreign language (EFL), language acquisition and educational psychology provides the basis for the development of a comprehensive longitudinal model of general EFL proficiency, which incorporates cognitive, affective-motivational, and further individual variables. In a second step, the model is used to estimate the effects of CLIL on general EFL proficiency, EFL self-concept and interest over a span of two school years (Year 6 to Year 8). The statistical evaluation of the quasi-experimental data from 1,000 learners finds large initial differences prior to CLIL due to selection, preparation, and class composition effects brought about by the implementation of CLIL within streams. After two years, the analyses found no CLIL-related benefits for general EFL proficiency or interest in EFL classes and solely a minor increase in EFL self-concept that might be attributable to CLIL. The results make a strong claim for comprehensive longitudinal model-based evaluations and the inclusion of selection, preparation, and class composition effects when conducting research on CLIL programmes in similar settings. The findings also suggest that not all language competences and affective-motivational dispositions might benefit from CLIL (the way it is currently taught in Germany) to the same extent.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1963 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 344-346

Recommendations were made in view of the following facts: (1) the need for further information on the mechanisms involved in the phenotypic expressions of phenylketonuria; (2) the present lack of adequate data on the effectiveness of the Guthrie Inhibition Assay, in terms of number of cases which may be missed, factors making for positive determinations and providing other information on which to evaluate the appropriateness of the large-scale screening program proposed; (3) the undesirability of deploying inordinate resources in the evaluation of the Guthrie Inhibition Assay to the detriment of the needs of other areas of child health including phenylketonuria; (4) the indications that a multi-faceted approach to phenylketonuria would be productive, not only in resolving the problems involving this disorder but also as a model for the investigation of and application to the treatment of other genetic diseases; (5) the possibility that the Guthrie Inhibition Assay could be a useful tool in the early detection, treatment and investigation of phenylketonuria; and (6) the fact that other state health departments are participating in the Guthrie Field Trials, indicating that the California State Department of Public Health should apply its resources to a more intensive study of PKU and detection methods. The consultants made the following recommendations, through resolution, to the California State Department of Public Health. It was resolved that: 1. The State of California not be responsible at this time for initiating or recommending that the Guthrie procedure be accomplished on a state-wide basis in all newborn nurseries (one dissent). 2. The State of California initiate and coordinate the development of pilot studies in selected hospitals and medical centers throughout the State in the investigation of phenylketonuria, utilizing the Guthrie Inhibition Assay or other tests. 3. A scientific committee be appointed immediately as an advisory committee to the State Department of Public Health to develop recommendations for carrying out the suggested investigations. 4. A registry for phenylketonuria and other diseases (as listed in the recommendations by the Subcommittee on Human Genetics) be established within the framework of the State organization.


2005 ◽  
Vol 23 (10) ◽  
pp. 3365-3373 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Birn ◽  
M. Hesse

Abstract. Magnetic reconnection is the crucial process in the release of magnetic energy previously stored in the magnetotail in association with substorms. However, energy transfer and dissipation in the vicinity of the reconnection site is only a minor part of the energy conversion. We discuss the energy release, transport, and conversion based on large-scale resistive MHD simulations of magnetotail dynamics and more localized full particle simulations of reconnection. We address in particular, where the energy is released, how it propagates and where and how it is converted from one form into another. We find that Joule (or ohmic) dissipation plays only a minor role in the overall energy transfer. Bulk kinetic energy, although locally significant in the outflow from the reconnection site, plays a more important role as mediator or catalyst in the transfer between magnetic and thermal energy. Generator regions with potential auroral consequences are located primarily off the equatorial plane in the boundary regions of the plasma sheet.


2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (6) ◽  
pp. 567-574
Author(s):  
V. I. Kravtsova ◽  
A. N. Inyushin

The dynamics of Lena delta coastline since the late XX century up to the present time have been studied using Landsat satellite data. The comparison of different-time images of morphologically different segments of the delta coastline has shown the major portion of the delta to be stable. Minimal changes have been recorded near the mouths of the branches carrying a minor portion of the Lena runoffthe Olenekskaya and Tumatskie. In the eastern part of the delta, near the mouths of copious branches Trofimovskaya and Bykovskaya, no changes have taken place, as well as in its western part, which is represented by a part of abrasion marine terrace embraced by the delta. In the southwestern part, in the Olenek delta, the delta coastline has been eroded with the erosion material transported eastward by along-shore current. Near the mouths of the Tumatskaya branch, the forms of marine accumulation are unstable, and the marine terrace in the northeastern part of the delta shows a minor local erosion. The periods of erosion in different delta areas are not synchronous and the eroded zones are not large in size. No increment in the land, nor shore progradation have been seen.


2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan J. Rabett ◽  
Philip J. Piper

For many decades Palaeolithic research viewed the development of early modern human behaviour as largely one of progress down a path towards the ‘modernity’ of the present. The European Palaeolithic sequence — the most extensively studied — was for a long time the yard-stick against which records from other regions were judged. Recent work undertaken in Africa and increasingly Asia, however, now suggests that the European evidence may tell a story that is more parochial and less universal than previously thought. While tracking developments at the large scale (the grand narrative) remains important, there is growing appreciation that to achieve a comprehensive understanding of human behavioural evolution requires an archaeologically regional perspective to balance this.One of the apparent markers of human modernity that has been sought in the global Palaeolithic record, prompted by finds in the European sequence, is innovation in bonebased technologies. As one step in the process of re-evaluating and contextualizing such innovations, in this article we explore the role of prehistoric bone technologies within the Southeast Asian sequence, where they have at least comparable antiquity to Europe and other parts of Asia. We observe a shift in the technological usage of bone — from a minor component to a medium of choice — during the second half of the Last Termination and into the Holocene. We suggest that this is consistent with it becoming a focus of the kinds of inventive behaviour demanded of foraging communities as they adapted to the far-reaching environmental and demographic changes that were reshaping this region at that time. This record represents one small element of a much wider, much longerterm adaptive process, which we would argue is not confined to the earliest instances of a particular technology or behaviour, but which forms part of an on-going story of our behavioural evolution.


1987 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-67
Author(s):  
W B Bruce ◽  
W B Gurley

Promoter domains required for transcriptional expression of the 780 gene of T-right (pTi15955) were identified by deletion mutagenesis. Accurate quantitation of transcriptional activity of a series of 5' and internal deletion mutants was achieved by using a double gene vector containing a reference 780 gene as an internal standard. Results of the 5' deletions delineated an activator element located between -440 and -229 base pairs (bp) from the start of transcription. Removal of this region resulted in a 100-fold decrease in promoter activity. Two relatively small internal deletion/substitution mutations at positions -74 to -76 and -98 to -112 reduced promoter activity to 38 and 42%, respectively. In most cases large-scale internal deletions (38 to 151 bp) occurring in various locations from positions -12 to -348 bp caused a significant loss in major promoter activity. However, three internal deletions starting at position -37 and extending upstream as far as -153 bp either had little effect on transcriptional activity or resulted in increased activity. Removal of the TATA motif drastically reduced promoter activity to less than 0.1% of the wild type. A minor start of transcription was detected 60 bases upstream from the major transcriptional start site. This minor promoter shares the same activator element as the major promoter for full activity. Deletion and insertion mutations downstream of the minor promoter TATA demonstrated the role of the TATA box in positioning the start of transcription.


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