Outline analysis of the grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) berry shape by elliptic Fourier descriptors

Grapevine berry morphology is one of the most important features in table grape production. In this study, berry samples of 46 grapevine accessions were investigated for 3 consecutive years with elliptic Fourier descriptors (EFD) to evaluate shape diversity. Ten reference shapes obtained from the OIV descriptor list were involved and principal component (PC) scores summarizing the EFD's were statistically evaluated with Two way ANOVA and discriminant analysis. The cummulative contribution of the five principal components was 96.83 %. Two way ANOVA revealed that berry shape had high variability within the accessions and years. Based on the linear discriminant analysis, reference shapes were compared to those of the accessions and graphic reconstruction was carried out. OIV references were considered as unknown samples and grouped into the accession classes. Overall correct classification of the accessions into their group was 13.88 %. Our results showed that EFD together with reference shapes are a powerful method to discribe berry shape and possibly give the future basis of uvometric evaluation of grapevine cultivars

Thermodynamic and Kinetic Stabilities of Al(III) Complexes with N2O3 Pentadentate Ligands

: Al(III) complexes have been recently investigated for their potential use in imaging with positron emission tomography (PET) by formation of ternary complexes with the radioisotope fluorine-18 (18F). Although the derivatives of 1,4,7-triazacyclononane-1,4,7-triacetic acid (NOTA) are the most applied chelators for [Al18F]2+ labelling and (pre)clinical PET imaging, non-macrocyclic, semi-rigid pentadentate chelators having two N- and three O-donor atoms such as RESCA1 and AMPDA-HB have been proposed with the aim to allow room temperature labelling of temperature-sensitive biomolecules. The paucity of stability data on Al(III) complexes used for PET imaging instigated a complete thermodynamic and kinetic solution study on Al(III) complexes with aminomethylpiperidine (AMP) derivatives AMPTA and AMPDA-HB and the comparison with a RESCA1-like chelator CD3A-Bn (trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane-N-benzyl-N,N',N'-triacetic acid). The stability constant of [Al(AMPDA-HB)] is about four orders of magnitude higher than that of [Al(AMPTA)] and [Al(CD3A-Bn)], highlighting the greater affinity of phenolates with respect to acetate O-donors. On the other hand, the kinetic inertness of the complexes, determined by following the Cu2+-mediated transmetallation reactions in the 7.5-10.5 pH range, resulted in a spontaneous and hydroxide-assisted dissociation slightly faster for [Al(AMPTA)] than for the other two complexes (t1/2 = 4.5 h for [Al(AMPTA)], 12.4 h for [Al(AMPDA-HB)], and 24.1 h for [Al(CD3A-Bn)] at pH 7.4 and 25 °C). Finally, the [AlF]2+ ternary complexes were prepared and their stability in reconstituted human serum was determined by 19F NMR experiments

Graled (Grapevine leaf digitalization) Software for the Detection and Graphic Reconstruction of Ampelometric Differences Between Vitis Leaves

Raster graphic ampelometric software was not exclusively developed for the estimation of leaf area, but also for the characterization of grapevine (Viti vinifera L.) leaves. The software was written in C-Hprogramming language, using the C-1-1- Builder 2007 for Windows 95-XP and Linux operation systems. It handles desktop-scanned images. On the image analysed with the GRA.LE.D., the user has to determine 11 points. These points are then connected and the distances between them calculated. The GRA.LE.D. software supports standard ampelometric measurements such as leaf area, angles between the veins and lengths of the veins. These measurements are recorded by the software and exported into plain ASCII text files for single or multiple samples. Twenty-two biometric data points of each leaf are identified by the GRA.LE.D. It presents the opportunity to statistically analyse experimental data, allows comparison of cultivars and enables graphic reconstruction of leaves using the Microsoft Excel Chart Wizard. The GRA. LE.D. was thoroughly calibrated and compared to other widely used instruments and methods such as photo-gravimetry, LiCor L0100, WinDIAS2.0 and ImageTool. By comparison, the GRA.LE.D. presented the most accurate measurements of leaf area, but the LiCor L0100 and the WinDIAS2.0 were faster, while the photo-gravimetric method proved to be the most time-consuming. The WinDIAS2.0 instrument was the least reliable. The GRA.LE.D. is uncomplicated, user-friendly, accurate, consistent, reliable and has wide practical application

GRA.LE.D. (GRApevine LEaf Digitalization) Software for the Detection and Graphic Reconstruction of Ampelometric Differences Between Vitis Leaves

Raster graphic ampelometric software was not exclusively developed for the estimation of leaf area,but also for the characterization of grapevine (Viti vinifera L.) leaves. The software was written in C++programming language, using the C++ Builder 2007 for Windows 95-XP and Linux operation systems. Ithandles desktop-scanned images. On the image analysed with the GRA.LE.D., the user has to determine11 points. These points are then connected and the distances between them calculated. The GRA.LE.D.software supports standard ampelometric measurements such as leaf area, angles between the veins andlengths of the veins. These measurements are recorded by the software and exported into plain ASCII textfiles for single or multiple samples. Twenty-two biometric data points of each leaf are identified by theGRA.LE.D. It presents the opportunity to statistically analyse experimental data, allows comparison ofcultivars and enables graphic reconstruction of leaves using the Microsoft Excel Chart Wizard. The GRA.LE.D. was thoroughly calibrated and compared to other widely used instruments and methods such asphoto-gravimetry, LiCor Li3100, WinDIAS2.0 and ImageTool. By comparison, the GRA.LE.D. presentedthe most accurate measurements of leaf area, but the LiCor Li3100 and the WinDIAS2.0 were faster, whilethe photo-gravimetric method proved to be the most time-consuming. The WinDIAS2.0 instrument wasthe least reliable. The GRA.LE.D. is uncomplicated, user-friendly, accurate, consistent, reliable and haswide practical application

Estimation of the Thermodynamic Limit of Overheating for Bulk Water from Interfacial Properties

The limit of overheating or expanding is an important property of liquids, which is relevant for the design and safety assessment of processes involving pressurized liquids. In this work, the thermodynamic stability limit – the so-called spinodal – of water is calculated by molecular dynamics computer simulation, using the molecular potential model of Baranyai and Kiss. The spinodal pressure is obtained from the maximal tangential pressure within a liquid‒vapor interface layer. The results are compared to predictions of various equations of states. Based on these comparisons, a set of equations of state is identified which gives reliable results in the metastable (overheated or expanded) liquid region of water down to −55 MPa

Dynamical ensembles in stationary states

We propose as a generalization of an idea of Ruelle to describe turbulent fluid flow a chaotic hypothesis for reversible dissipative many particle systems in nonequilibrium stationary states in general. This implies an extension of the zeroth law of thermodynamics to non equilibrium states and it leads to the identification of a unique distribution \m describing the asymptotic properties of the time evolution of the system for initial data randomly chosen with respect to a uniform distribution on phase space. For conservative systems in thermal equilibrium the chaotic hypothesis implies the ergodic hypothesis. We outline a procedure to obtain the distribution \m: it leads to a new unifying point of view for the phase space behavior of dissipative and conservative systems. The chaotic hypothesis is confirmed in a non trivial, parameter--free, way by a recent computer experiment on the entropy production fluctuations in a shearing fluid far from equilibrium. Similar applications to other models are proposed, in particular to a model for the Kolmogorov--Obuchov theory for turbulent flow.Comment: 31 pages, 3 figures, compile with dvips (otherwise no pictures

The supramolecular chemistry of gold and l-cysteine: Formation of photoluminescent, orange-emitting assemblies with multilayer structure

The protein mediated approach is a common method for the synthesis of photoluminescent gold quantum clusters (GQCs), where proteins, acting as reducing and stabilizing agents, react with gold salts through cysteine residues. For the better understanding of the phenomenon, the aqueous phase reaction of HAuCl_4 and L-cysteine has been investigated at the supramolecular level by various experimental techniques and molecular mechanics simulations. We have observed the formation of a novel photoluminescent product, (AuCys)_n^β, which shows emission in the orange region of the spectrum. Small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SWAXS) measurements have revealed the presence of nanosized lamellae, which have an internal multilayer superlattice structure with a characteristic periodic distance of 1.3 nm. Based on the results, the layers are built up by zigzag shaped (AuCys)_n polymer chains connected through aurophilic bonds. The aurophilic network is stabilized via salt bridges and hydrogen bonds, which are also responsible for the interlayer interactions. Here, the evolution of the multilayer structure has been monitored by the combined application of photoluminescence spectroscopy and time-resolved SAXS. It has been concluded that there is a strong correlation between the emission and the scattering intensity, which suggests that the two- and three-dimensional aggregation of the building blocks to form sheets and multilayers are simultaneous processes. Furthermore, we have revealed that the formation and behavior of (AuCys)_n^β show significant differences to that of Au-L-glutathione compounds desrcibed earlier despite the similarity of L-cysteine and L-glutathione. These results evidence that L-cysteine and gold species form building blocks that can be applied expansively in supramolecular and cluster chemistry

Lyapunov instability of fluids composed of rigid diatomic molecules

We study the Lyapunov instability of a two-dimensional fluid composed of rigid diatomic molecules, with two interaction sites each, and interacting with a WCA site-site potential. We compute full spectra of Lyapunov exponents for such a molecular system. These exponents characterize the rate at which neighboring trajectories diverge or converge exponentially in phase space. Quam. These exponents characterize the rate at which neighboring trajectories diverge or converge exponentially in phase space. Qualitative different degrees of freedom -- such as rotation and translation -- affect the Lyapunov spectrum differently. We study this phenomenon by systematically varying the molecular shape and the density. We define and evaluate ``rotation numbers'' measuring the time averaged modulus of the angular velocities for vectors connecting perturbed satellite trajectories with an unperturbed reference trajectory in phase space. For reasons of comparison, various time correlation functions for translation and rotation are computed. The relative dynamics of perturbed trajectories is also studied in certain subspaces of the phase space associated with center-of-mass and orientational molecular motion.Comment: RevTeX 14 pages, 7 PostScript figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Alternative Splicing of NOX4 in the Failing Human Heart

Increased oxidative stress is a major contributor to the development and progression of heart failure, however, our knowledge on the role of the distinct NADPH oxidase (NOX) isoenzymes, especially on NOX4 is controversial. Therefore, we aimed to characterize NOX4 expression in human samples from healthy and failing hearts. Explanted human heart samples (left and right ventricular, and septal regions) were obtained from patients suffering from heart failure of ischemic or dilated origin. Control samples were obtained from donor hearts that were not used for transplantation. Deep RNA sequencing of the cardiac transcriptome indicated extensive alternative splicing of the NOX4 gene in heart failure as compared to samples from healthy donor hearts. Long distance PCR analysis with a universal 5'-3' end primer pair, allowing amplification of different splice variants, confirmed the presence of the splice variants. To assess translation of the alternatively spliced transcripts we determined protein expression of NOX4 by using a specific antibody recognizing a conserved region in all variants. Western blot analysis showed up-regulation of the full-length NOX4 in ischemic cardiomyopathy samples and confirmed presence of shorter isoforms both in control and failing samples with disease-associated expression pattern. We describe here for the first time that NOX4 undergoes extensive alternative splicing in human hearts which gives rise to the expression of different enzyme isoforms. The full length NOX4 is significantly upregulated in ischemic cardiomyopathy suggesting a role for NOX4 in ROS production during heart failure

Chaotic Scattering Theory, Thermodynamic Formalism, and Transport Coefficients

The foundations of the chaotic scattering theory for transport and reaction-rate coefficients for classical many-body systems are considered here in some detail. The thermodynamic formalism of Sinai, Bowen, and Ruelle is employed to obtain an expression for the escape-rate for a phase space trajectory to leave a finite open region of phase space for the first time. This expression relates the escape rate to the difference between the sum of the positive Lyapunov exponents and the K-S entropy for the fractal set of trajectories which are trapped forever in the open region. This result is well known for systems of a few degrees of freedom and is here extended to systems of many degrees of freedom. The formalism is applied to smooth hyperbolic systems, to cellular-automata lattice gases, and to hard sphere sytems. In the latter case, the goemetric constructions of Sinai {\it et al} for billiard systems are used to describe the relevant chaotic scattering phenomena. Some applications of this formalism to non-hyperbolic systems are also discussed.Comment: 35 pages, compressed file, follow directions in header for ps file. Figures are available on request from [email protected]