Physicochemical behavior of Riesling x Silvaner grapevine fruit under the high altitude conditions of Colombia (South America)

The Valle del Sol (Sun Valley) of the Boyacá department is a zone with temperate tropical climate conditions (2,500 m above sea level) that is suitable for the production of grapes for quality wine. The objective of this investigation was to study the physical and chemical behavior during growth and development of the grapevine fruit var. Riesling x Silvaner, produced for winemaking, in the municipality of Corrales (Boyacá, Colombia). To determine the physical and chemical characteristics of the fruit starting at 28 days after anthesis (daa), 14 weekly samplings were carried out, in each of which three clusters were taken from randomly selected plants. The development of the berry lasted 119 daa in which three stages were defi ned: herbaceous, veraison and maturation1. The herbaceous stage ended at 63 daa, the veraison period lasted 14 days and ended at 77 daa, whereas the maturation and ripening stage lasted 42 days; no period of overmaturity was observed. The behavior of the fresh mass, dry mass and diameter of the fruit followed a double sigmoid curve. During berry development, total soluble solids (from 5.03 to 23.73 °Brix at the harvest point), pH (from 2.88 to 3.71) and technological maturity index (from 2.27 to 21.84) all increased, whereas total titratable acidity decreased from 3.96 to 1.11%

Global Effects of Catecholamines on Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae Gene Expression

Bacteria can use mammalian hormones to modulate pathogenic processes that play essential roles in disease development. Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae is an important porcine respiratory pathogen causing great economic losses in the pig industry globally. Stress is known to contribute to the outcome of A. pleuropneumoniae infection. To test whether A. pleuropneumoniae could respond to stress hormone catecholamines, gene expression profiles after epinephrine (Epi) and norepinephrine (NE) treatment were compared with those from untreated bacteria. The microarray results showed that 158 and 105 genes were differentially expressed in the presence of Epi and NE, respectively. These genes were assigned to various functional categories including many virulence factors. Only 18 genes were regulated by both hormones. These genes included apxIA (the ApxI toxin structural gene), pgaB (involved in biofilm formation), APL_0443 (an autotransporter adhesin) and genes encoding potential hormone receptors such as tyrP2, the ygiY-ygiX (qseC-qseB) operon and narQ-narP (involved in nitrate metabolism). Further investigations demonstrated that cytotoxic activity was enhanced by Epi but repressed by NE in accordance with apxIA gene expression changes. Biofilm formation was not affected by either of the two hormones despite pgaB expression being affected. Adhesion to host cells was induced by NE but not by Epi, suggesting that the hormones affect other putative adhesins in addition to APL_0443. This study revealed that A. pleuropneumoniae gene expression, including those encoding virulence factors, was altered in response to both catecholamines. The differential regulation of A. pleuropneumoniae gene expression by the two hormones suggests that this pathogen may have multiple responsive systems for the two catecholamines

Effects of Thickness Fraction Process on Physicochemical Properties, Cooking Qualities, and Sensory Characteristics of Long-Grain Rice Samples

A process of removing thinner kernels of rough rice, i.e., thickness fraction process, has been suggested as a method for increasing milling yields in the rice industry. This study aimed at determining whether physicochemical properties, cooking qualities, and sensory characteristics of rice samples could be changed by the addition of a thickness fraction into the rice process stream. Each of four long-grain rice cultivar lots was assigned into two groups: unfractionated and thickness-fractionated. For the thickness-fractionated group, thin rice kernels (\u3c1.9 mm) of rough rice were discarded from unfractionated rice samples. Unfractionated and thickness-fractionated rice samples were compared with respect to physicochemical properties, cooking qualities, and sensory characteristics. The results showed that the removal of such thin kernels decreased the breakage and chalkiness rates and increased head rice yields. Fractionated rice samples exhibited lower amylose contents and crude protein contents but higher gelatinization temperatures than unfractionated rice samples. While the optimum cooking duration and width–expansion ratios of thickness-fractionated rice samples were higher than those of unfractionated ones, there was a negligible impact of the thickness fraction process on sensory characteristics of long-grain rice samples. In conclusion, the thickness fraction process affects physicochemical properties and cooking qualities more than the sensory characteristics of rice samples

Desarrollo de un protocolo para propagacion in vitro de roble (tabebuia rosea bertol dc)

Un avance en el desarrollo de un protocolo de micropropagación para plantas de roble (Tabebuia rosea) ha sido logrado con el fin de producir masivamente clones de esta especie. Para determinar el mejor tratamiento de desinfección superficial el efecto de tres concentraciones (1%, 2% y 3%) de hipoclorito de sodio con tres tiempos (5, 10 y 15 min) de exposición de los explantes consistentes de brotes axilares de 2-3 cm de longitud fueron evaluadas después de establecidos en medio ½ MS con (en mg L-1) mio inositol (100), sacarosa (30,000), tiamina HCl (0.4) y TC agar (8,000) (Sigma Co.). Cinco tratamientos (0.00, 2.22, 4.44, 8.88, 17.76 µM BAP) fueron utilizados para determinar las mejores condiciones para la multiplicación, mientras que usando el mismo medio de establecimiento, el efecto de seis tratamientos (0.00, 1.35, 2.69, 4.03 y 5.37 µM ANA) fueron analizados para evaluar el enraizamiento in vitro de los brotes micropropagados. Los tratamientos fueron repetidos 15 veces y se distribuyeron usando un diseño completamente al azar. Brotes micropropagados con y sin enraizamiento in vitro fueron transferidos ex vitro. Hipoclorito de sodio al 3% durante 10 minutos fue el mejor tratamiento de esterilización superficial. La mejor tasa de multiplicación se obtuvo con 17.76 µM BAP mientras que el mayor enraizamiento ocurrió en presencia de 5.37 µM ANA. El enraizamiento in vitro fue necesario para la recuperación de plantas ex vitro donde se debe seguir trabajando para aumentar los porcentajes de recuperación mostrados

Effect of Operational Parameters on Recovery of Lithium from Brine with Bipolar Membrane Electrodialysis

In this research, the effect of operational parameters on removal and recovery of lithium simultaneously from brine by electrodialysis (ED) method with bipolar ion-exchange membranes (BM) having 10 membrane triplets of cation exchange membranes (CEMs), anion exchange membranes (AEMs) and bipolar membranes (BMs) was investigated. The Mega EDR-Z-Full-V4 model BMED system was employed to produce lithium hydroxide from brine containing lithium ions. Four different concentrations of LiCl solutions were used in the sample compartments 34, 68, 170, and 340 mg Li+/L. Also, the effects of concentrations of acid (HCl) and base (NaOH) solutions (0.003 M and 0.05 M) in the acid and base compartments in addition to the electrical potentials (20 and 25 V) were investigated. A NaOH solution with 0.1 M concentration was used as the electrode solution for all tests run. As a result of the study operated with 0.05 M HCl and 0.05 M NaOH solutions at 20 V, the lithium removal percentages were obtained as 98.6, 99.2, 99.7, and 99.6% while the lithium recoveries were 75.5, 54.5, 55.4, 51.2% at four different concentrations of LiCl as 34, 68, 170, 340 mg Li+/L, respectively. When the lithium concentration of the sample solution increased, the lithium removal remained constant. But the lithium recovery decreased and the lithium concentration in the base recovery compartment increased. The mass transfer coefficient of lithium was high when the electrical potential applied is high but it decreased with an increase in lithium concentration. © 2022 FIMTEC ; MPRL. All rights reserved.This study was financially supported by Aliye Üster Foundation. We are also thankful to TÜBİTAK (Project No. 117M023) for the MSc scholarship to T.Z. Kaya and E. Çermikli. E. Altıok would like to thank the Turkish Higher Education Council (YÖK 100-2000 scholarship) for her Ph.D. scholarship. Y.A.Jarma thanks the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB) for his Ph.D. scholarship.YÖK 100-2000; Türkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Araştırma Kurumu, TÜBİTAK: 117M02

Dry Pet Food Flavor Enhancers and Their Impact on Palatability: A Review

Pet foods are a vital component of the global food industry. Pet food’s success depends on its acceptance by both consumers (the pets) and purchasers (the pet owners). Palatability tests using panels of both trained and untrained pets are often used to measure the preference and acceptability of pet foods. Human perception of pet foods is usually determined by descriptive sensory analysis. Since dry pet foods (also known as kibbles), while being the most popular, are the least palatable, palatants as a flavor enhancer are generally added to dry pet foods to increase their acceptability to pets. Pet foods can also be prepared to be more appealing to pet owners if the chosen aromas and flavors are commonly associated with human food. With increasing demand, developing flavor enhancers to meet the needs of both pets and owners is becoming increasingly important. This review summarized the current state of flavor enhancers used in the pet food industry and their influence on food palatability from both animal and human standpoints

Application of Nanofiltration for Reclamation and Reuse of Wastewater and Spent Geothermal Fluid

After the extraction of energy from the geothermal fluid, the consumed geothermal water can be considered as a potential water resource for agricultural and industrial purposes. The used geothermal water can also be used as a source of drinking water, which could reduce the pressure on the current clean water resources. On the other hand, geothermal fluids brought to the surface need to be treated in the most economical way before discharge into the surface environment or aquifer. Several processes have shown promising results for the treatment of geothermal water. Membrane processes such as nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) can be considered as a technology for obtaining good quality irrigation water from geothermal water. This chapter summarizes the application of NF for the recovery and reuse of wastewater and spent geothermal water. © 2024 selection and editorial matter, Abdul Wahab Mohammad, Teow Yeit Haan and Nidal Hidal; individual chapters, the contributors