Ecological urban planning and design: A systematic literature review

Urbanization is a defining feature of the modern age, yet the current model of urban development profoundly alters the natural environment, often reducing biodiversity and ultimately threatening human wellbeing. An ecologically based urban planning and design paradigm should consider a more harmonious relationship. Through a systematic literature review of 57 papers, this research identified relevant concepts and theories that could underpin this new paradigm. It revealed a noticeable increase in academic interest in this subject since 2013 and the development of concepts and theories that reflect a more holistic socio-ecological systems approach to urban planning and design based on a transdisciplinary integration and synthesis of research. Seven main themes underpin the academic literature: ecosystem services, socio-ecological systems, resilience, biodiversity, landscape, green infrastructure, as well as integrated and holistic approaches. Six of these can be organised into either a sustainability stream or a spatial stream, representing the foundations of a potential new ecological urban planning and design paradigm that applies sustainability-related concepts in a spatial setting. The final theme, integrated and holistic, includes concepts that reflect the fundamental characteristics of this new paradigm, which can be termed 'urban consonance'

Schizanthus grahamii and Schizanthus hookeri. Is there any relationship between their anthocyanin compositions and their different pollination syndromes?

[EN] Three different pollination syndromes (bee, hummingbird and moth-pollination syndromes) have been described for the different species of the genus Schizanthus Ruiz & Pav. (Solanaceae). Two closely related species from a phylogenetic point of view, Schizanthus grahamii and Schizanthus hookeri, show hummingbird and bee-pollination syndromes, respectively. One of the traits used to assign these pollination syndromes is the colour of the petals, which is red in S. grahamii and bluish-pink in S. hookeri. The objective of this work was to establish the differences in the anthocyanin composition of these two Schizanthus species that contribute to the different pollination syndrome. Identification of the pigments was carried out from the chromatographic and spectral data supplied by the HPLC-DAD-MSn analyses of the samples. Alkaline and acid hydrolyses were also performed in the extracts and in some isolated compounds in order to confirm the identities. First difference between these two species was found in the total anthocyanin content, which was about 13-fold higher in S. grahamii than in S. hookeri. Furthermore, the major peak was also different in both cases, thus explaining quantitative and qualitative colour differences between species. Delphinidin 3-O-rutinoside represented ca. 72% of the total area in S. grahamii and petanin (Petunidin 3-O-p-coumaroylrutinoside-5-O-glucoside) accounted for almost 62% of the total area in S. hookeri. The presence of the p-coumaroylrutinosyl moiety in the petanin makes the intramolecular copigmentation possible, thus conferring the bluish-pink hue to the petals of S. hookeri. Delphinidin 3-O-rutinoside is in turn responsible for the red colour exhibited by the petals of S. grahamii and along with other floral traits, responsible for the attraction of hummingbirds to the plant. Pigments structurally related to petanin, which have been often detected in other genus of Solanaceae, were detected in both species and in similar contents, supporting results from previous studies that pointed to a bee-pollinated common ancestor for both species that further specialised acquiring traits attractive to hummingbirds and among them, red colour of the petals which is mainly supplied by delphinidin 3-O-rutinoside

Changes in the detailed pigment composition of red wine during maturity and ageing

[EN] The qualitative and quantitative changes produced, during maturation and ageing, in the pigment composition of a red wine made from Vitis vinifera cv Tempranillo grapes have been studied. In order to determine the detailed composition of the main pigment families involved in the colour changes, a fractionation of the samples has been carried out. One-hundred and twenty-nine different compounds have been identified and their evolutions with wine age have also been established. The data obtained in the analyses of the fractions by high performance liquid chromatography–diode array detection coupled to mass spectrometry (HPLC–DAD–MS) have been used in pigment identification. In order to confirm the identity of some of these compounds, their syntheses have also been carried out. As far as we know, compounds originated by acylation of the monoglucosides of the anthocyanins with lactic acid as well as 3,7-diglucosides of anthocyanins have, among others, been reported here for the first time. The moments of appearance and disappearance of all the detected compounds have also been established as well as the changes in the levels of the different pigment families and subfamilies originated as a consequence of maturation and ageing of the wine in barrels or in bottles. As wine became older, the percentages of anthocyanins decreased slightly, whereas that of the anthocyanin-derived pigments increased and, above all, compounds providing the wine with orange hues (pyranoanthocyanins). In the last sample, they represented 70% of the anthocyanin-derived pigments. On the contrary, the percentage of compounds providing bluish hues to the wine, direct and acetaldehyde-mediated flavanol–anthocyanin condensation products, decreased. This change in the nature of the anthocyanin-derived pigmentwould explain the colour change observed in the samples, from purple towards orange hues

Development of a fractionation method for the detection and identification of oak ellagitannins in red wines

[ES] During maturation and ageing in oak barrels wines improve their organoleptic properties. Ellagitannins can be released from wood to the wine and be involved in oxidation reactions and seem to influence the astringency and colour properties of the wine. Nevertheless, the ellagitannins levels are lower than those of other wine constituents and, consequently, they are not easily detected. This study has developed a two-step fractionation method consisting of a solid phase extraction in C-18 Sep-Pak® cartridges followed by size exclusion chromatography in hand-packed Sephadex LH-20 minicolumn for the detection of oak ellagitannins in different types of wines. An HPLC method has also been developed which allows the separation of compounds with the same m/z ratios, facilitating the ellagitannin identification by means of the mass spectrometric analyses. The main oak ellagitannins (grandinin, vescalagin, roburin E and castalagin) were isolated, detected separately and identified in a spiked wine and in three real ones, proving the usefulness of the fractionation method

Highly sensitive thermal conductivity measurements of suspended membranes (SiN and diamond) using a 3w-Volklein method

A suspended system for measuring the thermal properties of membranes is presented. The sensitive thermal measurement is based on the 3$\omega$ dynamic method coupled to a V$\ddot{o}$lklein geometry. The device obtained using micro-machining processes allows the measurement of the in-plane thermal conductivity of a membrane with a sensitivity of less than 10nW/K (+/-$5x10^{-3}$Wm$^{-1}K^{-1}$ at room temperature) and a very high resolution ($\Delta K/K =10^{-3}$). A transducer (heater/thermometer) centered on the membrane is used to create an oscillation of the heat flux and to measure the temperature oscillation at the third harmonic using a Wheatstone bridge set-up. Power as low as 0.1nanoWatt has been measured at room temperature. The method has been applied to measure thermal properties of low stress silicon nitride and polycrystalline diamond membranes with thickness ranging from 100 nm to 400 nm. The thermal conductivity measured on the polycrystalline diamond membrane support a significant grain size effect on the thermal transport.Comment: 17 page

Separation of pyranoanthocyanins from red wine by column chromatography

[EN] With the aim of monitoring the formation of anthocyanin-derived pigments and contributing to the study of their chromatic properties, stability and relative contribution to the colour of red wines, a method for fractionation of the colouring material was set up. The method was based on the distinct reactivity of the different pigment families towards bisulfite (hydrogen sulfite). The wine, acidified and bleached with NaHSO3, was placed in a Toyopearl® HW-40(s) gel column and submitted to elution with ethanol. Two fractions with different pigment compositions were collected and analysed by liquid chromatographay diode array detection-mass spectrometry. Compounds present in each fraction were identified according to their UV-visible and MSn mass spectra, showing that the first one was mostly constituted of pyranoanthocyanins, whereas the second basically contained anthocyanins and anthocyanin-flavanol condensation products. A large variety of new pigments were detected, some of which had not been previously reported in red wines, as far as we know. Characteristic MS2 and MS3 fragmentation patterns were observed within each family of compounds, which could be further applied for characterisation of unknown pigments in other wines

Color Stabilization of Red Wines. A Chemical and Colloidal Approach

Este artículo es parte del International Workshop on Anthocyanins (IWA2013)[EN]The effects of cold treatment and time on CIELAB color parameters and on anthocyanin and anthocyanin-derived pigments composition have been evaluated as has been the effectiveness of either an enological tannin or a mannoprotein (M) on their stabilization. With respect to color, hue (hab) was increased in the wines treated with both enological products. Furthermore, the color changes induced by cold treatment were lessened by the addition of these two enological products, although the protective effect was higher for the wines treated with M. The pigment analysis revealed higher percentages of anthocyanin-derived pigments in tannin and M-treated samples (in both cold treated and not) in relation to control ones. The addition of the enological tannin may favor the synthesis of anthocyanin-derived pigments, which are chemically more stable than native anthocyanins, whereas M seems to stabilize anthocyanin-derived pigments from a colloidal point of view, avoiding their aggregation and further precipitation

Shifting Home Energy Consumption Through a Holistic Understanding of the Home System of Practice

This chapter describes the concept of the home system of practice, which can be used to provide a deeper understanding of the social system of the home and inform long-term solutions for enabling domestic energy reduction. More traditional methods have attempted to persuade occupants to change behaviour through the use of information campaigns and feedback technology. However, these interventions are usually short lived as they ignore the underlying reasons for practices to occur. A more effective solution is through practice-oriented design, which co-creates innovative technology with the user. In addition, the emergence and use of automated technology enables practices to act independently of the user. Yet, the success of automation is also reliant on an understanding of the home system of practice, occupant needs and skills

Behaviour and characterisation of the colour during red wine making and maturation

[EN] During winemaking and ageing, the colour of red wine evolves from the initial purple-red hues of young red wines towards more red-orange ones. Simultaneously, a modification in the pigment profile takes place. The stability of pigments isolated from red wine has been usually studied in model solutions. However, studies carried out on wines are scarce. The objective of this work was to analyse the changes in composition, colour and stability in relation to pH and SO2 that take place in a red wine during winemaking and maturation. For this purpose, samples of red wine from Tempranillo grapes were collected periodically during 18 months and submitted to chromatic analysis using the CIELAB and CIELUV colour spaces and high performance liquid chromatography–diode array detection coupled to a mass spectrometer analysis (HPLC–DAD–MS). The results obtained showed the existence of processes capable of causing quantitative and qualitative changes in the colouring material of the wine. These changes, in spite of the relatively short time considered, are sufficient to cause changes of colour that can be perceived by the human eye and lead to the formation of pigments that are more stable against pH and against bleaching by SO2 than the original anthocyanins

Hemisynthesis and Structural and Chromatic Characterization of Delphinidin 3-O-Glucoside–Vescalagin Hybrid Pigments

[EN] During red wine maturation in the presence of oak wood, reactions involving anthocyanins and ellagitannins might affect wine organoleptic properties such as color and astringency. In this work, the condensation reaction between myrtillin (delphinidin 3-O-glucoside) and vescalagin has been performed to determine the behavior of this anthocyanin in this kind of reaction and to assess the possible impact of such a reaction in wine color modulation. Two different hybrid pigments have been hemisynthetized and characterized by HPLC-DAD-MS and NMR spectroscopy. These pigments have been identified as 1-deoxyvescalagin-(1β→8)-myrtillin (major) and 1-deoxyvescalagin-(1β→6)-myrtillin (minor). The minor pigment could be formed both by the condensation reaction and by a regioisomerization process from the major pigment. Moreover, the chromatic properties of these pigments have been studied and compared to those of myrtillin. The hybrid pigments showed an important bathochromic shift (ca. 20 nm) in the maximum absorbance wavelength and lower molar absorption coefficients