Genetic and Physiological Characterisation of Oenococcus oeni Strains to Perform Malolactic Fermentation in Wines

Malolactic fermentation (MLF) is a process that is increasingly conducted by Oenococcus oeni industrial strains.Recently, studies of the diversity of O. oeni strains have developed some potential genetic tools to characterise theabilities of the strains. During this work, a mutation on a partial sequence of the rpoB gene and the presence ofsome genes previously established to be present in the most performing strains were tested on some strains thatare already marketed and some potential new strains. These tests were compared with a physiological test neverpreviously taken into account: the tolerance to octanoic and decanoic acid, important inhibitory compounds in wines.Our objectives were to compare the relevance of the genetic tests currently available, that of resistance to mediumchain fatty acids and the results of winemaking. Ultimately, it is clear that, as far as current knowledge is concerned,genetic tests are not yet sufficient to completely characterise the strain potential, and physiological tests thereforeare always needed. The resistance to medium chain fatty acids is an interesting point to be considered to explain thedifficulty that some strains have to resist inoculation in wine. But other criteria should also be characterised better,such as the duration of the latent phase between inoculation and the beginning of MLF, and the rate of degradationof malic acid by the different strains

Evolution and characteristics of forced shear flows in polytropic atmospheres: Large and small Péclet number regimes

Complex mixing and magnetic field generation occurs within stellar interiors particularly where there is a strong shear flow. To obtain a comprehensive understanding of these processes, it is necessary to study the complex dynamics of shear regions. Due to current observational limitations, it is necessary to investigate the inevitable small-scale dynamics via numerical calculations. Here, we examine direct numerical calculations of a local model of unstable shear flows in a compressible polytropic fluid primarily in a two-dimensional domain, where we focus on determining how key parameters affect the global properties and characteristics of the resulting saturated turbulent phase. We consider the effect of varying both the viscosity and the thermal diffusivity on the non-linear evolution. Moreover, our main focus is to understand the global properties of the saturated phase, in particular estimating for the first time the spread of the shear region from an initially hyperbolic tangent velocity profile. We find that the vertical extent of the mixing region in the saturated regime is generally determined by the initial Richardson number of the system. Further, the characteristic quantities of the turbulence, i.e. typical length-scale and the root-mean-square velocity are found to depend on both the Richardson number, and the thermal diffusivity. Finally, we present our findings of our investigation into saturated flows of a ‘secular’ shear instability in the low Péclet number regime with large Richardson numbers

Shear instabilities in a fully compressible polytropic atmosphere

Shear flows have an important impact on the dynamics in an assortment of different astrophysical objects including accreditation discs and stellar interiors. Investigating shear flow instabilities in a polytropic atmosphere provides a fundamental understanding of the motion in stellar interiors where turbulent motions, mixing processes, as well as magnetic field generation takes place. Here, a linear stability analysis for a fully compressible fluid in a two-dimensional Cartesian geometry is carried out. Our study focuses on determining the critical Richardson number for different Mach numbers and the destabilising effects of high thermal diffusion. We find that there is a deviation of the predicted stability threshold for moderate Mach number flows along with a significant effect on the growth rate of the linear instability for small Peclet numbers. We show that in addition to a Kelvin-Helmholtz instability a Holmboe instability can appear and we discuss the implication of this in stellar interiors

Diversification and hybridization in firm knowledge bases in nanotechnologies

The paper investigates the linkages between the characteristics of technologies and the structure of a firms' knowledge base. Nanotechnologies have been defined as converging technologies that operate at the nanoscale, and which require integration to fulfill their economic promises. Based on a worldwide database of nanofirms, the paper analyses the degree of convergence and the convergence mechanisms within firms. It argues that the degree of convergence in a firm's nano-knowledge base is relatively independent from the size of the firm's nano-knowledge base. However, while firms with small nano-knowledge bases tend to exploit convergence in each of their patents/publications, firms with large nano-knowledge bases tend to separate their nano-R&D activities in the different established fields and achieve diversity through the juxtaposition of the output of these independent activitie

Analysis of semi-solid response under rapid compression tests using multi-scale modelling and experiments

Simulating semi-solid metal forming requires modelling semi-solid behaviour. However, such modelling is difficult because semi-solid behavior is thixotropic and depends on the liquid-solid spatial distribution within the material. In order to better understand and model relationships between microstructure and behavior, a model based on micromechanical approaches and homogenisation techniques is presented. This model is an extension of a previous model established in a pure viscoplastic framework to account for elasticity. Indeed, experimental load-displacement signals reveal the presence of an elastic-type response in the earlier stages of deformation when semi-solids are loaded under rapid compression. This elastic feature of the behaviour is attributed to the response of the porous solid skeleton saturated by incompressible liquid. A good quantitative agreement is found between the elastic-viscoplastic predicted response and the experimental data. More precisely, the strong initial rising part of the load-displacement curve, the peak load and the subsequent fall in load are well captured. The effect of solid fraction on mechanical response is in qualitative agreement with experiments

Micromechanical modelling of the elastic-viscoplastic response of metallic alloys under rapid compression in the semi-solid state

Semi-solid processing is used commercially to produce a variety of components and it is therefore important to be able to model the die fill. Micromechanical modelling is one approach to this. Here we compare the micromechanical predictions for the load vs. displacement, in tests where a cylindrical billet is rapidly compressed, with previous experimental findings for an A356 aluminium alloy. Purely viscoplastic modelling is shown to be inadequate. We propose a new model that clearly associates the elastic-type response with the saturated solid skeleton. This gives much more accurate prediction of the initial peak and of the form of the curve as the skeleton breaks down under load. In agreement with experiment, the model predicts the time for the solid skeleton breakdown and that the peak load increases with increasing ram speed and with decreasing fraction liquid

Atmospheric drying as the main driver of dramatic glacier wastage in the southern Indian Ocean

This study was funded by IPEV-1048 GLACIOCLIM-KESAACO and LEFE-INSU KCRuMBLE programs, and the Agence Nationale de la Recherche through contract ANR-14-CE01-0001-01 (ASUMA).The ongoing retreat of glaciers at southern sub-polar latitudes is particularly rapid and widespread. Akin to northern sub-polar latitudes, this retreat is generally assumed to be linked to warming. However, no long-term and well-constrained glacier modeling has ever been performed to confirm this hypothesis. Here, we model the Cook Ice Cap mass balance on the Kerguelen Islands (Southern Indian Ocean, 49°S) since the 1850s. We show that glacier wastage during the 2000s in the Kerguelen was among the most dramatic on Earth. We attribute 77% of the increasingly negative mass balance since the 1960s to atmospheric drying associated with a poleward shift of the mid-latitude storm track. Because precipitation modeling is very challenging for the current generation of climate models over the study area, models incorrectly simulate the climate drivers behind the recent glacier wastage in the Kerguelen. This suggests that future glacier wastage projections should be considered cautiously where changes in atmospheric circulation are expected.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe