406 research outputs found
Editorial: Microbiota of Grapes: Positive and Negative Role on Wine Quality
During spontaneous food/beverage fermentations, the microbiota associated with the raw material has a considerable importance: this microbial consortium evolves in reason of the nutrient content and of the physical, chemical, and biological determinants present in the food matrix, shaping fermentation dynamics with significant impacts on the âqualitiesâ of final productions. The selection from the indigenous micro-biodiversity of âvirtuousâ ecotypes that coupled pro-technological and biotechnological aptitudes provide the basis for the formulation of âtailoredâ starter cultures. In the fermenting food and beverage arena, the wine sector is generally characterized by the generation of a high added value. Together with a pronounced seasonality, this feature strongly contributes to the selection of a large group of starter cultures. In the last years, several studies contributed to describe the complexity of grapevine-associated microbiota using both culture-dependent and culture-independent approaches. The grape-associated microbial communities continuously change during the wine-making process, with different dominances that correspond to the main biotechnological steps that take place in wine. In order to simplify, following a time trend, four major dominances can be mainly considered: non-Saccharomyces, Saccharomyces, lactic acid bacteria (LAB), and spoilage microbes. The first two dominances come in succession during the alcoholic fermentation: the impact of Saccharomyces (that are responsible of key enological step of ethanol production) can be complemented/integrated by the contributions of compatible non-Saccharomyces strains. Lactic acid bacteria constitute the malolactic consortium responsible of malolactic fermentation, a microbial bioconversion often desired in wine (especially in red wine production). Finally, the fourth dominance, the undesired microbiota, represents a panel of microorganisms that, coupling spoilage potential to the resistance to the harsh conditions typical of wine environment, can cause important economic losses. In each of these four dominances a complex microbial biodiversity has been described. The studies on the enological significance of the micro-biodiversity connected with each of the four dominances highlighted the presence of a dichotomy: in each consortia there are species/strains that, in reason of their metabolisms, are able to improve wine âqualitiesâ (resource of interest in starter cultures design), and species/strains that with their metabolism are responsible of depreciation of wine. Articles describing new oenological impacts of yeasts and bacteria belonging to the four main categories above mentioned (non-Saccharomyces, Saccharomycetes, lactic acid bacteria, and spoilage microbes) are welcome. Moreover, in this Research Topic, we encourage mini-review submissions on topics of immediate interest in wine microbiology that link microbial biodiversity with positive/negative effects in wine
Food Microbial Biodiversity and âMicrobes of Protected Originâ
Over the past decades, traditional food systems have evolved from poorly coordinated networks to globalized complexes of regulated trade, and the geographical indications (GIs) agro-food market size is approximately $50 billion. Belonging to the intellectual property law as collective
property rights, the âGI is a sign used on goods that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities, reputation,
or characteristics that are essentially attributable to that place of originâ (World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), 2011). The global impact of âGIâ is widely testified through the scientific, social, and economic importance of traditional foods (World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO), 2011; World Trade Organization (WTO), 2011). In fact, GIs are known to be the earliest type of trademarks. From an edible perspective, this concept is simply and well presented by Bisson et al. (2002): âconsumers expect wine from a particular region to possess unique qualities that differentiate it from other wines of the same varietal from other regions.â The GI system is based upon the concept of âterroir,â a French word used to describe all geographical aspects of the environment, including the climate, geology, cultivar, human, technical, and cultural practices (and the interactions of these factors) that can influence local production
Oral characteristics of Trisomy 8 and monosomy 18: a case report
Several reports described various mosaic chromosomal syndromes characterized by alterations originated by
either an excess or deficit in the number of chromosomes. A case of mosaic trisomy 8 and monosomy 18 with significant
involvement of the oral cavity is described, both in terms of general medicine and from a dental-oral perspective, and the treatment plan was planned and discussed.
Regular follow-up visits enabled to verify significant improvement in all parameters of the patientâs oral health, which urged us to press on with our quest to protect the right to health of patients affected by disabilities
La pacificazione dell'Armenia per opera di Germanico e gli archi onorarii del Foro di Pompei
Memoria letta allâAccademia Pontaniana nella tornata del 6 maggio 1923Estratto da: vol. LIII degli Atti dell'Accademia Pontanian
Low-Power Wearable ECG Monitoring System for Multiple-Patient Remote Monitoring
Many devices and solutions for remote electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring have been proposed in the literature. These solutions typically have a large marginal cost per added sensor and are not seamlessly integrated with other smart home solutions. Here, we propose an ECG remote monitoring system that is dedicated to non-technical users in need of long-term health monitoring in residential environments and is integrated in a broader Internet-of-Things (IoT) infrastructure. Our prototype consists of a complete vertical solution with a series of advantages with respect to the state of the art, considering both the prototypes with integrated front end and prototypes realized with off-the-shelf components: 1) ECG prototype sensors with record-low energy per effective number of quantized levels; 2) an architecture providing low marginal cost per added sensor/user; and 3) the possibility of seamless integration with other smart home systems through a single IoT infrastructure
Involvement of the sigma factor sigma H in the regulation of a small heat shock protein gene in Lactobacillus plantarum WCFS1
The relative expression of the heat shock protein hsp18.55 gene was monitored in Lactobacillus plantarum ÎctsR and ÎftsH mutant strains. Transcription of the hsp18.55 gene was drastically repressed in the ÎctsR mutant of L. plantarum; conversely, significant transcriptional induction of the hsp18.55 gene was noted in the L. plantarum ÎftsH strain. Overall, these results suggest a possible regulation of the hsp18.55 gene by the alternative sigma H factor in L. plantarum. We also noted a similarity with the small heat shock gene (shs) locus of Lactobacillus brevis, which might indicate a possible evolutionary relationship
A set of languages for context-aware adaptation
The creation of service front ends able to adapt to the context of use involves a wide spectrum of aspects to be considered by developers and designers. A context-aware adaptation enabled application needs a simultaneous management of very different application functionalities, such as the context sensing, identifying different given situations, determining the appropriate reactions and the execution of the adaptation effects. In this paper we describe an adaptation architecture for tackling this complexity and we present a set of languages that address the definition of the various aspects of an adaptive application
Last-Meter Smart Grid Embedded in an Internet-of-Things Platform
The customer domain of the smart grid natu- rally blends with smart home and smart building systems, but typical proposed approaches are âdistributor-centricâ rather than âcustomer-centric,â undermining user acceptance, and are often poorly scalable. To solve this problem, we propose a detailed architecture and an implementation of a âlast-meterâ smart gridâthe portion of the smart grid on customer premisesâembedded in an internet-of-things (IoT) platform. Our approach has four aspects of novelty and advantages with respect to the state of the art: 1) seamless integration of smart grid with smart home applications in the same infrastructure; 2) data gathering from heterogeneous sensor communication protocols; 3) secure and customized data access; and 4) univocal sensor and actuator mapping to a common abstraction layer on which additional concurrent applications can be built. A demonstrator has been built and tested with purposely-developed ZigBee smart meters and gateways, a distributed IoT server, and a flexible user interface
Exploitation of a Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm for Designing a Lightweight Parallel Hybrid Electric Vehicle
The dramatic global climate change has driven governments to drastically tackle pollutant emissions. In the transportation field, one of the technological responses has been powertrain electrification for passengersâ cars. Nevertheless, the large amount of possible powertrain designs does not help the development of an exhaustive sizing process. In this research, a multi-objective particle swarm optimization algorithm is proposed to find the optimal layout of a parallel P2 hybrid electric vehicle powertrain with the aim of maximizing fuel economy capability and minimizing production cost. A dynamic programming-based algorithm is used to ensure the optimal vehiclelevel energy management. The results show that diverse powertrain layouts may be suggested when different weights are assigned to the sizing targets related to fuel economy and production cost, respectively. Particularly, upsizing the power sources and increasing the number of gears might be advised to enhance HEV fuel economy capability through the efficient exploitation of the internal combustion engine (ICE) operation. On the other hand, reduction of the HEV production cost could be achieved by downsizing the power sources and limiting the number of gears with respect to conventional ICE-powered vehicles thanks to the interaction between ICE and electric motor
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