Research note: The influence of micro-oxygenation on the long-term ageing ability of Pinot noir wine

In this study, Pinot noir wines were bottle aged for 12 and 18 months after micro-oxygenation (MOX) applied before or after malolactic fermentation (MLF) at two doses (10.8 and 52.4 mg/L/month). After ageing, a greater decrease in the total SO₂ concentration was found in wines with the higher MOX dosage, demonstrating a long-term impact of higher oxygen exposure on wines’ SO₂ requirement. Meanwhile, a negative impact of MOX on wine colour development occurred over time, resulting in a large loss of colour measures (i.e., 420 nm for brown hues, 520 nm for red colour, SO₂ resistant pigments, and colour intensity), which was greater with the early oxygen exposure. This was linked to a significantly lower content of large polymeric pigments in MOX treatments. Tannin concentration was, in the end, not affected by the MOX treatments. However, regarding tannin composition, considerably higher (-)-epicatechin extension units but much lower (-)-epicatechin terminal units were found with MOX treatments. In addition, a significant reduction of tannin trihydroxylation (%Tri-OH) but a higher galloylation (%Galloyl) and mean degree of tannin polymerisation (mDP) remained in wines with MOX, indicating a long-term negative influence on astringency intensity

Rarity of monodominance in hyperdiverse Amazonian forests.

Tropical forests are known for their high diversity. Yet, forest patches do occur in the tropics where a single tree species is dominant. Such "monodominant" forests are known from all of the main tropical regions. For Amazonia, we sampled the occurrence of monodominance in a massive, basin-wide database of forest-inventory plots from the Amazon Tree Diversity Network (ATDN). Utilizing a simple defining metric of at least half of the trees ≥ 10 cm diameter belonging to one species, we found only a few occurrences of monodominance in Amazonia, and the phenomenon was not significantly linked to previously hypothesized life history traits such wood density, seed mass, ectomycorrhizal associations, or Rhizobium nodulation. In our analysis, coppicing (the formation of sprouts at the base of the tree or on roots) was the only trait significantly linked to monodominance. While at specific locales coppicing or ectomycorrhizal associations may confer a considerable advantage to a tree species and lead to its monodominance, very few species have these traits. Mining of the ATDN dataset suggests that monodominance is quite rare in Amazonia, and may be linked primarily to edaphic factors

Multi-criteria Resource Allocation in Modal Hard Real-Time Systems

In this paper, a novel resource allocation approach dedicated to hard real-time systems with distinctive operational modes is proposed. The aim of this approach is to reduce the energy dissipation of the computing cores by either powering them off or switching them into energy-saving states while still guaranteeing to meet all timing constraints. The approach is illustrated with two industrial applications, an engine control management and an engine control unit. Moreover, the amount of data to be migrated during the mode change is minimised. Since the number of processing cores and their energy dissipation are often negatively correlated with the amount of data to be migrated during the mode change, there is some trade-off between these values, which is also analysed in this paper

Tubulin isoform composition tunes microtubule dynamics

Microtubules polymerize and depolymerize stochastically, a behavior essential for cell division, motility and differentiation. While many studies advanced our understanding of how microtubule-associated proteins tune microtubule dynamics in trans, we have yet to understand how tubulin genetic diversity regulates microtubule functions. The majority of in vitro dynamics studies are performed with tubulin purified from brain tissue. This preparation is not representative of tubulin found in many cell types. Here we report the 4.2Å cryo-EM structure and in vitro dynamics parameters of α1B/βI+βIVb microtubules assembled from tubulin purified from a human embryonic kidney cell line with isoform composition characteristic of fibroblasts and many immortalized cell lines. We find that these microtubules grow faster and transition to depolymerization less frequently compared to brain microtubules. Cryo-EM reveals that the dynamic ends of α1B/βI+βIVb microtubules are less tapered and that these tubulin heterodimers display lower curvatures. Interestingly, analysis of EB1 distributions at dynamic ends suggests no differences in GTP cap sizes. Lastly, we show that the addition of recombinant α1A/βIII tubulin, a neuronal isotype overexpressed in many tumors, proportionally tunes the dynamics of α1B/βI+βIVb microtubules. Our study is an important step towards understanding how tubulin isoform composition tunes microtubule dynamics

Impact of microoxygenation on Pinot noir wines with different initial phenolic content

Microoxygenation (MOX) is used to improve wine colour and sensory quality; however, limited information is available for Pinot noir wines and wines with different initial phenolic content. In this study, MOX was applied to two Pinot noir wines, with either a low or a high phenolic content, at two doses (0.50 and 2.11 mg/L/day) for 14 days. With the sterile filtration applied, acetaldehyde formation during MOX was very low, supporting the influence of yeast on acetaldehyde production during MOX. The MOX dosage rate did not significantly affect colour development, while the Pinot noir wine with higher phenolics benefited more from MOX, significantly increasing colour intensity and SO₂ resistant (polymeric) pigments. However, these changes did not guarantee colour stability, as a final SO₂ addition (100 mg/L) largely erased the improvement to colour in all wines. This could be due to the lower acetaldehyde formation, thus less ethyl-bridged stable pigments resistant to SO₂ bleaching. MOX also decreased the flavan-3-ols and anthocyanin monomers, which differed between the two Pinot noir wines, reflecting the initial phenolic content. Lastly, MOX generally increased the measured tannin concentration and affected the proportion of tannin subunits, with a decrease in tannin mass conversion and proportion of (-)-epigallocatechin extension units. Some of these changes in phenolic compounds could potentially increase astringency, suggesting that MOX should be applied to Pinot noir and other low phenolic wines with caution

Phylogenetic Relationships in Pterodroma Petrels Are Obscured by Recent Secondary Contact and Hybridization

The classification of petrels (Pterodroma spp.) from Round Island, near Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, has confounded researchers since their discovery in 1948. In this study we investigate the relationships between Round Island petrels and their closest relatives using evidence from mitochondrial DNA sequence data and ectoparasites. Far from providing clear delimitation of species boundaries, our results reveal that hybridization among species on Round Island has led to genetic leakage between populations from different ocean basins. The most common species on the island, Pterodroma arminjoniana, appears to be hybridizing with two rarer species (P. heraldica and P. neglecta), subverting the reproductive isolation of all three and allowing gene flow. P. heraldica and P. neglecta breed sympatrically in the Pacific Ocean, where P. arminjoniana is absent, but no record of hybridization between these two exists and they remain phenotypically distinct. The breakdown of species boundaries in Round Island petrels followed environmental change (deforestation and changes in species composition due to hunting) within their overlapping ranges. Such multi-species interactions have implications not only for conservation, but also for our understanding of the processes of evolutionary diversification and speciation

Incidência do near miss materno no parto e pós-parto hospitalar: dados da pesquisa Nascer no Brasil

Este estudo avaliou os dados sobre a incidência do near miss materno, identificados segundo os critérios da Organização Mundial da Saúde, na pesquisa Nascer no Brasil. O estudo foi realizado entre fevereiro/2011 e outubro/2012 e os resultados apresentados são estimativas para a população estudada (2.337.476 partos), baseados na amostra de 23.894 puérperas entrevistadas. Os resultados mostraram uma incidência de near miss materno de 10,21 por mil nascidos vivos e uma razão de mortalidade do near miss materno de 30,8 casos para cada morte materna. Os critérios clínicos para identificação do near miss materno foram os mais prevalentes e tiveram incidência de 5,2 por mil nascidos vivos. O near miss materno esteve associado com a idade materna de 35 anos ou mais (RR = 1,6; IC95%: 1,1-2,5), com história de cesariana anterior (RR = 1,9; IC95%: 1,1-3,4) e gestação de risco (RR = 4,5; IC95%: 2,8-7,0). Os hospitais localizados nas capitais (RR = 2,2; IC95%: 1,3-3,8) e os pertencentes ao SUS (RR = 3,2; IC95%: 1,6-6,6) também apresentaram maior incidência de casos de near miss materno. A qualificação dos serviços de assistência ao parto pode ajudar a reduzir a mortalidade materna no Brasil