Chromatography-Olfactometry Study of the Aroma of Fino Sherry Wines

The aroma of Fino sherry wines produced by industrial biological aging for 0, 1.5, 2.5, 4.5, and 6 years in the Montilla-Moriles region (southern Spain) was studied by gas chromatography-olfactometry. The aroma sensations detected by 3 trained sniffers were classified according to their odor descriptors into 8 odorant series (fruity, empyreumatic, chemical, fatty, balsamic, vegetable, floral, and spicy), describing the aroma profile of the studied wines. The results showed 47 detected odors in the unaged wines, 50 in the 1.5-years-old wines and 59, 61 and 69 in the wines aged 2.5, 4.5, and 6 years, respectively. According to the frequency of the perceived aromas, the fruity and empyreumatic series were the most characteristic odorant series. By exception of chemical, floral and balsamic series without changes during aging of the wines, the remainder series increased their participation during the aging, mainly the fruity, empyreumatic, and fatty series

Extraction of phenolic compounds in controlled macerations of Pedro Ximenez grapes

Crushed grapes of cv. Pedro Ximenez were macerated together with their must for 4, 16, 24 and 48 h at temperatures of 10, 15 and 25°C. The musts obtained after pressing were used for the determination of 14 phenolic compounds from the following fractions: hydroxybenzoic acids, hydroxycinnamic acids, other nonflavonoids, flavan-3-ols and flavonols. The temperature was found not to exert a marked influence on the extraction of the phenolic compounds in the first 16 h of maceration. After that time, however, it had a significant effect, so maceration times longer than 16 h are inadvisable unless subsequent oxidation is applied. The analytical results obtained showed that the flavan-3-ols, catechin and epicatechin were extracted at the highest rates, related with maceration temperature, followed by hydroxbenzoic acids, other nonflavonoids, hydroxycinnamic acids and flavonols. The flavan-3-ol fraction was also extracted in higher proportions under the different conditions assayed, through very closely followed by that of hydroxybenzoic acids

Flavour in "Pedro Ximénez" grape musts subjected to maceration processes

Crushed grapes of  Vitis vinifera cv. Pedro Ximenez were macerated at 10, 15 and 25°C for 4, 16, 24 and 48 hours. The musts obtained after pressing were used for the determination of higher alcohols, esters and terpene compounds. The data was subjected to discriminant analysis, obtaining three functions of difficult interpretation. A fruitiness index (SIGMA favourable aromas/SIGMA unfavourable aromas) x 100 and the total of phenolic compounds were subjected to variance and multiple range analyses which revealed significant differences (p<0.01) for maceration times and temperatures. Taking into account the fruitiness index and phenolic compound values, as well as the significant differences obtained by multifactorial (time-temperature) variance analysis, the 24 h-10°C, 4 h-15°C, 16 h-15°C and 24 h-15°C were the best condition

Simple Sequence Repeats and Mucoid Conversion: Biased mucA Mutagenesis in Mismatch Repair-Deficient Pseudomonas aeruginosa

In Pseudomonas aeruginosa, conversion to the mucoid phenotype marks the onset of an irreversible state of the infection in Cystic Fibrosis (CF) patients. The main pathway for mucoid conversion is mutagenesis of the mucA gene, frequently due to −1 bp deletions in a simple sequence repeat (SSR) of 5 Gs (G5-SSR426). We have recently observed that this mucA mutation is particularly accentuated in Mismatch Repair System (MRS)-deficient cells grown in vitro. Interestingly, previous reports have shown a high prevalence of hypermutable MRS-deficient strains occurring naturally in CF chronic lung infections. Here, we used mucA as a forward mutation model to systematically evaluate the role of G5-SSR426 in conversion to mucoidy in a MRS-deficient background, with this being the first analysis combining SSR-dependent localized hypermutability and the acquisition of a particular virulence/persistence trait in P. aeruginosa. In this study, mucA alleles were engineered with different contents of G:C SSRs, and tested for their effect on the mucoid conversion frequency and mucA mutational spectra in a mutS-deficient strain of P. aeruginosa. Importantly, deletion of G5-SSR426 severely reduced the emergence frequency of mucoid variants, with no preferential site of mutagenesis within mucA. Moreover, although mutagenesis in mucA was not totally removed, this was no longer the main pathway for mucoid conversion, suggesting that G5-SSR426 biased mutations towards mucA. Mutagenesis in mucA was restored by the addition of a new SSR (C6-SSR431), and even synergistically increased when G5-SSR426 and C6-SSR431 were present simultaneously, with the mucA mutations being restricted to −1 bp deletions within any of both G:C SSRs. These results confirm a critical role for G5-SSR426 enhancing the mutagenic process of mucA in MRS-deficient cells, and shed light on another mechanism, the SSR- localized hypermutability, contributing to mucoid conversion in P. aeruginosa

Note on a q-modified central limit theorem

A q-modified version of the central limit theorem due to Umarov et al. affirms that q-Gaussians are attractors under addition and rescaling of certain classes of strongly correlated random variables. The proof of this theorem rests on a nonlinear q-modified Fourier transform. By exhibiting an invariance property we show that this Fourier transform does not have an inverse. As a consequence, the theorem falls short of achieving its stated goal.Comment: 10 pages, no figure

Redescription of Caprella hirsuta Mayec 1890 (Crustacea, Amphipoda, Caprellidea) from the Strait of Gibraltar

Caprella hirsuta Mayer, 1890 is redescribed based on specimens collected from the Strait of Gibraltar (Southern Spain-Northern Africa) during a study of the amphipod fauna from these coasts. Careful examination of these caprellids revealed differences with the previous descriptions, mainly the structure of gnathopod 2, pereopods and abdomen. Key words: Crustacea, Amphipoda, Caprellidea, Caprella hirsuta, Strait of Gibraltar, Redescription.Caprella hirsuta Mayer, 1890 is redescribed based on specimens collected from the Strait of Gibraltar (Southern Spain-Northern Africa) during a study of the amphipod fauna from these coasts. Careful examination of these caprellids revealed differences with the previous descriptions, mainly the structure of gnathopod 2, pereopods and abdomen. Key words: Crustacea, Amphipoda, Caprellidea, Caprella hirsuta, Strait of Gibraltar, Redescription.Caprella hirsuta Mayer, 1890 is redescribed based on specimens collected from the Strait of Gibraltar (Southern Spain-Northern Africa) during a study of the amphipod fauna from these coasts. Careful examination of these caprellids revealed differences with the previous descriptions, mainly the structure of gnathopod 2, pereopods and abdomen. Key words: Crustacea, Amphipoda, Caprellidea, Caprella hirsuta, Strait of Gibraltar, Redescription

αV-Integrins Are Required for Mechanotransduction in MDCK Epithelial Cells

The properties of epithelial cells within tissues are regulated by their immediate microenvironment, which consists of neighboring cells and the extracellular matrix (ECM). Integrin heterodimers orchestrate dynamic assembly and disassembly of cell-ECM connections and thereby convey biochemical and mechanical information from the ECM into cells. However, the specific contributions and functional hierarchy between different integrin heterodimers in the regulation of focal adhesion dynamics in epithelial cells are incompletely understood. Here, we have studied the functions of RGD-binding αV-integrins in a Madin Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) cell model and found that αV-integrins regulate the maturation of focal adhesions (FAs) and cell spreading. αV-integrin-deficient MDCK cells bound collagen I (Col I) substrate via α2β1-integrins but failed to efficiently recruit FA components such as talin, focal adhesion kinase (FAK), vinculin and integrin-linked kinase (ILK). The apparent inability to mature α2β1-integrin-mediated FAs and link them to cellular actin cytoskeleton led to disrupted mechanotransduction in αV-integrin deficient cells seeded onto Col I substrate

The Effect of Aqueous Alteration in Antarctic Carbonaceous Chondrites from Comparative ICP-MS Bulk Chemistry

Terrestrial ages of Antarctic carbonaceous chondrites (CC) indicate that these meteorites have been preserved in or on ice for, at least, tens of thousands of years. Due to the porous structure of these chondrites formed by the aggregation of silicate-rich chondrules, refractory inclusions, metal grains, and fine-grained matrix materials, the effect of pervasive terrestrial water is relevant. Our community defends that pristine CC matrices are representing samples of scarcely processed protoplanetary disk materials as they contain stellar grains, but they might also trace parent body processes. It is important to study the effects of terrestrial aqueous alteration in promoting bulk chemistry changes, and creating distinctive alteration minerals. Particularly because it is thought that aqueous alteration has particularly played a key role in some CC groups in modifying primordial bulk chemistry, and homogenizing the isotopic content of fine-grained matrix materials. Fortunately, the mineralogy produced by parent-body and terrestrial aqueous alteration processes is distinctive. With the goal to learn more about terrestrial alteration in Antarctica we are obtaining reflectance spectra of CCs, but also performing ICP-MS bulk chemistry of the different CC groups. A direct comparison with the mean bulk elemental composition of recovered falls might inform us on the effects of terrestrial alteration in finds. With such a goal, in the current work we have analyzed some members representative of CO and CM chondrite groups

Managerial family ties and employee risk bearing in family firms : evidence from Spanish car dealers

The paper argues that family firms in which the Top Management Team (TMT) is dominated by non-family managers are more likely to shift risk to employees through incentive pay schemes than family firms with TMTs dominated by family members. We also argue that this tendency is aggravated in firms of bigger size as this condition makes non-family managers more vulnerable. We further note that differences between family and non-family dominated TMTs may lessen when the sales trend is negative. The analyses conducted on a sample of 219 family controlled car dealerships in Spain confirm our expectations

Liquidity and the multiscaling properties of the volume traded on the stock market

We investigate the correlation properties of transaction data from the New York Stock Exchange. The trading activity f(t) of each stock displays a crossover from weaker to stronger correlations at time scales 60-390 minutes. In both regimes, the Hurst exponent H depends logarithmically on the liquidity of the stock, measured by the mean traded value per minute. All multiscaling exponents tau(q) display a similar liquidity dependence, which clearly indicates the lack of a universal form assumed by other studies. The origin of this behavior is both the long memory in the frequency and the size of consecutive transactions.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Europhysics Letter