A Review of Tannin Determination Methods Using Spectrophotometric Detection in Red Wines and Their Ability to Predict Astringency

Astringency is an important sensory attribute that influences red wine quality. The astringent sensation inside the mouth is caused by a group of molecules called tannins. These molecules can be quantified and analysed by several numbers of methods, such as the Bate Smith method, Adams Harbertson assay, and methylcellulose precipitation method. All these methods are colourimetric, however they differ on the principle on which they are based and, as well as on the tannin pool they are able to measure. In the literature, it is possible to find a wide range of concentrations of tannins for the main red wines varieties, which have been evaluated by the methods herein reviewed. For instance, higher tannin concentrations are obtained using the Bate Smith method (2.08-3.48 g/L tannin) compared with the Adams Harbertson assay (0.58-0.14 g/L tannin), which exhibit the lowest results. However, studies that directly compare results obtained with these methods are scarce. The aim of this work is to compare tannin concentrations in red wines and along with how sensory astringency correlates with tannin concentration measured by these three methods

Pulsed x-rays dose measurements from a hundred joules plasma focus device

Indexación: Scopus.Present work is aimed to perform dosimetric measurements to characterize dosis obtained from pulsed x-rays emitted from a hundred joules plasma focus device PF-400J using thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLD-100). Two dosimeter arrays (containing 21 dosimeters in each) were used. One of the arrays was kept inside the PF-400J vacuum chamber and other outside the vacuum chamber, simultaneously. It was found that dosis obtained from the inside array (∼200.7 mGy) were hundred times larger than the outside array (∼1.1 mGy) for hundred pulses of x-rays. Later, the vacuum window of PF-400J, which was made of 1 mm aluminum, was replaced by a plastic window and a similar dosimeter array was kept outside the chamber over the plastic window. With this arrangement, the obtained doses (100 pulses of x-rays) were of the same order of magnitude (∼106 mGy) as it was inside the vacuum chamber. Later, a lead piece was inserted inside the hollow anode of PF-400J, which increased dose (∼250 mGy) per hundred pulses of x-ray outside the vacuum chamber using plastic vacuum window. Our results suggest that PF-400J could be a useful device to study low dose pulsed radiation effects on cancer cell lines in in vitro experiments. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.The work is supported by grant ACT-1115, CONICYT, Chile.https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/1043/1/01204

Analysis of Deterioration in a Plasma Focus Device

Indexación: Scopus.The Plasma Focus (PF) is a kind of dense transient plasmas in with high-pulsed voltage. To produce devices for eld application it is necessary to obtain PF equipment able to operate for a long period of time. Thus, a reliability analysis is indispensable. In this work a reliability analysis program for plasma focus devices is presented. The program considers a criticality analysis using Failure Modes and Effects Criticality Analysis (FMECA) to identify the most important failure modes of the system. Said failure modes are studied operating the Plasma Focus for many cycles, obtaining from them the characteristic curves of V(t) and İ(t). Feature Extraction (FE) techniques are applied to obtain a list of parameters that correlate to the degrading process. Furthermore, Machine Learning tools are used to learn from the obtained data, linking the changes in these parameters during its life cycle to the decay of the system in hope for future implementation of a predictive maintenance system and a reference for data analysis and prediction in PFs. The study was applied to a portable plasma focus device operated at 2 joules of stored energy. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.The work is supported by IAEA CRP contract 20370 and by grant ACT-1115, CONICYT, Chile.https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/1043/1/01204

Hundred joules plasma focus device as a potential pulsed source for in vitro cancer cell irradiation

Indexación: Web of Science; Scopus.Plasma focus devices may arise as useful source to perform experiments aimed to study the effects of pulsed radiation on human cells in vitro. In the present work, a table top hundred joules plasma focus device, namely "PF-400J", was adapted to irradiate colorectal cancer cell line, DLD-1. For pulsed x-rays, the doses (energy absorbed per unit mass, measured in Gy) were measured using thermoluminescence detectors (TLD-100 dosimeters). The neutron fluence and the average energy were used to estimate the pulsed neutron doses. Fifty pulses of x-rays (0.12 Gy) and fifty pulses of neutrons (3.5 μGy) were used to irradiate the cancer cells. Irradiation-induced DNA damage and cell death were assessed at different time points after irradiation. Cell death was observed using pulsed neutron irradiation, at ultralow doses. Our results indicate that the PF-400J can be used for in vitro assessment of the effect of pulsed radiation in cancer cell research.http://recursosbiblioteca.unab.cl:2296/doi/pdf/10.1063/1.499465

Evaluation of Plant-Based Byproducts as Green Fining Agents for Precision Winemaking

Consumers are increasingly looking for foods, including wine, that are free of animal-derived proteins. This study seeks to evaluate patatin, a new, plant-based and allergen-free fining agent, by comparing it with the fining agents polyvinipolypyrrolidone, bovine serum albumin, and methylcellulose. Specifically, its effects on the phenolic profile of enological tannins were analyzed with four spectrophotometric assays: OD 280 nm, Folin–Ciocâlteu, Adams–Harbertson, and methylcellulose. In addition, changes in the polyphenol composition of Sangiovese red wine were determined by UV-Vis spectrophotometry and HPLC with adsorption trials, and the solid–liquid interaction in a wine solution was modeled by both Langmuir and Freundlich equations. Our findings highlight the occurrence of systematic proportional error between the selected spectrophotometric assays. As a result, direct comparisons of protein precipitation assays can be made only among results obtained with the same spectrophotometric method. However, it is clear that patatin has an impact on the phenolic profile of Sangiovese red wine: it removes simple phenolics (gallic acid, (+)-catechin, (–)-epicatechin, epicatechin gallate, syringic acid, fertaric acid, coutaric acid, and rutin) as well as both oligomeric and polymeric tannins to different extents. In concentrations of less than 1 g/L, the patatin isotherm showed a linear relation between the equilibrium concentration and the quantity absorbed, obeying the Freundlich model reasonably well (KF 1.46; 1/n 1.07; R2 0.996 with 1/n > 1). Thus, the adsorption process is strongly dependent on the fining dosage

Mu-Metal Enhancement of Effects in Electromagnetic Fields Over Single Emitters Near Topological Insulators

We focus on the transmission and reflection coefficients of light in systems involving of topological insulators (TI). Due to the electro-magnetic coupling in TIs, new mixing coefficients emerge leading to new components of the electromagnetic fields of propagating waves. We have discovered a simple heterostructure that provides a 100-fold enhancement of the mixing coefficients for TI materials. Such effect increases with the TI's wave impedance. We also predict a transverse deviation of the Poynting vector due to these mixed coefficients contributing to the radiative electromagnetic field of an electric dipole. Given an optimal configuration of the dipole-TI system, this deviation could amount to $0.18\%$ of the Poynting vector due to emission near not topological materials, making this effect detectable

Genome-wide identification of new Wnt/β-catenin target genes in the human genome using CART method

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The importance of <it>in silico </it>predictions for understanding cellular processes is now widely accepted, and a variety of algorithms useful for studying different biological features have been designed. In particular, the prediction of <it>cis </it>regulatory modules in non-coding human genome regions represents a major challenge for understanding gene regulation in several diseases. Recently, studies of the Wnt signaling pathway revealed a connection with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's. In this article, we construct a classification tool that uses the transcription factor binding site motifs composition of some gene promoters to identify new Wnt/β-catenin pathway target genes potentially involved in brain diseases.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this study, we propose 89 new Wnt/β-catenin pathway target genes predicted <it>in silico </it>by using a method based on multiple Classification and Regression Tree (CART) analysis. We used as decision variables the presence of transcription factor binding site motifs in the upstream region of each gene. This prediction was validated by RT-qPCR in a sample of 9 genes. As expected, LEF1, a member of the T-cell factor/lymphoid enhancer-binding factor family (TCF/LEF1), was relevant for the classification algorithm and, remarkably, other factors related directly or indirectly to the inflammatory response and amyloidogenic processes also appeared to be relevant for the classification. Among the 89 new Wnt/β-catenin pathway targets, we found a group expressed in brain tissue that could be involved in diverse responses to neurodegenerative diseases, like Alzheimer's disease (AD). These genes represent new candidates to protect cells against amyloid β toxicity, in agreement with the proposed neuroprotective role of the Wnt signaling pathway.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our multiple CART strategy proved to be an effective tool to identify new Wnt/β-catenin pathway targets based on the study of their regulatory regions in the human genome. In particular, several of these genes represent a new group of transcriptional dependent targets of the canonical Wnt pathway. The functions of these genes indicate that they are involved in pathophysiology related to Alzheimer's disease or other brain disorders.</p

Alteration of Gene Expression Profile in Niemann-Pick Type C Mice Correlates with Tissue Damage and Oxidative Stress

Background: Niemann-Pick type C disease (NPC) is a neurovisceral lipid storage disorder mainly characterized by unesterified cholesterol accumulation in lysosomal/late endosomal compartments, although there is also an important storage for several other kind of lipids. The main tissues affected by the disease are the liver and the cerebellum. Oxidative stress has been described in various NPC cells and tissues, such as liver and cerebellum. Although considerable alterations occur in the liver, the pathological mechanisms involved in hepatocyte damage and death have not been clearly defined. Here, we assessed hepatic tissue integrity, biochemical and oxidative stress parameters of wild-type control (Npc1 +/+; WT) and homozygous-mutant (Npc1 -/-; NPC) mice. In addition, the mRNA abundance of genes encoding proteins associated with oxidative stress, copper metabolism, fibrosis, inflammation and cholesterol metabolism were analyzed in livers and cerebella of WT and NPC mice. Methodology/P