499 research outputs found
Selection of a New Highly Resistant Strain for Malolactic Fermentation under Difficult Conditions
Malolactic fermentation (MLF) is a biological process that contributes to wine quality, but it is frequently affectedby various vinification conditions. Resistance to four wine-limiting factors was studied with respect to 10 Oenococcusoeni strains in order to select a suitable strain for performing reliable MLF in difficult wines. Resistance to lowfermentation temperature, high SO2 and/or ethanol concentration, and low pH were assayed in laboratory tests. Apool of the most resistant strains was used in a set of laboratory MLFs. At the end of fermentation, the dominantstrains were identified by RAPD-PCR. The PN4 strain was found to be dominant in the majority of cases and underthe most detrimental wine conditions, and it was therefore chosen as the single-strain inoculum for the subsequentMLF trials. The effectiveness of the PN4 strain was confirmed in a series of MLFs carried out in three differentcountries under experimental and industrial conditions. It accomplished MLF in wines with up to 15.8% ethanol,pH as low as 3.0, 60 mg/L of free SO2, and in fermentation temperatures below 17ÂșC. Our findings indicate that theO. oeni PN4 strain could be an effective starter, guaranteeing regular and reliable MLF fermentation
Mannosidosis: two brothers with different degrees of disease severity
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65926/1/j.1399-0004.1981.tb01829.x.pd
Solitonic conduction of electrotonic signals in neuronal branchlets with polarized microstructure
A model of solitonic conduction in neuronal branchlets with microstructure is presented. The application of cable theory to neurons with microstructure results in a nonlinear cable equation that is solved using a direct method to obtain analytical approximations of traveling wave solutions. It is shown that a linear superposition of two oppositely directed traveling waves demonstrate solitonic interaction: colliding waves can penetrate through each other, and continue fully intact as the exact pulses that entered the collision. These findings indicate that microstructure when polarized can sustain solitary waves that propagate at a constant velocity without attenuation or distortion in the absence of synaptic transmission. Solitonic conduction in a neuronal branchlet arising from polarizability of its microstructure is a novel signaling mode of electrotonic signals in thin processes (<0.5âÎŒm diameter)
Peculiar Type II Supernovae from Blue Supergiants
The vast majority of Type II supernovae (SNe) are produced by red supergiants
(RSGs), but SN 1987A revealed that blue supergiants (BSGs) can produce members
of this class as well, albeit with some peculiar properties. This best studied
event revolutionized our understanding of SNe, and linking it to the bulk of
Type II events is essential. We present here optical photometry and
spectroscopy gathered for SN 2000cb, which is clearly not a standard Type II SN
and yet is not a SN 1987A analog. The light curve of SN 2000cb is reminiscent
of that of SN 1987A in shape, with a slow rise to a late optical peak, but on
substantially different time scales. Spectroscopically, SN 2000cb resembles a
normal SN II but with ejecta velocities that far exceed those measured for SN
1987A or normal SNe II, above 18000 km/s for H-alpha at early times. The red
colours, high velocities, late photometric peak, and our modeling of this
object all point toward a scenario involving the high-energy explosion of a
small-radius star, most likely a BSG, producing 0.1 solar masses of Ni-56.
Adding a similar object to the sample, SN 2005ci, we derive a rate of about 2%
of the core-collapse rate for this loosely defined class of BSG explosions.Comment: Accepted to MNRAS on March 14, 201
Case report 63
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/46808/1/256_2004_Article_BF00365116.pd
Near-IR Search for Lensed Supernovae Behind Galaxy Clusters - II. First Detection and Future Prospects
Powerful gravitational telescopes in the form of massive galaxy clusters can
be used to enhance the light collecting power over a limited field of view by
about an order of magnitude in flux. This effect is exploited here to increase
the depth of a survey for lensed supernovae at near-IR wavelengths. A pilot SN
search program conducted with the ISAAC camera at VLT is presented. Lensed
galaxies behind the massive clusters A1689, A1835 and AC114 were observed for a
total of 20 hours split into 2, 3 and 4 epochs respectively, separated by
approximately one month to a limiting magnitude J<24 (Vega). Image subtractions
including another 20 hours worth of archival ISAAC/VLT data were used to search
for transients with lightcurve properties consistent with redshifted
supernovae, both in the new and reference data. The feasibility of finding
lensed supernovae in our survey was investigated using synthetic lightcurves of
supernovae and several models of the volumetric Type Ia and core-collapse
supernova rates as a function of redshift. We also estimate the number of
supernova discoveries expected from the inferred star formation rate in the
observed galaxies. The methods consistently predict a Poisson mean value for
the expected number of SNe in the survey between N_SN=0.8 and 1.6 for all
supernova types, evenly distributed between core collapse and Type Ia SN. One
transient object was found behind A1689, 0.5" from a galaxy with photometric
redshift z_gal=0.6 +- 0.15. The lightcurve and colors of the transient are
consistent with being a reddened Type IIP SN at z_SN=0.59. The lensing model
predicts 1.4 magnitudes of magnification at the location of the transient,
without which this object would not have been detected in the near-IR ground
based search described in this paper (unlensed magnitude J~25). (abridged)Comment: Accepted by AA, matches journal versio
On the fraction of intermediate-mass close binaries that explode as type-Ia supernovae
Type-Ia supernovae (SNe-Ia) are thought to result from a thermonuclear
runaway in white dwarfs (WDs) that approach the Chandrasekhar limit, either
through accretion from a companion or a merger with another WD. I compile
observational estimates of the fraction eta of intermediate-mass stars that
eventually explode as SNe-Ia, supplement them with several new estimates, and
compare them self-consistently. The estimates are based on five different
methods, each utilising some observable related to the SN-Ia rate, combined
with assumptions regarding the IMF: the ratio of SN-Ia to core-collapse rates
in star-forming galaxies; the SN-Ia rate per unit star-formation rate; the
SN-Ia rate per unit stellar mass; the iron to stellar mass ratio in galaxy
clusters; and the abundance ratios in galaxy clusters. The five methods
indicate that a fraction in the range eta~2-40% of all stars with initial
masses of 3-8 M_sun (the generally assumed SN-Ia progenitors) explode as
SNe-Ia. A fraction of eta~15% is consistent with all five methods for a range
of plausible IMFs. Considering also the binarity fraction among such stars, the
mass ratio distribution, the separation distribution, and duplicity (every
binary can produce only one SN-Ia explosion), this implies that nearly every
intermediate mass close binary ends up as a SN-Ia, or possibly more SNe-Ia than
progenitor systems. Theoretically expected fractions are generally one to two
orders of magnitude lower. The problem could be solved: if all the
observational estimates are in error; or with a ``middle-heavy'' IMF; or by
some mechanism that strongly enhances the efficiency of binary evolution toward
SN-Ia explosion; or by a non-binary origin for SNe-Ia.Comment: MNRAS, accepted versio
Evidence for a Compact Wolf-Rayet Progenitor for the Type Ic Supernova PTF 10vgv
We present the discovery of PTF 10vgv, a Type Ic supernova (SN) detected by the Palomar Transient Factory, using the Palomar 48 inch telescope (P48). R-band observations of the PTF 10vgv field with P48 probe the SN emission from its very early phases (about two weeks before R-band maximum) and set limits on its flux in the week prior to the discovery. Our sensitive upper limits and early detections constrain the post-shock-breakout luminosity of this event. Via comparison to numerical (analytical) models, we derive an upper-limit of R ⟠4.5 R_â (R ⟠1 R_â) on the radius of the progenitor star, a direct indication in favor of a compact Wolf-Rayet star. Applying a similar analysis to the historical observations of SN 1994I yields R ⟠1/4 R_â for the progenitor radius of this SN
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