What do we know about grapevine bunch compactness? A state‐of‐the‐art review

Bunch compactness (or density) is a grapevine specific trait that affects the commercial quality and sanitary status of wine and tablegrapes. Compact bunches are more susceptible to diverse pests and diseases such as Botrytis bunch rot and their berries ripen more heterogeneously, causing important economic losses through a reduction in crop yield and grape and wine quality. Bunch compactness is determined by the fraction of the morphological volume of the bunch that is filled by berries, but this simple definition contrasts sharply with the difficulty to measure it. While there are several objective and quantitative methods available to measure bunch compactness, the lack of a consistent approach between researchers makes comparing measurements difficult. The complexity of bunch compactness initially arises from the several bunch and berry traits that influence it, and from the distinct effects that these traits may cause in different cultivars. In addition to this genetic effect, diverse environmental signals impact on bunch compactness by affecting those primary factors that contribute to the solid component of the bunch (berry number, berry size) or to its spatial arrangement (rachis architecture). Last, several viticultural approaches, including agronomic techniques and growth regulators, have also proven to affect bunch compactness in different ways. This review aims to discuss present knowledge about this relevant grapevine trait.     

2010"尚高杯"中国室内设计大奖赛获奖名单

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BCAA Metabolism and Insulin Sensitivity – Dysregulated by Metabolic Status?

Branched‐chain amino acids (BCAAs) appear to influence several synthetic and catabolic cellular signaling cascades leading to altered phenotypes in mammals. BCAAs are most notably known to increase protein synthesis through modulating protein translation, explaining their appeal to resistance and endurance athletes for muscle hypertrophy, expedited recovery, and preservation of lean body mass. In addition to anabolic effects, BCAAs may increase mitochondrial content in skeletal muscle and adipocytes, possibly enhancing oxidative capacity. However, elevated circulating BCAA levels have been correlated with severity of insulin resistance. It is hypothesized that elevated circulating BCAAs observed in insulin resistance may result from dysregulated BCAA degradation. This review summarizes original reports that investigated the ability of BCAAs to alter glucose uptake in consequential cell types and experimental models. The review also discusses the interplay of BCAAs with other metabolic factors, and the role of excess lipid (and possibly energy excess) in the dysregulation of BCAA catabolism. Lastly, this article provides a working hypothesis of the mechanism(s) by which lipids may contribute to altered BCAA catabolism, which often accompanies metabolic disease.     

The trend of reduced hop‐content in Pilsner‐type beer in Germany. A change in taste?

A time series analysis of the development of bitterness units (BU) of a collective of 1,202 Pilsner beer samples analysed between 1983 and 2013 shows a small but statistically significant decline from values of around 30 BU in the 1980s to values of around 27 in the last years. The results confirm a trend to lower hopped Pilsner beers, which could derive from economic pressures on the breweries combined with a lack of regulations, or a change in consumer preference. So–called Pilsner beers with extremely low BU values are judged as a being misleading to the consumer, which is an offence against European food law. Copyright © 2015 The Institute of Brewing & Distilling     

色彩·自然——富士施乐2010年文件解决方案展亮相羊城

2010年1月26日,全球领先的文件管理专家——富士施乐举办的2010年文件解决方案展抵达广州。本届展会秉承富士施乐一贯的节能、环保理念,以“色彩·自然“为主题,首次全面系统地展示了富士施乐新一代环保概念彩色文件管理解决方案,完美诠释了“高效、高质、低碳“的彩色办公新境界。     

Large and Small Starch Granules in Wheat – Are They Really Different?

Investigations of the starch granules of wheat throughout their development suggest that there are two distinct populations of granules that are initiated at separate stages of kernel development. Work with the Coulter Counter particularly supports this idea, but it is also in agreement with results of light microscopy, electron microscopy and chemical analysis.     

Coffee consumption and human health – beneficial or detrimental? – Mechanisms for effects of coffee consumption on different risk factors for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus

Coffee is probably the most frequently ingested beverage worldwide. Especially Scandinavia has a high prevalence of coffee-drinkers, and they traditionally make their coffee by boiling ground coffee beans and water. Because of its consumption in most countries in the world, it is interesting, from both a public and a scientific perspective, to discuss its potential benefits or adverse aspects in relation to especially two main health problems, namely cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Epidemiological studies suggest that consumption of boiled coffee is associated with elevated risk for cardiovascular disease. This is mainly due to the two diterpenes identified in the lipid fraction of coffee grounds, cafestol and kahweol. These compounds promote increased plasma concentration of cholesterol in humans. Coffee is also a rich source of many other ingredients that may contribute to its biological activity, like heterocyclic compounds that exhibit strong antioxidant activity. Based on the literature reviewed, it is apparent that moderate daily filtered, coffee intake is not associated with any adverse effects on cardiovascular outcome. On the contrary, the data shows that coffee has a significant antioxidant activity, and may have an inverse association with the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus.     

寻味·知新——雀巢专业餐饮2010年春夏菜品趋势发布会

3月17日下午，由雀巢专业餐饮举办的“寻味·知新——2010年春夏菜品趋势发布会”在重庆洲际酒店隆重举行。发布会上，雀巢专业餐饮预测了今年春夏菜品的流行趋势：随着南北融合的理念渗透到餐饮界的更深层面，新调味——鲜辣当先、新食材——健康至上、新技法——推陈出新．将会成为2010年凉菜创新的主题。     

High Relative Humidity In‐Package of Fresh‐Cut Fruits and Vegetables: Advantage or Disadvantage Considering Microbiological Problems and Antimicrobial Delivering Systems?

ABSTRACT:  This hypothesis article states that the high relative humidity (RH) of packaged fresh-cut fruits or vegetables that is associated with spoilage can be used as an advantageous way to deliver antimicrobial compounds using cyclodextrins (CDs) as carriers. CDs can function as antimicrobial delivery systems as they can release antioxidant and antimicrobial compounds (guest molecules) as the humidity levels increase in the headspace. Hydrophobic antimicrobial guests can be complexed with CDs due to the amphiphatic nature of the host. Then, at high RH values, due to the water–CDs interaction, host–guest interactions are weakened; consequently, the antimicrobial molecule is released and should protect the product against the microbial growth. Potential antimicrobial compounds capable of forming complexes with CDs are discussed, as well as possible applications to preserve fresh-cut produce and future research in this area.     

Milk fat globule membrane – a source of polar lipids for colon health? A review

The milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) surrounds fat globules, protects them against lipolysis and disperses the milk fat in the milk plasma. Besides their structural and emulsifying roles, in vivo and in vitro studies have demonstrated that phospholipids and sphingolipids of MFGM possess cancer risk‐reducing properties. Several reports attribute its chemopreventive activity to products of sphingomyelin hydrolysis, which affect multiple cellular targets that control cell growth, differentiation and apoptosis. With knowledge on the potential health benefits of MFGM lipids and proteins, dairy industries could in the future address their research in developing new functional dairy products enriched in beneficial MFGM components.     

Selenium (Se) improves drought tolerance in crop plants – a myth or fact?

Climate change has emerged as one of the most complex challenges of the 21st century and has become an area of interest in the past few decades. Many countries of the world have become extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The scarcity of water is a serious concern for food security of these countries and climate change has aggravated the risks of extreme events like drought. Oxidative stress, caused by a variety of active oxygen species formed under drought stress, damages many cellular constituents, such as carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids and proteins, which ultimately reduces plant growth, respiration and photosynthesis. Se has become an element of interest to many biologists owing to its physiological and toxicological importance. It plays a beneficial role in plants by enhancing growth, reducing damage caused by oxidative stress, enhancing chlorophyll content under light stress, stimulating senesce to produce antioxidants and improving plant tolerance to drought stress by regulating water status. Researchers have adopted different strategies to evaluate the role of selenium in plants under drought stress. Some of the relevant work available regarding the role of Se in alleviating adverse effect of drought stress is discussed in this paper. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry     

Migration of nitrosamines from rubber products – are balloons and condoms harmful to the human health?

Studies performed in 2001 and 2003 surveyed the release of carcinogenic nitrosamines and nitrosatable substances from rubber toy balloons by extraction with artificial saliva and gas chromatography-thermal energy analysis (GC-TEA). 81% of the 16 in 2001 sampled balloons and 93% of the 14 in 2003 sampled balloons released nitrosamines above the recommended level in Germany of 10 mug per kg material. Furthermore, 32 rubber condom samples collected in 2004 from the German market were surveyed for nitrosamines by determining the amount migrating into an artificial sweat test solution. The levels released from condoms varied from < 10 to 660 mug per kg material (i. e., up to 1.4 mug nitrosamines per condom). In a model calculation, not considering the differences that may exist in the resorption rate, we have calculated that the exposure from condoms may exceed the exposure from food 1.5-3 fold. To our knowledge so far no legal binding legislation exists worldwide concerning nitrosamine migration from toy balloons or condoms.