A research note on the occurrence of 'star' flowers in grapevines: Observations during the 2003–2004 growing season

In 2003 star flowers were observed on three different grape varieties in the Coombe Vineyard at the University of Adelaide's Waite Campus. The earliest star flowers on Canada Muscat, and those on Gamay (which were also associated with stunted shoots), most closely resembled the structure of star flowers as described by previous authors. Later in the season, despite opening in star formation, the organs of the star flowers were normal. Star flowers may take different forms, which in turn hold implications for their comparative ability to set fruit. In contrast to previously published reports, the subsequent occurrence of normal flowers on a double-pruned Canada Muscat vine demonstrated that star flowers are not necessarily expressed during each and every generation of flowers. Occurrence of star flowers probably results from a genotype × environment × time interaction rather than a developmental aberration that is expressed during each and every generation of flowers.     

Engineering Concepts and Communication: A Two‐Quarter Course Sequence

Together the departments of engineering and English designed and implemented a course sequence that sustains first‐year enrollment in engineering while teaching engineering design and fundamental communication skills. The sequence integrates the goals of four formally separate courses: Critical Reading and Writing, Argument and Research, Engineering Concepts I and II. Linking the courses did not detract from the original course goals nor burden the limited time resources of the participating faculty. We found that the linked courses have increased our first to second year retention rate by up to 30 percent.     

USE OF MASS TRANSFER THEORY TO PREDICT VISCOSITY-SWEETNESS INTERACTIONS OF FRUCTOSE AND SUCROSE SOLUTIONS CONTAINING TOMATO SOLIDS

The perceived sweetness intensity of sucrose and fructose in solutions of varying tomato solids content was studied. Using magnitude estimation it is shown that as the percentage o f tomato solids increased from 0-2.6%, the perceived sweetness intensity decreased substantially for both sucrose and fructose. The sharpest decrease occurred with a 1.66 molar fructose solution where the assessed sweetness intensity of a 2.6% insoluble tomato solids sample is 63% lower than the corresponding Wo tomato solids solution.
The penetration model of mass transfer explains this psychophysical phenomenon with the following relationship:     

Active synchronization and carrier phase locking of two separate mode-locked femtosecond lasers

Two independent mode-locked femtosecond lasers are synchronized to an unprecedented precision. The rms timing jitter between the lasers is 4.3 fs observed within a 160 Hz bandwidth over tens of seconds, or 26 fs within a 50 kHz bandwidth. Novel multi-stage phase-locked loops help to preserve this ultrahigh timing resolution while setting on arbitrary delay between the two pulse trains (0–5 ns). Under such synchronization, phase locking between the carrier frequencies of the two femtosecond lasers has been achieved. It is also demonstrated that the same level of synchronization can be achieved with two lasers at different repetition frequencies.     

Time-Intensity Evaluation of Sweetness and Fruitiness and Their Interaction in a Model Solution

Sweetness and fruitness were evaluated by time-intensity (TI) procedures in solutions varying in concentrations of glucose and peach essence at two temperatures. Of the eleven TI parameters quatified to characterize the TI curves, ten parameters varied significantly across samples for sweetness, whereas only seven varied significantly for fruitiness. Maximum sweetness intensity increased as glucose or peach essence concentration or solution temperature was raised. In contrast, maximum fruitiness intensity increased only with an increase in peach flavor concentration. Although the total persistence of aftertaste did not differ significantly between the two attributes, the mean time to maximum intensity for sweetness (6.6 sec) was 3.8 sec shorter than that found for fruitiness.