Modifications in aroma characteristics of'Merlot'dry red wines aged in American,French and Slovakian oak barrels with different toasting degrees

Aging in oak barrels is widely used in enology which could bring flavor changes and aromatic complexity to wines.In the present study,the aroma compounds were analyzed from the‘Merlot’dry red wines,which were fermented in two types of fermenters(stainless steel tank and rotated oak barrel)and aged in six types of oak barrels(three geographic origins×two toasting degrees)for different time(0,3,6 and 9 months,respectively).Results showed that 30 volatiles were associated with barrels and increased during oak aging.The fermenters could influence the intensities of the toast,leathery,smoky,fruity,floral and caramel aromas.The concentration of whisky lactone,eugenol,cis-isoeugenol,and the intensities of the toast and spicy aromas were highest in the wines aged in American oak and were lowest in the wines aged in French oak barrels.The concentrations of guaiacol,syringol,trans-isoeugenol,furfural alcohol,vanilla,cis-whisky lactone enabled the medium toasting barrels to be distinguished from the light toasting ones.The compounds originating from the barrels could be used to distinguish the types of different barrels,but the other general grape-derived and fermentation-derived volatiles could not.The fermenters,oak species and toasting degrees of the barrels all had significant effects on the aroma profiles of the aged‘Merlot’dry red wines,but the influence of the geographic origin was not obvious.

Experimental observation on water entry of a sphere in regular wave

This paper presents a novel experiment to observe the whole water entry process of a free-falling sphere into a regular wave.A time-accurate synchronizing system modulates the moment elaborately to ensure the sphere impacting onto the water surface at the desirable wave phase.Four high-speed cameras focus locally to measure the high-precision size of the cavity evolution.Meanwhile,the aggregated field view of the camera array covers both the splash above the free surface and the entire cavity in the wave.The detailed methodologies are described and verified for the hardware set-up and the image post-processing.The theoretical maximum deviation is 1.7%on the space scale.The integral morphology of the cavity is captured precisely in the coordinate system during the sphere penetrates through the water at four representative wave phases and the still water.The result shows that the horizontal velocity of the fluid particle in the wave impels the cavity and changes the shape distinctly.Notably,the wave motion causes the cavity to pinch offearlier at the wave trough phase and later at the wave crest phase than in the still water.The wave motion influences the falling process of the sphere slightly in the present parameters.

Kruppel-like factors and vascular wall homeostasis

Cardiovascular diseases （CVDs） are major causes of death worldwide. Identification of promising targets for prevention and treatment of CVDs is paramount in the cardiovascular field. Numerous transcription factors regulate cellular function through modulation of spe- cific genes and thereby are involved in the physiological and pathophysiologicai processes of CVDs. Although Kriippel-like factors （KLFs） have a similar protein structure with a conserved zinc finger domain, they possess distinct tissue and cell distribution patterns as well as biological functions. In the vascular system, KLF activities are regulated at both transcriptional and posttranscriptional levels. Growing in vitro, in vivo, and genetic epidemiology studies suggest that specific KLFs play important roles in vascular walt biology, which further affect vascular diseases. KLFs regulate various functional aspects such as cell growth, differentiation, activa- tion, and development through controlling a whole cluster of functionally related genes and modulating various signaling pathways in response to pathological conditions. Therapeutic targeting of selective KLF family members may be desirable to achieve distinct treatment effects in the context of various vascular diseases. Further elucidation of the association of KLFs with human CVDs, their underlying molecular mechanisms, and precise protein structure studies will be essential to define KLFs as promising targets for therapeutic interventions in CVDs.