Monday 31 August 2020

Special Issue on “The Application of Artificial Intelligent in Hydrology”


Over the last few decades, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) has experienced a high increase in a wide variety of research fields. This kind of models are characterized as powerful tools to obtain information which would otherwise be very complicated or impossible to get. AI models, together with the large amount of hydrologycal data currently available, provide the ideal conditions to create tools aimed at managing water supply, predicting flood and drought, monitoring water quality, optimizing irrigation schemes, managing dams, determining carbonate saturation, evaluating the sedimentation process, and modeling the contaminant transport, among others. All the AI models, from the simplest to the most complex, such as random forest or neural networks, therefore allow expanding the existing knowledge about the complex water system.

The aim of this Special Issue on “The Application of Artificial Intelligent in Hydrology” is to present the state-of-the-art related (but not limited) to the study of movements, distribution, and management of water in nature.

We invite authors to submit research articles, reviews, communications, and concept papers that demonstrate the high potential of artificial intelligence in the hydrological field.

Keywords

  • Artificial intelligence
  • Machine learning
  • Big data/Cloud computing
  • Monitoring/Modelling/Prediction/Optimization
  • Flow prediction
  • Water quality
  • Water supply
  • Management
  • Risk assessment
  • Multidisciplinary research
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com.

Sunday 30 August 2020

Management of Wine Aroma Compounds: Principal Basis and Future Perspectives

Book Chapter in: 

Winemaking - Stabilization, Aging Chemistry and Biochemistry

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.92973


Wine’s aroma is defined by volatile and non-volatile compounds that contribute to its make-up. The complex variety of volatile compounds, coming from grapes, interact with other non-volatile substances of the wine as precursors of wine’s aroma, known as primary aromas, which give the aroma of the young wine. The volatile compounds present in the skin and in the grape juice change according to the grape variety. Most of wine volatile compounds responsible for aroma are linked to sugars and they initially form odorless glycosides. Through the process of hydrolysis, they are reverted into an aromatic form. Chemical reactions among these compounds occur during the fermentation and in the first months of a wine’s existence, triggering fast and multiple modifications in wine’s aroma at this point. As wine ages and matures, changes and development in aroma will continue to take place but at a slower and more gradual pace. The study of the compounds responsible for aroma and flavor, as well as their correlation with the wine quality, is ongoing. Improving the knowledge of wine aromatic compounds could increase the risk of its potential adulteration; however, consumers prefer wine for its natural origin, so this scenario is unlikely in the future.

Monday 24 August 2020

Metabolites from Macroalgae and Its Applications in the Cosmetic Industry: A Circular Economy Approach

 Resources 2020, 9(9), 101


DOI:10.3390/resources9090101




Marine macroalgae are a suitable source of ingredients due to their huge diversity, availability and nutritional and chemical composition. Their high content in proteins, carbohydrates and vitamins, but also in secondary metabolites such as phenolic compounds, terpenoids or pigments, make them great candidates for industrial applications. The cosmetic industry is one of the biggest in the world and the search for new ingredients is constantly growing as the consumer trend now is going back to those traditional cosmetics with a more natural composition. Moreover, the concept of a circular economy is also gaining importance due to the unsustainable situation of the natural resources. Although macroalgae are already used in cosmetics, especially as thickening and gelling agents, they possess an unexplored potential, not only as excipients and additives but also as a source of new active ingredients. In this context, macroalgae are considered in many cases as resources still underexploited and they could even be obtained from the waste of other industrial sectors and be used for recovering active molecules. Therefore, the aim of this review is to compile information about the different macroalgae metabolites and their possible applications in the cosmetic industry, which could employ circular economy models. 

Sunday 23 August 2020

Wine Aging Technology: Fundamental Role of Wood Barrels

 Foods 2020, 9(9), 1160

DOI:10.3390/foods9091160




The aging of wines is a process used to preserve wine but also to enhance its properties. It is a process of great interest, mainly because of the additional properties it adds to wines and because of its economic implications. Historically, barrels have been employed for centuries for preserving and aging wine due to their resistance and relative impermeability. In general terms, the wine aging process can be divided into two phases: oxidative and reductive aging. Oxidative aging traditionally takes place in barrels while reductive phase occurs in the bottle. During both processes, oxygen plays a fundamental role as well as other factors, for instance: temperature, light, bottle position, microbial growth or storage time. Likewise, during the aging process, a series of chemical reactions take place influencing the composition and organoleptic profile of wine. At this point, oxidative aging in barrels is a fundamental step. Barrels are directly involved in the produced changes on wine’s composition due to the transference of oxygen and phenolic and aromatic compounds from wood to wine. This way, barrels act as an active vessel capable of releasing compounds that affect and improve wine’s characteristics. Regarding, the importance of barrels during aging process, some attention must be given to the species most used in cooperage. These species are conventionally oak species, either French or American. However, other non-conventional species are currently being studied as possible wood sources for the production of wines, such as chestnut robinia or other oak species. In the last decades, new approaches have been developed for barrel aging to find new alternatives more suitable, affordable and feasible to sanitize the process, such as other materials different from wood or the use of wood chips, which is regulated since 2006 by the EU. However, even though some of them have shown promising data, barrels are currently the most used technology for the oxidative stage of table wines aging. 


Friday 14 August 2020

Scientific Approaches on Extraction, Purification and Stability for the Commercialization of Fucoxanthin Recovered from Brown Algae

 Foods 2020, 9(8), 1113

DOI:10.3390/foods9081113



The scientific community has corroborated the numerous beneficial activities of fucoxanthin, such as its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer or neuroprotective effects, among others. These properties have attracted the attention of nutraceutical, cosmetic and pharmacological industries, giving rise to various possible applications. Fucoxanthin may be chemically produced, but the extraction from natural sources is considered more cost-effective, efficient and eco-friendly. Thus, identifying suitable sources of this compound and giving a general overview of efficient extraction, quantification, purification and stabilization studies is of great importance for the future production and commercialization of fucoxanthin. The scientific research showed that most of the studies are performed using conventional techniques, but non-conventional techniques begin to gain popularity in the recovery of this compound. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and spectroscopy techniques have been employed in the quantification and identification of fucoxanthin. The further purification of extracts has been mainly accomplished using purification columns. Finally, the stability of fucoxanthin has been assessed as a free molecule, in an emulsion, or encapsulated to identify the variables that might affect its further industrial application.


Thursday 13 August 2020

Effect of polyphenols on HER2-positive breast cancer and related miRNAs: Epigenomic regulation

 Food Research International, 2020, 137, 109623

DOI:10.1016/j.foodres.2020.109623


HER2-positive breast cancer is one of the most aggressive subtypes accounting for nearly 30% of diagnosed cases. It is associated with reduced disease-free survival, tumor invasiveness, and a poor overall prognosis. Unfortunately, numerous patients develop resistance to conventional therapies; therefore, many ongoing clinical trials are testing new possible treatments. Polyphenols are the main bioactive components of the Mediterranean diet with multiple beneficial properties playing a key role in cancer prevention through epigenetic regulation. Aberrant variations in microRNAs levels regulating oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes expression may lead to tumor development. Evidence has shown that dietary polyphenols modulate HER2-positive breast cancer-associated microRNAs, resulting in a reduction of tumor growth and metastatic potential, and chemosensitivity restoration without displaying toxicity-derived adverse effects. These beneficial properties make polyphenols a potential therapeutic approach for HER2-positive breast cancer patients in the clinical setting, alone or in combination with conventional therapies.


Wednesday 12 August 2020

Application of Novel Techniques for Monitoring Quality Changes in Meat and Fish Products during Traditional Processing Processes: Reconciling Novelty and Tradition

 Processes 2020, 8(8), 988

DOI:10.3390/pr8080988



In this review, we summarize the most recent advances in monitoring changes induced in fish and other seafood, and meat and meat products, following the application of traditional processing processes by means of conventional and emerging advanced techniques. Selected examples from the literature covering relevant applications of spectroscopic methods (i.e., visible and near infrared (VIS/NIR), mid-infrared (MIR), Raman, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and fluorescence) will be used to illustrate the topics covered in this review. Although a general reluctance toward using and adopting new technologies in traditional production sectors causes a relatively low interest in spectroscopic techniques, the recently published studies have pointed out that these techniques could be a powerful tool for the non-destructive monitoring and process optimization during the production of muscle food products.

Sunday 9 August 2020

Gas Chromatographic Fingerprinting Coupled to Chemometrics for Food Authentication

 Food Reviews International, 2020, 36, 384-427

DOI: 10.1080/87559129.2019.1649691


Fingerprinting has become a powerful device in food authentication activities. Food products can be verified based on their chemical composition, geographical origin, specified botanical sources or possible adulterations by fingerprinting gas chromatographic chemical analysis and a subsequent multivariate data analysis. Although fingerprinting approaches have already been used successfully in many research projects, feasibility and employment in routine daily tests and food composition monitoring are not still widespread. Within this review, food fingerprinting studies in gas chromatographic methods for different food product categories were selected by a systematic search method. The studies were examined for chemometrics techniques, identification of effective variables, method validation and quality assurance parameters. In this way, the research activities could be considered as an effective starting point to establish fingerprinting techniques for food authentication in wide industrial scale in the future.