The global numerical weather prediction model GRAPES at the National Meteorological Center of the China Meteorological Administration is subject to substantial systematic discrepancies from satellite-retrieved cloud cover, cloud water contents, and radiative fluxes. In particular, GRAPES produces insufficient total cloud cover and liquid water amounts and, consequently, greatly underestimates c...

In the wild, primates are selective over the routes that they take when foraging and seek out preferred or ephemeral food. Given this, we tested how a group of captive chimpanzees weighed the relative benefits and costs of foraging for food in their environment when a less-preferred food could be obtained with less effort than a more-preferred food. In this study, a social group of six zoo-hous...

During 2015, vines receiving season-long drip irrigation delivered into the lower root zone via hard plastic tubes yielded 70 % of commercial production while receiving only 15% of the water as the vines receiving full commercial rates of surface drip irrigation. Vines receiving direct root-zone (DRZ) irrigation at rates reduced to 60, 30, and 15% of commercial drip irrigation (DI) produced ind...

Wine quality is determined by a complex balance of all the wine aroma components as perceived by sensory evaluation. Although several sensory parameters may playa role in the acceptance and enjoyment of wine, the flavour of wine is possibly the most important factor. F1avour is the result of the interaction between certain chemical compounds in wine and the senses of smell and taste of the cons...

The effect of two antifungals (boscalid+kresoxim-methyl and metrafenone) applied onto vines under Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) on the volatile composition of Tempranillo and Graciano red wines was studied. Changes in aroma profile in the wines were assessed from the combined odour activity values (OAVs) for the volatile compounds in each of seven different odorant series (viz., ripe fruit...

Wine and fermenting musts are grape products widely consumed worldwide. Since the presence of mycotoxin-producing fungi may greatly compromise their quality characteristics and safety, there is an increasing need for relatively rapid "user friendly" quantitative assays to detect fungal contamination both in grapes delivered to wineries and in final products. Although other fungi are most freque...

A review of records from the AnTox database of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Animal Poison Control Center identified 43 dogs that developed increased blood urea nitrogen concentration, serum creatinine concentration, or both as well as clinical signs after ingesting grapes, raisins, or both. Clinical findings, laboratory findings, histopathological findings, trea...

The GRAPES-3 tracking muon telescope in Ooty, India measures muon intensity at high cutoff rigidities (15-24 GV) along nine independent directions covering 2.3 sr. The arrival of a coronal mass ejection on 22 June 2015 18:40 UT had triggered a severe G4-class geomagnetic storm (storm). Starting 19:00 UT, the GRAPES-3 muon telescope recorded a 2 h high-energy (∼20  GeV) burst of galactic cosmic ...

Wine grapes are usually harvested in vineyards when they ripen. However, not all of the berries in a vineyard ripen homogeneously because of different microclimates around the clusters and berries. In this study, the influence of berry heterogeneity on the phenolic content and antioxidant capacity of grapes and wines under a continental monsoon climate was evaluated for a new wine grape cultiva...

Tannins are the most abundant type of phenols in grapes. Because they include a vast collection of chemical structures, measuring them is a huge task. But fortunately, it may not be necessary to know how much of each species of tannin is there in a wine. It would seem sufficient, for practical purposes, to be able to know how much of that tannin plays a role in a wine’s astringency. This is wha...