Neutral lipid production from hydrocarbon-contaminated cork sorbents using Rhodococcus opacus B4

Portuguese Science Foundation and European Social Fund through the grant SFRH/BD/64500/2009, the projects UID/BIO/04469/2013, COMPETE 2020 (POCI -01-0145-FEDER-006684); RECI/BBB-EBI/0179/2012 (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER- 027462) and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004). The authors gratefully acknowledge Cortiçeira Amorim, S.A., Portugal, for providing the CORKSORB materials used in this workinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The effect of pre-maturation culture using phosphodiesterase type 3 inhibitor and insulin, transferrin and selenium on nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation of bovine oocytes.

This study aims to evaluate if a pre-maturation culture (PMC) using cilostamide as a meiotic inhibitor in combination with insulin, transferrin and selenium (ITS) for 8 or 24 h increases in vitro embryo production. To evaluate the effects of PMC on embryo development, cleavage rate, blastocyst rate, embryo size and total cell number were determined. When cilostamide (20 M) was used in PMC for 8 or 24 h, 98% of oocytes were maintained in germinal vesicles. Although the majority of oocytes resumed meiosis after meiotic arrest, the cleavage and blastocyst rates were lower than the control (P 0.05) to the control. The deleterious effect of 20 M cilostamide treatment for 24 h on a PMC was confirmed by lower cumulus cell viability, determined by trypan blue staining, in that group compared with the other groups. A lower concentration (10 M) and shorter exposure time (8 h) minimized that effect but did not improve embryo production. More studies should be performed to determine th

Robust industrial Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains for very high gravity bio-ethanol fermentations

The application and physiological background of two industrial Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains, isolated from harsh industrial environments, were studied in Very High Gravity (VHG) bio-ethanol fermentations. VHG laboratory fermentations, mimicking industrially relevant conditions, were performed with PE-2 and CA1185 industrial strains and the CEN.PK113-7D laboratory strain. The industrial isolates produced remarkable high ethanol titres (>19%, v/v) and accumulated an increased content of sterols (2 to 5-fold), glycogen (2 to 4-fold) and trehalose (1.1-fold), relatively to laboratory strain. For laboratory and industrial strains, a sharp decrease in the viability and trehalose concentration was observed above 90 g l-1 and 140 g l-1 ethanol, respectively. PE-2 and CA1185 industrial strains presented important physiological differences relatively to CEN.PK113-7D strain and showed to be more prepared to cope with VHG stresses. The identification of a critical ethanol concentration above which viability and trehalose concentration decrease significantly is of great importance to guide VHG process engineering strategies. This study contributes to the improvement of VHG processes by identifying yeast isolates and gathering yeast physiological information during the intensified fermentation process, which, besides elucidating important differences between these industrial and laboratory strains, can drive further process optimization.The authors thank Daniel Gomes for performing some of the fermentation samples analyses, COPAM - Companhia Portuguesa de Amidos S.A. (Portugal) for kindly providing the CSL, and Rosane Schwan (Federal University of Lavras, Brazil) for kindly providing the yeast strains PE-2 and CA1185. The financial support of Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal, is acknowledged: project ProBioethanol PTDC/BIO/66151/2006, grant SFRH/BD/64776/2009 to F.B. Pereira and grant SFRH/BPD/44328/2008 to P.M.R. Guimaraes

Optimization of low-cost medium for very high gravity ethanol fermentations by Saccharomyces cerevisiae using statistical experimental designs

Statistical experimental designs were used to develop a medium based on corn steep liquor (CSL) and other low-cost nutrient sources for high-performance very high gravity (VHG) ethanol fermentations by Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The critical nutrients were initially selected according to a Plackett–Burman design and the optimized medium composition (44.3 g/L CSL; 2.3 g/L urea; 3.8 g/L MgSO4·7H2O; 0.03 g/L CuSO4·5H2O) for maximum ethanol production by the laboratory strain CEN.PK 113-7D was obtained by response surface methodology, based on a three-level four-factor Box-Behnken design. The optimization process resulted in significantly enhanced final ethanol titre, productivity and yeast viability in batch VHG fermentations (up to 330 g/L glucose) with CEN.PK113-7D and with industrial strain PE-2, which is used for bio-ethanol production in Brazil. Strain PE-2 was able to produce 18.6 ± 0.5% (v/v) ethanol with a corresponding productivity of 2.4 ± 0.1 g/L/h. This study provides valuable insights into cost-effective nutritional supplementation of industrial fuel ethanol VHG fermentations.The authors thank Marisa Cunha for performing the preliminary fermentations with varying CSL concentrations, COPAM - Companhia Portuguesa de Amidos, S.A. (Portugal) for kindly providing glucose syrup and CSL, and Rosane Schwan (University of Lavras, Brazil) for kindly providing the yeast strain PE-2. The financial support of Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal, is acknowledged: Project ProBioethanol PTDC/BIO/66151/2006, Grant SFRH/BD/64776/2009 to F.B. Pereira and Grant SFRH/BPD/44328/2008 to P.M.R. Guimaraes

Rhinolithiasis-an unsual cause for a common symptom

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Management of pediatric deep neck infections- a cross sectional retrospective analysis

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Adult body height is a good predictor of different dimensions of cognitive function in aged individuals: a cross-sectional study

Background: Adult height, weight, and adiposity measures have been suggested by some studies to be predictors of depression, cognitive impairment, and dementia. However, the presence of confounding factors and the lack of a thorough neuropsychological evaluation in many of these studies have precluded a definitive conclusion about the influence of anthropometric measures in cognition and depression. In this study we aimed to assess the value of height, weight, and abdominal perimeter to predict cognitive impairment and depressive symptoms in aged individuals. Methods and Findings: Cross-sectional study performed between 2010 and 2012 in the Portuguese general community. A total of 1050 participants were included in the study and randomly selected from local area health authority registries. The cohort was representative of the general Portuguese population with respect to age (above 50 years of age) and gender. Cognitive function was assessed using a battery of tests grouped in two dimensions: general executive function and memory. Two-step hierarchical multiple linear regression models were conducted to determine the predictive value of anthropometric measures in cognitive performance and mood before and after correction for possible confounding factors (gender, age, school years, physical activity, alcohol consumption, and smoking habits). We found single associations of weight, height, body mass index, abdominal perimeter, and age with executive function, memory and depressive symptoms. However, when included in a predictive model adjusted for gender, age, school years, and lifestyle factors only height prevailed as a significant predictor of general executive function (beta, = 0.139; p < 0.001) and memory (beta = 0.099; p 0.05). No relation was found between mood and any of the anthropometric measures studied. Conclusions and Relevance: Height is an independent predictor of cognitive function in late-life and its effects on the general and executive function and memory are independent of age, weight, education level, gender, and lifestyle factors. Altogether, our data suggests that modulators of adult height during childhood may irreversibly contribute to cognitive function in adult life and that height should be used in models to predict cognitive performance.European Commission (FP7) “SwitchBox” (Contract HEALTH-F2-2010-259772) project and co-financed by the Portuguese North Regional Operational Program (ON.2—O Novo Norte) under the National Strategic Reference Framework (QREN), through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), and by Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian—Inovar em Saúde (“Envelhecimento cognitivo saudável—proporcionar saúde mental no processo biológico do envelhecimento,” Contract P-139977). NCS is supported by a SwitchBox post-doctoral fellowshi