Microbiological, biochemical and biogenic amine profiles of Terrincho cheese manufactured in several dairy farms

Terrincho is a Portuguese traditional cheese, bearing a protected denomination of origin (PDO) status, which is manufactured from raw ewes’ milk and ripened for a minimum period of 30 d. The objectives of this research effort were to characterize the microbiological and biochemical profiles of this cheese, manufactured in several dairy farms during the winter cheesemaking season (December through March), and establish tentative correlations between these profiles and formation of biogenic amines. For this goal, 29 cheeses from five batches, manufactured in as many dairy farms located throughout the PDO region, were analysed. The viable numbers of the total (mesophilic) microflora, enterococci, lactococci, lactobacilli, enterobacteria, staphylococci, pseudomonads, yeasts and moulds were determined by 30 d, following classical plate counting on specific media. Free amino acid and biogenic amine contents were determined by reverse-phase high-pressure liquid chromatography. The concentration of biogenic amines correlated well with microbial viable numbers, in both qualitative and quantitative terms; significant correlations were observed between enterococci and phenylethylamine (r ¼ 0.868, po0.0001), and between lactococci and cadaverine (r = 0.646, p <0.002) and tyramine (r = 0.868, p<0.0001). On the other hand, 220 g of Terrincho cheese would have to be consumed at a given time if the threshold of worst case risk was to be attained, which appears unrealistic for a typically single-doses meal ingredient. This study has contributed to deepen the knowledge on the microbiological and biochemical features of a unique Portuguese cheese throughout ripening, and to rationalize its safe consumption in terms of biogenic amines

Performance assessment of a semi-circular breakwater through CFD modelling

Coastal defence works, such as breakwaters, are structures that aim to support the action of waves and dissipate their energy. Therefore, they provide conditions for stabilizing the coast, protecting ports, beaches and other coastal infrastructures and ecosystems. Semicircular breakwaters have been applied in different locations around the world due to their aesthetic advantages and high structural performance. Marine structures are subject to hydrodynamic actions normally estimated through physical models. However, these models are complex to implement, involving high costs and long experimental procedures. Thus, alternative methodologies for studying the hydrodynamic performance of these structures are of great use. This work presents the results of the application of a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tool to study the stability of a perforated semicircular breakwater, based on a rubble mound foundation. The model was validated against experimental results of the critical weight necessary to resist sliding, taking into account the effects of water depth and different characteristics of the waves. A comparison is made between the perforated and the non-perforated solution in terms of the breakwater’s performance to dissipate wave energy. Dissipation conditions of this energy, in the exposed face, are also evaluated in detail, in order to assess the potential of this structure as a biological refuge for marine species. Both solutions show similar performance in terms of results obtained for the wave reflectivity coefficient. The turbulence dissipation on the exposed face of the perforated breakwater is limited to a region of restricted extension around it, which is advantageous in terms of the passage of species into the breakwater.This research was funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Northern Regional Operational Program, grant number NORTE-01-0247-FEDER-037417 EcOffShorBe—Eco Offshore Built Environment

Improving positive and negative bias illumination stress stability in parylene passivated IGZO transistors

The impact of a parylene top-coating layer on the illumination and bias stress instabilities of indium-gallium-zinc oxide thin-film transistors (TFTs) is presented and discussed. The parylene coating substantially reduces the threshold voltage shift caused by continuous application of a gate bias and light exposure. The operational stability improves by 75%, and the light induced instability is reduced by 35%. The operational stability is quantified by fitting the threshold voltage shift with a stretched exponential model. Storage time as long as 7 months does not cause any measurable degradation on the electrical performance. It is proposed that parylene plays not only the role of an encapsulation layer but also of a defect passivation on the top semiconductor surface. It is also reported that depletion-mode TFTs are less sensitive to light induced instabilities. This is attributed to a defect neutralization process in the presence of free electrons. Published by AIP Publishing

Avaliação da produção lacrimal em gambás filhotes por três diferentes métodos

O estabelecimento do parâmetro de produção lacrimal nas diferentes espécies é importante para o entendimento da saúde do olho e é um dos componentes da semiotécnica oftálmica. Particularidades derivadas da anatomofisiologia das espécies não domésticas induzem a busca de metodologias que sejam mais fidedignas aos parâmetros. Objetivou-se com este estudo avaliar e comparar a produção lacrimal de gambás-de-orelha-branca (Didelphis albiventris) e gambás-de-orelha-preta (Didelphis aurita) por três diferentes métodos. Quinze indivíduos de cada espécie, juvenis, hígidos, de ambos os sexos, com 60 a 90 dias de vida, foram contidos fisicamente para realização do teste lacrimal do vermelho de fenol (TLVF), da ponta de papel absorvente estéril e do teste lacrimal de Schirmer modificado (TLSm). O TLVF foi o mais difícil de ser executado devido à maleabilidade do fio, enquanto a TEPA se mostrou mais exequível para ambas as espécies. A mediana ± intervalo semi-interquartil para o TLVF foi de 19,79±2,61mm/15” e 5,22±2,92mm/15”, para a TEPA foram de 16,25±1,82mm/min e 10,93±3,04mm/min, e para o TLSm foram de 0±1,63mm/min e 0±1,63mm/min, para gambás-de-orelha-branca e gambás-de-orelha-preta, respectivamente. Não houve diferença entre o olho direito e esquerdo e nem quanto ao sexo. Obteve-se diferença significativa para um mesmo teste entre as espécies. Não foi encontrada correlação significativa entre os testes para ambas as espécies. A quantificação da porção aquosa da lágrima poderá auxiliar no diagnóstico precoce de doenças oculares nas espécies estudadas.The establishment of parameters for tear production in different species is important for better understanding eye´s health and is one of the components of the ophthalmic semiological technique. Particularities derived from the anatomophysiology of non-domestic species induce the search for more reliable methodologies. The aim was to evaluate and compare tear production of white-eared opossum (Didelphis albiventris) and Brazilian common opossum (Didelphis aurita) by three different methods. Fifteen individuals of each species, juveniles, healthy, of both sexes, with 60 to 90 days of life, were physically restrained. Phenol red thread test (PRTT), endodontic absorbent paper point tear test (EAPPTT) and modified -Schirmer tear test (mSTT) were performed. PRTT was the most difficult to perform because of the wire malleability, while EAPPTT was more feasible for both species. The median ± semi-quartile range for PRTT were 19.79±2.61mm/15 “and 5.22±2.92mm/15”, for EAPPTT were 16.25±1.82mm/min and 10.9±3.04mm/min, and for STTm were 0±1.63mm/min and 0±1.63mm/min for white-eared opossum and Brazilian common opossum respectively. There was no difference between the right and left eye neither sex. A significant difference was obtained for the same test to different species. No significant correlation was found between the tests for both species. The description of tear production parameters for juvenile white-eared opossum and Brazilian common opossum may be used as a tool, which will allow the early diagnosis of ocular diseases

Reaction of carboxylic dyes with wool and polyamide. Part III: Effect of the activating agent

Dyes containing a carboxylic acid group had been shown to react with wool and polyamide fibres when activated with ethyl chloroformate (Parts I and II). One of the dyes, 3-aminobenzoic acid →N,N-dimethylaniline, was, in this work, activated with other chlorofirmates, so as to improve the dyeing conditions. Benzyl chloroformate was found to be a good substitute since it is not as volatile as ethyl chloroformate, which suggests that it will be easier to apply in practical dyeing conditions. The yield of the reaction with cyclohexylamine is similar to the one obtained with ethyl chloroformate, suggesting that the fixation of the dye on wool or polyamide will be much the same. The fastness results are also equivalent.FCT-Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologi

Spatially resolved self-consistent spectral modelling of jellyfish galaxies from MUSE with FADO: trends with mass and stripping intensity

We present a spatially resolved stellar population analysis of 61 jellyfish galaxies and 47 control galaxies observed with ESO/MUSE attempting to understand the general trends of the stellar populations as a function of the stripping intensity and mass. This is the public sample from the GASP programme, with $0.01 < z < 0.15$ and $8.9 <\log(M_{\star}/M_{\odot}) < 12.0$. We apply the spectral population synthesis code FADO to fit self-consistently both the stellar and nebular contributions to the spectra of the sources. We present 2D morphological maps for mean stellar ages, metallicities, gas-phase oxygen abundances, and star formation rates for the galaxies with Integrated Nested Laplace Approximation ({\sc inla}), which is efficient in reconstructing spatial data of extended sources. We find that ``extreme stripping'' and ``stripping'' galaxies are typically younger than the other types. Regarding stellar and nebular metallicities, the ``stripping'' and ``control passive'' galaxies are the most metal-poor. Based on the phase space for jellyfish cluster members we find trends in ages, metallicities, and abundances with different regions of the diagram. We also compute radial profiles for the same quantities. We find that both the stripping and the stellar masses seem to influence the profiles, and we see differences between various groups and distinct mass bins. The radial profiles for different mass bins present relations already shown in the literature for undisturbed galaxies, i.e., profiles of ages and metallicities tend to increase with mass. However, beyond $\sim0.75$ effective radius, the ages of the most massive galaxies become similar to or lower than the ages of the lower mass ones.Comment: Accepted by MNRAS. 71 pages (13 of main text and 58 of supplementay material). 123 figure

Crystal Structure, Optical Second Harmonic Generation, Piezoelectricity and Pyroelectricity

Funding Information: This research was funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia through FEDER (European Fund for Regional Development)-COMPETE-QREN-EU (ref. UID/FIS/04650/2013 and UID/FIS/04650/2019) and E-Field—“Electric-Field Engineered Lattice Distortions (E-FiELD) for optoelectronic devices”, ref. PTDC/NAN-MAT/0098/2020. C.S.B.G. acknowledges funding from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia FCT/MCTES through projects UIDB/50006/2020, UIDP/50006/2020 and LA/P/0008/2020 of the Associate Laboratory for Green Chemistry—LAQV, UIDB/04378/2020, UIDP/04378/2020 and LA/P/0140/2020 of UCIBIO and Associate Laboratory i4HB, respectively. Funding Information: We acknowledge national funds (OE), through FCT − Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., in the scope of the framework contract foreseen in the numbers 4, 5 and 6 of article 23 of the Decree-Law 57/2016, of August 29, changed by Law 57/2017, of July 19. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 by the authors.A polymorph of glycyl-L-alanine HI.H2O is synthesized from chiral cyclo-glycyl-L-alanine dipeptide. The dipeptide is known to show molecular flexibility in different environments, which leads to polymorphism. The crystal structure of the glycyl-L-alanine HI.H2O polymorph is determined at room temperature and indicates that the space group is polar (P21), with two molecules per unit cell and unit cell parameters a = 7.747 Å, b = 6.435 Å, c = 10.941 Å, α = 90°, β = 107.53(3)°, γ = 90° and V = 520.1(7) Å3. Crystallization in the polar point group 2, with one polar axis parallel to the b axis, allows pyroelectricity and optical second harmonic generation. Thermal melting of the glycyl-L-alanine HI.H2O polymorph starts at 533 K, close to the melting temperature reported for cyclo-glycyl-L-alanine (531 K) and 32 K lower than that reported for linear glycyl-L-alanine dipeptide (563 K), suggesting that although the dipeptide, when crystallized in the polymorphic form, is not anymore in its cyclic form, it keeps a memory of its initial closed chain and therefore shows a thermal memory effect. Here, we report a pyroelectric coefficient as high as 45 µC/m2K occurring at 345 K, one order of magnitude smaller than that of semi-organic ferroelectric triglycine sulphate (TGS) crystal. Moreover, the glycyl-L-alanine HI.H2O polymorph displays a nonlinear optical effective coefficient of 0.14 pm/V, around 14 times smaller than the value from a phase-matched inorganic barium borate (BBO) single crystal. The new polymorph displays an effective piezoelectric coefficient equal to (Formula presented.), when embedded into electrospun polymer fibers, indicating its suitability as an active system for energy harvesting.publishersversionpublishe

Physico-chemical stability and in vitro digestibility of beta-carotene-loaded lipid nanoparticles of cupuacu butter (Theobroma grandiflorum) produced by the phase inversion temperature (PIT) method

Beta-carotene is a carotenoid with a wide spectrum of biological activities (e.g., anti-cancer, anti-hypertensive, and anti-inflammatory). However, because of its extremely high hydrophobicity, it is difficult to incorporate in food formulations and its bioavailability is fairly low. Lipid-based encapsulation colloidal systems such as lipid nanoparticles can help overcome these issues. In this study, beta-carotene-loaded lipid nanoparticles were produced by the phase inversion temperature (PIT) method from 10% cupuacu butter and 20% surfactant (Cremophor RH40 and Span 80). The inversion temperature of the nanoparticles was 74 °C and their average diameter was 35 nm. After 100 days of storage, 85% of the initial amount of beta-carotene remained in the nanoparticles; alpha-tocopherol was found to be essential for carotenoid preservation. Comparison of the results of in vitro digestion between static and dynamic systems was performed, and the characteristics of each digestion system led to diverse results in terms of average particle size and beta-carotene bioaccessibility. Although the static system was much simpler than the dynamic system, it could not provide reliable data of the digestibility of the lipid nanoparticles. The bioaccessibility of beta-carotene in the static system was 92%, very similar to the results found in the literature; by comparison, the dynamic system revealed a beta-carotene bioaccessibility of nearly 20%. Despite this discrepancy, the highly realistic conditions of digestion simulated by the dynamic in vitro system indicate that the results of this system are more reliable than those obtained from the simplified static system applied in this research.The authors thank FAPESP (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, Brazil) for the fellowships (grants 2010/20523-0, 2011/01260-0 and 2012/18495-3, authors Graziela V.L. Gomes and Mirella R. Sola). The author Ana C. Pinheiro is recipient of a fellowship from the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal) through grant SFRH/BPD/101181/2014

Synthesis of polymer-based triglycine sulfate nanofibres by electrospinning

In this work we present the synthesis and characterization of polyethylene oxide (PEO) based triglycine sulfate (NH2(CH2OOH)3H2S04, TGS) nanofibres obtained by electrospinning. The fibres, with typical diameters of about 190–750 nm and above several hundred micrometres in length, present the nanocrystals of TGS embedded in a polymer matrix. The obtained nanofibres were characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy and the domain structure was examined by piezoforce microscopy. Dielectric permittivity measurements on the TGS–PEO nanofibres exhibit the characteristic ferroelectric–paraelectric phase transition at around 50 ºC.This work was financially supported by Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (reference CIENCIA-2007 UMINHOCF-06). The authors would like to acknowledge Luis Vieira for help in FT-IR measurements

Contribution to the pharmacobotanical study of Echinodorus macrophyllus (Kunth) Micheli (chapéu-de-couro) – Alismataceae

Echinodorus macrophyllus (Kunth) Micheli – Alismataceae, known as "chapéu-de-couro", "chá-mineiro", "erva-de-pântano", "erva-de-bugre", "congonha-do-brejo", "erva-do-brejo", occurs in Minas Gerais and São Paulo. Although it has therapeutic and commercial importance and is described in the two first editions of the Brazilian Pharmacopoeia (1924, 1959), there are few studies that contemplate it. This present work had the objective to study the leaf and petiole morpho-anatomy of A. macrophyllus, in order to extend its pharmacognosy knowledge, aiming at the quality control. The macroscopic description was carried through disarmed sight, with optical resources and the dimensions with a caliper. The anatomical c haracteristics had been determined, after the harvest, in the fragments of leaves and fixed petioles, freehand sectioned and stained either in glycerin, astra-blue or fuchsine. The morpho-anatomical study of the leaf and petiole of A. macrophyllust contributed to extend and deepen the information contained in the Brazilian Pharmacopoeia (1924, 1959). The designated structural characteristics assist in the identification of the species and supply parameters that could be applied in the pharmacognosy quality control in the future. And, the presence of non-glandular trichomes in the midribs (adaxial and abaxial surface) and the petiole exhibits diaphragm (specialized cells), key structures in the diagnosis of the species, that are not described in the Brazilian Pharmacopoeia (1924, 1959), were inserted in the context of the anatomical description.A Echinodorus macrophyllus (Kunth) Micheli - Alismataceae, conhecida como chapéu-de-couro, chá-mineiro, erva-de-pantâno, erva-de-bugre, congonha-do-brejo e erva-do-brejo, ocorre em Minas Gerais e São Paulo. Embora tenha importância terapêutica, comercial e estar inscrita nas duas primeiras edições da Farmacopéia Brasileira (1924, 1959), são poucos os estudos que a contemplam. Este presente trabalho teve como objetivo estudar a morfoanatomia foliar e do pecíolo da E. macrophyllus, a fim de ampliar o seu conhecimento farmacognóstico, visando o controle de qualidade. A descrição macroscópica foi realizada à vista desarmada, com recursos óticos e as dimensões, com paquímetro. As características anatômicas foram determinadas, após a colheita, nos fragmentos de folhas e pecíolos fixos, seccionados à mão livre e fixados em glicerina, azul-de-astra ou fucsina. O estudo morfo-anatômico da folha e do pecíolo da E. macrophyllus contribuiu para ampliar e aprofundar as informações contidas nas Farmacopéias Brasileiras (1924, 1959). As características estruturais assinaladas auxiliam na identificação da espécie e fornece parâmetros que poderão ser aplicados futuramente no controle de qualidade farmacognóstico. E, inseriu no contexto da descrição anatômica, a presença de pêlos tectores e de células diafragmáticas, estruturas chaves no diagnóstico da espécie, não descritas pelas Farmacopéias Brasileiras (1929, 1959)