O Conhecimento (Da'at) de Iahweh como Justificação em Is 52,13-53,12

O objeto da nossa dissertação é aprofundar o valor da teologia da Justificação presente em Is 52,13-53,12. Este texto é o quarto dum conjunto de quatro poemas que relatam a atuação duma personagem misteriosa, conhecida como o Servo de Iahweh. O ponto de partida será uma análise das relações que o conjunto dos cânticos mantém com o contexto deuteroisaiano. Em seguida, focalizamo-nos no tema da missão, leit motive destes textos, reservando desde logo uma especial atenção ao quarto poema. Estudaremos o papel do sofrimento vigário e de como ele concorre para a realização da Expiação, Intercessão e Justificação, numa lógica de Stellvertretung ou Representação. Segundo o verso 53,11, o desfecho final da missão do Servo é a «justificação dos muitos» (Seḏeq). Ela aparece no texto interligada com outra categoria muito importante do pensamento bíblico: o conhecimento (Da’at). Apresentaremos toda a problemática relativa ao arranjo sintático e gramatical deste verso, considerado enigmático e de difícil compreensão por muitos estudiosos. Em seguida, desenvolveremos o significado que Da’at adquire na literatura profética juntamente com outras virtudes da Aliança como o amor (Hesed) e a fidelidade (‘Emet). Descobriremos como a atuação do Servo descrita nestes termos tem um valor fortemente soteriológico que confere nova luz aos mistérios do sofrimento, do pecado e da morte.The object of the present dissertation is to extend the value of the justification’s theology of Is 52, 13-53,12. It is the fourth text of a group of four poems that narrate the behavior of a mysterious character known as the Servant of Iahweh. We begin with an analysis of the relationships that this set of songs has with the deutero-Isaian context. Up next, we focus on the mission theme, which is the leit motive of these texts, giving special attention to the fourth poem. We will study the role of the vicarious suffering and how it concurs to the Atonement, Intercession and Justification, from a Stellvertretung point of view. According to the verse 53,11, the final outcome of the Servant’s mission is the «justification of many» (Sedeq). This theme appears in the text interconnected with another, very important, category of the biblical thought: knowledge (Da’at). We present all the problematic concerning the syntactical and grammatical arrangement of this verse, considered to be cryptic and difficult to comprehend by many scholars. Next, we will develop the significance that Da’at acquires in the prophetical literature, alongside with other virtues of the Covenant, such as love (Hesed) and fidelity (‘Emet). We will discover how the actuation of the Servant described with these terms has an highly soteriological value, which sheds a new light to the mysteries of suffering, sin and death

Effects of Acibenzolar-S-Methyl on the Probing Behaviour and Mortality of Cacopsylla pyri on Pear Plants

European pear psylla, Cacopsylla pyri, is one of the worst pests of pear in Europe. We investigated whether acibenzolar-S-methyl (ASM) application on pear plants might affect the behaviour in C. pyri. The elicitor was applied on pear potted plants, and after 48 h, we confirmed the ASM-mediated induction of several Pathogenesis-Related protein (PR) coding genes. At the same time, an in-depth analysis was performed on the probing behaviour of adults and nymphs of C. pyri on ASM-treated pear plants by the EPG-DC system, as well as the assessment of young nymphs’ survival 7 days after the ASM application. The elicitor application weakly interfered with C. pyri nymphs probing behaviour and survival, while it did not affect adult stages. These data confirm previous observations obtained on C. pyricola and suggest that the elicitor does not represent a viable tool in the control of pear psylla species, especially if used alone, but it might be used in integrated management strategies focused on other plant pathogens such as Erwinia amylovora

Enzymatic Cross-Benzoin-Type Condensation of Aliphatic Aldehydes: Enantioselective Synthesis of 1-Alkyl-1-hydroxypropan-2-ones and 1-Alkyl-1-hydroxybutan-2-ones

Benzoin-type reactions have been intensively exploited as a synthetic strategy for the preparation of α-hydroxy ketones. Thiamine diphosphate (ThDP) dependent enzymes are excellent catalysts for asymmetric versions of such reaction types. In particular, in cross-benzoin condensations of aromatic reactants and mixed aromatic/aliphatic reactions, use of these enzymes has resulted in high levels of chemo-, regio- and stereoselectivity. The present work, which confirms this trend for aliphatic reactants, outlines results obtained in the formal cross-benzoin-type condensation of the ‘umpoled’ acetaldehyde and propionaldehyde with various aliphatic aldehydes catalyzed by the ThDP-dependent enzyme acetoin:dichlorophenolindophenol oxidoreductase (Ao:DCPIP OR). In these reactions, 3-hydroxy-3-methylbutan-2-one (methylacetoin) was used as the activated acetaldehyde donor, while 4-hydroxy-4-methylhexan-3-one was employed for the first time as the precursor of activated propionaldehyde. With the exception of 3-hydroxypentan-2-one and 3-hydroxyhexan-2-one, which were obtained in almost racemic form by the condensation of methylacetoin with propanal and butanal, respectively, all other products achieved from reactions performed using the same donor with more hindered aldehyde acceptors were obtained with high conversions (89–99%) and in good to high enantiomeric excess (72–99% ee). In a similar way, high conversions (75–99%) and good ee (76–99%) were observed in reactions performed with the same set of aldehyde acceptors, but using 4-hydroxy-4-methylhexan-3-one as propionyl anion donor. This is the first time that most of the products described herein have been prepared via benzoin-type condensation

Monarda didyma Hydrolate Affects the Survival and the Behaviour of Drosophila suzukii

Drosophila suzukii (Matsumara) is an herbivorous pest whose control in the field with conventional chemical is particularly difficult and has important drawbacks. Here, we investigated the insecticidal properties of hydrolate from Monarda didyma, scarlet beebalm, an aromatic herb in the Lamiaceae family. The identification of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by CG–MS systems revealed that thymol (38%) and carvacrol (59%) were the most abundant VOCs in the hydrolate. M. didyma hydrolate did not show fumigant toxicity. Conversely, in contact assays, M. didyma hydrolate showed a LC50 of 5.03 µL mL−1, 48 h after the application on D. suzukii adults. Expression of detoxification genes increased in flies that survived the LC50 application. Furthermore, toxicity persisted for 7 days after the treatment in the survival evaluation. Artificial diet assays with 100 and 1000 µL mL−1 of M. didyma hydrolate resulted in a significant decrease in total food intake in both male and female D. suzukii adults. In addition, electropenetrography (EPG) showed that the D. suzukii females’ feeding behaviour was altered in hydrolate-treated diets. The hydrolate also caused a significant reduction in the number of eggs laid in two different oviposition assays. Overall, our findings provide a new perspective for the improvement of D. suzukii control strategies through M. didyma hydrolate