Quality perception of PDO beef producers

Food quality from a consumer perspective includes sanitary aspects as well as nutrition, but also taste, aspect, integrity and the particularity of products. But quality at the consumer level can only be achieved if quality is respected throughout the whole chain. An analysis is undertaken using as a case study Portuguese producers of two types of PDO beef. Results, using multivariate data analysis, show that the main attributes for a quality beef at the producers` level are: feeding, finishing, specific quality, age at slaughter, breed and transport. Results also suggest that producers have distinct quality perceptions on PDO beef.quality, beef, Protected Designation of Origin, producers` quality Perception, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Q13, M31,

High-quality alternative food reduces cannibalism in the predatory mite <i>Amblyseius herbicolus</i> (Acari: Phytoseiidae)

Predatory mites of the Phytoseiidae family are important biological control agents. Many species of this family are omnivores, i.e., besides on prey, they can feed on plant resources such as nectar and pollen. It has been shown that the addition of alternative food for predators to a crop enhances biological control. However, factors such as food availability and quality can also affect interactions such as cannibalism, and thus influence biological control. We investigated the role of quality of the alternative food in the tendency of Amblyseius herbicolus to engage in cannibalism, a common ecological interaction in many phytoseiid mite species. Cannibalism on eggs by A. herbicolus was significantly reduced in the presence of high-quality food (cattail pollen) compared to egg cannibalism without alternative food, whereas this was not the case in the presence of low-quality food (cotton pollen). This suggests that cattail pollen is a high-quality alternative food, not only because it results in increased development and reproduction of predators, but also because it can minimize cannibalism

Increase in ghrelin levels after weight loss in obese Zucker rats is prevented by gastric banding.

Obes Surg. 2007 Dec;17(12):1599-607. Epub 2007 Nov 30. Increase in ghrelin levels after weight loss in obese Zucker rats is prevented by gastric banding. Monteiro MP, Ribeiro AH, Nunes AF, Sousa MM, Monteiro JD, Aguas AP, Cardoso MH. Department of Anatomy and UMIB (Unit for Multidisciplinary Biomedical Research) of ICBAS (Abel Salazar Institute for the Biomedical Sciences), University of Porto, 4099-003 Porto, Portugal. [email protected] Abstract BACKGROUND: Gastric banding is thought to decrease appetite in addition to the mechanical effects of food restriction, although this has been difficult to demonstrate in human studies. Our aim was to investigate the changes in orexigenic signals in the obese Zucker rat after gastric banding. METHODS: Obese Zucker rats (fa/fa) were submitted to gastric banding (GBP), sham gastric banding fed ad libitum (sham), or sham operation with food restriction, pair-fed to the gastric banding group (sham-PF). Lean Zucker rats (fa/+) were used as additional controls. Body weight and food intake were daily recorded for 21 days after surgery when epididymal fat was weighed and fasting ghrelin and hypothalamic NPY mRNA expression were measured. RESULTS: Gastric banding in obese Zucker rats resulted in a significant decrease of cumulative body weight gain and food intake. Furthermore, gastric banded rats were leaner than Sham-PF, as expressed by a significantly lower epididymal fat weight. Ghrelin levels of gastric banded rats were not increased when compared to sham-operated animals fed ad libitum and were significantly lower than the levels of weight matched sham-PF rats (1116.9 +/- 103.3 g GBP vs 963.2 +/- 54.3 g sham, 3,079.5 +/- 221.6 sham-PF and 2,969.9 +/- 150.9 g lean rats, p < 0.001); hypothalamic NPY mRNA expression was not increased in GBP when compared to sham-operated rats. CONCLUSION: In obese Zucker rats, GBP prevents the increase in orexigenic signals that occur during caloric deprivation. Our data support the hypothesis that sustained weight loss observed after gastric banding does not depend solely on food restriction

Estabilidad oxidativa de aceites de soja y maíz enriquecidos con extracto hidroalcohólico de Pluchea quitoc

Soybean and corn oils are among the most popular vegetable oils, and are ingredients which are widely used in cooking and in the food industry. These oils contain many unsaturated fatty acids such as oleic, linoleic and linolenic acids, which makes them easily oxidized by oxygen. Extensive efforts are being made to prevent or minimize vegetable oil oxidation through the development of antioxidants. Phenolic antioxidants which are present in some extracts can be used as food additives to prevent lipid oxidation. In this study chromatographic analyses (HPLC and GC) of the&nbsp;Pluchea quitoc&nbsp;hydroalcoholic extract were performed. The content of phenolic compounds by the Folin-Ciocalteau method and the antioxidant properties against radicals 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2′-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS) were also evaluated. The effect of samples prepared with soybean and corn oils enriched with&nbsp;Pluchea quitoc&nbsp;hydroalcoholic extract was determined and compared with samples of these oils which were free of antioxidants and with samples containing the synthetic antioxidant BHT. The results showed potential for application of the extract. A high content of phenolic compounds (314 milligrams of gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g of extract) and good IC50 values were detected for the inhibition of the radicals DPPH and ABTS (13.2 µg·mL-1&nbsp;and 5.6 µg·mL-1). In the evaluation of the oxidative stability of the oils enriched with this extract, it was found that at 1% concentration it was possible to obtain values of induction period (IP) close to the samples with added BHT.Los aceites de soja y maíz se encuentran entre los aceites vegetales más populares, ingredientes ampliamente utilizados en la cocina y también en la industria alimentaria. Estos aceites contienen muchos ácidos grasos insaturados como los ácidos oleico, linoleico y linolénico que se oxidan fácilmente con el oxígeno. Se están realizando grandes esfuerzos para prevenir o minimizar la oxidación de los aceites vegetales mediante el desarrollo de antioxidantes. Los antioxidantes fenólicos presentes en algunos extractos se pueden utilizar como aditivos alimentarios para prevenir la oxidación de lípidos. En este estudio se realizó la obtención y análisis cromatográficos (HPLC y GC) del extracto hidroalcohólico de&nbsp;Pluchea quitoc. El contenido de compuestos fenólicos se evaluó por el método de Folin-Ciocalteau y las propiedades antioxidantes frente a radicales DPPH y ABTS. Se determinó el efecto de muestras preparadas con aceites de soja y maíz enriquecidas con extracto hidroalcohólico de&nbsp;Pluchea quitoc&nbsp;y se comparó con muestras de estos aceites libres de antioxidantes y con el antioxidante sintético BHT. Los resultados mostraron potencial para la aplicación del extracto. Se detectó un alto contenido de compuestos fenólicos (314 mg GAE) y buenos valores de IC50 para la inhibición de los radicales DPPH y ABTS (13.2 µg·mL-1&nbsp;y 5.6 µg·mL-1). En la evaluación de la estabilidad oxidativa de los aceites enriquecidos con este extracto, se encontró que para la concentración del 1% es posible obtener valores de período de inducción (IP) cercanos a las muestras adicionadas con BHT

Relations between (κ, τ)-regular sets and star complements

Let G be a finite graph with an eigenvalue μ of multiplicity m. A set X of m vertices in G is called a star set for μ in G if μ is not an eigenvalue of the star complement G\X which is the subgraph of G induced by vertices not in X. A vertex subset of a graph is (k ,t)-regular if it induces a k -regular subgraph and every vertex not in the subset has t neighbors in it. We investigate the graphs having a (k,t)-regular set which induces a star complement for some eigenvalue. A survey of known results is provided and new properties for these graphs are deduced. Several particular graphs where these properties stand out are presented as examples

Null Deformed Domain Wall

We study null 1/4 BPS deformations of flat domain wall solutions (NDDW) in N=2, d=5 gauged supergravity with hypermultiplets and vector multiplets coupled. These are uncharged time-dependent configurations and contain as special case, 1/2 supersymmetric flat domain walls (DW), as well as 1/2 BPS null solutions of the ungauged supergravity. Combining our analysis with the classification method initiated by Gauntlett et al., we prove that all the possible deformations of the DW have origin in the hypermultiplet sector or/and are null. Here, we classify all the null deformations: we show that they naturally organize themselves into "gauging" (v-deformation) and "non gauging" (u-deformation). They have different properties: only in presence of v-deformation is the solution supported by a time-dependent scalar potential. Furthermore we show that the number of possible deformations equals the number of matter multiplets coupled. We discuss the general procedure for constructing explicit solutions, stressing the crucial role taken by the integrability conditions of the scalars as spacetime functions. Two analytical solutions are presented. Finally, we comment on the holographic applications of the NDDW, in relation to the recently proposed time-dependent AdS/CFT.Comment: 38 pages; minor changes, references added; text revised, minor changes, final version published in JHE

Separation of Attractors in 1-modulus Quantum Corrected Special Geometry

We study the attractor equations for a quantum corrected prepotential F=t^3+i\lambda, with \lambda \in R,which is the only correction which preserves the axion shift symmetry and modifies the geometry. By performing computations in the ``magnetic'' charge configuration, we find evidence for interesting phenomena (absent in the classical limit of vanishing \lambda). For a certain range of the quantum parameter \lambda we find a ``separation'' of attractors, i.e. the existence of multiple solutions to the Attractor Equations for fixed supporting charge configuration. Furthermore, we find that, away from the classical limit, a ``transmutation'' of the supersymmetry-preserving features of the attractors takes place when \lambda reaches a particular critical value.Comment: 1+24 pages, 11 figures; v2: new section added; v3: change in title, minor updates, published versio

A Note on Exact Solutions and Attractor Mechanism for Non-BPS Black Holes

We obtain two extremal, spherically symmetric, non-BPS black hole solutions to 4D supergravity, one of which carries D2-D6 charges and the other carries D0-D2-D4 charges. For the D2-D6 case, rather than solving the equations of motion directly, we assume the form of the solution and then find that the assumption satisfies the equations of motion and the constraint. Our D2-D6 solution is manifestly dual to the solution presented in 0710.4967. The D0-D2-D4 solution is obtained by performing certain $[SL(2,{\bf Z})]^{3}$ duality transformations on the D0-D4 solution in 0710.4967.Comment: 20 pages, LaTe

Critical analysis of autoregressive and fast Fourier transform markers of cardiovascular variability in rats and humans

The autonomic nervous system plays an important role in physiological and pathological conditions, and has been extensively evaluated by parametric and non-parametric spectral analysis. To compare the results obtained with fast Fourier transform (FFT) and the autoregressive (AR) method, we performed a comprehensive comparative study using data from humans and rats during pharmacological blockade (in rats), a postural test (in humans), and in the hypertensive state (in both humans and rats). Although postural hypotension in humans induced an increase in normalized low-frequency (LFnu) of systolic blood pressure, the increase in the ratio was detected only by AR. In rats, AR and FFT analysis did not agree for LFnu and high frequency (HFnu) under basal conditions and after vagal blockade. The increase in the LF/HF ratio of the pulse interval, induced by methylatropine, was detected only by FFT. In hypertensive patients, changes in LF and HF for systolic blood pressure were observed only by AR; FFT was able to detect the reduction in both blood pressure variance and total power. In hypertensive rats, AR presented different values of variance and total power for systolic blood pressure. Moreover, AR and FFT presented discordant results for LF, LFnu, HF, LF/HF ratio, and total power for pulse interval. We provide evidence for disagreement in 23% of the indices of blood pressure and heart rate variability in humans and 67% discordance in rats when these variables are evaluated by AR and FFT under physiological and pathological conditions. The overall disagreement between AR and FFT in this study was 43%.FINEPFAPESPZerbini Foundatio