1,622 research outputs found
Thermal Contaminants in Coffee Induced by Roasting: A Review
Review(This article belongs to the Special Issue Processed Food: Nutrition, Safety and Public Health)Roasting is responsible for imparting the main characteristics to coffee, but the high temperatures used in the process can lead to the formation of several potentially toxic substances. Among them, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, acrylamide, furan and its derivative compounds, α-dicarbonyls and advanced glycation end products, 4-methylimidazole, and chloropropanols stand out. The objective of this review is to present a current and comprehensive overview of the chemical contaminants formed during coffee roasting, including a discussion of mitigation strategies reported in the literature to decrease the concentration of these toxicants. Although the formation of the contaminants occurs during the roasting step, knowledge of the coffee production chain as a whole is important to understand the main variables that will impact their concentrations in the different coffee products. The precursors and routes of formation are generally different for each contaminant, and the formed concentrations can be quite high for some substances. In addition, the study highlights several mitigation strategies related to decreasing the concentration of precursors, modifying process conditions and eliminating/degrading the formed contaminant. Many of these strategies show promising results, but there are still challenges to be overcome, since little information is available about advantages and disadvantages in relation to aspects such as costs, potential for application on an industrial scale and impacts on sensory properties.This research was funded by the Brazilian Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education (CAPES) (Finance code 0010).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Woody Flora Of Natural Forest Gaps In A Bamboo-dominated Forest Remnant In Southwestern Amazonia
Forest gaps, created by the falling of one or more trees, have been seen as a key factor for the maintenance of local plant diversity in tropical forests. In this study, our goal was to determine the floristic composition of woody plants colonizing natural gaps and in the understory of an open, bamboo-dominated (Guadua weberbaueri Pilg.) forest in southwestern Amazonia, Acre, Brazil. We sampled and identified woody plants (≥1 m tall and DBH ≤10 cm) in 20 forest gaps and nine adjacent understories. In total, 1656 plants were identified in 159 species, 116 genera and 45 families. A list of species was created, containing habitat, habit, functional group, threat status (Brazilian Flora Red List) and abundance data for each species. © 2016 Check List and Authors.12
Bentonite functionalized with propyl sulfonic acid groups used as catalyst in esterification reactions
AbstractThe main objective of this work is the functionalization of bentonite from the Amazon (region) by the grafting of propyl sulfonic acid groups to catalyze the esterification reaction of acetic acid and 1-propanol. Functionalization was accomplished by anchoring, oxidation and acid activation of (3-mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane, (MTPS). The procedure gave acid properties to the raw bentonite. This material, acting as a catalyst, increased the reaction speed and improved the yield by about 12% compared to the uncatalyzed reaction. The functionalized bentonite was characterized by XRD, TG/DTA, FTIR, N2 adsorption/desorption at 77K and XRF, and the surface acidity was determined by titration
Selection of strawberry cultivars with tolerance to Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Tetranychidae) and high yield under different managements.
Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae) is considered the main pest of strawberry. Several factors can favor its development, among them the genotype susceptibility and cropping system. The aims of this study were to evaluate the agronomic performance of strawberry cultivars under different managements and to identify strawberry cultivars that meet tolerance to T. urticae and high fruit yield. Thirteen cultivars of strawberry ('Albion', 'Aleluia', 'Aromas', 'Camarosa', 'Camino Real', 'Campinas', 'Diamante', 'Dover', 'Festival', 'Seascape', 'Toyonoka', 'Tudla', and 'Ventana') under three managements (open field, low tunnel, and high tunnel) were evaluated. The T. urticae attack to different cultivars was influenced by managements, being low tunnel the one that provided higher infestations in the most evaluated cultivars. 'Camarosa' was the cultivar with the lower incidence of pest and 'Dover' had the higher infestation. The genotype most suitable for growing under different managements is the 'Festival' genotype, since it meets tolerance to T. urticae, high fruit yield, and phenotypic stability
Seminal quality, testicle and epididymis morphology of bulls fed a diet containing gossypol
The objective was to evaluate the effect of intake of free gossypol on sperm quality and morphology of the testicles and epididymis of Nelore bulls. Twelve bulls were fed diets containing 3.3g of free gossypol/bull/day (cottonseed) (Group 1, n = 6) and a diet free of gossypol (Group 2, n = 6), respectively. Semen samples were collected in the beginning and end of the experiment which lasted 73 days. In the end of the study the testes and epididymis of bulls were removed to study the effect of free gossypol on histological characteristics. The average consumption of 3.3g of free gossypol/bull/day (mean 7.1mg of free gossypol/kg/day) reduced motility and sperm concentration and increased the percentage of major and total sperm defects, as well as the animals showing testes with seminiferous tubules of smaller thickness, fewer layers of spermatogenic lineage cells, smaller epididymal epithelium thickness and smaller number of sperm within the epididymal ducts, compared to animals with a diet free of gossypol (Group 2). The consumption of 3.3g of free gossypol/bull/day led to changes in morphology and morphometry of the testes and epididymis and reduced sperm quality of bulls.Objetivou-se avaliar o efeito da ingestão de gossipol livre sobre a qualidade espermática e a morfologia dos testículos e dos epidídimos de touros da raça Nelore. Doze touros receberam dieta contendo 3,3g de gossipol livre/touro/dia (caroço de algodão) (Grupo 1, n=6) e dieta isenta de gossipol (Grupo 2, n=6), respectivamente. Foram realizadas coletas de sêmen no início e no final do experimento, que teve duração de 73 dias. Ao final do estudo, foram retirados os testículos e os epidídimos dos touros para se estudar o efeito do gossipol livre sobre as características histológicas. O consumo médio de 3,3g de gossipol livre/touro/dia (média 7,1mg de gossipol livre/kg/dia) reduziu a motilidade e a concentração espermática e aumentou a porcentagem de defeitos espermáticos maiores e totais. Além disso, os animais apresentaram testículos com túbulos seminíferos de menor espessura de parede, menor número de camadas de células espermatogênicas, menor espessura do epitélio epididimário e menor número de espermatozoide no interior dos ductos epidídimários, em relação aos animais com dieta isenta de gossipol (Grupo 2). O consumo de 3,3g de gossipol livre/touro/dia acarretou alterações na morfologia e na morfometria dos testículos e dos epidídimos e reduziu a qualidade espermática dos touros.Universidade de Cuiabá Faculdade de Medicina VeterináriaUFMS Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e ZootecniaEpamigUniversidade Federal do Mato GrossoUNIFESP-EPMUNIFESP, EPMSciEL
Production and detection of three-qubit entanglement in the Fermi sea
Building on a previous proposal for the entanglement of electron-hole pairs
in the Fermi sea, we show how 3 qubits can be entangled without using
electron-electron interactions. As in the 2-qubit case, this electronic scheme
works even if the sources are in (local) thermal equilibrium -- in contrast to
the photonic analogue. The 3 qubits are represented by 4 edge-channel
excitations in the quantum Hall effect (2 hole excitations plus 2 electron
excitations with identical channel index). The entangler consists of an
adiabatic point contact flanked by a pair of tunneling point contacts. The
irreducible 3-qubit entanglement is characterized by the tangle, which is
expressed in terms of the transmission matrices of the tunneling point
contacts. The maximally entangled Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) state is
obtained for channel-independent tunnel probabilities. We show how
low-frequency noise measurements can be used to determine an upper and lower
bound to the tangle. The bounds become tighter the closer the electron-hole
state is to the GHZ state.Comment: 8 pages including 4 figures; [2017: fixed broken postscript figures
Clauser-Horne inequality for electron counting statistics in multiterminal mesoscopic conductors
In this paper we derive the Clauser-Horne (CH) inequality for the full
electron counting statistics in a mesoscopic multiterminal conductor and we
discuss its properties. We first consider the idealized situation in which a
flux of entangled electrons is generated by an entangler. Given a certain
average number of incoming entangled electrons, the CH inequality can be
evaluated for different numbers of transmitted particles. Strong violations
occur when the number of transmitted charges on the two terminals is the same
(), whereas no violation is found for . We then consider
two actual setups that can be realized experimentally. The first one consists
of a three terminal normal beam splitter and the second one of a hybrid
superconducting structure. Interestingly, we find that the CH inequality is
violated for the three terminal normal device. The maximum violation scales as
1/M and for the entangler and normal beam splitter, respectively, 2
being the average number of injected electrons. As expected, we find full
violation of the CH inequality in the case of the superconducting system.Comment: 26 pages, 9 figures. Ref. adde
Double quantum dot turnstile as an electron spin entangler
We study the conditions for a double quantum dot system to work as a reliable
electron spin entangler, and the efficiency of a beam splitter as a detector
for the resulting entangled electron pairs. In particular, we focus on the
relative strengths of the tunneling matrix elements, the applied bias and gate
voltage, the necessity of time-dependent input/output barriers, and the
consequence of considering wavepacket states for the electrons as they leave
the double dot to enter the beam splitter. We show that a double quantum dot
turnstile is, in principle, an efficient electron spin entangler or
entanglement filter because of the exchange coupling between the dots and the
tunable input/output potential barriers, provided certain conditions are
satisfied in the experimental set-up.Comment: published version; minor error correcte
Testosterone level, nasal gland volume and Leydig cell morphometry in capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris)
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