Particle characteristics’ influence on FLASH sintering of potassium sodium niobate: A relationship with conduction mechanisms

Funding Information: This work was developed within the scope of the project CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials, UIDB/50011/2020 & UIDP/50011/2020, financed by national funds through the FCT/MEC and when appropriate, co-financed by FEDER under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement. This work was also financed by Portugal 2020 through European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), in the frame of Operational Competitiveness and Internationalization Programme (POCI), in the scope of the project "FLASH sintering of lead-free functional oxides towards sustainable processing of materials for energy and related applications-FLASH", POCI-01-0247-FEDER-029078. Ricardo Serrazina acknowledges FCT for financial support (SFRH/PD/BD/128411/2017).The considerable decrease in temperature and time makes FLASH sintering a more sustainable alternative for materials processing. FLASH also becomes relevant if volatile elements are part of the material to be processed, as in alkali‐based piezoelectrics like the promising lead‐free K0.5Na0.5NbO3 (KNN). Due to the volatile nature of K and Na, KNN is difficult to process by conventional sintering. Although some studies have been undertaken, much remains to be understood to properly engineer the FLASH sintering process of KNN. In this work, the effect of FLASH temperature, TF, is studied as a function of the particle size and impurity content of KNN powders. Differences are demonstrated: while the particle size and impurity degree markedly influence TF, they do not significantly affect the densification and grain growth processes. The conductivity of KNN FLASH‐sintered ceramics and KNN single crystals (SCs) is compared to elucidate the role of particles’ surface conduction. When particles’ surfaces are not present, as in the case of SCs, the FLASH process requires higher temperatures and conductivity values. These results have implications in understanding FLASH sintering towards a more sustainable processing of lead‐free piezoelectrics.publishersversionpublishe

Chitosan crosslinked with genipin as support matrix for application in food process: Support characterization and β-d-galactosidase immobilization

AbstractIn order to develop safer processes for the food industry, we prepared a chitosan support with the naturally occurring crosslinking reagent, genipin, for enzyme. As application model, it was tested for the immobilization of β-d-galactosidase from Aspergillus oryzae. Chitosan particles were obtained by precipitation followed by adsorption of the enzyme and crosslinking with genipin. The particles were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The immobilization of the enzyme by crosslinking with genipin provided biocatalysts with satisfactory activity retention and thermal stability, comparable with the ones obtained with the traditional methodology of immobilization using glutaraldehyde. β-d-Galactosidase–chitosan–genipin particles were applied to galactooligosaccharides synthesis, evaluating the initial lactose concentration, pH and temperature, and yields of 30% were achieved. Moreover, excellent operational stability was obtained, since the immobilized enzyme maintained 100% of its initial activity after 25 batches of lactose hydrolysis. Thus, the food grade chitosan–genipin particles seem to be a good alternative for application in food process

ARTE E MEMÓRIA: AÇÕES DE ENSINO E PRESERVAÇÃO DO ACERVO SALÃO DE ARTES PLÁSTICAS DE JACAREZINHO - PR

O presente estudo busca apresentar os resultados e experiências do “Projeto de Extensão Salão de Artes Plásticas de Jacarezinho: diálogos entre arte, memória, preservação e ensino” (UENP/USF/SETI/PR), que foi desenvolvido em parceria com a Prefeitura da cidade de Jacarezinho/PR, o Serviço Social do Comércio e o Conjunto Amadores de Teatro e teve por objetivo a conservação, documentação e fruição cultural das obras que compõem o acervo do Salão de Artes Plásticas da cidade de Jacarezinho/PR, bem como a criação da Sala de Estar, espaço no ambiente acadêmico para observação e pesquisa em arte, história e cultura regional. Neste sentido, o presente texto retoma as atividades desenvolvidas pelo projeto, os espaços utilizados, a participação da comunidade externa e aborda as dificuldades e aprendizados resultantes desta ação extensionista. Ao todo, conservamos e catalogamos 174 obras de arte e atingimos aproximadamente 150 estudantes com a realização de 11 oficinas sobre temáticas diversas, como Arte Contemporânea, Cerâmica, Arte Primitiva, Autorretrato e Desenho, Pintura e Paisagem, Escrita Criativa e Teatro e Educação

Pre-Columbian soil fertilization and current management maintain food resource availability in old-growth Amazonian forests

Aims: The extent and persistence of pre-Columbian human legacies in old-growth Amazonian forests are still controversial, partly because modern societies re-occupied old settlements, challenging the distinction between pre- and post-Columbian legacies. Here, we compared the effects of pre-Columbian vs. recent landscape domestication processes on soils and vegetation in two Amazonian regions. Methods: We studied forest landscapes at varying distances from pre-Columbian and current settlements inside protected areas occupied by traditional and indigenous peoples in the lower Tapajós and the upper-middle Madeira river basins. By conducting 69 free-listing interviews, participatory mappings, guided-tours, 27 forest inventories, and soil analysis, we assessed the influences of pre-Columbian and current activities in soils and plant resources surrounding the settlements. Results: In both regions, we found that pre-Columbian villages were more densely distributed across the landscape than current villages. Soil nutrients (mainly Ca and P) were higher closer to pre-Columbian villages but were generally not related to current villages, suggesting past soil fertilization. Soil charcoal was frequent in all forests, suggesting frequent fire events. The density of domesticated plants used for food increased in phosphorus enriched soils. In contrast, the density of plants used for construction decreased near current villages. Conclusions: We detected a significant effect of past soil fertilization on food resources over extensive areas, supporting the hypothesis that pre-Columbian landscape domestication left persistent marks on Amazonian landscapes. Our results suggest that a combination of pre-Columbian phosphorus fertilization with past and current management drives plant resource availability in old-growth forests.</p

How oogenesis analysis combined with dna barcode can help to elucidate taxonomic ambiguities: A polychaete study-based approach

Polychaetes are common in coastal and estuarine environments worldwide and constitute one of the most complex groups of marine invertebrates. The morpho-physiology of the female reproductive system (FRS) can be understood by using histological tools to describe reproductive cycle and gametogenesis paths and, among other purposes, aiming to identify and differentiate polychaete species. However, this histology-based approach is rarely combined with molecular tools, which is known to accurately delimitate species. In the same way, the description and understanding of oogenesis and vitellogenesis paths within polychaetes are lacking for most families, narrowing the range of its utility. Therefore, the present study aims to describe the oogenesis in three polychaete species common and abundant on the South American Atlantic coast (Laeonereis culveri, Scolelepis goodbodyi and Capitella biota) and investigate the utility of reproductive features and gametogenesis as a relevant associate knowledge to discriminate species, particularly useful for putative cryptic species, integrated with morphological and molecular data. In a first attempt, the results obtained herein allow the authors to describe two new subtypes of oogenesis, dividing it in extraovarian oogenesis type I and II and intraovarian type I and II. The results also demonstrate that the following histological characters of the FRS can be relevant for the separation of related species: a) oogenesis type, b) occurrence or absence of a true ovary, c) ovary tissue organization, d) type of accessory cells present, and e) oocyte morphology. Additionally, these histological features of FRS, when compared with correlated species studied under this scope, converge with the genetic data. The analysis of cytochrome oxidase I (COI) barcode sequences differentiates between North and South American Atlantic populations of L. culveri (16.78% genetic distance), while in S. goodbodyi and C. biota it discriminates them from their congeneric species. These results highlight theOs poliquetas são comuns em ambientes costeiros e estuarinos em todo o mundo e constituem um dos grupos mais complexos de invertebrados marinhos. A morfo-fisiologia do sistema reprodutor feminino (FRS) pode ser compreendida por meio de ferramentas histológicas para identificar e diferenciar estes anelídeos. No entanto, essa abordagem histológica raramente é combinada com ferramentas moleculares, amplamente conhecidas por delimitar espécies congenéricas ou crípticas com maior precisão. Do mesmo modo, a descrição e o entendimento da oogênese e vitelogênese dentre os poliquetas, para a maioria das famílias, é ainda limitado. Portanto, o presente estudo tem como objetivo descrever a oogênese em três espécies de poliquetas comuns e abundantes na costa sul-americana (Laeonereis culveri, Scolelepis goodbodyi e Capitella biota) e investigar a utilidade das características reprodutivas e da gametogênese como um conhecimento associado relevante para discriminar espécies, particularmente útil para espécies crípticas putativas, integradas a dados morfológicos e moleculares. Os resultados aqui obtidos permitiram descrever dois novos subtipos de oogênese, dividindo-a em oogênese extra-ovariana dos tipos I e II e intra-ovariana dos tipos I e II. Os resultados também demonstram que os seguintes caracteres histológicos do FRS podem ser relevantes para a separação de espécies relacionadas: a) tipo de oogênese, b) presença ou ausência de um ovário verdadeiro, c) organização tissular ovariana, d) tipo de células acessórias presentes e, e) morfologia do ovócito. Além disso, essas características histológicas do FRS, quando comparadas às espécies correlatas estudadas sob esse escopo, convergem com os dados genéticos separando espécies putativas e congenéricas. As análises com DNA barcode demonstraram que em L. culveri é possível diferenciar as populações atlânticas Norte e Sul-americanas (16,78% de distância genética), enquanto para S. goodbodyi e C. biota fica evidente sua distinção com espécies congenéricas. Esses resultados destacam a importância da abordagem com múltiplas ferramentas e mostram que tanto a histologia quanto a histo-fisiologia do FRS e o DNA barcode podem ser usados para identificar e discriminar espécies crípticas e potencialmente crípticas, o que geralmente não é possível quando se utilizam apenas caracteres morfológicos. Além disso, esses caracteres também podem ser úteis na diferenciação de espécies relacionadas e / ou populações geograficamente distintas desses poliquetas.The authors would like to thank IB/UNICAMP, IO/USP and CEBIMar/USP for providing logistic support. In addition, the authors would like to thank the CBMA and the IB-S for the technical support. This work was supported by the FAPESP (Grants no 2011/50317-5, 2015/25623-6, 2017/06167-5) and CNPq through a productivity grant to A.C.Z.A (306534/2015-0). M.A.L.T was supported by a PhD fellowship (SFRH/BD/131527/2017) from FCT. P.E.V. was supported by a Post-Doctoral Fellowships (BPD1/next-sea/2018, NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000032). F.O.C. and the University of Minho contribution was supported by the strategic programme UID/BIA/04050/2013 POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007569

Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting prophylaxis in pediatric patients at a teaching hospital: assessment of adherence to guidelines

Aims: Describing the adherence rate of antiemetic prophylaxis in pediatric patients using antineoplastic agents and possible associated factors. Methods: It is a retrospective cross-sectional study, which took place in a teaching hospital at Belo Horizonte. There were included pediatric patients that received chemotherapy at the hospital from January to June, 2022. The demographic, clinical and pharmacotherapeutic data were collected from physicians’ prescriptions and patients’ charts. Descriptive analysis was performed and the results were expressed by absolute and relative frequency for categorical variables and by measures of central tendency and dispersion for numeral variables. Univariate analysis was done in order to assess the association between chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting and exposure variables. It was calculated through Pearson’s chi-square test. It was considered statistically significant a p-value less than 0,05. Results: It was observed that the prescription practice was closer to recommendations made by guidelines of American Society of Clinical Oncology and Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer | European Society of Medical Oncology with 62% of adherence, meanwhile Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario had 4,6% of concordance. Underuse of antiemetics was the principal reason for discordance. In particular the lack of dexamethasone prescription. It was identified statistically significance association between nausea and vomiting registers and vincristine and cyclophosphamide use. Conclusions: This study detected high adherence to the American Society of Clinical Oncology and Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer | European Society of Medical Oncology guidelines, even though, the number of observed nausea and vomiting events flag up a potential failure in the antiemetic prophylaxis. The associative analyses between nausea and vomiting registers and vincristine and cyclophosphamide use were statistically significant

Phytochemical screening, cytotoxicity and acute toxicity of Annona vepretorum Mart (Annonaceae) leaf extracts

Purpose: To investigate the phytochemistry, cytotoxicity and acute toxicity of leaf extracts from Annona vepretorum.Methods: The crude extracts were obtained by maceration with hexane and  methanol. The crude methanol extract was suspended in a 3:7 (v/v) mixture of methanol (MeOH) and water (H2O) and partitioned with hexane, chloroform (CHCl3) and ethyl acetate (AcOEt) in ascending order of polarity to obtain the respective  extracts. In the investigation of phytochemical profile, the extracts were evaluated on thin layer chromatography (TLC) plates of silica gel. Cytotoxicity was tested using 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) and (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium) (MTS) assays against tumor cell lines, viz,HCT-116 (colon), SF-295 (brain), HL-60 (leukemic) and Sarcoma-180. Acute toxicity study was performed by administration of a single oral dose of 2 g/kg body weight of the extracts to mice and the animals were observed for 14 days.Results: Phytochemical screening results showed that A. vepretorum extracts contain alkaloids, flavonoids and terpenes. Methanol and chloroform extracts exhibited high cytotoxic activity against HCT-116, HL-60 and Sarcoma-180. Moreover, the extracts displayed low toxicity in mice, as no deaths and pronounced toxic effects were observed.Conclusion: A. vepretorum contains a variety of secondary metabolites which may confer on this species high cytotoxic activity. In addition, the oral administration of the extracts produced low toxicity in mice.Keywords: Annonaceae, Annona vepretorum, Phytochemistry, Tumor cell lines, Acute toxicit

CARACTERIZAÇÃO DAS FIBRAS PRESENTES EM ALIMENTOS PARA FINS ESPECIAIS DISPENSADOS EM FARMÁCIAS

As fibras alimentares podem ser definidas como qualquer material comestível não hidrolisável pelas enzimas endógenas do trato digestório humano. A legislação brasileira limita a comercialização de alimentos em farmácias aos produtos para fins especiais. Este trabalho teve por objetivo caracterizar as fibras presentes em alimentos para fins especiais (AFE) e avaliar a freqüência da oferta destes produtos em farmácias de dispensação. Foram avaliadas 35 farmácias de Curitiba quanto à oferta de alimentos para fins especiais (AFE) contendo fibras. Posteriormente, os 15 produtos mais freqüentes foram analisados quanto à apresentação comercial, indicação nutricional, composição, freqüência das fibras e contribuição dos alimentos para o suprimento dos valores diários (VD) de fibras. Os produtos contendo fibras foram encontrados com elevada freqüência nas farmácias, em produtos fonte ou rico em fibras, indicados para redução de peso, auxiliares do trânsito intestinal ou como suplementos de fibras. Três apresentações foram encontradas nas farmácias com freqüência superior a 90%. Porções dos produtos contendo fibras mostraram-se capazes de suprir até 20% dos valores diários recomendados para este nutriente. As fibras mais freqüentes nos AFE foram celulose, goma guar, ß-glucanas e maltodextrinas. Os farmacêuticos dever conhecer a composição dos alimentos para fins especiais e a ação fisiológica das fibras para ofertar orientações qualificadas aos usuários das farmácias de dispensação

INFANT FORMULA FOR DISPENSING IN PHARMACY

Este trabalho tem como objetivo revisar a ampla variedade de fórmulas infantis dispensadas em farmácia destinadas às necessidades nutricionais específicas dos lactentes. O leite materno é o alimento adequado em razão de sua composição, proporcionam vantagem nutricional, imunológica, psico-social e econômica. Entretanto, por vários motivos, há necessidade ou opção de complementação alimentar ou, a substituição do alimento materno por fórmulas infantis de seguimento para lactentes e crianças de primeira infância. O farmacêutico além de informações sobre o uso de fármacos, deverá incluir ainda informações sobre nutrição.