E ESTUDO DO PROCESSO DE SECAGEM DE ARROZ PARBOILIZADO EM LEITO DE JORRO

Rice is one of the main energy supply products of a contemporary society, and it is therefore essential to study processes that come from the perspective of obtaining a product with functional and organoleptic properties suitable for human consumption. The objective of the present work was to analyze the effects of the temperature and feed load variables of the stream bed in the drying process of the parboiled rice, evaluating the physical and chemical characteristics of the parboiled rice. The particle diameter, sphericity and specific mass of the parboiled rice particles were determined by the parboiled rice particles, with values of 2.27 mm, 0.83 and 1.20 g/cm³, respectively. The conditions for the feedstock and temperature parameters defined in the drying of the parboiled rice were 1000 g and temperature of 40°C and 60°C in a time of 45 minutes. As a result for samples 1B and 2B, it was possible to obtain the following moisture values of 15.7% and 15.1%, yield of 76.56% and 75.37%, water activity of 0,678 and 0,670 respectively. Samples 1B and 2B showed darker staining than control sample of white rice, according to CIELAB color analysis system.O arroz é um dos principais produtos de suprimento energético de uma sociedade contemporânea, sendo assim, torna-se indispensável estudar processos que venham na perspectiva de obtenção de um produto com propriedades funcionais e organolépticas adequadas ao consumo humano. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo analisar os efeitos das variáveis temperatura e carga de alimentação do secador leito de jorro no processo de secagem do arroz parboilizado, avaliando as características físicas e químicas do produto final. Como caracterização física das partículas de arroz parboilizado, seco em leito do jorro, foi efetuado, o diâmetro de partícula, esfericidade e massa específica, apresentado valores de 2,27 mm, 0,83 e 1,20 g/cm³ respectivamente. As condições para os parâmetros carga de alimentação e temperatura definidas na secagem do arroz parboilizado foram de 1000 g e temperatura de 40°C e 60°C em um tempo de 45 minutos. Como resultado para as amostras 1B e 2B, foi possível obter os seguintes valores de umidade de 15,7% e 15,1%, rendimento de 76,56% e 75,37%, atividade de água de 0,678 e 0,670 respectivamente. As amostras 1B e 2B apresentaram coloração mais escura que amostra controle de arroz branco, conforme sistema de análise de cor CIELAB

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Safety Control Architecture for Ventricular Assist Devices

In patients with severe heart disease, the implantation of a ventricular assist device (VAD) may be necessary, especially in patients with an indication for heart transplantation. For this, the Institute Dante Pazzanese of Cardiology (IDPC) has developed an implantable centrifugal blood pump that will be able to help a diseased human heart to maintain physiological blood flow and pressure. This device will be used as a totally or partially implantable VAD. Therefore, performance assurance and correct specification of the VAD are important factors in achieving a safe interaction between the device and the patient’s behavior or condition. Even with reliable devices, some failures may occur if the pumping control does not keep up with changes in the patient’s behavior or condition. If the VAD control system has no fault tolerance and no system dynamic adaptation that occurs according to changes in the patient’s cardiovascular system, a number of limitations can be observed in the results and effectiveness of these devices, especially in patients with acute comorbidities. This work proposes the application of a mechatronic approach to this class of devices based on advanced control, instrumentation, and automation techniques to define a method to develop a hierarchical supervisory control system capable of dynamically, automatically, and safely VAD control. For this methodology, concepts based on Bayesian networks (BN) were used to diagnose the patient’s cardiovascular system conditions, Petri nets (PN) to generate the VAD control algorithm, and safety instrumented systems to ensure the safety of the VAD system

Safety Control Architecture for Ventricular Assist Devices

In patients with severe heart disease, the implantation of a ventricular assist device (VAD) may be necessary, especially in patients with an indication for heart transplantation. For this, the Institute Dante Pazzanese of Cardiology (IDPC) has developed an implantable centrifugal blood pump that will be able to help a diseased human heart to maintain physiological blood flow and pressure. This device will be used as a totally or partially implantable VAD. Therefore, performance assurance and correct specification of the VAD are important factors in achieving a safe interaction between the device and the patient’s behavior or condition. Even with reliable devices, some failures may occur if the pumping control does not keep up with changes in the patient’s behavior or condition. If the VAD control system has no fault tolerance and no system dynamic adaptation that occurs according to changes in the patient’s cardiovascular system, a number of limitations can be observed in the results and effectiveness of these devices, especially in patients with acute comorbidities. This work proposes the application of a mechatronic approach to this class of devices based on advanced control, instrumentation, and automation techniques to define a method to develop a hierarchical supervisory control system capable of dynamically, automatically, and safely VAD control. For this methodology, concepts based on Bayesian networks (BN) were used to diagnose the patient’s cardiovascular system conditions, Petri nets (PN) to generate the VAD control algorithm, and safety instrumented systems to ensure the safety of the VAD system

Evaluating Known Zika Virus NS2B-NS3 Protease Inhibitor Scaffolds via In Silico Screening and Biochemical Assays

The NS2B-NS3 protease (NS2B-NS3pro) is regarded as an interesting molecular target for drug design, discovery, and development because of its essential role in the Zika virus (ZIKV) cycle. Although no NS2B-NS3pro inhibitors have reached clinical trials, the employment of drug-like scaffolds can facilitate the screening process for new compounds. In this study, we performed a combination of ligand-based and structure-based in silico methods targeting two known non-peptide small-molecule scaffolds with micromolar inhibitory activity against ZIKV NS2B-NS3pro by a virtual screening (VS) of promising compounds. Based on these two scaffolds, we selected 13 compounds from an initial library of 509 compounds from ZINC15’s similarity search. These compounds exhibited structural modifications that are distinct from previously known compounds yet keep pertinent features for binding. Despite promising outcomes from molecular docking and initial enzymatic assays against NS2B-NS3pro, confirmatory assays with a counter-screening enzyme revealed an artifactual inhibition of the assessed compounds. However, we report two compounds, 9 and 11, that exhibited antiviral properties at a concentration of 50 μM in cellular-based assays. Overall, this study provides valuable insights into the ongoing research on anti-ZIKV compounds to facilitate and improve the development of new inhibitors

Delayed tooth replantation following root canal filling with calcium hydroxide and MTA: Histomorphometric study in rats

The aim of this study was to perform a histomorphometric evaluation of the repair process in rat teeth replanted after root canals were filled with calcium hydroxide (CH) and mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA). Upper right incisors were extracted from 30 rats divided into three groups (n=10). The teeth were stored dry for 60min, after which the pulp and periodontal ligament (PDL) were removed and immersed in acidulated-phosphate sodium fluoride solution. In Group I, the root canals were filled with saline; in Group II, they were filled with CH; and in Group III, they were filled with CH, and the foramen was sealed with an MTA plug. The teeth were replanted, and the animals were sacrificed after 60 days. The sections with teeth were removed for histological preparation (haematoxylin and eosin, H&E). The characteristics of the PDL, cementum, dentine, and alveolar bone, as well as the occurrence of inflammatory and replacement root resorption and apical sealing, were subjected to histological and morphometric analysis (P<0.05). Group I was the most affected by root resorption (mean=67.05%). In Groups II and III, the resorption averaged 42.2% and 11.7%, respectively. Group III was less affected by inflammatory resorption and presented more areas of apical sealing by mineralized tissue (P<0.05). An apical MTA plug improved the repair of the replanted tooth by decreasing surface resorption and repairing mineralized tissue in the periapical region.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP

Detection and evaluation of volatile and non-volatile antifungal compounds produced by Bacillus spp. strains

The identification of antifungal compounds produced by microorganisms is crucial in the context of sustainable agriculture. Bacteria of the genus Bacillus have a broad spectrum of action that can influence plant growth and control pests, vectors of public health relevance and phytopathogens. Lipopeptides are the main compounds related to the biological control of several pathogen species. Strains with biotechnological potential are identified by means of in vitro bioassays and molecular tests. In this study, strains from the Bacillus Bank of Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA/DF/Brazil) were selected to control the fungal pathogens Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Fusarium oxysporum by pairing assays. The detection of genes for biosynthesis of antifungal compounds from strains with high pathogen-inhibition capacity was correlated with peptide synthesis, such as bacillomycin D, fengycin d, bacilysin and surfactin. Their gene expression in contact with the pathogen was analyzed by Real-Time PCR. The volatile organic compounds produced by selected Bacillus strains were identified and quantified. In co-culture assays, the inhibition zone between Bacillus strains and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum was evaluated by scanning electron microscopy. Thirteen potentially anti-pathogenic strains were selected. Genes related to the synthesis of antifungal peptides were detected in 11 of them. In five strains, all tested genes were detected. Bacillomycin was the most frequently found lipopeptide gene. The fungus-bacteria interaction potentiated the production of volatiles. Several ketones and other volatile compounds with antifungal activity were identified. Relevant morphological changes in the fungus were observed when paired with bacteria. The study demonstrated the efficacy of the selected strains with regard to the biological control of phytopathogens and their biotechnological potential.Faculdade de Agronomia e Medicina Veterinária (FAV)Programa de Pós-Graduação em Agronomi