526 research outputs found
Circulating antigens of Mycobacterium tuberculosis: Standardization of immunoenzymatic assay to detect circulating antigens related in the pathology of tuberculosis
Antioxidant properties of different dietary supplements based on Agaricus blazei Murrill
In 2012, the market for nutraceuticals earned 33.6
billion in the next four years. Agaricus blazei Murrill mushroom is native to Brazil and widely
cultivated due to nutritional and medicinal value [I ,2]. Its beneficial effects have long been
recognized, becoming popular as ordinary food, increasing also its production and marketing as
dietary supplements (3].
A. blazei is traditionally used to combat a variety of diseases such as cancer, diabetes, hepatitis and
hypercholesterolemia [2]. The use of dietary supplements based on A. blazei has grown significantly,
due to pharmacological studies reporting antioxidant, antitumor, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial,
immunostimulant, apoptotic and chemopreventive effects [2,3], attributed to Âź-glucans and other
bioactive compounds, such as steroids, tocopherols and phenolic compounds [4]. Herein, the
antioxidant activity of A. blazei capsules enriched with fmits of Malpighia glabra L. (acerola),
Solanum melongena L. (eggplant) and Euterpe oleracea Mart. (açai), calcium and chitosan, were evaluated though in vitro assays: DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging activity,
reducing power, inhibition of G-carotene bleaching and inhibition of lipid peroxidation in brain
homogenates by thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TSARS) assay. Two capsules (daily
recommended dose) were dissolved in 100 mL of distilled water in order to prepare a stock solution.
Several dilutions were tested until determination of EC50 values (concentration responsible for 50% of antioxidant activity or 0.5 of absorbance in reducing power assay).
Globally, all the tested formulations showed high antioxidant activity. A. blazei with acerola gave the
highest DPPH scavenging activity (EC50=0.81±0.0 1 mg/mL) and reducing power (EC50=0.53±0.0 1 mg/mL). Nevertheless, A. blazei with ayai showed the highest activity in the lipophilic assays: f3 -
carotene bleaching inhibition (EC50=0.55±0.02 mg/mL) and lipid peroxidation inhibition by TSARS
assay (EC50=O. 14±0.01 mg/mL). The studied formulations might be useful as antioxidants-enriched supplements to prevent some of the diseases related to oxidative stress
Synthesis of dietetic structures lipids from spent coffee grounds crude oil catalyzed by commercial immobilized lipases and immobilized Rhizopus oryzae lipase on biochar and hybrid support
The aim of this study was the valorization of coffee industry residues, namely spent
coffee grounds (SCG) as a source of oil, and silverskin (CS) as a source of both oil and biomass,
under the concept of the circular economy. Therefore, crude oil from SCG was used to produce
low-calorie structured lipids (SL) for food and pharmaceutical industries, and CS to produce biochar
by pyrolysis for biotechnological uses. SL were obtained by acidolysis with caprylic or capric
acid, or interesterification with ethyl caprylate or ethyl caprate, in solvent-free media, catalyzed by
immobilized sn-1,3 regioselective lipases. Silverskin biochar (BIO) was directly used as enzyme carrier
or to produce hybrid organic-silica (HB) supports for enzyme immobilization. Rhizopus oryzae lipase
(ROL) immobilized on Amberlite (AMB), silica (SIL), BIO or HB, and the commercial immobilized
Thermomyces lanuginosus (Lipozyme TL IM) and Rhizomucor miehei (Lipozyme RM IM) lipases were
tested. Lipozyme RM IM showed better results in SL production than Lipozyme TLIM or ROL on BIO,
SIL or HB. About 90% triacylglycerol conversion was attained after 7 h acidolysis or interesterification.
Lipozyme RM IM was more stable in interesterification (80% and 65% activity with ethyl caprylate or
ethyl caprate) than in acidolysis (first-order decay) after 10 reusesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
The Pedregal granite (Portugal): petrographic and geochemical characterization of a peculiar granitoid
Pragas da soja no Brasil e seu manejo integrado.
Pragas da soja; Pragas que atacam as folhas: Anticarsia gemmatalis (Lep.: Noctuidae); Pseudoplusia includens (Lep.: Noctuidae); Coleopteros desfolhadores; Outros organismos que atacam as folhas; Pragas que atacam vagens e graos: Percevejos sugadores de sementes; Lagartas das vagens; Brocas das vagens; Pragas que atacam plantulas, hastes e peciolos: Sternechus subsignatus (Col.: Curculionidae); Elasmopalpus lignosellus (Lep.: Pyralidae); Epinotia aporema (Lep.: Tortricidae); Outros insetos que atacam plantulas, hastes e peciolos; Pragas que atacam as raizes da soja: Coros; Percevejos-castanho-da-raiz; Outros insetos que atacam as raizes; Inimigos naturais das pragas da soja; Predadores: Hemipteros; Coleopteros; Parasitoides: Parasitoides de lagartas; Parasitoides de percevejos; Entomopatogenos: Virus; Fungos; Amostragem das pragas; Controle integrado e nivel de acao; Controle integrado das pragas que atacam as folhas: Anticarsia gemmatalis; Pseudoplusia includens e outros Plusiinae;; Coleopteros desfolhadores; Outros organismos que atacam as folhas; Controle integrado das pragas que atacam as vagens e graos: Percevejos; Lagarta-das-vagens; Broca-das-vagens; Controle integrado das pragas que atacam plantulas, hastes e peciolos: Sternechus subsignatus; Epinotia aporema; Controle integrado das pragas que atacam as raizes: Coros; Percevejo-castanho-da-raiz.bitstream/item/128003/1/ID-6173.pd
Chemical, physicochemical and sensorial characterization of nitrite-free dry-cured bĂsaro shoulders
The aim of the current experiment was to characterize and evaluate the effect of the dry-curing process on chemical composition, physicochemical properties, and sensory characteristics of the dry-cured BĂsaro shoulders. For this purpose, thirty-eight raw forelegs were used, and no nitrites were added during the dry-curing process. This process increased protein, fat, ash content, and pH, with a decrease in moisture and water activity (p < 0.001). The dry-cured shoulders were darker (L*), less red (a*), and less yellow (b*) than the raw shoulders (p < 0.001), and this may be mainly due to the moisture reduction. The proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) decreased during processing, whereas the saturated fatty acids (SFA) and monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) increased (p < 0.001), which could be related with the oxidative degradation. The sensory analysis showed that dry-cured BĂsaro shoulders presented similar organoleptic characteristics to other dry-cured meat products. Also, the chemical composition and fatty acid profile of the dry-cured BĂsaro shoulder showed results comparable to those of other cured products. This study revealed that it is possible to obtain safer and healthier dry-cured BĂsaro shoulder products judging by these characteristics, since nitrites were not added in its preparation. These findings, along with the productâs high sensory attributes similar to more popular products such as ham, would give more advantage for its acceptability and market demandThe authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal)
for financial support through national funds FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC) to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020
and UIDP/00690/2020) and SusTEC (LA/P/0007/2020). GAIN (Axencia Galega de InnovaciĂłn) for
supporting this article (grant number IN607A2019/01) and to Laboratory of Carcass and Meat Quality
of Agriculture School of Polytechnic Institute of Bragança âCantinho do Alfredoâ. Grants of A.L.,
I.F. and L.V. are due to NORTE-01-0247-FEDER-072234. The authors (R.D., E.M.S., P.C.B.C., S.R.,
J.M.L. and A.T.) are members of the Healthy Meat network, funded by CYTED (ref: 119RT0568). This
study is a part of a project between a research center (Carcass and Meat Quality and Technology
Laboratory of Agrarian School of Bragança), two breeder associations (ANCRASâSerrana Goat
National Association of Breed Producers and ACOBâBragançana Sheep National Association of
Breed Producers) and a meat manufacturing industry (BĂsaro Salsicharia TradicionalÂź) to developed
and add value of animals reared in the extensive system and creating new processed meat products.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Validação Da Versão De 36 Itens Do Who Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (whodas 2.0) Para A Avaliação De Incapacidade E Funcionalidade Da Mulher Associada à Morbidade Materna
Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento CientĂfico e TecnolĂłgico (CNPq)To validate the translation and adaptation to Brazilian Portuguese of 36 items from the World Health Organizaton Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0), regarding their content and structure (construct), in a female population after pregnancy. Methods This is a validation of an instrument for the evaluation of disability and functioning and an assessment of its psychometric properties, performed in a tertiary maternity and a referral center specialized in high-risk pregnancies in Brazil. A sample of 638 women in different postpartum periods who had either a normal or a complicated pregnancy was included. The structure was evaluated by exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), while the content and relationships among the domains were assessed through Pearsonâs correlation coefficient. The sociodemographic characteristics were identified, and the mean scores with their standard deviations for the 36 questions of the WHODAS 2.0 were calculated. The internal consistency was evaluated byCronbachâs α. Results Cronbachâs α was higher than 0.79 for both sets of questons of the questionnaire. The EFA and CFA for the main 32 questions exhibited a total variance of 54.7% (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin [KMO] measure of sampling adequacy = 0.934; p < 0.001) and 53.47% (KMO = 0.934; p < 0.001) respectively. There was a significant correlation among the 6 domains (r = 0.571â0.876), and a moderate correlation among all domains (r = 0.476â0.694). Conclusion The version of the WHODAS 2.0 instrument adapted to Brazilian Portuguese showed good psychometric properties in this sample, and therefore could be applied to populations of women regarding their reproductive history. © 2017 by Thieme-Revinter PublicaçÔes Ltda, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.3924452471142/2011-5, CNPq, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento CientĂfico e TecnolĂłgicoConselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento CientĂfico e TecnolĂłgico (CNPq
Qualitative Properties of Magnetic Fields in Scalar Field Cosmology
We study the qualitative properties of the class of spatially homogeneous
Bianchi VI_o cosmological models containing a perfect fluid with a linear
equation of state, a scalar field with an exponential potential and a uniform
cosmic magnetic field, using dynamical systems techniques. We find that all
models evolve away from an expanding massless scalar field model in which the
matter and the magnetic field are negligible dynamically. We also find that for
a particular range of parameter values the models evolve towards the usual
power-law inflationary model (with no magnetic field) and, furthermore, we
conclude that inflation is not fundamentally affected by the presence of a
uniform primordial magnetic field. We investigate the physical properties of
the Bianchi I magnetic field models in some detail.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures in REVTeX format. to appear in Phys. Rev.
Atividade antimicrobiana do extrato bruto de AçaĂ (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) em isolados clĂnicos
O presente trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar a atividade antimicrobiana do extrato
de açaĂ (Euterpe Oleracea Mart.) em isolados clĂnicos com elevados perfis de
resistĂȘncia a diferentes antimicrobianos provenientes do Centro Hospitalar de TrĂĄs â
os â Montes e Alto Douro â Unidade de Vila Real.
A concentração mĂnima inibitĂłria (CMI) foi determinada utilizando o ensaio
colorimétrico råpido que utiliza o corante cloreto de p-iodonitrotetrazólio (INT) após jå
ter sido efetuado o método da microdiluição.
De acordo com os resultados obtidos, o extrato bruto de açaà possui atividade
antimicrobiana para todas as bactérias Gram positivo testadas. A CMI mais baixa (0,25
mg/ml) foi detectada para Staphylococcus aureus sensĂvel Ă meticilina (MSSA)
seguida da CMI 0,5 mg/ml para Staphylococcus aureus resistente Ă meticilina
(MRSA), Streptococcus agalactiae e Enterococcus faecalis.
Relativamente às bactérias Gram negativo foi verificada atividade antimicrobiana do
açai para Morganella morganii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa e Acinetobacter baumannii
com CMI de 1 mg/ml e 2 mg/ml respectivamente. Foram obtidos melhores resultados
para bactérias Gram positivo comparativamente com as bactérias Gram negativo. Assim, podemos constatar que mesmo recorrendo a baixas concentraçÔes (2 mg/ml)
os resultados são muito promissores mesmo em bactérias Gram negativo com perfis
de resistĂȘncia elevados e relacionadas com as infeçÔes associadas aos cuidados de
SaĂșde (IACS) como a Pseudomonas aeruginosa e Acinetobacter baumannii
Antibacterial activity of Euterpe oieracea Mart. seeds against clinical isolates
Introduction: The use of antibiotics â including the over- and misuse â in human and
veterinary practices selected for resistant pathogens led to their emergence and
dissemination along with the transmission of resistant bacteria [1]. Due to this problem,
there is a need to investigate new strategies to reverse this tendency in order to
achieve the appropriate and effective treatment against infections.
Aims: The present work aimed to evaluate the antibacterial activity of an aqueous
extract prepared from Euterpe Oleracea Mart. (açai) seeds (originated from Brazil [2]),
against clinical isolates from âCentro Hospitalar de TrĂĄs-os-Montes e Alto Douro-
Unidade de Vila Realâ, with high resistance profiles to different antibiotics.
Material and Methods: The minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of the growth of
Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria were determined by the colorimetric assay
based on the use of p-iodonitrotetrazolium chloride (INT) dye, after application of the
microdilution method.
Results and discussion: The açaà aqueous extract showed antimicrobial activity
against all the tested Gram-positive bacteria. The lowest MICs (0.25 mg/ml) were
obtained against Methicillin Susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) and Methicillin Resistant S. aureus (MRSA), followed by the MIC 0.5 mg/ml correspondent to
Streptococcus agalactiae and Enterococcus faecalis.
Regarding the inhibition of the growth of Gram-negative bacteria, the extract was active
against Morganella morganii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii
with MICs 1 mg/ml e 2 mg/ml, respectively. The results were better for Gram-positive
bacteria in comparison with Gram-negative bacteria.
Conclusion: However, even at low concentration (2 mg/ml) the results are very
promising for Gram-negative bacteria with high resistance profiles and commonly
related with health care-associated infections, namely Pseudomonas aeruginosa and
Acinetobacter baumannii
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