Optimization of osmotic dehydration of papaya followed by air-drying

FERNANDES, Fabiano A. N. et al. Optimization of Osmotic Dehydration of Papaya of followed by air-drying. Food Research Internation, v. 39, p. 492-498, 2006.ABSTRACT: Papayas are a fragile fruit; characteristic that limits large-scale exportation from the producing centers to countries in temperate regions. Loss of fruit ranges from 10% to 40% and could be reduced if papayas were dried. The process of osmotic dehydration followed by air-drying was studied and modeled for papaya preservation, so it could be optimized. The developed model has been validated with experimental data and simulations have shown how the operating conditions affect the process. An optimization was done using the model in order to search for the best operation condition that would reduce the total processing time

Development of dried probiotic apple cubes incorporated with Lactobacillus casei NRRL B-442

[EN] This work presents the development of a probiotic dried apple snack consisting of dried apple cubes impregnated with Lactobacillus casei NRRL B-442. Apple cubes were impregnated with probiotic microorganisms and dried under different temperatures (10-60 degrees C), with or without application of ultrasound. The viability of Lactobacillus casei in the dried apple snack was evaluated studying the effects of drying conditions and ultrasound application (as a drying enhancing technology). A mathematical model was developed to predict the drying kinetics and the inactivation of Lactobacillus casei. Drying and microorganism inactivation rates increased with increasing process temperature and with ultrasound application. The concentration of probiotics in the apple snacks was similar to the concentration of microorganisms in commercial probiotic dairy products when the apples were dried at 60 degrees C or when ultrasound-assisted air-drying was applied, thus proving that the production of dried probiotic apple snacks is possible and technically viable.The authors acknowledge the financial support of Generalitat Valenciana (PROMETEOII/2014/005) from Spain, and the financial support and the award of a scholarship of CNPq from Brazil.Rodrigues, S.; Silva, LCA.; Mulet Pons, A.; Carcel Carrión, JA.; Fernandes, FA. (2018). Development of dried probiotic apple cubes incorporated with Lactobacillus casei NRRL B-442. Journal of Functional Foods. 41:48-54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jff.2017.12.042S48544

Processo de projetação de um veículo ecológico para 2014 - O caso E.T. (Electrical Transport)

O Curso de Graduação em Design foi criado para atuar de forma presente às necessidades da região, com o objetivo em profissionalizar estudantes para o mercado de trabalho, exercendo sua política de prospecção objetiva. É um curso visionário, que, através de parcerias empresariais e na produção regional, constitui a inserção de egressos no mercado de trabalho. Desse modo, hoje possui uma parceria com a EASE Engenharia e com o engenheiro Fabiano Lombardi para o desenvolvimento de um carro elétrico, com fomento da Faperj. Um dos principais argumentos para a execução do projeto foi a elaboração do desenho - processo de criação de sketches - com o aprendizado e aplicação de técnicas, partindo de uma metodologia baseada na bibliografia de Mike Baxter, cujo propósito é elaborar ideias através de brainstorming. No entanto, o processo de colocação de ideias no papel, parte de uma pesquisa com a delimitação de usuários, aos quais, para o presente estudo, denominam-se personas. Foram selecionadas três personas para serem avaliadas no seu estilo de vida, comportamento, preferências e cotidiano. A partir daí, com base nas etapas de desenvolvimento de Design Thinking propostas por Tim Brown, foi desenvolvido um painel semântico, onde se reuniram imagens desse universo. Portanto, o ensaio que se segue pretende abordar o modo com que foram montadas as propostas de desenho para o carro, não se preocupando com demonstração de resultados finais, mas sim, explicitar os métodos de desenho e os processos de aprendizagem, com base na orientação dos docentes e aprovação dos parceiros

Genome-wide signatures of complex introgression and adaptive evolution in the big cats.

The great cats of the genus Panthera comprise a recent radiation whose evolutionary history is poorly understood. Their rapid diversification poses challenges to resolving their phylogeny while offering opportunities to investigate the historical dynamics of adaptive divergence. We report the sequence, de novo assembly, and annotation of the jaguar (Panthera onca) genome, a novel genome sequence for the leopard (Panthera pardus), and comparative analyses encompassing all living Panthera species. Demographic reconstructions indicated that all of these species have experienced variable episodes of population decline during the Pleistocene, ultimately leading to small effective sizes in present-day genomes. We observed pervasive genealogical discordance across Panthera genomes, caused by both incomplete lineage sorting and complex patterns of historical interspecific hybridization. We identified multiple signatures of species-specific positive selection, affecting genes involved in craniofacial and limb development, protein metabolism, hypoxia, reproduction, pigmentation, and sensory perception. There was remarkable concordance in pathways enriched in genomic segments implicated in interspecies introgression and in positive selection, suggesting that these processes were connected. We tested this hypothesis by developing exome capture probes targeting ~19,000 Panthera genes and applying them to 30 wild-caught jaguars. We found at least two genes (DOCK3 and COL4A5, both related to optic nerve development) bearing significant signatures of interspecies introgression and within-species positive selection. These findings indicate that post-speciation admixture has contributed genetic material that facilitated the adaptive evolution of big cat lineages

Geometric deep learning as a potential tool for antimicrobial peptide prediction

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are components of natural immunity against invading pathogens. They are polymers that fold into a variety of three-dimensional structures, enabling their function, with an underlying sequence that is best represented in a non-flat space. The structural data of AMPs exhibits non-Euclidean characteristics, which means that certain properties, e.g., differential manifolds, common system of coordinates, vector space structure, or translation-equivariance, along with basic operations like convolution, in non-Euclidean space are not distinctly established. Geometric deep learning (GDL) refers to a category of machine learning methods that utilize deep neural models to process and analyze data in non-Euclidean settings, such as graphs and manifolds. This emerging field seeks to expand the use of structured models to these domains. This review provides a detailed summary of the latest developments in designing and predicting AMPs utilizing GDL techniques and also discusses both current research gaps and future directions in the field

BioTIME: A database of biodiversity time series for the Anthropocene.

MotivationThe BioTIME database contains raw data on species identities and abundances in ecological assemblages through time. These data enable users to calculate temporal trends in biodiversity within and amongst assemblages using a broad range of metrics. BioTIME is being developed as a community-led open-source database of biodiversity time series. Our goal is to accelerate and facilitate quantitative analysis of temporal patterns of biodiversity in the Anthropocene.Main types of variables includedThe database contains 8,777,413 species abundance records, from assemblages consistently sampled for a minimum of 2 years, which need not necessarily be consecutive. In addition, the database contains metadata relating to sampling methodology and contextual information about each record.Spatial location and grainBioTIME is a global database of 547,161 unique sampling locations spanning the marine, freshwater and terrestrial realms. Grain size varies across datasets from 0.0000000158 km2 (158 cm2) to 100 km2 (1,000,000,000,000 cm2).Time period and grainBioTIME records span from 1874 to 2016. The minimal temporal grain across all datasets in BioTIME is a year.Major taxa and level of measurementBioTIME includes data from 44,440 species across the plant and animal kingdoms, ranging from plants, plankton and terrestrial invertebrates to small and large vertebrates.Software format.csv and .SQL

The role of the de novo pyrimidine biosynthetic pathway in Cryptococcus neoformans high temperature growth and virulence

Fungal infections are often difficult to treat due to the inherent similarities between fungal and animal cells and the resulting host toxicity from many antifungal compounds. Cryptococcus neoformans is an opportunistic fungal pathogen of humans that causes life-threatening disease, primarily in immunocompromised patients. Since antifungal therapy for this microorganism is limited, many investigators have explored novel drug targets aim at virulence factors, such as the ability to grow at mammalian physiological temperature (37 degrees C). To address this issue, we used the Agrobacterium tumefaciens gene delivery system to create a random insertion mutagenesis library that was screened for altered growth at elevated temperatures. Among several mutants unable to grow at 37 degrees C, we explored one bearing an interruption in the URA4 gene. This gene encodes dihydroorotase (DHOase) that is involved in the de nova synthesis of pyrimidine ribonucleotides. Loss of the C. neoformans Ura4 protein, by targeted gene interruption, resulted in an expected uracil/uridine auxotrophy and an unexpected high temperature growth defect. in addition, the ura4 mutant displayed phenotypic defects in other prominent virulence factors (melanin, capsule and phospholipase) and reduced stress response compared to wild type and reconstituted strains. Accordingly, this mutant had a decreased survival rate in macrophages and attenuated virulence in a murine model of cryptococcal infection. Quantitative PCR analysis suggests that this biosynthetic pathway is induced during the transition from 30 degrees C to 37 degrees C, and that transcriptional regulation of de nova and salvage pyrimidine pathway are under the control of the Ura4 protein. (C) 2014 the Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-SA license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/).Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)NIHUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Ciencias Biol, BR-09972270 Diadema, SP, BrazilUniv Brasilia, Fac Ceilandia, Brasilia, DF, BrazilDuke Univ, Sch Med, Dept Med, Durham, NC 27706 USAUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Ciencias Biol, BR-09972270 Diadema, SP, BrazilFAPESP: 2007/50536-3FAPESP: 2011/50953-9NIH: AI050128NIH: AI074677Web of Scienc

Effects of hospital facilities on patient outcomes after cancer surgery: an international, prospective, observational study

Background Early death after cancer surgery is higher in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) compared with in high-income countries, yet the impact of facility characteristics on early postoperative outcomes is unknown. The aim of this study was to examine the association between hospital infrastructure, resource availability, and processes on early outcomes after cancer surgery worldwide.Methods A multimethods analysis was performed as part of the GlobalSurg 3 study-a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study of patients who had surgery for breast, colorectal, or gastric cancer. The primary outcomes were 30-day mortality and 30-day major complication rates. Potentially beneficial hospital facilities were identified by variable selection to select those associated with 30-day mortality. Adjusted outcomes were determined using generalised estimating equations to account for patient characteristics and country-income group, with population stratification by hospital.Findings Between April 1, 2018, and April 23, 2019, facility-level data were collected for 9685 patients across 238 hospitals in 66 countries (91 hospitals in 20 high-income countries; 57 hospitals in 19 upper-middle-income countries; and 90 hospitals in 27 low-income to lower-middle-income countries). The availability of five hospital facilities was inversely associated with mortality: ultrasound, CT scanner, critical care unit, opioid analgesia, and oncologist. After adjustment for case-mix and country income group, hospitals with three or fewer of these facilities (62 hospitals, 1294 patients) had higher mortality compared with those with four or five (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 3.85 [95% CI 2.58-5.75]; p<0.0001), with excess mortality predominantly explained by a limited capacity to rescue following the development of major complications (63.0% vs 82.7%; OR 0.35 [0.23-0.53]; p<0.0001). Across LMICs, improvements in hospital facilities would prevent one to three deaths for every 100 patients undergoing surgery for cancer.Interpretation Hospitals with higher levels of infrastructure and resources have better outcomes after cancer surgery, independent of country income. Without urgent strengthening of hospital infrastructure and resources, the reductions in cancer-associated mortality associated with improved access will not be realised