White wine protein instability: Mechanism, quality control and technological alternatives for wine stabilisation—an overview.

Wine protein instability depends on several factors, but wine grape proteins are the main haze factors, being mainly caused by pathogenesis-related proteins (thaumatin-like proteins and chitinases) with a molecular weight between 10~40 kDa and an isoelectric point below six. Wine protein stability tests are needed for the routine control of this wine instability, and to select the best technological approach to remove the unstable proteins. The heat test is the most used, with good correlation with the natural proteins’ precipitations and because high temperatures are the main protein instability factor after wine bottling. Many products and technological solutions have been studied in recent years; however, sodium bentonite is still the most efficient and used treatment to remove unstable proteins from white wines. This overview resumes and discusses the different aspects involved in wine protein instability, from the wine protein instability mechanisms, the protein stability tests used, and technological alternatives available to stabilise wines with protein instability problems.This research was funded by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT-Portugal) and Operational Competitiveness Programme (COMPETE, Portugal) through the projects Chemistry Research Centre-Vila Real (UIDB/00616/2020) and CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Proof-theoretic investigations into integrated logical and functional programming

This thesis is a proof-theoretic investigation of logic programming based on hereditary Harrop logic (as in lambdaProlog). After studying various proof systems for the first-order hereditary Harrop logic, we define the proof-theoretic semantics of a logic LFPL, intended as the basis of logic programming with functions, which extends higher-order hereditary Harrop logic by providing definition mechanisms for functions in such a way that the logical specification of the function rather than the function may be used in proof search. In Chap. 3, we define, for the first-order hereditary Harrop fragment of LJ, the class of uniform linear focused (ULF) proofs (suitable for goal-directed search with backchaining and unification) and show that the ULF-proofs are in 1-1 correspondence with the expanded normal deductions, in Prawitz's sense. We give a system of proof-term annotations for LJ-proofs (where proof-terms uniquely represent proofs). We define a rewriting system on proof-terms (where rules represent a subset of Kleene's permutations in LJ) and show that: its irreducible proof- terms are those representing ULF-proofs; it is weakly normalising. We also show that the composition of Prawitz's mappings between LJ and NJ, restricted to ULF-proofs, is the identity. We take the view of logic programming where: a program P is a set of formulae; a goal G is a formula; and the different means of achieving G w.r.t. P correspond to the expanded normal deductions of G from the assumptions in P (rather than the traditional view, whereby the different means of goal-achievement correspond to the different answer substitutions). LFPL is defined in Chap. 4, by means of a sequent calculus. As in LeFun, it extends logic programming with functions and provides mechanisms for defining names for functions, maintaining proof search as the computation mechanism (contrary to languages such as ALF, Babel, Curry and Escher, based on equational logic, where the computation mechanism is some form of rewriting). LFPL also allows definitions for declaring logical properties of functions, called definitions of dependent type. Such definitions are of the form: (f,x) =def(A, w) : EX:RF, where f is a name for A and x is a name for w, a proof-term witnessing that the formula [A/x]F holds (i.e. A meets the specification Ex:rF). When searching for proofs, it may suffice to use the formula [A/x]F rather than A itself. We present an interpretation of LFPL into NNlambdanorm, a natural deduction system for hereditary Harrop logic with lambda-terms. The means of goal-achievement in LFPL are interpreted in NNlambdanorm essentially by cut-elimination, followed by an interpretation of cut-free sequent calculus proofs as normal deductions. We show that the use of definitions of dependent type may speed up proof search because the equivalent proofs using no such definitions may be much longer and because normalisation may be done lazily, since not all parts of the proof need to be exhibited. We sketch two methods for implementing LFPL, based on goal-directed proof search, differing in the mechanism for selecting definitions of dependent type on which to backchain. We discuss techniques for handling the redundancy arising from the equivalence of each proof using such a definition to one using no such definitions

Processos Oxidativos Avançados usando reagente de Fenton para degradação do corante Remazol Azul RGB

A indústria têxtil é uma das indústrias mais importantes e a sua laboração usa grandes quantidades de água, que são todos os dias devolvidas à Natureza após terem sido usadas. Estas águas são em grande parte provenientes dos banhos para remoção do excesso de corante com que o processo de tingimento termina. Uma das preocupações a ter em conta é o equilíbrio entre a defesa do meio ambiente e o sucesso comercial das empresas, assim, tem-se estudado para encontrar um processo de degradação de corantes que seja eficaz e economicamente interessante, para que seja possível a estas empresas cumprirem os requisitos ambientais, sem necessitarem de deslocalizar a sua produção para países mais permissivos. Pretende este trabalho ser um contributo na definição de um processo de degradação de corantes da indústria têxtil que seja simples e economicamente interessante. Os Processo Oxidativos Avançados (POAs) são uma excelente opção, que apresentam uma importante perspetiva futura, uma vez que normalmente conseguem taxas de degradação muito significativas e são relativamente baratos. Nos POAs um dos que se apresenta com elevado interesse é o chamado processo de Fenton, em que é usado um sal de Ferro II e Peróxido de Hidrogénio para formar radicais • com elevado poder oxidante, sendo apenas ultrapassados pelos iões flúor (F-). Sendo que os corantes mais usados em todo o mundo são os corantes AZO, com ligações (-N=N-) na sua estrutura, são estes que podem ter uma ação mais nefasta sobre o meio ambiente e por isso são o objeto deste trabalho. Usou-se o Remazol Azul RGB para estudar a eficácia do método, um corante muito usado na indústria têxtil pois é usado para corar os Jeans, possivelmente um dos tecidos mais usados em todo o mundo. Os ensaios foram realizados em 100 mL de uma solução preparada com o corante Remazol Azul RGB com 20 mgL-1 em água destilada. Conseguiu-se, em condições laboratoriais, valores de degradação do corante superiores a 90%, o que representa boas perspetivas para a definição de um processo à escala industrial. Os melhores resultados de degradação foram obtidos com uma massa de sal Sulfato de Ferro II Heptahidratado de 20 mg e 30 μL de Peróxido de Hidrogénio adicionados aos 100 mL de meio reacional, a pH ácido próximo de 3. Foi ainda verificada a influência do pH na reação, a consistência do método com outras concentrações de corante na solução e ainda, a eficácia do mesmo numa solução mais próxima de uma situação real, usando como solvente água recolhida de um lago para a preparação da solução corada.The textile industry is one of the most important productive industries, that use large amounts of water, which is sent to Nature after being used. This water comes from baths, used to remove excess of dyes at the end of the dyeing process. One of the main concerns to take into account is the balance between protecting the environment and the business success of companies. Thus, we have tried to find a dye degradation process that is effective and economically interesting, in order to enable these companies to meet the environmental requirements, without the need to relocate their production to more permissive countries. This work intends to be a contribution to the definition of a process of degradation of dyes, in the textile industry, that is simple and economically attractive. The Advanced Oxidation Process (AOPs) are an excellent option, which present an important future perspective, since they usually achieve very significant degradation rates and are relatively inexpensive. Among POAs, one that presents itself as highly interesting is called Fenton process, which uses a salt of Iron II and Hydrogen Peroxide to form radicals HO• with high oxidizing power, being exceeded only by fluoride ions (F-). Since the dyes commonly used worldwide are denominated by AZO dyes, with bonds (-N = N-) in its structure, it is these that may have a harmful action on the environment and so are the object of this wok. To study the effectiveness of the method we used the Blue Remazol RGB, a dye commonly used in the textile industry because it is used to color jeans, possibly one of the most widely used fabrics worldwide. In laboratory conditions, were achieved dye degradation values higher than 90%, which means good prospects for defining a process on an industrial scale. Assays were performed in 100 ml of a solution, prepared with Remazol Blue RGB in 20 mgL-1 of concentration, in distilled water. The best values of degradation were obtained with 20 mg of Heptahydrated Iron II Sulphate salt and 30 μL of Hydrogen Peroxide added to 100 ml of the reaction medium, in an acid pH of about 3. It was also studied the influence of pH on the reaction, the consistency of the method with higher dye concentrations in the solution and also the effectiveness, in a solution closer to a real situation, using water collected from the lake as solvent, for the preparation of the colored solution

Muscle activation levels during the Push-Up exercise on stable and unstable surfaces.

Introduction: The push-up (PU) is one of the most common strength exercises commonly used in the strength training programs for the upper body. Because Since it is limited to by the body weight, fitness trainers use several alternativesexercise types (e.g. unstable surfaces) have been developed in order to increase the activity activation of the involved muscles. This includes variants with unstable surfaces. This study aims aimed to analyze the changes in the muscle activity pattern induced by either performing PU exercise performed on a stable surface (on the ground) or an unstable surface (on a BOSU®). Methods: Eleven voluntary male subjects (age, mean ± SD: 21.9 ± 4.2 yrs.), familiarized with the push-up’s exercises, has have been recruited for this study. Is was asked to the subjects toSubjects performed firstly 5 repetitions of each push-up exercise (stable vs. unstable surfaces. Electromyographic activity (EMG) from the agonist muscles (clavicular, sternal and chondral portion of pectoral major, triceps brachii and anterior deltoid), antagonist muscles (latissimus dorsi and biceps brachii) and the stabilizer muscles (serratus anterior, superior trapezius, external oblique and erector spinae) has been collected with 11 wireless surface electrodes. and, simultaneously, has been collected kKinematic data. was also recorder to interpret technical execution. Results: The results showed that, from the agonist musclesgroup, only the magnitude of activation of the triceps brachii has been affected by the exercise type (p < 0.001). In the unstable PU the triceps brachii showed higher activation levels than in stable surface (70.13 ± 29.03% and 58.62 ± 25.31%, respectively). Regarding to the antagonist muscles behaviorgroup, the unstable PU exercise induced a higher activity of the brachial biceps and of the latissimus dorsi compared to the stable PU exercise (p <0.05 for both muscles). In additionFinally, for stabilizer muscles, it was observed that , during unstable PU, the upper trapezius activation was, on average, 37.79% higher than in the stable exercise (p <0.01) during unstable PU). Instead, for the serratus anterior, the activation level was, on averaged, significantly higher in the unstable PU exercise than in the stable PU (+ 14.71%, p = 0.01). For the external oblique there were no differences in muscle activity between exercise typess (p = 0.23). However, the activity of the erector spinae was significantly higher in unstable PU exercise (p = 0.01). Conclusion: Thesee results indicate that performing the push up exercise performed on an unstable surface (BOSU®) changes the pattern of activation of antagonist muscles, shoulder stabilizer muscles and agonist muscles, particularly the brachial triceps activation

Is land cover an important asset for addressing the subjective landscape dimensions

This paper explores which physical landscape components relate to subjective landscape dimensions. The ways in which people describe their surrounding cultural landscape was analyzed through an assessment of their representations of it. A special focus was placed on assessing the role of land cover as a means to communicate landscape meanings regarding a specific geographical region. The methodological framework was built on the basis of a questionnaire survey, multivariate statistical analysis and mapping approaches. This research shows that there is a set of physical landscape components that relate to subjective landscape dimensions which can be disclosed through the assessment of social representations. Enhancing and safeguarding those physical landscape components associated with the subjective landscape dimensions are important aspects in both framing and targeting land cover/use policies and decision making. Results also suggest that land cover can be understood as an important asset for describing landscapes as more than 30% of respondents referred to it when asked to represent the case study region of Alentejo in southern Portugal. This might mean that in addition to objective ecological and biological functions, land cover is also an important asset for evaluating subjective landscape dimensions in line with place attachment and landscape identity. Finally, the ways in which the empirical material gathered here can be used to inform policy and planning are explored

A influência de John Dunning na investigação em estratégia e negócios internacionais: Um estudo bibliométrico no Strategic Management Journal

O objectivo deste artigo é analisar a contribuição de John Dunning, na investigação em estratégia e negócios internacionais. Para este estudo, procedemos à análise dos artigos publicados por Dunning e a um estudo bibliométrico no Strategic Management Journal, no período entre 1980 e 2009. Verificamos que além da influência na disciplina de negócios internacionais, a influência de Dunning se estende a teorias e conceitos para além desta. Em particular, revelam-se as ligações com a visão baseada nos recursos, a teoria dos custos de transacção, a teoria evolucionista e mais genericamente com a teoria da empresa multinacional.John Dunning, OLI, paradigma Ecléctico, estudo bibliométrico.

Implementation and calibration of finite-length plastic hinge elements for use in seismic structural collapse analysis

Finite-length plastic hinge (FLPH) models have shown advantages over the concentrated plasticity hinge (CPH) models. However, empirical phenomenological relationships, such as Modified Ibarra–Medina–Krawinkler (ModIMK) deterioration model, were mainly calibrated for use in CPH models. ModIMK relationships are versatile and have been applied to steel, reinforced concrete, and timber structures. Herein, a calibration procedure of FLPH models and a unified algorithm for use of ModIMK relationships in CPH and FLPH models are presented. Results from included examples validate the proposed algorithms, which were implemented in OpenSees. Additionally, results highlight that FPLH models avoid errors and convergence pitfalls of CPH models

Synthesis and antimicrobial activity of a new class of azoimidazoles

The emergence of infectious diseases caused by new pathogens or multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains has been a global health threat over the last decades.1 These infections are among the most severe healthcare problems and have been associated to several deaths and heavy economic burden per year.2,3 The imidazole ring is present in several natural and synthetic molecules with biological activity namely on effective antimicrobial agents, which make it a vital anchor for the development of new therapeutic molecules in this field.4 Furthermore, amidrazones are known for their high reactivity thus being useful intermediates for the synthesis of compounds with a wide range of biological activities including antimicrobial. The amidrazone derivatives have been applied in different subjects of chemistry, specifically in the synthesis of azo molecules.5 In a previous work, novel imidazole-based 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamidrazones were prepared and exhibited potent antimicrobial activity against C. krusei and C. albicans.6 Further biological studies to elucidate the action mechanism revealed an interesting relationship between the antimicrobial activity and total intracellular ROS production by the yeasts.7 As these carboxamidrazones had previously evidenced a particular susceptibility to the presence of oxygen, all of these results combined prompted us to study the reactivity of 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamidrazones in the presence of different oxidant and antioxidant agents. Here, we present results of the electrochemical characterization by cyclic voltammetry to elucidate the oxidation mechanism of these compounds, and the results of the attempts performed to oxidize amidrazones in order to obtain the corresponding azoimidazoles. These products were fully characterized by NMR spectroscopy (including 1H RMN, D2O shake, 13C RMN, HMQC, HMBC and NOE techniques), mass spectroscopy, ATR-FTIR, melting point and elemental analysis. The antimicrobial activity of these new products has been also evaluated and highly promising results were obtained. All the results will be presented and discussed.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) for financial support through the Chemistry Research Centre of the University of Minho (UID/QUI/00686/2020) and CIIMAR (UIBD/04423/2020). This work was also supported under the projects MEDCOR (PTDC/CTM-TEX/1213/2020) and UID/CTM/00264/2019, and the PhD grant SFRH/BD/137668/201

Farmacogenômica e doença cardiovascular : onde estamos e para onde vamos

Pharmacogenomics (PGx) studies the interaction between genes and drugs. By analysis of specific regions of DNA, it is possible to obtain information on patient’s metabolization profile of a given drug, as well as the expected profile of response to treatment. The results obtained are allies in the treatment of patients who are not responding adequately to a certain medication, either due to the lack of expected effects or presence of adverse effects. The aim of this review is to inform clinical cardiologists about this important area of knowledge and to update them on the topic, seeking to fill the gaps of the costs and benefits of PGx in cardiovascular diseases, and to provide information for the implementation of PGx-guided therapy in clinical practice.A farmacogenômica (FGx) investiga a interação entre genes e medicamentos. Através da análise de regiões específicas do DNA, informações sobre o perfil de metabolização do paciente para um determinado fármaco podem ser descritas, assim como o perfil esperado de resposta ao tratamento. Objetivamente, esse tipo de teste pode ter impacto no tratamento de pacientes que não estão respondendo adequadamente a um determinado medicamento, seja pela ausência dos efeitos esperados ou em virtude do aparecimento de efeitos adversos. Neste cenário, o objetivo desta revisão é o de informar o cardiologista clínico sobre esta importante área do conhecimento e atualizá-lo sobre o tema, procurando preencher as lacunas no que diz respeito à relação custobenefício da aplicação da FGx nas doenças cardiovasculares, além de fornecer informações para a implementação da terapia guiada pela FGx na prática clínica

Deterioration modeling of steel moment resisting frames using finite-length plastic hinge force-based beam-column elements

The use of empirically calibrated moment-rotation models that account for strength and stiffness deterioration of steel frame members is paramount in evaluating the performance of steel structures prone to collapse under seismic loading. These deterioration models are typically used as zero-length springs in a concentrated plasticity formulation; however, a calibration procedure is required when they are used to represent the moment-curvature (M−χ) behavior in distributed plasticity formulations because the resulting moment-rotation (M−θ) response depends on the element integration method. A plastic hinge integration method for using deterioration models in force-based elements is developed and validated using flexural stiffness modifications parameters to recover the exact solution for linear problems while ensuring objective softening response. To guarantee accurate results in both the linear and nonlinear range of response, the flexural stiffness modification parameters are computed at the beginning of the analysis as a function of the user-specified plastic hinge length. With this approach, moment-rotation models that account for strength and stiffness deterioration can be applied in conjunction with force-based plastic hinge beam-column elements to support collapse prediction without increased modeling complexity