Determinação da composição nutricional e sais minerais de frutos de juçara (Euterpe Edulis) coletados na região de Curitiba, PR.

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Stability of bubbles in wax-based oleofoams: decoupling the effects of bulk oleogel rheology and interfacial rheology

Oleofoams are dispersions of gas bubbles in a continuous oil phase and can be stabilized by crystals of fatty acids or waxes adsorbing at the oil-air interface. Because excess crystals in the continuous phase form an oleogel, an effect of the bulk rheology of the continuous phase is also expected. Here, we evaluate the contributions of bulk and interfacial rheology below and above the melting point of a wax forming an oleogel in sunflower oil. We study the dissolution behaviour of single bubbles using microscopy on a temperature-controlled stage. We compare the behaviour of a bubble embedded in an oleofoam, which owes its stability to both bulk and interfacial rheology, to that of a bubble extracted from the oleofoam and resuspended in oil, for which the interfacial dilatational rheology alone provides stability. We find that below the melting point of the wax, bubbles in the oleofoam are stable whereas bubbles that are only coated with wax crystals dissolve. Both systems dissolve when heated above the melting point of the wax. These findings are rationalized through independent bulk rheological measurements of the oleogel at different temperatures, as well as measurements of the dilatational rheological properties of a wax-coated oil-air interface

On the appearance of Eisenstein series through degeneration

Let $\Gamma$ be a Fuchsian group of the first kind acting on the hyperbolic upper half plane $\mathbb H$, and let $M = \Gamma \backslash \mathbb H$ be the associated finite volume hyperbolic Riemann surface. If $\gamma$ is parabolic, there is an associated (parabolic) Eisenstein series, which, by now, is a classical part of mathematical literature. If $\gamma$ is hyperbolic, then, following ideas due to Kudla-Millson, there is a corresponding hyperbolic Eisenstein series. In this article, we study the limiting behavior of parabolic and hyperbolic Eisenstein series on a degenerating family of finite volume hyperbolic Riemann surfaces. In particular, we prove the following result. If $\gamma \in \Gamma$ corresponds to a degenerating hyperbolic element, then a multiple of the associated hyperbolic Eisenstein series converges to parabolic Eisenstein series on the limit surface.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures. This paper has been accepted for publication in Commentarii Mathematici Helvetic

Using online databases to produce comprehensive accounts of the vascular plants from the Brazilian protected areas: The Parque Nacional do Itatiaia as a case study.

Brazil is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, with about 37,000 species of land plants. Part of this biodiversity is within protected areas. The development of online databases in the last years greatly improved the available biodiversity data. However, the existing databases do not provide information about the protected areas in which individual plant species occur. The lack of such information is a crucial gap for conservation actions. This study aimed to show how the information captured from online databases, cleaned by a protocol and verified by taxonomists allowed us to obtain a comprehensive list of the vascular plant species from the "Parque Nacional do Itatiaia", the first national park founded in Brazil. All existing records in the online database JABOT (15,100 vouchers) were downloaded, resulting in 11,783 vouchers identified at the species level. Overall, we documented 2,316 species belonging to 176 families and 837 genera of vascular plants in the "Parque Nacional do Itatiaia". Considering the whole vascular flora, 2,238 species are native and 78 are non-native

Role of Ox-PAPCs in the Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) and Runx2 and PPARγ2 Expression in MSCs-Like of Osteoporotic Patients

BACKGROUND: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can differentiate into osteoblasts and adipocytes and conditions causing bone loss may induce a switch from the osteoblast to adipocyte lineage. In addition, the expression of Runx2 and the PPARγ2 transcription factor genes is essential for cellular commitment to an osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation, respectively. Modified lipoproteins derived from the oxidation of arachidonate-containing phospholipids (ox-PAPCs: POVPC, PGPC and PEIPC) are considered important factors in atherogenesis. METHODOLOGY: We investigated the effect of ox-PAPCs on osteogenesis and adipogenesis in human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs). In particular, we analyzed the transcription factor Runx2 and the PPARγ2 gene expression during osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation in absence and in presence of ox-PAPCs. We also analyzed gene expression level in a panel of osteoblastic and adipogenic differentiation markers. In addition, as circulating blood cells can be used as a "sentinel" that responds to changes in the macro- or micro-environment, we analyzed the Runx2 and the PPARγ2 gene expression in MSCs-like and ox-PAPC levels in serum of osteoporotic patients (OPs). Finally, we examined the effects of sera obtained from OPs in hMSCs comparing the results with age-matched normal donors (NDs). PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Quantitative RT-PCR demonstrated that ox-PAPCs enhanced PPARγ2 and adipogenic gene expression and reduced Runx2 and osteoblast differentiation marker gene expression in differentiating hMSCs. In OPs, ox-PAPC levels and PPARγ2 expression were higher than in NDs, whereas Runx2 was lower than in ND circulant MSCs-like. CONCLUSIONS: Ox-PAPCs affect the osteogenic differentiation by promoting adipogenic differentiation and this effect may appear involved in bone loss in OPs

Ultrasonic characterization of ultrasound contrast agents

The main constituent of an ultrasound contrast agent (UCA) is gas-filled microbubbles. An average UCA contains billions per ml. These microbubbles are excellent ultrasound scatterers due to their high compressibility. In an ultrasound field they act as resonant systems, resulting in harmonic energy in the backscattered ultrasound signal, such as energy at the subharmonic, ultraharmonic and higher harmonic frequencies. This harmonic energy is exploited for contrast enhanced imaging to discriminate the contrast agent from surrounding tissue. The amount of harmonic energy that the contrast agent bubbles generate depends on the bubble characteristics in combination with the ultrasound field applied. This paper summarizes different strategies to characterize the UCAs. These strategies can be divided into acoustic and optical methods, which focus on the linear or nonlinear responses of the contrast agent bubbles. In addition, the characteristics of individual bubbles can be determined or the bubbles can be examined when they are part of a population. Recently, especially optical methods have proven their value to study individual bubbles. This paper concludes by showing some examples of optically observed typical behavior of contrast bubbles in ultrasound fields

Postcolonial manifestations of African spatiality in Europe : the invisible 'public' spaces of Ghent

The focus of this chapter is on everyday spaces of African migration in the mid-sized city of Ghent. One manifestation of African spatiality is discussed in-depth in relation to its (in)visibility and publicity: an African shop located in an ordinary terraced house. With no less than 12 activities taking place in the building, the shop is rather a “public” place than solely a space of commercial transactions, although this is not signaled in very visible ways. By analyzing the modest stylistic appropriations of the façade and the significant re-arrangements of the buildings’ interior spaces that challenge more conventional usages of spaces in Ghent’s ordinary houses, this chapter puts this African shop to the fore as emblematic of how the process of materialization of transnational lifestyles and connections is always a balancing act between the visibility necessary for functioning as a (semi-)pubic place and the invisibility required to circumvent hegemonic regulatory regimes