In vitro digestion and bioaccessibility studies of vitamin E-loaded nanohydroxyapatite pickering emulsions and derived fortified foods

Vitamin E is a lipophilic vitamin playing an essential role in human health. Due to oxidative instability, it presents fast degradation and bioactivity loss. In this study, vitamin E-loaded Pickering emulsions stabilized by nano-hydroxyapatite (n-HAp) were produced using a static mixer (NETmix), a technique enabling continuous production and droplet size tailoring. Thus, oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions containing vitamin E at a content of 1mg/mL were produced with different droplet sizes (7.53, 11.56 and 17.72m) using an O/W ratio of 20/80 (v/v). Their stability during in vitro gastrointestinal digestion and vitamin E bioaccessibility were investigated. It was observed that n-HAp particles disrupt in the stomach and subsequently aggregate as random calcium phosphates in the small intestine, leading to low vitamin E bioaccessibility due to oil entrapment. The emulsion showing the highest vitamin E bioaccessibility (3.29±0.57%, sample with the larger average droplet size) was used to produce fortified gelatine and milk, resulting in an increased bioaccessibility (10.87±1.04% and 18.07±2.90%, respectively). This fact was associated with the presence of macronutrients and the lower n-HAp content. Overall, n-HAp Pickering emulsions offer advantages for vitamin E encapsulation directed to fortified foods development, a process able to be extended to other lipophilic vitamins.This work was financially supported by Base Funding -UIDB/50020/2020 of the Associate Laboratory LSRE-LCM -funded by national funds through FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC), Base Funding -UIDB/00690/2020 of CIMO -funded by national funds through FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC), and Base Funding -UIDB/04469/2020 of the CEB funded by national funds through FCT. Andreia Ribeiro acknowledges her PhD fellowship funded by Project NORTE-08-5369-FSE-000028, supported by N2020, under PT2020, through ESF, and Raquel F. Goncalves acknowledges the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) for their fellowship (SFRH/BD/140182/2018). Authors thank Fluidinova S.A. for providing samples of nanoXIM-CarePaste and Instituto de Investigacao e Inovacao em Saude (i3S) for the services provided with CLSM analysis.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Liquefaction optimization of Crataegus monogyna Jacq

The objective of this work was to evaluate the potentiality of Crataegus monogyna Jacq. residues to be liquefied by polyhydric alcohols and the chemical transformations observed in this process with subsequent use to produce polyurethane foams. The variations on liquefaction yield were determined at different temperature, time, material/solvent ratio and granulometry. Results show that liquefaction performed at 180 °C with a 1:10 material/solvent ratio increases along time, reaching a maximum at 60 min. Similarly, liquefactions made during 60 min with a 1:10 material/solvent ratio show that there is an increase in liquefaction yield with the increase in temperature until 180 °C. A higher temperature could increase the liquefaction yield but would lead to a higher energy consumption in the process. There seems to be no significative advantage in increasing material/solvent ratio above 1:7, although the liquefaction yield increases for higher ratios. Granulometry testing shows that the smaller the particle the best is the liquefaction percentage. It was concluded that the best liquefaction yield, of approximately 81%, was obtained with a temperature of 180 °C, for 60 min and particle size <80 mesh for Crataegus monogyna Jacq. This material has good properties to be converted in a liquid mixture that can be used later, on the production of polyurethane foams.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Review of Piezoelectrical Materials Potentially Useful for Peripheral Nerve Repair

Funding Information: This research was funded by the International Atomic Energy Agency: Research Contract No. 24415 (CRP F23035). Authors acknowledge FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia I.P. for the national funds in the scope of the project UIDB/04349/2020+UIDP/04349/2020, UIDB/00100/2020+LA/P/0056/2020 and UIDB/00329/2020. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 by the authors.It has increasingly been recognized that electrical currents play a pivotal role in cell migration and tissue repair, in a process named “galvanotaxis”. In this review, we summarize the current evidence supporting the potential benefits of electric stimulation (ES) in the physiology of peripheral nerve repair (PNR). Moreover, we discuss the potential of piezoelectric materials in this context. The use of these materials has deserved great attention, as the movement of the body or of the external environment can be used to power internally the electrical properties of devices used for providing ES or acting as sensory receptors in artificial skin (e-skin). The fact that organic materials sustain spontaneous degradation inside the body means their piezoelectric effect is limited in duration. In the case of PNR, this is not necessarily problematic, as ES is only required during the regeneration period. Arguably, piezoelectric materials have the potential to revolutionize PNR with new biomedical devices that range from scaffolds and nerve-guiding conduits to sensory or efferent components of e-skin. However, much remains to be learned regarding piezoelectric materials, their use in manufacturing of biomedical devices, and their sterilization process, to fine-tune their safe, effective, and predictable in vivo application.publishersversionpublishe

Copy number alterations associated with clinical features in an underrepresented population with breast cancer

As the most incident tumor among women worldwide, breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease. Tremendous efforts have been made to understand how tumor characteristics as histological type, molecular subtype, and tumor microenvironment collectively influence disease diagnosis to treatment, which impact outcomes. Differences between populations and environmental and cultural factors have impacts on the origin and evolution of the disease, as well as the therapeutic challenges that arise due to these factors. We, then, compared copy number variations (CNVs) in mucinous and nonmucinous luminal breast tumors from a Brazilian cohort to investigate major CNV imbalances in mucinous tumors versus non‐mucinous luminal tumors, taking into account their clinical and pathological features.48 breast tumor samples and 48 matched control blood samples from Brazilian women were assessed for CNVs by chromosome microarray. Logistic regression and random forest models were used in order to assess CNVs in chromosomal regions from tumors.CNVs that were identified in chromosomes 1, 5, 8, 17, 19, and 21 classify tumors according to their histological type, ethnicity, disease stage, and familial history.Copy number alterations described in this study provide a better understanding of the landscape of genomic aberrations in mucinous breast cancers that are associated with clinical features.77FAPESP – Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa Do Estado De São Paulo2013/25683-3; 2015/18830-

Genome-wide diversity and differentiation in New World populations of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium vivax.

BACKGROUND: The Americas were the last continent colonized by humans carrying malaria parasites. Plasmodium falciparum from the New World shows very little genetic diversity and greater linkage disequilibrium, compared with its African counterparts, and is clearly subdivided into local, highly divergent populations. However, limited available data have revealed extensive genetic diversity in American populations of another major human malaria parasite, P. vivax. METHODS: We used an improved sample preparation strategy and next-generation sequencing to characterize 9 high-quality P. vivax genome sequences from northwestern Brazil. These new data were compared with publicly available sequences from recently sampled clinical P. vivax isolates from Brazil (BRA, total n = 11 sequences), Peru (PER, n = 23), Colombia (COL, n = 31), and Mexico (MEX, n = 19). PRINCIPAL FINDINGS/CONCLUSIONS: We found that New World populations of P. vivax are as diverse (nucleotide diversity π between 5.2 × 10-4 and 6.2 × 10-4) as P. vivax populations from Southeast Asia, where malaria transmission is substantially more intense. They display several non-synonymous nucleotide substitutions (some of them previously undescribed) in genes known or suspected to be involved in antimalarial drug resistance, such as dhfr, dhps, mdr1, mrp1, and mrp-2, but not in the chloroquine resistance transporter ortholog (crt-o) gene. Moreover, P. vivax in the Americas is much less geographically substructured than local P. falciparum populations, with relatively little between-population genome-wide differentiation (pairwise FST values ranging between 0.025 and 0.092). Finally, P. vivax populations show a rapid decline in linkage disequilibrium with increasing distance between pairs of polymorphic sites, consistent with very frequent outcrossing. We hypothesize that the high diversity of present-day P. vivax lineages in the Americas originated from successive migratory waves and subsequent admixture between parasite lineages from geographically diverse sites. Further genome-wide analyses are required to test the demographic scenario suggested by our data

A complex scenario of tuberculosis transmission is revealed through genetic and epidemiological surveys in Porto

Tuberculosis (TB) incidence is decreasing worldwide and eradication is becoming plausible. In low-incidence countries, intervention on migrant populations is considered one of the most important strategies for elimination. However, such measures are inappropriate in European areas where TB is largely endemic, such as Porto in Portugal. We aim to understand transmission chains in Porto through a genetic characterization of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains and through a detailed epidemiological evaluation of cases.This work was developed under the scope of the project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000013, supported by the Northern Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), and supported by contributions from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the European Economic Area Grants under the Public Health Initiative programme, (PT06, Project 000138DT1). TR is supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through a post-doctoral grant (SFRH/BPD/108126/2015)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

estudos artísticos

A revista de estudos artísticos GAMA encontra, neste terceiro número, um caminho mais definido dentro do projeto global da comunicação de artistas sobre as obras de outros artistas. A Revista GAMA percorre tradições, registos, ações e intervenções artísticas, que assinalaram diversos momentos, com diferentes graus de difusão. Visa-se resgatar, recuperar a arte: é voltar a olhar, pelo escopo particular de um artista, a intervenção de um outro artista, com algum tempo de intervalo entre ambos. Este intervalo é um tempo de sedimentação, de filtragem, ou de recuperação de valores quase esquecidos. O tempo pode fornecer um ponto de vista privilegiado que permite novas interpretações, valorizações, interligações. Permite-se a reativação, o restauro: restauro não no sentido material, mas no sentido da reapresentação do conteúdo possibilitando reforçar um “museu imaginário,” livre de fronteiras e de hierarquias estabelecidas (Malraux). Os objetos de arte anteriores podem ter originado, ou vir a originar, novas obras, na sequência imprevisível dos discursos humanos mais significativos, reagrupando-se em termos de “ação” ou de “orientação,” de “imagem” ou de “palavra,” (Warburg) permitindo “restituir ao discurso o caráter de acontecimento” (Foucault). Entre a história e a memória, o arquivo e a deriva, a viagem e a identidade, a permanência e a resistência, a Revista GAMA vem assinalando um percurso de salvaguarda, de marcação de registos, de preservação de uma riqueza, ora material ora conceptual: a arte detém-se e debruça-se sobre as suas marcas, os seus projetos, os seus registos, as suas transições. Debruçamo-nos sobre os homens.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A list of land plants of Parque Nacional do Caparaó, Brazil, highlights the presence of sampling gaps within this protected area

Brazilian protected areas are essential for plant conservation in the Atlantic Forest domain, one of the 36 global biodiversity hotspots. A major challenge for improving conservation actions is to know the plant richness, protected by these areas. Online databases offer an accessible way to build plant species lists and to provide relevant information about biodiversity. A list of land plants of “Parque Nacional do Caparaó” (PNC) was previously built using online databases and published on the website "Catálogo de Plantas das Unidades de Conservação do Brasil." Here, we provide and discuss additional information about plant species richness, endemism and conservation in the PNC that could not be included in the List. We documented 1,791 species of land plants as occurring in PNC, of which 63 are cited as threatened (CR, EN or VU) by the Brazilian National Red List, seven as data deficient (DD) and five as priorities for conservation. Fifity-one species were possible new ocurrences for ES and MG states