Aceite de semilla de maracuyá: extracción y posterior reacción de transesterificación

This work aims to remove the oil from passion fruit seeds using ethanol as solvent and then to carry out the transesterification of the product from the extraction step (oil + ethanol). The effects of operational variables in the ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) were evaluated and traditional extraction was performed for comparison. The extraction product was directed to the reaction step using an enzymatic catalyst. UAE provided oil yield from 12.32 to 21.76%, and the maximum value (73.7% of the traditional extraction yield) was obtained at 60 °C and 50 min using a solvent-to-seed ratio of 4. Oil removal was favored by increases in the investigated variables. g-tocopherol, δ-tocopherol and a high concentration of polyunsaturated fatty acids were identified in the oils. The oil obtained by UAE presented higher phytosterol contents. From the reaction step, samples were obtained with higher concentrations of ethyl esters, in addition to emulsifiers (diglycerides and monoglycerides).Este trabajo tiene como objetivo la extracción del aceite de la semilla de maracuyá utilizando etanol como disolvente y posteriormente llevar a cabo la transesterificación del producto obtenido (aceite + etanol). Se evaluaron los efectos de las variables operativas en la extracción asistida por ultrasonido (EAU) y se realizó la extracción clásica a efectos comparativos. El producto de extracción se dirigió a la etapa de reacción usando catalizador enzimático. EAU proporcionó un rendimiento de aceite de 12,32 a 21,76%, y el valor máximo (73,7% del rendimiento de extracción clásico) se obtuvo a 60 °C durante 50 min usando una relación de solvente a semilla de 4. La extracción de aceite se favorece con el aumento de las variables investigadas. Se identificaron en los aceites g- y δ-tocoferol y una alta concentración de ácidos grasos poliinsaturados. El aceite obtenido por los EAU presentó un mayor contenido de fitosteroles. De la etapa de reacción, se obtuvieron muestras con concentraciones más altas de ésteres etílicos, además de emulsionantes (diglicéridos y monoglicéridos)

Optical clearing methods: An overview of the techniques used for the imaging of 3D spheroids

Spheroids have emerged as in vitro models that reproduce in a great extent the architectural microenvironment found in human tissues. However, the imaging of 3D cell cultures is highly challenging due to its high thickness, which results in a light-scattering phenomenon that limits light penetration. Therefore, several optical clearing methods, widely used in the imaging of animal tissues, have been recently explored to render spheroids with enhanced transparency. These methods are aimed to homogenize the microtissue refractive index (RI) and can be grouped into four different categories, namely (a) simple immersion in an aqueous solution with high RI; (b) delipidation and dehydration followed by RI matching; (c) delipidation and hyperhydration followed by RI matching; and (d) hydrogel embedding followed by delipidation and RI matching. In this review, the main optical clearing methods, their mechanism of action, advantages, and disadvantages are described. Furthermore, the practical examples of the optical clearing methods application for the imaging of 3D spheroids are highlighted.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Lignin-enriched tricalcium phosphate/sodium alginate 3D scaffolds for application in bone tissue regeneration

The bone is a connective, vascularized, and mineralized tissue that confers protection to organs, and participates in the support and locomotion of the human body, maintenance of homeostasis, as well as in hematopoiesis. However, throughout the lifetime, bone defects may arise due to traumas (mechanical fractures), diseases, and/or aging, which when too extensive compromise the ability of the bone to self-regenerate. To surpass such clinical situation, different therapeutic approaches have been pursued. Rapid prototyping techniques using composite materials (consisting of ceramics and polymers) have been used to produce customized 3D structures with osteoinductive and osteoconductive properties. In order to reinforce the mechanical and osteogenic properties of these 3D structures, herein, a new 3D scaffold was produced through the layer-by-layer deposition of a tricalcium phosphate (TCP), sodium alginate (SA), and lignin (LG) mixture using the Fab@Home 3D-Plotter. Three different TCP/LG/SA formulations, LG/SA ratio 1:3, 1:2, or 1:1, were produced and subsequently evaluated to determine their suitability for bone regeneration. The physicochemical assays demonstrated that the LG inclusion improved the mechanical resistance of the scaffolds, particularly in the 1:2 ratio, since a 15 % increase in the mechanical strength was observed. Moreover, all TCP/LG/SA formulations showed an enhanced wettability and maintained their capacity to promote the osteoblasts' adhesion and proliferation as well as their bioactivity (formation of hydroxyapatite crystals). Such results support the LG inclusion and application in the development of 3D scaffolds aimed for bone regeneration.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Estruturas De Poder Nas Redes De Financiamento Político Nas Eleições De 2010 No Brasil

This article analyses 299,968 relationships established between 251,665 actors (donors and/or recipients) of financial legal resources declared by candidates and parties in all positions at stake in the 2010 elections in Brazil. Data from the Tribunal Superior Eleitoral (Superior Electoral Court) was used, together with the methodology of social network analysis and complementary statistical procedures, to explore the topology of the subnets (components) and of the calculations of the centrality of the actors - candidates, party agents and private funders. The results show the high connectivity and asymmetry of the campaign finance network in Brazil and they expose that the positioning of the actors in the network layers is crucial to the performances of both the candidates and the funders, revealing, in an unprecedented way, the existence of a political elite within the Brazilian electoral system.221285

Influence of ClearT and ClearT2 Agitation Conditions in the Fluorescence Imaging of 3D Spheroids

3D tumor spheroids have arisen in the last years as potent tools for the in vitro screening of novel anticancer therapeutics. Nevertheless, to increase the reproducibility and predictability of the data originated from the spheroids it is still necessary to develop or optimize the techniques used for spheroids' physical and biomolecular characterization. Fluorescence microscopy, such as confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), is a tool commonly used by researchers to characterize spheroids structure and the antitumoral effect of novel therapeutics. However, its application in spheroids' analysis is hindered by the limited light penetration in thick samples. For this purpose, optical clearing solutions have been explored to increase the spheroids' transparency by reducing the light scattering. In this study, the influence of agitation conditions (i.e., static, horizontal agitation, and rotatory agitation) on the ClearT and ClearT2 methods' clearing efficacy and tumor spheroids' imaging by CLSM was characterized. The obtained results demonstrate that the ClearT method results in the improved imaging of the spheroids interior, whereas the ClearT2 resulted in an increased propidium iodide mean fluorescence intensity as well as a higher signal depth in the Z-axis. Additionally, for both methods, the best clearing results were obtained for the spheroids treated under the rotatory agitation. In general, this work provides new insights on the ClearT and ClearT2 clearing methodologies and their utilization for improving the reproducibility of the data obtained through the CLSM, such as the analysis of the cell death in response to therapeutics administration.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Comparative Chromosome Maps of Neotropical Rodents Necromys lasiurus and Thaptomys nigrita (Cricetidae) Established by ZOO-FISH

This work presents chromosome homology maps between Mus musculus (MMU) and 2 South American rodent species from the Cricetidae group: Necromys lasiurus (NLA, 2n = 34) and Thaptomys nigrita (TNI, 2n = 52), established by ZOO-FISH using mouse chromosome-specific painting probes. Extending previous molecular cytogenetic studies in Neotropical rodents, the purpose of this work was to delineate evolutionary chromosomal rearrangements in Cricetidae rodents and to reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships among the Akodontini species. Our phylogenetic reconstruction by maximum parsimony analysis of chromosomal characters confirmed one consistent clade of all Neotropical rodents studied so far. In both species analyzed here, we observed the syntenic association of chromosome segments homologous to MMU 8/13, suggesting that this chromosome form is a synapomorphic trait exclusive to Neotropical rodents. Further, the previously described Akodontini-specific syntenic associations MMU 3/18 and MMU 6/12 were observed in N. lasiurus but not in T. nigrita, although the latter species is considered a member of the Akodontini tribe by some authors. Finally, and in agreement with this finding, N. lasiurus and Akodon serrensis share the derived fission of MMU 13, which places them as basal sister clades within Akodontini. Copyright (C) 2011 S. Karger AG, Base

Simulated Moving-bed Adsorption For Separation Of Racemic Mixtures

The two enantiomers that constitute a racemate have different activities when employed as pharmaceuticals. Due to this fact, fully recognized today, the pharmaceutical industry has been forced to market pure enantiomers instead of the racemic mixture whenever a chiral compound is involved. The simulated moving bed (SMB) is a chromatographic process that, unlike traditional HPLC systems, operates continuously without losing the enantiomeric purity of the outlet streams. The present work describes the enantioseparation of the anesthetic ketamine in a semipreparative-scale SMB unit. The chiral stationary phase employed was the microcrystalline cellulose triacetate. The outlet streams were analyzed by an on-line system, composed by an UV/VIS meter and a polarimeter, and also by HPLC. The analysis indicated purity values up to 100% for the stream of interest and up to 97.7% for the other stream.211127136Blaschke, G., Chromatographic resolution of chiral drugs on polyamides and cellulose triacetate (1986) Journal of Liquid Chromatography, 9 (2), pp. 341-368Cass, Q.B., Degani, A.L.G., Tiritan, E., Matlin, S.E., Curran, D.P., Balog, A., Enantiomeric resolution by HPLC of axial chiral amides using amylose tris((S)-1-phenylethylcarbamate) (1997) Chirality, 9, pp. 109-112Francotte, E.R., Wolf, R.M., Lohmann, D., Muller, R., Chromatographic resolution of racemates on chiral stationary phases. I. Influence of the supramolecular structure of cellulose triacetate (1985) Journal of Chromatography, 345, pp. 25-37Juza, M., Mazzotti, M., Morbidelli, M., Simulated moving bed and its application to chiraltechnology (2000) Trends in Biotechnology, 18, pp. 108-118Lodevico, R.G., Bobbit, D.R., Edkins, T.J., Determination of enantiomeric excess using a chiral selective separation mode and polarimetric detection (1997) Talanta, 44, pp. 1353-1363Mazzotti, M., Storti, G., Morbidelli, M., Optimal operation of simulated moving beds for nonlinear chromatographic separations (1997) Journal of Chromatography A, 769, pp. 3-24McCoy, M., SMB emerges as a chiral technique (2000) Chemical and Engineering News, 78 (25), pp. 1-3Nicoud, R.M., A packing procedure for high flow rate and high stability columns using cellulose triacetate (1993) LC - GC Int., 6, pp. 636-637Nicoud, R.M., The separation of optical isomers by simulated moving bed chromatography (Part II) (1999) Pharmaceutical Technology Europe, 11, pp. 28-34Pedeferri, M.P., Zenoni, G., Mazzotti, M., Morbidelli, M., Experimental analysis of a chiral separation through simulated moving bed chromatography (1999) Chemical Engineering Science, 54, pp. 3735-374

Single-shot d-scan technique for ultrashort laser pulse characterization using transverse second-harmonic generation in random nonlinear crystals

We demonstrate a novel dispersion-scan (d-scan) scheme for single-shot temporal characterization of ultrashort laser pulses. The novelty of this method relies on the use of a highly dispersive crystal featuring antiparallel nonlinear domains with a random distribution and size. This crystal, capable of generating a transverse second-harmonic signal, acts simultaneously as the dispersive element and the nonlinear medium of the d-scan device. The resulting in-line architecture makes the technique very simple and robust, allowing the acquisition of single-shot d-scan traces in real time. The retrieved pulses are in very good agreement with independent frequency-resolved optical grating measurements. We also apply the new single-shot d-scan to a terawatt-class laser equipped with a programmable pulse shaper, obtaining an excellent agreement between the applied and the d-scan retrieved dispersions