Synthesis of novel sugar derived aziridines, as starting materials giving access to sugar amino acid derivatives

d-Erythrosyl aziridines were obtained from d-erythrosyl triazoles either by photolysis or through diazirine intermediates. These were found to undergo rich, high yielding chemistry by reaction with protic acids (HCl, BiI3/H2O and trifluoroacetic acid) leading to two types of furanoid sugar α-amino acids, and polyhydroxylprolines. Based on experimental evidence, reaction mechanisms have been proposed for the syntheses.We thank FCT for project funding PTDC/QEQ-MED/1671/2012; the NMR Portuguese network (PTNMR, Bruker Avance III 400-Univ. Minho), and FCT and FEDER (European Fund for Regional Development)-COMPETE-QREN-EU for fnancial support to CQ/UM. This study was funded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (SFRH/BD/87292/2012)

Water desorption isotherms of pork liver and thermodynamic properties

[EN] For the first time, the relationship between equilibrium moisture content and water activity is reported for the desorption process in pork liver. For that purpose, a standardized conductivity hygrometer was used at four different temperatures (0, 10, 30 and 50 degrees C) over a wide range of water activity (0.999-0.103). Five models frequently found in the literature (GAB, Oswin, Henderson, Hasley and Ratti) were considered for the purposes of describing the experimental desorption. The GAB model emerged as the best option (explained variance 96.6%) for the physical and mathematical description of the water desorption isotherms in pork liver. The computed isosteric heat, entropy and Gibbs energy illustrated the high water-sorbent affinity, because of a considerable availability of strong sorption sites at low moisture contents. The reported experimental desorption isotherms, and modeling results, are essentials for the optimal design of the drying process of pork liver, which is a necessary step for the further research addressing the extraction of the protein fraction from the dried product. Extraction and isolation of the protein fraction from pork liver could be considered a reasonable strategy considering the demand of protein materials and the high-environmental impact of the meat industry.The authors acknowledge the financial support from the "Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (MINECO)" and "Instituto Nacional de Investigacion y Tecnologia Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA)" in Spain (Project RTA 2017-00024-C04-03). Eduardo A. Sanchez-Torres acknowledges the FPU PhD contract (FPU18/01439) granted by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.Sanchez-Torres, E.; Abril-Gisbert, B.; Benedito Fort, JJ.; Bon Corbín, J.; Garcia-Perez, J. (2021). Water desorption isotherms of pork liver and thermodynamic properties. LWT - Food Science and Technology. 149:1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2021.11185711014

Raman Spectroscopy of Amino Acid Crystals

In this chapter, we investigate the Raman spectra of proteinogenic amino acid crystals. Amino acids are fundamental organic molecules that compose polypeptides (a linear chain of amino acids) and proteins (folded polypeptides with specific functions) found in all living beings. Surprisingly, the number of these basic molecules is not more than 22 (20 of them commonly known as the standard amino acids, plus pyrrolysine and selenocysteine). They are defined as a molecule formed by an NH2 group, a COOH group, a lateral chain (the R group), and a hydrogen atom, all of them connected to a single carbon, the α-carbon. Interestingly, α-amino acids show chirality, i.e., they present different distributions of group of atoms around the α-carbon, being defined as l- and d-form. For amino acids and proteins found in the living beings, the l-form is the dominant form, although some exceptions have been discovered in the last decades. In this chapter, we present the Raman spectra of all standard amino acids and discuss the different kinds of vibrations found, comparing them. As complementary part of the work, we present results on vibrational properties of some amino acids using Raman spectroscopy when subjected to specific conditions, with variation in temperature or pressure. Finally, we present some perspectives as the investigation of purines, a group of molecules associated with the DNA molecule

Ultrasound intensification of Ferrochelatase extraction from pork liver as a strategy to improve ZINC-protoporphyrin formation

[EN] The enzyme Ferrochelatase (FeCH), which is naturally present in pork liver, catalyses the formation of Zincprotoporphyrin (ZnPP), a natural pigment responsible for the typical color of dry-cured Italian Parma ham. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of using high power ultrasound in continuous and pulsed modes to intensify the extraction of the enzyme FeCH from pork liver. US application during FeCH extraction led to an improved enzymatic activity and further increase in the formation of ZnPP. The optimal condition tested was that of 1 min in continuous US application, in which time the enzymatic activity increased by 33.3 % compared to conventional extraction (30 min). Pulsed US application required 5 min treatments to observe a significant intensification effect. Therefore, ultrasound is a potentially feasible technique as it increases the catalytic activity of FeCH and saves time compared to the conventional extraction methodThe authors acknowledge the financial support from the "Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (MINECO) and Instituto Nacional de Investigacion y Tecnologia Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA)" in Spain (Project RTA2017-00024-C04-03). The authors acknowledge the contribution of the undergraduate student Jose V. Pedrero-Gonzalez to the experimental work.Abril-Gisbert, B.; Sanchez-Torres, E.; Bou, R.; Garcia-Perez, J.; Benedito Fort, JJ. (2021). Ultrasound intensification of Ferrochelatase extraction from pork liver as a strategy to improve ZINC-protoporphyrin formation. Ultrasonics Sonochemistry. 78:1-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultsonch.2021.105703S177

Soil organisms in organic and conventional cropping systems.

Apesar do crescente interesse pela agricultura orgânica, são poucas as informações de pesquisa disponíveis sobre o assunto. Assim, num Argissolo Vermelho-Amarelo distrófico foram comparados os efeitos de sistemas de cultivo orgânico e convencional, para as culturas do tomate (Lycopersicum esculentum) e do milho (Zea mays), sobre a comunidade de organismos do solo e suas atividades. As populações de fungos,bactérias e actinomicetos, determinadas pela contagem de colônias em meio de cultura, foram semelhantes para os dois sistemas de produção. A atividade microbiana, avaliada pela evolução de CO2, manteve-se superior no sistema orgânico, sendo que em determinadas avaliações foi o dobro da evolução verificada no sistema convencional. O número de espécimes de minhoca foi praticamente dez vezes maior no sistema orgânico. Não foi observada diferença na taxa de decomposição de matéria orgânica entre os dois sistemas. De modo geral, o número de indivíduos de microartrópodos foi superior no sistema orgânico do que no sistema convencional, refletindo no maior índice de diversidade de Shannon. As maiores populações de insetos foram as da ordem Collembola, enquanto para os ácaros a maior população foi a da superfamília Oribatuloidea. Indivíduos dos grupos Aranae, Chilopoda, Dyplopoda, Pauropoda, Protura e Symphyla foram ocasionalmente coletados e de forma similar entre os sistemas

Leguminous cover crops improve the profitability and the sustainability of rainfed olive (Olea europaea L.) orchards: from soil biology to physiology of yield determination

The olive sector has a crucial economic, social, cultural and ecological relevance in the Mediterranean region, where tillage and herbicides application still are generalized practices. However, these techniques oppose to the recommendations of UE policy. Thus, other methods are needed to reduce adverse environmental impacts and to improve biodiversity, soil carbon sink and fertility, to save fossil fuels and to increase yield and the safety and nutritional value of food products. Meanwhile, since Mediterranean basin is particularly vulnerable to climate change, including lower precipitation in summer, olive tree will experiment some hard changes, mainly under rainfed conditions. Therefore, we propose an adequate management of cover crops to shift tillage and herbicides, in order to minimize runoff and evaporation water losses, conserve soil moisture storage and promote the infiltration of water in soil. The experiment was carried out during 4 years on a commercial orchard (cv. Cobrançosa) in Northeast Portugal. The treatments laid out were: (1) ordinary tillage techniques (OT) used by local growers (two tillage trips per year); (2) cover crop with self-reseeding annual legume species (AL); (3) natural vegetation fertilized (NVF) with 60 kg N hm2 (as in OT); (4) natural vegetation (NV) left unfertilized. The results revealed that AL treatment is the best option, reaching 37, 53 and 95% higher cumulative yield than NVF, OT and NV, respectively, in a closely association with greater physiological performance during the summer, mainly evidenced by lower oxidative damage and by favourable changes in water status and net photosynthetic rate, due to lower stomatal and mesophyll limitations. Moreover, the AL covered soil presented considerable microbial diversity and enzymatic activities, which may contribute to promote and conserve soil quality and health, as well the stability of ecosystems. Thus, leguminous cover crops improve the profitability and the sustainability of rainfed olive orchards.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Gravity, p-branes and a spacetime counterpart of the Higgs effect

We point out that the worldvolume coordinate functions $\hat{x}^\mu(\xi)$ of a $p$-brane, treated as an independent object interacting with dynamical gravity, are Goldstone fields for spacetime diffeomorphisms gauge symmetry. The presence of this gauge invariance is exhibited by its associated Noether identity, which expresses that the source equations follow from the gravitational equations. We discuss the spacetime counterpart of the Higgs effect and show that a $p$-brane does not carry any local degrees of freedom, extending early known general relativity features. Our considerations are also relevant for brane world scenarios.Comment: 5 pages, RevTeX. v2 (30-IV-03) with additional text and reference

Signals from extra dimensions decoupled from the compactification scale

Multilocalization provides a simple way of decoupling the mass scale of new physics from the compactification scale of extra dimensions. It naturally appears, for example, when localization of fermion zero modes is used to explain the observed fermion spectrum, leaving low energy remnants of the geometrical origin of the fermion mass hierarchy. We study the phenomenology of the simplest five dimensional model with order one Yukawa couplings reproducing the standard fermion masses and mixing angles and with a light Kaluza-Klein quark Q_{2/3} saturating experimental limits on V_{tb} and m_Q, and then with observable new effects at Tevatron.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figs; v2 reference and comments added to match the published version. A discussion of the limits from precision electroweak data is included. Conclusions are unchange

Use of psychotropic drugs in Brazil: household survey in the 107 biggest Brazilian cities - 2001

O objetivo foi estimar a prevalência do uso de drogas, álcool, tabaco e o uso não médico de medicamentos psicotrópicos. Este estudo abrangeu as 107 maiores cidades do Brasil; amostra: idades entre 12 e 65 anos. Amostragem em três estágios; setores censitários; domicílios e o respondente. Entrevistadas 8.589 pessoas. O uso na vida de álcool com 68,7% foi próximo aos 70,8% do Chile. O uso na vida de tabaco foi de 41,1%, inferior aos EUA (70,5%). O uso na vida de maconha foi de 6,9% próximo ao da Colômbia (5,4%) e abaixo dos EUA (34,2%). O uso na vida de cocaína foi 2,3%, inferior aos EUA (11,2%). O uso de solventes foi de 5,8%, bem menor que no Reino Unido (20,0%). Os estimulantes tiveram 1,5% de uso na vida e os benzodiazepínicos com 3,3%. Estes achados permitirão a implantação de políticas públicas adequadas à nossa realidade no campo das drogas psicotrópicas.El objetivo deste estudio és hacer estimativa del predominio del uso de las drogas, alcohol, tabaco y del uso no medico de las medicaciones psicotropicas. En el estudio he incluyedo las 107 mayores ciudades del Brasil. Muestra: personas con edades comprendidas entre 12 y 65 años. La muestra es compuesta por tres periodos: sectores del impuesto, domicilios y el respondedor. Fueran entrevistadas 8.589 personas. El uso en la vida del alcohol - 68.7% contra cerca de 70,8% en Chile. El uso en la vida del tabaco fue 41.1%, inferior a los EE.UU. (70.5%). El uso en la vida de la marijuana fue 6.9%, cerca del uso en Colombia (5.4%) y abajo del uso en los EE.UU. (34.2%). El uso en la vida de la cocaína fue 2,3%, abajo de los EE.UU. (11.2%). El uso del solvente fue 5.8%, mucho menos que en el Reino Unido (20.0%). Los estimulantes habían tenido 1,5% del uso en la vida y los ansioliticos con 3.3%. Estos resultados permitirán la implantación de una política pública ajustada a nuestra realidad en el campo de drogas psicotrópicas.The objective was to estimate the prevalence of the use of drugs, alcohol, tobacco and the use of non-medical psychotropics. This study enclosed the 107 biggest cities in Brazil; sample: ages between 12 and 65 years. Sampling in three periods: tax sectors; household and the respondent. Were interviewed 8,589 people. The lifetime use of the alcohol was 68.7%, closer to 70.8% in Chile. The lifetime use of the tobacco was of 41.1%, lower than U.S.A. (70.5%). The lifetime use of the marijuana was of 6.9% closer to Colombia (5.4%) and lower than U.S.A. (34.2%). The lifetime use of the cocaine was 2.3%, lower than U.S.A. (11.2%). The lifetime use of solvent was of 5.8%, much lower than the United Kingdom (20.0%). The stimulants have had 1.5% of lifetime use and the anxiolytics with 3.3%. These findings will allow the implantation of adjusted public politics to our reality in the field of the psychotropics drugs

Gravitational Energy of Kerr and Kerr Anti-de Sitter Space-times in the Teleparallel Geometry

In the context of the Hamiltonian formulation of the teleparallel equivalent of general relativity we compute the gravitational energy of Kerr and Kerr Anti-de Sitter (Kerr-AdS) space-times. The present calculation is carried out by means of an expression for the energy of the gravitational field that naturally arises from the integral form of the constraint equations of the formalism. In each case, the energy is exactly computed for finite and arbitrary spacelike two-spheres, without any restriction on the metric parameters. In particular, we evaluate the energy at the outer event horizon of the black holes.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figure, to appear in JHEP11(2003)00