Carotenoides Pro-vitamina A em frutos de bananeira.

Os tipos de carotenóides variam muito nas frutas, sendo que aproximadamente 50 carotenóides possuem atividade pró-vitamina A. Dentre esses o β-caroteno é o mais importante e abundante em alimentos, seguido do α-caroteno e β-criptoxantina, os quais possuem a metade da atividade de vitamina A, comparativamente ao primeiro caroteno. Outros carotenóides não pró-vitamina A, porém com efeitos relevantes à saúde humana (e.g., antioxidante, antitumoral e inibidores da degeneração macular), também ocorrem em alimentos (luteína, zeaxantina e licopeno, por exemplo - RODRIGUEZ-AMAYA, 2001) e sua identificação em frutos de bananeira é considerado relevante. A banana destaca-se pelo seu alto potencial como alimento funcional, devido a seu alto consumo, principalmente em países subdesenvolvidos

Cloning Protocol of Aloe vera as a Study-Case for “Tailor-Made” Biotechnology to Small Farmers

Aloe vera has been used worldwide both for pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetic industries due to the plethora of biological activities of some of its metabolites. A study case is reported focusing on the development of a cloning protocol of A. vera to provide propagation material with superior quality to the private sector in southern Brazil, i.e., A. vera juice industry. Such biotechnological approach afforded ca. 4,300 plantlets from 20 explants, over a 6-month period, overcoming the drawback of the lack of propagation material. Typically, the results have led to the increase of the cultured area and juice production of that species coming true the goal of the partnership between the public and private sectors herein involved. The transference of the resulting technology was successfully performed to the company and a patent covering the biotechnological process has been recently requested to official organisms on behalf of the partners.El Aloe vera ha sido empleado mundialmente en las industrias farmacéutica, alimentaria y cosmética, debido a la variedad de actividades biológicas de sus metabolitos. Un estudio de caso es reportado, enfocado en el desarrollo de un protocolo de clonamiento de A. vera para proveer propagación de material de calidad superior al sector privado en el sur de Brasil, por ejemplo, la industria de jugo de A. Vera. Ya que las plantas obtenidas mediante métodos biotecnológicos ascienden a 4300 plántulas desde 20 explantes, en un período de 6 meses, se hace un problema la inminente falta de material. Típicamente los resultados han conducido al incremento de del área cultivada y de la producción de jugo de las especies con verdaderos objetivos de asociatividad entre los sectores privados y públicos. La transferencia de la tecnología resultante fue exitosamente desempeñada hacia la compañía y una patente que protege el proceso biotecnológico ha sido recientemente solicitada a los organismos de patentamiento.Aloe vera has been used worldwide both for pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetic industries due to the plethora of biological activities of some of its metabolites. A study case is reported focusing on the development of a cloning protocol of A. vera to provide propagation material with superior quality to the private sector in southern Brazil, i.e., A. vera juice industry. Such biotechnological approach afforded ca. 4,300 plantlets from 20 explants, over a 6-month period, overcoming the drawback of the lack of propagation material. Typically, the results have led to the increase of the cultured area and juice production of that species coming true the goal of the partnership between the public and private sectors herein involved. The transference of the resulting technology was successfully performed to the company and a patent covering the biotechnological process has been recently requested to official organisms on behalf of the partners

Compostos fenólicos em frutos de bananeira.

Os compostos fenólicos são encontrados em muitas frutas e a quantificação desses metabólicos revela informações importantes a respeito da qualidade dos alimentos e dos potenciais benefícios à saúde (atividade antioxidante e atitumoral, e.g. - TALCOTT et al., 2003). A banana é amplamente consumida por todas as classes sociais e seu consumo é elevado, alcançando 162 Kg/pessoa/ano em algumas regiões da África (FAO, 2012)

Espectroscopia de infravermelho médio e quimiometria aplicadas a discriminação de acessos de bananeira.

O Brasil é o quinto produtor mundial de banana, tendo produzido aproximadamente 6,9 milhões de toneladas em 2010, em uma área aproximada de 487 mil hectares (FAO, 2012). Entretanto, há poucos cultivares para exploração comercial com potencial agronômico, tolerantes às pragas e doenças e que apresentem frutos com boas características pós-colheita e organolépticas. Uma das estratégias à solução desse problema é a seleção de novos genótipos, por meio do melhoramento genético, visando o aumento do valor nutricional e funcional (biofortificação), associado às boas características agronômicas

A machine learning and chemometrics assisted interpretation of spectroscopic data: a NMR-based metabolomics platform for the assessment of Brazilian propolis

In this work, a metabolomics dataset from 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of Brazilian propolis was analyzed using machine learning algorithms, including feature selection and classification methods. Partial least square-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), random forest (RF), and wrapper methods combining decision trees and rules with evolutionary algorithms (EA) showed to be complementary approaches, allowing to obtain relevant information as to the importance of a given set of features, mostly related to the structural fingerprint of aliphatic and aromatic compounds typically found in propolis, e.g., fatty acids and phenolic compounds. The feature selection and decision tree-based algorithms used appear to be suitable tools for building classification models for the Brazilian propolis metabolomics regarding its geographic origin, with consistency, high accuracy, and avoiding redundant information as to the metabolic signature of relevant compounds.The work is partially funded by ERDF -European Regional Development Fund through the COMPETE Programme (operational programme for competitiveness) and by National Funds through the FCT (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) within projects ref. COMPETE FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-015079 and PEstOE/ EEI/UI0752/2011. RC's work is funded by a PhD grant from the Portuguese FCT ( ref. SFRH/BD/66201/2009)

New anti-perovskite-type Superconductor ZnNyNi3

We have synthesized a new superconductor ZnNyNi3 with Tc ~3 K. The crystal structure has the same anti-perovskite-type such as MgCNi3 and CdCNi3. As far as we know, this is the third superconducting material in Ni-based anti-perovskite series. For this material, superconducting parameters, lower-critical field Hc1(0), upper-critical field Hc2(0), coherence length x(0), penetration depth l(0), and Gintzburg -Landau parameter k(0) have been experimentally determined.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl

Metabolic profiling and classification of propolis samples from Southern Brazil: an NMR-based platform coupled with machine learning

The chemical composition of propolis is affected by environmental factors and harvest season, making it difficult to standardize its extracts for medicinal usage. By detecting a typical chemical profile associated with propolis from a specific production region or season, certain types of propolis may be used to obtain a specific pharmacological activity. In this study, propolis from three agroecological regions (plain, plateau, and highlands) from southern Brazil, collected over the four seasons of 2010, were investigated through a novel NMR-based metabolomics data analysis workflow. Chemometrics and machine learning algorithms (PLS-DA and RF), including methods to estimate variable importance in classification, were used in this study. The machine learning and feature selection methods permitted construction of models for propolis sample classification with high accuracy (>75%, reaching 90% in the best case), better discriminating samples regarding their collection seasons comparatively to the harvest regions. PLS-DA and RF allowed the identification of biomarkers for sample discrimination, expanding the set of discriminating features and adding relevant information for the identification of the class-determining metabolites. The NMR-based metabolomics analytical platform, coupled to bioinformatic tools, allowed characterization and classification of Brazilian propolis samples regarding the metabolite signature of important compounds, i.e., chemical fingerprint, harvest seasons, and production regions.Financial support for this investigation by National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES), Brazilian Biosciences National Laboratory (LNBioCNPEM/MCTI), Foundation for Support of Scientific and Technological Research in the State of Santa Catarina (FAPESC), and Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) is acknowledged. The research fellowship granted by CNPq to the first author is also acknowledged. The work was partially funded by a CNPq and FCT agreement through the PropMine grant

The Affective Impact of Financial Skewness on Neural Activity and Choice

Few finance theories consider the influence of “skewness” (or large and asymmetric but unlikely outcomes) on financial choice. We investigated the impact of skewed gambles on subjects' neural activity, self-reported affective responses, and subsequent preferences using functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI). Neurally, skewed gambles elicited more anterior insula activation than symmetric gambles equated for expected value and variance, and positively skewed gambles also specifically elicited more nucleus accumbens (NAcc) activation than negatively skewed gambles. Affectively, positively skewed gambles elicited more positive arousal and negatively skewed gambles elicited more negative arousal than symmetric gambles equated for expected value and variance. Subjects also preferred positively skewed gambles more, but negatively skewed gambles less than symmetric gambles of equal expected value. Individual differences in both NAcc activity and positive arousal predicted preferences for positively skewed gambles. These findings support an anticipatory affect account in which statistical properties of gambles—including skewness—can influence neural activity, affective responses, and ultimately, choice

Ideal Spin Filters: Theoretical Study of Electron Transmission Through Ordered and Disordered Interfaces Between Ferromagnetic Metals and Semiconductors

It is predicted that certain atomically ordered interfaces between some ferromagnetic metals (F) and semiconductors (S) should act as ideal spin filters that transmit electrons only from the majority spin bands or only from the minority spin bands of the F to the S at the Fermi energy, even for F with both majority and minority bands at the Fermi level. Criteria for determining which combinations of F, S and interface should be ideal spin filters are formulated. The criteria depend only on the bulk band structures of the S and F and on the translational symmetries of the S, F and interface. Several examples of systems that meet these criteria to a high degree of precision are identified. Disordered interfaces between F and S are also studied and it is found that intermixing between the S and F can result in interfaces with spin anti-filtering properties, the transmitted electrons being much less spin polarized than those in the ferromagnetic metal at the Fermi energy. A patent application based on this work has been commenced by Simon Fraser University.Comment: RevTeX, 12 pages, 5 figure

Gain and Loss Learning Differentially Contribute to Life Financial Outcomes

Emerging findings imply that distinct neurobehavioral systems process gains and losses. This study investigated whether individual differences in gain learning and loss learning might contribute to different life financial outcomes (i.e., assets versus debt). In a community sample of healthy adults (n = 75), rapid learners had smaller debt-to-asset ratios overall. More specific analyses, however, revealed that those who learned rapidly about gains had more assets, while those who learned rapidly about losses had less debt. These distinct associations remained strong even after controlling for potential cognitive (e.g., intelligence, memory, and risk preferences) and socioeconomic (e.g., age, sex, ethnicity, income, education) confounds. Self-reported measures of assets and debt were additionally validated with credit report data in a subset of subjects. These findings support the notion that different gain and loss learning systems may exert a cumulative influence on distinct life financial outcomes