418 research outputs found
The influence of indol butyric-acid in Prunus laurocerasus L. vegetative propagation
Cherry laurel is very common as an ornamental plant, due to the large glossy
leaves, fast growth, and shade and hedging tolerance. The influence of different indol-3-
butiric acid (IBA) concentrations (1,000, 2,500, 5,000 and 7,500 ppm) was evaluated in
early spring 2007. The data was gathered one month after bench cutting plantation. The
parameters measured and analyzed were the number of rooted cuttings, the number of
cuttings with callus formation and mortality, the mean number of roots (NR) and the
mean main root length (MRL), per rooted cutting. The IBA application influenced the
rooting percentage, the NR and the MRL, but the results were IBA concentration
independent. In P. laurocerasus rooting ranged from 67% and 80%, when IBA was
applied, values significantly superior to 37% of rooted cuttings in the control. The
highest NR and MRL values were found in the treatment with 7,500 ppm IBA (27.2 of
roots per cutting) and with 1,000 ppm IBA (MRL was 24.76 mm), respectively.
Significantly lower values were obtained in the control: 5.56 NR and 9.4 mm of MRL.
The IBA application significantly increased rooting, the NR and the MRL, with cuttings
planted early in Spring, but the parameters were IBA concentration independent
Friction of human skin against different hospital fabrics for different contact conditions
Knowledge on tribology of human skin is essential to improve and optimise surfaces
and materials in contact with the skin, as well in the design process of consumer
products. Besides that, friction between the human skin and textiles are critical
factors in the formation of skin injuries (irritations, abrasions, decubitus and blisters),
which are caused if the loads and shear forces are high enough and/or over long
periods of time. This factor is of particular importance in bedridden patients since
they are not moving about or are confined to wheelchairs (and may be aggravated by
incontinence or perspiration). Decubitus ulcers are one of the most frequently
reported iatrogenic injuries in developed countries. The risk of developing decubitus
ulcers can be predicted by using the “Braden Scale for Predicting Pressure Ulcer
Risk” that was developed in 1987 [1], and contains 6 areas of risk (cognitiveperceptual,
immobility, inactivity, moisture, nutrition, friction/shear), although there
are limitations to the use of such tools. The coefficient of friction of textiles against
skin is mainly influenced by: the nature of the textile, skin moisture content and
ambient humidity. This study will investigate how skin friction (different anatomical
regions) varies, rubbing against different type of contacting materials (i.e. synthetic
and natural fabrics) under different contact conditions and their relation with the
decubitus ulcers formation. The results will be compared with a reference hospital
fabric
Effect of crack propagation on crack tip fields
Crack closure influences fatigue crack growth rate and must be included in the design ofcomponents. Plasticity induced crack closure is intimately linked with the crack tip plastic deformation, whichbecomes residual as the crack propagates. The objective here is to study numerically the effect of crackpropagation on crack tip fields. The transient effect observed at the beginning of crack propagation is linked tothe hardening behavior of material. The effect of mesh refinement is studied, and a singular behavior is evident,which is explained by the sharp crack associated with mesh topology, composed of a regular pattern of squareelements. The plastic zone size measured perpendicularly to crack flank in the residual plastic wake is quantifiedand compared with literature models. Finally, the removal of material at the first node behind crack tip withload cycling was observed for plane strain state and some hardening models in plane stress state
Analysis of pancreas histological images for glucose intolerance identificationusing ImageJ-preliminary results
The observation in microscopy of histological
sections allows us to evaluate structural differences,
in pancreatic cells, between rats with normal
glucose tolerance and with glucose intolerance
(pre-diabetic) situation. Nevertheless, this
pre-diabetic condition implies subtle changes in
islets of Langerhans structure. This and the normal
variability among sampled cells makes difficult
the task of identifying glucose intolerance
(pre-diabetic situation) with a low level of error.
This paper presents preliminary results in the processing
of histological pancreas images with the
goal of identifying pre-diabetic situation in Wistar
rats. The immediate goal of this work is to
evaluate the performance of a classifier based in
a morphometric measurement of the histological
images and to assess the potential for image based
automatic processing and classification. A set of
90 images, were used (58 from rats with normal
glucose tolerance, and 32 from pre-diabetic ones).
These images were segmented manually using ImageJ.
This segmentation and area measurements
have been speedup by the application of ImageJ
macros which were defined for this purpose. The
ratio, between the area of -cells and the islets of
Langerhans , was used has the indicator of the prediabetic
situation. Considering this feature, a receiver
operating characteristic analysis has been
performed. True positive rate, vs. false positive
rate shows the predicted performance of a binary
classifier as its discrimination threshold is varied
II Ciclo de Conferências : Conselho Técnico-Científico: temas atuais em investigação
A obra é constituída pelos resumos das comunicações apresentadas pelos docentes da Escola Superior Agrária do Instituto Politécnico de Castelo Branco e são referentes aos projetos de investigação nos quais estão envolvidos.O atual Conselho Técnico-Científico (CTC) da Escola Superior Agrária de Castelo Branco (ESACB) tomou posse em fevereiro de 2012, tendo decidido dar continuidade ao ciclo de conferências iniciado pelo CTC anterior. Os trabalhos de Investigação, Inovação e Experimentação que foram apresentados demonstram não só o dinamismo e a ligação com a comunidade, como também a preocupação na identificação e resolução de problemas, que acrescentem valor aos produtos e processos que se situam no âmbito das competências desta Escola. Sendo este um objetivo prioritário da missão do IPCB/ESA, a divulgação destas conferências permite chegar a um público mais alargado e abrir caminhos para a concretização de novos projetos, que contribuam de forma efetiva para o desenvolvimento e aumento da competitividade da região e do país
Determinação de canabinóides em amostras de urina por microextração em seringa empacotada e cromatografia gasosa-espetrometria de massa
Poster apresentado em: 12º Encontro Nacional de Cromatografia, Aveiro, 6 a 8 de dezembro de 2022A canábis é a substância ilícita mais frequentemente consumida a nível mundial. Em laboratórios de
análise de drogas. A urina é uma das amostras mais utilizadas para a deteção de canabinóides. Nesta
matriz biológica é possí -tretahidrocanabinol (THC), principal composto
psicoativo presente na cannabis, o ácido 11-nor-9-carboxi- -tretahidrocanabinol (THC-COOH) e ainda
o 11-hidroxi- -tetrahydrocannabiol (11-OH-TCH) que são utilizados como marcadores de consumo
desta droga de abuso. Este trabalho descreve o desenvolvimento e validação de um método para a
determinação de cannabidiol (CBD), canabinol (CBN), THC, 11-OH-THC e THC-COOH em urina com
recurso à MEPS e à cromatografia gasosa acoplada à espectrometria de massas. Após otimização, a
metodologia foi validada seguindo normas internacionais de validação para bioanálise. Foi obtida uma
linearidade de 1-400 ng/mL para o THC e CBD, de 5-400 ng/mL para CBN e 11-OH-THC e de 10-400
ng/mL para THC-COOH, com um coeficiente de correlação em todos os casos superior a 0,99. As
precisões e exatidão inter-dia, intra-dia e intermedia obtidas tiveram coeficientes de variação abaixo
dos 15% e uma exatidão inferior ou igual a 15% para todos os compostos em estudo. As recuperações
obtidas variaram entre 26% a 85%. Os resultados obtidos permitem afirmar que a técnica proposta
apresenta uma excelente sensibilidade (1-10 ng/mL). O método desenvolvido foi ainda aplicado a
amostras de indivíduos com suspeita de consumo de canábis. É necessário destacar que o
procedimento descrito é o primeiro trabalho que recorre à MEPS combinada com a GC-MS para
quantificação de canabinóides em amostras de urina.Apoio financeiro do Laboratório de Fármaco-Toxicologia, projetos CICS-UBI.N/
Laurus nobilis (laurel) aqueous leaf extract's toxicological and anti-tumor activities in HPV16-transgenic mice
Cancers induced by human papillomavirus (HPV) infection remain a significant public health threat,
fueling the study of new therapies. Laurel (Laurus nobilis) compounds and extracts recently showed
in vitro activity against HPV-transformed cell lines. This work aims to evaluate the in vivo efficacy and
hepatic toxicity of a laurel extract in a transgenic mouse model of HPV16-induced cancer. The extract was
administered in drinking water (20 mg per animal per day) for three consecutive weeks, using four experimental
groups (n = 10) (group I: HPV16−/− without treatment, group II: treated HPV16−/−, group III: HPV16+/−
without treatment and group IV: treated HPV16+/−). Following the treatment period, animals were sacrificed
and skin samples were used to classify skin lesions histologically. Toxicological parameters included hematological
and biochemical blood markers, splenic and hepatic histology and hepatic oxidative stress. The
extract did not prevent the progression of HPV16-induced cutaneous lesions in this model. The treated wildtype
animals showed mild hepatitis, while transgenic animals suffered weight loss. However, there were no
changes concerning hematological, biochemical and hepatic oxidative stress markers.This work was supported by: Integrative Research in
Environment, Agro-Chains and Technology no. NORTE-01-
0145-FEDER-000017, in its line of research entitled ISAC, cofinanced
by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)
through NORTE 2020 (North Regional Operational Program
2014/2020). European Investment Funds by FEDER/COMPETE/
POCI– Operational Competitiveness and Internationalization
Programme, under Project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006958 and
National Funds by FCT - Portuguese Foundation for Science
and Technology, under the project UID/AGR/04033/2013. This
study was also funded by Liga Portuguesa Contra o Cancro, by
the Research Center of the Portuguese Institute of Oncology of
Porto (CI-IPOP 37-2016), by project POCI-01-0145-
FEDER-006939 (Laboratory for Process Engineering,
Environment, Biotechnology and Energy – LEPABE), project
POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006958 and UID/AGR/04033/2013,
funded by FEDER funds through COMPETE2020 - Programa
Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI) –
and by national funds through FCT – Fundação para a Ciência
e a Tecnologia; Rui M. Gil da Costa was funded by grant
number SFRH/BPD/85462/2012 from FCT, funded by the
Portuguese Government and the Social European Fund. The
authors are also grateful to FCT, Portugal and FEDER under
Programme PT2020 for financial support to CIMO (UID/AGR/
00690/2013), and to the Interreg España-Portugal for financial
support through the project 0377_Iberphenol_6_E.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Biometric analysis of protein and oil contents of soybean genotypes in different environments
The objective of this work was to identify by biometric analyses the most stable soybean parents, with higher oil or protein contents, cultivated at different seasons and locations of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Forty-nine genotypes were evaluated in the municipalities of Viçosa, Visconde do Rio Branco, and São Gotardo, in the state of Minas Gerais, from 2009 to 2011. Protein and oil contents were analyzed by infrared spectrometry using a FT-NIR analyzer. The effects of genotype, environment, and genotype x environment interaction were significant. The BARC-8 soybean genotype is the best parent to increase protein contents in the progenies, followed by BR 8014887 and CS 3032PTA276-3-4. Selection for high oil content is more efficient when the crossings involve the Suprema, CD 01RR8384, and A7002 genotypes, which show high mean phenotypic values, wide adaptability, and greater stability to environmental variation
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