Light means power: harnessing light spectrum and UV-B to enhance photosynthesis and rutin levels in microtomato plants

Urban vertical agriculture with lighting system can be an alternative green infrastructure to increase local food production irrespective of environmental and soil conditions. In this system, light quality control can improve the plant physiological performance, well as induce metabolic pathways that contribute to producing phenolic compounds important to human health. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the influence of RBW (red, blue and white) and monochromatic (red and blue; R and B, respectively) light associated or not with UV-B on photosynthetic performance and phenolic compound production in microtomato fruits cultivated via vertical agriculture. The experimental design adopted was completely randomized, with six replicates illuminated with 300 µmol·m−2·s−1 light intensities (RBW, RBW + UV, B, B + UV, R, and R + UV), 12 h photoperiod, and 3.7 W·m−2 UV-B irradiation for 1 h daily for the physiological evaluations. Twenty-six days after the installation, gas exchange, chlorophyll a fluorescence and nocturnal breathing were evaluated. Fruits in different ripening stages (green, orange, and red) were collected from microtomato plants grown under with different light qualities, to evaluate the physiological performance. The identification and quantification of the phenolic compound rutin was also performed to investigate their metabolic response. This study identified that plants grown under B + UV had high photosynthetic rates (A=11.57 µmol·m−2·s−1) and the fruits at all maturation stages from plants grown under B and B + UV had high rutin content. Meanwhile, the activation of suppressive mechanisms was necessary in plants grown under R because of the high nocturnal respiration and unregulated quantum yield of the non-photochemical dissipation of the photosystem II. These results highlight the importance of selecting light wavelength for vegetable cultivation to produce fruits with a high content of specialized metabolites that influence color, flavor, and health promotion, which is of special interest to farmers using sustainable cropping systems

Influence of solvents on the kinetic disposition and enantioselective metabolism of verapamil in rats

O verapamil (VER) é um composto quiral comercializado como mistura racêmica dos enantiômeros (+)-(R)-VER e (-)-(S)-VER. O VER é biotransformado em norverapamil (NOR) e em outros metabólitos por vias dependentes do CYP. O tolueno e o n-hexano são solventes orgânicos que podem alterar o metabolismo de medicamentos dependente do CYP. Assim, o estudo investiga a estereosseletividade na farmacocinética do verapamil administrado a ratos na dose de 10 mg kg-1, sob forma racêmica, e do seu metabólito, norverapamil, bem como a influência do n-hexano e do tolueno na disposição cinética dos enantiômeros (+)-(R) e (-)-(S)-VER e (R)- e (S)-norverapamil em animais tratados com os solventes por inalação em câmara de exposição do tipo nose only nas concentrações de 88, 176 e 352 mg/m3 para o n-hexano e 94, 188 e 376 mg/m3 para o tolueno. Os enantiômeros do VER e do NOR foram separados na coluna de fase quiral Chiralpak® AD e analisados por LC-MS/MS (m/z = 441,3->165,5 para os enantiômeros do norverapamil e m/z 455,3->165,5 para os enantiômeros do verapamil). A análise farmacocinética foi realizada com base no modelo monocompartimental. A farmacocinética do verapamil é estereosseletiva em ratos do grupo controle não tratado com os solventes com acúmulo plasmático do eutômero (-)-(S)-VER (AUC0-? = 250,8 vs 120,4 ng mL-1 h; P165.5 for the NOR enantiomers and m/z 455.3->165.5 for the VER enantiomers). Pharmacokinetic analysis was performed using a monocompartmental model. The pharmacokinetics of VER was stereoselective in control rats not treated with the solvents, with plasma accumulation of the (-)-(S)-VER eutomer (AUC0-? = 250.8 vs 120.4 ng mL-1 h; P<=0.05, Wilcoxon test). The (S)-NOR metabolite was also found to accumulate in plasma of control animals, with an S/R AUC0-? ratio of 1.5. The pharmacokinetic parameters AUC0-?, Cl/F, Vd/F and t1/2 obtained for the (-)-S-VER, (+)-(R)-VER, (S)-NOR and (R)-NOR enantiomers were not altered by nose-only exposure to n-hexane at concentrations of 88, 176 and 352 mg/m3 or to toluene at concentrations of 94, 188 and 376 mg/m3 (P<=0.05), Kruskal-Wallis test). However, exposure to 176 and 352 mg/m3 n-hexane and to 94, 188 and 376 mg/m3 toluene resulted in the loss of enantioselectivity observed for the control group

Determination of acetonitrile and cyanide in rat blood: Application to an experimental study

Methods were developed for the analysis of acetonitrile and its metabolite cyanide in the blood of rats exposed to acetonitrile. Acetonitrile was analyzed by the headspace technique coupled to gas chromatography with detection by flame ionization, and cyanide was analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (λ ex = 418 nm and λ em = 460 nm) after derivatization of the ion with naphthalene 2,3-dicarboxyaldehyde and taurine. The quantitation limits of the methods for the analysis of acetonitrile and cyanide were 4.875 μg/mL and 0.025 μg/mL, respectively. The coefficients of variation of 10% or less obtained for intra- and interassay precision indicate the precision of these analytical methods and the systematic errors, all less than 5%, indicate that the methods are quite accurate. The methods were applied to an experimental study after the animals received acetonitrile at the doses of 2 mmol/kg or 5 mmol/kg

Simultaneous analysis of the enantiomers of verapamil and norverapamil in rat plasma by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

An enantioselective micromethod for the simultaneous analysis of verapamil (VER) and norverapamil (NOR) in plasma was developed, validated and applied to the study of the kinetic disposition of VER and NOR after the administration of a single oral dose of racemic-VER to rats. VER, NOR and the internal standard (paroxetine) were extracted from only 100-mu L plasma samples using n-hexane and the enantiomers were resolved on a Chiralpak AD column using n-hexane:isopropanol: ethanol: diethyl ami ne (88:6:6:0.1) as the mobile phase. The analyses were performed in the selected reaction monitoring mode. Transitions 456 > 166 for VER enantiomers, 441 > 166 for NOR enantiomers and 330 > 193 for the internal standard were monitored and the method had a total chromatographic run time of 12 min. The method allows the determination of VER and NOR enantiomers at plasma levels as low as 1.0 ng/mL. Racemic VER hydrochloride (10 mg/kg) was given to male Wistar rats by gavage and blood samples were collected from 0 to 6.0 h(n = 6 at each time point). The concentration of (-)-(S)-VER was three folds higher than (+)-(R)-VER, with an AUC ratio (-)/(+) of 2.66. Oral clearance values were 12.17 and 28.77 L/h/kg for (-)-(S)-VER and (+)-(R)-VER, respectively. The pharmacokinetic parameters of NOR were not shown to be enantioselective. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Efficiency maximization of fixed-bed adsorption by applying hybrid statistical-phenomenological modeling

The objective of this work was to maximize the efficiency of the ciprofloxacin (CIP) removal in fixed-bed column, packed with SGC650H resin, by the optimization of the volumetric flow rate (Q) and bed height (H-bed). For this, a hybrid procedure based on statistical and phenomenological modeling was used. Based on a central composite rotatable design (CCRD) the conditions of Q and H-bed were defined to obtain breakthrough curves, wherein only 8 of a total of 11 assays were experimentally obtained. Based on the resin textural characterization and molecular dimensions analysis of the ciprofloxacin, phenomenological models were employed to describe the experimental data. The most accurate mathematical model for the breakthrough curves description, namely, adsorption on the sites model (AS) was validated with the experimental results of the CCRD and further used to predict other experimental conditions. For this, independent experiments were performed to evaluate the proposed methodology, which demonstrated a predictive capacity of the model and allowed the fixed-bed column performance optimization, achieving a maximum efficiency of 81.5%. In general, the presented data may be useful for the development of fixed-bed systems. In addition, the results evidenced the potential of the adsorption process for trace-level pollutants treatment, due to elevated CIP adsorption capacities and high affinity to the SGC650H resin as well as favorable kinetics. Besides, by applying predictive phenomenological modeling, the hybrid proposed approach presents a perspective to support the optimization and scale-up of fixed-bed column operation, thus allowing the application of the treatment method in industrial scale207477488CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQCOORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESsem informaçã

Is the Integration between Corn and Grass under Different Sowing Modalities a Viable Alternative for Silage?

This study aimed to evaluate the fermentation pattern and dry-matter losses in corn (Zea mays L.) silage intercropped with Urochloa brizantha cv. Marandu and Megathyrsus maximus cv. Mombasa grasses in different sowing modalities through crop&ndash;livestock integration. The experimental design was in randomized blocks, which were arranged in a 2 &times; 5 factorial scheme with four repetitions. The first factor consisted of the grass cultivars Marandu and Mombasa. The second factor was the sowing modalities of grasses intercropped with corn: (1) simultaneous row sowing and inter-row corn sowing (no fertilizer); (2) simultaneous row sowing and inter-row corn sowing (with fertilizer); (3) simultaneous sowing with double grass row in the corn inter-row; (4) delayed sowing inter-row at 7 days after corn emergence; and (5) delayed sowing inter-row at 14 days after corn emergence. The forage buffer capacity (BC), silage pH and ammoniacal nitrogen (NH3-N) content, forage (FORDM) and silage dry-matter (SILDM) percentages, gas losses (GL), effluent losses (EL), and dry-matter recovery (DMR) parameters on the ensilage were evaluated. Only forage BC, silage NH3-N, and silage DMR variables differed (p &lt; 0.05) from the control silage (monocropped corn) when the integration was carried out. The grass cultivar factors and sowing modalities for BC and NH3-N variables had an effect. The intercropping of corn and Marandu grass or Mombasa grass, in any grass sowing modality, did not affect the quality of the silage

Resumos em andamento - Saúde Coletiva

Resumos em andamento - Saúde Coletiv

Resumos em andamento - Saúde Coletiva

Resumos em andamento - Saúde Coletiv

NEOTROPICAL ALIEN MAMMALS: a data set of occurrence and abundance of alien mammals in the Neotropics

Biological invasion is one of the main threats to native biodiversity. For a species to become invasive, it must be voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into a nonnative habitat. Mammals were among first taxa to be introduced worldwide for game, meat, and labor, yet the number of species introduced in the Neotropics remains unknown. In this data set, we make available occurrence and abundance data on mammal species that (1) transposed a geographical barrier and (2) were voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into the Neotropics. Our data set is composed of 73,738 historical and current georeferenced records on alien mammal species of which around 96% correspond to occurrence data on 77 species belonging to eight orders and 26 families. Data cover 26 continental countries in the Neotropics, ranging from Mexico and its frontier regions (southern Florida and coastal-central Florida in the southeast United States) to Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay, and the 13 countries of Caribbean islands. Our data set also includes neotropical species (e.g., Callithrix sp., Myocastor coypus, Nasua nasua) considered alien in particular areas of Neotropics. The most numerous species in terms of records are from Bos sp. (n = 37,782), Sus scrofa (n = 6,730), and Canis familiaris (n = 10,084); 17 species were represented by only one record (e.g., Syncerus caffer, Cervus timorensis, Cervus unicolor, Canis latrans). Primates have the highest number of species in the data set (n = 20 species), partly because of uncertainties regarding taxonomic identification of the genera Callithrix, which includes the species Callithrix aurita, Callithrix flaviceps, Callithrix geoffroyi, Callithrix jacchus, Callithrix kuhlii, Callithrix penicillata, and their hybrids. This unique data set will be a valuable source of information on invasion risk assessments, biodiversity redistribution and conservation-related research. There are no copyright restrictions. Please cite this data paper when using the data in publications. We also request that researchers and teachers inform us on how they are using the data