Detection of adulterations in tradictional portuguese game meat products by polymerase chain reaction technique

Authenticity assessment and fraud detection in processed meat products have becn attracting an increased attention driven by public health, economic and legal cancems, and also for religiolls reasons. Currcntly, ooe af the major issues conceming adulterations in the meat indust:ry regards the fraudulent substitution af higher commercial valued meat species by less expensive oDes [1]. The manufacture af traditional meat products is a long-established practice in the Northeast of Portugal. One of the most appreciated products is called "Alheiras", which are traditional smoked fermented sausages, mainly produced with pork and poultry meat. In addition to the two Portuguese Alheiras with Protected Geographical Indication (pGI), other types of "Alheiras" are now available in the market, including the ones produced with game meat. Due to the game meat particular taste, intense Oavour and seasonality, it generally eommands higher prices compared to other meats [1]. Sinee game meat "Alheiras" should, totally or partially, include different types of game meat, they are particularly prone to fraudulent meat substitutions

Species identification and authentication of hare (Lepus) meat by the use of the mitochondrial cytb gene

Nowadays, consumers are increasingly concerned with issues of food safety and authenticity. In particular, game meat has been much appreciated by consumers for their exotic flavour and texture, low in fat and cholesterol as well as by the absence of steroids or other drugs. Food authenticity assessment is important in that it avoids unfair competition among producers and allows consumers to have accurate information about the products they purchase. Therefore, it is important to ensure that species of high commercial value declared are not replaced by other species of lesser value [I]

Hydropower Scheduling Toolchains:Comparing Experiences in Brazil, Norway,and USA and Implications for Synergistic Research

While hydropower scheduling is a well-defined problem, there are institutional differences that need to be identified to promoteconstructive and synergistic research. We study how established toolchains of computer models are organized to assist operational hydro-power scheduling in Brazil, Norway, and the United States’Colorado River System (CRS). These three systems have vast hydropowerresources, with numerous, geographically widespread, and complex reservoir systems. Although the underlying objective of hydropowerscheduling is essentially the same, the systems are operated in different market contexts and with different alternative uses of water, where thestakeholders’objectives clearly differ. This in turn leads to different approaches when it comes to the scope, organization, and use of modelsfor operational hydropower scheduling and the information flow between the models. We describe these hydropower scheduling toolchains,identify the similarities and differences, and shed light on the original ideas that motivated their creation. We then discuss the need to improveand extend the current toolchains and the opportunities to synergistic research that embrace those contextual differences.Hydropower Scheduling Toolchains:Comparing Experiences in Brazil, Norway,and USA and Implications for Synergistic ResearchacceptedVersio

Detection of partridge meat for the authentication of “alheiras de caça” using polymerase chain reaction

The manufacture or traditional meat products is a long-eslablished lradition in Northeastern region of Portugal, in particular the case of "Alheiras" Besides the traditional "Alheiras" mainly produced with pork and poultry meat, others are currently available in lhe market. which are produced with diffcrcnt game meats, such as "Alhciras de caça" Since this kind of mcat products are prepared using more expensive meats, they are prone to adulterations due to the economic profit that might result from the replacement or decrease of those high valued meat

Synthesis, anti-toxoplasma gondii and antimicrobial activities of 2-hydrazolyl-3-phenyl-5-(4-nitrobenzylidene)-4-thiazolidinone substituted derivatives

A novel series of 2-hydrazolyl-3-phenyl-5-(4-nitrobenzylidene)-4-thiazolidinone substituted (3a-p) has been synthesized. The intermediates 2-hydrazolyl-3-phenyl-4-thiazolidinone substituted (2a-p) were prepared by condensation of benzaldehyde 4-phenyl-3-thiosemicarbazone substituted (1a-p) with ethyl chloroacetate. Theses intermediates were submitted to reaction with ethyl 2-cyano-3-(4-nitrophenyl)-acetate to give the title compounds. The 4-thiazolidinones were screened for their anti-Toxoplasma gondii, and all derivatives promoted decrease of percentage of infection of Vero cells, with elimination of intracellular tachyzoites. The LD50 ranged around 0.5 mM for the intracellular parasites and were higher than 10 mM for Vero cells. According to results of antimicrobial activity, only two compounds showed significant inhibition against M. luteus, but demonstrated higher values of MIC and MBC when compared with standard drug.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Exploring skewed parton distributions with two body models on the light front II: covariant Bethe-Salpeter approach

We explore skewed parton distributions for two-body, light-front wave functions. In order to access all kinematical regimes, we adopt a covariant Bethe-Salpeter approach, which makes use of the underlying equation of motion (here the Weinberg equation) and its Green's function. Such an approach allows for the consistent treatment of the non-wave function vertex (but rules out the case of phenomenological wave functions derived from ad hoc potentials). Our investigation centers around checking internal consistency by demonstrating time-reversal invariance and continuity between valence and non-valence regimes. We derive our expressions by assuming the effective qq potential is independent of the mass squared, and verify the sum rule in a non-relativistic approximation in which the potential is energy independent. We consider bare-coupling as well as interacting skewed parton distributions and develop approximations for the Green's function which preserve the general properties of these distributions. Lastly we apply our approach to time-like form factors and find similar expressions for the related generalized distribution amplitudes.Comment: 25 pages, 12 figures, revised (minor changes but essential to consistency

Structural assessment, toxicity, and increased antimicrobial activity

Scorpion venom is a rich source of biologically active components and various peptides with high-potential therapeutic use that have been characterized for their antimicrobial and antiproliferative activities. Stigmurin is a peptide identified from the Tityus stigmurus venom gland with high antibacterial and antiproliferative activities and low toxicity. Amino acid substitutions in peptides without a disulfide bridge sequence have been made with the aim of reducing their toxicity and increasing their biological activities. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the structural conformation and structural stability, as well as antimicrobial, antiproliferative, and hemolytic activities of two peptide analogs to Stigmurin, denominated StigA6 and StigA16. In silico analysis revealed the α-helix structure for both analog peptides, which was confirmed by circular dichroism. Data showed that the net charge and hydrophobic moment of the analog peptides were higher than those for Stigmurin, which can explain the increase in antimicrobial activity presented by them. Both analog peptides exhibited activity on cancerous cells similar to the native peptide; however, they were less toxic when tested on the normal cell line. These results reveal a potential biotechnological application of the analog peptides StigA6 and StigA16 as prototypes to new therapeutic agents.publishersversionpublishe

Synthesis, anti-toxoplasma gondii and antimicrobial activities of 2-hydrazolyl-3-phenyl-5-(4-nitrobenzylidene)-4-thiazolidinone substituted derivatives

A novel series of 2-hydrazolyl-3-phenyl-5-(4-nitrobenzylidene)-4-thiazolidinone substituted (3a-p) has been synthesized. The intermediates 2-hydrazolyl-3-phenyl-4-thiazolidinone substituted (2a-p) were prepared by condensation of benzaldehyde 4-phenyl-3-thiosemicarbazone substituted (1a-p) with ethyl chloroacetate. Theses intermediates were submitted to reaction with ethyl 2-cyano-3-(4-nitrophenyl)-acetate to give the title compounds. The 4-thiazolidinones were screened for their anti-Toxoplasma gondii, and all derivatives promoted decrease of percentage of infection of Vero cells, with elimination of intracellular tachyzoites. The LD50 ranged around 0.5 mM for the intracellular parasites and were higher than 10 mM for Vero cells. According to results of antimicrobial activity, only two compounds showed significant inhibition against M. luteus, but demonstrated higher values of MIC and MBC when compared with standard drug.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire