Pattern recognition of lipase-catalyzed or chemically interesterified fat blends containing n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids

Research PaperThe feasibility to discriminate among samples of different fat blends prior and after inorganic or lipasecatalyzed interesterification, via pattern recognition techniques [principal component analysis (PCA) and discriminant analysis (DA)], was investigated. Blends I and II, consisting of mixtures of palm stearin, palm kernel oil and a concentrate of triacylglycerols (TAG) rich in n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (EPAX 4510TG or EPAX 2050TG) were used. These blends, prior (64 samples) and after interesterification, catalyzed by an immobilized Thermomyces lanuginosa lipase (Lipozyme TL IM, 54 samples) or by sodium methoxide (10 samples), were characterized by their acylglycerol profiles (25 chromatographic peaks) and solid fat content (SFC) at 10, 20, 30 and 35 7C. PCA on the multivariate data (i) showed that the initial samples were characterized by higher SFC and higher contents of high-melting TAG and (ii) suggested two separate clusters of initial and interesterified samples. DA was performed on the multivariate data to determine which of the 29 variables have discriminative power. When the 124 samples, characterized by their acylglycerols, were grouped into (i) initial and interesterified samples of blends I or II (four groups) or (ii) also by the catalyst used (six groups), 98.4% of the samples were correctly classifie

Corporate social responsibility in Brazil : a comparative analysis of two paper companies

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2004.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 57-62).If being socially responsible can result in short or long-term economic benefits, then why do not all companies adopt corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices? This thesis draws on general assumptions from illustrative examples of two paper companies in Brazil--Aracruz and Riocell-- to answer this question. The two examples suggest that stakeholder pressure, managers' perceptions of the economic benefits of CSR and managers' environmental and social values affect the decisions of companies to adopt corporate social responsibility. In addition, data from these two paper companies indicate that company size and economic and political context explain the variations of CSR practices between Aracruz and Riocell. This study argues that both companies have responded to pressures from stakeholders in different ways. As a result, their corporate social responsibility practices have been different. If the goals of companies are to demonstrate increased commitment to corporate social responsibility and to strengthen these practices, businesses need to focus on extending their actions beyond compliance, and incorporate corporate social responsibility as part of their policies.by Ana Paula M. do Nascimento.M.C.P

Investigation of Trypanosoma-induced vascular damage sheds insights into Trypanosoma vivax sequestration

Multiple blood-borne pathogens infecting mammals establish close interactions with the host vascular endothelium as part of their life cycles. In this work, we investigate differences in the interactions of three Trypanosoma species: T. brucei, T. congolense and T. vivax with the blood vasculature. Infection with these species results in vastly different pathologies, including different effects on vascular homeostasis, such as changes in vascular permeability and microhemorrhages. While all three species are extracellular parasites, T. congolense is strictly intravascular, while T. brucei is capable of surviving both extra- and intravascularly. Our knowledge regarding T. vivax tropism and its capacity of migration across the vascular endothelium is unknown. In this work, we show for the first time that T. vivax parasites sequester to the vascular endothelium of most organs, and that, like T. congolense, T. vivax Y486 is largely incapable of extravasation. Infection with this parasite species results in a unique effect on vascular endothelium receptors including general downregulation of ICAM1 and ESAM, and upregulation of VCAM1, CD36 and E-selectin. Our findings on the differences between the two sequestering species (T. congolense and T. vivax) and the non-sequestering, but extravasating, T. brucei raise important questions on the relevance of sequestration to the parasite’s survival in the mammalian host, and the evolutionary relevance of both sequestration and extravasation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Drought response of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) landraces at leaf physiological and metabolite profile levels

Drought threatens the world’s food production, particularly in Sub Saharan Africa low external input and rain fed agricultural systems, where cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) is an important food crop. In the context of growing concerns regarding climate changes implications on water availability, this study aimed at 1) to evaluate the drought responses in cowpea landraces with contrasting drought tolerance levels (A55 – high sensitivity; A80 - mild sensitivity; A116 - tolerant), 2) using an integrated physiological (leaf gas exchanges; chlorophyll a fluorescence) and biochemical (photoprotective pigments; RuBisCO activity; primary metabolite profiling) analysis to identify drought tolerance probes, in plants submitted to three water availability levels (well-watered, WW; mild drought, MD; severe drought, SD). A116 plants maintained a better water status under drought, what could justify the higher Pn and Pnmax values in MD, as well as higher photochemical use of energy (reflected in the photochemical quenching (qL) and in the quantum yield of non-cyclic electron transport (Y(II))), and the lower need of photoprotective thermal dissipation mechanisms (given by the non-photochemical quenching (qN), and the quantum yield of regulated energy dissipation at photosystem PSII (Y(NPQ))), in MD and SD plants. Greater declines of net (Pn) and potential (Pnmax) photosynthesis were observed in A55 plants, which frequently showed significant impacts already under MD conditions in most parameters, whereas A80 usually displayed and intermediate behaviour. Still, even A55 showed some acclimation response, regarding photoprotective mechanisms associated with high contents of zeaxanthin, lutein, and carotenes, and high Y(NPQ), and qN values, supporting the absence of an increase in the non-regulated energy dissipation at PSII (Y(NO) did not increased) even in SD plants. Additionally, A55 was not significantly affected in RuBisCO activity, which showed to be quite resilient in cowpea. A primary metabolite profiling, complemented with a partial least square discrimination analysis (PLS-DA), allowed a better separation of A116 and A55 plants according to their degree of drought tolerance. In response to drought, A116 showed the greatest accumulation of most responsive metabolites, 14 in total, with sucrose, fucose, urea, alanine and putrescine being exclusively increased in this genotype, suggesting that they can be candidates as drought tolerance proxies. Other compounds, as proline, valine, isoleucine (among amino acids), and rhamnose and raffinose (among sugars) showed close increase patternsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Proteome Analysis of Leptospira interrogans Virulent Strain

Leptospirosis is a worldwide zoonotic infection of human and veterinary concern. Caused by pathogenic spirochetes of the genus Leptospira, the disease presents greater incidence in tropical and subtropical regions. The identification of proteins that could be involved in the bacteria host interactions may facilitate the search for immune protective antigens. We report the proteomic analysis of Leptospira interrogans serovar Pomona virulent strain LPF cultured from kidney and liver of infected hamsters. Total protein extracts were separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE), 895 spots were analyzed by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry (MS), and 286 were identified as leptospiral proteins, corresponding to 108 distinct proteins. These proteins are allocated in all the bacterial cell compartments and are distributed in every functional category. Furthermore, the previously described, known outer membrane proteins, OmpL1, LipL21, LipL31, LipL32/Hap-1, LipL41, LipL45, LipL46, LruA/LipL71, and OmpA-like protein Loa22 were all recognized. Most importantly, this research work identified 27 novel leptospiral proteins annotated as hypothetical open reading frames (ORFs). We report for the first time an array of proteins of the Leptospira expressed by virulent, low-passage strain. We believe that our studies, together with the genome data will enlighten our understanding of the disease

High Trypanosoma spp. diversity is maintained by bats and triatomines in Espírito Santo state, Brazil

The aim of this study was to reevaluate the ecology of an area in the Atlantic Forest, southeast Brazil, where Chagas disease (CD) has been found to occur. In a previous study, immediately after the occurrence of a CD case, we did not observe any sylvatic small mammals or dogs with Trypanosoma cruzi cruzi infections, but Triatoma vitticeps presented high T. c. cruzi infection rates. In this study, we investigated bats together with non-volant mammals, dogs, and triatomines to explore other possible T. c. cruzi reservoirs/hosts in the area. Seventy-three non-volant mammals and 186 bats were captured at three sites within the Guarapari municipality, Espírito Santo state. Rio da Prata and Amarelos sites exhibited greater richness in terms of non-volant mammals and bats species, respectively. The marsupial Metachirus nudicaudatus, the rodent Trinomys paratus, and the bats Artibeus lituratus and Carollia perspicillata were the most frequently captured species. As determined by positive hemocultures, only two non-volant mammals were found to be infected by Trypanosoma species: Monodelphis americana, which was infected by T. cascavelli, T. dionisii and Trypanosoma sp., and Callithrix geoffroyi, which was infected by T. minasense. Bats presented T. c. cruzi TcI and TcIII/V, T. c. marinkellei, T. dionisii, T. rangeli B and D, and Trypanosoma sp. infections. Seven dogs were infected with T. cruzi based only on serological exams. The triatomines T. vitticeps and Panstrongylus geniculatus were found to be infected by trypanosomes via microscopy. According to molecular characterization, T. vitticeps specimens were infected with T. c. cruzi TcI, TcII, TcIII/V, and TcIV, T. c. marinkellei and T. dionisii. We observed high trypanosome diversity in a small and fragmented region of the Atlantic Forest. This diversity was primarily maintained by bats and T. vitticeps. Our findings show that the host specificity of the Trypanosoma genus should be thoroughly reviewed. In addition, our data show that CD cases can occur without an enzootic cycle near residential areas

Visceral leishmaniasis in the State of Maranhão, Brazil: evolution of an epidemic

The authors provide a brief report on the historical evolution of visceral leishmaniasis in the State of Maranhão, Brazil, evaluating possible factors for growth of the disease in the State and control measures by the Brazilian Ministry of Health to integrate health services finto the maintenance of control programs.Os autores fazem um breve relato da evolução histórica da leishmaniose visceral no Estado do Maranhão, Brasil, avaliando as possíveis causas da expansão da referida doença no Estado, assim como as medidas de controle adotadas pelo Ministério da Saúde objetivando a diminuição da incidência da mesma.Universidade Federal do Maranhão Faculdade de Medicina Departamento de PatologiaEscola Paulista de MedicinaUNIFESP, EPMSciEL

Psoralen analogues: synthesis, inhibitory activity of growth of human tumor cell lines and computational studies

Eight psoralens have been evaluated for their ability to inhibit the in vitro growth of three human turner cell lines representing different tumor types, MCF-7 (breast cancer), NCI-14460 (non-small cell lung cancer) and SF-268 (CNS cancer). The synthesis of four new psoralens (benzofur-ocournarins) is presented as well as the results of the ab initio calculations to find the parameters that relate the structure with the antitumor activity. This work provides supplementary information that could allow the development of new psoralen analogues with this type of biological activity.For financial support from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Portugal (I&D no. 226/9 and to CQ-UM), POCTI and FEDER; Ph.D. grants from FCT: Ana M.A.G. Oliveira (PRAXIS XXI/BD/19707/99), Madalena Pedro (SFRH/BD/1456/2000) and César Portela (SFRH/BD/3036/2000). For financial support and research grants to FAPEMIG (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais) and CNPq (Conselho Nacional do Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Brazil). The authors thank National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD (USA) for kindly providing the tumor cell lines and Elisa Pinto for obtaining 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR spectra and elemental analyses.POCTI