O pinhão na culinária.

Uma das formas mais originais de se consumir o pinhão são as ?sapecadas?. O pinhão é lançado ao fogo numa fogueira feita com as próprias folhas do pinheiro (grimpas), sendo posteriormente retirado e servido. Além das sapecadas, o pinhão ganhou espaço na dieta de milhares de brasileiros e hoje faz parte de série de pratos típicos, como o entrevero, a sopa de pinhão, a farofa e outros também renomados. O pinhão é um ingrediente exótico, saboroso, com textura diferenciada, com cheiro de memórias e gosto de história. No entanto, sua oferta no mercado tem sido restrita em decorrência do corte indiscriminado da Araucária angustifolia (pinheiro do Paraná). Várias tentativas têm sido envidadas para impedir essa ação, seja por meio de estratégias punitivas, seja por de políticas de conservação. Lamentavelmente, nem sempre os resultados são satisfatórios, de forma que é necessário ressaltar o seu potencial na alimentação, sua importância regional e suas diversas formas de aproveitamento.É neste intuito que a Embrapa Florestas apresenta o livro de receitas ?O PINHÃO NA CULINÁRIA?, enfocando a relevância do pinhão na alimentação. A publicação deste material é uma das metas do projeto ?Avaliação do Potencial do Pinhão na Alimentação e no Desenvolvimento de Novos Produtos?, cuja temática é prospectar a biodiversidade para o desenvolvimento de produtos diferenciados e de alto valor agregado, uma das missões da Embrapa Florestas.O propósito inicial desta obra era retomar as receitas clássicas de pinhão segundo movimentos mundiais de resgate de alimentos tradicionais. No decorrer do trabalho, descobriu-se a peculiaridade do pinhão, bem como as possibilidades de inovação. Decidiu-se então por incluir o pinhão na gastronomia moderna, tarefa factível graças a sua grande versatilidade.O produto deste esforço mútuo e sistemático foi esta diversidade de pratos, característica da culinária brasileira, personificada pela pluralidade geográfica e étnica. Nesta gama de sabores, o pinhão figura como componente marcante, combinando traços artesanais com requinte e arrojo.Trata-se de um compêndio com 100 receitas de pinhão, doces e salgadas, ilustradas, testadas e avaliadas quanto ao seu valor calórico e aceitabilidade. Todos estão convidados a tirarem proveito desta iguaria. Bom apetite!bitstream/item/214212/1/2020-Livro-Pinhao-na-Culinaria-2impres.pd

Características de bolos sem glúten elaborados com farinhas de pinhão sanitizado e branqueado.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar as características físico-químicas, microbiológicas e sensoriais de bolos sem glúten, elaborados com as farinhas obtidas do pinhão sanitizado e do pinhão branqueado. Os resultados mostraram que as farinhas do pinhão sanitizado ou branqueado têm potencial para uso em bolos sem glúten, resultando em produtos seguros, com boa aceitação e possibilidade de comercialização. Essa publicação apresenta alinhamento às metas dos Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável da ONU (ODS), em especial dos ODS 2, 12 e 17, por disponibilizar alternativas alimentícias que podem incrementar a renda de produtores, principalmente mulheres e por contribuir para a preservação de ecossistemas como a Floresta Ombrófila Mista; por oferecer novas alternativas de consumo do pinhão, evitando seu desperdício, além da extensão na sazonalidade; e pela valorização dos trabalhos desenvolvidos com a colaboração de diferentes instituições e atores.Selo ODS 2, 12 e 17

DFTB+, a software package for efficient approximate density functional theory based atomistic simulations

DFTB+ is a versatile community developed open source software package offering fast and efficient methods for carrying out atomistic quantum mechanical simulations. By implementing various methods approximating density functional theory (DFT), such as the density functional based tight binding (DFTB) and the extended tight binding method, it enables simulations of large systems and long timescales with reasonable accuracy while being considerably faster for typical simulations than the respective ab initio methods. Based on the DFTB framework, it additionally offers approximated versions of various DFT extensions including hybrid functionals, time dependent formalism for treating excited systems, electron transport using non-equilibrium Green's functions, and many more. DFTB+ can be used as a user-friendly standalone application in addition to being embedded into other software packages as a library or acting as a calculation-server accessed by socket communication. We give an overview of the recently developed capabilities of the DFTB+ code, demonstrating with a few use case examples, discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the various features, and also discuss on-going developments and possible future perspectives

SAMHD1-Deficient CD14+ Cells from Individuals with Aicardi-Goutières Syndrome Are Highly Susceptible to HIV-1 Infection

Myeloid blood cells are largely resistant to infection with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). Recently, it was reported that Vpx from HIV-2/SIVsm facilitates infection of these cells by counteracting the host restriction factor SAMHD1. Here, we independently confirmed that Vpx interacts with SAMHD1 and targets it for ubiquitin-mediated degradation. We found that Vpx-mediated SAMHD1 degradation rendered primary monocytes highly susceptible to HIV-1 infection; Vpx with a T17A mutation, defective for SAMHD1 binding and degradation, did not show this activity. Several single nucleotide polymorphisms in the SAMHD1 gene have been associated with Aicardi-Goutières syndrome (AGS), a very rare and severe autoimmune disease. Primary peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from AGS patients homozygous for a nonsense mutation in SAMHD1 (R164X) lacked endogenous SAMHD1 expression and support HIV-1 replication in the absence of exogenous activation. Our results indicate that within PBMC from AGS patients, CD14+ cells were the subpopulation susceptible to HIV-1 infection, whereas cells from healthy donors did not support infection. The monocytic lineage of the infected SAMHD1 -/- cells, in conjunction with mostly undetectable levels of cytokines, chemokines and type I interferon measured prior to infection, indicate that aberrant cellular activation is not the cause for the observed phenotype. Taken together, we propose that SAMHD1 protects primary CD14+ monocytes from HIV-1 infection confirming SAMHD1 as a potent lentiviral restriction factor

Role of the Epigenetic Regulator HP1γ in the Control of Embryonic Stem Cell Properties

The unique properties of embryonic stem cells (ESC) rely on long-lasting self-renewal and their ability to switch in all adult cell type programs. Recent advances have shown that regulations at the chromatin level sustain both ESC properties along with transcription factors. We have focused our interest on the epigenetic modulator HP1γ (Heterochromatin Protein 1, isoform γ) that binds histones H3 methylated at lysine 9 (meH3K9) and is highly plastic in its distribution and association with the transcriptional regulation of specific genes during cell fate transitions. These characteristics of HP1γ make it a good candidate to sustain the ESC flexibility required for rapid program changes during differentiation. Using RNA interference, we describe the functional role of HP1γ in mouse ESC. The analysis of HP1γ deprived cells in proliferative and in various differentiating conditions was performed combining functional assays with molecular approaches (RT-qPCR, microarray). We show that HP1γ deprivation slows down the cell cycle of ESC and decreases their resistance to differentiating conditions, rendering the cells poised to differentiate. In addition, HP1γ depletion hampers the differentiation to the endoderm as compared with the differentiation to the neurectoderm or the mesoderm. Altogether, our results reveal the role of HP1γ in ESC self-renewal and in the balance between the pluripotent and the differentiation programs

Clathrin Facilitates the Morphogenesis of Retrovirus Particles

The morphogenesis of retroviral particles is driven by Gag and GagPol proteins that provide the major structural component and enzymatic activities required for particle assembly and maturation. In addition, a number of cellular proteins are found in retrovirus particles; some of these are important for viral replication, but many lack a known functional role. One such protein is clathrin, which is assumed to be passively incorporated into virions due to its abundance at the plasma membrane. We found that clathrin is not only exceptionally abundant in highly purified HIV-1 particles but is recruited with high specificity. In particular, the HIV-1 Pol protein was absolutely required for clathrin incorporation and point mutations in reverse transcriptase or integrase domains of Pol could abolish incorporation. Clathrin was also specifically incorporated into other retrovirus particles, including members of the lentivirus (simian immunodeficiency virus, SIVmac), gammaretrovirus (murine leukemia virus, MLV) and betaretrovirus (Mason-Pfizer monkey virus, M-PMV) genera. However, unlike HIV-1, these other retroviruses recruited clathrin primarily using peptide motifs in their respective Gag proteins that mimicked motifs found in cellular clathrin adaptors. Perturbation of clathrin incorporation into these retroviruses, via mutagenesis of viral proteins, siRNA based clathrin depletion or adaptor protein (AP180) induced clathrin sequestration, had a range of effects on the accuracy of particle morphogenesis. These effects varied according to which retrovirus was examined, and included Gag and/or Pol protein destabilization, inhibition of particle assembly and reduction in virion infectivity. For each retrovirus examined, clathrin incorporation appeared to be important for optimal replication. These data indicate that a number of retroviruses employ clathrin to facilitate the accurate morphogenesis of infectious particles. We propose a model in which clathrin contributes to the spatial organization of Gag and Pol proteins, and thereby regulates proteolytic processing of virion components during particle assembly