Development, characterization, and stability of O/W pepper nanoemulsions produced by high-pressure homogenization

Interest in the utilization of bioactive plant compounds in foods has increased due to their biochemical activities (antioxidant, antimicrobial, etc.), and as alternatives in the reduction of the use of high concentrations of chemical substances. However, some of these additives are hydrophobic, thus being harder to disperse into the food matrix, which is generally water-based. A good alternative is the use of low concentrations of these compounds as nanoemulsions. The objective of the present study was to develop oil-in-water nanoemulsions containing dedo-de-moça pepper extract for food applications. Research in the development of these nanoemulsions was carried out using a high-speed homogenizer, followed by a high-pressure homogenizer. The influence of the following parameters was assessed: type and concentration of surfactants, hidrophilic-lipophilic balance, lipid/aqueous phase ratio, surfactant/oil ratio, pepper extract composition in nanoemulsion, and processing conditions. Nanoemulsions were evaluated by environmental (centrifugal and thermal) and storage stabilities, characterized by average droplet size and -potential measurements, color, interfacial tension, atomic force, and cryo-scanning electron microscopy. Those with average droplet size between 132 ± 2.0 and 145 ± 1.0 nm were developed depending on working pressure and number of cycles; -potential was around 36.71 ± 0.62 mV and the best nanoemulsion was stable to centrifugation and most of the thermal stresses. Droplets were characterized with cryo-scanning electron microscopy as being spherical, homogeneous, and stable, and remained stable when stored at 4 °C and room temperature for over 120 days. The pepper nanoemulsion, developed in the present study, has potential applications in the food industry.The first author gratefully acknowledges the CNPq and CAPES (National Council for Scientific and Technological Development, Program Science without Boarder) for the BSWE^ PhD (Process 236877/2012-1) fellowship, and CAPES for the national PhD fellowship. The last author acknowledges the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) Brazil, for the grant (CEPID-FoRC, 2013/07914-8).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

CUBES: a UV spectrograph for the future

In spite of the advent of extremely large telescopes in the UV/optical/NIR range, the current generation of 8-10m facilities is likely to remain competitive at ground-UV wavelengths for the foreseeable future. The Cassegrain U-Band Efficient Spectrograph (CUBES) has been designed to provide high-efficiency (>40%) observations in the near UV (305-400 nm requirement, 300-420 nm goal) at a spectral resolving power of R>20,000, although a lower-resolution, sky-limited mode of R ~ 7,000 is also planned. CUBES will offer new possibilities in many fields of astrophysics, providing access to key lines of stellar spectra: a tremendous diversity of iron-peak and heavy elements, lighter elements (in particular Beryllium) and light-element molecules (CO, CN, OH), as well as Balmer lines and the Balmer jump (particularly important for young stellar objects). The UV range is also critical in extragalactic studies: the circumgalactic medium of distant galaxies, the contribution of different types of sources to the cosmic UV background, the measurement of H2 and primordial Deuterium in a regime of relatively transparent intergalactic medium, and follow-up of explosive transients. The CUBES project completed a Phase A conceptual design in June 2021 and has now entered the Phase B dedicated to detailed design and construction. First science operations are planned for 2028. In this paper, we briefly describe the CUBES project development and goals, the main science cases, the instrument design and the project organization and management

Abundance analysis of APOGEE spectra for 58 metal-poor stars from the bulge spheroid

The central part of the Galaxy hosts a multitude of stellar populations, including the spheroidal bulge stars, stars moved to the bulge through secular evolution of the bar, inner halo, inner thick disc, inner thin disc, as well as debris from past accretion events. We identified a sample of 58 candidate stars belonging to the stellar population of the spheroidal bulge, and analyse their abundances. The present calculations of Mg, Ca, and Si lines are in agreement with the ASPCAP abundances, whereas abundances of C, N, O, and Ce are re-examined. We find normal α-element enhancements in oxygen, similar to magnesium, Si, and Ca abundances, which are typical of other bulge stars surveyed in the optical in Baade’s Window. The enhancement of [O/Fe] in these stars suggests that they do not belong to accreted debris. No spread in N abundances is found, and none of the sample stars is N-rich, indicating that these stars are not second generation stars originated in globular clusters. Ce instead is enhanced in the sample stars, which points to an s-process origin such as due to enrichment from early generations of massive fast rotating stars, the so-called spinstars.RR acknowledges a CNPq master fellowship. TM acknowledges FAPESP postdoctoral fellowship no. 2018/03480-7. HE acknowledges a CAPES PhD fellowship. A.P.-V. and S.O.S. acknowledge the DGAPA-PAPIIT grant IA103122. SOS acknowledges a FAPESP PhD fellowship no. 2018/22044-3. SOS and MV acknowledge the support of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, project number: 428473034). BB acknowledges grants from FAPESP, CNPq, and CAPES – Financial code 001. J.G.F-T gratefully acknowledges the grant support provided by Proyecto Fondecyt Iniciación No. 11220340, and also from ANID Concurso de Fomento a la Vinculación Internacional para Instituciones de Investigación Regionales (Modalidad corta duración) Proyecto No. FOVI210020, and from the ESO – Government of Chile Joint Committee 2021 (ORP 023/2021). D.G. gratefully acknowledges support from the ANID BASAL project ACE210002. D.G. also acknowledges financial support from the Dirección de Investigación y Desarrollo de la Universidad de La Serena through the Programa de Incentivo a la Investigación de Académicos (PIA-DIDULS). The work of V.M.P. is supported by NOIRLab, which is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. MZ was funded by ANID FONDECYT Regular 1191505, ANID Millennium Institute of Astrophysics (MAS) under grant ICN12_009, the ANID BASAL Center for Astrophysics and Associated Technologies (CATA) through grants AFB170002, ACE210002 and FB210003. DM gratefully acknowledges support by the ANID BASAL projects ACE210002 and FB210003 and by Fondecyt Project No. 1220724. RR, BB, TM, HE, SOS, are part of the Brazilian Participation Group (BPG) in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), from the Laboratório Interinstitucional de e-Astronomia – LIneA, Brazil. Funding for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV has been provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, and the Participating Institutions. SDSS acknowledges support and resources from the Center for High-Performance Computing at the University of Utah. The SDSS web site is www.sdss.org. SDSS is managed by the Astrophysical Research Consortium for the Participating Institutions of the SDSS Collaboration including the Brazilian Participation Group, the Carnegie Institution for Science, Carnegie Mellon University, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA), the Chilean Participation Group, the French Participation Group, Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, The Johns Hopkins University, Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (IPMU) / University of Tokyo, the Korean Participation Group, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Leibniz Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP), Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie (MPIA Heidelberg), Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik (MPA Garching), Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik (MPE), National Astronomical Observatories of China, New Mexico State University, New York University, University of Notre Dame, Observatório Nacional / MCTI, The Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University, Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, United Kingdom Participation Group, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, University of Arizona, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Oxford, University of Portsmouth, University of Utah, University of Virginia, University of Washington, University of Wisconsin, Vanderbilt University, and Yale University. This work makes use of data from the European Space Agency (ESA) space mission Gaia. The Gaia mission website is https://www.cosmos.esa.int/gaia. The Gaia archive website is https://archives.esac.esa.int/gaia.Peer reviewe

New member of the V1V2-directed CAP256-VRC26 lineage that shows increased breadth and exceptional potency.

CAPRISA, 2016.Abstract available in pdf