Efecto de la temperatura de refinación química y física de aceites de salvado de arroz sobre el contenido de tocoferoles

The stability of α-, (β+γ)- and δ-tocopherols present in rice bran oil at different heating temperatures has been evaluated. For this purpose, samples of rice bran oil from chemical and physical refining processes in Brazilian industries were studied. The oils were submitted to cabinet drying without air circulation in the absence of light at 100 ºC, 140 ºC and 180 ºC. The samples were taken before heating and after 48, 144, 240, 336, 432, 576, 768, 1008 and 1368h of heating. The analyses of tocopherols were made by high performance liquid chromatography, with a fluorescence detector. It was determined that α-tocopherol was the compound with the fastest degradation rate at the three heating temperatures. The highest degradation rate of tocopherols in both oils occurred at 180 ºC. Among the tocopherols studied, α tocopherol presented the lowest stability, followed by (β+γ)- and δ-tocopherols.La estabilidad de los tocoferoles α-, (β + γ) - y δ presentes en los aceites de salvado de arroz a diferentes temperaturas de calentamiento fueron evaluadas. Para ello, se utilizaron muestras de aceite de salvado de arroz proveniente de los procesos de refinación química y física de industrias brasileñas. Los aceites fueron sometidos a 100 ºC, 140 ºC y 180 ºC, en cabinas de secado sin circulación de aire, bajo ausencia de luz. Las muestras fueron tomadas antes de la calefacción y después de 48, 144, 240, 336, 432, 576, 768, 1008 y 1368 h de calentamiento. El análisis de tocoferoles fue realizado por cromatografía líquida de alta eficacia, con detector de fluorescencia. Se observó que el α-tocoferol fue el compuesto con degradación más rápida en las tres temperaturas de calentamiento. La mayor tasa de degradación de los tocoferoles, en ambos aceites, ocurrió a la temperatura de 180 ºC. Entre los tocoferoles analizados, α-tocoferol presentó menor estabilidad, seguido por los (β + γ) - y δ-tocoferoles

Compartimentação topossequencial e caracterização fitossociológica de um capão de Floresta Ombrófila Mista.

Este trabalho teve como objetivo caracterizar a composição e estrutura florística de um capão de floresta no município de Quatro Barras, inserido em Estepe do Primeiro Planalto Paranaense, relacionando relevo e solos. Com base na definição de compartimentos no ambiente, que considerou as formas e declividades das rampas e as características dos solos, foram instaladas parcelas para amostragem das árvores. As espécies responderam em diversidade e densidade às diferentes condições de drenagem dos Cambissolos e Gleissolos do capão. Podocarpus lambertii demonstrou elevada adaptabilidade a solos com diferentes regimes de saturação hídrica, enquanto Myrcia laruotteana apresentou relação estreita com solos saturados hidricamente. A compartimentação ambiental com base em geomorfologia e solos mostrou ser um quesito fundamental para a melhor compreensão da distribuição das espécies vegetais na paisagem

Variabilidade genética de populações naturais de caroá por meio de marcadores RAPD.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi quantificar a variabilidade genética entre e dentro de populações de caroá (Neoglaziovia variegata), por meio de marcadores "" (RAPD). Foram analisados 180 genótipos de caroá, provenientes dos municípios de Guanambi, Juazeiro e Valente, no Estado da Bahia. Foi observado elevado polimorfismo entre as populações de caroá. As dissimilaridades genéticas entre os genótipos variaram de 0,08 a 0,95, com média de 0,44. A variância molecular mostrou que 56% da variação total foi explicada pelas diferenças entre indivíduos dentro de locais. As diferenças entre municípios explicaram 17% da variação total, enquanto as diferenças entre locais dentro dos municípios explicaram 26% da variação

Caracterização agronômica e molecular de mutantes de bananeira 'Pacovan'.

A indução de mutação por raios gama, juntamente com as técnicas de cultivo in vitro, constitui uma ferramenta para os programas de melhoramento visando à redução do porte em bananeira. Essa técnica de mutação induzida tem como objetivo promover o melhoramento de uma única característica governada por um ou poucos genes, conservando as outras características do fenótipo original. Os ISSRs (Inter Simple Sequence Repeats) são marcadores dominantes e reproduzíveis, com a vantagem de gerar grandes quantidades de bandas, sendo amplamente distribuídos ao longo do genoma de eucariontes (FANG & ROOSE, 1997). O objetivo deste trabalho foi selecionar mutantes putativos com porte reduzido da cultivar Pacovan submetida a irradiação com raios gama e estimar a variabilidade genética mediante a utilização de marcadores moleculares ISSR.pdf 159

Developing resources to facilitate culturally-sensitive service planning and delivery – doing research inclusively with people with learning disabilities

Background Black, Asian and minority ethnic people with learning disabilities face inequities in health and social care provision. Lower levels of service uptake and satisfaction with services have been reported, however, this is largely based on the views of carers. The ‘Access to Social Care: Learning Disabilities (ASC-LD)’ study sought to explore the views and experiences of social support services among adults with learning disabilities from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. Interviews with 32 Black, Asian and minority ethnic adults with learning disabilities were conducted to explore participants’ cultural identities, their understanding and experience of ‘support’. The views and experiences expressed in the ASC-LD study were used in the ‘Tools for Talking project’ to develop a suite of resources designed to facilitate culturally-sensitive communication and information-sharing, service planning and delivery through improved mutual understanding between providers and users of services. This paper describes the Tools for Talking project which sought to co-develop the resources through a partnership event. Methods An inclusive approach was adopted to address issues that are important to people with learning disabilities, to represent their views and experiences, and to involve Black, Asian and minority ethnic people with learning disabilities in the research process. Partnerships were developed with provider organisations and service users who were invited to a ‘Partnership Event’. Collaborators at the partnership event were asked to comment on and evaluate draft resources which included a series of videos and activities to explore topics that emerged as important in the ASC-LD study. Their comments were collated and the tools developed as they suggested. Results Using the results from the ASC-LD study helped to ensure that the draft resources were relevant to service users, addressing topics that were important to them. The partnership event was an effective method to collaborate with a relatively large number of stakeholders. However, the event was resource intensive and required substantial planning to ensure active and meaningful participation. Considerations, such as inviting stakeholders, developing the programme and selecting a venue are discussed. Conclusions The partnership approach has led to the development of a set of five illustrative videos and accompanying activities that address issues that emerged from the collaborative process including: culture, activities, support from staff, important people, choices and independence. These resources are freely available at: www.Toolsfortalking.co.uk. They are designed to be used by users and providers of services, but may also be useful in other settings

A Grassmann integral equation

The present study introduces and investigates a new type of equation which is called Grassmann integral equation in analogy to integral equations studied in real analysis. A Grassmann integral equation is an equation which involves Grassmann integrations and which is to be obeyed by an unknown function over a (finite-dimensional) Grassmann algebra G_m. A particular type of Grassmann integral equations is explicitly studied for certain low-dimensional Grassmann algebras. The choice of the equation under investigation is motivated by the effective action formalism of (lattice) quantum field theory. In a very general setting, for the Grassmann algebras G_2n, n = 2,3,4, the finite-dimensional analogues of the generating functionals of the Green functions are worked out explicitly by solving a coupled system of nonlinear matrix equations. Finally, by imposing the condition G[{\bar\Psi},{\Psi}] = G_0[{\lambda\bar\Psi}, {\lambda\Psi}] + const., 0<\lambda\in R (\bar\Psi_k, \Psi_k, k=1,...,n, are the generators of the Grassmann algebra G_2n), between the finite-dimensional analogues G_0 and G of the (``classical'') action and effective action functionals, respectively, a special Grassmann integral equation is being established and solved which also is equivalent to a coupled system of nonlinear matrix equations. If \lambda \not= 1, solutions to this Grassmann integral equation exist for n=2 (and consequently, also for any even value of n, specifically, for n=4) but not for n=3. If \lambda=1, the considered Grassmann integral equation has always a solution which corresponds to a Gaussian integral, but remarkably in the case n=4 a further solution is found which corresponds to a non-Gaussian integral. The investigation sheds light on the structures to be met for Grassmann algebras G_2n with arbitrarily chosen n.Comment: 58 pages LaTeX (v2: mainly, minor updates and corrections to the reference section; v3: references [4], [17]-[21], [39], [46], [49]-[54], [61], [64], [139] added

Identificação e análise da expressão de genes relacionados com o mal-do-Panamá em bananeira, por meio de PCR em Tempo Real.

A banana é a fruta mais consumida no mundo. No Brasil é cultivada em todo país, destacando-se como cultura de maior expressão econômica. Dentre as doenças que ocorrem o 'mal-do-Panamá', causado pelo fungo Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense (Foc), altamente destrutivo limitando a produção

Genetic diversity and nonparametric statistics to identify possible ISSR marker association with fiber quality of pineapple.

Due to the increasing search for renewable resources, plant fibers have become an alternative when creating new products. Studies demonstrate the potential use of pineapple fibers in composites. The objective of this work was to evaluate the genetic diversity and verify any association between ISSR (Inter Simple Sequence Repeats) bands and quality of pineapple fibers for use in cements in the civil construction. The study analyzed the genetic variability of 11 pineapple genotypes, as well as the possible association of 131 bands from 16 ISSR markers with fiber quality characteristics. Eleven bands were selected based on their high correlations (0.64578* to 0.72457*) with three fiber quality variables. Of these, two bands were purified, sequenced, and blasted against sequences in GenBank at NCBI. These markers can be used in marker assisted selection to genetically improve the quality of pineapple fiber. Bands that returned no hits in the NCBI BLAST search can be deposited as new sequences in the GenBank. Therefore, the SCAR markers, once validated, can be useful in pineapple genetic breeding programs worldwide by using molecular marker assisted selection for fiber resistance, which could subsidize the development of more promising genotypes for industrial use and contribute to the sustainability of this new production sector

A review of exposure assessment methods for epidemiological studies of health effects related to industrially contaminated sites

BACKGROUND: this paper is based upon work from COST Action ICSHNet. Health risks related to living close to industrially contaminated sites (ICSs) are a public concern. Toxicology-based risk assessment of single contaminants is the main approach to assess health risks, but epidemiological studies which investigate the relationships between exposure and health directly in the affected population have contributed important evidence. Limitations in exposure assessment have substantially contributed to uncertainty about associations found in epidemiological studies. OBJECTIVES: to examine exposure assessment methods that have been used in epidemiological studies on ICSs and to provide recommendations for improved exposure assessment in epidemiological studies by comparing exposure assessment methods in epidemiological studies and risk assessments. METHODS: after defining the multi-media framework of exposure related to ICSs, we discussed selected multi-media models applied in Europe. We provided an overview of exposure assessment in 54 epidemiological studies from a systematic review of hazardous waste sites; a systematic review of 41 epidemiological studies on incinerators and 52 additional studies on ICSs and health identified for this review. RESULTS: we identified 10 multi-media models used in Europe primarily for risk assessment. Recent models incorporated estimation of internal biomarker levels. Predictions of the models differ particularly for the routes ‘indoor air inhalation’ and ‘vegetable consumption’. Virtually all of the 54 hazardous waste studies used proximity indicators of exposure, based on municipality or zip code of residence (28 studies) or distance to a contaminated site (25 studies). One study used human biomonitoring. In virtually all epidemiological studies, actual land use was ignored. In the 52 additional studies on contaminated sites, proximity indicators were applied in 39 studies, air pollution dispersion modelling in 6 studies, and human biomonitoring in 9 studies. Exposure assessment in epidemiological studies on incinerators included indicators (presence of source in municipality and distance to the incinerator) and air dispersion modelling. Environmental multi-media modelling methods were not applied in any of the three groups of studies. CONCLUSIONS: recommendations for refined exposure assessment in epidemiological studies included the use of more sophisticated exposure metrics instead of simple proximity indicators where feasible, as distance from a source results in misclassification of exposure as it ignores key determinants of environmental fate and transport, source characteristics, land use, and human consumption behaviour. More validation studies using personal exposure or human biomonitoring are needed to assess misclassification of exposure. Exposure assessment should take more advantage of the detailed multi-media exposure assessment procedures developed for risk assessment. The use of indicators can be substantially improved by linking definition of zones of exposure to existing knowledge of extent of dispersion. Studies should incorporate more often land use and individual behaviour