Polyhydroxyalkanoate Production from Eucalyptus Bark's Enzymatic Hydrolysate

ABSTRACT: In recent years, polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) have gained notoriety because of their desirable properties that include proven biodegradability, biocompatibility, and thermal stability, which make them suitable alternatives to fossil-based polymers. However, the widespread use of PHAs is still challenging because of their production costs, which are greatly associated with the cultivation medium used for bacterial cultivation. In Portugal, one-quarter of the forest area is covered by Eucalyptus globulus wood, making its residues a cheap, abundant, and sustainable potential carbon source for biotechnological uses. In this work, eucalyptus bark was used as the sole feedstock for PHA production in a circular bioeconomic approach. Eucalyptus bark hydrolysate was obtained after enzymatic saccharification using Cellic (R) CTec3, resulting in a sugar-rich solution containing glucose and xylose. Although with differing performances, several bacteria were able to grow and produce PHA with distinct compositions, using the enzymatic hydrolysate as the sole carbon source. Pseudomonas citronellolis NRRL B-2504 achieved a high cellular growth rate in bioreactor assays (24.4 +/- 0.15 g/L) but presented a low accumulation of a medium-chain-length PHA (mcl-PHA) comprising the monomers hydroxydecanoate (HD, 65%), hydroxydodecanoate (HDd, 25%), and hydroxytetradecanoate (HTd, 14%). Burkholderia thailandensis E264, on the other hand, reached a lower cellular growth rate (8.87 +/- 0.34 g/L) but showed a higher biopolymer accumulation, with a polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) content in the cells of 12.3 wt.%. The new isolate, Pseudomonas sp., revealed that under nitrogen availability, it was able to reach a higher accumulation of the homopolymer PHB (31 wt.%). These results, although preliminary, demonstrate the suitability of eucalyptus bark's enzymatic hydrolysate as a feedstock for PHA production, thus offering an exciting avenue for achieving sustainable and environmentally responsible plastic products from an undervalued forestry waste.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Produtos Alimentares Nutricionalmente equilibrados para máquinas de venda automática

Nas estimativas para Portugal, no âmbito do estudo Global Burden of Disease em 2014, os hábitos alimentares inadequados foram o fator de risco que mais contribuiu para o total de anos de vida saudável perdidos pela população portuguesa (19%). Os resultados deste e de outros estudos permitem constatar que os alimentos com elevador teores de sal, de açúcar e de ácidos gordos trans, representam os maiores riscos para o estado de saúde das populações. Às máquinas de venda automática estão associados produtos com excessivas quantidades de sal, hidratos de carbono simples (açúcares) e lípidos (essencialmente, ácidos gordos saturados e trans), que, em contrapartida, apresentam défices em macronutrientes essenciais. O consumidor espera cada vez mais ter à sua disposição produtos alimentares saudáveis, mostrando-se exigente quanto à sua composição nutricional, sendo esta uma das principais características apontadas para a aquisição dos mesmos. Modificar a disponibilidade alimentar nas máquinas de venda automática é uma estratégia de extrema relevância, não só para responder aos interesses e exigências do consumidor, mas também para o desenvolvimento de ambientes promotores da saúde e do bem-estar das populações, assegurando que cada cidadão tenha igual oportunidade de fazer escolhas saudáveis e de cumprir, de forma plena, o seu potencial de saúde e o seu direito a uma longevidade saudável. Neste trabalho, pretendeu-se desenvolver produtos nutricionalmente equilibrados, na indústria da panificação, para comercialização em máquinas de venda automática. Avançou-se com a criação de duas linhas de produtos nutricionalmente equilibrados com vários recheios, incluindo peixe, carne e vegetariano em ambas as linhas, disponibilizando não só um produto equilibrado a nível nutricional, como também, variedade organolética. Para a análise do valor nutricional dos produtos recorreu-se à Tabela da Composição de Alimentos do Instituto Nacional de Saúde Dr. Ricardo Jorge. Realizaram-se análises sensoriais, incluindo testes descritivos e hedónicos, com diferentes recheios e massas. Os testes realizados permitiram o aperfeiçoamento a nível organolético, com a alteração de quantidades e qualidade de ingredientes, de forma a chegar aos produtos finais. Posto isso verificou-se que é possível desenvolver produtos nutricionalmente equilibrados com características favoráveis no que diz respeito à aparência, sabor e textura, mantendo-se conservados por um período de tempo adequado que vai de encontro com a politica de venda imediata de produtos, com duração preferencial entre três a quatro dias. Considera-se que os produtos desenvolvidos são viáveis para comercialização em máquinas de venda automática, uma vez que, para além de serem de fácil execução em produção industrial, apresentam um custo de produção aceitável e um formato adequado ao serviço pretendido. Como se objetivava, os produtos desenvolvidos apresentam características nutricionais favoráveis ao consumidor, baixos teores de açúcares e lípidos (totais e saturados), respeitando as recomendações da Organização Mundial de Saúde, orientações da Direção-Geral da Educação e imposições do Despacho nº7516A/2016 que regula as máquinas de venda automática das instituições do Ministério da Saúde.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Functional and genomic characterization of Komagataeibacter uvaceti FXV3, a multiple stress resistant bacterium producing increased levels of cellulose

Funding Information: This work was supported by the Applied Molecular Biosciences Unit - UCIBIO which is financed by national funds from FCT ( UIDB/04378/2020). Funding Information: Funding from INTERFACE Programme, through the Innovation, Technology and Circular Economy Fund (FITEC), is gratefully acknowledged. Publisher Copyright: © 2021Bacterial cellulose is one of the most promising biomaterials for the development of a wide array of novel biotechnological solutions. Nevertheless, the commercial production of bacterial cellulose is still a challenge and obtaining novel strains presenting increased cellulose biosynthesis and stress resistance properties is of extreme importance. This work demonstrates the increased stress resistance, cellulose production abilities, and overall genomic properties of Komagataeibacter uvaceti FXV3, a novel cellulose-producing and stress resistant strain isolated from a fermented grape must. K. uvaceti FXV3 was able to grow under several stress conditions, including the presence of high concentrations of ethanol (up to 7.5 % v/v), a trait that is not observed in the model strain K. xylinus CECT 7351T. Moreover, K. uvaceti FXV3 produced increased concentrations of cellulose (4.31 mg/mL, 7 days after inoculation-DAI) when compared to K. xylinus CECT 7351T (1.42 mg/mL, 7 DAI). Moreover, the detailed analysis of strain FXV3 genome revealed the presence of several genes involved in cellulose and acetan biosynthesis, quorum-sensing and quenching mechanisms, carbohydrate, amino acid, alcohol and aldehyde metabolism, as well as several other genes involved in stress resistance. Additionally, comparative genomic analysis revealed the increased prevalence of stress resistance genes in K. uvaceti FXV3 when compared to K. xylinus CECT 7351T. Ultimately, this study reveals the increased biotechnological potential of K. uvaceti FXV3 and brings new insights into the genetics behind Komagataeibacter stress resistance and cellulose production abilities.publishersversionpublishe

Agreement Between the Douleur Neuropathique in 4 Questions and Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs Questionnaires to Classify Neuropathic Pain Among Patients with Leprosy.

Neuropathic pain (NP) often occurs during the course of leprosy, and screening tools to differentiate NP from non-NP are often used. However, their performance varies in different settings. The most frequently used scales are the Douleur Neuropathique in 4 questions (DN4) and the Leeds assessment of neuropathic symptoms and signs (LANSS) questionnaires. Thus, we conducted a study to evaluate the agreement between DN4 and LANSS questionnaires to classify NP in 195 leprosy patients attending two reference centers in Sergipe, Brazil. The DN4 and LANSS classified 166 and 110 patients, respectively, as having NP. One hundred and seven (54.8%) were classified as NP by both questionnaires; 59 (30.2%) solely by the DN4 questionnaire and three (1.5%) solely by the LANSS. The agreement of the questionnaires was 66.2% (weak agreement, Kappa = 0.30). Although both questionnaires identified a high proportion of NP, the development of more robust instruments is necessary to ensure the accuracy of diagnosis of leprosy patients classified as having NP

DETECÇÃO DO USO DE CAPACETE UTILIZANDO MÁQUINAS DE COMITÊ

The number of motorcycles in the world has grown rapidly in recent years because it is a more flexible transportation and faster when you are in traffic. This increase in such transportation to the recklessness of drivers involved in a very high number of accidents. The helmet is a mandatory safety item for bikers, but many drivers do not use or use incorrectly. Automatic detection of non-helmet use by a computer system, aims to improve the monitoring of traffic and enable its large-scale deployment. Thus, this study aims to classify images where motorcyclists are or are not using the helmet, this classification is done using committee machines, which aims to use a combination of several experts to reach a comprehensive decision that is supposedly superior to that reached by any of them acting alone.O número de motocicletas no mundo vem aumentando muito nos últimos anos, devido ela ser um transporte mais flexível e mais rápido quando se está no trânsito. Este aumento de tal transporte com a imprudência dos condutores implicou em um número muito alto de acidentes. O capacete é um item de segurança obrigatório para os motociclistas, mas muitos dos condutores não utilizam ou utilizam incorretamente. A detecção automática do não uso de capacete, por um sistema computacional, tem como objetivo aperfeiçoar o monitoramento do tráfego e viabilizar sua implantação em larga escala. Dessa forma, este trabalho tem por objetivo classificar imagens onde os motociclistas estão ou não utilizando o capacete, esta classificação é feita usando máquinas de comitê, que tem por objetivo utilizar a combinação de vários especialistas para chegar a uma decisão global que é supostamente superior àquela alcançável por qualquer um deles atuando isoladamente

Stakeholders’ views on drug development: the congenital disorders of glycosylation community perspective

Background Congenital disorders of glycosylation (CDG) are a large family of rare genetic diseases for which therapies are virtually nonexistent. However, CDG therapeutic research has been expanding, thanks to the continuous efforts of the CDG medical/scientific and patient communities. Hence, CDG drug development is a popular research topic. The main aim of this study was to understand current and steer future CDG drug development and approval by collecting and analysing the views and experiences of the CDG community, encompassing professionals and families. An electronic (e-)survey was developed and distributed to achieve this goal. Results A total of 128 respondents (46 CDG professionals and 82 family members), mainly from Europe and the USA, participated in this study. Most professionals (95.0%) were relatively familiar with drug development and approval processes, while CDG families revealed low familiarity levels, with 8.5% admitting to never having heard about drug development. However, both stakeholder groups agreed that patients and families make significant contributions to drug development and approval. Regarding their perceptions of and experiences with specific drug development and approval tools, namely biobanks, disease models, patient registries, natural history studies (NHS) and clinical trials (CT), the CDG community stakeholders described low use and participation, as well as variable familiarity. Additionally, CDG professionals and families shared conflicting views about CT patient engagement and related information sharing. Families reported lower levels of involvement in CT design (25.0% declared ever being involved) and information (60.0% stated having been informed) compared to professionals (60.0% and 85.7%, respectively). These contrasting perceptions were further extended to their insights and experiences with patient-centric research. Finally, the CDG community (67.4% of professionals and 54.0% of families) reported a positive vision of artificial intelligence (AI) as a drug development tool. Nevertheless, despite the high AI awareness among CDG families (76.8%), professionals described limited AI use in their research (23.9%). Conclusions This community-centric study sheds new light on CDG drug development and approval. It identifies educational, communication and research gaps and opportunities for CDG professionals and families that could improve and accelerate CDG therapy development

Matching conducted EMI to international standards

In this paper, the authors present a methodology that allows them to accommodate the conducted electromagnetic interference (EMI) generated by power factor correctors to international standards in the design step. EMI filter design considerations and EMI predictive procedures are presented. The predictive procedures are based in a family of curves that allows to determine the conducted EMI, generated for the basic PFC converters (boost, buck-boost, Zeta, Sepic, Cuk, and buck converters). Using these curves, one can determine the amplitude of the first harmonic in dB/μV in accordance with the CISPR 16 standard. Therefore, with this information, it is possible to design EMI filter

Toxicological in vivo studies of an oral insulin nanosystem

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6TCR-4PKH640-7G/1/31df064ec957f50aa568d739cd5d741

Synthesis of polymer-based triglycine sulfate nanofibres by electrospinning

In this work we present the synthesis and characterization of polyethylene oxide (PEO) based triglycine sulfate (NH2(CH2OOH)3H2S04, TGS) nanofibres obtained by electrospinning. The fibres, with typical diameters of about 190–750 nm and above several hundred micrometres in length, present the nanocrystals of TGS embedded in a polymer matrix. The obtained nanofibres were characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy and the domain structure was examined by piezoforce microscopy. Dielectric permittivity measurements on the TGS–PEO nanofibres exhibit the characteristic ferroelectric–paraelectric phase transition at around 50 ºC.This work was financially supported by Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (reference CIENCIA-2007 UMINHOCF-06). The authors would like to acknowledge Luis Vieira for help in FT-IR measurements

Community structure of shallow rocky shore fish in a tropical bay of the southwestern Atlantic

Os costões rochosos do Atlântico Sul Ocidental sustentam ricas comunidades de peixes recifais. Apesar disso, o conhecimento sobre essas comunidades em zonas tropicais continua escasso, especialmente no Brasil. No presente trabalho avaliamos parâmetros das comunidades de peixes recifais, tais como composição e estrutura trófica, além de sua interação com variáveis físicas e bióticas, em quatro costões rochosos tropicais na Baía de Todos os Santos, costa leste do Brasil. Durante seis meses 80 censos visuais foram realizados, nos quais 3.582 peixes pertencentes a 76 espécies foram registrados. Os peixes herbívoros territoriais e as algas filamentosas dominaram em todos os costões. A variação espacial na estrutura da comunidade de peixes esteve relacionada com a composição bêntica e profundidade. A elevada abundância observada de peixes herbívoros territoriais e invertívoros móveis pode ser devido à alta cobertura de algas filamentosas e à baixa profundidade e exposição às ondas. Além disso, esse padrão também pode ser explicado pela baixa densidade de herbívoros errantes e grandes carnívoros, provavelmente devido à intensa pressão da atividade pesqueira. Assim, novos estudos são necessários para avaliar o real estado de conservação destes ambientes, uma vez que estão localizados em posição singular na Baía de Todos os Santos, conectando recifes internos e externos da área.Southwestern Atlantic Ocean rocky shores sustain important reef fish communities. However, those communities in tropical regions are not well understood, especially in Brazil. In this present article we assess community parameters of reef fishes such as composition, trophic organization and their relationships with physical and biological factors on four tropical rocky shores in Todos os Santos Bay, southwestern Atlantic. During six months, a total of 80 visual censuses were performed, in which 3,582 fish belonging to 76 species were recorded. Territorial herbivorous fish and turf algae were dominant at all the sites. The spatial variability of fish community structure was related to the benthic cover composition and depth. The high abundance of territorial herbivores and mobile invertebrate feeders could be associated with high levels of turf cover, low wave exposure and shallow waters. Moreover, this fact could be a consequence of the low density of roving herbivores and large carnivores probably due to the pressure of intense fishing activity. Thus complementary studies are needed to evaluate the actual conservation status of these rocky shore reefs, singularly located habitats connecting inner and outer reefs in Todos os Santos Bay