Working-class royalty: bees beat the caste system

The struggle among social classes or castes is well known in humans. Here, we show that caste inequality similarly affects societies of ants, bees and wasps, where castes are morphologically distinct and workers have greatly reduced reproductive potential compared with queens. In social insects, an individual normally has no control over its own fate, whether queen or worker, as this is socially determined during rearing. Here, for the first time, we quantify a strategy for overcoming social control. In the stingless bee Schwarziana quadripunctata, some individuals reared in worker cells avoid a worker fate by developing into fully functional dwarf queens

Multivariate Study Of Nile Tilapia Byproducts Enriched With Omega-3 And Dried With Different Methods

The present work aimed at studying the effect of different drying methods applied to tilapia byproducts (heads, viscera and carcasses) fed with flaxseed, verifying the contents of omega-3 fatty acids. Two diets were given to the tilapia: a control and a flaxseed formulation, over the course of 60 days. After this period, they were slaughtered and their byproducts (heads, viscera and carcasses) were collected. These fish parts were analyzed in natura, lyophilized and oven dried. Byproducts from tilapia fed with flaxseed presented docosapentaenoic, eicopentaenoic and docosahexanoic fatty acids as a result of the enzymatic metabolism of the fish. The byproducts from the oven drying process had lower levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids. In the multivariate analysis, the byproducts from fish fed with flaxseed had a greater composition of fatty acids. The addition of flaxseed in fish diets, as well as the utilization of their byproducts, may become a good business strategy. Additionally, the byproducts may be dried to facilitate transport and storage. © 2016 Sociedade Brasileira de Ciencia e Tecnologia de Alimentos, SBCTA. All rights reserved.361182

Overweight and Class I Obesity Are Associated with Lower 10-Year Risk of Mortality in Brazilian Older Adults: The Bambuí Cohort Study of Ageing

Background: Prospective studies mostly with European and North-American populations have shown inconsistent results r

Evaluation of Arenaria montana L. hydroethanolic extract as a chemopreventive food ingredient: A case study focusing a dairy product (yogurt)

Natural ingredients are valuable options to be exploited in the design of innovative food formulations with health benefits. Therefore, it was evaluated the potential use of Arenaria montana L. hydroethanolic extract (rich in apigenin derivatives) as a chemopreventive agent in functional foods. Apigenin is recognized as inhibiting VEGFR-2, which is the key receptor involved in angiogenesis. The obtained extract was also able to inhibit the VEGFR-2 phosphorylation through an enzymatic assay (IC 50 = ~63 µg/mL). Thereafter, free and microencapsulated forms were incorporated in yogurt. The obtained products maintained the nutritional value along the tested 3 days of storage, as also free sugars and fatty acids profiles, in comparison with the control samples. Nevertheless, the VEGFR-2 phosphorylation inhibition was not exhibited as intended. Even this behavior for the microencapsulated forms can be attributed to the protecting effect of the alginate matrix, further studies are required in order to better understand the shown performance.The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) and FEDER for CIMO (UID/AGR/00690/2013) financial support. To POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006984 (LA LSRE-LCM) funded by ERDF through POCI-COMPETE2020 and FCT. To NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000006, funded by NORTE 2020, under PT2020 through ERDF. L. Barros, R.C. Calhelha and J.C.M. Barreira acknowledge the FCT for their post-doctoral grants (SFRH/BPD/107855/2015, SFRH/BPD/68344/2010 and SFRH/BPD/72802/2010, respectively). The authors also thank Ana Maria Carvalho for providing Arenaria montana L. samples.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Potencial anti-angiogénico de iogurtes com extratos ricos em derivados de apigenina

Os metabolitos secundários das plantas têm sido alvo de diversos estudos para avaliação dos benefícios para a saúde humana. Mais concretamente, os compostos fenólicos apresentam elevado potencial de utilização na indústria alimentar, nomeadamente no desenvolvimento de alimentos funcionais. Entre estes, a apigenina tem sido associada a efeitos quimiopreventivos relacionados com o cancro. De facto, a quimioprevenção é um conceito atual e contempla a utilização de medicamentos, compostos biológicos ou nutrientes como estratégia de intervenção na prevenção do cancro. Neste trabalho, preparou-se um extrato a partir de Arenaria montana L. utilizando etanol: água (80:20, v/v) como solvente de extração que, após caracterização por HPLCDAD- ESI/MS mostrou ser rico em derivados de apigenina e possuir um elevado potencial anti-angiogénico demonstrado pela capacidade de inibição da fosforilação do VEGFR-2 (vascular endotelium growth fator receptor). Com o intuito de proteger o potencial bioativo do extrato recorreu-se à sua microencapsulação com alginato através da técnica atomização/coagulação. Posteriormente, utilizaram-se extratos hidroetanólicos, na sua forma livre e microencapsulada, para funcionalizar uma matriz alimentar- iogurte- com o intuito de desenvolver alimentos quimiopreventivos em relação ao processo da angiogénese. Os iogurtes funcionalizados com extrato de A. montana (livre e encapsulado) mostraram um valor nutricional similar ao controlo (iogurte não enriquecido), mas um aumento da capacidade de inibição da fosforilação do VEGFR-2. Este efeito foi mais preservado ao longo do tempo nas amostras funcionalizadas com o extrato protegido. Em suma, este trabalho contribui para a valorização de plantas ricas em flavonoides, explorando o seu potencial anti-angiogénico pela interação com o VEGFR-2.FCT pelo suporte financeiro ao CIMO (PEst-OE/AGR/UI0690/2014); FCT/MEC e FEDER no âmbito do programa PT2020 pelo suporte financeiro ao LSRE (UID/EQU/50020/2013). QREN, ON2 e FEDER (NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000014) e PRODER (Projeto nº 46577- PlantLact). Os autores agradecem ainda à Professora Ana Maria Carvalho pela recolha e identificação das amostras de Arenaria montana