ESTRUTURA TRÓFICA E COMPOSIÇÃO DA NEMATOFAUNA EM UM ECOSSISTEMA COSTEIRO DE DUNAS

Nematodes are abundant metazoans in all ecosystems with some species surviving in extreme conditions. The sand dunes are dynamic systems and are always in a state of successional change in terms of succession and only recently has the distribution and succession of soil animals in coastal dunes been given wider attention. This research focused on to describe the trophic structure of nematode community associated with two stages of a vegetation succession in a coastal moving sand dunes ecosystem in the north shore of the Rio Grande do Norte State. Five sites were classified in two stages of an ecological succession defined as "beach" and "deflation hollows among dunes" where samples of soil, roots and shoots were collected. Nematodes were extracted from the soil by centrifugal flotation procedure and from the roots by this method associated to blender trituration and classified in families and trophic groups according to feeding habits. The structure of nematode fauna was described by maturity index, plant parasite index and modified maturity index and fungal feeders/bacterial feeders and omnivores+predators/bacterial feeders+fungal feeders+plant parasites rates. The ecosystem was characterized by low diversity of families which composed trophic groups, low values of maturity indexes and omnivores+predators/bacterial feeders+fungal feeders+plant parasites ratio and low abundance of dorylaimids. These datas reflected high level of disturbance which this habitat faces

Model Analytical Development for Physical, Chemical, and Biological Characterization of Momordica charantia Vegetable Drug

Momordica charantia is a species cultivated throughout the world and widely used in folk medicine, and its medicinal benefits are well documented, especially its pharmacological properties, including antimicrobial activities. Analytical methods have been used to aid in the characterization of compounds derived from plant drug extracts and their products. This paper developed a methodological model to evaluate the integrity of the vegetable drug M. charantia in different particle sizes, using different analytical methods. M. charantia was collected in the semiarid region of Paraíba, Brazil. The herbal medicine raw material derived from the leaves and fruits in different particle sizes was analyzed using thermoanalytical techniques as thermogravimetry (TG) and differential thermal analysis (DTA), pyrolysis coupled to gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (PYR-GC/MS), and nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR), in addition to the determination of antimicrobial activity. The different particle surface area among the samples was differentiated by the techniques. DTA and TG were used for assessing thermal and kinetic parameters and PYR-GC/MS was used for degradation products chromatographic identification through the pyrograms. The infusions obtained from the fruit and leaves of Momordica charantia presented antimicrobial activity

Compostagem acelerada como alternativa ao gerenciamento de resíduos orgânicos em eventos: um estudo de caso

Devido ao aumento da geração de resíduos sólidos orgânicos em eventos e à escassez de soluções eficazes para seu correto tratamento, técnicas de compostagem se mostram como uma alternativa ao tratamento desses resíduos no próprio local de origem. Através de estudo de caso do evento CasaCor Ceará 2019, o objetivo do artigo foi avaliar o processo de compostagem acelerada com apoio de equipamento eletromecânico, para o gerenciamento de resíduos orgânicos de grandes eventos. Metodologicamente, o estudo teve natureza qualitativa, quantitativa, exploratória e experimental. Realizou-se manuseio prático do equipamento eletromecânico com capacidade de carga de 20 kg, assim como registros manuais e via software Selletiva. Em face do exposto, durante 20 dias de observação e análises, foi constatado que, após o processamento de 24 ciclos de 45 minutos cada, 288,30 kg de resíduos orgânicos foram transformados em 245 kg de compostos prontos e distribuídos em 1.000 unidades de sacos de papel Kraft aos participantes durante o evento. Conclui-se que a metodologia aplicada, através da implementação da composteira eletromecânica, potencializou um eficaz gerenciamento de resíduos orgânicos em eventos e sua transformação em compostos, proporcionando um legado de mais valia socioambiental a ser adotado em atividades de características similares

A Preformulation Study of a New Medicine for Chagas Disease Treatment: Physicochemical Characterization, Thermal Stability, and Compatibility of Benznidazole

This work aimed the studies of physicochemical characterization, thermal stability, and compatibility of benznidazole (BNZ) drug by spectroscopy (NMR, IR), thermoanalytical (differential thermal analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, and thermogravimetry), and chromatographic (HPLC) techniques, beyond the analytical tools of Van’t Hoff equation and Ozawa model. The compatibility study was conducted by binary mixtures (1:1, w/w) of the drug with microcrystalline cellulose 102 and 250, anhydrous lactose, and sodium starch glycolate. The physicochemical characterization confirmed data reported in scientific literature, guaranteeing authenticity of the analyzed raw material. The drug melts at 191.68°C (∆H, 119.71 J g−1), characteristic of a non-polymorphic raw material, and a main stage decomposition at 233.76–319.35°C (∆m, 43.32%) occurred, ending the study with almost all mass volatilized. The quantification of drug purity demonstrated a correlation of 99.63% between the data obtained by chromatographic (99.20%) and thermoanalytical technique (99.56%). The Arrhenius equation and Ozawa model showed a zero-order kinetic behavior for the drug decomposition, and a calculated provisional validity time was 2.37 years at 25°C. The compatibility study evidenced two possible chemical incompatibilities between BNZ and the tested excipients, both associated by the authors to the reaction of the BNZ’s amine and a polymer carbohydrate’s carbonile, being maillard reactions. The BNZ reaction with anhydrous lactose is more pronounced than with the sodium starch glycolate because the lactose has more free hydroxyl groups to undergo reduction by the drug. In this sense, this work guides the development of a new solid pharmaceutical product for Chagas disease treatment, with defined quality control parameters and physicochemical stability