Effect of wood aging on wine mineral composition and 87Sr/86Sr isotopic ratio

The evolution of mineral composition and wine strontium isotopic ratio 87Sr/86Sr (Sr IR) during wood aging were investigated. A red wine was aged in stainless steel tanks with French oak staves (Quercus sessiliflora Salisb.), with three industrial scale replicates. Sampling was carried out after 30, 60, and 90 days of aging, and the wines were evaluated in terms of general analysis, phenolic composition, total polysaccharides, multielement composition, and Sr IR. Li, Be, Mg, Al, Sc, Ti, V, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Ge, As, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, Mo, Sb, Cs, Ba, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Dy, Ho, Er, Yb, Lu, Tl, and Pb elements and 87Sr/86Sr were determined by quadrupole inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (Q-ICP-MS) and Na, K, Ca, and Fe by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). Two-way ANOVA was applied to assess wood aging and time effect on Sr IR and mineral composition. Wood aging resulted in significantly higher concentrations of Mg, V, Co, Ni, and Sr. At the end of the aging period, wine exhibited statistically identical Sr IR compared to control. Study suggests that wood aging does not affect 87Sr/86Sr, not precluding the use of this parameter for wine traceability purposesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

OCORRÊNCIA DA FORMIGA CORTADEIRA ATTA SEXDENS (L.) (HYMENOPTERA: FORMICIDAE) RELACIONADA A ESTRADAS NÃO-PAVIMENTADAS EM DUAS ÁREAS DO SEMIÁRIDO BRASILEIRO COM GRAUS DE PERTURBAÇÃO CONTRASTANTES

In the semiarid Brazilian Caatinga, we compared the occurrence of leaf-cutting ant nests (Atta sexdens) at two areas in Contendas do Sincorá, Bahia State: one single disturbed area subjected to cattle overgrazing (Fazenda Lagoa das Covas: FLC) and one protected area characterized by well-preserved patches of caatinga (Floresta Nacional Contendas do Sincorá: FNCS). We also tested if A. sexdens nests were more abundant near roads. No nest was observed in the FNCS, whereas 35 nests were recorded in the FLC (3.6 colonies ha-1). The number of A. sexdens nests clearly decreased with increasing road distance, which varied from zero to about 140 m. Nests were also observed on roads outside FLC and FNCS. We suggest that roads may be facilitating the expansion of A. sexdens range in the Caatinga vegetation at Contendas do Sincorá. We expect that A. sexdens presence will maintain or even increase the disturbing effects of cattle overgrazing on FLC vegetation. If A. sexdens also succeed to establish in FNCS, this protected area will experience a possible process of flora homogenization and impoverishment, favoring the establishment of plant species associated to anthropogenic disturbances. It is possible that other Caatinga areas are being subjected to the same process of Atta invasion favored by the establishment of paved and unpaved roads.Na Caatinga, semiárido brasileiro, nós comparamos a ocorrência de ninhos da formiga cortadeira (Atta sexdens) em duas áreas do município de Contendas do Sincorá, estado da Bahia: uma área perturbada por pecuária (Fazenda Lagoa das Covas: FLC), e uma protegida e com áreas preservadas de Caatinga (Floresta Nacional Contendas do Sincorá: FNCS). Nós também testamos se os ninhos de A. sexdens são mais abundantes próximos às estradas não pavimentadas. Nenhum ninho foi registrado na FNCS, em contraste, 35 ninhos foram registrados na FLC (3,6 colônias ha-1). O número de ninhos de A. sexdens claramente diminuiu com o aumento da distância da estrada, que variou de 0 a 140 m. Ninhos também foram observados nas estradas do lado de fora da FLC e da FNCS. Nós sugerimos que estradas podem estar facilitando a expansão de A. sexdens nas áreas de caatinga do município de Contendas do Sincorá. Nós esperamos que a presença de A. sexdens irá manter ou mesmo aumentar os efeitos dos distúrbios promovidos pelo gado na vegetação da FLC. Se o estabelecimento de A. sexdens na FNCS também for bem sucedido, nesta área protegida poderá ocorrer um processo de homogeneização e empobrecimento, favorecendo o estabelecimento de espécies de plantas associadas a perturbações antrópicas. É possível que outras áreas da Caatinga estejam sendo submetidas ao mesmo processo de invasão por Atta favorrecido por estradas pavimentadas e não-pavimentadas

Lignin-enriched tricalcium phosphate/sodium alginate 3D scaffolds for application in bone tissue regeneration

The bone is a connective, vascularized, and mineralized tissue that confers protection to organs, and participates in the support and locomotion of the human body, maintenance of homeostasis, as well as in hematopoiesis. However, throughout the lifetime, bone defects may arise due to traumas (mechanical fractures), diseases, and/or aging, which when too extensive compromise the ability of the bone to self-regenerate. To surpass such clinical situation, different therapeutic approaches have been pursued. Rapid prototyping techniques using composite materials (consisting of ceramics and polymers) have been used to produce customized 3D structures with osteoinductive and osteoconductive properties. In order to reinforce the mechanical and osteogenic properties of these 3D structures, herein, a new 3D scaffold was produced through the layer-by-layer deposition of a tricalcium phosphate (TCP), sodium alginate (SA), and lignin (LG) mixture using the Fab@Home 3D-Plotter. Three different TCP/LG/SA formulations, LG/SA ratio 1:3, 1:2, or 1:1, were produced and subsequently evaluated to determine their suitability for bone regeneration. The physicochemical assays demonstrated that the LG inclusion improved the mechanical resistance of the scaffolds, particularly in the 1:2 ratio, since a 15 % increase in the mechanical strength was observed. Moreover, all TCP/LG/SA formulations showed an enhanced wettability and maintained their capacity to promote the osteoblasts' adhesion and proliferation as well as their bioactivity (formation of hydroxyapatite crystals). Such results support the LG inclusion and application in the development of 3D scaffolds aimed for bone regeneration.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A characterization of those automata that structurally generate finite groups

Antonenko and Russyev independently have shown that any Mealy automaton with no cycles with exit--that is, where every cycle in the underlying directed graph is a sink component--generates a fi- nite (semi)group, regardless of the choice of the production functions. Antonenko has proved that this constitutes a characterization in the non-invertible case and asked for the invertible case, which is proved in this paper

O Projeto +Pêssego - inovação e desenvolvimento na cultura do pessegueiro nas região da Beira Interior.

Comunicação da qual só está disponível o resumo.A região da Beira Interior é a principal região de produção de prunóideas [1], sendo o pessegueiro uma cultura com alguma tradição e com possibilidade de expansão pelas favoráveis condições edafo-climáticas e socioeconómicas existentes, pelo conhecimento técnico associado ao seu cultivo [2] e também pela procura dos seus frutos. O projeto +pêssego, financiado pelo Proder, pretende contribuir para a valorização global da fileira através da atuação a nível de diversas práticas culturais e valorização do seu produto – o pêssego. O projeto engloba sete ações distintas, nomeadamente: Manutenção do solo, Monda de flores, Monda de frutos, Gestão da rega, Fertilização racional, Caracterização da qualidade dos frutos, e Caracterização económica da fileira. O conjunto das diferentes ações abrange o acompanhamento de 12 Unidades de Observação (UO) instaladas em explorações de produtores da região (Figura 1), localizadas desde o concelho de Belmonte, a norte, até ao concelho de Castelo Branco, a sul, incluindo a área de produção de pêssego da região da Beira Interior. O projeto tem um valor global aproximado de 600.000€, em que a ESA-IPCB participa com um investimento elegível aprovado de 116.000€. O projeto foi concebido em 2012, tendo sido submetido em fevereiro de 2013, aprovado em junho de 2014 e com execução nos ciclos de 2015 e 2016.Na ação Manutenção do Solo pretende-se avaliar o efeito da utilização da manta de cobertura do solo Ecoblanket na produção frutícola, nos dois primeiros anos após instalação do pomar. Esta manta foi concebida e produzida pela empresa nacional Multifibras com base na utilização de desperdícios da indústria têxtil. Assim procedese à avaliação da utilização da manta no controlo das infestantes, no crescimento das plantas, no teor de água e no nível da população microbiana do solo e na possível ocorrência de pragas, nomeadamente roedores. Na ação Monda de Flores em pessegueiro pretende-se testar e avaliar a eficácia do equipamento portátil Saflower Electric ® para monda de flores e o seu impacto na produção e qualidade dos frutos. Estando a qualidade dos frutos muito dependente da carga de uma árvore, a monda de flores permite reduzir o número de frutos por planta favorecendo o calibre dos mesmos, parâmetro de qualidade que mais determina a sua valorização económica. A ação Monda de Frutos tem como objetivo conceber um equipamento portátil que permita a mecanização da operação de monda de frutos, contribuindo para a rentabilização da cultura. A ação Rega Deficitária Controlada visa a otimização da gestão da água de rega, contribuindo para fundamentar decisões, quer para situações de escassez de água de rega - situação muito comum a sul da serra da Gardunha - quer para situações de elevada disponibilidade de água, como é característico da área abrangida pelo projeto de regadio da Cova da Beira. A ação Fertilização Racional tem como objetivo contribuir para a determinação dos valores de referência a utilizar na avaliação do estado nutricional das plantas. Procura-se uma gestão de fertilizantes mais racional e respeitadora do ambiente sem condicionar a necessária rentabilidade da cultura, num cenário económico onde imperam baixos preços unitários pagos ao produtor. A ação Caracterização da qualidade dos frutos pretende fazer uma caracterização dos frutos das diferentes cultivares existentes na região de modo a fundamentar um plano de divulgação e um plano para a valorização da produção. O resultado desta ação é essencial não só para o desenvolvimento da campanha de divulgação, como também o desenvolvimento de novos produtos à base de pêssego. A ação Estudo Económico tem como objetivo avaliar o rendimento da cultura sobretudo na avaliação do preço pago ao produtor ao longo de toda a época de produção, mas também contribuir para a avaliação da mais-valia da atividade na região, construindo uma base de planeamento e defesa da fileira. 1.INE.Estatísticas Agrícolas 2014. 2015, www.ine.pt (27-08-2015). 2. Simões, M.P. 2008. A fertilização azotada em pessegueiros: influência no estado de nutrição, produção e susceptibilidade a Phomopsis amygdali. Tese de doutoramento. Universidade Técnica de Lisboa – Instituto Superior de Agronomia.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Mucoid morphotype variation of Burkholderia multivorans during chronic cystic fibrosis lung infection is correlated with changes in metabolism, motility, biofilm formation and virulence

Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) bacteria are opportunistic pathogens infecting hosts such as cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Long-term Bcc infection of CF patients' airways has been associated with emergence of phenotypic variation. Here we studied two Burkholderia multivorans clonal isolates displaying different morphotypes from a chronically infected CF patient to evaluate trait development during lung infection. Expression profiling of mucoid D2095 and non-mucoid D2214 isolates revealed decreased expression of genes encoding products related to virulence-associated traits and metabolism in D2214. Furthermore, D2214 showed no exopolysaccharide production, lower motility and chemotaxis, and more biofilm formation, particularly under microaerophilic conditions, than the clonal mucoid isolate D2095. When Galleria mellonella was used as acute infection model, D2214 at a cell number of approximately 7×10(6) c.f.u. caused a higher survival rate than D2095, although 6 days post-infection most of the larvae were dead. Infection with the same number of cells by mucoid D2095 caused larval death by day 4. The decreased expression of genes involved in carbon and nitrogen metabolism may reflect lower metabolic needs of D2214 caused by lack of exopolysaccharide, but also by the attenuation of pathways not required for survival. As a result, D2214 showed higher survival than D2095 in minimal medium for 28 days under aerobic conditions. Overall, adaptation during Bcc chronic lung infections gave rise to genotypic and phenotypic variation among isolates, contributing to their fitness while maintaining their capacity for survival in this opportunistic human niche

What can we learn from a measurement of sin(2 beta + gamma)?

The constraints on the value of the CKM phase gamma that may be achieved by prospective measurements of sin(2 beta) and sin(2 beta + gamma) are discussed. Significant constraints require quite small errors, and may depend on assumptions about strong phases. The measurement of sin(2 beta + gamma) combined with other experiments could provide valuable limits on new physics in Bd-Bdbar mixing.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, RevTex 4, uses amsmath and graphic

Development and method validation for determination of 128 pesticides in bananas by modified QuEChERS and UHPLC–MS/MS analysis

AbstractA multiresidue method for the quantification of 128 pesticides in banana is described. It involves the application of a modified QuEChERS procedure followed by UHPLC–MS/MS (Ultra High Performance Liquid Chromatography coupled to Tandem Mass Spectrometry) analysis. The method was validated according to the European Union SANCO/12495/2011 guidelines and Brazilian Manual of Analytical Quality Assurance. The validation levels were 10.0; 25.0; 50.0 and 100 μg kg−1. Acceptable values were obtained for the following parameters: linearity, limit of detection – LOD (5.00 μg kg−1) and limit of quantification – LOQ (10.0 μg kg−1), except for fenamiphos and mevinphos (LOD = 7.5 μg kg−1 and LOQ = 25 μg kg−1), trueness (for the levels: 10.0, 25.0, 50.0 and 100 μg kg−1 the recovery assays values were between 70 and 120%) except for methamidophos at 10 μg kg−1 level (67.5%), intermediate precision (<20.0%) and measurement uncertainty tests (<50.0%). These results demonstrate the applicability of this method in the routine practice by the laboratories of Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply of Brazil that attend the National Control Plan for Residues and Contaminants (PNCRC)

Exploring the Unitarity Triangle through CP violation observables in Bs→K+K−B_s \to K^+ K^-

We discuss the determination of the CKM parameters from the forthcoming $CP$ violation observables in $B_s \to K^+ K^-$ decays. Combining the information on mixing induced CP violation in $B_s \to K^+ K^-$, with the $B_d \to J/\psi K_s$ precision observable $\sin 2\beta$ and the $B^0_s$--$\bar{B^0_s}$ mixing phase $\phi_s$, we propose a determination of the unitarity triangle $(\bar\rho, \bar\eta)$. Computing the penguin parameters $(r, \theta)$ within QCD factorization yield precise determination of $(\bar\rho, \bar\eta)$, reflected by a weak dependence on the $\theta$ which is shown as a second order effect. The impact of the direct CP violation observable $C_{KK}$ on the penguin parameters are investigated and a lower bound on $C_{KK}$ is extracted. We also discuss the effect of the $B^0_s$--$\bar{B^0_s}$ new physics mixing phase on the penguin parameters $(r, \theta)$ and $S_{KK}$. Using the SU(3)-flavour symmetry argument and the current $B$-factories data provided by the $B_d \to \pi^+ \pi^-$ modes, we complement the $B_s \to K^+ K^-$ CP-violating observables in a variety of ways, in particular we find that $S_{KK}>0$. Finally we analyze systematically the SU(3)-symmetry breaking factor within QCD factorization.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figures, typos corrected, reference and some remarks adde

Moderator role of vitamin D concentrations on the association between metabolic syndrome and C-reactive protein among adults

OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the association between MetS, its components and insulin resistance (IR) with 25(OH)D and hsCRP. The moderator role of 25(OH)D in the association of MetS, its diagnostic components and IR with hsCRP were also explored. MATERIALS AND METHODS:A cross-sectional study (2014/2015) with a population-based cohort in Southern Brazil (n = 605). Metabolic syndrome (MetS) diagnosis was defined based on the Joint Interim Statement, while the Homeostasis Model Assessment of insulin resistance (IR) (HOMA-IR) was used for determining IR. Serum concentrations of 25-hydroxy vitamin D [25(OH)D] (ng/mL) and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) (mg/L) were evaluated following standard protocols. 25(OH)D was categorized as sufficiency (>30 ng/mL), insufficiency (20-30 ng/mL) or deficiency (<20 ng/mL) to test its moderator role. Multiple linear regression was used to test the associations. The results were adjusted for possible confounders. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:Hypertriglyceridemia and IR were associated with lower 25(OH)D concentrations. However, except for systolic blood pressure, other MetS components and IR were associated with higher hsCRP. The association between elevated waist circumference (WC) and hsCRP was moderated by the 25(OH)D concentrations. The hsCRP median concentrations were more than two times higher among those with elevated WC and 25(OH)D insufficiency or deficiency. In this study, inadequate concentrations of 25(OH)D increased the adverse relationship between elevated WC and inflammation. 25(OH)D concentrations could be incorporated into the clinical protocols for monitoring individuals with abdominal obesity to identify those at a higher risk of complications.Angelica Scherlowski Fassula, David Gonzalez-Chica, Marui Corseuil Giehl, Diego Augusto Santos Silva, Francieli Cembranel, Yara Maria Franco Moren