Stability of pelargonidin 3-glucoside in model solutions in the presence and absence of flavanols

The stability of pelargonidin 3-g1ucoside (Pg3g1uc), the main anthocyanin in strawberry, has been studied in model citrate solutions (PH 3.5, 25°C) in the absence and presence flavanols (catechin and procyanidin B3) and/or oxygen. Changes in the solutions were monitorized by HPLC-DAD/MS and UV-visible spectra.Governo Português e Fundo Social Europeu através da medida n.º 5/Acção nº5.3 - PRODEP (III)(referência 5.3/N/199.006/00-Doutoramento)

Epidermis recreation in spongy-like hydrogels: New opportunities to explore epidermis-like analogues

[Excerpt] On the road to successfully achieving skin regeneration, 3D matrices/scaffolds that provide the adequate physico-chemical and biological cues to recreate the ideal healing environment are believed to be a key element [1], [2] and [3]. Numerous polymeric matrices derived from both natural [4] and [5] and synthetic [6], [7] and [8] sources have been used as cellular supports; nowadays, fewer matrices are simple carriers, and more and more are ECM analogues that can actively participate in the healing process. Therefore, the attractive characteristics of hydrogels, such as high water content, tunable elasticity and facilitated mass transportation, have made them excellent materials to mimic cells’ native environment [9]. Moreover, their hygroscopic nature [10] and possibility of attaining soft tissues-like mechanical properties mean they have potential for exploitation as wound healing promoters [11], [12], [13] and [14]. Nonetheless, hydrogels lack natural cell adhesion sites [15], which limits the maximization of their potential in the recreation of the cell niche. This issue has been tackled through the use of a range of sophisticated approaches to decorate the hydrogels with adhesion sequences such as arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) derived from fibronectin [16], [17] and [18], and tyrosine-isoleucine-glycine-serine-arginine (YIGSR) derived from laminin [18] and [19], which not only aim to modulate cell adhesion, but also influencing cell fate and survival [18]. Nonetheless, its widespread use is still limited by significant costs associated with the use of recombinant bioactive molecules

Anthocyanin pigments in strawberry

The anthocyanin composition was analysed in strawberry fruits from five different cultivars (cv. Eris, Oso Grande, Carisma, Tudnew and Camarosa). Twenty-five defined anthocyanin pigments were detected, most of them containing Pelargonidin (Pg) as aglycone; some cyanidin (Cy) derivatives were also found. Glucose and rutinose were the usual substituting sugars, although arabinose and rhamnose were also tentatively identified; some minor anthocyanins showed acylation with aliphatic acids. A relevant aspect was the detection of anthocyanin-derived pigments, namely 5-carboxypyranopelargonidin-3-glucoside and four condensed pigments containing C–C linked anthocyanin (Pg) and flavanol (catechin and afzelechin) residues. Total anthocyanin content ranged between 200 and 600mg/kg, with Pg 3-gluc constituting 77–90% of the anthocyanins in the strawberry extracts followed by Pg 3-rut (6–11%) and Cy 3-gluc (3–10%). A notable variability was found among the anthocyanin concentrations in samples of a same variety and harvest, indicating a strongly influence of the degree of maturity, edaphic-climatic factors and post-harvest storage

Anthocyanin composition and related pigments in strawberry

The anthocyanin composition of the strawberry has been object of various studies, but it is still not fully characterized. It is well known the presence af pelarganidin 3 - glucoside (Pg 3 -gluc) as major anthocyanin, usually accompanied of smaller proportions of pelargonidin 3- rutinoside (Pg 3 -rut) and cyanidin 3-glucosid e (Cy. 3- gluc).Comissão Europeia (Fundo Social Europeu) e Governo Português através do Programa PRODEP (III) - ref.ª 5.3/N/199.006/00-Doutoramento

Identifying and prioritising services in European terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems

Ecosystems are multifunctional and provide humanity with a broad array of vital services. Effective management of services requires an improved evidence base, identifying the role of ecosystems in delivering multiple services, which can assist policy-makers in maintaining them. Here, information from the literature and scientific experts was used to systematically document the importance of services and identify trends in their use and status over time for the main terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems in Europe. The results from this review show that intensively managed ecosystems contribute mostly to vital provisioning services (e.g. agro-ecosystems provide food via crops and livestock, and forests provide wood), while semi-natural ecosystems (e.g. grasslands and mountains) are key contributors of genetic resources and cultural services (e.g. aesthetic values and sense of place). The most recent European trends in human use of services show increases in demand for crops from agro-ecosystems, timber from forests, water flow regulation from rivers, wetlands and mountains, and recreation and ecotourism in most ecosystems, but decreases in livestock production, freshwater capture fisheries, wild foods and virtually all services associated with ecosystems which have considerably decreased in area (e.g. semi-natural grasslands). The condition of the majority of services show either a degraded or mixed status across Europe with the exception of recent enhancements in timber production in forests and mountains, freshwater provision, water/erosion/natural hazard regulation and recreation/ecotourism in mountains, and climate regulation in forests. Key gaps in knowledge were evident for certain services across all ecosystems, including the provision of biochemicals and natural medicines, genetic resources and the regulating services of seed dispersal, pest/disease regulation and invasion resistance

Application of pineapple fiber in the development of sustainable mortars

Received: January 27th, 2021 ; Accepted: May 12th, 2021 ; Published: October 5th, 2021 ; Correspondence: [email protected] to the great worldwide increase in pineapple production, countries like Brazil and India have problems regarding the correct disposal of residues from the production of this fruit. One of the possibilities is the reuse of these residues in the form of fibers in cementitious materials, as is the case with mortars. As a result, the objective of this work is to evaluate the application of pineapple fibers in mortars in the proportion of 1: 4 (cement: sand) with addition of fiber treated in NaOH in the proportion of 3 and 6%. The properties of mechanical resistance, water absorption, mass density and adhesion were evaluated, aiming to apply the mortar in coatings of rural environments. The results indicate that the fibers reduced the mortar density and increased the mechanical strength. However, there was a reduction in adherence, especially with the use of 6% fiber, in addition to an increase in water absorption. Based on the results, it is concluded that it is feasible to use 3% of pineapple fiber for the production of coating mortars in rural environments because the results obtained in the investigation are compatible with this application and with the established normative limits

Theoretical and experimental study on electron interactions with chlorobenzene: Shape resonances and differential cross sections

9 págs.; 6 figs.; 1 tab.In this work, we report theoretical and experimental cross sections for elastic scattering of electrons by chlorobenzene (ClB). The theoretical integral and differential cross sections (DCSs) were obtained with the Schwinger multichannel method implemented with pseudopotentials (SMCPP) and the independent atom method with screening corrected additivity rule (IAM-SCAR). The calculations with the SMCPP method were done in the static-exchange (SE) approximation, for energies above 12 eV, and in the static-exchange plus polarization approximation, for energies up to 12 eV. The calculations with the IAM-SCAR method covered energies up to 500 eV. The experimental differential cross sections were obtained in the high resolution electron energy loss spectrometer VG-SEELS 400, in Lisbon, for electron energies from 8.0 eV to 50 eV and angular range from 7 to 110. From the present theoretical integral cross section (ICS) we discuss the low-energy shape-resonances present in chlorobenzene and compare our computed resonance spectra with available electron transmission spectroscopy data present in the literature. Since there is no other work in the literature reporting differential cross sections for this molecule, we compare our theoretical and experimental DCSs with experimental data available for the parent molecule benzene. Published by AIP Publishing.A.S.B., M.T.N.V., S.d’A.S., and M.H.F.B. acknowledge the Brazilian Agency Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), under CAPES/FCT Programme (Process No. 23038.002465/2014-87). M.T.N.V., S.d’A.S., and M.H.F.B. acknowledge support from the Brazilian Agency Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico. M.H.F.B. acknowledges support from Finep (under project CT-Infra), and M.T.N.V. from São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP). A.S.B., S.d’A.S., and M.H.F.B. acknowledge computational support from Professor Carlos M. de Carvalho at LFTC-DFis-UFPR and at LCPADUFPR and from CENAPAD-SP. F.F.S. acknowledges the Portuguese National Funding Agency FCT through researcher Contract No. IF-FCT IF/00380/2014 and together with P.LV. the research Grant No. UID/FIS/00068/2013. F.B. and G.G. acknowledge partial financial support from the Spanish Ministry MINECO (Project No. FIS2012-31230).Peer Reviewe

Dificuldades Enfrentadas Pelos Indígenas Durante A Permanência Em Uma Casa De Saúde Indígena Na Região Amazônica/brasil

The National Policy of Health Care to the Indigenous Peoples (PNASI) was established by the Ministry of Health restructuring the Primary Care to Indigenous Health, following the principles and guidelines from the Unified Health System (SUS). This study aims to identify the difficulties faced by the indigenous peoples during the stay in the Indigenous Health Center (Casai) in Santarém (PA), in the Amazon region. It is an exploratory qualitative study, whose approach was through semi-structured interviews, recorded and transcribed, with 15 indigenous people from five ethnic groups, assisted by the Casai (Mawayana, Tunayana, Wai-wai, Tiriyó and Katwena), with help from a translator acquainted with the dialects. We used the content analysis arising from thematic categories: the difficulties faced during the adaptation period in the Casai/Santarém, the feeling about leaving the indigenous land and the perspectives regarding the improvements during the stay. We consider that, despite the increasing changes and advances in indigenous health in Brazil, improvements that can truly meet the health peculiarities of each ethnic group are necessary. © 2016, UNIV SAOPAULO. All rights reserved.25492092

Waterborne Toxoplasmosis, Brazil, from Field to Gene

Water was the suspected vehicle of Toxoplasma gondii dissemination in a toxoplasmosis outbreak in Brazil. A case-control study and geographic mapping of cases were performed. T. gondii was isolated directly from the implicated water and genotyped as SAG 2 type I