“A Gale of Hope for Latin America” : The Concept of Esperanza/Esperança as a Cultural Keyword

The terms esperanza (Spanish) and esperança (Portuguese) (‘hope’) are frequently used in the political and social discourse of Latin America. In this vast region, plagued by recurrent political and economic crisis and other social challenges, the feeling of hope, but also its counterpart, lack of hope/hopelessness, is present in mass media, social media, the discourse of politicians and other public figures, as well as in the urban landscape, and represents the spirit of people who are not ready to give up on a brighter future. We propose that the terms esperanza/esperança are cultural keywords in Latin America. For our analysis, we have chosen two countries, Argentina and Brazil, to carry out a corpus study. We focus mainly on Twitter data, but we also include other written media to identify the most salient semantic and pragmatic features of these words and their importance in these Latin American countries. As part of the analysis, we look into possible differences between Spanish and Portuguese—that is, differences in use in the selected countries

Overview of phlorotannins’ constituents in Fucales

Fucales are an order within the Phaeophyceae that include most of the common littoral seaweeds in temperate and subtropical coastal regions. Many species of this order have long been a part of human culture with applications as food, feedand remedies in folk medicine. Apart from their high nutritional value, these seaweeds are also a well-known reservoir of multiple bioactive compounds with great industrial interest. Among them, phlorotannins, a unique and diverse class of brown algae-exclusive phenolics, have gathered much attention during the last few years due to their numerous potential health benefits. However, due to their complex structural features, combined with the scarcity of standards, it poses a great challenge to the identification and characterization of these compounds, at least with the technology currently available. Nevertheless, much effort has been taken towards the elucidation of the structural features of phlorotannins, which have resulted in relevant insights into the chemistry of these compounds. In this context, this review addresses the major contributions and technological advances in the field of phlorotannins extraction and characterization, with a particular focus on Fucales.This work received financial support from PT national funds (FCT/MCTES, Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia and Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior) through the projects UIDB/50006/2020 and UIDP/50006/2020. Thanks to PTDC/BAA-AGR/31015/2017, “Algaphlor—Brown algae phlorotannins: From bioavailability to the development of new functional foods”, co-financed by the Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalization— POCI, within the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), and the Science and Technology Foundation (FCT), through national funds. Silva S. thanks FCT for funding through program DL 57/2016–Norma transitória (Ref. SFRH/BPD/74299/2010)

(2,2′-Bipyridine-κ2 N,N′)bromido(1,4,7-trithia­cyclo­nonane-κ3 S,S′,S′′)ruthenium(II) hexa­fluoridophosphate

The title compound, [RuBr(C10H8N2)(C6H12S3)]PF6 or [RuBr(bpy)([9]aneS3)]PF6 ([9]aneS3 is 1,4,7-trithia­cyclo­nonane and bpy is 2,2′-bipyridine), exhibits a very similar octahedral coordination geometry for the Ru2+ atom to that of its [RuCl(bpy)([9]aneS3)]+ analogue, with only the chloride ligand being substituted by a bromide ligand. The presence of a PF6 − anion (alongside with the coordinated bromide ligand) promotes the existence of an extensive network of weak C—H⋯X (X = F, Br) inter­actions

A ruthenium(II)-trithiacyclononane curcuminate complex: synthesis, characterization, DNA-interaction, and cytotoxic activity

The coordination of ruthenium(II) complexes to anionic oxygen-based donors are very rare. This study describes a simple, one-pot method for obtaining [ruthenium(II)(trithiacyclononane)(curcumin)(S-DMSO)]Cl (1) in 37% yield. The structural characterization of complex 1 by elemental analysis, FT-IR, 1-D and 2-D NMR, ESI+-MS as well as UV–vis and fluorescence spectroscopies are presented. The DNA-melting temperature (Tm) assay shows that salmon sperm DNA (smDNA) in the presence of complex 1 has a higher melting temperature, with ΔTm = 7.4 °C, while in the presence of curcumin the melting temperature remains unaltered. The in vitro cytotoxic activities of curcumin and complex 1 were investigated using the tumor human prostate cell line, PC-3, and the healthy cell line, PNT-2. Complex 1 is innocuous toward normal prostate epithelial cells and, whereas curcumin is toxic, with inhibition rates of ca. 35 and 65% at 50 and 80 μM, respectively. On the tumor cell line PC-3, complex 1 did not cause viability changes, whereas curcumin exhibited dose-dependent inhibition, with ca. 73% inhibition at the highest concentration tested, i.e. 80 μM. This study suggests that coordination with the trithiacyclononane ruthenium(II) scaffold stabilizes the photochemical properties of curcumin and strongly changes its biologic activity.publishe

A comparison with H2O steam and H2O2 nebulization methods

This work was financially supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal, in the scope of the project STERILAEROGEL – Green method to prepare sterilised biopolymer-based aerogel (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-032625), the Strategic Projects FCT-MEC PEst-C/EQB/UI0102/2019. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The AuthorsBiopolymers present ideal properties to be used in wound dressing solutions. By mixing two oppositely charged macromolecules it is possible to form polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) based cryogels using lyophilization. Their application in the biomedical field is limited due to their sterilization requirements, as conventional methods compromise their physicochemical properties. ScCO2 appears as an alternative method for decontamination. This work assessed several cryogel PEC formulations, chitosan-pectin, gelatine-xanthan gum and alginate-gelatine. PEC formation was confirmed by FTIR and rheological analysis. While steam sterilization compromised cryogels’ chemical and morphological properties, decontamination with scCO2 proved to be a promising method for decontamination of PEC-cryogels, because, similarly to what is observed with hydrogen peroxide, it does not compromise their physicochemical properties.publishersversionpublishe

A 2:1 cocrystal of the cis and trans isomers of bis­[1,1,1,5,5,5-hexa­fluoro­pentane-2,4-dionato(1−)-κ2 O,O′]bis­(4-phenyl­pyridine N-oxide-κO)copper(II)

The title compound is a co-crystal of the cis and trans isomers, namely cis-bis­[1,1,1,5,5,5-hexa­fluoro­pentane-2,4-dionato(1−)-κ2 O,O′]bis­(4-phenyl­pyridine N-oxide-κO)copper(II)–trans-bis­[1,1,1,5,5,5-hexa­fluoro­pentane-2,4-dionato(1−)-κ2 O,O′]bis(4-phenyl­pyridine N-oxide-κO)copper(II) (2/1), [Cu(C5HF6O2)2(C11H9NO)2]. In both isomers, the coordination geometry of the Cu2+ atom is octa­hedral, exhibiting typical Jahn–Teller distortion. The metal atom of the trans isomer is located on an inversion centre. In the cis isomer, the phenyl ring in one 4-phenyl­pyridine N-oxide ligand is disordered over two orientations in a 1:1 ratio. In the crystal, weak inter­molecular C—H⋯F and C—H⋯O contacts establish connections between the cis and trans isomers

Diaqua­bis(ethyl­enediamine-κ2 N,N′)copper(II) bis­(4-phenyl­benzoate) 2.66-hydrate

In the title complex, [Cu(C2H8N2)2(H2O)2](C13H9O2)2·2.66H2O, the CuII centre (located at an inversion centre) is coordinated by two bidentate ethyl­enediamine (en) ligands and two water O atoms in a typical Jahn–Teller distorted octahedral geometry. The amino groups and the water mol­ecules are disordered over two distinct crystallographic positions with occupancies of 1/3 and 2/3. In the crystal, the cations and anions are disposed in alternating layers. One of the water mol­ecules of crystallization is disordered and the other has a fractional occupation. In the 2/3 occupancy component, water mol­ecules are organized into a chain composed of hexa­meric units inter­connected by carboxyl­ate bridges

Bis(μ-4-phenyl­pyridine N-oxide-κ2 O:O)bis­[bis­(1,1,1,5,5,5-hexa­fluoro­pentane-2,4-dionato)copper(II)]

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, [Cu2(C5HF6O2)4(C11H9NO)2], contains one half of the centrosymmetric dinuclear complex. The coordination geometry of the CuII atom is octa­hedral, exhibiting a typical Jahn–Teller distortion. One trifluoro­methyl group is rotationally disordered between two orientations in a 1:1 ratio