Influência da integridade dos frutos de taperebá (Spondias mombin L.) in natura na qualidade da polpa congelada.

Encontrado na região Amazônica o taperebá é um fruto amplamente consumido, em função do sabor agradável, boa composição nutricional e presença de carotenoides. A comercialização como polpa congelada é a forma de beneficiamento mais usual no Brasil. A polpa do fruto é revestida por uma casca fina, facilmente rompida por choque mecânico, o tornando muito perecível. A coleta dos frutos na Amazônica é feita de forma manual, quando maduros se desprendem das árvores (altura de 20 a 30 metros), sendo então coletados no solo ou em telas de proteção. Tal prática resulta na perda de integridade da maioria dos frutos, o que torna mais rápida a deterioração dos mesmos. Entretanto, não há registros científicos relacionando a qualidade da polpa com a integridade dos frutos. Desta forma, o objetivo do trabalho foi avaliar esta influência, realizando a caracterização físico-química, estudos de compostos bioativos e análise microbiológica. Resultados mostraram que a polpa obtida através de frutos mais íntegros apresentou maiores teores de compostos fenólicos, vitamina C, sólidos solúveis e açúcares totais, podendo indicar que os frutos batidos possivelmente sofreram ligeiro processo fermentativo. Análises microbiológicas apresentaram contagens de bactérias e bolores e leveduras superiores, além da detecção de coliformes, inclusive fecais. Tais resultados reforçam a necessidade de técnicas mais apropriadas de coleta e da prática de pasteurização para polpa, visando a qualidade do produto final

Transforming phylogenetic networks: Moving beyond tree space

Phylogenetic networks are a generalization of phylogenetic trees that are used to represent reticulate evolution. Unrooted phylogenetic networks form a special class of such networks, which naturally generalize unrooted phylogenetic trees. In this paper we define two operations on unrooted phylogenetic networks, one of which is a generalization of the well-known nearest-neighbor interchange (NNI) operation on phylogenetic trees. We show that any unrooted phylogenetic network can be transformed into any other such network using only these operations. This generalizes the well-known fact that any phylogenetic tree can be transformed into any other such tree using only NNI operations. It also allows us to define a generalization of tree space and to define some new metrics on unrooted phylogenetic networks. To prove our main results, we employ some fascinating new connections between phylogenetic networks and cubic graphs that we have recently discovered. Our results should be useful in developing new strategies to search for optimal phylogenetic networks, a topic that has recently generated some interest in the literature, as well as for providing new ways to compare networks

The ‘state of exception’ and disaster education: a multilevel conceptual framework with implications for social justice

The term ‘state of exception’ has been used by Italian political theorist Giorgio Agamben to explain the ways in which emergencies, crises and disasters are used by governments to suspend legal processes. In this paper, we innovatively apply Agamben’s theory to the way in which countries prepare and educate the population for various types of emergencies. We focus on two main aspects of Agamben’s work: first, the paradoxical nature of the state of exception, as both a transient and a permanent part of governance. Second, it is a ‘liminal’ concept expressing the limits of law and where ‘law’ meets ‘not-law’. We consider the relationship between laws related to disasters and emergencies, and case studies of the ways in which three countries (England, Germany and Japan) educate their populations for crisis and disaster. In England, we consider how emergency powers have been orientated around the protection of the Critical National Infrastructure and how this has produced localised ‘states of exception’ and, relatedly, pedagogical anomalies. In Germany, we consider the way in which laws related to disaster and civil protection, and the nature of volunteering for civil protection, produce exceptional spaces for non-German bodies. In Japan, we consider the debate around the absence of emergency powers and relate this to Japanese non-exceptional disaster education for natural disasters. Applying Agamben’s work, we conclude by developing a new, multilevel empirical framework for analysing disaster education with implications for social justice

Diffusion of oxygen in amorphous Al_2O_3, Ta_2O_5, and Nb_2O_5

application/pdfArticleJournal of Applied Physics . 2014, 116 (3)journal articl

Retinoic acid regulates avian lung branching through a molecular network

Retinoic acid (RA) is of major importance during vertebrate embryonic development and its levels need to be strictly regulated otherwise congenital malformations will develop. Through the action of specific nuclear receptors, named RAR/RXR, RA regulates the expression of genes that eventually influence proliferation and tissue patterning. RA has been described as crucial for different stages of mammalian lung morphogenesis, and as part of a complex molecular network that contributes to precise organogenesis; nonetheless, nothing is known about its role in avian lung development. The current report characterizes, for the first time, the expression pattern of RA signaling members (stra6, raldh2, raldh3, cyp26a1, rar alpha, and rar beta) and potential RA downstream targets (sox2, sox9, meis1, meis2, tgf beta 2, and id2) by in situ hybridization. In the attempt of unveiling the role of RA in chick lung branching, in vitro lung explants were performed. Supplementation studies revealed that RA stimulates lung branching in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, the expression levels of cyp26a1, sox2, sox9, rar beta, meis2, hoxb5, tgf beta 2, id2, fgf10, fgfr2, and shh were evaluated after RA treatment to disclose a putative molecular network underlying RA effect. In situ hybridization analysis showed that RA is able to alter cyp26a1, sox9, tgf beta 2, and id2 spatial distribution; to increase rar beta, meis2, and hoxb5 expression levels; and has a very modest effect on sox2, fgf10, fgfr2, and shh expression levels. Overall, these findings support a role for RA in the proximal-distal patterning and branching morphogenesis of the avian lung and reveal intricate molecular interactions that ultimately orchestrate branching morphogenesis.The authors would like to thank Ana Lima for slide sectioning and Rita Lopes for contributing to the initiation of this project. This work has been funded by FEDER funds, through the Competitiveness Factors Operational Programme (COMPETE), and by National funds, through the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), under the scope of the Project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007038; and by the Project NORTE-01-0145- FEDER-000013, supported by the Northern Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Improved Dynamical Constraints on the Masses of the Central Black Holes in Nearby Low-mass Early-type Galactic Nuclei And the First Black Hole Determination for NGC 205

We improve the dynamical black hole (BH) mass estimates in three nearby low-mass early-type galaxies--NGC 205, NGC 5102, and NGC 5206. We use new \hst/STIS spectroscopy to fit the star formation histories of the nuclei in these galaxies, and use these measurements to create local color--mass-to-light ratio (\ml) relations. We then create new mass models from \hst~imaging and combined with adaptive optics kinematics, we use Jeans dynamical models to constrain their BH masses. The masses of the central BHs in NGC 5102 and NGC 5206 are both below one million solar masses and are consistent with our previous estimates, $9.12_{-1.53}^{+1.84}\times10^5$\Msun~and $6.31_{-2.74}^{+1.06}\times10^5$\Msun~(3$\sigma$ errors), respectively. However, for NGC 205, the improved models suggest the presence of a BH for the first time, with a best-fit mass of $6.8_{-6.7}^{+95.6}\times10^3$\Msun~(3$\sigma$ errors). This is the least massive central BH mass in a galaxy detected using any method. We discuss the possible systematic errors of this measurement in detail. Using this BH mass, the existing upper limits of both X-ray, and radio emissions in the nucleus of NGC 205 suggest an accretion rate $\lesssim$$10^{-5}$ of the Eddington rate. We also discuss the color--\mleff~relations in our nuclei and find that the slopes of these vary significantly between nuclei. Nuclei with significant young stellar populations have steeper color--\mleff~relations than some previously published galaxy color--\mleff~relations.Comment: 31 pages, 19 figures, 6 tables, Accepted to Ap