Increasing the sustainability of the coffee agro-industry: spent coffee grounds as a source of new beverages

This work describes a new process for the production of beverages from spent coffee grounds (SCG), as well as the chemical and sensory profiles. The process consisted of the extraction of antioxidant phenolic compounds of SCG, followed by the fermentation of this extract supplemented with sucrose and fermented broth distillation. Thus, two fermented (10.4% and 10.0% of ethanol, by volume) and two distillated (38.1% and 40.2% of ethanol, by volume) beverages were obtained. A total of 45 and 59 volatile compounds (alcohols, esters, aldehydes, terpenes, lactones, pyrazines, norisoprenoids, volatile phenols and acids) identified and quantified by GC-MS characterized the aroma and flavor of the fermented and distilled beverages, respectively. Twenty sensory descriptors define the sensory profile of the two beverages which corroborated the pleasant smell and taste of coffee in the distillate beverage. Therefore, this work demonstrates that the fermented and distilled beverages obtained from spent coffee grounds have acceptable organoleptic qualities that make them suitable for human consumption.This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684) and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 — Programa Operacional Regional do Norte. Thanks to Appellation Orujo de Galicia (Galicia, Spain).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Call for reimagining institutional support for PAR post-COVID

Although we believe academic researchers have a critical role to play in transformative systems change for social and ecological justice, we also argue that academic institutions have been (and continue to be) complicit in colonialism and in racialized, patriarchal capitalism. In this essay, we argue that if academia is to play a constructive role in supporting social and ecological resilience in the late stage Capitalocene epoch, we must move beyond mere critique to enact reimagined and decolonized forms of knowledge production, sovereignty, and structures for academic integrity. We use the pandemic as a moment of crisis to rethink what we are doing as PAR scholars and reflect on our experiences conducting PAR during the pandemic. A framework is presented for the reimaging of institutional support for the embedding of scholars in local social systems. We propose an academy with greater flexibility and consideration for PAR, one with increased funding support for community projects and community engagement offices, and a system that puts local communities first. This reimagining is followed by a set of our accounts of conducting PAR during the pandemic. Each account begins with an author's reflection on their experiences conducting PAR during the pandemic, focusing on how the current university system magnified the impacts of the pandemic. The author's reflection is then followed with a “what if” scenario were the university system changed in such a way that it mitigated or lessened the impacts of the pandemic on conducting PAR. Although this framework for a reimagined university is not a panacea, the reliance on strong in-place local teams, mutually benefiting research processes, and resources for community organizations putting in the time to collaborate with scholars can overcome many of the challenges presented by the pandemic and future crises

Corrigendum: Displacement of the scholar? Participatory action research under COVID-19

The impact of COVID-19 on conducting research is far-reaching, especially for those scholars working for or alongside communities. As the pandemic continues to create and exacerbate many of the issues that communities at the margins faced pre-pandemic, such as health disparities and access to resources, it also creates particular difficulties in collaborative, co-developed participatory research and scholar-activism. These forms of community engagement require the commitment of researchers to look beyond the purview of the racialized capitalist and neoliberal structures and institutions that tend to limit the scope of our research and engagement. Both the presence of the researcher within the community as well as deep community trust in the researcher is required in order to identify and prioritize local, often counter-hegemonic forms of knowledge production, resources, and support networks. The pandemic and similar conditions of crises has likely limited opportunities for building long-term, productive relationships of mutual trust and reciprocity needed for PAR while communities refocus on meeting basic needs. The pandemic has now not only exacerbated existing disparities and made the need for engaged, critical and co-creative partnerships even greater, it has also abruptly halted opportunities for partnerships to occur, and further constrained funds to support communities partnering with researchers. In this paper we highlight accomplishments and discuss the many challenges that arise as participatory action researchers are displaced from the field and classroom, such as funding obstacles and working remotely. An analysis of experiences of the displacement of the scholar exposes the conflicts of conducting PAR during crises within a state of academic capitalism. These experiences are drawn from our work conducting PAR during COVID-19 around the globe, both in urban and rural settings, and during different stages of engagement. From these findings the case is made for mutual learning from peer-experiences and institutional support for PAR. As future crises are expected, increased digital resources and infrastructure, academic flexibility and greater consideration of PAR, increased funding for PAR, and dedicated institutional support programs for PAR are needed

Cabbage and fermented vegetables : From death rate heterogeneity in countries to candidates for mitigation strategies of severe COVID-19

Large differences in COVID-19 death rates exist between countries and between regions of the same country. Some very low death rate countries such as Eastern Asia, Central Europe, or the Balkans have a common feature of eating large quantities of fermented foods. Although biases exist when examining ecological studies, fermented vegetables or cabbage have been associated with low death rates in European countries. SARS-CoV-2 binds to its receptor, the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). As a result of SARS-CoV-2 binding, ACE2 downregulation enhances the angiotensin II receptor type 1 (AT(1)R) axis associated with oxidative stress. This leads to insulin resistance as well as lung and endothelial damage, two severe outcomes of COVID-19. The nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2) is the most potent antioxidant in humans and can block in particular the AT(1)R axis. Cabbage contains precursors of sulforaphane, the most active natural activator of Nrf2. Fermented vegetables contain many lactobacilli, which are also potent Nrf2 activators. Three examples are: kimchi in Korea, westernized foods, and the slum paradox. It is proposed that fermented cabbage is a proof-of-concept of dietary manipulations that may enhance Nrf2-associated antioxidant effects, helpful in mitigating COVID-19 severity.Peer reviewe

Nrf2-interacting nutrients and COVID-19 : time for research to develop adaptation strategies

There are large between- and within-country variations in COVID-19 death rates. Some very low death rate settings such as Eastern Asia, Central Europe, the Balkans and Africa have a common feature of eating large quantities of fermented foods whose intake is associated with the activation of the Nrf2 (Nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2) anti-oxidant transcription factor. There are many Nrf2-interacting nutrients (berberine, curcumin, epigallocatechin gallate, genistein, quercetin, resveratrol, sulforaphane) that all act similarly to reduce insulin resistance, endothelial damage, lung injury and cytokine storm. They also act on the same mechanisms (mTOR: Mammalian target of rapamycin, PPAR gamma:Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor, NF kappa B: Nuclear factor kappa B, ERK: Extracellular signal-regulated kinases and eIF2 alpha:Elongation initiation factor 2 alpha). They may as a result be important in mitigating the severity of COVID-19, acting through the endoplasmic reticulum stress or ACE-Angiotensin-II-AT(1)R axis (AT(1)R) pathway. Many Nrf2-interacting nutrients are also interacting with TRPA1 and/or TRPV1. Interestingly, geographical areas with very low COVID-19 mortality are those with the lowest prevalence of obesity (Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia). It is tempting to propose that Nrf2-interacting foods and nutrients can re-balance insulin resistance and have a significant effect on COVID-19 severity. It is therefore possible that the intake of these foods may restore an optimal natural balance for the Nrf2 pathway and may be of interest in the mitigation of COVID-19 severity

Occupational exposure to environmental tobacco smoke in hospitality venues: are genetic- or proteomics-based biomarkers predictive of respiratory diseases?

Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is recognized as an occupational hazard in the hospitality industry. Although Portuguese legislation banned smoking in most indoor public spaces, it is still allowed in some restaurants/bars, representing a potential risk to the workers’ health, particularly for chronic respiratory diseases. The aims of this work were to characterize biomarkers of early genetic effects and to disclose proteomic signatures associated to occupational exposure to ETS and with potential to predict respiratory diseases development. A detailed lifestyle survey and clinical evaluation (including spirometry) were performed in 81 workers from Lisbon restaurants. ETS exposure was assessed through the level of PM 2.5 in indoor air and the urinary level of cotinine. The plasma samples were immunodepleted and analysed by 2D-SDSPAGE followed by in-gel digestion and LC-MS/MS. DNA lesions and chromosome damage were analysed innlymphocytes and in exfoliated buccal cells from 19 cigarette smokers, 29 involuntary smokers, and 33 non-smokers not exposed to tobacco smoke. Also, the DNA repair capacity was evaluated using an ex vivo challenge comet assay with an alkylating agent (EMS). All workers were considered healthy and recorded normal lung function. Interestingly, following 2D-DIGE-MS (MALDI-TOF/TOF), 61 plasma proteins were found differentially expressed in ETS-exposed subjects, including 38 involved in metabolism, acute-phase respiratory inflammation, and immune or vascular functions. On the other hand, the involuntary smokers showed neither an increased level of DNA/chromosome damage on lymphocytes nor an increased number of micronuclei in buccal cells, when compared to non-exposed non-smokers. Noteworthy, lymphocytes challenge with EMS resulted in a significantly lower level of DNA breaks in ETS-exposed as compared to non-exposed workers (P<0.0001) suggestive of an adaptive response elicited by the previous exposure to low levels of ETS. Overall, changes in proteome may be promising early biomarkers of exposure to ETS. Likewise, alterations of the DNA repair competence observed upon ETS exposure deserves to be further understood. Work supported by Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, ACSS and FCT/Polyannual Funding Program.Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, ACSS and FCT/Polyannual Funding Program

Displacement of the Scholar? Participatory Action Research Under COVID-19

The impact of COVID-19 on conducting research is far-reaching, especially for those scholars working for or alongside communities. As the pandemic continues to create and exacerbate many of the issues that communities at the margins faced pre-pandemic, such as health disparities and access to resources, it also creates particular difficulties in collaborative, co-developed participatory research and scholar-activism. These forms of community engagement require the commitment of researchers to look beyond the purview of the racialized capitalist and neoliberal structures and institutions that tend to limit the scope of our research and engagement. Both the presence of the researcher within the community as well as deep community trust in the researcher is required in order to identify and prioritize local, often counter-hegemonic forms of knowledge production, resources, and support networks. The pandemic and similar conditions of crises has likely limited opportunities for building long-term, productive relationships of mutual trust and reciprocity needed for PAR while communities refocus on meeting basic needs. The pandemic has now not only exacerbated existing disparities and made the need for engaged, critical and co-creative partnerships even greater, it has also abruptly halted opportunities for partnerships to occur, and further constrained funds to support communities partnering with researchers. In this paper we highlight accomplishments and discuss the many challenges that arise as participatory action researchers are displaced from the field and classroom, such as funding obstacles and working remotely. An analysis of experiences of the displacement of the scholar exposes the conflicts of conducting PAR during crises within a state of academic capitalism. These experiences are drawn from our work conducting PAR during COVID-19 around the globe, both in urban and rural settings, and during different stages of engagement. From these findings the case is made for mutual learning from peer-experiences and institutional support for PAR. As future crises are expected, increased digital resources and infrastructure, academic flexibility and greater consideration of PAR, increased funding for PAR, and dedicated institutional support programs for PAR are needed

Inquisición novohispana, volumen 1

1 archivo PDF (volumen 1, 357 páginas)Primera parte de los trabajos presentados en el Primer Congreso Internacional sobre la Inquisición Novohispana llevado a cabo en la ciudad de México en septiembre de 1997, en el edificio del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición, actualmente Palacio de la Antigua Escuela de Medicina, bajo los auspicios del Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas, el Departamento de Historia y Filosofía de la Medicina, de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México y la Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Azcapotzalco. En el primer volumen se presentan los artículos de los conferencistas, los cuales incluyen análisis, explicaciones, reflexiones y conclusiones sobre la Inquisición novohispana y su trascendencia para la sociedad mexicana.LA INQUISICIÓN Y SU FUNCIÓN EN LA NUEVA ESPAÑA: El pensamiento perseguido / Pablo González Casanova -- El Santo Oficio Mexicano en este final de siglo / Solange Alberro -- La Inquisición / Ernesto de la Torre Villar -- ..