352 research outputs found
Tempranillo physiological and agronomical responses to heat and drought stress – perspectives on its vulnerability under climate change scenarios
With the aim to characterize the ability of Tempranillo grapevines, one of the most widely
used varieties in Spain and Portugal, to withstand drought and heat stress, ecophysiological
and agronomical data from irrigation experiments conducted in the hot and dry region of
Alentejo, south of Portugal, are presented.
The impact of different irrigation treatments on physiological parameters (leaf water
potential, photosynthesis, and stomatal conductance) and water use efficiency are showed.
Leaf senescence observed in non-irrigated and deficit irrigated plants and its consequences on
cluster exposure and berry temperature are compared with those of fully irrigated plants. The
consequences on berry ripening and juice composition are discussed in order to evaluate the
vulnerability of Tempranillo to the expected global climatic changeinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
An attempt to quantify grapevine water stress in a mediterranean environment
Aiming to quantify the effects of the intensity and duration of grapevine water stress, physiological and
agronomical data from an irrigation experiment conducted during 1999 at Alentejo, south of Portugal, with the
red variety Aragonez (syn. Tempranillo) were correlated with an water stress index (Sψ). This index was
calculated by the integral of predawn leaf water potential below –0.2 MPa between bloom and harvest.
Significant relationships were found between the Sψ, yield components and berry composition. The multiple
regression analysis shows that the Sψ in the period bloom-veraison has a higher contribution to explain the
variation in berry weight, anthocyanins and phenolics concentration than the Sψ in the period veraison-harvest.
The knowledge of those relationships, together with the relationship between available soil water content and
predawn leaf water potential, may allow the adequate management of soil water availability to optimise the
yield/quality ratio for each ecological situationinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Cognitive assistants
[Excerpt] 1. Introduction: Society is ageing fast. A number of studies [1, 2, 3, 4] confirm this trend and highlight a negative consequence of this trend: the increased lack of care and assistance for the elderly. Elderly care (paid and unpaid) requires a high cost for the families [3], monetarily, physically, and psychologically. This cost is hard to translate to a single value, and even harder to attain help from governmental sources or external help. Furthermore, family members who provide care to their elderly relatives often report high tension levels in their relationships, degrading the quality of life for all parties [...]This work is supported by COMPETE: POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007043 and FCT - Fundação para a Ciencia e Tecnologia within the projects UID/CEC/00319/2013 and Post-Doc scholarship SFRH/BPD/102696/2014 (Angelo Costa) This work is partially supported by the MINECO/FEDER TIN 2015-65515-C4-1-R
Relationships between leaf water potential and photosynthetic activity of field grapevines grown under different soil water regimes
Relationships between ecophysiological parameters from a grapevine irrigation experiment
(rain-fed vs. deficit irrigation) conducted during 1998 at Alentejo, south of Portugal, with the
red variety Aragonez (syn. Tempranillo) are presented and discussed. The irrigation affected
positively grapevine physiology without changing berry composition. Predawn leaf water
potential shows a significant dependence on available soil water, measured by a neutron
probe, the correlation coefficients being higher in nonirrigated plants than in irrigated ones.
Leaf water potential (Ψ) values measured in exposed leaves in the morning and afternoon
were also significantly correlated with available soil water. Net CO2 assimilation rate (A) and
stomatal conductance (gs) of sun leaves measured throughout the growing season at three
different periods of the day were significantly correlated with predawn leaf water potential,
nonirrigated vines presenting the highest correlation coefficients. Significant correlations
were also found between Ψ and A or gs measured in the early morning. Our results show that,
in water stress conditions, predawn leaf water potential can be used as an indicator of soil
water availability and physiological activity of sun exposed leavesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Human phenylalanine hydroxylase as the case study
Funding Information: Authors acknowledge Sofarimex, Indústria Química e Farmacêutica SA, Portugal, for all the support concerning freeze-drying studies. This work was supported by FEDER and Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I. P. through iMED.ULisboa (Projects UIDB/04138/2020 and UIDP/04138/2020), iNOVA4Health (UIDB/04462/2020, UIDP/04462/2020) and LS4FUTURE Associated Laboratory (LA/P/0087/2020) and research project PTDC/EBB-BIO/101237/2008 and research grant SFRH/BD/47946/2008 (to Paulo R. Lino). This work has also received funding from the National PKU Alliance, USA. The authors would like to thank Luís Miguel Ramos and Cátia Nascimento who contributed to the exploratory research that culminated in the work herein presented. Funding Information: Authors acknowledge Sofarimex, Indústria Química e Farmacêutica SA, Portugal, for all the support concerning freeze-drying studies. This work was supported by FEDER and Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I. P. through iMED.ULisboa (Projects UIDB/04138/2020 and UIDP/04138/2020), iNOVA4Health (UIDB/04462/2020, UIDP/04462/2020) and LS4FUTURE Associated Laboratory (LA/P/0087/2020) and research project PTDC/EBB-BIO/101237/2008 and research grant SFRH/BD/47946/2008 (to Paulo R. Lino). This work has also received funding from the National PKU Alliance, USA. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s)The structural maintenance of therapeutic proteins during formulation and/or storage is a critical aspect, particularly for multi-domain and/or multimeric proteins which usually exhibit intrinsic structural dynamics leading to aggregation with concomitant loss-of-function. Protein freeze-drying is a widely used technique to preserve protein structure and function during storage. To minimize chemical/physical stresses occurring during this process, protein stabilizers are usually included, their effect being strongly dependent on the target protein. Therefore, they should be screened for on a time-consuming case-by-case basis. Herein, differential scanning fluorimetry (DSF) and isothermal denaturation fluorimetry (ITDF) were employed to screen, among different classes of freeze-drying additives, for the most effective stabilizer of the model protein human phenylalanine hydroxylase (hPAH). Correlation studies among retrieved DSF and ITDF parameters with recovered enzyme amount and activity indicated ITDF as the most appropriate screening method. Biochemical and biophysical characterization of hPAH freeze-dried with ITDF-selected stabilizers and a long-term storage study (12 months, 5 ± 3 °C) showed that the selected compounds prevented protein aggregation and preserved hPAH structural and functional properties throughout time storage. Our results provide a solid basis towards the choice of ITDF as a high-throughput screening step for the identification of protein freeze-drying protectors.publishersversionpublishe
Influência da rega na qualidade do vinho e perenidade da videira no Alentejo
Programa PAMAF-IED
Acção de Investigação, Experimentação e DemonstraçãoEste projecto teve como objectivo avaliar os efeitos da utilização da rega na vinha, como
complemento das disponibilidades hídricas do solo, na qualidade dos vinhos, no vigor e perenidade
da videira na região do AlentejoN/
Efeito da utilização do morango silvestre como aditivo aromático na alimentação de porcas em lactação e recria de leitões
O estudo foi conduzido em dois ensaios distintos, testando-se o efeito da utilização do
morango silvestre, como aditivo aromático, no alimento composto comercial de porcas
em lactação, e de leitões em recria. Utilizou-se um total de 47 porcas reprodutoras
híbridas comerciais, de linha genética PIC©
(Large White x Landrace) e 561 leitões,
desmamados aos 28 dias de vida, seguindo-se uma recria de 14 dias.
Utilizaram-se dois alimentos compostos comerciais distintos, a dieta controlo e a dieta
experimental, preparada com base no alimento controlo, aditado com aroma de
morango silvestre. Os leitões em recria receberam um alimento composto
medicamentoso, com o mesmo aroma do alimento composto aromático experimental
das porcas reprodutoras.
Procedeu-se à pesagem dos leitões, por parque, ao desmame e no final da recria.
Controlou-se o alimento distribuído e rejeitado, o que permitiu a determinação do
alimento ingerido, por parque. Determinou-se o ganho médio diário e o índice de
conversão alimentar, na fase de recria.
Os resultados obtidos sugerem interesse na utilização deste aroma, permitindo
melhores resultados no desempenho produtivo dos leitões, em aleitamento (+ 0,14 a
0,19 kg PV ao desmame) e em fase de recria (+ 17 a 32 g de GMD e - 0,09 a 0,04 de IC).The study was conducted in two separate trials, testing the effect of the use of wild
strawberry, such as aromatic feed additive in lactating sows and rearing piglets. We
used a total of 47 hybrid sows, genetic line PIC©
(Large White x Landrace) and 561
piglets, weaned with 28 days of age, following a 14-day rearing.
Two different diets were compared, the control diet, and the experimental diet
prepared on control feed, added with wild strawberry flavour. During rearing phase,
piglets received a medicated feed added with the same experimental aromatic
strawberry flavour.
Piglets were weighed at weaning and at the end of rearing. Distributed and rejected
food was controlled, allowing food ingestion determination. Average daily gain and
feed conversion ratio were determined in the rearing phase.
Overall, the results suggest interest in using this strawberry aroma, allowing better
results in the productive performance of piglets, weaning weight (+0.14 to 0.19 kg),
and higher average daily gain (17 to 32 g) and lower feed conversion ratio (0.09 to
0.04), in rearing phase
Technological trends, global market, and challenges of bio-ethanol production
Ethanol use as a fuel additive or directly as a fuel source has grown in popularity due to governmental regulations and in some cases economic incentives based on environmental concerns as well as a desire to reduce oil dependency. As a consequence, several countries are interested in developing their internal
market for use of this biofuel. Currently, almost all bio-ethanol is produced from grain or sugarcane.
However, as this kind of feedstock is essentially food, other efficient and economically viable technologies for
ethanol production have been evaluated. This article reviews some current and promising technologies for
ethanol production considering aspects related to the raw materials, processes, and engineered strains
development. The main producer and consumer nations and future perspectives for the ethanol market are
also presented. Finally, technological trends to expand this market are discussed focusing on promising
strategies like the use of microalgae and continuous systems with immobilized cells
Rega da vinha no Alentejo. Dotações e época de aplicação
Apresenta-se um resumo dos principais resultados de três anos de ensaios (1997-99) de rega gota-a-gota na
casta Aragonez em duas parcelas de vinha no Alentejo onde se compararam diferentes dotações e épocas de
paragem da rega com uma testemunha não regada. Devido à maior capacidade de armazenamento de água do
solo da parcela de Carvalhas (Estremoz) as diferenças ente modalidades foram, em qualquer dos anos, sempre
de maior amplitude na parcela de Pinheiros, em Évora. Comparativamente à testemunha não regada, a rega
reduziu a senescência foliar e induziu um efeito favorável no estado hídrico e na actividade fisiológica da folha
ao longo de todo o dia, sobretudo durante o período de maturação e nas modalidades onde se aplicou maiores
dotações de rega. Todavia, comparativamente à maior dotação, as menores dotações proporcionaram
resultados agronómicos mais favoráveis. A paragem da rega ao pintor induziu um stress moderado e uma melhoria
do microclima dos cachos durante o período de maturação, aspectos favoráveis à qualidade, sem ter afectado
significativamente a produção comparativamente à rega até à vindimainfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
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