Diluted planar ferromagnets: nonlinear excitations on a non-simply connected manifold

We study the behavior of magnetic vortices on a two-dimensional support manifold being not simply connected. It is done by considering the continuum approach of the XY-model on a plane with two disks removed from it. We argue that an effective attractive interaction between the two disks may exist due to the presence of a vortex. The results can be applied to diluted planar ferromagnets with easy-plane anisotropy, where the disks can be seen as nonmagnetic impurities. Simulations are also used to test the predictions of the continuum limit.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure

Controlled functional expression of the bacteriocins pediocin PA-1 and bactofencin A in Escherichia coli

peer-reviewedThe bacteriocins bactofencin A (class IId) and pediocin PA-1 (class IIa) are encoded by operons with a similarly clustered gene organization including a structural peptide, an immunity protein, an ABC transporter and accessory bacteriocin transporter protein. Cloning of these operons in E. coli TunerTM (DE3) on a pETcoco-2 derived vector resulted in successful secretion of both bacteriocins. A corresponding approach, involving the construction of vectors containing different combinations of these genes, revealed that the structural and the transporter genes alone are sufficient to permit heterologous production and secretion in this host. Even though the accessory protein, usually associated with optimal disulfide bond formation, was not required for bacteriocin synthesis, its presence did result in greater pediocin PA-1 production. The simplicity of the system and the fact that the associated bacteriocins could be recovered from the extracellular medium provides an opportunity to facilitate protein engineering and the overproduction of biologically-active bacteriocins at industrial scale. Additionally, this system could enable the characterization of new bacteriocin operons where genetic tools are not available for the native producers

Utilização de produtos naturais em aromaterapia

Atualmente, muitas pessoas sofrem de stresse e ansiedade e as terapias alternativas e/ou complementares surgem como uma possível solução no controlo destes problemas. Este estudo teve como objetivo avaliar a eficácia da aromaterapia na diminuição de níveis de stresse e ansiedade dos utentes que recorreram à aromaterapia numa clínica da cidade de Bragança (Portugal). Participaram no estudo 36 indivíduos, de ambos os sexos, com idades compreendidas entre os 18 e 45 anos, que foram divididos em dois grupos: os que receberam tratamento com uma sinergia de óleos essenciais e massagem, “grupo aroma” e outro que apenas recebeu massagem “grupo controlo”. Os participantes foram avaliados quanto a níveis de stresse e ansiedade antes e após o tratamento, pela escala de sintomas de stresse e ansiedade. O tratamento consistiu em catorze sessões, uma vez por semana, de trinta minutos cada. Os níveis de stresse e ansiedade antes e após o tratamento, foram comparados estatisticamente com um nível de significância de 5% (<0,05). No final do tratamento, a aromaterapia mostrou-se eficaz na diminuição dos níveis de stresse e ansiedade. O grupo aroma apresentou uma diminuição significativa de 12% e 30%, no que respeita ao stresse e ansiedade, respetivamente, enquanto no grupo controlo observou-se uma menor diminuição destes níveis (de 3% do stresse e de 2,6% da ansiedade). No entanto, são necessários mais estudos para identificar as razões desta diminuição e, igualmente, compreender quais os compostos químicos e mecanismos de ação inerentes a cada óleo essencial utilizado

Uso da aromaterapia no controlo de stresse e ansiedade

As terapias alternativas e/ou complementares surgem como terapias importantes na prevenção e tratamento de diversos problemas de saúde, de entre o quais o stresse e ansiedade, problemas cada vez mais frequentes na sociedade atual. O presente estudo acerca da utilização de produtos naturais em aromaterapia pretendeu avaliar a eficácia da aromaterapia na diminuição dos níveis de stresse e ansiedade, através da técnica de massagem Effleurage na população de utentes que recorreram à aromaterapia numa clínica da cidade de Bragança, Portugal. Foram incluídos no estudo 36 indivíduos, de ambos os sexos, com idades compreendidas entre os 18 e 45 anos. Estes foram divididos em dois grupos distintos com 18 indivíduos cada: no “grupo aroma” os que receberam tratamento com uma sinergia de óleos essenciais e massagem no “grupo controlo” aqueles que apenas receberam massagem. O tratamento consistiu em catorze sessões (uma vez por semana) de trinta minutos cada, com uma sinergia de óleos essenciais elaborada com 60% de Lavandula angustifolia Mill e 40% de Matricaria recutita L. Os níveis de stresse e ansiedade de todos os indivíduos que participaram no estudo foram avaliados antes e após o tratamento, pela escala de sintomas de stresse percebido[1] e ansiedade[2], respetivamente. Os resultados obtidos foram comparados estatisticamente com um nível de significância de 5% (p-value<0,05). Os resultados do presente estudo demonstraram que a aromaterapia é eficaz na diminuição dos níveis de stresse e ansiedade. O grupo aroma apresentou uma diminuição significativa de 12% e 30%, do stresse e ansiedade, respetivamente, enquanto no grupo controlo essa diminuição foi menor, 3% no stresse e de 2,6% na ansiedade. Foram ainda avaliadas, as diferenças dos níveis de stresse e ansiedade entre os grupos “aroma” e “controlo” antes e após o tratamento, mostrando-se significativas. Apesar do estudo demonstrar a importância da aromaterapia na diminuição de níveis de stress e ansiedade, são necessários mais estudos para compreender quais os compostos e mecanismos de ação inerentes a cada óleo essencial utilizado

Chemical ecology of echinoderms: Impact of environment and diet in metabolomic profile

The phylum Echinodermata constitutes a successful and widespread group comprising Asteroidea, Ophiuroidea, Echinoidea, Holothuroidea and Crinodeia. Nowadays, marine organisms are being given a lot of attention in drug discovery pipelines. In these studies, sponges and nudibranchs are frequently addressed, however an increasing number of works focus their attention in echinoderms. Given the fact that many of the bioactive molecules found in echinoderms are diet-derived, different feeding behavior and surrounding environment plays a critical role in the chemical composition of echinoderms. In this work, the most relevant chemical classes of small molecules present in echinoderms, such as fatty acids, carotenoids and sterols will be addressed. When data is available, the influence of the environment on the chemical profile of these organisms will be discussed.(undefined

Scavenging capacity of strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo L.) leaves on free radicals

Despite strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo L.) leaves had a long use in traditional medicine due to its antiseptic, diuretic, astringent and depurative properties, the potential of their antioxidant activity are still lacking. Our study goals to assess the antioxidant and free radical scavenging potential of water, ethanol, methanol and diethyl ether extracts of A. unedo leaves. Total phenols content was achieved spectrophotometrically using Folin–Ciocalteau reagent with gallic acid as standard. Antioxidant activity was evaluated using three different methods: reducing power of iron (III)/ferricyanide complex assay, scavenging effect on DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) radicals and scavenging effect on superoxide radicals by using the PMS–NADH–nitroblue tetrazolium system. Ethanol extracts of A. unedo leaves were the highest in reducing power (IC50 232.7 lg/mL) and DPPH scavenging effect (IC50 63.2 lg/mL) followed by water extracts (with IC50 of 287.7 and 73.7 lg/mL, respectively); whereas diethyl ether extracts were the lowest. In the scavenging on superoxide radical assay, methanol extracts obtained the best results (IC50 6.9 lg/mL). For all the methods tested the antioxidant activity was concentration dependent. In accordance with antioxidant activity, highest total phenols content were found in ethanol, followed by water, methanol and diethyl ether extract. The results indicated that A. unedo leaves are a potential source of natural antioxidants

Users self-assessment of a daily moisturizing of the skin with natural ingredientes

The cosmetic industry keeps growing, constantly pursuing to satisfy consumers' desire for beauty. Nowadays, sustainability awareness is gaining relevance in the cosmetic sector. The increasing market trend in favour of green cosmetic products, which use ingredients from natural inputs, portrays the ecological and social weight of consumer choices when using products that contribute to nature in a sustainable way. This study aims to analyze the user self-assessment effectiveness of a cream formulation for daily moisturizing of the skin, with natural ingredients, including bee products, local plant material of the region of Trás-Os-Montes, and vegetable oils. Twenty-two individuals aged between 24 and 74 years were included in the product's effectiveness study. The pre-use self-assessment shows that most of volunteers presented mixed skin type (at least three in five individuals). For dry skin individuals (one in five individuals), skin jerking and the rapid absorption of the products are the main issues. The assessment of product efficacy was measured based on a post-use questionnaire. The results obtained for nonplacebo users in the assessments are presented in Figure 1. The product exhibits positive performance for all the attributes under assessment. For products efficacy the highlight is for hydration and skin smoothness. For products attributes, ease application scores the maximum of 3.3 points. Different, wrinkles reduction and fragrance present less favourable results. When asked about the willingness to buy the product only one in four users respond negatively, mainly because of the strong fragrance of the preservative agent product. Users willing to buy/recommending the product to a friend mention the satisfactory results obtained, hydration performance and natural product as the determinant for that decision. The users willing to buy the product consider to do it at an average price of 10€ for a 50ml package.The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support by national funds FCT/MCTES to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Interaction between two co-occurring fungi present in chestnut orchards

Hypholoma fasciculare is a wood-decaying basidiomycete with a worldwide distribution, including tropical, temperate and boreal forest ecosystems. In Trás-os-Montes region (Northeast of Portugal) this species is commonly present in soils of several habitats, including chestnut and oak tree forests. The ectomycorrhizal fungus Pisolithus tinctorius is another species with high occurrence in those ecosystems. The present work intends to study the in vitro interaction between H. fasciculare and P. tinctorius through evaluation of fungal growth, changes on hyphae morphology, the production of volatile compounds and Iytic enzymes. The results obtained showed that H. fasciculare inhibited significantly the growth of P. tinctorius in 49%, long before hyphal contact of their colonies. This inhibition could be result from the liberation from H. fasciculare of volatile compounds and/or diffusible inhibitory substances, such as extracellular enzymes. Alteration in the production of volatile compounds, distributed in several chemical classes (alcohols, ketones, aldehydes, terpenes, among others) was detected over the time course of interaction. In addition, amylase, cellulase, laccase and lipase were produced by H. fasciculare. The possible role of these compounds during interaction will be discussed.This work is supported by FCT I&D grant PTDC/ AGR-AAM/099556/200

Aromatherapy in the control of stress and anxiety

Background: Currently, complementary and alternative medicine emerge as important therapies in the prevention and treatment of various health problems. In view of this, the present study aims to evaluate the efficacy of essential oils in reducing stress and anxiety levels in aromatherapy users, at a clinic of Bragança, Portugal. Methods: A study was performed with 36 individuals divided in two distinct groups: “aroma group” and “control group”. Individuals of "aroma group" were treated with a mixture of essential oils of Lavandula angustifolia Mill and Matricaria recutita L. applied with Effleurage massage while the individuals of "control group" received only Effleurage massage. Stress and anxiety levels of all individuals participating in the study were evaluated before and after the treatment. Additionally, the chemical composition of the essential oils was evaluated by GC and GC-MS. Results: In the aromatherapy assay, the “aroma group” showed a significant decrease of 12% and 30%, in stress and anxiety levels, respectively, in the “control group” this decrease was lower (3.3% and 2.6% for stress and anxiety levels, respectively). Conclusion: In this study, aromatherapy was effective in stress and anxiety levels reduction and linalool, the major compound of the essential oil mixture, may be positively contributing for these effects.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Aromatherapy: ancient solutions for recent problems

Background: Currently, complementary and alternative medicine emerge as strategy in the prevention and treatment of various health problems. The present study aims to evaluate the efficacy of aromatherapy with Lavandula angustifolia Mill and Matricaria recutita L. in reducing stress and anxiety levels. Methods: A study was performed with 36 individuals divided in two distinct groups: “aroma group” and “control group”. Individuals of "aroma group" were treated with a mixture of essential oils of Lavandula angustifolia Mill and Matricaria recutita L. applied with Effleurage massage while the individuals of "control group" received only Effleurage massage. Stress and anxiety levels of all individuals participating in the study were evaluated before and after the treatment. Additionally, the chemical composition of the essential oils was evaluated by GC and GC-MS. Results: In the aromatherapy assay, the “aroma group” showed a significant decrease of 12% and 30%, in stress and anxiety levels, respectively while lower decrease was observed in “control group” (3.3% and 2.6% for stress and anxiety levels, respectively). Conclusion: In this study, aromatherapy was effective in stress and anxiety levels reduction and linalool, the major compound of the essential oil mixture, may be positively contributing for these effects.The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support by national funds FCT/MCTES to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020). The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) under UID/AMB/50017/2013, FEDER PT2020-Compete 2020. Authors are also grateful to Gabinete Terapêutico Telmo Teles, Unipessoal, Lda, Bragança, for the availability to perform the aromatherapy assay.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio