Influence of estimated training status on anti and pro-oxidant activity, nitrite concentration, and blood pressure in middle-aged and older women

The purpose of this study was to compare the association between anti and pro-oxidant activity, nitrite concentration, and blood pressure (BP) in middle-aged and older women with different levels of estimated training status (TS). The sample consisted of 155 females (50-84 years) who were submitted to a physical examination to evaluate estimated TS through the "Functional Fitness Battery Test," BP measurements, and plasma blood samples to evaluate pro-oxidant and antioxidant activity and nitrite concentrations. Participants were separated by age into a middle-aged group (< 65 years) and an older (≥65 years) group and then subdivided in each group according to TS. Blood biochemistry was similar between groups. On the other hand, protein oxidation was lower in participants with higher TS, independent of age. Older females with higher TS presented higher nitrite concentrations, lower lipoperoxidation, and lower values of BP compared with those with lower TS. Lower GPx activity was observed in participants with higher TS compared with middle-aged with lower TS. Thus, our results suggest that good levels of TS may be associated with lower oxidative stress and higher nitrite concentration and may contribute to maintain normal or reduced blood pressure values.Fil: Jacomini, André M.. Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho; BrasilFil: Dias, Danielle da Silva. Universidade Nove de Julho; BrasilFil: Brito, Janaina de Oliveira. Universidade Nove de Julho; BrasilFil: da Silva, Roberta F.. Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho; BrasilFil: Monteiro, Henrique L.. Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho; BrasilFil: Llesuy, Susana Francisca. Universidade Nove de Julho; Brasil. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Bioquímica y Medicina Molecular. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad Medicina. Instituto de Bioquímica y Medicina Molecular; ArgentinaFil: De Angelis, Kátia. Universidade Nove de Julho; BrasilFil: Amaral, Sandra L.. Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho; BrasilFil: Zago, Anderson S.. Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho; Brasi

Microstructural analysis of fresh-cut red bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) for postharvest quality optimization

The main objective of this work was to evaluate the microstructure of fresh-cut red bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) after cutting, when maintained (for 0,4 and 7 d) under refrigerated storage (2°C). In order to assess the microstructure of the product, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was applied; however, to improve this technique, preparation procedures and quantitative image analysis were specifically developed. Since sample preparation affects deeply image quality, three sample preparation procedures (viz. freezing by immersion in liquid nitrogen and subsequent storage at -80°C, freezing by storage at -80 °C and subsequent freeze-drying, and freezing by immersion in liquid nitrogen and subsequent freezedrying) were tested. One could also test (with success) a methodology of quantitative image analysis via a panel – a large number of people (N=25) rated the degree of cellular destruction, using a continuous scale (from 1- no cellular destruction to 9-extreme cellular destruction). Statistical analysis of the experimental data revealed that frozen samples exhibited higher cellular destruction than via the other two procedures; no statistically significant differences were observed between these two other procedures. Red bell pepper samples stored for 4 and 7 d presented (as expected) higher degree of cellular destruction than initial day samples. This work allowed one to develop appropriate preparation procedures of sample and quantitative image analysis – that will permit the application of this microscopy technique in future work in this area

Petrology and Geochemistry of Recent Lavas from Santo Antão (Cape Verde Islands)

ABSTRACT: Santo Antão Island is the northernmost island of the Cape Verde Archipelago that is located in the Atlantic Ocean between 17º 13’N-14º 48’N and 22º 42’W-25º 22’W. The genesis of this Archipelago is explained by the activity of a hot-spot, which began 25 My ago. The main stratigraphic sequences of Santo Antão island (Silva et al., 1994; 2004) have been dated by Plesner et al. (2003) and comprise, from base to top, the “Complexo Eruptivo Antigo” (7.57 ± 0.56 My) the “Formação Conglomerático-Brechóide”, the “Formação Eruptiva Principal” (3.24 ± 0.89 to 0.22 ± 0.03 My) (which is overlain by a white phonolitic deposit pumice) and the “Formação Eruptiva do Tope de Coroa” (0.17 ± 0.02 My to 0.09 ± 0.03 My). The “Complexo Eruptivo Antigo” includes chiefly basaltic flows. The “Formação Conglomerático-Brechóide” is a sedimentary unit formed during an intensive erosion period and was followed by an important volcanic event, represented by the “Formação Eruptiva Principal”, comprising nephelinitic, phonolitic, tephritic and basanitic lava flows. The “Formação Eruptiva do Tope de Coroa”, the most recent unit of the island, was divided (Silva et al. 2004) into three sub-units (figure 1): “Sequência Antiga”, “Sequência Intermédia” and “Sequência Superior”. The “Sequência Antiga” is composed by phonolitic and nephelinitic flows and scorias, the “Sequência Intermédia” comprises basaltic flows and scorias and the “Sequência Superior” includes basaltic, phonolitic and nephelinitic flows and scorias. Santo Antão recent lavas are silica undersaturated (carrying abundant feldspathoids, particularly hauyne), alkaline and considerably evolved (Mg#=13-53 wt%, Ni=0-252 ppm, Cr=0-434 ppm). They display a strong enrichment in incompatible trace elements, suggesting that their primary magmas were produced by low degrees of partial melting, from a heterogeneous, metassomatized, source (including residual garnet and phlogopite), with a significant HIMU component.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Effects of Visual Movement on Beat-Based vs. Duration-Based Temporal Perception

It is known that moving visual stimuli (bouncing balls) have an advantage over static visual ones (flashes) in sensorimotor synchronization, such that the former match auditory beeps in driving synchronization while the latter do not. This occurs in beat-based synchronization but not in beatbased purely perceptual tasks, suggesting that the advantage is action-specific. The main goal of this study was to test the advantage of moving over static visual stimuli in a different perceptual timing system – duration-based perception – to determine whether the advantage is action-specific in a broad sense, i.e., if it excludes both beat-based and duration-based perception. We asked a group of participants to perform different tasks with three stimulus types: auditory beeps, visual bouncing balls (moving) and visual flashes (static). First, participants performed a duration-based perception task in which they judged whether intervals were speeding up or slowing down; then they did a synchronization task with isochronous sequences; finally, they performed a beat-based perception task in which they judged whether sequences sounded right or wrong. Bouncing balls outperformed flashes and matched beeps in synchronization. In the duration-based perceptual task, beeps, balls and flashes were equivalent, but in beat-based perception beeps outperformed balls and flashes. Our findings suggest that the advantage of moving over static visual stimuli is grounded on action rather than perception in a broad sense, in that it is absent in both beat-based and duration-based perception.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A centennial catalogue of hydro-geomorphological events and their atmospheric forcing

The DISASTER database records 1969 unique hydro-geomorphologic cases (floods and landslides) that generated human damages in Portugal during a 150 year-period (1865–2015. The main purposes of this work are the following: to present a national disaster events catalogue; to analyse the atmospheric conditions and to discuss the role of rainfall as main driving force of the hydro-geomorphological disaster events. The main Circulation Weather Types (CWTs) and the presence of Atmospheric Rivers (ARs) of each day of the disaster events were classified using the 20CR dataset (1865–2014) and the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis (2015). These datasets were used to compute the daily cumulative precipitation and the long term climatological year accumulated precipitation 10th, 50th, 90th and 95th percentile spanning 1865–2015 and the accumulated rainfall conditions after and before each disaster event. In the central and northern Portugal Disaster events are mainly driven by southwest (SW), west (W), northwest (NW) and Cyclonic (C) Weather Types, whereas the CWTs with a southern and eastern component [east (E), southeast (SE) and south (S)] are the main drivers in the south part of the country. Cyclonic CWT is widely associated with convective systems that can generate flash floods and urban floods often responsible for fatalities and injured people. CWTs with a westerly component can be associated to prolonged wet periods that can induce flood events in the main rivers and landslides in the mountain areas. The methodology used to build this disaster event catalogue can be applicable to other study areas, namely the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean regions, where the flood and landslides extremes are related to the atmospheric circulation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The influence of patterned nanofiber meshes on human mesenchymal stem cell osteogenesis

A specially designed electroconductive collector enables the electrospinning of P-NFM composed of areas of parallel/uniaxially aligned fibers and areas of random/orthogonal nanofiber distribution. The biological relevance of P-NFM is demonstrated using hBMSCs as an autologous cell source. The structures induce cell orientation along the uniaxially aligned fibers, mainly during earlier culturing periods under basal and osteogenic differentiation conditions. The microtopography of the P-NFM also controls the deposition of mineralized extracellular matrix along the pre-defined fiber direction. Genotypic characterization confirms the successful differentiation into the osteogenic lineage.European Integrated Project GENOSTEM (LSH-STREP-CT-2003-503161); European Network of Excellence EXPERTISSUES (NMP3-CT-2004-500283); Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology for the project Naturally Nano (POCI/EME/58982/2004) and the PhD grant SFRH/BD/24382/2005

Sugarcane bagasse delignification with potassium hydroxide for enhanced enzymatic hydrolysis

The optimization of an alkaline pretreatment process for the delignification of sugarcane bagasse (SCB) to enhance the subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis was performed according to the Doehlert uniform shell design. In this experimental design, the effect of two factors—potassium hydroxide (KOH) concentration and autoclaving time at 121 C (1 atm)—on cellulose, hemicellulose, or the total polysaccharide and lignin content in SCB was evaluated. This response surface methodology revealed that KOH concentration is the factor that most influences the chemical characteristics of treated SCB (SCBt), with optimal conditions for the highest delignification being KOH in the range 5–10% (w/v) and an autoclaving time of 35 min, which provides an average of 97% total polysaccharides without inhibitor accumulation (furfural, 5-hydroxymethyl furfural) and #5% lignin. SCBt samples from two pretreatment conditions (KOH 3.25% – 13 min; KOH 10% – 35 min) were selected, based on the greatest delignification (70–74%) and polysaccharide availability (95–97%) after pretreatment, and further hydrolysed for fermentable sugar production. High sugar yields were obtained from both the pretreated samples (866 to 880 mg sugar per g biomass, respectively) in contrast with the 129 mg sugar per g raw biomass obtained from untreated SCB. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of KOH alkali pretreatments, which improves the overall digestibility of raw SCB polysaccharides from about 18% up to 91%. However, harsh alkali treatment (KOH 10%) is the most effective if the highest glucose/xylose ratio in the final sugar-rich hydrolysate is the aim. Hence, the use of sugar-rich hydrolysates obtained from SCBt as the carbon source for industrial purposes may provide a sustainable and economic solution for the production of bio-based added-value products, such as second generation (2G) bioethanol

Beat cues facilitate time estimation at longer intervals

IntroductionTime perception in humans can be relative (beat-based) or absolute (duration-based). Although the classic view in the field points to different neural substrates underlying beat-based vs. duration-based mechanisms, recent neuroimaging evidence provided support to a unified model wherein these two systems overlap. In line with this, previous research demonstrated that internalized beat cues benefit motor reproduction of longer intervals (&gt; 5.5 s) by reducing underestimation, but little is known about this effect on pure perceptual tasks. The present study was designed to investigate whether and how interval estimation is modulated by available beat cues.MethodsTo that end, we asked 155 participants to estimate auditory intervals ranging from 500 ms to 10 s, while manipulating the presence of cues before the interval, as well as the reinforcement of these cues by beat-related interference within the interval (vs. beat-unrelated and no interference).ResultsBeat cues aided time estimation depending on interval duration: for intervals longer than 5 s, estimation was better in the cue than in the no-cue condition. Specifically, the levels of underestimation decreased in the presence of cues, indicating that beat cues had a facilitating effect on time perception very similar to the one observed previously for time production.DiscussionInterference had no effects, suggesting that this manipulation was not effective. Our findings are consistent with the idea of cooperation between beat- and duration-based systems and suggest that this cooperation is quite similar across production and perception