Composition and antifungal activity of essential oils from Piper aduncum, Piper arboreum and Piper tuberculatum

The composition of essential oils from leaves, stems and fruits of Piper aduncum, P arboreum and P. tuberculatum was examined by means of GC-MS and alltifungal assay. There was a predominance of monoterpenes in P aduncum and P tuberculatum and of sesquiterpenes in P arboreum. P aduncum showed the richest essential oil composition, including linalool. The essential oils from fruits of P. aduncum and R tuberculatum showed the highest antifungal activity with the MIC of 10 mu g as determined against Cladosporium cladosponoides and C. sphaerospermum, respectively. This is the first report of the composition of essential oils from P. tuberculatum.

Composition and electronic structure of Zn7-xMxSb2O12 (M = Ni and Co) spinel compounds

The relation between the composition and electronic structure of the perfectly inverse spinel compound Zn7-xMxSb2O12 (M = Ni and Co) has been studied by powder X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Changes in the site occupancy are associated with shifts in the core levels as observed in the core level spectral analyses. The configuration of the density of states in the valence band due to the Co and Ni states can be observed in the valence band spectra. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Composition and abundance of marine shrimps (Crustacea, Decapoda, Penaeidea) in Ubatuba bay, Ubatuba (SP), Brazil

This work aims to analyse the composition, abundance and distribution of the Penaeidea species which occur in the Ubatuba Bay (23 degrees 26'S and 45 degrees 02'W). The samples were monthly collected from October/1992 to September/1993. Each collect was composed of two parallel radials: the first (radial ''A'') was carried out in the mid region of the bay and the second one (radial ''B'') in the bay mouth. The trawls took one hour in a boat equipped with one otter-trawl (10 mm of mesh). The registered environmental factors were depth, bottom water temperature, granulometric composition and organic content of the sediment. After the trawls, the shrimp were separated from other marine organisms and counted. Eight species of shrimp were obtained: Xiphopenaeus kroyeri; Artemesia longinaris; Penaeus (L.) schmitti; P. (F.) brasiliensis; Trachypenaeus; constrictus; Sicyonia typica; S. dorsalis and Pleoticus muelleri. The most abundant species were X. kroyeri, A. longinaris, P. muelleri and T. constrictus. It was verified a very strong seasonality among the species. The X. kroyeri species occurred in both radials along the months but its abundance decreased from a November to March. Such fact is attributed to the temperature which reached a minimum value of 20 degrees C during this period. The species A. longinaris and P. muelleri were more frequent in the radial B which was caracterized by 14 +/- 1.3 m of depth, low organic content in the sediment (2.97%) and granulometric composition of medium sand. The distribution and abundance of these shrimps in the bay, beyond the hydrological features can be related to biotic factors as food availability, migration, inter and intra specific relations (competition, predation, etc.).

Essential oil from leaves of Cryptocarya mandioccana Meisner (Lauraceae): Composition and intraspecific chemical variability

The composition of the essential oil from leaves of Cryptocarya mandioccana has been determined by chromatographic fractionation and GC-FID, GC-MS and C-13 NMR analyses, yielding the identification of 64 compounds with predominance of isomeric sesquiterpenes with molecular weights of 204. The main components of the oil obtained by hydrodistillation were beta-caryophyllene, spathulenol, caryophyllene oxide, delta-cadinene, germacrene D, benzaldehyde and bicyclogermacrene. However, the oil obtained by steam distillation contained higher levels of sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, with predominance of P-caryophyllene (C), germacrene D (G) and bicyclogermacrene (B), and was considered to be more representative of the composition of the oil in its natural state. The intraspecific chemical variability of the essential oil obtained by steam distillation was evaluated within populations of trees growing at three separate locations in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Three distinct chemical groups could be characterised due to differences in the relative percentages of the three main sesquiterpenes from essential oil: CGB [relative contents of C (14-34%), G (5-28%), B (8-15%)], BCG [B (17-34%), C (9-24%), G (12-25%)] and GCB [G (22-42%), C (4-17%), B (7-15%)]. Individuals from groups CGB and BCG were found to be more frequent at south locations while group GCB is predominant in north location. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Diurnal variation of zooplankton biochemical composition and biomass in plankton production tanks

The nutritional value of zooplankton (lipid and phosphorus contents) was analyzed in outdoor, plankton-culture tanks, to monitor the effects of diurnal variation and fertilization. Total lipid contents were significantly higher (average values of about 14% DW) for the treatment fertilized during the sampling week. A significantly highher total lipid concentrations generally coincided with high biomass of Moina sp. (Cladocera) and Thermocyclops sp. nauplii (Copepoda), which is probably related to zooplankton filtration rates. The values tended to be higher during the afternoon and the night. Phosphorus contents in the zooplanktonic population varied from 0.15 to 0.91% DW, with significant differences among the tanks. The zooplankton nutritional quality was greatly influenced by fertilization, which also determined the species composition in the tanks.

Effects of Plasma Immersion Ion Implantation (PIII) of nitrogen on hardness, composition and corrosion resistance of Ti-6Al-4V alloy

Ti-6Al-4V samples have been treated by PHI processing at different temperatures (400-800°C), treatment time (30-150 min) and plasma potential (100 and 420 V). Hardness measurements results showed an enhancement of the hardness for all implanted samples. XRD results detected the Ti 2N phase and the best corrosion resistance was found for the samples processed at higher temperature and lower PIII time.

Tree species composition and environmental relationships in a Neotropical swamp forest in Southeastern Brazil

We examined the relationships between topography, soil properties and tree species composition in a Neotropical swamp forest in southeastern Brazil. Plots were sampled in the forest, encompassing three different soil ground water regimes along the topographical declivity. All non-climbing plant individuals with trunk height >1.3 m were sampled. A canonical correspondence analysis-CCA-of the species-environmental relationships grouped tree species according to drainage and chemical soil conditions. A total of 86 species were found, being 77 species in the inferior, 40 species in the intermediate and 35 species in the superior topographic section. Some species were among the 10 most abundant ones, both in the overall sampled area and in each topographical section, with alternation events occurring only with their abundance position. However, substantial differences in floristic composition between sections were detected in a fine spatial scale, due to higher number of species, diversity index (H′) and species unique (exclusives) in the inferior topographic section. These higher values can be attributed to its higher spatial heterogeneity that included better drained and seasonally waterlogged soils, higher soil fertility and lower acidity. The increase of the soil water saturation and the uniform conditions derived from the superficial water layer has led to a lower number of species and an increase on the palm trees abundance in the intermediate and superior sections. Our results showed that at a small spatial scale niche differentiation must be an important factor related to the increase of the local diversity. The wide distribution of the most abundant species in the studied area and the increase of local diversity corroborate the pattern of distribution of species in larger scales of swamp forests, in which the most abundant species repeat themselves in high densities in different remnants. However, the floristic composition of each remnant is strongly variable, contributing to the increase of regional diversity. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

Consciência e crítica da linguagem: Graciliano Ramos / Language awareness and criticism: Graciliano Ramos

Uma leitura atenta da ficção de Graciliano Ramos pode revelar uma forma aguda de refletir o mundo através de uma reflexão anterior sobre a própria linguagem da literatura e da sociedade. É uma leitura desse teor que se pretende mostrar, apoiada na conhecida teoria das funções da linguagem de Jakobson. Num jogo constante entre as funções fática e metalingüística, Graciliano Ramos demonstra visível consciência dos problemas de linguagem, cujo tratamento moderno aponta uma postura bastante crítica (via linguagem) perante o homem e a vida. An attentive of Graciliano Ramos’ fiction reveals a deep form of reflection on the world thorough a previous reflection on the very language of literature and society. Such a reading is here attempted based on Jakobson’s well known theory of language functions. In a constante play between the fatic and the metalinguistic function, Graciliano Ramos demonstrates a clear awareness of the problems of language, whose modern treatment points at a very critical poise (via language) before man and life.

Standardized plant extract, method for preparing an extract from plants of the Sclerolobium Genus, cosmetic composition, pharmaceutical composition and use of said extract

Extracts of plants of the Sclerolobium genus are disclosed, as well as methods for preparing same and cosmetic and pharmaceutical formulations containing these extracts. These extracts can be obtained by polar and/or apolar extraction, each fraction containing different anti-oxidants, all of which are useful for topical treatment. Also disclosed is the use of this extract in cosmetic and/or pharmaceutical formulations for topical use.