Pharmacology of human experimental anxiety

This review covers the effect of drugs affecting anxiety using four psychological procedures for inducing experimental anxiety applied to healthy volunteers and patients with anxiety disorders. The first is aversive conditioning of the skin conductance responses to tones. The second is simulated public speaking, which consists of speaking in front of a video camera, with anxiety being measured with psychometric scales. The third is the Stroop Color-Word test, in which words naming colors are painted in the same or in a different shade, the incongruence generating a cognitive conflict. The last test is a human version of a thoroughly studied animal model of anxiety, fear-potentiated startle, in which the eye-blink reflex to a loud noise is recorded. The evidence reviewed led to the conclusion that the aversive conditioning and potentiated startle tests are based on classical conditioning of anticipatory anxiety. Their sensitivity to benzodiazepine anxiolytics suggests that these models generate an emotional state related to generalized anxiety disorder. On the other hand, the increase in anxiety determined by simulated public speaking is resistant to benzodiazepines and sensitive to drugs affecting serotonergic neurotransmission. This pharmacological profile, together with epidemiological evidence indicating its widespread prevalence, suggests that the emotional state generated by public speaking represents a species-specific response that may be related to social phobia and panic disorder. Because of scant pharmacological data, the status of the Stroop Color-Word test remains uncertain. In spite of ethical and economic constraints, human experimental anxiety constitutes a valuable tool for the study of the pathophysiology of anxiety disorders.

Isolation of a yeast strain able to produce a polygalacturonase with maceration activity of cassava roots

The objective of the present study was the isolation of a yeast strain, from citrus fruit peels, able to produce a polygalacturonase by submerged fermentation with maceration activity of raw cassava roots. Among 160 yeast strains isolated from citrus peels, one strain exhibited the strongest pectinolytic activity. This yeast was identified as Wickerhamomyces anomalus by 5.8S-ITS RFLP analysis and confirmed by amplification of the nucleotide sequence. The yeast produced a polygalacturonase (PG) in Erlenmeyer shake flasks containing YNB, glucose, and citrus pectin. PG synthesis occurred during exponential growth phase, reaching 51 UE.mL-1 after 8 hours of fermentation. A growth yield (Yx/s) of 0.43 gram of cell dry weight per gram of glucose consumed was obtained, and a maximal specific growth rate (µm) of 0.346 h-1 was calculated. The microorganism was unable to assimilate sucrose, galacturonic acid, polygalacturonic acid, or citrus pectin, but it required glucose as carbon and energy source and polygalacturonic acid or citrus pectin as inducers of enzyme synthesis. The crude enzymatic extract of Wickerhamomyces anomalus showed macerating activity of raw cassava. This property is very important in the production of dehydrated mashed cassava, a product of regional interest in the province of Misiones, Argentina.

Morphological characterization with image analysis of cocoa beverage powder agglomerated with steam

In this study, the morphological characteristics of cocoa beverage powder granules under minimal, average, and maximal process conditions of a steam agglomerator were studied. a stereoscopic microscope coupled to a digital camera was used for the morphological analysis. The images were analyzed to obtain shape and size descriptors. aiming to evaluate the descriptors, 150 particles were analyzed. The results showed that there was no difference between the shape descriptors - compacity, circularity, roughness, and aspect ratio - in the operating conditions evaluated. It was observed that the cocoa beverage powder granules are elongated in shape. The size descriptors, area, perimeter, perimeter of convex bounding polygon, minimal and maximal Feret diameter, were different in the process conditions for the granules of size above 600 μm. as for the minimal process conditions, especially due to low solid feed rates, there is an increase in the size descriptor values. In addition, under the minimum process conditions, in which there is low solid feed rate (400g/min) for a steam pressure of 1.0 bar, it was obtained a good granular condition with retention of 81.1% of granules on sieves with aperture size between 300 and 1190 μm.

Seed anatomy and germination of Phoenix roebelenii O'Brien (Arecaceae)

The objective of this study was to investigate the morphology, anatomy and germination behaviour of Phoenix roebelenii seeds. Biometric data were obtained by measuring 100 seeds extracted from recently harvested fruits and air-dried for one day. Four replications of 50 seeds each were previously treated with Vitavax-Thiran and then put to germinate in Sphagnum sp. in plastic trays at room temperature. Morphological details of the seeds were documented with the help of a scanning electronic microscope and then drawings were made with the help of a clear camera coupled to a stereomicroscope. Permanent lamina containing embryo sections were prepared to study its anatomy. The mean dimensions of the seeds were: length of 10.32mm, width of 5.21mm and thickness of 3.91mm. The weight of one thousand seeds was of 151.1g and the mean number of units.kg-1 was 6,600. Germination started between 27 and 58 days after sowing. The seeds are of the albuminous type, the endosperm is hard and the embryo (which is not clearly differentiated) occupies a lateral and peripheral position. During seed germination, seedling protrusion begins with the opening of an operculum, through which the cotyledon petiole is emitted with the embryonic axis at its tip. The portion of the cotyledon petiole that remains inside the seeds acts as a haustorium for the absorption of nutrients from the endosperm. The plumule emerges through a rift in the posterior part of the cotyledon. Secondary roots are observed to grow from the anterior part of the primary root.

Inoculação de Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens pv. flaccumfaciens em sementes de feijão por meio da técnica de condicionamento fisiológico

Neste estudo foi testada a técnica de condicionamento fisiológico em meio agarizado para inoculação de Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens pv. flaccumfaciens (Cff) em sementes de feijão. Na primeira etapa, avaliou-se o comportamento das sementes de feijão cultivar Pérola, durante o pré-condicionamento osmótico em substrato agarizado com restrição hídrica. Os tratamentos consistiram em expor, por diferentes períodos de tempo, sementes de feijão desinfestadas a quatro níveis de restrição hídrica do meio 523 (-0,55, -0,75, -0,95 e -1,15 MPa), com o uso de quatro substratos (meio 523, meio 523+KCl, meio 523+manitol e meio 523+sacarose). Como testemunha, utilizou-se o meio 523 sem restrição hídrica (-0,55 MPa). Decorridos os respectivos tempos, avaliou-se a percentagem de sementes com protrusão radicular e, posteriormente, o teor de água, a germinação e os padrões enzimáticos das sementes. Na segunda etapa do estudo, avaliou-se o crescimento de quatro isolados de Cff (Cff DF - Feij-2936, Cff PR - 12768, Cff SC - Feij-2928 e Cff SP - Feij-2634) em substrato agarizado com restrição hídrica. Os tratamentos da terceira etapa foram definidos com base na primeira etapa, em que o melhor tratamento foi o meio 523 com manitol no potencial hídrico de -0,95 MPa e com 48 horas de exposição das sementes no meio agarizado. Na segunda etapa, verificou-se que o isolado de Cff SC (Feij-2928), proveniente do estado de Santa Catarina, apresentou o melhor crescimento no substrato e no potencial hídrico definido na primeira etapa. Portanto, foi possível a inoculação artificial de sementes de feijão com Cff por meio da técnica de condicionamento fisiológico em substrato agarizado, sem o comprometimento de sua qualidade fisiológica.