Effects of olive oil and its minor constituents on serum lipids, oxidative stress, and energy metabolism in cardiac muscle

Recent lines of evidence suggest that the beneficial effects of olive oil are not only related to its high content of oleic acid, but also to the antioxidant potential of its polyphenols. The aim of this work was determine the effects of olive oil and its components, oleic acid and the polyphenol dihydroxyphenylethanol (DPE), on serum lipids, oxidative stress, and energy metabolism on cardiac tissue. Twenty four male Wistar rats, 200 g, were divided into the following 4 groups (n = 6): control (C), OO group that received extra-virgin olive oil (7.5 mL/kg), OA group was treated with oleic acid (3.45 mL/kg), and the DPE group that received the polyphenol DPE (7.5 mg/kg). These components were administered by gavage over 30 days, twice a week. All animals were provided with food and water ad libitum The results show that olive oil was more effective than its isolated components in improving lipid profile, elevating high-density lipoprotein, and diminishing low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations. Olive oil induced decreased antioxidant Mn-superoxide dismutase activity and diminished protein carbonyl concentration, indicating that olive oil may exert direct antioxidant effect on myocardium. DPE, considered as potential antioxidant, induced elevated aerobic metabolism, triacylglycerols, and lipid hydroperoxides concentrations in cardiac muscle, indicating that long-term intake of this polyphenol may induce its undesirable pro-oxidant activity on myocardium. © 2006 NRC Canada.

Optimal energy generation with biomass of sugarcane harvest

The aim of this work is the application of the Interior Point and Branch and Bound methods in multiobjective optimization models related to sugarcane harvest residual biomass. These methods showed their viability to help on choosing the sugarcane planting varieties, searching to optimize cost and energy balance of harvest residual biomass, which have conflitant objectives. These methods provide satisfactory results, with fair computing performance and reliable and consistent solutions to the analyzed models. © 2011 IEEE.

Pre-harvest sugarcane burning: Determination of emission factors through laboratory measurements

Sugarcane is an important crop for the Brazilian economy and roughly 50% of its production is used to produce ethanol. However, the common practice of pre-harvest burning of sugarcane straw emits particulate material, greenhouse gases, and tropospheric ozone precursors to the atmosphere. Even with policies to eliminate the practice of pre-harvest sugarcane burning in the near future, there is still significant environmental damage. Thus, the generation of reliable inventories of emissions due to this activity is crucial in order to assess their environmental impact. Nevertheless, the official Brazilian emissions inventory does not presently include the contribution from pre-harvest sugarcane burning. In this context, this work aims to determine sugarcane straw burning emission factors for some trace gases and particulate material smaller than 2.5μm in the laboratory. Excess mixing ratios for CO2, CO, NOX, UHC (unburned hydrocarbons), and PM2.5 were measured, allowing the estimation of their respective emission factors. Average estimated values for emission factors (g kg-1 of burned dry biomass) were 1,303 ± 218 for CO2, 65 ± 14 for CO, 1.5 ± 0.4 for NOX, 16 ± 6 for UHC, and 2.6 ± 1.6 for PM2.5. These emission factors can be used to generate more realistic emission inventories and therefore improve the results of air quality models. © 2012 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Structural changes in soybean seed coat due to harvest time and storage

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Análise da viabilidade do aproveitamento da palha da cana de açúcar para cogeração de energia numa usina sucroalcooleira

Pós-graduação em Engenharia Mecânica - FEIS

A modernização da agricultura e as implicações nas relações de trabalho no campo: os trabalhadores volantes no município de Fernandópolis-SP

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Desempenho operacional de uma colhedora de cana-de-açucar ( Saccarum spp.) em função dos turnos de trabalho

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Influências do protocolo agroambiental do setor sucroalcooleiro na produção de açúcar, álcool e energia: estudo de caso em uma usina no interior do Estado de São Paulo

Pós-graduação em Agronomia (Energia na Agricultura) - FCA

Efeito do tráfego agrícola na produtividade da cultura de cana-de-açúcar (Saccharum spp.) nos espaçamentos 1,4 e 1,5m

Pós-graduação em Agronomia (Energia na Agricultura) - FCA

Desenvolvimento e produção do algodoeiro em função de espaçamentos e aplicação de regulador de crescimento

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Avaliação econômica de dois sistemas de colheita florestal mecanizada de Eucalipto

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Sistema especialista para automação do processo de aeração de grãos de milho em pequenas propriedades

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Desempenho operacional de semeadora-adubadorae perdas na colheita do milho em sistema de plantio direto

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Culturas de cobertura, manejo da adubação e de resíduos vegetais em semeadura direta de milho e soja

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Harvest managements and cultural practices in sugarcane

The presence of trash from the mechanical harvest of green cane on sugarcane plantations promotes changes in the agricultural management, for example, in the mechanical cultural practices of ratoon cane in-between the rows and nitrogen (N) fertilization. The goal of this study was to evaluate the performance of sugarcane in different harvest systems, associated to the mechanical cultural practices in interrows and N rates. The study was carried out on a sugarcane plantation in Sales Oliveira, São Paulo, Brazil, with the sugarcane variety SP81-3250, on soil classified as Acrudox, in a randomized block design with split-split plots and four replications. The main treatments consisted of harvest systems (harvesting green cane or burnt cane), the secondary treatment consisted of the mechanical cultural practices in the interrows and the tertiary treatments were N rates (0, 30, 60, 90, 120 and 160 kg ha-1), using ammonium nitrate (33 % N) as N source. The harvest systems did not differ in sugarcane yield (tons of cane per hectare - TCH), but in burnt cane, the pol percent and total sugar recovery (TSR) were higher. This could be explained by the higher quantity of plant impurities in the harvested raw material in the system without burning, which reduces the processing quality. Mechanical cultural practices in the interrows after harvest had no effect on cane yield and sugar quality, indicating that this operation can be omitted in areas with mechanical harvesting. The application of N fertilizer at rates of 88 and 144 kg ha-1 N, respectively, increased stalk height and TCH quadratically to the highest values for these variables. For the sugar yield per hectare (in pol %), N fertilization induced a linear increase.