Batata cv Pirassu como matéria prima industrial

The starch market has been growing and improving in recent years, leading to a search for products with specific characteristics that meet the industrial requirements. This work aimed to evaluate the centesimal composition of potato tubers cv Pirassu and its industrial potential. The potato cv Pirassu was cultivated in Pouso Alegre, mountainous region south of Minas Gerais state, with planting season in August and harvest season in November, 2011. The tubers were analyzed for color, pulp and centesimal composition. The starch extract was analyzed for centesimal composition, phosphorus content, apparent amylose, pasting properties and thermal properties. The results showed that the content of dry matter, total soluble sugar and starch of tubers, are compatible for processing for potato chips. The starch of this cultivate showed important viscosity characteristics for food industry such as: heat resistance and friction, good final viscosity and low granular organization.

Composição físico-química e cor de clones de mandioquinha-salsa

This study aimed to characterize the physical and chemical composition of ten items of arracacha grown in the municipality of São Manuel for the 2009 harvest. In the roots of the clones BGH (4560, 5741, 5744, 5746, 5747, 6414, 6513, 6525 and 7609) and the cultivar Amarela de Senador Amaral the characteristics evaluated were: color (L *, a * and b *) and moisture, ash, crude fiber, raw grease, protein, reducing sugars, total sugars and starch. After obtaining the data, an analysis was performed for the variance of test F and comparisons between the means made by the Tukey test at 5% probability. There was no significant difference to the results of luminosity (L *) while BGH 6414 and BGH 5744 showed the highest values for chroma and * BGH 5741, BGH 6414, BGH 7609, 'Amarela de Senador Amaral' BGH 5747 presented the highest chroma values for b *. Clones BGH 7609 and BGH 6414 showed significantly higher levels of dry matter and with the potential yield of agro-industrial processes it would be best suited in the form of frying. The materials that showed significantly larger amounts of ash were BGH 6525, BGH 5747, 'Amarela de Senador Amaral ", BGH 4560, BGH 5746, BGH 6513. Regarding the contents of fatty matter BGH 6525, BGH 5741 and BGH 5744 showed the highest levels. The results of BGH 7609 showed crude fiber significantly higher than the other materials tested, it can be used in diets composed of fibers. BGH 4560 and cultivar had the highest crude protein. BGH 5741 showed the lowest reducing sugar content among the clones, but not significantly different from results found for the cultivar. All clones showed total sugar levels were higher in the cultivar, which may have more flavor. BGH 5741, BGH 5746, BGH 6525 and BGH 6513 showed significantly higher starch content than the cultivar Amarela de Senador Amaral. From these results we conclude that the clones have similar color characteristics, and are potentially a nutritionally adequate substitute for the cultivar.

Efeito da adição de flúor e cálcio no gel clareador a base de peróxido de hidrogênio na penetração, cor e microdureza

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of adding calcium ions and fluoride in the formulation of a whitening gel 35% hydrogen peroxide in its penetration through the dental structure, whitening efficacy and surface hardness of dental enamel. 80 teeth bovine incisors were used, which were obtained enamel and dentin disks of the buccal surface with 6mm diameter and 2mm thick (1 mm of enamel and dentin 1mm). The samples were divided into four groups stratified according to the protective substance / remineralizing added to the gel of hydrogen peroxide 35%: Group Ca - Calcium gluconate 0.5%; Group F - Sodium fluoride 0.2%; Group Ca + F - Calcium gluconate 0.5% and Sodium Fluoride 0.2%; Control group - no substance was added. The initial color of the samples and the hardness of the enamel were measured before the bleaching procedures. The specimens from each group were placed on a metallic support on which there was a simulated pulp chamber, which was filled with acetate buffer to collect and stabilize the penetrated peroxide. The respective bleaching treatments were applied 3 times, total of 30 minutes of application. The amount of peroxide which passed through the samples was determined by absorbance spectrophotometry. The hardness of the samples was measured immediately after bleaching. Next, the samples were immersed in artificial saliva for 7 days, after which the final color was evaluated. Data were statistically analyzed adopting a 5% significance level

Efeito da adição de flúor e cálcio no gel clareador a base de peróxido de hidrogênio na penetração, cor e microdureza

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of adding calcium ions and fluoride in the formulation of a whitening gel 35% hydrogen peroxide in its penetration through the dental structure, whitening efficacy and surface hardness of dental enamel. 80 teeth bovine incisors were used, which were obtained enamel and dentin disks of the buccal surface with 6mm diameter and 2mm thick (1 mm of enamel and dentin 1mm). The samples were divided into four groups stratified according to the protective substance / remineralizing added to the gel of hydrogen peroxide 35%: Group Ca - Calcium gluconate 0.5%; Group F - Sodium fluoride 0.2%; Group Ca + F - Calcium gluconate 0.5% and Sodium Fluoride 0.2%; Control group - no substance was added. The initial color of the samples and the hardness of the enamel were measured before the bleaching procedures. The specimens from each group were placed on a metallic support on which there was a simulated pulp chamber, which was filled with acetate buffer to collect and stabilize the penetrated peroxide. The respective bleaching treatments were applied 3 times, total of 30 minutes of application. The amount of peroxide which passed through the samples was determined by absorbance spectrophotometry. The hardness of the samples was measured immediately after bleaching. Next, the samples were immersed in artificial saliva for 7 days, after which the final color was evaluated. Data were statistically analyzed adopting a 5% significance level

Atividade da catalase e da lactato desidrogenase em tilápias submetidas a estresse de confinamento: efeito da cor do ambiente

Avaliaram-se os efeitos da cor do ambiente sobre o crescimento e a atividade da enzima antioxidante catalase (CAT) e da lactato desidrogenase (LDH) em tilápias do Nilo (n=24; 36,2±3,6g). Oito exemplares foram mortos para determinação da atividade basal das enzimas e os demais permaneceram isolados durante 14 dias sob espectro de luz branca ou azul (n=8 peixes/tratamento). A seguir os peixes foram submetidos a um estresse diário de confinamento de 90 minutos (15° ao 28° dia) e pesados semanalmente para cálculo da taxa de crescimento específico (TCE). A TCE negativa confirmou que o confinamento provocou estresse nos peixes, independentemente da cor do ambiente. O aumento da atividade da LDH no músculo vermelho dos peixes mantidos sob luz branca ou azul indicou mudança do metabolismo aeróbio para anaeróbio. O estresse reduziu a atividade da CAT no músculo branco dos peixes mantidos sob a luz branca ou azul. Na musculatura vermelha, esta redução ocorreu apenas nos animais mantidos sob a luz branca. O confinamento aumenta os processos metabólicos anaeróbios e é adequado para estudos sobre os efeitos do estresse. O espectro de luz azul não evita a redução do crescimento e a demanda energética anaeróbia em situações de estresse, mas preserva a atividade da CAT, contribuindo para o bem-estar da tilápia.

Alkaline sulfite/anthraquinone pretreatment followed by disk refining of Pinus radiata and Pinus caribaea wood chips for biochemical ethanol production

BACKGROUND: Alkaline sulfite/anthraquinone (ASA) cooking of Pinus radiata and Pinus caribaea wood chips followed by disk refining was used as a pretreatment for the production of low lignified and high fibrillated pulps. The pulps produced with different delignification degrees and refined at different energy inputs (250, 750 and 1600 Wh) were saccharified with cellulases and fermented to ethanol with Saccharomyces cerevisiae using separated hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF) or semi-simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSSF) processes. RESULTS: Delignification of ASA pulps was between 25% and 50%, with low glucans losses. Pulp yield was from 70 to 78% for pulps of P. radiata and 60% for the pulp of P. caribaea. Pulps obtained after refining were evaluated in assays of enzymatic hydrolysis. Glucans-to-glucose conversion varied from 20 to 70%, depending on the degree of delignification and fibrillation of the pulps. The best ASA pulp of P. radiata was used in SHF and SSSF experiments of ethanol production. Such experiments produced maximum ethanol concentration of 20 g L-1, which represented roughly90% of glucose conversion and an estimated amount of 260 L ethanol ton(-1) wood. P. caribaea pulp also presented good performance in the enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation but, due to the low amount of cellulose present, only 140 L ethanol would be obtained from each ton of wood. CONCLUSION: ASA cooking followed by disk refining was shown to be an efficient pretreatment process, which generated a low lignified and high-fibrillated substrate that allowed the production of ethanol from the softwoods with high conversion yields. (C) 2012 Society of Chemical Industry

Acciaio COR-TEN esposto in ambiente urbano-costiero: studio del rilascio di metalli di lega

Il Cor-Ten è un acciaio micro-legato, detto anche acciaio patinabile, che garantisce una buona resistenza alla corrosione da agenti atmosferici. Proprio grazie a questa sua peculiare caratteristica sta conoscendo un vasto impiego in particolare nel campo dell’edilizia e delle infrastrutture. La corrosione infatti interessa tutti i settori produttivi e non, provocando ingenti danni economici. Stime effettuate negli ultimi 40anni da diversi enti internazionali indicano che l’entità di questi danni, pur variando da settore a settore, risulta compresa per i paesi industrializzati tra il 3 e il 4% del PIL. Da questi dati si evince la necessità di proteggere i materiali dalla corrosione; in genere per questo scopo si ricorre a trattamenti superficiali o a rivestimenti protettivi. Queste tecniche non rappresentano però l’unica strada, è possibile infatti agire sulla composizione della lega, come nel caso del Cor-Ten, in modo che l’interazione metallo-ambiente porti alla formazione di una patina protettiva di prodotti di corrosione relativamente stabili. La formazione di questo strato, cosiddetto passivante, protegge il metallo da un’ulteriore attacco corrosivo. Scopo di questo lavoro di tesi è studiare il comportamento di questo materiale in ambiente urbano-costiero in tre differenti stati di finitura in cui è commercialmente disponibile: grezzo, pre-patinato e pre-patinato cerato, focalizzando l’attenzione sugli aspetti ambientali legati al suo utilizzo e cercando di valutare in particolare il rilascio dei metalli di lega nell’ambiente, aspetto fino ad ora non considerato in letteratura. I risultati ottenuti indicano che sembrerebbe preferibile l’utilizzo del materiale grezzo rispetto ai pre-patinati, almeno per quanto riguarda il rilascio di metalli in ambiente. Sulla base dei risultati ottenuti è possibile fornire una stima, per i tre stati di finitura di Cor-Ten A considerati, del quantitativo totale (solubile + estraibile) dei metalli rilasciati in ambiente nei sette mesi di esposizione durante la stagione primaverile-estiva della sperimentazione condotta in questo studio. La quantità rilasciata stimata per il Fe oscilla tra i 0,5 g/m2 per i provini light e i 0,7 g/m2 per i provini dark e grezzi, per il Ni il range è compreso tra i 3,6 mg/m2 dei provini grezzi e i 5 mg/m2 per i light, nel caso del Mn il quantitativo varia dai 6,8 mg/m2 per i light ai 10 mg/m2 per i grezzi. Per il Cr la stima per i provini pre-patinati è simile e si attesta intorno a 1,7 mg/m2, risultando minore (anche se in maniera non rilevate) per i grezzi.

Corrosione atmosferica in area urbana-costiera di un acciaio Cor-Ten: studio del rilascio in ambiente dei metalli di lega

Cor-Ten is a particular kind of steel, belonging to low-alloyed steel; thanks to his aesthetic features and resistance to atmospheric corrosion, this material is largely used in architectural, artistic and infrastructural applications. After environmental exposure, Cor-Ten steel exhibits the characteristic ability to self-protect from corrosion, by the development of a stable and adherent protective layer. However, some environmental factors can influence the formation and stability of the patina. In particular, exposure of Cor-Ten to polluted atmosphere (NOx, SOx, O3) or coastal areas (marine spray) may cause problems to the protective layer and, as a consequence, a release of alloying metals, which can accumulate near the structures. Some of these metals, such as Cr and Ni, could be very dangerous for soils and water because of their large toxicity. The aim of this work was to study the corrosion behavior of Cor-Ten exposed to an urban-coastal site (Rimini, Italy). Three different kinds of commercial surface finish (bare and pre-patinated, with or without a beeswax covering) were examined, both in sheltered and unsheltered exposure conditions. Wet deposition brushing the specimens surface (leaching solutions) are monthly collected and analyzed to evaluate the extent of metal release and the form in which they leave the surface, for example, as water-soluble compounds or non-adherent corrosion products. Five alloying metals (Fe, Cu, Cr, Mn and Ni) and nine ions (Cl-, NO3-, NO2-, SO42-, Na+, Ca2+, K+, Mg2+, NH4+) are determined through Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy and Ion Chromatography, respectively. Furthermore, the evolution and the behaviour of the patina are periodically followed by surface investigations (SEM-EDS and Raman Spectroscopy). After two years of exposure, the results show that Bare Cor-Ten, cheaper than the other analyzed specimens, even though undergoes the greater mass variation, his metal release is comparable to the release of the pre-patinated samples. The behavior of pre-patinated steel, with or without beeswax covering, do not show particular difference. This exposure environment doesn’t allow a completely stabilization of the patina; nevertheless an estimate of metal release after 10 years of exposure points out that the environmental impact of Cor-Ten is very low: for example, the release of chromium in the soluble fraction is less than 10 mg if we consider an exposed wall of 10 m2.

Identification of CNV and QTL for productive and functional traits in dairy cattle using dense SNP chips

The thesis identify CNV structural variants as possible markers for genomic selection and identify QTL regions for Fatty Acid Content in the Italian Brown Swiss population. Additionally it maps the QTL for mastitis resistance in the Valdostana Red Pied cattle.

A HIDDEN MARKOV MODEL FOR JOINT ESTIMATION OF GENOTYPE AND COPY NUMBER IN HIGH-THROUGHPUT SNP CHIPS

Amplifications and deletions of chromosomal DNA, as well as copy-neutral loss of heterozygosity have been associated with diseases processes. High-throughput single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays are useful for making genome-wide estimates of copy number and genotype calls. Because neighboring SNPs in high throughput SNP arrays are likely to have dependent copy number and genotype due to the underlying haplotype structure and linkage disequilibrium, hidden Markov models (HMM) may be useful for improving genotype calls and copy number estimates that do not incorporate information from nearby SNPs. We improve previous approaches that utilize a HMM framework for inference in high throughput SNP arrays by integrating copy number, genotype calls, and the corresponding confidence scores when available. Using simulated data, we demonstrate how confidence scores control smoothing in a probabilistic framework. Software for fitting HMMs to SNP array data is available in the R package ICE.

The shape of a bone scraper: an in vitro pilot study using porcine bone chips.

Bone scrapers are commonly used to harvest autologous bone in oral and implant surgery. The angle of the cutting blade is a variable that distinguishes bone scrapers. In the present study, the impact of the angle of the cutting blade on the in vitro characteristics of harvested bone was determined. Bone scrapers with blade angles of 15°, 25°, 35°, 45°, and 55° were used to harvest porcine cortical mandibular bone. The number and characteristics of the cells that grew out from the bone chips were examined. The data showed that, independent of the angle of the cutting blade, viable cells were barely detectable in fresh bone grafts. However, cells with a fibroblastic morphology appeared within 1 week in the culture dishes. After 21 days, the number of cells did not differ significantly between the five preparations. Moreover, cells responded to incubation with bone morphogenetic protein 7 (BMP-7) with an increased alkaline phosphatase activity, irrespective of the preparation. The data suggest that bone scrapers with different cutting angles produce bone chips with comparable in vitro characteristics.

Cor triatriatum sinister.

The cor triatriatum sinister is an uncommon congenital cardiac anomaly and reports in the literature are limited. It is often associated with other cardiac malformations, such as atrial septal defect, transposition of the great arteries, tetralogy of Fallot or atrioventricular septal defect. We present here a 6-year old boy who was diagnosed with cor triatriatum sinister, initially showing symptoms similar to mitral valve stenosis and congestive heart failure, and who underwent subsequent surgical correction using a left atrial approach. The fibromuscular membrane, separating the pulmonary veins from the mitral valve, was completely resected and postoperative echocardiography showed unobstructed pulmonary venous flow.

Effects of short- and long-term variations in RLS severity on perceived health status - the COR-study.

In a cohort study among 2751 members (71.5% females) of the German and Swiss RLS patient organizations changes in restless legs syndrome (RLS) severity over time was assessed and the impact on quality of life, sleep quality and depressive symptoms was analysed. A standard set of scales (RLS severity scale IRLS, SF-36, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale) in mailed questionnaires was repeatedly used to assess RLS severity and health status over time and a 7-day diary once to assess short-term variations. A clinically relevant change of the RLS severity was defined by a change of at least 5 points on the IRLS scale. During 36 months follow-up minimal improvement of RLS severity between assessments was observed. Men consistently reported higher severity scores. RLS severity increased with age reaching a plateau in the age group 45-54 years. During 3 years 60.2% of the participants had no relevant (±5 points) change in RLS severity. RLS worsening was significantly related to an increase in depressive symptoms and a decrease in sleep quality and quality of life. The short-term variation showed distinctive circadian patterns with rhythm magnitudes strongly related to RLS severity. The majority of participants had a stable course of severe RLS over three years. An increase in RLS severity was accompanied by a small to moderate negative, a decrease by a small positive influence on quality of life, depressive symptoms and sleep quality.