Surface signaling in pathogenesis.

Surface signaling plays a major role in fungal infection. Topographical features of the plant surface and chemicals on the surface can trigger germination of fungal spores and differentiation of the germ tubes into appressoria. Ethylene, the fruit-ripening hormone, triggers germination of conidia, branching of hyphae, and multiple appressoria formation in Colletotrichum, thus allowing fungi to time their infection to coincide with ripening of the host. Genes uniquely expressed during appressoria formation induced by topography and surface chemicals have been isolated. Disruption of some of them has been shown to decrease virulence on the hosts. Penetration of the cuticle by the fungus is assisted by fungal cutinase secreted at the penetration structure of the fungus. Disruption of cutinase gene in Fusarium solani pisi drastically decreased its virulence. Small amounts of cutinase carried by spores of virulent pathogens, upon contact with plant surface, release small amounts of cutin monomers that trigger cutinase gene expression. The promoter elements involved in this process in F. solani pisi were identified, and transcription factors that bind these elements were cloned. One of them, cutinase transcription factor 1, expressed in Escherichia coli, is phosphorylated. Several protein kinases from F. solani pisi were cloned. The kinase involved in phosphorylation of specific transcription factors and the precise role of phosphorylation in regulating cutinase gene transcription remain to be elucidated.

Mathematical modeling of drying process of unripe banana slices

Unripe banana flour (UBF) production employs bananas not submitted to maturation process, is an interesting alternative to minimize the fruit loss reduction related to inappropriate handling or fast ripening. The UBF is considered as a functional ingredient improving glycemic and plasma insulin levels in blood, have also shown efficacy on the control of satiety, insulin resistance. The aim of this work was to study the drying process of unripe banana slabs (Musa cavendishii, Nanicão) developing a transient drying model through mathematical modeling with simultaneous moisture and heat transfer. The raw material characterization was performed and afterwards the drying process was conducted at 40 ºC, 50 ºC e 60 ºC, the product temperature was recorded using thermocouples, the air velocity inside the chamber was 4 m·s-1. With the experimental data was possible to validate the diffusion model based on the Fick\'s second law and Fourier. For this purpose, the sorption isotherms were measured and fitted to the GAB model estimating the equilibrium moisture content (Xe), 1.76 [g H2O/100g d.b.] at 60 ºC and 10 % of relative humidity (RH), the thermophysical properties (k, Cp, ?) were also measured to be used in the model. Five cases were contemplated: i) Constant thermophysical properties; ii) Variable properties; iii) Mass (hm), heat transfer (h) coefficient and effective diffusivity (De) estimation 134 W·m-2·K-1, 4.91x10-5 m-2·s-1 and 3.278?10-10 m·s-2 at 60 ºC, respectively; iv) Variable De, it presented a third order polynomial behavior as function of moisture content; v) The shrinkage had an effect on the mathematical model, especially in the 3 first hours of process, the thickness experienced a contraction of about (30.34 ± 1.29) % out of the initial thickness, finding two decreasing drying rate periods (DDR I and DDR II), 3.28x10-10 m·s-2 and 1.77x10-10 m·s-2, respectively. COMSOL Multiphysics simulations were possible to perform through the heat and mass transfer coefficient estimated by the mathematical modeling.

Conservação de cereja com aplicação de revestimento comestível

Dissertação apresentada à Escola Superior Agrária do Instituto Politécnico de Castelo Branco para cumprimento dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Mestre em Fruticultura Integrada.

Effects of chilling temperatures on ethylene binding by banana fruit

Banana fruit are highly susceptible to chilling injury during low temperature storage. Experiments were conducted to compare ethylene binding during storage at chilling (3 and 8 degreesC) versus optimum (13 degreesC) temperatures. The skins of fruit stored at 3 and 8 degreesC gradually darkened as storage duration increased. This chilling effect was reflected in increasing membrane permeability as shown by increased relative electrolyte leakage from skin tissue. In contrast, banana fruit stored for 8 days at 13 degreesC showed no chilling injury symptoms. Exposure of banana fruit to the ethylene binding inhibitor 1-methylcyclopropene (1 mul l(-1) 1-MCP) prevented ripening. However, this treatment also enhanced the chilling injury accelerated the occurrence of chilling injury-associated increased membrane permeability. C-14-ethylene release assay showed that ethylene binding by banana fruit stored at low temperature decreased with reduced storage temperature and/or prolonged storage time. Fruit exposed to 1-MCP for 12 h and then stored at 3 or 8 degreesC exhibited lower ethylene binding than those stored at 13 degreesC. Thus, chilling injury of banana fruit stored at low temperature is associated with a decrease in ethylene binding. The ability of tissue to respond to ethylene is evidently reduced, thereby resulting in failure to ripen.

Hybrid 'Sinta' papaya exhibits unique ACC synthase 1 cDNA isoforms

Five ripening-related ACC synthase cDNA isoforms were cloned from 80% ripe papaya cv. 'Sinta' by reverse transcription-PCR using gene-specific primers. Clone 2 had the longest transcript and contained all common exons and three alternative exons. Clones 3 and 4 contained common exons and one alternative exon each, while clone 1, the most common transcript, contained only the common exons. Clone 5 could be due to cloning artifacts and might not be a unique cDNA fragment. Thus, there are only four isoforms of ACC synthase mRNA. Southern blot analysis indicates that all five clones came from only one gene existing as a single copy in the 'Sinta' papaya genome. Multiple sequence alignment indicates that the four isoforms arise from a single gene, possibly through alternative splicing mechanisms. All the putative alternative exons were present at the 5'-end of the gene comprising the N-terminal region of the protein. 'Sinta' ACC synthase cDNAs were of the capacs 1 type and are most closely related to a 1.4 kb capacs 1-type DNA (AJ277160) from Eksotika papaya. No capacs 2-type cDNAs were cloned from 'Sinta' by RT-PCR. This is the first report of possible alternative splicing mechanism in ripening-related ACC synthase genes in hybrid papaya, possibly to modulate or fine-tune gene expression relevant to fruit ripening.

Developing pineapple fruit has a small transcriptome dominated by metallothionein

In a first step toward understanding the molecular basis of pineapple fruit development, a sequencing project was initiated to survey a range of expressed sequences from green unripe and yellow ripe fruit tissue. A highly abundant metallothionein transcript was identified during library construction, and was estimated to account for up to 50% of all EST library clones. Library clones with metallothionein subtracted were sequenced, and 408 unripe green and 1140 ripe yellow edited EST clone sequences were retrieved. Clone redundancy was high, with the combined 1548 clone sequences clustering into just 634 contigs comprising 191 consensus sequences and 443 singletons. Half of the EST clone sequences clustered within 13.5% and 9.3% of contigs from green unripe and yellow ripe libraries, respectively, indicating that a small subset of genes dominate the majority of the transcriptome. Furthermore, sequence cluster analysis, northern analysis, and functional classification revealed major differences between genes expressed in the unripe green and ripe yellow fruit tissues. Abundant genes identified from the green fruit include a fruit bromelain and a bromelain inhibitor. Abundant genes identified in the yellow fruit library include a MADS box gene, and several genes normally associated with protein synthesis, including homologues of ribosomal L10 and the translation factors SUI1 and eIF5A. Both the green unripe and yellow ripe libraries contained high proportions of clones associated with oxidative stress responses and the detoxification of free radicals.

The effect of Cu addition and milling contaminations on the microstructure evolution of ball milled Al-Pb alloy during sintering

Al-10 wt.%Pb and Al-10 wt.%Pb-x wt.%Cu (x = 0-7.0) bulk alloys were prepared by sintering the mechanically alloyed powders at various temperatures. The microstructure changes of the as consolidated powders in the course of sintering were analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis and transmission electron microscopy. It has been found that, with respect to the Al-10 wt.%Pb-x wt.%Cu alloy, CuAl2 and Cu9Al4 phases formed in the milling process, and the amount of CuAl2 phase increased while the Cu9Al4 phase disappeared gradually in the sintering process. In both Al-10 wt.%Pb and Al-10 wt.%Pb-x wt.%Cu alloys, the sintering process results in the coarsening of Pb phase and the growth rate of Pb phase fulfills the Lifshitz-Slyozov-Wagner equation even though the size of the Pb phase was in nanometer range. The Pb particle exhibits cuboctahedral morphology and has a cubic to cubic orientation relationship with the Al matrix. The addition of Cu strongly depressed the growth rate of Pb. Contamination induced by milling has apparent influence on the microstructure of the sintered alloys. Al7Cu2Fe and aluminium oxide phases were identified in the sintered alloys. The cuboctahedral morphology of Pb particles was broken up by the presence of the oxide phase. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Pineapple EST sequencing and microarray project

We have initiated an EST sequencing project to survey a range of expressed sequences from green fruit, yellow fruit, roots, and root-knot nematode infected root/gall tissues. In total, 5681 edited EST sequences were retrieved. Clone redundancy was high in the fruit libraries, with the combined fruit 1548 clone sequences clustering into just 634 contigs comprising 191 consensus sequences and 443 singletons. Half of all fruit EST clone sequences clustered within approximately 14 and 9% of contigs from green unripe and yellow ripe libraries respectively, indicating that a small subset of genes dominates the majority of the transcriptome. The root and root/gall libraries had lower levels of redundancy than the fruit libraries. Half of the root/gall ESTs clustered within approximately 40% of all contigs, indicating the roots possess a more complex transcriptome. Contig assembly and cluster analysis revealed major differences in the abundant gene sequences expressed between the unripe green and the ripe yellow fruit tissues, or gene sequences expressed between the weeks 1-4 and weeks 5-10 nematode infected gall vascular cylinder libraries.

O NEGÓCIO DA COMUNICAÇÃO EM TURISMO Cluster no Núcleo de Turismo da Editora Abril

Esse trabalho examina a relação da Comunicação com o Turismo discutindo a importância dos produtos de comunicação junto ao negócio do turismo no Brasil. Tem como corpus da pesquisa o Núcleo de Turismo da Editora Abril, formado pelas publicações Guia 4 Rodas, revistas Viagem e Turismo e National Geographic Brasil, e o portal de viagens www.viajeaqui.com.br. Investiga o peso e o amadurecimento do setor de turismo na economia brasileira, o crescimento e a consolidação do mercado editorial neste segmento. Discute o papel do Cluster na área de Turismo e seus efeitos no Jornalismo. Por meio da análise de conteúdo avalia os processos de produção das publicações do Núcleo, o caminho das informações compartilhadas pelos profissionais envolvidos e o impacto dessas informações nos públicos-alvos de cada veículo. Faz ainda uma reflexão sobre os limites entre Jornalismo e Publicidade em mídias segmentadas dentro de um Cluster.(AU)

Trigeneration using biomass energy for sustainable development

Purpose: The paper aims to design and prove the concept of micro-industry using trigeneration fuelled by biomass, for sustainable development in rural NW India. Design/methodology/approach: This is being tested at village Malunga, near Jodhpur in Rajasthan. The system components comprise burning of waste biomass for steam generation and its use for power generation, cooling system for fruit ripening and the use of steam for producing distilled water. Site was selected taking into account the local economic and social needs, biomass resources available from agricultural activities, and the presence of a NGO which is competent to facilitate running of the enterprise. The trigeneration system was designed to integrate off-the-shelf equipment for power generation using boilers of approximate total capacity 1 tonne of fuel per hour, and a back-pressure steam turbo-generator (200 kW). Cooling is provided by a vapour absorption machine (VAM). Findings: The financial analysis indicates a payback time of less than two years. Nevertheless, this is sensitive to market fluctuations and availabilities of raw materials. Originality/value: Although comparable trigeneration systems already exist in large food processing industries and in space heating and cooling applications, they have not previously been used for rural micro-industry. The small-scale (1-2 m3/h output) multiple effect distillation (3 effect plus condenser) unit has not previously been deployed at field level. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Cervicovaginal vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and risk of preterm birth (PTB)

Objective - During pregnancy, the human cervix undergoes angiogenic transformations. VEGF is expressed in cervical stroma and is proposed to play key roles in the process of cervical ripening and dilation. This study was conducted to evaluate whether cervical secretion of VEGF can be of clinical value in predicting impending PTB. Study Design - In an observational prospective cohort study, we analyzed cervical fluid samples from 103 pregnant women (GA: median [IQR]: 28 [25-31] wks) who presented for either a routine prenatal visit (n=61) or for evaluation of threatened preterm labor (n=42). Cervical secretions were collected under a standard protocol which was followed in all cases. Cervical length (CL) was assessed by transvaginal ultrasound using well-established criteria. Dilation was evaluated by digital exam performed only after collection of the biological samples. VEGF levels were immunoassayed by investigators unaware of the clinical outcome. Main exclusion criteria were ruptured membranes, active labor, vaginal bleeding, vaginal exam or intercourse within 24h. Results were analyzed with and without normalization for total protein. Results - 1) Clinical characteristics of the cohort are presented in Table;2) VEGF was detectable in all specimens, with no correlation between its levels, CL, twins or GA at collection; 3) There was an inverse correlation between VEGF and cervical dilation (R=-0.646, P=0.003); 4) Women with cervical dilation =1 cm had lower VEGF compared to those with a closed cervix (P=0.003); 5) Women who experienced PTB within 14 days (n=11) had lower VEGF (P=0.003); 6) A free VEGF level of =600 pg/mL had a sensitivity, specificity, +LR and -LR of 70%, 95%, 13.5 and 0.3, respectively in predicting PTB within 14 days. Conclusions - Low VEGF levels in the cervicovaginal secretions of pregnant women are associated with an increased risk of PTB within 2 weeks of collection. Active engagement of VEGF in the process of cervical ripening and dilatation and/or increased affinity of extracellular matrix components for VEGF may provide explanation for our findings.

Aplications of Neural Networks to Find the Impact of Water in Different Berry Components in Grapes

Grape juice composition during the different stages of berry growth was compared. The analytical data collected were used to investigate the relationships between some of the different components studied in these berries during the ripening period. Our goal is to study, with neural networks, the impact of water availability on Vitis vinifera L. cv. Tempranillo grape yields and juice composition over a three-year period.

Directed phase separation of PFO:PS blends during spin-coating using feedback controlled in situ stroboscopic fluorescence microscopy

Uniform thin-films of polymer blends can be produced through spin-coating, which is used on an industrial scale for the production of light emitting diodes, and more recently organic photovoltaic devices. Here, we present the results of the direct observation, and control, over the phase separation of polystyrene and poly(9,9′-dioctylfluorene) during spin-coating using high speed stroboscopic fluorescence microscopy. This new approach, imaging the fluorescence, from a blend of fluorescent + non-fluorescent polymers allows for intensity to be directly mapped to composition, providing a direct determination of composition fluctuations during the spin-coating process. We have studied the compositional development and corresponding structural development for a range of compositions, which produce a range of different phase separated morphologies. We initially observe domains formed by spinodal decomposition, coarsening via Ostwald Ripening until an interfacial instability causes break-up of the bicontinuous morphology. Ostwald ripening continues, and depending upon composition a bicontinuous morphology is re-established. By observing compositional and morphological development in real-time, we are able to direct and control morphological structure development through control of the spin coating parameters via in situ feedback. © 2013 The Royal Society of Chemistry.

A micro industry with closed energy and water cycles for sustainable rural development

Sustainable development requires combining economic viability with energy and environment conservation and ensuring social benefits. It is conceptualized that for designing a micro industry for sustainable rural industrialization, all these aspects should be integrated right up front. The concept includes; (a) utilization of local produce for value addition in a cluster of villages and enhancing income of the target population; (b) use of renewable energy and total utilization of energy generated by co and trigeneration (combining electric power production with heat utilization for heating and cooling); (c) conservation of water and complete recycling of effluents; (d) total utilization of all wastes for achieving closure towards a zero waste system. Enhanced economic viability and sustainability is achieved by integration of appropriate technologies into the industrial complex. To prove the concept, a model Micro Industrial Complex (MIC) has been set up in a semi arid desert region in Rajasthan, India at village Malunga in Jodhpur district. A biomass powered boiler and steam turbine system is used to generate 100-200 KVA of electric power and high energy steam for heating and cooling processes downstream. The unique feature of the equipment is a 100-150 kW back-pressure steam turbine, utilizing 3-4 tph (tonnes per hour) steam, developed by M/s IB Turbo. The biomass boiler raises steam at about 20 barg 3 tph, which is passed through a turbine to yield about 150 kW of electrical power. The steam let out at a back pressure of 1-3 barg has high exergy and this is passed on as thermal energy (about 2 MW), for use in various applications depending on the local produce and resources. The biomass fuel requirement for the boiler is 0.5-0.75 tph depending on its calorific value. In the current model, the electricity produced is used for running an oil expeller to extract castor oil and the castor cake is used as fuel in the boiler. The steam is used in a Multi Effect Distillation (MED) unit for drinking water production and in a Vapour Absorption Machine (VAM) for cooling, for banana ripening application. Additional steam is available for extraction of herbs such as mint and processing local vegetables. In this paper, we discuss the financial and economic viability of the system and show how the energy, water and materials are completely recycled and how the benefits are directed to the weaker sections of the community.

Surface microbial consortia from Livarot, a French smear-ripened cheese

The surface microflora (902 isolates) of Livarot cheeses from three dairies was investigated during ripening. Yeasts were mainly identified by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Geotrichum candidum was the dominating yeast among 10 species. Bacteria were identified using Biotype 100 strips, dereplicated by repetitive extragenic palindromic PCR (rep-PCR); 156 representative strains were identified by either BOX-PCR or (GTG) 55-PCR, and when appropriate by 16S rDNA sequencing and SDS-PAGE analysis. Gram-positive bacteria accounted for 65% of the isolates and were mainly assigned to the genera Arthrobacter, Brevibacterium, Corynebacterium, and Staphylococcus. New taxa related to the genera Agrococcus and Leucobacter were found. Yeast and Gram-positive bacteria strains deliberately added as smearing agents were sometimes undetected during ripening. Thirty-two percent of the isolates were Gram-negative bacteria, which showed a high level of diversity and mainly included members of the genera Alcaligenes, Hafnia, Proteus, Pseudomonas, and Psychrobacter. Whatever the milk used (pasteurized or unpasteurized), similar levels of biodiversity were observed in the three dairies, all of which had efficient cleaning procedures and good manufacturing practices. It appears that some of the Gramnegative bacteria identified should now be regarded as potentially useful in some cheese technologies. The assessment of their positive versus negative role should be objectively examined.