Hidrotermia e radiação UV-C no controle de patógenos de manga e melão

As doenças de pós-colheita são, em geral, de difícil controle e são responsáveis por perdas significativas de manga (Mangifera indica L.) e melão (Cucumis melo L.) no Brasil. Os principais patógenos pós-colheita do melão são Alternaria alternata, Fusarium pallidoroseum e Myrothecium roridum, enquanto que na manga são Colletotrichum gloeosporioides e Lasiodiplodia theobromae. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a sensibilidade dos propágulos destes patógenos aos tratamentos de hidrotermia e de radiação UV-C. Suspensões de conídios e discos de micélio de cada patógeno foram submetidos aos tratamentos de hidrotermia a 50, 55 e 58 ºC por 15 e 30 s e de radiação UV-C nas doses de 0,330 kJ m-2, 0,660 kJ m-2 e 1,320 kJ m-2. Após os tratamentos e incubação por 72 e 48 h, foram avaliados o número de unidades formadoras de colônias (UFCs) e o crescimento micelial dos patógenos, respectivamente. Os tratamentos apresentaram eficiência distinta entre os propágulos e os patógenos. O controle de UFCs e do crescimento micelial de C. gloeosporioides e L. theobromae foi superior a 88 % com água aquecida a 55 ºC ou 58 ºC, independente do tempo de tratamento. Para os mesmos patógenos, a maior dose de radiação, 1,320 kJ m-2, controlou acima de 96 % das UFCs. Entretanto, o controle do crescimento micelial destes patógenos com radiação UV-C foi inferior quando comparado ao uso de água aquecida a 55 ºC ou 58 ºC. O controle de UFCs de A. alternata, M. roridum e F. pallidoroseum foi superior com os tratamentos de água aquecida a 55 ºC por 30 s, 58 ºC por 15 s e 30 s e com as doses de radiação de 0,660 kJ m-2 e 1,320 kJ m-2. O controle do crescimento micelial de A. alternata e de M. roridum foi inferior com as doses de radiação e com a temperatura de 50 ºC quando comparados aos demais tratamentos. Na redução do crescimento micelial de F. pallidoroseum, os tratamentos a 58 ºC ou as doses de 0,660 kJ m-2 e 1,320 kJ m-2 foram mais eficiêntes, com controle superior a 88 %. Água aquecida a 58 ºC por 15 s controlou UFCs e o crescimento micelial dos patógenos testados.

Uv. Lilla slafvinnan ("Ali Baba") : alkusoitto

Soitinnus: orkesteri.

Molecular markers for progression of squamous cell carcinoma of the skin

Incidence of nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) is increasing. Ultraviolet (UV) –light is a major risk factor for the development of cutaneous SCC. Cutaneous SCCs that develop to chronic ulcers are known to progress and metastasize more easily than UV-induced SCCs. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a group of proteolytic enzymes which are suggested to have a role in cancer growth and invasion. The molecular background for progression of cutaneous SCC was examined by immunohistochemistry (IHC) using tissue samples of recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB) –associated SCC, sporadic UV-induced SCC, and SCC precursors. IHC studies using tissue microarray (TMA) technique revealed overexpression of MMP-7 and MMP-13 in SCC tumor cells. MMP-7 expression was enhanced especially in the SCC tumor cells of the RDEB –associated SCCs. Studies with SCC cell lines showed that tumor cell derived MMP-7 activated heparin binding epidermal growth factor –like growth factor (HB-EGF) which enhanced the growth of SCC tumor cells. Further, it was shown that type VII collagen (COL7) is expressed in sporadic SCC tumor cells. Interestingly, it was shown that SCC –associated MMP-13 is capable of cleaving COL7 in vitro. COL7 cleavage may have a role in the progression of cutaneous SCC. Studies on serine proteinase inhibitor gene family using SCC tumor cell gene array, quantitative real-time PCR, SCC cell lines, normal human epidermal keratinocytes and IHC of TMA samples showed that serine proteinase inhibitor clade A, member 1 (serpinA1, alpha-1-antitrypsin) is expressed and produced by human SCC tumor cells but not by normal keratinocytes. Moreover, serpinA1 expression was shown to correlate with the progression of cutaneous SCC using transformed HaCaT-cell lines and mouse chemically induced skin SCC model. SerpinA1 may serve as a novel biomarker for the progression of cutaneous SCC. This study elucidated putative mechanisms of the progression of cutaneous SCC and revealed novel biomarker candidates for the progression of SCC of the skin.

Light emitting diode (LED) use in artificial lighting for broiler chicken production

Light emitting diode (LED) has been used in commercial poultry industry by presenting superior energy savings and providing feasibility on production process. The objective of this research was to evaluate performance and carcass yield of broiler chickens exposed to different LED colors compared with fluorescent lamps. For that, two experiments (E1 and E2) were performed and 2,646 Cobb® chickens were used. In experiment E1, male birds were exposed to 20 lux artificial lighting with red, yellow, blue, and white LED bulbs; and fluorescent bulb. In experiment E2, male and female birds were exposed to 15 lux artificial lighting with red and blue LED bulbs; and fluorescent bulb. Cumulative weight gain (kg), feed intake (kg), feed conversion, hot carcass weight (kg), carcass yield (%), and breast and thigh + drumstick yield (%) were used as response variables. Results showed no difference (p > 0.05) among treatments for performance, carcass yield, and cut yield in experiment E1. In experiment E2 there was only difference between genders (p < 0.05) and males showed higher total weight gain, feed intake, hot carcass weight and thigh + drumstick yield. Different LED color use had same effect as fluorescent lights on broiler performance and carcass yield.

White mold detection in common beans through leaf reflectance spectroscopy

ABSTRACT This study aimed to identify wavelengths based on leaf reflectance (400-1050 nm) to estimate white mold severity in common beans at different seasons. Two experiments were carried out, one during fall and another in winter. Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression was used to establish a set of wavelengths that better estimates the disease severity at a specific date. Therefore, observations were previously divided in two sub-groups. The first one (calibration) was used for model building and the second subgroup for model testing. Error measurements and correlation between measured and predicted values of disease severity index were employed to provide the best wavelengths in both seasons. The average indexes of each experiment were of 5.8% and 7.4%, which is considered low. Spectral bands ranged between blue and green, green and red, and red and infrared, being most sensitive for disease estimation. Beyond the transition ranges, other spectral regions also presented wavelengths with potential to determine the disease severity, such as red, green, and near infrared.

Reaaliaikaisen esikäsittelyn kehittäminen hemiselluloosa-analytiikalle

Tämän työn tavoitteena oli kehittää esikäsittelymenetelmä, jolla voidaan reaaliaikaisesti vähentää hydrolysaatin ligniinipitoisuutta ja näin vähentää fluoresenssia hemiselluloosan analysoimisessa. Työn kirjallisuusosassa käsitellään hemiselluloosien rakennetta sekä niiden erottamista puusta, sekä käydään läpi hemiselluloosien käyttömahdollisuuksia ja niiden reaaliaikaiseen analysointiin soveltuvia tekniikoita. Kokeellisessa osassa tutkittiin ultrasuodatusta sekä adsorptiohartsikäsittelyä hydrolysaatin esikäsittelynä ennen Raman-analyysiä. Esikäsittelyn tavoitteena oli vähentää Raman-analyysia häiritsevää ligniinistä johtuvaa fluoresenssia. Suodatukset tehtiin Amicon-suodatuslaitteistolla käyttäen viittä eri suodatuskalvoa. Hartsikäsittelyissä käytettiin Amberliten XAD16 ja XAD7HP adsorbtiohartseja. Hartsisuhteina käytettiin 1/80, 1/40, 1/19 ja 1/13. Käytetyt ultrauodatuskalvot osoittautuivat suodatusnäytteistä tehtyjen HPLC-analyysien perusteella cut-off-luvultaan liian pieniksi, sillä hemiselluloosien ja ligniinin erotus ei onnistunut, vaan molemmat väkevöityivät konsentraattiin. Hartsikäsittelyillä saatiin ligniiniä poistettua aiheuttamatta hemiselluloosahäviöitä. Parhaimmillaan ligniinin poistumista kuvaava UV-absorbanssi pieneni hartsilla XAD16 37 % ja hartsilla XAD7 25 %. Vaikka ligniinipitoisuus aleni, näytteet fluoresoivat edelleen voimakkaasti Raman-mittauksessa. Tulosten perusteella näyttäisi siltä, että hartsikäsittelyä optimoimalla analyysiä häiritsevää fluoresenssia olisi edelleen mahdollista vähentää.

Positron measurements in Mg-doped GaN and development of digital Doppler broadening spectroscopy

In this work parameters of Mg-doped GaN samples were studied using positron annihilation spectroscopy and analyzed. It is shown that gallium vacancies exist in an unintentionally doped sample. Next, the sample with higher concentration of Mg and low growth temperature contains vacancy clusters. In case of low concentration of Mg the growth temperature does not affect the formation of defects. Analog electronics can be replaced by a modern digital device. While promising a high quantity of benefits, the performance of these digitizers requires thorough adjustment. A 14-bit two channel digitizer has been tested in order to achieve better performance than the one of a traditional analog setup, and the adjustment process is described. It has been shown that the digital device is unable to achieve better energy resolution, but it is quite close to the corresponding attribute of the available analog system, which had been used for measurements in Mg-doped GaN.

Field-Programmable Gate Array Card for Readout and Control of Cryoelectronics

The main goal of the present Master’s Thesis project was to create a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) based system for the control of single-electron transistors or other cryoelectronic devices. The FPGA and similar technologies are studied in the present work. The fixed and programmable logic are compared with each other. The main features and limitations of the hardware used in the project are investigated. The hardware and software connections of the device to the computer are shown in detail. The software development techniques for FPGA-based design are described. The steps of design for programmable logic are considered. Furthermore, the results of filters implemented in the software are illustrated.

Rasvasuodatus UV-valon avulla

Tämä kandidaatintyö käsittelee rasva-aerosolien vähentämistä liesituulettimissa ultraviolettivalon (UV) ja titaanioksidin avulla (TiO2). Työssä käsitellään rasva-aerosolien aiheuttamia haittoja julkisissa keittiöissä ja liesituulettimen merkitystä rasva-aerosolipitoisuuksiin. Työn tavoitteena on selvittää, miten rasva-aerosolit käyttäytyvät kun niitä suodatetaan UV-valon ja TiO2-katalyytin avulla. Työssä myös pohditaan onko UV/TiO2-menetelmä tehokas liesituulettimen rasvan vähentäjä.

Phenolics of the Inner Bark of Silver Birch: Characterization and Intraspecific Variation

This thesis describes work related to the in-depth characterization of the phenolic compounds of silver birch (Betula pendula) inner bark. Phenolic compounds are the most ubiquitous class of plant secondary compounds. The unifying feature of this structurally diverse group is an aromatic ring containing at least one hydroxyl group. Due to the structural diversity, phenolics have various roles in the plant defense against biotic and abiotic stresses. In addition, they can confer several health-promoting properties to humans. Furthermore, the structural diversity of this class of compounds causes challenges for their analysis. The study species in the present work, silver birch, is economically the most important hard wood species in northern Europe. Its inner bark contains a high level of phenolic compounds and it has shown one of the strongest antioxidant activities among 92 Finnish plant materials. The literature review surveys the diversity and organ specific distribution of phenolic compounds in silver birch as well as the proposed ecological functions of phenolic compounds in nature. In addition, the basis for the characterization of phenolics by mass spectrometry (MS), nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), and circular dichroism spectroscopy (CD) are reviewed. The objective of the experimental work was to extract, purify, characterize, and quantify the inner bark phenolic compounds. Overall 36 compounds were characterized by MS and ultraviolet spectroscopy (UV). 24 compounds were isolated and their structures confirmed by NMR and CD spectroscopy. Five novel natural compounds were identified. Special emphasis was placed on the establishment of a method for the characterization of proanthocyanidins (PAs). Hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) was utilized because of its high resolution power and predictable elution order of oligomeric and polymeric PAs according to an increasing degree of polymerization. The combination of HILIC and high-resolution MS detection allowed the identification of procyanidin (PC) polymers up to the degree of polymerization of 22. In addition, a series of oligomeric and polymeric PC monoxylosides were observed for the first time in nature. Season and genotype influenced the quantities of the main inner bark phenolics, yet qualitative differences were not observed. However, manual wounding of the inner bark induced the production of ellagitannins (ETs) in the wounded tissues, i.e. callus. Since ETs were not detected in the intact inner bark, this finding may reflect the capacity of silver birch to exploit ellagitannins in its defense.

Ultrasuodatusmembraanin modifiointi entsyymeillä suodatusominaisuuksien parantamiseksi

Tämän diplomityön tarkoituksena oli kiinnittää lakkaasientsyymi polyeetterisulfonimembraaniin suodatusominaisuuksien parantamiseksi. Lakkaasientsyymin tiedetään pilkkovan ligniiniä ja kiinnittämällä lakkaasientsyymi membraaniin tavoiteltiin ligniinin aiheuttaman membraanin likaantumisen vähentämistä. Tällöin vältyttäisiin lisäksi erilliseltä esikäsittely vaiheelta ja voitaisiin saada puhtaampi lopputuote. Lakkaasientsyymivalmisteena tutkimuksessa käytettiin Novozym® 51003 ja ristisilloittajana käytettiin glutaarialdehydiä. Vapaan ja kiinnitetyn lakkaasientsyymin aktiivisuuden määritettiin 2,2-atso-bis(3- etyylibentsotiatsolyyli-6-sulfonihappo):n avulla. Lakkaasin kiinnittymistä membraaniin tutkittiin ATR-FTIR spektroskoopilla kiinnittymisen varmentamiseksi. Lakkaasi modifioituja membraaneja testattiin koivu-uute suodatuksella ja adsorptio kokeella. Lakkaasientsyymi saatiin kiinnitettyä membraaniin ristisilloittajan avulla, mutta lakkaasilla modifioitujen membraanien vesivuot laskivat noin puoleen alkuperäisestä. Koivu-uuteen suodatuksissa modifioidusta membraanista ei saatu permeaattia lävitse, mutta adsorptiokokeen tulosten perusteella voidaan todeta lakkaasientsyymin pilkkoneen ligniiniä. Kiinnitetyn lakkaasin aktiivisuus vaihteli rinnakkaisten määritysten välillä, minkä vuoksi lakkaasin kiinnitysmekanismin lisätutkiminen olisi tarpeen luotettavimpien tulosten saamiseksi.

Detection of Illicit Drugs and Drug Precursors with Cantilever-Enhanced Photoacoustic Spectroscopy

In this study, cantilever-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (CEPAS) was applied in different drug detection schemes. The study was divided into two different applications: trace detection of vaporized drugs and drug precursors in the gas-phase, and detection of cocaine abuse in hair. The main focus, however, was the study of hair samples. In the gas-phase, methyl benzoate, a hydrolysis product of cocaine hydrochloride, and benzyl methyl ketone (BMK), a precursor of amphetamine and methamphetamine were investigated. In the solid-phase, hair samples from cocaine overdose patients were measured and compared to a drug-free reference group. As hair consists mostly of long fibrous proteins generally called keratin, proteins from fingernails and saliva were also studied for comparison. Different measurement setups were applied in this study. Gas measurements were carried out using quantum cascade lasers (QLC) as a source in the photoacoustic detection. Also, an external cavity (EC) design was used for a broader tuning range. Detection limits of 3.4 particles per billion (ppb) for methyl benzoate and 26 ppb for BMK in 0.9 s were achieved with the EC-QCL PAS setup. The achieved detection limits are sufficient for realistic drug detection applications. The measurements from drug overdose patients were carried out using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) PAS. The drug-containing hair samples and drug-free samples were both measured with the FTIR-PAS setup, and the measured spectra were analyzed statistically with principal component analysis (PCA). The two groups were separated by their spectra with PCA and proper spectral pre-processing. To improve the method, ECQCL measurements of the hair samples, and studies using photoacoustic microsampling techniques, were performed. High quality, high-resolution spectra with a broad tuning range were recorded from a single hair fiber. This broad tuning range of an EC-QCL has not previously been used in the photoacoustic spectroscopy of solids. However, no drug detection studies were performed with the EC-QCL solid-phase setup.

UV-LED -lamppujen soveltuminen laivojen painolastivesien käsittelyyn

Painolastivesien mukana kulkeutuvien lajien leviäminen on yksi vakavimmista globaaleista ympäristöuhkista. Kansainvälinen merenkulkujärjestö IMO määritteli vuonna 2004 kansainvälisen painolastivesiyleissopimuksen, jonka tarkoituksena on ehkäistä laivojen painolastivesien mukana kulkeutuvien lajien leviämistä. Sopimus velvoittaa aluksia käsittelemään niiden painolastivedet ja se sisältää myös käsittelyjärjestelmiltä edellytetyt vaatimukset. Vaikka sopimus ei ole vielä astunut voimaan, painolastivesien käsittelyyn löytyy markkinoilta jo useita kymmeniä IMO:n hyväksymiä käsittelyjärjestelmiä, jotka hyödyntävät erilaisia mekaanisia, fysikaalisia ja kemiallisia menetelmiä. Yksi yleisimmin käytetyistä menetelmistä on UV-säteilytys. UV-säteily tuotetaan elohopealampuilla, jotka kuitenkin kuluttavat paljon energiaa ja sisältävät myrkyllistä elohopeaa. Tämän työn tarkoituksena oli selvittää, voisiko elohopealamput korvata lähitulevaisuudessa UV-LED -lampuilla. UV-LED –lamppujen etuja ovat muun muassa energiatehokkuus, kestävä rakenne ja myrkyttömyys. Työn tärkeimpänä tavoitteena oli tutkia laboratoriomittausten avulla, millainen UV-annosmäärä 10-50 µm kokoisten kasviplanktonien inaktivoimiseen tarvitaan. Mittausjärjestelyt vastasivat suurelta osin IMO:n vaatimuksia. Laboratoriomittauksissa käytettiin 265 nm:n aallonpituudella toimivia UV-LED -lamppuja. Näytteiden analysoinnissa käytettiin sekä PAM-fluorometriä että virtaussytometriä. Saatujen tulosten perusteella tutkimuksessa käytettyjen lajien Asterionellopsis glacialis ja Thalassiosira sp. täydelliseen inaktivoitumiseen tarvittiin noin 600 mJ/cm2 suuruinen UV-annos. Tulos vastasi ennakko-odotuksia ja se oli vertailukelpoinen muiden aiheesta tehtyjen tutkimusten kanssa. Koska nykyisten UV-LED –lamppujen teho on hyvin alhainen, ne eivät vielä sovellu painolastivesien käsittelyyn. UV-LED –lamppujen kehitystyö on kuitenkin käynnissä ja on arvioitu, että niitä voitaisiin käyttää suurten virtaamien käsittelyssä 5-10 vuoden kuluttua.