Sol-gel thin-film based mesoporous silica and carbon nanotubes for the determination of dopamine, uric acid and paracetamol in urine

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

The effect of exogenous fibrolytic enzymes and a ferulic acid esterase-producing inoculant on the fibre degradability, chemical composition and conservation characteristics of alfalfa silage

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of applying fibrolytic enzymes at ensiling, either alone or in combination with a ferulic acid esterase-producing bacterial silage inoculant, on the silage conservation characteristics and nutritive value of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L). Second-cut alfalfa (340 g DM/kg fresh crop) was harvested, wilted, chopped and sub-sampled into 24 batches. Samples were randomly allocated in triplicate to one of four enzyme product treatments supplying endoglucanases and xylanases: none (control), EN1, EN2, EN3; applied alone or in combination with a ferulic acid esterase-producing silage inoculant (FAEI). Treatments were arranged in a 4 x 2 factorial design. All enzyme treatments were applied at 2 ml enzyme product/kg herbage DM, and inoculant was applied at 1 x 10(5) cfu/g fresh herbage. Samples were packed into laboratory-scale silos and stored for 7, 27 or 70 days, and analysed for dry matter (DM) losses, aerobic stability, chemical composition and in vitro ruminal degradability. The use of enzymes did not affect (P>0.05) ensilage DM losses or lactic or acetic acid concentrations after 70 days of ensilage, compared to the control silage. Silage produced using EN1 had lesser neutral detergent fibre (aNDF, P=0.046) and acid detergent fibre (ADF; P=0.006) concentrations than control silage. However, no difference (P>0.05) was observed between the control silage and silage produced with EN1 for aNDF or ADF degradability (NDFD, ADFD). Silages produced with FAEI had greater DM losses (P=0.017) and pH (P<0.001) and lesser NDFD (P=0.019), ADFD (P=0.010) and proportion of lactic acid in the total fermentation products (P=0.006) after 70 days of ensilage, compared to uninoculated silages. The use of fibrolytic enzymes did not have a major effect on the ensilage fermentation of alfalfa, either ensiled alone or with an inoculant. No advantage in ruminal DM or fibre degradability was observed for silages produced with fibrolytic enzymes. The use of a ferulic acid esterase-producing inoculant alone did not improve the nutritive value of alfalfa silage, and did not promote any incremental effects when applied in combination with fibrolytic enzyme products. Crown Copyright (C) 2014 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Silver ion release from electrodes of nanotubes of TiO2 impregnated with Ag nanoparticles applied in photoelectrocatalytic disinfection

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

Fatty acid profile, carcass and meat quality traits of young Nellore bulls fed crude glycerin replacing energy sources in the concentrate

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

Critérios para indicação de espécies prioritárias para a restauração da vegetação de cerrado

Knowing the attributes of the most suitable species to overcome the obstacles in different environmental conditions is an important tool for ecological restoration. To evaluate the comparative performance of native Cerrado species being cultivated at an arboretum (Assis State Forest, Assis, SP, Brazil), we categorized 106 species by the following attributes: average annual increment in height and crown diameter, survival rates, frequency of herbivory, frost susceptibility and seed dispersal syndrome. The score of each attribute may vary from 1 to 3, and the value of a species for restoration was generated from the sum of the scores for the different attributes converted to the scale of 0 to 100. Analyzing the species altogether, survival was 70%, the average annual increment was 30 cm in height and 21 cm in crown diameter. Only 8% of the species showed high susceptibility to frost and 17% high frequency of herbivory. Eighteen species had scores above 80, being the first Annona crassiflora, Cecropia pachystachya, Enterolobium gummiferum, Plathymenia reticulata e Protium heptaphyllum. In this group are the species that gather the highest number of favorable attributes for the restoration of Cerrado vegetation. We generated two separate lists of ten species of higher value, one for the cerrado sensu stricto and the other for cerradao the forest type of cerrado vegetation. We believe that using these species accelerates the recovery of vegetation structure and thus provide the restoration of ecological processes of ecosystems undergoing restoration. At the end of the list are species of low scores, which, if used, can lead to higher costs or delay in the recovery of structure and ecological processes of the ecosystem being restored.

Mechanosynthesis of the multiferroic cubic spinel Co2MnO4: Influence of the calcination temperature

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