Mixotrophic cultivation of microalgae provides a very promising alternative for producing carbohydrate-rich biomass to convert into bioethanol and value-added biocompounds, such as vitamins, ...pigments, proteins, lipids and antioxidant compounds. Spirulina platensis may present high yields of biomass and carbohydrates when it is grown under mixotrophic conditions using cheese whey. However, there are no previous studies evaluating the influence of this culture system on the profile of fatty acids or antioxidant compounds of this species, which are extremely important for food and pharmaceutical applications and would add value to the cultivation process. S. platensis presented higher specific growth rates, biomass productivity and carbohydrate content under mixotrophic conditions; however, the antioxidant capacity and the protein and lipid content were lower than that of the autotrophic culture. The maximum biomass yield was 2.98 ±0.07 g/L in growth medium with 5.0% whey. The phenolic compound concentration was the same for the biomass obtained under autotrophic and mixotrophic conditions with 2.5% and 5.0% whey. The phenolic compound concentrations showed no significant differences except for that in the growth medium with 10.0% whey, which presented an average value of 22.37±0.14 mg gallic acid/g. Mixotrophic cultivation of S. platensis using whey can be considered a viable alternative to reduce the costs of producing S. platensis biomass and carbohydrates, shorten cultivation time and produce carbohydrates, as it does not require adding expensive chemical nutrients to the growth medium and also takes advantage of cheese whey, an adverse dairy industry byproduct.
The objective of this study was to characterize the chemical composition and lipid profile of colostrum and milk of purebred Quarter Horse mares. Thirty-four (34) purebred mares were selected, which ...were then separated into groups according to age, birth order and lactation stage. Colostrum samples were collected in the first six hours after delivery and milk samples from the 7.sup.th postpartum day, with intervals of 14 days until the end of lactation. The samples were refrigerated and sent to the Milk Laboratory of the University (Laboleite-UFRN), where they were analyzed for chemical composition. Colostrum was assessed by refractometry. The lipid profile was determined by gas chromatography through a separation of methyl esters. The data were tabulated and subjected to descriptive statistics and analysis of variance by the F-Test, and the groups were compared by the Tukey test using a significance level of 5%. There was high protein content and reduced lactose content for the colostrum of the Quarter Horse mares, differing from other breeds. The milk composition was not influenced by the mares' age. However, variations in the lactation stage and in the birth order of the Quarter Horse mares altered the milk's chemical composition. There is variation in the lipid composition of milk according to the lactation stage, without changing the characteristic profile of the mares' milk or diminishing the nutritional quality of the lipid fraction.
Microalgae are autotrophs and CO.sub.2 fixers with great potential to produce biofuels in a sustainable way, however the high cost of biomass production is a challenge. Mixotrophic growth of ...microalgae has been presented as a great alternative to achieve economic sustainability. Thus, the present work reports the energetic characterization of S. platensis biomasses cultivated under autotrophic (A) and mixotrophic conditions using cheese whey waste at different concentrations, 2.5 (M2.5), 5.0 (M5) and 10.0% (M10), in order to analyze the potential production of valuable chemicals and bio-oil by TGA/DTG and Py-GC/MS. The biochemical compositions of the studied biomasses were different due to the influence of different culture mediums. As the whey concentration increased, there was an increase in the carbohydrate content and a decrease in the protein content, which influenced the elemental composition, calorific value, TGA and volatile compounds evaluated by Py-GC/MS at 450°C, 550°C and 650°C. Sample M10 had lower protein content and formed a smaller amount of nitrogenates compounds by pyrolysis at all temperatures evaluated. There was a reduction of 43.8% (450º), 45.6% (550ºC) and 23.8% (650ºC) in the formation of nitrogenates compounds in relation to sample A. Moreover, the temperature also showed a considerable effect in the formation of volatile compounds. The highest yields of nitrogenates compounds, phenols and aromatic and non-aromatic hydrocarbons were observed at 650ºC. The oxygenated, and N and O containing compounds decreased as the temperature increased. Hydrocarbons such as toluene, heptadecane and heneicosane were produced by S.platensis pyrolysis, which makes this biomass attractive for production of high quality bio-oil and valuable chemicals. Therefore, the results showed that it is possible to decrease the formation of nitrogen compounds via manipulation of growth conditions and temperature.
The SARS-CoV-2 virus infection in humans induces significant inflammatory and systemic reactions and complications of which corticosteroids like methylprednisolone have been recommended as treatment. ...Our understanding of the metabolic and metabolomic pathway dysregulations while using intravenous corticosteroids in COVID-19 is limited. This study will help enlighten the metabolic and metabolomic pathway dysregulations underlying high daily doses of intravenous methylprednisolone in COVID-19 patients compared to those receiving placebo. The information on key metabolites and pathways identified in this study together with the crosstalk with the inflammation and biochemistry components may be used, in the future, to leverage the use of methylprednisolone in any future pandemics from the coronavirus family.
Microalgae are autotrophs and CO2 fixers with great potential to produce biofuels in a sustainable way, however the high cost of biomass production is a challenge. Mixotrophic growth of microalgae ...has been presented as a great alternative to achieve economic sustainability. Thus, the present work reports the energetic characterization of S. platensis biomasses cultivated under autotrophic (A) and mixotrophic conditions using cheese whey waste at different concentrations, 2.5 (M2.5), 5.0 (M5) and 10.0% (M10), in order to analyze the potential production of valuable chemicals and bio-oil by TGA/DTG and Py-GC/MS. The biochemical compositions of the studied biomasses were different due to the influence of different culture mediums. As the whey concentration increased, there was an increase in the carbohydrate content and a decrease in the protein content, which influenced the elemental composition, calorific value, TGA and volatile compounds evaluated by Py-GC/MS at 450°C, 550°C and 650°C. Sample M10 had lower protein content and formed a smaller amount of nitrogenates compounds by pyrolysis at all temperatures evaluated. There was a reduction of 43.8% (450º), 45.6% (550ºC) and 23.8% (650ºC) in the formation of nitrogenates compounds in relation to sample A. Moreover, the temperature also showed a considerable effect in the formation of volatile compounds. The highest yields of nitrogenates compounds, phenols and aromatic and non-aromatic hydrocarbons were observed at 650ºC. The oxygenated, and N and O containing compounds decreased as the temperature increased. Hydrocarbons such as toluene, heptadecane and heneicosane were produced by S.platensis pyrolysis, which makes this biomass attractive for production of high quality bio-oil and valuable chemicals. Therefore, the results showed that it is possible to decrease the formation of nitrogen compounds via manipulation of growth conditions and temperature.
The objective of this study was to characterize the chemical composition and lipid profile of colostrum and milk of purebred Quarter Horse mares. Thirty-four (34) purebred mares were selected, which ...were then separated into groups according to age, birth order and lactation stage. Colostrum samples were collected in the first six hours after delivery and milk samples from the 7th postpartum day, with intervals of 14 days until the end of lactation. The samples were refrigerated and sent to the Milk Laboratory of the University (Laboleite-UFRN), where they were analyzed for chemical composition. Colostrum was assessed by refractometry. The lipid profile was determined by gas chromatography through a separation of methyl esters. The data were tabulated and subjected to descriptive statistics and analysis of variance by the F-Test, and the groups were compared by the Tukey test using a significance level of 5%. There was high protein content and reduced lactose content for the colostrum of the Quarter Horse mares, differing from other breeds. The milk composition was not influenced by the mares' age. However, variations in the lactation stage and in the birth order of the Quarter Horse mares altered the milk's chemical composition. There is variation in the lipid composition of milk according to the lactation stage, without changing the characteristic profile of the mares' milk or diminishing the nutritional quality of the lipid fraction.
Cynodonts represent the transition from reptiles to mammals. They are classified as synapsids, or tetrapod animals with mammalian characteristics. We present here the finding of helminth eggs in a ...coprolite identified as of cynodont origin dated of nearly 240 million years. Microscopy revealed the presence of very well preserved intestinal parasite eggs. Up to now we identified an ascarid egg by morphological characteristics. Based on a previous description of the new genus Ascarites Poinar Jr and Boucot 2006 in coprolites of iguanodons from Belgium, we propose a new species, Ascarites rufferi n.sp. in cynodonts, a host that inhabited the Southern Region of Brazil in the Triassic period.
We used the multiplex semi-quantitative reverse-transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) to investigate kallikrein 2 and 3 (KLK2 and KLK3) mRNA levels in prostate tissue from 42 prostate cancer patients, 33 of ...whom were also assessed for peripheral blood KLK2 expression by qualitative semi-nested RT-PCR. We found that KLK2 was an important tissue biomarker for distinguishing between prostate cancer patients and those with benign prostatic hyperplasia, particularly when KLK2 expression was > 60% of that of the beta 2-microglobulin constitutive gene. Patients with an average relative expression value greater than or equal to 0.6 (cutoff value) had an eleven-fold higher chance of having prostate cancer. When one or two tissues samples were evaluated for KLK2 expression using the cutoff value the estimated chance of having prostate cancer was increased by seven times for one positive sample and 45 times for two positive samples. There was no significant correlation between KLK3 gene expression and prostate cancer diagnosis. Logistic regression for blood and tissue KLK2 expression successfully detected 92% of the prostate cancer cases. The detection of KLK2 in blood showed a sensitivity of 59% and a specificity of 82%. This study indicates that the KLK2 gene may be a useful molecular marker for the diagnosis of prostate cancer and that analysis of KLK2 expression in blood and tissues could provide a novel approach for the clinical investigation of this type of cancer.
The occurrence of osteoporotic fractures in the elderly is associated with reduced levels of vitamin D and resulting secondary hyperparathyroidism, and inpatients are the ones at a higher risk. In ...Brazil, given its high level of insolation, the populations large amount of vitamin D is inferred to be adequate. In this study we aimed to assess the serum levels of 25-hydroxivitamin D (25OHD), parathormone (PTH) and ionized calcium (Cai), as well as to analyze the prevalence of both hypovitaminosis D and secondary hyperparathyroidism in the elderly living in the city of São Paulo. We studied 177 inpatients (125 women and 52 men) with mean age (SD) 76.6 (9.0) years, and 243 outpatients (168 women and 75 men) aged 79.1 (5.9) years. In this assessment 71.2% in the inpatients group and 43.8% in the outpatients group had 25OHD levels below the minimum recommended (50 nmol/l), with the women presenting with levels considerably lower than the men. Secondary hyperparathyroidism occurred in 61.7% of the inpatients and in 54% of the outpatients. Considering the results achieved, we recommend vitamin D supplementation in effective doses for the Brazilian elderly population, in addition to suggesting a discussion for the implementation of vitamin D-enhanced food policies, particularly oriented to the ones at a greater risk.
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