Electrospinning is currently one of the most used techniques to produce fibrous synthetic tissues such as cartilage and bone. To replicate cartilage tissue engineering functionality, one of the most important characteristics is the alignment of the resulting fibre meshes in a three-dimensional (3D) fashion. Here, a newly developed electrospinning collector system is tested in order to understand how the process parameters affected the obtained fibre meshes topography. For that, a polymer consisting of PCL/Gelatin was electrospun using the electrostatic potential to create a fibre mesh. A Design of the Experiments (DoE) approach was implemented, to determine whether the variation of the main process parameters led to significant effects on the mesh dimensional characteristics. The process parameters analyzed were the velocity of the collecting bands, the linear velocity of the fibre deposition table and the flow rate. The analyzed mesh characteristics were the fibre diameter, the distance between the fibres and pore size. The effect of each of the three factors was statistically analyzed using ANOVA, as well as the interaction between them. Complementary an ANOVA linear regression approach was developed to predict the distance between the fibres. This statistical regression was then compared with a predictive theoretical model and with the experimental results. The results obtained indicate the presence of interactions between the three process parameters analyzed. The three process parameters showed statistical significance in the distance between the fibres, however, the velocity of the deposition table was the process parameter that presented the highest effect.

Treatment of microbial-related infections remains a clinical challenge that has been slowly aggravating over recent years, due to the dissemination of resistance against currently applied treatment protocols. In this current scenario, the design of novel treatment approaches is of great importance, being a prominent focus of the scientific community. In recent years deep eutectic systems (DES) have gained the attention of the scientific community due to their remarkable physicochemical and biological properties, versatility, and compliance with the green chemistry metrics. In this work, DES containing a monoterpenoid (thymol (THY) and menthol (ME)) in combination with ibuprofen (IBU) were formulated and characterized via thermal analyses and NMR spectroscopy. The biological activity of the most promising formulations was then explored, with focus on its antimicrobial and anticancer activity. Both ME and THY-based formulations presented relevant antibacterial activity against the panel of microorganisms tested. Among the THY-based formulation tested, THY:IBU 3:1 molar ratio, showed the highest antibacterial activity, affecting all tested microorganisms, while ME:IBU 3:1 molar ratio was only effective against Gram-positive bacteria and Candida albicans. Furthermore, both ME and THY-based formulations revealed cytotoxic effect towards the cancer cell model used (HT29), where ME:IBU 3:1 stood out as the most selective towards cancer cells without compromising normal cells viability. Overall, the results obtained highlight the potential use of terpene-based THEDES formulations that, due to their enhanced thermal properties, may represent a versatile alternative in several biomedical applications where an effective antimicrobial or anticancer therapeutic action remains a challenge.

A proteção dos ocupantes de automóveis em acidentes que envolvam impactos laterais despertou a atenção dos pesquisadores e engenheiros a partir da década de 1960 e, desde então, é fonte de interesse no desenvolvimento tecnológico de materiais, processos de produção e métodos construtivos de estruturas laterais de veículos, pois da integridade destas estruturas durante o impacto depende a segurança dos ocupantes. A resistência das colunas laterais de veículos é definida principalmente por suas características geométricas, combinadas com resistência dos materiais aplicados, além da integridade das uniões entre seus componentes. A dicotomia causada pela evolução das regulamentações de segurança veicular e contra emissões de poluentes tem forçado o desenvolvimento tecnológico das construções de carrocerias no sentido de aumentar sua resistência para o bem da segurança dos ocupantes, e reduzir seu peso diminuindo consequentemente o consumo de combustíveis fósseis e a emissão de poluentes. Neste trabalho investigou-se as características construtivas de colunas estruturais de carrocerias de veículos pequenos para cinco passageiros, bem como a evolução do uso de aços microligados, aços dual phase, aços estampados a quente e a eficácia da solda ponto por resistência isoladamente e combinada com adesivo estrutural na união dos componentes das colunas estruturais laterais de carroceria. A caracterização da resistência à tração, variação de composição química e caracterização microestrutural dos aços, a resistência de uniões por solda ponto das combinações de materiais utilizados na construção das colunas veiculares das décadas de 1970, 1980/90 e 2000, a avaliação da resistência de adesivos estruturais aplicados em uniões híbridas (solda ponto + adesivo estrutural), e a determinação da sensibilidade à taxa de deformação do adesivo estrutural, permitiram avaliar os fatores que viabilizaram a aplicação de uniões hibridas na construção de colunas estruturais veiculares.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar o efeito de tratamentos térmicos na atividade da polifenol oxidase e da paroxidade em algumas frutas e hortaliças, bem como estudar a possível regeneração dessas enzimas após apertização. Em termos gerais, nas frutas a polifenol oxidase apresentou maior resistência à inativação pelo calor que a peroxidase e no caso das hortaliças ocorreu o inverso. Quanto à regeneração das enzimas após apertização, o fenômeno foi constatado somente no caso da peroxidase que mostrou assim grande estabilidade às condições adversas durante aquele tratamento térmico. A polifenol oxidase por sua vez, demonstrou ser uma enzima muito sensível, não se regenerando durante o tempo em que os produtos ficaram armazenados.

The objective of this work was to study the effect of SO2 and ascorbic acid on polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and peroxidase (PO) activities in some fruits and vegetables. For the fruits and vegetables PO, ascorbic acid was considered the best method of inactivat ion. On the other hand, for the fruits and vegetables PPO, SO2 was the most effective method, but did not control PO activi ty in almost all products studied. A combination of the two componds used (SO2 and ascorbic acid) seems to be the adequate method to control simultaneously both enzyme activities.

Abstract In this study, concentrations of trace elements in tissues of shrimp species (Litopenaeus vannamei) from farming and zone natural coastal located in the northeastern Brazil were investigated. The elements determination was performed by optical emission spectrometry with inductively coupled plasma (ICP OES). The following ranges of concentrations in the tissues were obtained in µg g–1 dry weight: Al: 13.4-886.5, Cd: 0.93-1.80; Cu: 24.8-152; Fe: 3.2-410.9; Mn: 0.36-24.4; Se: 0.094-9.81 and Zn: 20.3-109.4. The shrimp muscle can be a good iron source (about 88.9 mg–1g dry weight). The distribution of Se concentration in tissues showed much variation between locations, and the concentration levels found in shrimp muscles of wild samples were high, where its levels in 67% of muscle and 50% of others tissues samples exceeded the ANVISA limit, indicating evidence of selenium bioaccumulation. Significant correlation was observed between the following pairs of elements: Fe-Zn (r= –0.70), Mn-Cu (r= –0.74), Se-Cu (r= –0.68), Se-Mn (r= 0.82) in the muscles; Fe-Al (r= 0.99), Mn-Al (r= 0.62), Mn-Fe (r= 0.62), Se-Al (r = 0.88), Se-Fe (r= 0.87), Se-Mn (r= 0.58) in the exoskeleton and Cu-Zn (r = 0.68), Al-Cu (r= 0.88), Fe-Cu (r= 0.95) and Fe-Al (r= 0.97) in the viscera.

Abstract Concentrations of ten elements (Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb, Se, Sr, V and Zn) were determinate in muscle tissues of 13 fish species from Aratu Bay, Bahia, Brazil by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. The accuracy and precision of our results were checked by using two certified reference materials: BCR-422 cod muscle and SRM 1566b oyster tissue. The average trace element concentrations in the fish species varied in the following ranges, in μg g–1: 0.03-0.8 for Cr; 2.0-33.7 for Cu, 2.4-135.1 for Fe, 1.6-25.6 for Se; 1.6-35.1 for Sr; and 2.8-40.5 for Zn. The Diaptereus rhombeus (carapeba) specie presented the highest concentrations of Se, Cu and Fe. Chromium and Se were present at levels above the limit of tolerance allowed by the National Agency of Sanitary Vigilance (ANVISA). The results were also evaluated using the multivariate analysis techniques: principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA).