Antioxidant activity of phenolic and phenylethanoid glycosides from Teucrium polium L

In the present study, the chemical composition and antioxidant activities of Teucrium polium L. (Lamiaceae) were assessed. Fractionation of methanol extract obtained from the aerial parts of T. polium yielded one new phenylethanoid glycoside, named poliumoside B, together with four known flavonoids, two iridoid glycosides and a known poliumoside. The structures of all of these compounds were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic data from 1D and 2D NMR experiments and MS spectral analyses. The antioxidant activities of the crude extracts and of the isolated compounds were evaluated through tests such as DPPH radical-scavenging capability, reducing power, xanthine oxidase inhibitory effect and inhibition of linoleic acid peroxidation. The highest antioxidant activity was found in the n-butanol extract, which also contained active polyphenols, thus suggesting that this plant could be used as a source of natural molecules, to provide safe antioxidant additives and nutraceuticals. The structure–activity relationships of the isolated compounds are also discussed.     

Sugarcane Serine Peptidase Inhibitors,Serine Peptidases,and Clp Protease System Subunits Associated with Sugarcane Borer (Diatraea saccharalis) Herbivory and Wounding

Sugarcane’s (Saccharum spp.) response to Diatraea saccharalis (F.) (Lepidoptera: (Crambidae) herbivory was investigated using a macroarray spotted with 248 sugarcane Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs) encoding serine peptidase inhibitors, serine peptidases. and Clp protease system subunits. Our results showed that after nine hours of herbivory, 13 sugarcane genes were upregulated and nine were downregulated. Among the upregulated genes, nine were similar to serine peptidase inhibitors and four were similar to Bowman-Birk Inhibitors (BBIs). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that these sequences belong to a phylogenetic group of sugarcane BBIs that are potentially involved in plant defense against insect predation. The remaining four upregulated genes included serine peptidases and one homolog to the Arabidopsis AAA+ chaperone subunit ClpD, which is a member of the Clp protease system. Among the downregulated genes, five were homologous to serine peptidases and four were homologous to Arabidopsis Clp subunits (three homologous to Clp AAA+ chaperones and one to a ClpP-related ClpR subunit). Although the roles of serine peptidase inhibitors in plant defenses against herbivory have been extensively investigated, the roles of plant serine peptidases and the Clp protease system represent a new and underexplored field of study. The up- and downregulated D. saccharalis genes presented in this study may be candidate genes for the further investigation of the sugarcane response to herbivory.     

Characterization of laser energy consumption in sintering of polymer based powders

This paper presents an analysis of Laser Sintering (LS) process from an energy standpoint. LS has a potential as an environmental benign alternative to traditional processes but only few authors deal with the process optimization including the energy aspects. This work evaluates the effect of the energy density in processing of two polymeric materials: polyamide powder and a phenolic resin coated sand. The different behaviour of the two materials is studied by analysing the geometrical features (depth and width) of linear sintered structures. In particular the volumetric productivity and the energy intensity of the process are calculated to characterize the sintering process.It is shown how an upper limit to the energy consumption can be remarked. Measurements reveal that within the energy density range of 0.02-0.1 J/mm² the whole energy input is useful for the agglomeration process. The use of higher energy density produces different results for both the cases analysed. A proper selection of energy density maintains the energy requirement below the level of 10⁶ J/kg which is considered a lower limit for manufacturing process.     

Energy storage and control optimization for an electric vehicle

Two big issues involving electric vehicles are energy supply and power management control. To deal with the energy supply problem, this paper proposes the application of a hybrid energy source system, composed of battery pack and ultracapacitor bank. The power management control between the energy supplies was defined by a fuzzy logic with inference rules optimized through genetic algorithm. The genetic algorithm optimizes lower and upper limits of membership functions aiming to reduce the hybrid energy source system total mass while maximizing the electric vehicle drive range and performance. Through the Pareto frontier, we found the best trade‐off solution.     

Cheaper membrane materials for microalgae dewatering

Among different strategies to reduce costs in microalgae dewatering process via cross-flow filtration, the one related to membrane material was investigated in order to be decreased. Several materials were tested, starting with the ones commonly used in membrane technology [ceramic, polysulfone (PSf) and polyacrylonitrile (PAN)] to the ones generally employed in packaging industry [acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), glycol-modified polyethylene terephthalate (PETG) and polylactic acid (PLA)], the latter being considerably cheaper. Experiments carried out showed promising results in terms of permeabilities for PSf–Pluronic^® F127 blended membranes and PAN membranes (11 ± 1 L/h/m²/bar and 22 ± 1 L/h/m²/bar, respectively, instead of 2 ± 2 L/h/m²/bar of PSf membranes), but with high related costs. PLA membranes showed good mechanical properties, biodegradability and price, but low permeability values (5 ± 1 L/h/m²/bar). PETG membranes showed attractive results in terms of costs and permeability, but poor mechanical properties. The polymer that offered the best results was the ABS that reached membrane permeabilities of 19 ± 1 L/h/m²/bar, maintaining good mechanical properties while filtering the microalgae Phaeodactylum tricornutum Bohlin. Thus, a novel functionality was found for these not so common polymers in microalgae dewatering. This indicates that use of these materials could also be considered in other aqueous micro/ultrafiltration applications. In addition, the biodegradable PLA polymer introduces a new concept of cheap and environmental friendly membrane in this application.     

Enzymatic de-glycosylation of rutin improves its antioxidant and antiproliferative activities

Bioavailability and biological properties of flavonoid glycosides can be improved after the enzymatic hydrolysis of specific glycosyl groups. In this study, we evaluate the antioxidant and antiproliferative potential of rutin after enzymatic hydrolysis performed by α-l-rhamnosidases (hesperidinase from Penicillium sp. and naringinase from Penicillium decumbens) previously heated at 70 °C for 30 min to inactivate the undesirable β-d-glucosidase activity. The highest in vitro antioxidant activity determined by DPPH radical scavenging was achieved with rutin hydrolyzed by hesperidinase. Rutin was predominantly bioconverted into quercetin-3-glucoside. There was no statistical difference between xanthine oxidase inhibition by rutin before and after hydrolysis. However, in vitro inhibitory activity against ten human tumor cell lines showed that hydrolyzed rutin exerted a more potent antiproliferative effect than quercetin and rutin on various cancer cell lines, specially glioma, and ovarian and breast adenocarcinomas. These results indicate that quercetin-3-glucoside could be a promising functional derivative obtained by rutin hydrolysis.     

Identification of unbalance forces by metaheuristic search algorithms

This paper discusses the identification of parameters in rotary systems, namely, the unbalance magnitude, phase and position in the rotor system. These parameters can be identified using the measured orbits in the hydrodynamic bearings. The oil film forces are evaluated in the different positions of the orbit of the journal and are applied to the model of the shaft. The model, integrated in time domain, allows with an assumed unbalance, to simulate the orbits. The objective function is basically the difference between measured and simulated orbits, and its minimum corresponds to the identified unbalance amount, phase and position along the shaft. With respect to traditional model based identification procedures, this approach using oil film forces instead of oil film linearized stiffness and damping coefficients, and unfiltered orbits instead of 1X vibration components is suitable to deal with non-linear behaviour of the system.     

Luster Pottery from the Thirteenth Century to the Sixteenth Century: A Nanostructured Thin Metallic Film

Luster is a decorative metallic film that was applied on the surface of medieval glazed pottery. It can be obtained via the low-temperature (∼650°C), controlled reduction of copper and silver compounds. In this paper, we show that luster is a thin layered film (200–500 nm thick) that contains metallic spherical nanocrystals dispersed in a silicon-rich matrix and has a metal-free outermost glassy layer that is 10–20 nm thick. Silver nanocrystals seem to be separated from those of copper, forming aggregates 5–100 μm in diameter. This composite structure exhibits optical properties that are dependent on both the particle size and the matrix. Luster is indeed the first reproducible nanostructured thin metallic film that was made by humans.