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Alternative energy sources have received increasing attention in recent years. The possibility of adding value to agricultural wastes, by producing biofuels and other products with economic value from lignocellulosic biomass by enzymatic hydrolysis, has been widely explored. Lignocellulosic biomass, as well as being an abundant residue, is a complex recalcitrant structure that requires a consortium of enzymes for its complete degradation. Pools of enzymes with different specificities acting together usually produce an increase in hydrolysis yield. Enzymatic cocktails have been widely studied due to their potential industrial application for the bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass. This review presents an overview of enzymes required to degrade the plant cell wall, paying particular attention to the latest advances in enzymatic cocktail production and the main results obtained with cocktails used to degrade a variety of types of biomass, as well as some future perspectives within this field.

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Nisin is a natural additive for conservation of food, and can also be used as a therapeutic agent. Nisin inhibits the outgrowth of spores, the growth of a variety of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. In this paper we present a potentially scalable and cost-effective way to purify commercial and biosynthesized in bioreactor nisin, including simultaneously removal of impurities and contaminants, increasing nisin activity. Aqueous two-phase micellar systems (ATPMS) are considered promising for bioseparation and purification purposes. Triton X-114 was chosen as the as phase-forming surfactant because it is relatively mild to proteins and it also forms two coexisting phases within a convenient temperature range. Nisin activity was determined by the agar diffusion assay utilizing Lactobacillus sake as a sensitive indicator microorganism. Results indicated that nisin partitions preferentially to the micelle rich-phase, despite the surfactant concentration tested, and its antimicrobial activity increases. The successful implementation of this peptide partitioning, from a suspension containing other compounds, represents an important step towards developing a separation method for nisin, and more generally, for other biomolecules of interest.

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Ações controladoras do consumo de entorpecentes constituem uma constante preocupação das sociedades há muito tempo. Neste trabalho optou-se por avaliar se de fato estão sendo cumpridas as exigências feitas pelo ordenamento jurídico no que se refere à prescrição e dispensão de medicamentos sujeitos ao controle especial normatizados pela Portaria 344/98 da então Secretaria de Vigilância Sanitária do Ministério da Saúde. Assim, esta pesquisa conduzida em 13 drogarias, na cidade de Salto/SP, avaliou os documentos compostos por Notificação de Receita B (NRB) e Receita de Controle Especial (RCE), disponibilizados no local, no período de outubro a dezembro de 2002, sendo estes selecionados por amostragem sistemática. Os 230 RCE e 154 NRB que foram analisados de acordo com a presença dos elementos de receitas descritos na Portaria que incluem aqueles de competência do prescritor, do farmacêutico e do estabelecimento e a adesão ao modelo oficial do tipo do documento preconizado pela ANVISA. Os resultados mostram que tanto nos documentos RCE e NRB provenientes do SUS e privado há ausência de itens de responsabilidade tanto dos prescritores, quanto farmacêuticos e estabelecimento. Concluiu-se que as exigências estabelecidas por esta Portaria não estão sendo cumpridas devidamente, podendo permitir comércio ilegal, mostrando que isso ocorre por falta de fiscalização mais pontual

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Intact or surgically thyroidectomized (Tx) adult male Wistar rats, weighing 150-200 g, were fed a standard chow diet (approximately 1.8 Cal/g) or a high calorie (approximately 3.8 Cal/g) diet (cafeteria diet) for up to 30 days. Daily energy intake was about 5-fold higher in the rats fed the cafeteria diet regardless of their thyroid status. The cafeteria diet caused the retroperitoneal white fat pad to increase by approximately 2-fold, the volume of isolated white adipocytes to increase by 2-fold, and the total body fat to increase by a factor of approximately 3, again regardless of thyroid status. It also increased basal metabolic rate by about 20% in intact rats and by about 50% in Tx rats. The brown fat thermal response to norepinephrine (NE) infusion was approximately 2-fold increased in the intact rats fed the cafeteria diet. However, in the Tx rats, the brown fat thermal response to NE was blunted regardless of the dietary regimen adopted. In both intact and Tx rats, the cafeteria diet increased total brown fat mitochondria, uncoupling protein percentage, and total brown fat uncoupling protein by about 3-, 2-, and 5-fold, respectively. Serum leptin levels also increased approximately 4-fold in intact rats fed the cafeteria diet. However, in Tx rats, leptin levels did not change significantly during overfeeding. In conclusion, hypothyroidism caused the brown fat to become unresponsive to NE, even after 1 month on the cafeteria diet. However, these rats were able to increase basal metabolic rate and, as assessed by several different parameters, did not gain fat beyond that observed in intact controls kept on a similar overfeeding schedule.

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No presente trabalho, estudou-se estatisticamente o comportamento de escolha de cores, no Teste das Piramides Coloridas, em 128 protocolos de adolescentes do sexo feminino, com idade entre 17 e 23 anos Procurou-se, a partir dos dados quantitativos observados, obter informacoes para apreciar a validade do uso das Tabelas de Adulto - Piramides Bonitas e Feias - propostas pos SCHAIE & HEISS (1964), na avaliacao quantitativa dos testes na populacao considerada. Diferencas significativas, a partir de estudo estatistico pertinente, em relacao a preferencia na escolha de cores entre uma tabela de "sten" proposta pelo estudo do material, apreciado e a de SCHAIE & HEISS (1964), sao demostradas

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