Carbonic anhydrase is an omnipresent zinc-containing metalloenzyme which is essential for a lot of physiological activities because of its property to convert CO₂ to HCO₃^- reversibly. It is one of the fastest enzymes known for hydrating 106 molecules of CO₂ per second. The rate of reaction of this enzyme is typically limited by the rate of diffusion of its substrates. There are six types of carbonic anhydrases- alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon and zeta, named by greek letters. Carbonic anhydrase is often arranged in clusters along membranes or localised in extracellular spaces, which may contribute to the ability of carbonic anhydrase to facilitate the intracellular diffusion of carbon dioxide and protons (H⁺). By increasing the movement of protons, carbonic anhydrase can dissipate intracellular pH gradients, thereby helping the cell to maintain a uniform cellular pH. Overall, the uses of Carbonic anhydrase are multifold which will be later discussed in this paper.

The vision of the bull is the cornerstone of the celebration in which it is the protagonist, both when it is fought and when it is “embolado” in popular festivities. An alteration of the vision could suppose an excessive danger for the animal and for the one that faces him. The bullfight and the “toro embolado” are traditions that present controversy between certain groups of people, for that reason, the present study aims to determine if there are ocular injuries in the bulls after both activities.

For this work we use a total of 50 eyes, 40 from 20 fighting bull and 10 from 5 “toros embolados”. After the macroscopic and microscopic study carried out with fluorescein tests, ultrasounds, dissection and histological processing of all the samples, the results obtained revealed, in the case of the 40 fighting bulls eyes, that only two presented ulcers, two corneal opacities and one adhesions in the iris along with an anterior synechiae, and of the 10 eyes of “toros embolados”, only one bull presented an ulcer in one eye as well as corneal opacity in both eyes. In relation to histology and ultrasound, no alterations were observed.

From the results obtained, we can deduced that no macroscopic lesions occur in the cornea of ​​the bulls due to their activity, that the animals grappled, despite little alterations that may occur before the fight, do not compromise their functionality, and that none of the animals presents lesions in the internal structures of the eyes.

Lipid oxidation is the main process of deterioration of oils and fats that negatively affects the taste of food and its nutritional value. Recent studies carried out on oils, show that their oxidative stability depends on the type and proportion of fatty acids they contain and also on other factors that favor their stability, such as antioxidants. For this reason, many studies have been carried out analyzing the oxidative stability of oils at different temperatures by measuring the induction time. In this research, an implementation study of an oxidative stability analysis method of margarines was carried out, which turn out to be W / O emulsions. The study of margarines is more difficult since the presence of water interferes with the analysis. Therefore, it was necessary to optimize the amount of margarine in the sample, the working temperatures, the adaptation of the equipment, etc. An analysis was made of two margarines of different composition in fatty acids at 90, 100, 110 and 120 ± 1.6 ºC. In addition, it was decided to complete the investigation with the study of the oxidative stability of margarine in response to the addition of two different spices (rosemary and turmeric) through the Rancimat test.
The results obtained showed that the optimum margarine quantity when working with the Rancimat was 3.0 ± 0.001 g, for a temperature of 120 ± 1.6 ºC and an air flow of 20 L / h and that the activation of the 1.5 h suppression parameter together with the use of the oil separator, is essential for a correct evaluation of the IP. In addition, the study carried out with two margarines of different composition in SFA / UFA demonstrated how the oxidative stability in margarines with higher content in SFA, is significantly higher with respect to margarines that present lower percentage of these. The time it took to oxidize the Naturlí sample, with 26% SFA and 45% UFA (10,415 ± 0,45), was significantly higher than the respective one at the same temperature of the Tulipán sample (3,65 ± 0, 20 h), with 15% SFA and 41% UFA. The present investigation was completed through the study of the oxidative stability of margarine as a response to the treatment with turmeric and rosemary. Rosemary showed maximum antioxidant efficacy compared to turmeric. The greatest increase was shown at 120 and 110 ° C with an increase of 2.25 ± 0.20 h and 2.54 ± 0.27 h compared to the control margarine.

The research was carried outs in the province of Pastaza in the Ecuadorian Amazon with the objective of determining external and internal quality at different days of storage in Creole eggs sent to local markets. 840 Creole eggs were evaluated, which were measured depending on the days of storage, and 120 eggs were sampled for each day of storage. The treatments to be applied were seven storage times 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 days. The variables that were measured for external quality were egg weight, shape index and shell index. For internal quality was evaluated: yolk index and haugh Units. A Fully Randomized Design (FRD) was used. The external quality of the egg is affected only by the weight, which decreases after 10 days of storage in local markets, while the shape index and the shell index did not show any alteration. Regarding internal quality, the indicators of the yolk index and Haugh Units began to decrease their quality as the days of storage increased, affecting the commercialization process. It is considered that for the commercialization and packaging the Creole egg can be used until day 5 taking into account the yolk index, whereas with respect to Haugh Units until day 25 of storage in local markets for the conditions of the Ecuadorian Amazon.

The experiment was carried out at the Amazon Research, Postgraduate and Conservation Center (CIPCA) of the Amazon State University, where two levels of substitution of Chinese potato flour in the diet of growing pigs were evaluated for the effect, 3 animals were used castrated males resulting from crossbreeding (Largewhite x Duroc x Pietrain), with an initial average weight of 25 kg. The animals were placed in 3 metabolic cages and fed a control diet (T1) and two experimental diets T2 (20%) and T3 (40%) of Chinese potato rejection tuber flour. Food consumption was adjusted at a rate of 0.10 kg.MS.kg PV0.75 day^-1. Fed twice a day (08:00 am and 3:00 pm) with drinking water at will. The research consisted of three stages, and divided into two phases, (one of adaptation to the diets with a duration of five days and the other phase of five days for stool collection). The feces weres collected in the morning, by the total collection method, stored in hermetic bags and kept refrigerated for the evaluation of the apparent digestibility of dry matter (DM) and organic matter (MO). The experiment was conducted through a 3x3 Latin square design; the comparison of means was performed with the Newman Keuls test (P≤0.05). Chinese potato tuber meal showed high coefficients (P≤0.05) of dry matter digestibility (DM), being higher in T2 (96.06%) and T3 (94.19%) with respect to control. However, in organic matter (MO) there were no significant differences (P> 0.05) between treatments: T1 (99.63%); T2 (99.62%) and T3 (99.67%). The inclusion of 20 and 40% of Chinese potato tuber meal in the diet of fattened pigs (largewhite x Duroc x Pietrain) did not affect the digestibility of MO. The best digestibility coefficient of the DM was obtained by replacing 20% ​​of the corn with Chinese potato tubers meal, so that Chinese potato rejection can be used in pig feeding

ABSTRACT

Lichens are complex symbiotic associations between a fungus (mycobiont) and photobiont, which can be either an alga or cyanobacteria. They are proven as the earliest colonizers of terrestrial habitats on the earth with a worldwide distribution from the Poles to tropical regions and from the plains to the highest mountains.

In this study, the antartic lichen Usnea aurantiaco-atra has been characterized morphologically as well as structurally. A phytochemical study has been carried out, aiming to explore the most important metabolites. Moreover, the cytotoxic, antioxidant and insecticidal activity of their extracts has been determined.

Citotoxicity studies have found that the hexanic extract that contains usnic acid as its main metabolite, linoleic acid and terpenes proved to have an interesting citotoxic activity when compared to melanoma and queratinocites.

Testing the extract’s insecticidal activity in Ceratitis Capitata has demonstrated that usnic acid is linked to flies’ mortality. However, the results obtained with different extracts cannot be considered significant. On another note, we have analyzed the presence of total phenols in the extracts and we have seen that they do not have a significant influence in their antioxidant activity.

Molecular machines have recently been associated with the development of molecular carriers to enhance drug properties, such as solubility or bioavailability. One possible approach is through drug encapsulation by a host molecule, such as cucurbituril (CB) rings, which modifies the environment of the guest molecule. CB rings are able to encapsulate guest molecules providing a hydrophobic cavity and several carbonyl groups that stabilize cationic guests that interact with this region. This results in significant pKa shifts for drugs with titrable (cationic) groups that can be exploited in order to improve drug bioavailability, whether by enhancing their solubility, stabilizing their active form or by protecting them against external agents.

Computational methods are a powerful way to rationalize the design of CB-guest complexes. In particular, the stochastic titration constant-pH MD (CpHMD) method allows a molecular dynamics simulation to have the pH value as an external parameter and, consequently, obtain full titration curves and pKa values. Our first step is to develop a strategy to model benzimidazole (BZ) pKa shifts, which has a well-known shift of ~3.5 pKa units when encapsulated by a CB ring. The obtained parameters were tested in three different drugs for validation purposes: carbendazim, 2-aminoanthracene and cyclohexylmethylamine. This will be helpful to elucidate the molecular details of these host-guest interactions and to extend this procedure for many other host-guest complexes. Ultimately, we aim to develop a method that predicts the best host which optimizes the drug delivery properties of any chosen drug, enabling the design of multiple complexes with different pKa shifts. This strategy can be beneficial for novel drug design and medical applications such as cancer therapy, by designing carriers that deliver guest molecules at specific conditions, knowing the specific target properties.

We acknowledge financial support from FCT through project UID/MULTI/00612/2019.

Physical education as a subject does not have an integration with the rest of the disciplines for university students. The development of management skills in students of Pedagogy and Psychology is among its most important objectives regarding physical education. The development of actions aimed at students. All this, taking into account their needs, also provides a series of actions aimed at preparing students and is supported by a system of principles, categories and concepts related to education sciences. Actions related to the development of management skills in physical education have not been proposed through the needs and demands of the professional model in previous studies.

In the Major in Education, Pedagogy-Psychology, there are many experiences as to the labor of forming pedagogical and professional abilities in the different organizational levels. These experiences could be systematized and reverted into new ways of perfecting the students’ behaviors during their period of initial formation.

There is a must as to the re-design of the syllabuses for all the majoring courses in order to adapt them to the needs of the formation of an integral teacher of Psychology and Pedagogy. This re-design should include transformations on the contents to be taught, especially on the health-related contents that will play an essential role in the positive transformations of the students.

Annona leptopetala R. E. Fries (basynonymy Rollinia leptopetala R. E. Fries) is an endemic tree or shrub from Brazil. Some Annona species such as Annona muricata and Annona squamosa showed uterus activities. Thus, in the search for new agents to combat the uterine disorders, it was aimed to investigate a possible AL-EO tocolytic effect on isolated rat uterus and the underlying mechanisms. Uterine horns were removed, cleaned of adhering fat and connective tissue, and suspended by in organ baths containing Locke-Ringer solution, bubbled with carbogen mixture and the contractions were registered using a force transducer. All experimental procedures were previously approved by Ethic Comission on Animal Use of UFPB (protocol n° 0104/2014). AL-EO was more potent to relax pre-contracted uterus with oxytocin than with KCl. Moreover, AL-EO shifted to the right, in a non-parallel manner, oxytocin‑induced cumulative contraction curves, with E_max reduction, indicating a pseudo-irreversible noncompetitive antagonism of oxytocin receptors. In the presence of propranolol, β-adrenergic antagonist, an AL-EO action increase was observed. Nitric oxide and cyclooxygenase pathways participation were assessed and discarded. The tocolytic potency of AL-EO was attenuated by CsCl, a non-selective K⁺ channel blocker, suggesting a positive modulation of these channels. Additionally, in the presence of 4-aminopyridine (4-AP) but not in apamin, glibenclamide or tetraethylammonium (1 mM), the relaxant potency of AL-EO was reduced, indicating the voltage-dependent potassium channels participation, but not small- or big- conductance Ca²⁺-activated and ATP‑sensitive potassium channels. Tocolytic mechanism of AL-EO on rat uterus involves pseudo-irreversible noncompetitive antagonism of oxytocin receptor and β‑adrenergic receptors and positive modulation of voltage-dependent potassium channels. Thus, AL-EO is presented as a promising drug with activity on uterine conditions, as dysmenorrhea, and after further evaluation in clinical studies, it would be used as an alternative drug on current pharmacotherapy.