Approaches in biotechnological applications of natural polymers

Natural polymers, such as gums and mucilage, are biocompatible, cheap, easily available and non-toxic materials of native origin. These polymers are increasingly preferred over synthetic materials for industrial applications due to their intrinsic properties, as well as they are considered alternative sources of raw materials since they present characteristics of sustainability, biodegradability and biosafety. As definition, gums and mucilages are polysaccharides or complex carbohydrates consisting of one or more monosaccharides or their derivatives linked in bewildering variety of linkages and structures. Natural gums are considered polysaccharides naturally occurring in varieties of plant seeds and exudates, tree or shrub exudates, seaweed extracts, fungi, bacteria, and animal sources. Water-soluble gums, also known as hydrocolloids, are considered exudates and are pathological products; therefore, they do not form a part of cell wall. On the other hand, mucilages are part of cell and physiological products. It is important to highlight that gums represent the largest amounts of polymer materials derived from plants. Gums have enormously large and broad applications in both food and non-food industries, being commonly used as thickening, binding, emulsifying, suspending, stabilizing agents and matrices for drug release in pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. In the food industry, their gelling properties and the ability to mold edible films and coatings are extensively studied. The use of gums depends on the intrinsic properties that they provide, often at costs below those of synthetic polymers. For upgrading the value of gums, they are being processed into various forms, including the most recent nanomaterials, for various biotechnological applications. Thus, the main natural polymers including galactomannans, cellulose, chitin, agar, carrageenan, alginate, cashew gum, pectin and starch, in addition to the current researches about them are reviewed in this article.. }To the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientfíico e Tecnológico (CNPq) for fellowships (LCBBC and MGCC) and the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nvíel Superior (CAPES) (PBSA). This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit, the Project RECI/BBB-EBI/0179/2012 (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-027462) and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684) (JAT)

Fatores associados ao desenvolvimento neuropsicomotor em crianças de 6-18 meses de vida inseridas em creches públicas do Município de João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brasil

O estudo objetivou verificar a prevalência de alteração no desenvolvimento neuropsicomotor em lactentes inseridos nas creches públicas de João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brasil, e analisar fatores associados ao desenvolvimento infantil. Realizou-se um estudo seccional com o censo de crianças entre 6 e 18 meses de vida inseridas nas creches. O desenvolvimento infantil foi avaliado pelo Teste de Triagem de Denver II. Variáveis de natureza biológica, materna, social, demográfica e relativas à creche foram investigadas através de questionário e formulário. As associações foram ajustadas por regressão logística. A prevalência de alteração no desenvolvimento foi 52,7%. Associou-se à alteração no desenvolvimento a criança ter mais que 12 meses de idade (RC = 4,3), o parto vaginal (RC = 4,4), a fototerapia (RC = 7,9) e a creche não ter apoio da Estratégia Saúde da Família (RC = 2,9). Os achados sugerem que o desenvolvimento infantil é o reflexo das condições familiares, bem como da assistência recebida pelos serviços de educação e saúde

Pollen-ovule relation in Adesmia tristis and reflections on the seed–ovule ratio by interaction with pollinators in two vertical strata

The vertical distribution of pollinators is an important component in the foraging pattern of plants strata, and it influences the reproductive system (pollen/ovule ratio) and seed/ovule ratio. Niches in two different strata from Adesmia tristis Vogel were evaluated in these aspects. This plant is an endemic shrub from the Campos de Cima da Serra in Southern Brazil. The studies were carried out from January 2010, to January 2011, at Pró-Mata/PUCRS (Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul) (29°27'-29°35'S and 50°08'-50°15'W), São Francisco de Paula, sate of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Breeding system of A. tristis is mandatory allogamy. The vertical profile in A. tristis has differentiated foraging niches among the most common pollinators. Bees of Megachile genus forage in the upper stratum, and representative bees of the Andrenidae family explore the lower stratum. The upper stratum of the vertical profile had more contribution to seed production. Adesmia tristis showed evidence of pollination deficitA distribuição vertical dos polinizadores é um importante componente no padrão de forrageamento nos estratos das plantas e influencia o sistema reprodutivo (relação pólen/ óvulo) e a razão semente/óvulo. Nichos em dois estratos diferentes de Adesmia tristis Vogel foram avaliados quanto a esses aspectos. Essa planta é um arbusto endêmico dos campos de Cima da Serra no Sul do Brasil. Os estudos ocorreram de janeiro de 2010 a janeiro de 2011, no Pró- Mata/PUCRS (Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul) (29°27'-29°35'S e 50°08'-50°15'W), São Francisco de Paula, estado do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. O sistema reprodutivo de A. tristis é alogamia obrigatória. O perfil vertical em A. tristis possui diferentes nichos de forrageamento entre os polinizadores mais comuns. Abelhas do gênero Megachile forrageiam no estrato superior e as abelhas representantes da família Andrenidae exploram o estrato inferior. O estrato superior do perfil vertical contribui mais na produção de sementes. Adesmia tristis apresentou evidências de déficit de polinizaçã

Morphometric Analysis of Populations of Centris aenea Lepeletier (Hymenoptera: Apidae) from Northeastern Brazil

Centris aenea Lepeletier is a solitary bee that has raised interest in management to pollinate crops, such as acerola, Malpighia emarginata. This study investigated the level of morphometric variability among populations of C. aenea from Northeastern Brazil. Traditional and geometric morphometric analyses were used. Head length, leg length, wing length, and wing shape were measured in samples (5-10 females) from eight localities. We did not find statistically significant differences among the populations (P > 0.01). The partial wing warps were similar in the populations and indicated that the bees were not morphometrically different. Our results suggest that C. aenea shows low population morphometric variability and highlight the need for further investigations on population variation in this species, preferably including populations sampled at the extremes of their geographic distribution. Significant insight into the population variation of C. aenea will probably require the use of molecular markers to allow a comparative approach between morphometric variability and genetic variability