Organic and Conventional <Emphasis Type="Italic">Coffea arabica</Emphasis> L.: A Comparative Study of the Chemical Composition and Physiological,Biochemical and Toxicological Effects in Wistar Rats

Differentiation between organic and conventional coffee has increased due to the growing demand and high consumption of healthy foods that contain compounds with antioxidant potential, which have been associated with the reduction of chronic diseases. We used organic and conventional coffee in powder 4% (w/w) and infusions 5%, 10% and 20% (w/v) incorporated in a commercial diet to test in vivo. The levels of chlorogenic acid, caffeine and trigonelline were determined by high performance liquid chromatography. The body weight, weight gain, food consumption, aberrant foci crypt, mucin depleted foci, stress biomarkers protein carbonyl and malondialdehyde, biochemical parameters and behavior of the rats were compared between the experimental and control groups within a framework of colon carcinogenesis. The organic coffee showed higher levels of chlorogenic acid, caffeine and trigonelline than conventional, however, this difference did not significantly affect behavior. The infusions had an antioxidant effect, reducing the levels of malondialdehyde; however, the biochemical parameters of the serum were not altered, and there was neither induction nor prevention of preneoplasic lesions.     

Incorporation of Buriti Endocarp Flour in Gluten-free Whole Cookies as Potential Source of Dietary Fiber

Cookies were prepared by replacing a mixture of brown rice flour (70 %) and corn starch (30 %) (BRFCS) by buriti endocarp flour (BEF) (0, 5, 10, 15 or 20 %). BEF figured as a potential source of dietary fiber (70.53 g 100 g^?1), especially of insoluble fiber (67.50 g 100 g^?1), and gluten-free whole cookies showed increased dietary fiber content by adding 5, 10, 15 and 20 % BEF (8.58 to 20.02 g 100 g^?1) when compared to control cookie (6.91 g 100 g^?1). The addition of BEF affected diameter, spread ratio, color and texture of cookies. All cookies added with BEF were darker, harder and presented smaller diameter and smaller spread ratio than the control cookie. These difference increased proportionally to level of substitution of BRFSC by BEF. Gluten-free whole cookies with up to 15 % BEF were well accepted by consumers. Therefore, the use of BEF in cookies may increase the availability of functional ingredients source of dietary fiber for celiac consumers, add economic value to buriti processing by-products and decrease environmental impacts due to the high amounts of waste generated by buriti processing industries.     

Nitrogen and carbon availability of liquid and solid fractions of pig slurry obtained using different separation technologies

Solid–liquid separation is now a common slurry management on European farms and many separation techniques are now available. The choice of technique used is based mostly on financial reasons even if the dry matter separation efficiency is also considered. Nevertheless, previous studies showed that the separation technique used influenced the composition of the resulting liquid (LF) and solid (SF) fractions. Hence, our hypothesis is that separation technique influences the C and N dynamics in soils amended with the resulting SF and LF. A laboratory incubation was performed with a sandy soil to assess the influence of five different separation techniques on the N and C dynamics in soil amended with the resulting LF and SF, namely the potential of each fraction for N and organic matter supply to plant and soil systems. Our results showed that the separation technique affects significantly the soil C pools in soils amended with the resulting LF and SF. Nevertheless, the differences between SFs were very low, whereas higher C losses were observed from LFs obtained with active separation techniques such as sieving relative to passive techniques such as sediment settling. The N dynamics in soils amended with the different SF obtained were similar but the extent of NH₄ ⁺ immobilization differs with the LF considered. Furthermore, higher and faster nitrification was observed with LFs obtained by sediment settling and centrifugation relative to sieving. A higher N mineralization relative to untreated slurry was observed in most fractions and the N mineralization rates were significantly influenced by the separation technique.     

Serological and molecular comparison of Mannheimia haemolytica and Pasteurella trehalosi strains isolated from wild and domestic ruminants in the French Alps

Over a period of 17 years, 84 bacterial isolates identified as Mannheimia haemolytica or M. glucosida, and 52 isolates identified as Pasteurella trehalosi were detected in the lungs of domestic and wild ruminants in the French Alps. The isolates were serotyped according to their surface capsular antigens, and those sharing common antigens were further characterized by pulsed field gel electrophoresis. The results showed that the bacterial isolates included in the study clustered according to the host species from which they were isolated. These findings indicate that the transmission of serotypes of M. haemolytica, M. glucosida or P. trehalosi from an animal host in which they are common to another species sharing the same geographical space may be a rare epidemiological event.     

A framework for results‐based management in fisheries

We present a framework for results‐based management (RBM) of commercial fisheries. The core idea of RBM is to reduce micromanagement by delegating management responsibility to resource users. The RBM framework represents an industrial organization approach to co‐management and comprises three defining processes, conducted by three independent “agents”: (i) an “authority” defines specific and measurable and achievable objectives (outcome targets, OTs) for the utilization of fisheries resources, (ii) resource user organizations (termed “operators”) take responsibility for achieving these OTs and provide documentation that (iii) allows independent “auditors” to evaluate the achievement of OTs. Using incentive mechanisms, notably deregulation, RBM grants operators the flexibility to develop and implement innovative and cost‐effective ways to achieve OTs. The feasibility of implementing RBM in five European fisheries was investigated in cooperation with relevant stakeholders through artificial planning processes and computer simulations. The operators involved were enthusiastic, and new management plans were drafted based on the framework. These included socioeconomic OTs in addition to traditional stock objectives, encompassing an ecosystem approach. Several issues are in need of further research to consolidate the approach and prepare the ground for practical implementation, including: the specification of the legal and regulatory framework required to underpin RBM, details of transitional arrangements when shifting towards RBM (including cost‐sharing) and the development of necessary organizational capacity for operators. Initially, we therefore envisage the framework being applied to high‐value single‐species fisheries, with a limited number of participants, which are adequately represented by a competent organization.     

The occurrence of wild cotton <Emphasis Type="Italic">Gossypium mustelinum</Emphasis> Miers ex Watt populations in the coast of Pernambuco,Northeastern Brazil

In this study, we describe three populations of the wild cotton Gossypium mustelinum Miers ex Watt in the coastal plain to the north of the State of Pernambuco, Northeast Brazil. These populations occur in urban areas in current expansion and under imminent risks of extinction, due to land use changes for house constructions. Distances between these new occurrences and the populations already mapped in the Northeast semiarid Caatinga (Rio Grande do Norte, Ceará, and Bahia) range from approximately 270–950 km. Besides distant, the populations on the coastal plain of Pernambuco also occur in very distinct climatic and edaphic conditions. Aiming at allowing the ex situ conservation of these genetic resources, branches of 66 plants were collected, propagated by the asexual breeding method cutting to regenerate an accession of each plant. These now constitute a germplasm collection in the Department of Agronomy of the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (UFRPE), in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil.     

Artificial neural networks to estimate the productivity of soybeans and corn by chlorophyll readings

Crop productivity prediction techniques assist with adjusting for potential agronomic problems during the growing season. Several authors have reported that there is a correlation between leaf chlorophyll (Chl) content and yield. This study developed independent artificial neural network (ANN) models for soybean and corn in order to predict the crops' productive potentials using their respective yields and leaf Chl content data, measured at three stages of plant development. The ANN was deemed ready for testing through verification of the mean squared error and the number of epochs while training the neural network. While the model obtained when Chl was measured in the V6 stage of development explained more than 50% of the productivity data in corn, the models obtained for soybean did not explain more than 10% of the observed data. Attempts to improve the model through changes of the architecture of the neural network did not show any improvement in model.