Production and Optimization of Biosurfactant Properties Using and Licuri Oil ().

Optimizing biosurfactant (BS) production is key for sustainable industrial applications. This study investigated BS synthesis by using licuri oil, a renewable carbon source rich in medium-chain fatty acids. Process optimization was conducted via central composite design (CCD), adjusting concentrations of licuri oil, glucose, NHNO, and yeast extract.

Synthesis and Characterization of Silver Nanoparticles Stabilized with Biosurfactant and Application as an Antimicrobial Agent.

Surfactants can be used as nanoparticle stabilizing agents. However, since synthetic surfactants are not economically viable and environmentally friendly, biosurfactants are emerging as a green alternative for the synthesis and stabilization of nanoparticles. Nanoparticles have been applied in several areas of industry, such as the production of biomedical and therapeutic components, packaging coating, solar energy generation and transmission and distribution of electrical energy, among others.

Effects of Kinesio tape on vascularity, pliability and height of the hypertrophic scar in burns patients: a randomized pilot clinical trial.

Deep burns damage the reticular dermis and may lead to the formation of hypertrophic scars. Compression therapy reduces local vascularity and realigns collagen fibers, resulting in esthetic and functional improvements. This study evaluated the effect of Kinesio tape compression with maximum mechanical tension on vascularity, pliability and the height of hypertrophic scars following deep burns.

Analysis of spelling errors from the 'dyslexic sight words' list.

In this study the spelling errors of the 'Dyslexic Sight Words - DSW' list are analyzed according to the semiological classification. The spelling errors were made by schoolchildren with and without dyslexia. The high number of inaccuracies observed in the writing of the Group with dyslexia (GD) was often related to the complexity of syllabic structures and orthographic irregularity.

Synthesis of Iron Oxides and Influence on Final Sizes and Distribution in Bacterial Cellulose Applications.

Iron oxide nanoparticles have been investigated due to their suitable characteristics for diverse applications in the fields of biomedicine, electronics, water or wastewater treatment and sensors. Maghemite, magnetite and hematite are the most widely studied iron oxide particles and have ferrimagnetic characteristics. When very small, however, these particles have superparamagnetic properties and are called superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs).

Production, Kinetic/Thermodynamic Study, and Evaluation of the Influence of Static Magnetic Field on Kinetic Parameters of β-Fructofuranosidase from Kita UCP 1279 Produced by Solid-State Fermentation.

β-fructofuranosidases (FFases) are enzymes involved in sucrose hydrolysis and can be used in the production of invert sugar and fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS). This last is an important prebiotic extensively used in the food industry. In the present study, the FFase production by Kita UCP 1279 was assessed by solid-state fermentation using a mixture of wheat and soy brans as substrate.

Third Ventricle Craniopharyngioma Intraventricular Tumor: A Case Report and a Brief Literature Review.

Craniopharyngioma is a rare embryonic malformation, usually benign, of the sellar or parasellar regions. In this study, an uncommon case of third ventricle craniopharyngioma and a succinct review of its prevalence are presented. Even with low mortality rates, these injuries involve a high degree of endocrinological, visual, and neuropsychological morbidities, which have a huge impact on the patient's quality of life.

Application of a biosurfactant from Pseudomonas cepacia CCT 6659 in bioremediation and metallic corrosion inhibition processes.

Biosurfactants are capable of meeting the challenges of the oil industry by reducing its social, economic, and environmental impacts. The aim of the present study was to produce a biosurfactant from Pseudomonas cepacia CCT6659 in 2.0-L and 5.

Loyalties Beyond Life: An Essay on the Film Coco From a Transgenerational Perspective.

The animated film Coco tells the story of the web of relationships of a multigenerational family that faces its history, myths, and loyalties. Miguel, the film's protagonist, is confronted with his family history when he expresses his dream of being a musician, and he goes through an adventure of finding himself in the midst of his family's loyalties to the past and its history with music, spanning several generations. The aim of this article is to analyze the film from a transgenerational approach, conversing with systemic theory as well, taking into consideration questions about the characters of the Rivera multigenerational family, the dynamics of their relationships, and the invisible loyalties that present themselves in the movie.

Pregnant women infected by the Zika virus: Ultrasound findings and growth patterns of fetuses with and without microcephaly.

Objective: To compare ultrasound growth measurements of fetuses with and without microcephaly in suspected Zika virus infection.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study included pregnant women with suspected Zika virus infection to evaluate 110 fetuses with and without microcephaly. The women had been admitted to the fetal medicine unit between October 2015 and August 2016.

Misoprostol administered sublingually at a dose of 12.5 μg versus vaginally at a dose of 25 μg for the induction of full-term labor: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Labor induction is defined as any procedure that stimulates uterine contractions before labor begins spontaneously. The vaginal and oral routes of administration of misoprostol are those most used for the induction of labor in routine practice, with the recommended dose being 25 μg. Nevertheless, the sublingual route may reduce the number of vaginal examinations required, increasing patient comfort and lowering the risk of maternal and fetal infection.

Effectiveness of an oral versus sublingual loading dose of nifedipine for tocolysis.

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of an oral versus sublingual loading dose of nifedipine for tocolysis.

Methods: An open, randomized clinical trial conducted between March 1, 2013, and April 31, 2014. Participants were pregnant women with a diagnosis of premature labor, single live fetus, topical pregnancy, gestational age 24-36 weeks, normal fetal vitality, cervical dilatation less than or equal to 4 cm, cervical effacement less than or equal to 80%, and intact amniotic membranes.

Treatment of oily effluent using a low-cost biosurfactant in a flotation system.

Fuel and lubricating oil leaks produce an oily wastewater that creates an environmental problem for industries. Dissolved air flotation (DAF) has been successfully employed for the separation of oily contaminants. Collectors constitute an auxiliary tool in the DAF process that enhances the separation efficiency by facilitating the adhesion of the contaminant particles.

Vitamin A and Pregnancy: A Narrative Review.

Vitamin A is a crucial micronutrient for pregnant women and their fetuses. In addition to being essential for morphological and functional development and for ocular integrity, vitamin A exerts systemic effects on several fetal organs and on the fetal skeleton. Vitamin A requirements during pregnancy are therefore greater.

Production and formulation of a new low-cost biosurfactant to remediate oil-contaminated seawater.

The aim of the present study was to produce biosurfactants using three bacterial strains (Pseudomonas cepacia CCT6659, Bacillus methylotrophicus UCP 1616 and Bacillus cereus UCP 1615) cultivated in mineral medium containing different carbon (glucose, sucrose, molasses and waste frying oil) and nitrogen [NHNO, (NH)SO, peptone, yeast extract and corn steep liquor] sources. B. cereus stood out as the best biosurfactant producer when inoculated with a 1.

The Prevalence of Vitamin A Deficiency and Associated Factors in Pregnant Women Receiving Prenatal Care at a Reference Maternity Hospital in Northeastern Brazil.

Vitamin A is essential for mother and child; however, vitamin A deficiency (VAD) remains a public health issue in various countries, affecting around 19 million pregnant women. In Brazil, the scarcity and inconsistency of data have prevented the prevalence and epidemiological status of VAD from being established. This study aimed to analyze vitamin A nutritional status in women receiving prenatal care at a reference center in northeastern Brazil.

Recovery of contaminated marine environments by biosurfactant-enhanced bioremediation.

The need to remediate areas contaminated by petroleum products has led to the development of novel technologies for treating such contaminants in a non-conventional manner, that is, without the use of chemical or physical methods. Biosurfactants are amphipathic biomolecules produced by microorganisms that can be used in bioremediation processes in environments contaminated by petroleum products due to their excellent tensioactive properties. The aim of the present study was to produce a biosurfactant from Pseudomonas aeruginosa UCP 0992 cultivated in 0.

Use of bacterial biosurfactants as natural collectors in the dissolved air flotation process for the treatment of oily industrial effluent.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the separation of oil from water using a bench-scale DAF prototype with the addition of biosurfactants isolated from Pseudomonas cepacia CCT6659 and Bacillus cereus UCP1615. The best operating conditions for the DAF prototype were determined using a central composite rotatable design. The results demonstrated that the biosurfactants from P.

Accelerating Families of Fuzzy K-Means Algorithms for Vector Quantization Codebook Design.

The performance of signal processing systems based on vector quantization depends on codebook design. In the image compression scenario, the quality of the reconstructed images depends on the codebooks used. In this paper, alternatives are proposed for accelerating families of algorithms for codebook design.

Biosurfactants: Promising Molecules for Petroleum Biotechnology Advances.

The growing global demand for sustainable technologies that improves the efficiency of petrochemical processes in the oil industry has driven advances in petroleum biotechnology in recent years. Petroleum industry uses substantial amounts of petrochemical-based synthetic surfactants in its activities as mobilizing agents to increase the availability or recovery of hydrocarbons as well as many other applications related to extraction, treatment, cleaning, and transportation. However, biosurfactants have several potential applications for use across the oil processing chain and in the formulations of petrochemical products such as emulsifying/demulsifying agents, anticorrosive, biocides for sulfate-reducing bacteria, fuel formulation, extraction of bitumen from tar sands, and many other innovative applications.

Purification of a fibrinolytic protease from Mucor subtilissimus UCP 1262 by aqueous two-phase systems (PEG/sulfate).

A fibrinolytic protease from M. subtilissimus UCP 1262 was recovered and partially purified by polyethylene glycol (PEG)/sodium sulfate aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS). The simultaneous influence of PEG molar mass, PEG concentration and sulfate concentration on the enzyme recovery was first investigated using a 2(3) full factorial design, and the Response Surface Methodology used to identify the optimum conditions for enzyme extraction by ATPS.

Biosurfactants: Multifunctional Biomolecules of the 21st Century.

In the era of global industrialisation, the exploration of natural resources has served as a source of experimentation for science and advanced technologies, giving rise to the manufacturing of products with high aggregate value in the world market, such as biosurfactants. Biosurfactants are amphiphilic microbial molecules with hydrophilic and hydrophobic moieties that partition at liquid/liquid, liquid/gas or liquid/solid interfaces. Such characteristics allow these biomolecules to play a key role in emulsification, foam formation, detergency and dispersal, which are desirable qualities in different industries.