Portugal assume-se como um país de referência na produção de vinhos de qualidade superior pelas condições edafoclimáticas e património vitícola que possui. Para potenciar a qualidade verifica-se a premência que as diversas etapas do processo de fabrico do vinho sejam submetidas a uma efetiva monitorização e controlo. Sendo o processo de fermentação alcoólica uma das etapas mais importantes do processo de produção de vinho, apresenta-se uma solução de baixo custo para efetuar a monitorização e controlo do processo de fermentação alcoólica numa adega. Para comprovar a viabilidade prática desta solução, foi instalado na adega da Escola Superior Agrária de Coimbra (ESAC), um protótipo que efetuou em condições reais, o controlo da temperatura de fermentação de mosto branco numa cuba de média dimensão.

Portugal stands out as a recognized country in the production of superior quality wine, the two main reasons being the edaphoclimatic conditions and the grapevine heritage. To maximize quality it is important that the various steps of the winemaking process be submitted to effective control and monitoring. Since the alcoholic fermentation is a crucial stage of the winemaking process, this paper describes a low cost prototype to perform the supervision and control of the alcoholic fermentation process in a winery. To demonstrate the viability of the practical application of this solution in real conditions, a prototype was installed in the winery of Escola Superior Agrária de Coimbra (ESAC), to control the fermentation temperature of white must in a medium size vat.

A nicotina, um agente oxidante, é certamente um dos alcalóides mais amplamente utilizados no mundo. Juntamente com seu principal metabolito, a cotinina, a nicotina é responsável pela tabaco-dependência. O uso de tabaco está intimamente associado a doenças pulmonares, modificações morfológicas em leucócitos e a geração de espécies oxidantes. O principal objetivo deste estudo foi identificar uma possível relação entre cotinina, geração de espécies reativas do oxigênio e processos oxidativos. Após o estudo da ação da cotinina em diferentes modelos químicos e em cinéticas enzimáticas com peroxidases (mieloperoxidase e peroxidase de raiz forte), conclui-se que a cotinina não age diretamente sobre H2O2, HOCl, taurine cloramina, peroxidase de raiz forte ou mieloperoxidase.

Nicotine, an oxidizing agent, is certainly one of the most widely used alkaloids in the world. It is, together with its main metabolite, cotinine, responsible for tobacco-dependence. The use of tobacco is closely associated with lung disease, morphological leukocyte modification and generation of oxidant species. The aim of this study was to look for a possible relationship between cotinine, oxidant species generation and oxidative processes. After studying the action of cotinine in some chemical oxidation models and on the enzymatic kinetics of peroxidases (myeloperoxidase and horseradish peroxidase), we concluded that cotinine does not act directly upon H2O2, HOCl, taurine chloramines, horseradish peroxidase or myeloperoxidase.

The release of reactive oxygen specie (ROS) by activated neutrophil is involved in both the antimicrobial and deleterious effects in chronic inflammation. The objective of the present investigation was to determine the effect of therapeutic plasma concentrations of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) on the production of ROS by stimulated rat neutrophils. Diclofenac (3.6 µM), indomethacin (12 µM), naproxen (160 µM), piroxicam (13 µM), and tenoxicam (30 µM) were incubated at 37ºC in PBS (10 mM), pH 7.4, for 30 min with rat neutrophils (1 x 10(6) cells/ml) stimulated by phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (100 nM). The ROS production was measured by luminol and lucigenin-dependent chemiluminescence. Except for naproxen, NSAIDs reduced ROS production: 58 ± 2% diclofenac, 90 ± 2% indomethacin, 33 ± 3% piroxicam, and 45 ± 6% tenoxicam (N = 6). For the lucigenin assay, naproxen, piroxicam and tenoxicam were ineffective. For indomethacin the inhibition was 52 ± 5% and diclofenac showed amplification in the light emission of 181 ± 60% (N = 6). Using the myeloperoxidase (MPO)/H2O2/luminol system, the effects of NSAIDs on MPO activity were also screened. We found that NSAIDs inhibited both the peroxidation and chlorinating activity of MPO as follows: diclofenac (36 ± 10, 45 ± 3%), indomethacin (97 ± 2, 100 ± 1%), naproxen (56 ± 8, 76 ± 3%), piroxicam (77 ± 5, 99 ± 1%), and tenoxicam (90 ± 2, 100 ± 1%), respectively (N = 3). These results show that therapeutic levels of NSAIDs are able to suppress the oxygen-dependent antimicrobial or oxidative functions of neutrophils by inhibiting the generation of hypochlorous acid.

- Pt-Rh/Al2O3 catalysts were prepared by successive incipient impregnations or coimpregnation. Characterization was achieved by H2 chemisorption and transmission electron microscopy. It was verified that method of preparation, ratio of metal weights and sequence of deposition are factors that result in very distinct catalysts.

Pt-Rh/Al2O3 catalysts prepared by successive incipient impregnations and coimpregnation were characterized by H2 chemisorption, temperature programmed reduction and benzene hydrogenation reaction in the vapor phase. The results showed that Rh plays the role of Pt reducting agent, which is very different from the effects of metal-metal interaction which appear mainly in solids with the highest metal contents. The most important parameter that results in bimetallic particles in the catalyst prepared by successive impregnation is the sequence of metal addition.