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Research on innovative approaches to the valorisation of glycerol as a subproduct of biodiesel production has acquired an increasing demand in the development of a circular economy around energy generation, especially, in the line of improvement of the heterogeneous metallic catalysts used. In this regard, carbon xerogels have gained importance due to their stability and modifiability, while transition metals such as copper stand out as a cost-effective alternative, resulting in a technology where surface engineering plays a crucial role in achieving competitive catalytic activity. Building upon this, current research evaluates doped xerogels (Si, N, or GO) as supports of Cu and catalysts by themselves for glycerol oxidation. Benefits from the incorporation of oxygenated functional groups (OFG) were also evaluated. Results showed a consistently higher selectivity towards lactic acid (LA) across all catalysts and competitive catalytic conversion. In this performance, dopants played a crucial role in surface acid-base characteristics, while oxygenated functional groups (OFG) influenced copper adsorption, dispersion, and reducibility. Notably, the Cu/CXN-f catalyst demonstrated the highest LA yield by combining the effect of N as a doping species, with the presence of OFG and the formation of appropriated metallic Cu domains. This research underscores the potential of carbon xerogels in the tailored catalyst design, contributing to sustainable chemical production through their customizable textural and chemical properties.

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Approximately 500 thousand tons of cocoa bean shells (CSs) are generated annually and treated as waste. However, their composition is of great nutritional, technological, and economic interest due to their dietary fiber (46.4 to 60.6%), protein (11.6 to 18.1%), and lipid contents (2 to 18.5%), as well as the presence of flavonoids and alkaloids. Thus, this study aimed to obtain CS flour by milling the CSs, characterizing the flour according to its chemical composition and functionalities, and then applying it in the production of cookies, substituting a wheat flour portion (10, 20, 30, and 40%) with CS flour. Cookies were characterized in terms of water, lipids, proteins, phenolic (PC), and total flavanol (FLA) contents, and specific volume (SV), hardness (H), and L*, a*, and b color scale parameters. Increasing the amount of CS showed positive results, as the cookies were enriched with PC (0.68 to 2.37 mg gallic acid equivalents/g of sample) and FLA (0.10 to 0.19 mg epicatechin equivalents/g of sample) but increased hardness (353 to 472 N). By associating the responses, it was concluded that the wheat flour replacement with 30% CS presented values of PC and FLA 3 and 1.6 times higher than the control and could be a formulation of interest to consumers.

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Para la organización de bases de datos de Neurociencias se han realizado diversos proyectos en países desarrollados, entre estos los repositorios de datos. El Centro de Neurociencias de Cuba es la institución rectora de los estudios neurocientíficos en el país. Debido a los volúmenes de datos que se manejan en su repositorio se dificulta el manejo estadístico y la obtención de reportes. El repositorio carece de herramientas para el análisis estadístico del universo de datos almacenado, dificultando la toma de decisiones sobre los diferentes tipos de datos. En base a las deficiencias identificadas se decidió desarrollar un grupo de funcionalidades de estadísticas y reportes que permiten la extracción de información útil desde diferentes perspectivas, beneficiando a los científicos de neurociencias en el estudio y aplicación de escenarios para el tratamiento de los datos almacenados. Se realizó un análisis del estado del arte de las herramientas que permiten generar reportes y estadísticas de los datos almacenados en un repositorio o en una base de datos. Para el desarrollo se utilizaron tecnologías y herramientas como Visual Paradigm para el modelado, PostgreSQL para el manejo de los datos, Django como framework de desarrollo y el lenguaje de desarrollo Python. El resultado obtenido propiciará una herramienta con características similares a sus homólogas internacionales(AU)

Various projects have been carried out in developed countries for the organization of Neuroscience databases, including data repositories. The Cuban Neuroscience Center is the leading institution for neuroscientific studies in the country. Due to the volumes of data that are managed in its repository, statistical management and obtaining reports are difficult. The repository lacks tools for statistical analysis of the universe of data stored, making it difficult to make decisions about the different types of data. Based on the deficiencies identified, it was decided to develop a group of statistical and reporting functionalities that allow the extraction of useful information from different perspectives, benefiting neuroscience scientists in the study and application of scenarios for the treatment of stored data. An analysis of the state of the art of the tools that allow generating reports and statistics of the data stored in a repository or in a database was carried out. For the development, technologies and tools such as Visual Paradigm for modeling, PostgreSQL for data management, Django as a development framework and the Python development language were used. The result obtained will provide a tool with similar characteristics to its international counterparts(AU)

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Pilosocereus gounellei (A. Weber ex. K. Schum.) Bly. ex Rowl., popularly known as xique-xique, is a cactus from the Caatinga biome, which is rich in bioactive compounds but has not been previously studied as a source of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) with probiotic aptitudes. This study aimed to identify, characterize, and select LAB isolates with in vitro probiotic-related characteristics from xique-xique cladodes and fruit. Isolates with the most promising probiotic-related characteristics were evaluated regarding their in vitro technological properties and capability of surviving in chestnut milk, whey protein drink, and mate tea with mint during 21 days of refrigeration storage. Seventeen recovered isolates had typical characteristics of LAB. Six out of these seventeen LAB isolates passed the safety tests and were included in experiments to evaluate the in vitro probiotic-related characteristics. Based on the results of a principal component analysis, the isolates 69, 82, 98, and 108 had the best performances in experiments to evaluate the probiotic-related characteristics. In addition to showing good technological properties, the four selected LAB isolates had high viable counts (>7.3 log cfu/mL) and high sizes of physiologically active cell subpopulations in chestnut milk, whey protein drink, and mate tea during refrigeration storage. These four isolates were identified by 16S-rRNA sequencing as being Lacticaseibacillus paracasei or Lacticaseibacillus casei. The results indicate xique-xique as a source of potentially probiotic LAB isolates.

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The aim of this research was to investigate the physicochemical and functional properties of fresh and pasteurized chicken and duck egg albumens. The results showed that pasteurization of both chicken and duck albumens significantly decreased (p0.05) viscosity, but had no impact (p>0.05) on pH or free sulfhydryl groups. Chicken albumen was shown to have higher (p0.05) foam expansion, but lower (p0.05) foam stability than duck albumen. Pasteurization decreased (p0.05) the foam expansion of both albumens while decreasing (p0.05) the foam stability only of duck albumen. Investigation of the gel properties showed that duck albumen has greater hardness and lower expressible water (p0.05) than chicken albumen. Pasteurization increased the hardness and decreased the expressible water of both the chicken and duck albumen gels. This study suggests that the superior gel properties of duck albumen offer potential approaches to improving the quality of gel food products.(AU)

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The aim of this research was to investigate the physicochemical and functional properties of fresh and pasteurized chicken and duck egg albumens. The results showed that pasteurization of both chicken and duck albumens significantly decreased (p0.05) viscosity, but had no impact (p>0.05) on pH or free sulfhydryl groups. Chicken albumen was shown to have higher (p0.05) foam expansion, but lower (p0.05) foam stability than duck albumen. Pasteurization decreased (p0.05) the foam expansion of both albumens while decreasing (p0.05) the foam stability only of duck albumen. Investigation of the gel properties showed that duck albumen has greater hardness and lower expressible water (p0.05) than chicken albumen. Pasteurization increased the hardness and decreased the expressible water of both the chicken and duck albumen gels. This study suggests that the superior gel properties of duck albumen offer potential approaches to improving the quality of gel food products.

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Functional properties and antioxidative activity of a protein hydrolysate prepared from Acanthogobius hasta processing by-product protein during solid-state fermentation with Aspergillus oryzae were investigated. Overall, protease activity increased with the degree of hydrolysis (DH) decreased during solid-state fermentation. All the protein hydrolysate had excellent solubility, possessed interfacial properties, and varying degrees of antioxidant activity which were governed by their concentrations and DH, molecular weight distribution and amino acid composition. After 5 days fermentation, the DH of the protein hydrolysate was 31.23%. The protein hydrolysate had the highest total hydrophobic amino acid content, the highest DPPH scavenging activity, reducing power, and the chelating activity. The radical-scavenging activity of the hydrolysates at 6 mg/mL was 78.6%. The reducing power of protein hydrolysate at the range of 0-6 mg/mL was lower than that of BHA at the range of 0-60 µg/mL, while the chelating activity of APs was similar to that of BHA at the range of 0-60 µg/mL. Moreover, the protein hydrolysate showed good emulsifying and foaming properties over a wide pH range from 2 to 12. Therefore, solid state fermentation provided a suitable and low-cost method for converting Acanthogobius hasta processing by-product protein into antioxidant protein hydrolysates.