Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro

About: Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro is a education organization based out in Seropédica, Brazil. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Species richness. The organization has 6405 authors who have published 9852 publications receiving 105911 citations.

Atributos de fertilidade e frações húmicas de um Latossolo Vermelho no Cerrado

Abstract: The objective of this study was to evaluate fertility attributes and the fractions of organic matter, fulvic acid, humic acid, and humina, in a Rhodic Ferralsol, under different cultivation systems in Brazilian Cerrado. The experiments were carried out from 1993 to 2003. The treatments were divided in four groups: tillage (1 and 7), rotation tillage/pasture (3 and 5), rotation pasture/tillage (4 and 6), and continuous pasture (2 and 8), all in no-tillage system. Chemical analyses of soil samples were made for the depth of 0-20 cm, after ten years of cultivation. It was observed that Ca2+ content varied from 4.6 cmolc kg-1 (tillage) to 6.20 cmolc kg-1 (continuous pasture), and available P from 1 to 6 mg kg-1. The Mg2+ content varied from 3 cmolc kg-1, under tillage/pasture, to 3.8 cmolc kg-1 in continuous pasture, and K+, from 0.28 cmolc kg-1, under continue pasture, to 1.10 cmolc kg-1 in tillage/pasture. It was verified that organic C content varied from 16.6 g kg-1 in the tillage, to 28.8 g kg-1under tillage/pasture. The humine fraction presents the largest values among the organic matter fractions.

Supported Gold Nanoparticles as Efficient Catalysts in the Solventless Plasmon Mediated Oxidation of sec-Phenethyl and Benzyl Alcohol

Abstract: Surface plasmon excitation of supported gold nanoparticles in the presence of H2O2 leads to selective oxidation of sec-phenethyl and benzyl alcohols to the carbonyl products acetophenone and benzaldehyde, respectively, in the absence of additional solvents. Light-emitting diodes are compared with microwave irradiation as excitation sources. Hydrotalcite, ZnO, and Al2O3 have been chosen as the solid supports. The overall efficiency of the alcohol oxidation was found to be largely dependent on the nature of the support, with hydrotalcite-derived nanocomposites giving the highest conversions to product, yielding 90% acetophenone after 40 min of LED irradiation. The mechanism for plasmon-mediated alcohol oxidation is believed to involve a significant contribution from the support itself, with adsorption of the alcohol substrate and progression of the oxidation reaction being largely facilitated by the basicity of the support used.

Dietary Broccoli Alters Rat Cecal Microbiota to Improve Glucoraphanin Hydrolysis to Bioactive Isothiocyanates

Abstract: Broccoli consumption brings many health benefits, including reducing the risk of cancer and inflammatory diseases. The objectives of this study were to identify global alterations in the cecal microbiota composition using 16S rRNA sequencing analysis and glucoraphanin (GRP) hydrolysis to isothiocyanates ex vivo by the cecal microbiota, following different broccoli diets. Rats were randomized to consume AIN93G (control) or different broccoli diets; AIN93G plus cooked broccoli, a GRP-rich powder, raw broccoli, or myrosinase-treated cooked broccoli. Feeding raw or cooked broccoli for four days or longer both changed the cecal microbiota composition and caused a greater production of isothiocyanates ex vivo. A more than two-fold increase in NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase 1 activity of the host colon mucosa after feeding cooked broccoli for seven days confirmed the positive health benefits. Further studies revealed that dietary GRP was specifically responsible for the increased microbial GRP hydrolysis ex vivo, whereas changes in the cecal microbial communities were attributed to other broccoli components. Interestingly, a three-day withdrawal from a raw broccoli diet reversed the increased microbial GRP hydrolysis ex vivo. Findings suggest that enhanced conversion of GRP to bioactive isothiocyanates by the cecal microbiota requires four or more days of broccoli consumption and is reversible.

Changes in soil organic carbon during 22 years of pastures, cropping or integrated crop/livestock systems in the Brazilian Cerrado

Abstract: In Brazil’s central savanna region, government policy is to encourage the conversion of conventional plough tillage (PT) agriculture to no-till (NT) and raise the productivity of under-utilized pastures, including their conversion to integrated crop-livestock (ICL) systems, with the objective of increasing soil organic carbon (SOC) at the expense of atmospheric carbon dioxide. An experiment was established in 1991 by liming and fertilizing at two levels an area of native vegetation (NV). The treatments, replicated in randomized plots, included pastures, continuous cropping and ICL systems under PT or NT. The aim of this study was to quantify the SOC accumulation to 100 cm depth under these treatments over time. The high C:N ratios suggested that there was a high proportion of charcoal present in the soil. Increasing fertilizer inputs had no overall significant effect on SOC stocks. Stocks of SOC changed little under pastures. Analyses of 13C abundance showed that higher fertilizer inputs increased the decomposition rate of C derived from NV under pure grass pastures. Continuous cropping under NT preserved SOC and under PT there were significant losses. The highest SOC stocks were found under ILP treatments, but not all ILP treatments accumulated SOC even under NT. These results indicate that government initiatives to substitute PT with NT and to intensify beef cattle production will have only modest short-term gains in SOC accumulation.