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BIODEGRADABLE FILMS OF CASSAVA STARCH, PULLULAN AND BACTERIAL CELLULOSE. The largest consumption of plastics in the world is referred to the synthetic polymers, which are not biodegradable and have a non-renewable source, generating a large environmental impact, especially in urban centers. As a result, in the last two decades several polymers obtained from renewable sources (biopolymers) have been studied as potential raw materials for the production of new biodegradable materials with different applications. The objectives of this study were to produce biodegradable films based on cassava starch, pullulan and bacterial cellulose, and also to characterize these films according to their microstructure, barrier, thermal and mechanical properties. The addition of bacterial cellulose and pullulan to the starch films resulted in films with more homogeneous surfaces, and also decreased solubility and water vapor permeability, and increased elongation and thermal stability.

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Numerical taxonomy characterization of Baccharis genus species was performed using ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry. The aim was to present a more convenient, more practical, more economic and faster method based on chemometric methods and UV-vis absorbance to give the most information about species identity and discrimination, especially when their classification has been doubtful. Three Baccharis species: B. genistelloides Persoon var. trimera (Less.) DC, B. milleflora (Less.) DC, and B. articulata (Lam.) Persoon were included in the study. With the help of principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA), we could characterize the three species. Application of soft independent modeling of class analogy (SIMCA) and K-nearest neighbor (KNN) methods on a training set of 65 extracts resulted in models that correctly classified all samples of an independent validation set, eight samples of B. genistelloides Persoon var. trimera (Less.) DC and one sample donated by Prof. Alarich Schultz Herbarium,

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Caffeine has been widely used to treat gynoid lipodystrophy (GLD). Despite caffeine has been considered as a promise treatment, there is a lack of scientific evidences regarding its effect on GLD when associated with iontophoresis or others equipment. We aimed to evaluate the effects of a caffeine gel alone and associated with iontophoresis in GLD treatment. In a single-blind randomized clinical trial, women with mild/moderate GLD in the buttocks were randomized to topical caffeine gel group (CG; n=10); caffeine gel plus iontophoresis group (CIG; n=11) or iontophoresis group (IG; n=10). The groups were treated with 10 sessions, two times/week, 20 min/session. The subjects were evaluated pre and post treatment by photonumeric GLD severity scale, ultrasound image, thermography and quality of life questionnaire with a blind evaluator. There were statistical reduction in subcutaneous tissue thickness (P≤0.046) as well as in subcutaneous tissue plus dermis thickness (P≤0.044) in buttocks both in CG and CIG. GLD reduction was similar between CG and CIG, and these reductions were more pronounced than in IG (P<0.0001). Furthermore, quality of life improved in all groups (P<0.017). We concluded that caffeine alone and associated with iontophoresis were effective for decreasing the subcutaneous fat layer in women with GLD.