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The culture of coffee is very important in Brazilian scenery. Brazil is the world's largest coffee producer, responsible for 30% of the planet's production, and it is among the 15 largest coffee consuming nations. More and more, consumers look for better quality of coffee, and the presence of determinate composts would prejudice the health of the consumers. Therefore, this study suggests a method to identify and quantify commercially roasted ground coffee impurities/contaminants using computed microtomography (micro‐CT) and x‐ray fluorescence (XRF) techniques. A set of different commercially roasted ground coffees were investigated. The micro‐CT results showed that most of the coffee powder samples analyzed showed some contaminant, and in a specific brand, the amount of contaminants was higher than 9%. The 3D data provided information about the size and shape of these contaminants. The XRF results showed the macro elements P, S, Cl, K, and Ca and the micro elements Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Rb, and Sr. The elemental concentrations are in agreement with the values reported in the literature, except for the same specific brand, where the values found were much higher. The combined data of both techniques showed that the amount of impurities/contaminants in the ground coffee results in an increase of the macro and micro nutrients and also modifies the flavor and fragrance of the product, leading to an overall poor quality of the final beverage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bread is one of the oldest foods of mankind, and among them, the sandwich bread is worldwide known and used. In this study we used the non‐destructive computed microtomography technique (microCT) to evaluate the behavior of bread structure over weeks after the production. In addition, the influence of the storage location of the sandwich bread, we performed a comparative analysis between storage at ambient temperature and refrigerated conditions. The analysis of the reconstructed images shows that the bread suffers loss of structure over the weeks. We also have found that keeping the bread refrigerated loses liquid, drying the bread, and thus increasing the loss of its structure. In addition, the porous structure of the bread was evaluated, and a complete characterization of the microstructural changes was performed over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indiana limestone is composed mainly of calcite and aragonite minerals, which are different crystalline forms of calcium carbonate. Due to its composition of almost pure calcium carbonate (around 97%), it is widely used in the petroleum industry as a standard porous media for laboratory experiments with a huge scope in industrial applications. A method to improve oil recovery is associated with the use of nanoparticles (NP). One of the most promising is presented to be that of silica (Si) NP, because of their compatibility with the reservoir and subsurface abundance. In this work, we applied Si NP at a concentration of 0.5%, prepared in a base fluid of 1000 ppm in crude oil, injected in Indiana limestone and tested them with microtomography (microCT) and micro x‐ray fluorescence (microXRF) techniques to evaluate the impact of the treatment. Combining morphological results with the mapping of the elements, a more complete characterization of the sample is possible for a better understanding of these interactions applied in oil field industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Martian meteorites are excellent study materials for understanding the present and past of Mars, as they are important historical astrophysical artifacts because they possess information about Martian geological evolution and physical and chemical characteristics. In our case, we analyzed the NWA 6963 Martian meteorite classified as basaltic shergottite because of its chemical structure. A computerized microtomography (μCT) study in the NWA 6963 Martian meteorite provided us with 2D and 3D images that were extremely useful for ascertaining the internal structure of the analyzed sample and gave us the opportunity to find a crumpled material with a very peculiar structural format. In addition, it was possible to observe through the μCT that this encrusted material also has a completely different density of the meteorite. Calcium, strontium, and potassium were detected qualitatively, among others through the technique of X-ray fluorescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents new records and detailed descriptions of Liophis dorsocorallinus, including its skull and hemipenis morphology. Topics discussed include meristic and morphometric variation, updates to the species' geographical distribution, and differences in ventral coloration observed in the specimens studied.