Abstract
The nutritional properties and safety of olive oil are strongly dependent on the content of mineral nutrients and trace elements. Hence, this work assesses the content for quality and toxic metals of olive oils from three major Portuguese cultivars ('Galega', 'Cobran double dagger osa' and 'Picual') obtained from olives in different ripening stages. This evaluation was achieved by flame atomic spectrometry and atomic absorption in a graphite furnace, depending on the metal to be analysed. The results showed mean concentrations of the mineral nutrients Ca and Mg of 20.00 A mu g g(-1), and K and Na of 40.00 and 170.00 A mu g g(-1), respectively, while the trace elements Fe, Co, Cu, Mn, Zn and Ni had mean values of 0.53, a parts per thousand currency sign 0.01, 0.33, 0.10, 1.09 and 0.64 A mu g g(-1), respectively. The mean content of the toxic metals Al, Cd, Pb and As were 27.46, 0.03, 0.09 and 0.36 A mu g g(-1), respectively, which were according to the values proposed by European regulations. The evaluation of the data obtained by partial least square regression allowed the identification of the minerals with the strongest potential to discriminate between the season (Na, Cu, Zn and Ni) and the cultivar employed in the olive oil performance (Fe and Mn).

Abstract
A number of traditional liqueurs are obtained by maceration of red fruits in aqueous ethanol liquor, namely sloe berries or sour cherry. On the other hand, the exploration of residual plant material derived from the winery industry (grape (Vitis vinifera L.) stems), which has been regarded as an interesting source of colored and uncolored (poly)phenols, could lead to an industrial alternative to the traditional distilled spirits produced, with valuable physicochemical and phytochemical properties. In the present work, vinification residues (grape stems) were used to produce a new beverage. The evaluation of the physic-chemical characteristics and phytochemical composition as well as the evolution of the determined parameters during maceration (90 and 180 days) allowed a number of interesting bioactive compounds to be identified. This new beverage is a liqueur with a high retention of phenolic compounds (ortho-diphenols, flavanols, flavonols, and anthocyanins), with interesting physic-chemical characteristics, that revealed significant antioxidant activity.

Abstract
The olive tree (Olea europaea L.) can be affected by Colletotrichum acutatum, causing a loss of yield and quality of the final products, whilst the incidence of this fungal infection depends on several factors, including cultivar susceptibility. Thus, the effect of C. acutatum infection in cultivars displaying different susceptibilities to this fungal disease (Galega Vulgar' - susceptible, Cobrancosa' - moderately susceptible, Picual' - tolerant) has been assessed through spectrophotometric methods and HPLC, while the FTIR spectra of the cuticles have been concomitantly registered, resorting to the ATR accessory. With the support of multivariate analysis, these spectra allowed to discriminate olives with distinct infection times, besides retrieving evidences concerning the different susceptibility of each cultivar, while these observations were reinforced by the spectrophotometric and chromatographic methods. Furthermore, the assessment of the phenolic profile evidenced individual compounds in the distinct cultivars, so as their variations in response to the fungal infection. Distinct olive cultivars were inoculated with Colletotrichum acutatum. The most resistant olive tree cultivars display the highest content in phenolics. FTIR-ATR-based analyses allow to monitor the response of olive fruits to C. acutatum.

Abstract
This paper presents a wide input range, low-power operational transconductance amplifier (OTA) in weak inversion. The OTA is implemented with tanh-triplets differential pairs, degenerated by a composite configuration to augment the input linear range, thus reducing further the harmonic distortion. Using MATLAB, the mismatch factor (A) of a typical multi-tanh triplet has been optimised for minimum harmonic distortion. The OTA is designed in UMC 0.13um CMOS technology with 1.2V supply. Simulations show that the input range can be extended to 300 mV, while keeping the HD3 below -80 dB. The average power consumption is 13nW, with an open loop-gain of 76 dB and a unity gain frequency of 250 Hz. The low harmonic distortion OTA can find potential applications in low-power and long time constant filters.

Abstract
An integrate-and-fire modulator (IFM) is designed for power scavenging systems like: Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) sensor tags. The circuit works with a clock in order to be able to be synchronized with microprocessors, which must be used to reconstruct the signal. The modulator is simulated using 130nm CMOS technology and the resulting power consumption is around 14nW at a clock frequency of 10 kHz. The OTA individually dissipates roughly 13nW. Signal reconstruction resulted in a 9.2 ENOB.

Abstract