Chemical Restraining and Electroejaculation Protocols for Semen Collection in White-Lipped Peccary (Tayassu pecari)

Background: In order to reverse the White-lipped peccary decline, besides protecting its habitat and controlling hunting, it is necessary a captive breeding program. There are reports, however, on the low fertility of white-lipped peccary, making it difficult its reproduction in captivity, making artificial insemination one of the main tools to prevent the loss of genetic diversity of species kept in captivity. Information on safe methods of anesthesia and the collection of semen should be investigated. Therefore, we aimed to compare the effects of the anesthetic protocols acepromazine/ketamine and xylazine/ketamine, as well as electroejaculation protocols, for semen collection in white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari).Materials, Methods & Results: Twelve adult male white-lipped peccaries were submitted both to the xylazine/ketamine and acepromazine/ketamine anesthetic protocols. The anesthetic induction time and duration, the degree of muscle relaxation, the time for anesthetic recovery and the quality of the animals’ recovery were evaluated. Additionally, the quality of the sedation was evaluated based on the animal’s behavior. We also evaluated the effect of drugs on erectile functions as well as the efficiency of three electroejaculation protocols with increasing or fixed voltages (2 to 4 V; 5 to 12 V; 12 V). The acepromazine/ketamine combination promotes shorter induction time, duration and recovery from anesthesia than the xylazine/ketamine association. There were no differences, however, between the tested anesthetic protocols in relation to heart rate, respiratory rate and temperature. Ejaculate was obtained from only 2 animals when using the xylazine/ketamine protocol and adoption of stimuli between 5 and 12 V, with 10 stimuli at each voltage. In turn, ejaculate was obtained from four animals submitted to the acepromazine/ketamine protocol, three of them with the adoption of stimuli between 5 and 12 V and one with the adoption of fixed 12 V stimuli, with 45 stimuli at this single voltage.Discussion: The animals presented less deep anesthesia and, consequently, worse indicators of well-being during and after the collection procedures when submitted to the xylazine/ketamine protocol compared to the acepromazine/ketamine protocol. When submitted to the acepromazine/ketamine protocol, the animals allowed the observer to approach and handle them, facilitating handling and collection of semen, in addition to promoting better indicators of animal welfare. Also, with this aforementioned protocol, the animals showed better anesthetic return. For both anesthetic protocols, the protocol of increasing stimuli from 5 to 12 V, with 10 stimuli at each voltage, resulted in penile erection and in obtaining ejaculate in a greater number of animals in relation to the other electroejaculation protocols. In turn, the use of the growing protocol 2 V to 4 V did not even cause an erection in any of the 12 animals. From the ejaculates collected from the white-lipped peccary, volumes (0.2 to 1.0 mL) and average sperm concentration (379.1 x 106 sperm/mL) were comparatively higher than those from Pecari tajacu. The white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari) is considered an aggressive animal, and this characteristic can explain the relatively low success in obtaining ejaculates, as aggressiveness is directly related to stress, which is an antagonist of ejaculation. Thus, we proposed to test chemical restraint with the aid of a blowgun in future studies

Osteitis condensans Ilii as differential diagnosis of sacroiliitis: learning in order not to fail / Osteíte Condensante do Íleo como diagnóstico diferencial de sacroileíte: aprendendo para não errar

Osteitis Condensans Ilii (OCI) is a rare benign condition of unknown etiology. The prevalence in overall population ranges from 0.9 to 2.5%, and it is more frequent in multiparous women before the fourth decade of life1. It can be asymptomatic and discovered by accidental radiologic diagnosis or it may present as inflammatory low back pain 1,2. The symptomatic form is an important mimicking factor of sacroiliitis, and it should always be considered as differential diagnosis1. Given the rareness of the disease and the importance of differential diagnosis, we report an OCI case that mimics sacroiliitis

Effectiveness and safety of first-generation protease inhibitors in real-world patients with hepatitis C virus genotype 1 infection in Brazil: a multicenter study

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of first-generation protease inhibitors for the treatment of genotype 1 hepatitis C virus-infected patients at Brazilian reference centers. METHODS: This multicenter cross-sectional study included hepatitis C virus genotype 1 monoinfected patients treated with Peg-interferon, ribavirin, and either boceprevir (n=158) or telaprevir (n=557) between July 2013 and April 2014 at 15 reference centers in Brazil. Demographic, clinical, virological, and adverse events data were collected during treatment and follow-up. RESULTS: Of the 715 patients, 59% had cirrhosis and 67.1% were treatment-experienced. Based on intention-to-treat analysis, the overall sustained viral response was 56.6%, with similar effectiveness in both groups (51.9% for boceprevir and 58% for telaprevir, p=0.190). Serious adverse events occurred in 44.2% of patients, and six deaths (0.8%) were recorded. Cirrhotic patients had lower sustained viral response rates than non-cirrhotic patients (46.9% vs. 70.6%, p 465 years, diagnosis of cirrhosis, and abnormal hemoglobin levels/platelet counts prior to treatment were associated with serious adverse events. CONCLUSION: Although serious adverse events rates were higher in this infected population, sustained viral response rates were similar to those reported for other patient cohorts.Univ Sao Paulo, Fac Med, Dept Molestias Infecciosas & Parasitarias, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Rio de Janeiro, Rio De Janeiro, RJ, BrazilCtr Referencia & Treinamento DST Aids, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilCDH, Rio De Janeiro, RJ, BrazilHosp Fed Servidores Estado Rio de Janeiro HFSE, Setor Gastrohepatol, Rio De Janeiro, RJ, BrazilUniv Sao Paulo, Fac Med, Dept Gastroenterol & Hepatol, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo UNIFESP, Disciplina Gastroenterol, EPM, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo UNIFESP, EPM, Disciplina Infectol, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilUniv Sao Paulo, FMRP, Dept Clin Med, Div Gastroenterol, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil| Univ Fed do Maranhao UFMA, HUPD, Ctr Pesquisa Clin, Sao Luis, MA, BrazilUniv Fed Estado Rio de Janeiro UNIRIO, Disciplina Clin Med & Gastroenterol, Rio De Janeiro, RJ, BrazilUniv Fed Rio do Grande Sul UFRGS, Dept Med Interna, Porto Alegre, RS, BrazilUniv Fed Espirito Santo, Ambulatorio HIV AIDS Hepatites Virais, Vitoria, ES, BrazilSMS, Ctr Orientacao & Aconselhamento, Foz Do Iguacu, PR, BrazilUniv Estado Rio de Janeiro UERJ, Serv Gastroenterol, Rio De Janeiro, RJ, BrazilIMT, Lab Virol LIM 52, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo UNIFESP, Disciplina Gastroenterol, EPM, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo UNIFESP, EPM, Disciplina Infectol, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Effectiveness and safety of first-generation protease inhibitors in real-world patients with hepatitis C virus genotype 1 infection in Brazil: a multicenter study

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of first-generation protease inhibitors for the treatment of genotype 1 hepatitis C virus-infected patients at Brazilian reference centers. METHODS: This multicenter cross-sectional study included hepatitis C virus genotype 1 monoinfected patients treated with Peg-interferon, ribavirin, and either boceprevir (n=158) or telaprevir (n=557) between July 2013 and April 2014 at 15 reference centers in Brazil. Demographic, clinical, virological, and adverse events data were collected during treatment and follow-up. RESULTS: Of the 715 patients, 59% had cirrhosis and 67.1% were treatment-experienced. Based on intention-to-treat analysis, the overall sustained viral response was 56.6%, with similar effectiveness in both groups (51.9% for boceprevir and 58% for telaprevir, p=0.190). Serious adverse events occurred in 44.2% of patients, and six deaths (0.8%) were recorded. Cirrhotic patients had lower sustained viral response rates than non-cirrhotic patients (46.9% vs. 70.6%,

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost