Desempenho de bezerras leiteiras alimentadas com concentrado inicial contendo sais de ácidos orgânicos ou monesina.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o efeito da inclusão de butirato de sódio, monensina sódica e propionato de cálcio no concentrado inicial sobre o desempenho de bezerras leiteiras antes e após o desaleitamento. Vinte e quatro bezerras Holandesas recém-nascidas foram alocadas em abrigos individuais até a décima semana de vida tendo livre acesso à água, alimentadas com 4L de leite/dia, em duas refeições, sendo bloqueadas em função do peso ao nascer a um dos tratamentos, de acordo com o aditivo no concentrado: 1)Butirato de sódio (0,15%); 2)Monensina sódica (30 ppm); 3)Propionato de cálcio (0,15%). Durante 10 semanas os animais receberam concentrado inicial até 2 kg/d e receberam também feno de capim-coast-cross à vontade após o desaleitamento. Semanalmente, os animais foram pesados e avaliados quanto à altura da cernelha, largura do traseiro e perímetro torácico. Não foram observados efeitos significativos entre os tratamentos para o consumo de concentrado e de feno, peso vivo e ganho de peso diário dos animais (P>0,05), entretanto foram observados efeitos de idade (P0,05). A inclusão dos aditivos resultou em desempenho satisfatório de bezerras leiteiras antes e após o desaleitamento. A monensina sódica pode ser substituída por sais de ácidos orgânicos sem prejuízo ao desempenho de bezerros

Effects of ON and OFF subthalamic nucleus-DBS on prefrontal cortex activation during a cognitive task: an fNIRS study

Subthalamic nucleus (STN) deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapy is an effective treatment for the appendicular motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD). The STN contains multiple segregated circuits subserving motor, cognitive and mood functions through distinct connectivity to cortical regions. Therefore, we examined prefrontal cortical (PFC) effects of “ON” and “OFF” STN-DBS on executive function (Go/NoGo) using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Methods Out of 8 PD STN-DBS patients, we present here preliminary analysis of a male (62y) PD patient with bilateral STN-DBS (unipolar, 180Hz, 3.5V). The patient was tested after 12h withdrawal of dopamine medications in both an “OFF” and “ON” DBS session separated by 30min. The subject performed a computerised GoNoGo task with 3 alternating Go/NoGo blocks of 30s duration (20 trials/block) interspersed with 30s rest. Reaction time (RT) and accuracy (omission-Om and commission-Cm errors) results were the average of the 3 Go/NoGo blocks. During performance of the Go/NoGo blocks, changes in oxygenated (O2Hb) and deoxygenated (HHb) haemoglobin concentrations were measured by a fNIRS system (Oxymon MkIII, Artinis Medical Systems) covering the bilateral PFC regions. Results/Discussion Clinical motor performance (UPDRSIII) improved from OFF (31) to ON (20). RT during Go and NoGo was ∼40ms faster in OFF (460 and 364ms) than ON (516 and 407ms). Furthermore, the NoGo condition increased misses (Om) in ON (7%) than OFF (0%); while false alarms (Cm) were similarly increased in ON (27%) and OFF (30%). The Go and NoGo conditions increased bilateral PFC activation (i.e., increase in O2Hb and decrease in HHb). However, there was a general decrease in PFC activation in OFF relative to ON, and this was more obvious in Go than NoGo (see Fig. 1) Conclusion These preliminary results indicate that STN-DBS modulates neurovascular responses in the bilateral PFC that are associated with response inhibition

XDS: a flexible beamline for X-ray diffraction and spectroscopy at the Brazilian synchrotron

FAPESP - FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULOFINEP - FINANCIADORA DE ESTUDOS E PROJETOSCNPQ - CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICOThe majority of the beamlines at the Brazilian Synchrotron Light Source Laboratory (LNLS) use radiation produced in the storage-ring bending magnets and are therefore currently limited in the flux that can be used in the harder part of the X-ray spectrum (above approximate to 10keV). A 4T superconducting multipolar wiggler (SCW) was recently installed at LNLS in order to improve the photon flux above 10keV and fulfill the demands set by the materials science community. A new multi-purpose beamline was then installed at the LNLS using the SCW as a photon source. The XDS is a flexible beamline operating in the energy range between 5 and 30keV, designed to perform experiments using absorption, diffraction and scattering techniques. Most of the work performed at the XDS beamline concentrates on X-ray absorption spectroscopy at energies above 18keV and high-resolution diffraction experiments. More recently, new setups and photon-hungry experiments such as total X-ray scattering, X-ray diffraction under high pressures, resonant X-ray emission spectroscopy, among others, have started to become routine at XDS. Here, the XDS beamline characteristics, performance and a few new experimental possibilities are described.The majority of the beamlines at the Brazilian Synchrotron Light Source Laboratory (LNLS) use radiation produced in the storage-ring bending magnets and are therefore currently limited in the flux that can be used in the harder part of the X-ray spectrum (above approximate to 10keV). A 4T superconducting multipolar wiggler (SCW) was recently installed at LNLS in order to improve the photon flux above 10keV and fulfill the demands set by the materials science community. A new multi-purpose beamline was then installed at the LNLS using the SCW as a photon source. The XDS is a flexible beamline operating in the energy range between 5 and 30keV, designed to perform experiments using absorption, diffraction and scattering techniques. Most of the work performed at the XDS beamline concentrates on X-ray absorption spectroscopy at energies above 18keV and high-resolution diffraction experiments. More recently, new setups and photon-hungry experiments such as total X-ray scattering, X-ray diffraction under high pressures, resonant X-ray emission spectroscopy, among others, have started to become routine at XDS. Here, the XDS beamline characteristics, performance and a few new experimental possibilities are described.23615381549FAPESP - FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULOFINEP - FINANCIADORA DE ESTUDOS E PROJETOSCNPQ - CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICOFAPESP - FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULOFINEP - FINANCIADORA DE ESTUDOS E PROJETOSCNPQ - CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO2009/54115-801.05.0721.00-27/0144Sem informaçãoThe authors would like to thank all LNLS staff involved in the design, construction, commissioning and operation of XDS, in particular Regis T. Neuenschwander, Flavio Rodrigues, James F. Citadini, Joacir E. dos Santos, Andre L. Mesa, James R. Piton, Sergio R. Marques and Carlos R. Scorzato. We also acknowledge Dr Agustin Picco for kindly providing the silver nanoparticles. We are grateful for the financial support from FAPESP (project 2009/54115-8) and FINEP (project 01.05.0721.00-27/0144) that covered most of the construction and equipping of the beamline. FAL acknowledges support from CNPq

Electronic properties of (Ga,Mn)N thin films with high Mn content

Optical and dc resistivity measurements as well as x-ray spectroscopies have been performed on (Ga,Mn)N films containing Mn at up to 11 at. %. The results indicate that at higher Mn contents, the Fermi level is situated within extended states, while GaN host interband optical transitions are unaffected. The Mn state is confirmed to be 3d⁵, as in the case of lower Mn content films; however, the high Mn content merges the 3d levels into a band located just below the host conduction band. The Fermi level is located within these Mn states just below the conduction band, in sharp contrast to its midgap position in fully crystalline, low Mn concentration materials. The difference in the position of the Fermi level at high Mn dopant levels has important implications for the promotion of ferromagnetism in this material.The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the New Zealand Foundation for Research Science and Technology through its New Economy Research Fund and through a postdoctoral fellowship of one of the authors B.J.R.. The work of the MacDiarmid Institute is supported by a New Zealand Centre of Research Excellence award. Another author S.G. wishes to thank Education New Zealand for financial support of the XANES measurements

Character and environmental lability of cyanobacteria-derived dissolved organic matter

Autotrophic dissolved organic matter (DOM) is central to the carbon biogeochemistry of aquatic systems, and the full complexity of autotrophic DOM has not been extensively studied, particularly by high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). Terrestrial DOM tends to dominate HRMS studies in freshwaters due to the propensity of such compounds to ionize by negative mode electrospray, and possibly also because ionizable DOM produced by autotrophy is decreased to low steady-state concentrations by heterotrophic bacteria. In this study, we investigated the character of DOM produced by the widespread cyanobacteriaMicrocystis aeruginosausing high-pressure liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-high-resolution mass spectrometry.M. aeruginosaproduced thousands of detectable compounds in axenic culture. These compounds were chromatographically resolved and the majority were assigned to aliphatic formulas with a broad polarity range. We found that the DOM produced byM. aeruginosawas highly susceptible to removal by heterotrophic freshwater bacteria, supporting the hypothesis that this autotroph-derived organic material is highly labile and accordingly only seen at low concentrations in natural settings

Investigating deafness genes as a cause of sudden sensorineural hearing loss

Hearing loss is a very heterogeneous genetic condition, meaning that identical or similar phenotypes result from \ud mutations in many di erent genes, with diverse inheritance mechanisms. Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) \ud is an emergency de ned as sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) equal to or greater than 30 dB HL, a ecting at least \ud three consecutive tonal frequencies, with sudden onset and occurring within three days. e estimate incidence \ud is 5 to 20 within 100.000 people by year, but despite the extensive list of potentially etiologic factors described, \ud its pathophysiology is poorly understood. Some individuals with deafness due to mitochondrial mutations were \ud described as having SSNHL. In mitochondrial DNA, genes encoding for transporter and ribosome RNA are hot \ud candidates to explain hearing loss due to the large number of mutations associated with deafness already described \ud in them. e main mitochondrial mutations associated with non-syndromic deafness are A1555G, ΔT961insCn, \ud T1095C, C1494T in MTRNR1 gene, that encodes the 12S subunit of rRNA; and A7445G, 7472insC, T7510C and \ud T7511C in MTTS1 gene, that encodes the tRNASer(UCN). Regarding the MTTL1 gene, mutations are more frequently \ud associated to mitochondrial syndroms that can include deafness as a symptom. Besides, mutations c.35delG and \ud c.167delT in the GJB2 gene, del(GJB6-D13S1830) and del(GJB6-D13S1854) deletions near the GJB6 gene and the \ud A1555G mitochondrial mutation in the 12S rRNA gene are described as the most frequently molecular diagnosis \ud among individuals with hearing loss. e aim of this work was to investigate the role of genetic factor in the etiology \ud of SSNHL. In order to achieve this, the screened the mutations in the GJB2 and GJB6 gene and sequenced the \ud mitochondrial genes MTRNR1, MTTS1 and MTTL1 in 53 individuals with SSNHL, associated or not with other \ud symptoms. Mutations c.35delG, c.167delT, the deletions del(GJB6-D13S1830) and del(GJB6-D13S1854) were not \ud found in the sample. Variants in MTTS1 and MTTL1 genes were not detected, either. Regarding the MTRNR1 \ud gene, 15 di erent variants were found, 13 of which were already described as having no phenotypic e ect. Two novel \ud mutations (m.806C>T and m.986G>A) were not reported in SNP database. ey were not found in a Brazilian \ud control sample of 104 normal hearing individuals (Abreu-Silva et al., Ann Hum Biol, 2011, 38(2):210-8), and \ud their meaning still needs to be clari ed through population studies. Although molecular screening did not point \ud to a signi cant role of the tested genes in SSNHL, it is noteworthy that 20 (37,7%) of the 53 subjects reported a \ud positive familial history of hearing loss. while 18% of people in the control sample reported a ected relatives. ese \ud data suggest genetic susceptibility to hearing loss in this group, probably resulting from multifactorial mechanism.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) – CEPID, and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientí co e Tecnológico (CNPQ)

Molecular Detection of Multiple Emerging Pathogens in Sputa from Cystic Fibrosis Patients

Background: There is strong evidence that culture-based methods detect only a small proportion of bacteria present in the respiratory tracts of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Methodology/Principal Findings: Standard microbiological culture and phenotypic identification of bacteria in sputa from CF patients have been compared to molecular methods by the use of 16S rDNA amplification, cloning and sequencing. Twenty-five sputa from CF patients were cultured that yield 33 isolates (13 species) known to be pathogens during CF. For molecular cloning, 760 clones were sequenced (7.263.9 species/sputum), and 53 different bacterial species were identified including 16 species of anaerobes (30%). Discrepancies between culture and molecular data were numerous and demonstrate that accurate identification remains challenging. New or emerging bacteria not or rarely reported in CF patients were detected including Dolosigranulum pigrum, Dialister pneumosintes, and Inquilinus limosus. Conclusions/Significance: Our results demonstrate the complex microbial community in sputa from CF patients, especially anaerobic bacteria that are probably an underestimated cause of CF lung pathology. Metagenomic analysis is urgentl