Mouse model of Schistosomiasis: infection with Schistosoma mansoni in CD-1 mice

Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease that affects almost 240 million worldwide. CD1 mice were infected with cercariae of S. mansoni, after which infection developed for 8 weeks. Tissues were processed to immuno-histological techniques. It was performed H&E staining for overall analyses, Sirius Red for fibrosis and immunohistochemistry for inflammation biomarkers. The most infected organ was the liver, fibrosis decreased with egg development and Galectin-3 (Gal3) and Interleukin 6 (IL-6) were expressed inside granulomasThis work was also supported by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (REF UID/BIM/04293/2013) and by the project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000012 and by a scholarship to Carla Luís with the reference SAICT2016/FEDER/BIO4DIA/BTI under the supervision of Dr. Rúben Fernandes.N/

Adjoints and second adjoints of almost Dunford-Pettis operators

We investigate when the adjoint $T^*$ and the second adjoint $T^{**}$ of an operator $T$ betweeen Banach lattices is almost Dunford-Pettis. First we show when $T^{**}$ is almost Dunford-Pettis for every $T$. Then we prove when $T^*$ or $T^{**}$ is almost Dunford-Pettis whenever $T$ is positive and almost Dunford-Pettis. Finally we prove when $T^{**}$ is an almost Dunford-Pettis operator whenever $T$ is order weakly compact.Comment: 12 page

Greeks and Trojans Together

This paper describes a comprehensive solution for the integration of object oriented ontology representation frameworks with logic-based agent communication frameworks. The proposed solution addresses the problem at both the agent communication level and the agent implementation level. At the agent communication level, we propose to extend logic content languages with some domain independent operators that allow building logic constructs as propositions from domain dependent entities defined in an object oriented ontology. At the implementation level, we propose to use object-oriented databases as the support for the agent information. Finally, we propose an automatic mechanism for translating agent messages using the extended content language into ODMG OQL commands, which are then used to interact with the object-oriented database. This binding mechanism relies on a special purpose data dictionary representing the mapping between the domain ontology and the agent internal database

Pathways of estrogen metabolism underlying the association between Schistosoma haematobium and bladder cancer

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is a malignant, poorly differentiated neuroendocrine neoplasm. SCC is the common form of bladder cancer in rural Africa where S. haematobium is prevalent. In contrast, the majority of bladder cancer in developing countries and regions not endemic for urogenital schistosomiasis is transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) that arises from the transitional epithelium lining of the bladder. The parasite eggs trapped in the bladder wall release antigens and other metabolites (presumably evolved to expedite egress to the urine, and hence to the external environment). However, the phenomenon leads to haematuria and to chronic inflammation, in turn increasing risk of SCC of the bladder. In addition to the hormone- -like effects of the parasite estradiol-related molecules on the endocrine and immune system of the host, in relation to cancer initiation metabolites of estrogens can be also considered as carcinogenic chemicals.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Intoxicação por cobre em ovinos na região de Franca - SP alimentados com ração de bovinos de leite

Intoxicação crônica por cobre foi observada em um rebanho de 20 ovinos no município de Franca, São Paulo. Três meses após o início do arraçoamento com feno e ração concentrada peletizada para bovinos de leite, seis animais apresentaram anorexia, icterícia severa e urina marrom escura, e vieram a óbito. Diagnosticou-se doença hemolítica com base em sinais clínicos, alterações macroscópicas observadas na necropsia e observações histológicas. À necropsia todos os ovinos apresentaram icterícia severa, fígado amarelado com padrão lobular evidente e rins escuros. As principais alterações histológicas incluíram necrose hepática periacinar e nefrose hemoglobinúrica. Acúmulos de cobre foram demonstrados nos hepatócitos e macrófagos pela coloração rodamina e níveis elevados de cobre mediante espectrofotometria de absorção atômica no soro, fígado e rins de dois ovinos afetados e na ração fornecida

ACTIVE DRAG CHANGES BETWEEN TRAINING SEASONS IN YOUNG SWIMMERS

The purpose of this study was to verify the changes in the hydrodynamic profile of young swimmers from one training year to the next. Twelve male and eight female swimmers (initial age: 13.87 ± 0.82 and 12.45 ± 0.34 years) were evaluated in front crawl using the velocity perturbation method, for determination of maximal velocity (Vmax), active drag (D.), drag coefficient (CD.) and power output. Interval between 1st and 2nd evaluations was 9 months. Female swimmers showed lower CD. at the 2nd: evaluation, probably caused by stronger technical improvement. In spite of dramatic increases in body mass, competitive performance, and Vmax , D. and CD. remained unchanged and the Froud number for a fixed velocity of .5 m.s· 1 decreased, in both genders. Reduced Froud number, dependent on body height, may have counterbalanced the effect of increased Vmax and body mass, reducing the wave drag component

Displasia renal em um bezerro Limousin

Descreve-se um caso de displasia renal em um bezerro Limousin, macho, de quatro meses. O animal apresentava perda de peso, baixa taxa de crescimento, anorexia, apatia, diarréia escura fétida e uremia, sem melhora apesar de tratamento. O bezerro foi sacrificado para interromper o sofrimento adicional e submetido à necropsia. Ao exame foi observado que os rins estavam pequenos, firmes, pálidos e com superfície rugosa. A cápsula estava aderida à uma superfície subcapsular irregular. O córtex tinha aparência difusamente pálida e fibrosa e apresentava múltiplos focos brancos de fibrose. A junção córtico-medular estava indistinta. O exame histologico dos rins revelou múltiplos glomérulos imaturos com núcleo periférico, capilares inaparentes e padrão arbóreo. O córtex renal apresentou túbulos primitivos com epitélio cubóide ou cilíndrico envolvido por mesênquima corado somente pelo alcian blue e não pelo tricrômico de Masson. Foi também observada leve fibrose intersticial na medula renal. Os rins mostravam estruturas em estágio inapropriado de desenvolvimento ou anômalas

Relationship between blood and standard biochemistry levels with periodontitis in Parkinson’s disease patients: data from the NHANES 2011–2012

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.People with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) are associated with the presence of periodontitis. We aimed to compare blood and standard biochemical surrogates of PD patients diagnosed with periodontitis with PD individuals without periodontitis. This retrospective cohort study used a sample from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011–2012 that underwent periodontal diagnosis (n = 3669). PD participants were identified through specific PD reported medications. Periodontitis was defined according to the 2012 case definition, using periodontal examination data provided. Then, we compared blood levels and standard chemical laboratory profiles of PD patients according to the presence of periodontitis. Multivariable regression was used to explore this dataset and identify relevant variables towards the presence of periodontitis. According to the medication report, 37 participants were eligible, 29 were secure and 8 were unsecure PD medications regimens. Overall, PD cases with periodontitis presented increased levels of White Blood Cells (WBC) (p = 0.002), Basophils (p = 0.045) and Segmented neutrophils (p = 0.009), and also, lower levels of Total Bilirubin (p = 0.018). In the PD secure medication group, a significant difference was found for WBC (p = 0.002) and Segmented neutrophils (p = 0.002) for the periodontitis group. Further, WBC might be a discriminating factor towards periodontitis in the global sample. In the secure PD medication, we found gender, segmented neutrophils and Vitamin D2 to be potential discriminative variables towards periodontitis. Thus, periodontitis showed association with leukocyte levels alterations in PD patients, and therefore with potential systemic changes and predictive value. Furthermore, Vitamin D2 and gender showed to be associated with periodontitis in with secure medication for PD. Future studies should assess in more detail the potential systemic repercussion of the presence of periodontitis in PD patients.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio