Causas de variação do peso após o parto de vacas mestiças leiteiras

O objetivo do trabalho foi avaliar as causas de variação do peso após o parto de vacas mestiças leiteiras (1/2, 5/8, 3/4, 7/8 e >7/8 de raças especializadas de Bos taurus), criadas em um sistema de produção do tipo médio-insumo na Embrapa Pecuária Sudeste, em São Carlos, SP. Os dados de peso da vaca após o parto observados no período de 1981 a 2001 (n = 1.536) foram analisados pelo método dos quadrados mínimos, por meio de um modelo linear generalizado contendo os efeitos fixos de ano de parição (1981 a 2001), estação de parição (verão, outono, inverno, primavera), grupo genético (1/2, 5/8, 3/4, 7/8 e >7/8), ordem de parto (1 a 8) e os efeitos aleatórios de pai da vaca e erro. Houve efeitos significativos de ano de parição, estação de parição, ordem de parto e de pai da vaca sobre o peso após o parto. As médias estimadas do peso após o parto aumentaram com o decorrer dos anos, principalmente a partir de 1992 quando a maioria do rebanho era constituído por filhas de touros mestiços leiteiros em teste de progênie. As vacas com parição na primavera (outubro a dezembro) foram significativamente mais leves após o parto do que aquelas cujos partos ocorreram nas demais estações do ano. O peso da vaca após o parto aumentou da primeira até a quarta ordem de parto, estabilizando-se nas ordens seguintes. Não houve diferenças significativas entre os grupos genéticos. O efeito significativo de pai da vaca indica que há variação genética no rebanho para peso da vaca após o parto

Leydig Cell Tumor of the Ovary. A Rare Case of Hyperandrogenism

Os tumores ováricos secretores de androgénios são raros constituindo cerca de 1% de todas as neoplasias do ovário. Descreve-se o caso clínico de uma doente do sexo feminino, 67 anos de idade, que recorre à consulta por queixas de hirsutismo (score 23) e alopécia com padrão androgenético A avaliação laboratorial revelou níveis séricos elevados de testosterona. A ecografia ginecológica por via transvaginal permitiu identificar a presença de um nódulo sólido no ovário esquerdo com características imagiológicas sugestivas de malignidade pelo que, a doente foi submetida a ooforectomia bilateral. O exame histopatológico revelou a presença de células de Leydig. O seguimento clínico posterior da doente permitiu constatar melhoria do quadro clínico e normalização dos níveis séricos de testosterona

Characterization of deep level traps responsible for isolation of proton implanted GaAs

Deep level transient spectroscopy was employed to determine the electrical properties of defects induced in metalorganic chemical-vapor deposition grown n-type and p-type GaAs during proton bombardment. Thermal stability of these defects was investigated and correlation with defects responsible for isolation of GaAs by ion bombardment was discussed. The annealing temperature region (220–250 °C) is similar to proton isolated GaAs below the threshold dose for complete isolation. At least four of the five traps observed in n-type GaAs are not simple interstitial-vacancy pairs. For p-type GaAs we have observed an unknown level with apparent energy of ~0.64 eV

Effect of competitive interactions between ectomycorrhizal and saprotrophic fungi on castanea sativa performance

In Northeast of Portugal the macrofungal community associated to chestnut tree (Castanea sativa Mill.) is rich and diversified. Among fungal species, the ectomycorrhizal Pisolithus tinctorius and the saprotroph Hypholoma fasciculare are common in this habitat. The aim of the present work was to assess the effect of the interaction between both fungi on growth, nutritional status and physiology of C. sativa seedlings. In pot experiments, C. sativa seedlings were inoculated with P. tinctorius and H. fasciculare individually or in combination. Inoculation with P. tinctorius stimulated the plant growth and resulted in increased foliar-N, -P, and photosynthetic pigment contents. These effects were suppressed when H. fasciculare was simultaneously applied with P. tinctorius. This result could be related to the inhibition of ectomycorrhizal fungus root colonization as a result of antagonism or to the competition for nutrient sources. If chestnut seedlings have been previously inoculated with P. tinctorius, the subsequent inoculation of H. fasciculare 30 days later did not affect root colonization and mycorrhization benefits were observed. This work confirms an antagonistic interaction between ectomycorrhizal and saprotrophic fungi with consequences on the ectomycorrhizal host physiology. Although P. tinctorius is effective in promoting growth of host trees by establishing mycorrhizae, in the presence of other fungi it may not always be able to interact with host roots due to an inability to compete with certain fungi.Authors are grateful to Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) for financial support (Project PTDC/AGR-AAM/099556/2008)

Seca dos ponteiros da goiabeira causada por Erwinia psidii: levantamento e caracterização.

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Ressonância magnética de corpo inteiro/whole-body MRI

A introdução de Ressonância Magnética de Corpo Inteiro (RM-CI) de alta resolução é baseada no desenvolvimento rápido e intensivo dos equipamentos de RM. Estes avanços associados ao aparecimento de novos métodos de aquisição de imagem, como as técnicas de Multistation ou imagem paralela impulsionam a RM-CI. Associado ao desenvolvimento tecnológico, a RM-CI apresenta vantagens clínicas essencialmente para patologias oncológicas como é o caso das metástases ósseas, e para patologias do foro cardiovascular. Muitas destas situações ainda se encontram em investigação mas os primeiros resultados têm superado todas as expectativas nomeadamente a RM-CI com a aplicação da técnica de Difusão.The introduction of Whole-Body Magnetic Resonance (WB-RM) high resolution is based on rapid and intensive development of MRI equipment. These advances, together with the emergence of new methods of image acquisition, as the techniques of parallel image or Multistation techniques boost the WB-MR. Associated with technological development, the WB-MR has clinical advantages mainly for oncological diseases such as bone metastases, and for cardiovascular diseases. Many of these situations are still under investigation but early results have exceeded expectations, including the RM-CI Diffusion

Coulomb and quantum oscillator problems in conical spaces with arbitrary dimensions

The Schr\"odinger equations for the Coulomb and the Harmonic oscillator potentials are solved in the cosmic-string conical space-time. The spherical harmonics with angular deficit are introduced. The algebraic construction of the harmonic oscillator eigenfunctions is performed through the introduction of non-local ladder operators. By exploiting the hidden symmetry of the two-dimensional harmonic oscillator the eigenvalues for the angular momentum operators in three dimensions are reproduced. A generalization for N-dimensions is performed for both Coulomb and harmonic oscillator problems in angular deficit space-times. It is thus established the connection among the states and energies of both problems in these topologically non-trivial space-times.Comment: 15 page

Comparative linkage mapping of Oryza glumaepatulaand Oryza sativa interspecific crosses based on microsatellite and expressed sequence tag markers.

Molecular linkage maps representing the rice genome have been an important tool for breeding programs because they allow the elucidation of polygenic traits and are an efficient tool for monitoring wild introgressions in interspecific crosses. Common markers among rice genetic maps are important in defining the homology of chromosomes and the synteny between genomic target regions. We used 148 markers (expressed sequence tags, microsatellites and single nucleotide polymorphisms) to construct a molecular linkage map based on co-dominant markers for an interspecific backcross population using a wild rice ( Oryza glumaepatula) from Brazil and performed a comparative analysis with other interspecific maps. The comparative analysis revealed a Spearman correlation index of 0.86 for marker order conservation to a previous map constructed for an interspecific cross using the same wild parent. Approximately 90% of markers common to other interspecific maps kept the same order. These results indicate that it will be possible to generate a unique genetic map using the wild donor and that it may be a helpful tool for breeding programs because plants derived from different interspecific populations can be rapidly scanned using markers associated with useful wild traits

Caspase-3-like activity determines the type of cell death following ionizing radiation in MOLT-4 human leukaemia cells

Caspases, a family of cysteine proteases, play a central role in the pathways leading to apoptosis. Recently, it has been reported that a broad spectrum inhibitor of caspases, the tripeptide Z-VAD-fmk, induced a switch from apoptosis to necrosis in dexamethasone-treated B lymphocytes and thymocytes. As such a cell death conversion could increase the efficiency of radiation therapy and in order to identify the caspases involved in this cell death transition, we investigated the effects of caspase-3-related proteases inhibition in irradiated MOLT-4 cells. Cells were pretreated with Ac-DEVD-CHO, an inhibitor of caspase-3-like activity, and submitted to X-rays at doses ranging from 1 to 4 Gy. Our results show that the inhibition of caspase-3-like activity prevents completely the appearance of the classical hallmarks of apoptosis such as internucleosomal DNA fragmentation or hypodiploid particles formation and partially the externalization of phosphatidylserine. However, this was not accompanied by any persistent increase in cell survival. Instead, irradiated cells treated by this inhibitor exhibited characteristics of a necrotic cell death. Therefore, functional caspase-3-subfamily not only appears as key proteases in the execution of the apoptotic process, but their activity may also influence the type of cell death following an exposure to ionizing radiation. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaig