Enhanced mitochondrial testicular antioxidant capacity in Goto-Kakizaki diabetic rats: role of coenzyme Q

Because diabetes mellitus is associated with impairment of testicular function, ultimately leading to reduced fertility, this study was conducted to evaluate the existence of a cause-effect relationship between increased oxidative stress in diabetes and reduced mitochondrial antioxidant capacity. The susceptibility to oxidative stress and antioxidant capacity (in terms of glutathione, coenzyme Q, and vitamin E content) of testis mitochondrial preparations isolated from Goto-Kakizaki (GK) non-insulin-dependent diabetic rats and from Wistar control rats, 1 yr of age, was evaluated. It was found that GK mitochondrial preparations showed a lower susceptibility to lipid peroxidation induced by ADP/Fe(2+), as evaluated by oxygen consumption and reactive oxygen species generation. The decreased susceptibility to oxidative stress in diabetic rats was associated with an increase in mitochondrial glutathione and coenzyme Q9 contents, whereas vitamin E was not changed. These results demonstrate a higher antioxidant capacity in diabetic GK rats. We suggest this is an adaptive response of testis mitochondria to the increased oxidative damage in diabetes mellitu

Levantamento de ciclopídeos (Crustacea, Copepoda) no Brasil e avaliação preliminar de seu potencial como predadores dos vetores da dengue

INTRODUCTION: Cyclopid copepods are known to be good mosquito controllers, specially as regards the larvae of the dengue vectors Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The objective of the study was to survey the local copepod fauna and search for new strains of M. longisetus var. longisetus, comparing the potential of the samples found with the current strain ML-01 against Ae. albopictus larvae, under laboratory conditions. Eleven bodies of water in Campinas, SP, Brazil, were screened for copepods by collecting 1.5 l of water from each of then. The predatory potential of adults copepods was evaluated over 24 h, in the laboratory, for groups of 5 individuals preying upon 30 first instar Ae. albopictus larvae. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The following cyclopid species were found: Metacyclops mendocinus, Tropocyclops prasinus, Eucyclops sp, Eucyclops serrulatus, Eucyclops solitarius, Eucyclops ensifer, Macrocyclops albidus var. albidus and Mesocyclops longisetus var. longisetus. The predatory potential of these copepods ranged from nil to 97.3%. A sample collected in the field containing only M. longisetus var. longisetus showed the best control efficiency with no significant difference from a three-year old laboratory culture (ML-01) of the same species evaluated for comparison. The sample with few M. albidus var. albidus was ranked in second place showing an average 25.9% efficiency. The use of copepods in trap tires as dengue vector controllers is discussed.INTRODUÇÃO: Copépodos ciclopídeos são conhecidos como bons controladores de mosquitos, especialmente quando considerado as larvas dos vetores da dengue Aedes aegypti e Ae. albopictus. MATERIAL E MÉTODO: Onze corpos d'água em Campinas, SP, Brasil, foram avaliados para copépodos coletando-se 1,5 l de água de cada um deles. O potencial predador dos copépodos adultos foi avaliado por 24 h, em laboratório, em grupos de 5 indivíduos predadando sobre 30 larvas de 1° estádio de Ae. albopictus. RESULTADOS E CONCLUSÕES: No presente levantamento as seguintes espécies de ciclopídeos foram encontradas: Metacyclops mendocinus, Tropocyclops prasinus, Eucyclops sp, Eucyclops serrulatus, Eucyclops solitarius, Eucyclops ensifer, Macrocyclops albidus var. albidus and Mesocyclops longisetus var. longisetus. O potencial predador desses copépodos variou de zero a 97,3%. A amostra coletada no campo contendo apenas com M. longisetus var. longisetus mostrou a melhor eficiência de controle, sem diferença significativa de uma cultura de laboratório (ML-01) criada por 3 anos, desta mesma espécie, que foi avaliada para comparação. A amostra com poucos M. albidus var. albidus foi cotada em segundo melhor lugar, apresentando em média 25,9% de eficiência. O uso de copépodos em pneus armadilha como controladores dos vetores da dengue é discutido.22122

Levantamento de ciclopídeos (Crustacea, Copepoda) no Brasil e avaliação preliminar de seu potencial como predadores dos vetores da dengue

INTRODUCTION: Cyclopid copepods are known to be good mosquito controllers, specially as regards the larvae of the dengue vectors Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The objective of the study was to survey the local copepod fauna and search for new strains of M. longisetus var. longisetus, comparing the potential of the samples found with the current strain ML-01 against Ae. albopictus larvae, under laboratory conditions. Eleven bodies of water in Campinas, SP, Brazil, were screened for copepods by collecting 1.5 l of water from each of then. The predatory potential of adults copepods was evaluated over 24 h, in the laboratory, for groups of 5 individuals preying upon 30 first instar Ae. albopictus larvae. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The following cyclopid species were found: Metacyclops mendocinus, Tropocyclops prasinus, Eucyclops sp, Eucyclops serrulatus, Eucyclops solitarius, Eucyclops ensifer, Macrocyclops albidus var. albidus and Mesocyclops longisetus var. longisetus. The predatory potential of these copepods ranged from nil to 97.3%. A sample collected in the field containing only M. longisetus var. longisetus showed the best control efficiency with no significant difference from a three-year old laboratory culture (ML-01) of the same species evaluated for comparison. The sample with few M. albidus var. albidus was ranked in second place showing an average 25.9% efficiency. The use of copepods in trap tires as dengue vector controllers is discussed.INTRODUÇÃO: Copépodos ciclopídeos são conhecidos como bons controladores de mosquitos, especialmente quando considerado as larvas dos vetores da dengue Aedes aegypti e Ae. albopictus. MATERIAL E MÉTODO: Onze corpos d'água em Campinas, SP, Brasil, foram avaliados para copépodos coletando-se 1,5 l de água de cada um deles. O potencial predador dos copépodos adultos foi avaliado por 24 h, em laboratório, em grupos de 5 indivíduos predadando sobre 30 larvas de 1° estádio de Ae. albopictus. RESULTADOS E CONCLUSÕES: No presente levantamento as seguintes espécies de ciclopídeos foram encontradas: Metacyclops mendocinus, Tropocyclops prasinus, Eucyclops sp, Eucyclops serrulatus, Eucyclops solitarius, Eucyclops ensifer, Macrocyclops albidus var. albidus and Mesocyclops longisetus var. longisetus. O potencial predador desses copépodos variou de zero a 97,3%. A amostra coletada no campo contendo apenas com M. longisetus var. longisetus mostrou a melhor eficiência de controle, sem diferença significativa de uma cultura de laboratório (ML-01) criada por 3 anos, desta mesma espécie, que foi avaliada para comparação. A amostra com poucos M. albidus var. albidus foi cotada em segundo melhor lugar, apresentando em média 25,9% de eficiência. O uso de copépodos em pneus armadilha como controladores dos vetores da dengue é discutido

Perigos e riscos bacteriologicos associados ao consumo de pescado no Brasil

SUMMARY The present study is a review of data available in Brazil on bacterial diseases transmitted through the consumption of seafood and related products. Data are presented regarding outbreaks and cases of disease and laboratory findings associated with pathogens in seafood and related products, and methods for prevention and control are described.RESUMO Esta revisão apresenta dados qualitativos e quantitativos sobre doenças bacterianas e achados laboratoriais associados ao consumo de pescado e derivados no Brasil de 1983 a 2011. Os resultados mostram uma séria lacuna de dados epidemiológicos relacionados a surtos causados por pescado. Os poucos dados disponíveis indicam que em contraste com outros surtos alimentares transmitidos por carne, aves, laticínios e vegetais, as bactérias patogênicas teriam um menor destaque na transmissão destas doenças pelo consumo de pescado e derivados. Vibrio parahaemolyticus parece ser a causa mais frequente das doenças causadas pelo consumo de pescado e derivados, bem como a bactéria patogênica mais comumente presente nesses produtos nas investigações laboratoriais

Brain and liver mitochondria isolated from diabeticGoto-Kakizaki rats show different susceptibility to induced oxidative stress

Increased oxidative stress and changes in antioxidant capacity observed in both clinical and experimental diabetes mellitus have been implicated in the etiology of chronic diabetic complications. Many authors have shown that hyperglycemia leads to an increase in lipid peroxidation in diabetic patients and animals reflecting a rise in reactive oxygen species production. The aim of the study was to compare the susceptibility of mitochondria from brain and liver of Goto-Kakizaki (12-month-old diabetic) rats (GK rats), a model of non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, to oxidative stress and antioxidant defenses.Brain and liver mitochondrial preparations were obtained by differential centrifugation. Oxidative damage injury was induced in vitro by the oxidant pair ADP/Fe2+ and the extent of membrane oxidation was assessed by oxygen consumption, malondialdehyde (MDA) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) formation. Coenzyme Q and alpha-tocopherol contents were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).Brain mitochondria isolated from 12-month-old control rats displayed a higher susceptibility to lipid peroxidation, as assessed by oxygen consumption and formation of MDA and TBARS, compared to liver mitochondria. In GK rats, mitochondria isolated from brain were more susceptible to invitro oxidative damage than brain mitochondria from normal rats. In contrast, liver mitochondria from diabetic rats were less susceptible to oxidative damage than mitochondria from normal rats. This decreased susceptibility was inversely related to their alpha-tocopherol and coenzyme Q (CoQ) content.The present results indicate that the diabetic state can result in an elevation of both alpha-tocopherol and CoQ content in liver, which may be involved in the elimination of mitochondrially generated reactive oxygen species. The difference in the antioxidant defense mechanisms in the brain and liver mitochondrial preparations of moderately hyperglycemic diabetic GK rats may correspond to a different adaptive response of the cells to the increased oxidative damage in diabetes. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Automatic speech recognition: a study and performance evaluation on neural networks and hidden markov models

The main goal in this research is to find out possible ways to built hybrid systems, based on neural network (NN) and hidden M;arkov (HMM) models, for the task of automatic speech recognition. The investigation that has been conducted covers different types of neural network and hidden Markov models, and the combination of them into some hybrid models. The neural networks used were basically MLP and Radial Basis models. The hidden Markov models were basically different combinations of states and mixtures of the Continuous Density type of the Bakis model. A reduced set with ten words spoken in the Portuguese idiom, from Brazil, was carefully chosen to provide some pronounce and phonetic confusion. The results already obtained showed very positive, pointing toward to a high potentiality of such hybrid models