Implementation of a parentage control system in Portuguese beef-cattle with a panel of microsatellite markers

A study was conducted to assess the feasibility of applying a panel of 10 microsatellite markers in parentage control of beef cattle in Portugal. In the first stage, DNA samples were collected from 475 randomly selected animals of the Charolais, Limousin and Preta breeds. Across breeds and genetic markers, means for average number of alleles, effective number of alleles, expected heterozygosity and polymorphic information content, were 8.20, 4.43, 0.733 and 0.70, respectively. Enlightenment from the various markers differed among breeds, but the set of 10 markers resulted in a combined probability above 0.9995 in the ability to exclude a random putative parent. The marker-set thus developed was later used for parentage control in a group of 140 calves from several breeds, where there was the suspicion of possible faulty parentage recording. Overall, 76.4% of the calves in this group were compatible with the recorded parents, with most incompatibilities due to misidentification of the dam. Efforts must be made to improve the quality of pedigree information, with particular emphasis on information recorded at the calf's birth

Genomic Sequence around Butterfly Wing Development Genes: Annotation and Comparative Analysis

, where a whole-genome BAC library allows targeted access to large genomic regions. genes. Comparative analysis with orthologous regions of the lepidopteran reference genome allowed assessment of conservation of fine-scale synteny (with detection of new inversions and translocations) and of DNA sequence (with detection of high levels of conservation of non-coding regions around some, but not all, developmental genes)., both involved in multiple developmental processes including wing pattern formation

Exploring the spectra of some classes of singular integral operators with symbolic computation

Spectral theory has many applications in several main scientific research areas (structural mechanics, aeronautics, quantum mechanics, ecology, probability theory, electrical engineering, among others) and the importance of its study is globally acknowledged. In recent years, several software applications were made available to the general public with extensive capabilities of symbolic computation. These applications, known as computer algebra systems (CAS), allow to delegate to a computer all, or a significant part, of the symbolic calculations present in many mathematical algorithms. In our work we use the CAS Mathematica to implement for the first time on a computer analytical algorithms developed by us and others within the Operator Theory. The main goal of this paper is to show how the symbolic computation capabilities of Mathematica allow us to explore the spectra of several classes of singular integral operators. For the one-dimensional case, nontrivial rational examples, computed with the automated process called [ASpecPaired-Scalar], are presented. For the matrix case, nontrivial essentially bounded and rational examples, computed with the analytical algorithms [AFact], [SInt], and [ASpecPaired-Matrix], are presented. In both cases, it is possible to check, for each considered paired singular integral operator, if a complex number (chosen arbitrarily) belongs to its spectrum

Ocorrência de dessonorização no desvio fonológico: relação com fonemas mais acometidos, gravidade do desvio e idade Occurrence of devoicing in phonological disorders: relationship with most affected phonemes, severity of the disorder and age

OBJETIVO: Verificar a ocorrência do processo fonológico de dessonorização de fonemas plosivos e fricativos em crianças com desvio fonológico, envolvendo as seguintes variáveis: fonemas mais acometidos, gravidade de desvio fonológico e idade. MÉTODOS: A amostra constituiu-se de 50 crianças, com média de idade de 6 anos e 5 meses. Os dados de fala foram coletados por meio da Avaliação Fonológica da Criança e submetidos à análise contrastiva, sendo a gravidade do desvio fonológico determinada conforme o Percentual de Consoantes Corretas-Revisado. Então, analisou-se quais fonemas plosivos e fricativos sonoros eram acometidos pelo processo de dessonorização, com percentual de ocorrência maior que 40%. Posteriormente, realizou-se análise estatística. RESULTADOS: Verificou-se que ao comparar os seis fonemas, simultaneamente, não houve diferença quanto ao emprego da dessonorização. Obteve-se diferença somente para /g/ x /v/, e /b/ x /v/. Quanto à faixa etária, não houve diferença. Quanto à gravidade do desvio, foi possível constatar que houve diferença apenas para a variável dessonorização de /d/ e /&#658;/. CONCLUSÃO: O processo fonológico de dessonorização possui alta ocorrência em crianças com desvio fonológico, sendo mais prevalente para consoantes plosivas. A idade não influencia a ocorrência deste processo e a gravidade do desvio é um fator relevante para seu emprego, sendo mais prevalente nos graus mais graves.<br>PURPOSE: To verify the occurrence of the phonological process of plosives and fricatives devoicing in children with phonological disorders. The following variables were involved: most affected phonemes, severity of phonological disorder, and age. METHODS: Participants were 50 children, with an average age of 6 years and 5 months. Speech data were collected by means of the Avaliação Fonológica da Criança (Phonological Assessment of Children) and submitted to contrastive analysis. The severity of the phonological disorder was determined by the Percentage of Consonants Correct - Revised. Then, it was analyzed which plosive and fricative phonemes were affected by the devoicing strategy, with occurrence greater than 40%. Afterwards, statistical analysis was performed. RESULTS: The simultaneous comparison the six phonemes showed no difference regarding the use of devoicing. Difference was found only for /g/ x /v/, and for /b/ x /v/. Regarding age, no significant difference was found. As for the severity of phonological disorder, difference was found only for the variable devoicing of /d/ and /&#658;/. CONCLUSION: The phonological process of devoicing have high occurrence in children with phonological disorder, with higher prevalence for stops consonants. Age does not influence the occurrence of this process, and the severity of the phonological disorder is a relevant factor to its use, with higher prevalence in the most severe degrees

Conhecimento de médicos e enfermeiros obstetras sobre a prevenção dos defeitos no tubo neural

Foi avaliado o nível de conhecimento de médicos e enfermeiros obstetras sobre a utilização de ácido fólico (AF) para a prevenção dos defeitos do fechamento do tubo neural (DFTN). Estudo descritivo transversal no qual 118 voluntários (95 médicos e 23 enfermeiros), responderam um questionário com 21 perguntas sobre a prevenção dos DFTN. Os dados foram analisados em função do conhecimento relatado, das recomendações preconizadas pelo Ministério da Saúde (MS) e das evidências científicas (EC) disponíveis sobre o assunto investigado. O nível de conhecimento baseado nas EC e nas recomendações do MS foi diferente (4,64 ± 0,20 vs 5,55 ± 0,15; p The scope of this study was to evaluate the knowledge of obstetricians and obstetric nurses about folic acid in the prevention of neural tube defects (NTD). A cross-sectional study was conducted in which 118 volunteers (95 physicians and 23 nurses) answered a questionnaire with 21 questions about prevention of NTD. The data were analyzed according to the reported knowledge, the recommendations made by the Brazilian Ministry of Health (MOH) and the scientific evidence (SE) available in the literature on the topic. The knowledge based on the SE and recommendations of MOH was different (4.64 ± 0.20 vs. 5.55 ± 0.15, p <0.001, Mean ± SEM). There was no difference between the knowledge of respondents compared to their training, the time spent in prenatal care and between the two classes of professionals evaluated. There were differences between the reported knowledge and that based on SE (6.76 ± 0.18 vs. 4.64 ± 0.15, p <0.001) and based on the MOH recommendations (6.76 ± 0.18 vs. 5.55 ± 0.20, p <0.001). Thus, the conclusion reached was that 94.1% of those evaluated reported knowing the importance of folic acid in preventing NTD, though 64.2% reported that they did not know when to begin administration of the supplement