Growth performance and intestinal histology of juvenile pirarucu fed with increasing levels of soybean meal.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the inclusion of different levels of soybean meal in pirarucu’s diet. 200 pirarucu juveniles (152.15 ± 0.8 g) were distributed in 20 polyethylene tanks with a continuous water flow system. A completely randomized experimental design was used, with five treatments (n = 4) containing 0, 10, 20, 30 and 40% of soybean meal inclusion levels. Growth performance was measured as specific growth rate, feed conversion, weight gain and survival. Body composition, protein retention rate and histopathological changes in the intestine were analyzed. The different treatments did not affect weight gain, specific growth rate and survival. The body composition of the fish was affected by treatments for ash and ether extract and the IHS was also affected. The diet with 40% soybean meal compromised feed conversion rate. Additionally, the distal intestine of fish fed with the same diet showed a reduction in the height of mucosal folds and a loss of supranuclear vacuolation in enterocytes. Based on these results, the inclusion of up to 30% of soybean meal in the diet of juvenile pirarucu is possible without negative effects on performance and enteric morphology

Uso da fish em mucosa oral para investigação de mosaicismo com linhagem 45,x: estudo com homens saudáveis e pacientes com distúrbios da diferenciação do sexo

FAPESP - FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULOObjective: To verify whether fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) of cells from the buccal epithelium could be employed to detect cryptomosaicism with a 45,X lineage in 46,XY patients. Subjects and methods: Samples of nineteen 46,XY healthy young men and five patients with disorders of sex development (DSD), four 45,X/46,XY and one 46,XY were used. FISH analysis with X and Y specific probes on interphase nuclei from blood lymphocytes and buccal epithelium were analyzed to investigate the proportion of nuclei containing only the signal of the X chromosome. Results: The frequency of nuclei containing only the X signal in the two tissues of healthy men did not differ (p = 0.69). In all patients with DSD this frequency was significantly higher, and there was no difference between the two tissues (p = 0.38), either. Conclusions: Investigation of mosaicism with a 45,X cell line in patients with 46,XY DSD or sterility can be done by FISH directly using cells from the buccal epithelium. © ABE&M todos os direitos reservados.To verify whether fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) of cells from the buccal epithelium could be employed to detect cryptomosaicism with a 45,X lineage in 46,XY patients. Subjects and methods: Samples of nineteen 46,XY healthy young men and five patients with disorders of sex development (DSD), four 45,X/46,XY and one 46,XY were used. FISH analysis with X and Y specific probes on interphase nuclei from blood lymphocytes and buccal epithelium were analyzed to investigate the proportion of nuclei containing only the signal of the X chromosome. Results: The frequency of nuclei containing only the X signal in the two tissues of healthy men did not differ (p = 0.69). In all patients with DSD this frequency was significantly higher, and there was no difference between the two tissues (p = 0.38), either. Conclusions: Investigation of mosaicism with a 45,X cell line in patients with 46,XY DSD or sterility can be done by FISH directly using cells from the buccal epithelium584328334FAPESP - FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULOFAPESP - FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO2011/50189-7Verificar se a hibridização in situ por fluorescência (FISH) em células de mucosa oral poderia ser empregada para detectar criptomosaicismo com linhagem 45,X em pacientes 46,XY. Sujeitos e métodos: Amostra de 19 jovens saudáveis 46,XY e cinco pacientes com distúrbios da diferenciação do sexo (DDS), quatro 45,X/46,XY e um 46,XY. FISH com sondas específicas para X e Y em núcleos interfásicos de linfócitos e mucosa oral para investigar aproporção de núcleos contendo apenas o sinal do cromossomo X. Resultados: A frequência de núcleos contendo apenas o sinal do X nos dois tecidos dos homens saudáveis não diferiu (p =0,69). Em todos os pacientes com DDS essa frequência foi significativamente maior, e tambémnão houve diferença entre os dois tecidos (p = 0,38). Conclusões: A investigação de mosaicismo com linhagem 45,X em pacientes com DDS 46,XY ou esterilidade pode ser feita por FISHdiretamente em células de mucosa ora

Forage Intake and Nitrogen Retention in Wethers Fed Ryegrass Haylage Supplemented with Maize Silage

Many decision support tools have been developed to predict herbage intake with herbivore ruminants indoors (Faverdin 1992) or at grazing, both using short-term (Baumont et al. 2004) or daily scale input variables (Heard et al. 2004; Delagarde et al. 2011). However, the ingestive and digestive interactions when diets with more than one type of forage are used have not been sufficiently studied. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of maize silage supplementation to wethers receiving ryegrass haylage on OM intake, OM digestibility, microbial protein synthesis and N retention

Measured and modelled cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentration in São Paulo, Brazil: the importance of aerosol size-resolved chemical composition on CCN concentration prediction

Measurements of cloud condensation nuclei\ud (CCN), aerosol size distribution and non-refractory chemical\ud composition were performed from 16 to 31 October 2012\ud in the São Paulo Metropolitan Area (SPMA), Brazil. CCN\ud measurements were performed at 0.23, 0.45, 0.68, 0.90 and\ud 1.13% water supersaturation and were subsequently compared\ud with the Köhler theory, considering the chemical composition.\ud Real-time chemical composition has been obtained\ud by deploying, for the first time in the SPMA, an aerosol\ud chemical ionization monitor (ACSM). CCN closure analyses\ud were performed considering internal mixtures.\ud Average aerosol composition during the studied period\ud yielded (arithmetic mean ±standard deviation) 4.81±3.05,\ud 3.26±2.10, 0.30±0.27, 0.52±0.32, 0.37±0.21 and\ud 0.04±0.04 μgm−3 for organics, BC, NH4, SO4, NO3\ud and Cl, respectively. Particle number concentration was\ud 12 813±5350 cm−3, with a dominant nucleation mode.\ud CCN concentrations were on average 1090±328 and\ud 3570±1695 cm−3 at SS = 0.23% and SS = 1.13 %, respectively.\ud Results show an increase in aerosol hygroscopicity in the\ud afternoon as a result of aerosol photochemical processing,\ud leading to an enhancement of both organic and inorganic secondary\ud aerosols in the atmosphere, as well as an increase in\ud aerosol average diameter.\ud Considering the bulk composition alone, observed CCN\ud concentrations were substantially overpredicted when compared\ud with the Köhler theory (44.1±47.9% at 0.23% supersaturation and 91.4±40.3% at 1.13% supersaturation).\ud Overall, the impact of composition on the calculated CCN\ud concentration (NCCN) decreases with decreasing supersaturation,\ud partially because using bulk composition introduces\ud less bias for large diameters and lower critical supersaturations,\ud defined as the supersaturation at which the cloud\ud droplet activation will take place. Results suggest that the\ud consideration of only inorganic fraction improves the calculated\ud NCCN.\ud Introducing a size-dependent chemical composition based\ud on filter measurements from previous campaigns has considerably\ud improved simulated values for NCCN (average overprediction\ud error 14.8±38.6% at 0.23% supersaturation and\ud 3.6±21.6% at 1.13% supersaturation). This study provides\ud the first insight on aerosol real-time composition and hygroscopicity\ud at a site strongly impacted by emissions of a unique\ud vehicular fleet due to the extensive biofuel usageFAPES

A tetravalent dengue nanoparticle stimulates antibody production in mice

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Dengue is a major public health problem worldwide, especially in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Infection with a single <it>Dengue virus </it>(DENV) serotype causes a mild, self-limiting febrile illness called dengue fever. However, a subset of patients experiencing secondary infection with a different serotype progresses to the severe form of the disease, dengue hemorrhagic fever/dengue shock syndrome. Currently, there are no licensed vaccines or antiviral drugs to prevent or treat dengue infections. Biodegradable nanoparticles coated with proteins represent a promising method for in vivo delivery of vaccines.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>Here, we used a murine model to evaluate the IgG production after administration of inactivated DENV corresponding to all four serotypes adsorbed to bovine serum albumin nanoparticles. This formulation induced a production of anti-DENV IgG antibodies (p < 0.001). However, plaque reduction neutralization assays with the four DENV serotypes revealed that these antibodies have no neutralizing activity in the dilutions tested.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results show that while the nanoparticle system induces humoral responses against DENV, further investigation with different DENV antigens will be required to improve immunogenicity, epitope specicity, and functional activity to make this platform a viable option for DENV vaccines.</p

Acute traumatic subdural haematomas : study of 110 cases

Apresentamos uma série consecutiva de 110 pacientes com hematoma subdural agudo traumático (HSDA) admitidos no serviço de emergência do HBDF no período de 1°-janeiro a 1°-dezembro-1994. Todos os pacientes foram atendidos de acordo com o mesmo protocolo. Houve predominância do sexo masculino (79%), com idade variando entre 14 e 70 anos, sendo os atropelamentos (34%) e os acidentes automobilísticos (20%) as causas mais comuns. A maioria dos pacientes (85,7%) foi admitida muito grave, com 8 pontos ou menos na Escala de Coma Glasgow (ECG), o que influenciou diretamente na mortalidade. A tomografia computadorizada de crânio foi o exame diagnóstico de escolha que mostrou serem as contusões e o inchaço cerebral ("swelling") as lesões intracranianas associadas mais freqüentes. A cirurgia foi realizada em 45,1% dos pacientes, e, em sua maioria, através de craniotomia fronto-têmporo-parietal ampla, com drenagem do hematoma, seguida de plástica da dura-mater. Em 54,9% as condições clínicas não permitiram a realização da cirurgia; neste grupo, cerca de 69,6% estavam em coma profundo à admissão, com 3 pontos na ECG. A letalidade cirúrgica foi de 61,2% e esteve diretamente relacionada à condição clínica inicial e à idade do paciente. A letalidade, incluindo todos os pacientes cirúrgicos e não cirúrgicos com HSDA, mesmo aqueles admitidos já com sinais de falência de tronco cerebral, foi de 79,5%. Além destes pacientes que faleceram, cerca de 7% evoluíram sem seqüelas ou com seqüelas mínimas; outros 11,4% com seqüelas de moderadas a paves e 2,1 % permaneceram em estado vegetativo persistente. Nossos dados estão de acordo com os da literatura no que se refere a elevada taxa de morbidade e mortalidade dos pacientes com HSDA.We report a series of 110 patients with acute traumatic subdural hematoma (ASDH) admitted at HBDF emergency within 1994 (January Is1 to December PJ.All patients were treated according to the same protocol. There was a predominance of males (79%), with ages ranging from 14 to 70, being car accidents (20%) and car-pedestrian accidents (34%) the most frequent causes The majority of patients (85.7%) was admitted in very serious condition, with a score of 8 points on the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) or lesser, which directly influenced the mortality rates. CT scan was the diagnostic procedure of choice, and it showed contusion and brain swelling to be the most frequent associated intracranial lesions. Surgery was carried out in 45.1% of cases and, in most instances, through an ample fronto-temporo-parietal craniotomy, with hematoma drainage and dural reconstitution. In 54.9% of cases, clinical conditions did not allow surgery and in this group, 69.6

Context-dependence of race self-classification : results from a highly mixed and unequal middle-income country

Ethnic-racial classification criteria are widely recognized to vary according to historical, cultural and political contexts. In Brazil, the strong influence of individual socio-economic factors on race/colour self-classification is well known. With the expansion of genomic technologies, the use of genomic ancestry has been suggested as a substitute for classification procedures such as self-declaring race, as if they represented the same concept. We investigated the association between genomic ancestry, the racial composition of census tracts and individual socioeconomic factors and self-declared race/colour in a cohort of 15,105 Brazilians. Results show that the probability of self-declaring as black or brown increases according to the proportion of African ancestry and varies widely among cities. In Porto Alegre, where most of the population is white, with every 10% increase in the proportion of African ancestry, the odds of self-declaring as black increased 14 times (95%CI 6.08–32.81). In Salvador, where most of the population is black or brown, that increase was of 3.98 times (95%CI 2.96–5.35). The racial composition of the area of residence was also associated with the probability of selfdeclaring as black or brown. Every 10% increase in the proportion of black and brown inhabitants in the residential census tract increased the odds of self-declaring as black by 1.33 times (95%CI 1.24–1.42). Ancestry alone does not explain self-declared race/colour. An emphasis on multiple situational contexts (both individual and collective) provides a more comprehensive framework for the study of the predictors of self-declared race/colour, a highly relevant construct in many different scenarios, such as public policy, sociology and medicine

The brazilian Amaryllidaceae as a source of acetylcholinesterase inhibitory alkaloids

Nine Brazilian Amaryllidaceae species were studied for their alkaloid composition and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory activity via GC-MS and a modified Ellman assay, respectively. A total of thirty-six alkaloids were identified in these plants, of which Hippeastrum papilio and H. glau-cescens exhibited the highest galanthamine content and the best IC50 values against AChE. Furthermore, Hippeastrum vittatum and Rhodophiala bifida also showed notable AChE inhibitory effects. X-ray crys-tallographic data for four galanthamine-type com-pounds revealed significant differences in the orientation of theN-methyl group, which are shown to be related to AChE inhibition