Immunology and mammary cancer development: addressing the role of mast cells

Background: Mammary cancer is one of the most frequent cancers worldwide. Mast cells are among the cells of tumor microenvironment and have been associated with increased angiogenesis and poor prognosis. Despite this, the role of mast cells on mammary cancer is not fully elucidated. In this way, this work studied the role of mast cells in a rat model of mammary cancer chemically-induced. Materials and Methods: All experiments were performed in accordance with the Portuguese and European legislation on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes. The experiments were approved by the Portuguese (no.008961) and University (CE_12-2013) Ethics Committees. Thirty- four female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into five experimental groups. At seven weeks of age, mammary tumors’ development was induced in animals from groups I, II, III (n = 10+10+10) by a single intraperitoneal injection of the carcinogen N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU). Groups II and IV (n = 2) were treated with ketotifen in drinking water (1 mg/kg/day, 7 days/week) immediately after the MNU ad- ministration for 18 weeks, while the group III received the ketotifen after the development of the first mammary tumor. Groups I and V (n = 2) received only water. Animals were sacrificed at 25 weeks of age by an overdose of ketamine and xylazine, followed by an exsanguination by cardiac puncture. Mammary tumors were collected and immersed in formalin for posterior analysis. Tumors’ vascularization, proliferation and apoptosis were also assessed by immunohistochemistry (Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF)-A, Ki-67, and caspase-3 and caspase-9). Results: Animals from groups IV and V did not develop any mammary tumor. Twenty-one animals (six animals from group I, eight animals from group II and seven animals from group III) developed a total of 58 mammary tumors, mainly classified as papillary non-invasive carcinomas. Tumors’ vascularization was similar among groups (P > 0.05). Mammary tumors from group II exhibited the lowest prolif- eration (P < 0.05) and apoptotic indexes. Conclusions: The mainly positive effect of the ketotifen administration seems to be the reduction of tumor prolifera- tion when the drug was administered before mammary tumor development

Effect of the dog positioning on X-ray table on hip dysplasia parameter evaluation

Research Areas: Veterinary Sciences; ZoologyABSTRACT - Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of pelvic tilting along the long axis and femoral rotation on Norberg angle (NA), subluxation index (SI) and subluxation category (SC) in the standard ventrodorsal hip extended (VDHE) radiographical view on live animals. Study Type This was a retrospective clinical study. Materials and Methods Pairs of VDHE views, one adequately positioned and the other with pelvic tilting or femoral internal or external rotation, were compared for the NA, SI and SC. Results On the malpositioned pelvis set, on the underside the mean +/- SD NA was 98.7 +/- 6.1 degrees, the SI was 0.27 +/- 0.12 and the SC was 2.8 +/- 0.8 versus, on the acceptable set, the NA was 99.2 +/- 6.4 degrees ( p > 0.05), the SI was 0.25 +/- 0.12 ( p 0.05). Conclusions In clinical practice, pelvic tilting along the long axis in VDHE view results in non-favourable hip changes in the NA, SI and SC on the underside and favourable on the upperside, and the internal or external femoral rotation did not affect these variables.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Ultrasonographic evaluation of the kidney in 5/6 nephrectomized rats: Correlation with biochemical and histopathological findings

To characterize the kidney alterations associated with renal mass reduction by two-dimensional ultrasound and assess the correlation of the ultrasonographic parameters with the histological and biochemical findings. Materials and Methods: Rats were divided into two groups: sham-operated animals (n=13), and animals which underwent renal mass reduction (RMR) through 5/6 nephrectomy (n=14). Renal length, renal thickness, cortical thickness, medullary length and echogenicity of the kidneys were evaluated by ultrasonography at 3 and 6 months after the RMR. Results: Except for the renal length, the renal dimensions at 3 and 6 months were significantly higher in the RMR group when compared to the sham-operated group (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the cortical and medullary echogenicity was significantly higher in the RMR group when compared to the sham-operated group (p < 0.05). A significant correlation was observed between the plasma creatinine level and the renal length 3 months after RMR (r=-0.612, p=0.045). Conclusion: These data support future application of ultrasonography for monitoring the progression of renal damage in chronic studies with the 5/6 nephrectomy model.This work was supported by : European Investment Funds by FEDER/COMPETE/POCI Operational Competitiveness and Internationalization Programme, under Project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006958 and National Funds by FCT – the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, under project UID/AGR/04033/2013; and by European Investment Funds by FEDER/COMPETE/POCI Operational Competitiveness and Internationalization Programme, under Project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016728 and National Funds by FCT – the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, under the project PTDC/DTP-DES/6077/2014.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Technical Report: Technique of Bladder Catheterization in Female Mice and Rats for Intravesical Instillation in Models of Bladder Cancer

Animal models offer a system that enables a better understanding of basic biological questions. Urinary bladder catheterization is a common procedure in models of female urothelial tumours and yet the technique does still need to be described further. The methods described in the existing literature do not outline how the procedure should be adapted for different research goals. In this report, we describe systematically catheterization of female mice and rats as well as analysing several anaesthetic protocols, which can be used to carry out this technical procedure

Low-cost/high-precision smart power supply for data loggers

This paper presents a low-cost/high-precision smart power supply for application on data loggers. The microprocessor unit is the brain of the system and manages the events and was optimized to provide electrical energy to the electronic devices under normal operation and under the presence of disruptive events. The measurements showed that when switching either from battery to AC or from AC to battery, neither caused the shutdown of the power supply nor affected the behavior of the power supply. The power supply was able to charge 80% of the battery on a fast recharge of 1 h and the remaining 20% on a slow recharge of 2 h. The current allocated to the battery did not affect the operation of the power supply. The tests also showed that the power supply was able to transmit relevant information about its operation to external computers through a serial connection. This information includes the voltages at the battery and at the output of the voltage regulators, the voltage level of the AC network, the level of the battery charge and if it was being recharged, the current being drained, the internal temperatures at two locations (one measured on the resistor that limits battery charge and another measured on the output diode of the regulators), and whether the cooling system is being used. The total cost of this smart power supply is less than $150, demonstrating good potential for its popularization.This work was partially supported by FCT national funds, under the national support to R&D units grant, through the reference project UIDB/04436/2020 and UIDP/04436/2020. This research was also partially supported by the FAPESP agency (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo) through the project with the reference 2019/05248-7. Professor João Paulo Carmo was support by a PQ scholarship with the reference CNPq 304312/2020-7

Rat prostate: practical tips for ultrasonographic monitoring

Background: Prostate is the largest accessory gland of the male reproductive tract. The prostate of men over 40 years- old is frequently affected by several pathologies, like benign prostate hyperplasia and cancer. Rats have been used as model to study prostate cancer. This study intended to address the usefulness of ultrasonography for rat prostate monitoring. Materials and Methods: Eight male Wistar Unilever rats were acquired from Charles River Laboratories and main- tained under controlled conditions of temperature, humidity, air system filtration and light/dark cycle. The prostate was evaluated by ultrasonography in awake animals. The animals were restrained by a researcher and placed in supine position. The skin of the inguinal region was shaved using a machine clipper (AESCULAP® GT420 Isis, USA). A real-time scan- ner (Logic P6®, GE, USA) and a 12 MHz linear transducer were used. Acoustic gel (Parker Laboratories Inc., USA) was applied. A complete transverse scan using B mode was per- formed from the cranial to the caudal region of the prostate, and a sagittal scan was performed moving the probe from the right to the left side. Procedures were approved by the Portuguese Ethics Committee (no.021326). Results: Prostate was easily evaluated by ultrasonography in all animals. In the transverse scan, the urinary bladder presents as a round to oval shape filled with urine (anechoic structure) and the prostate lobes were visible around it. The ventral prostate lobes appear as hypoechoic elongated struc- tures (one right and one left) with a hyperechoic capsule, placed ventrally to the urinary bladder. In this scan, the dorsal prostate was observed close to the urinary bladder neck, as a round hypoechoic structure with a hyperechoic capsule, dor- sally to the urinary bladder. In the sagittal scan, the urinary bladder was observed as an elongated structure filled with urine (anechoic content). The ventral prostate lobes were occasionally observed ventrally to the neck of the urinary bladder, as previously described. The dorsal prostate was ob- served dorsally to the neck of the urinary bladder, presenting as a round to elongated shape, with a hypoechoic appearance and a hyperechoic capsule.Conclusions: The ultrasonography is a non-invasive and ac- cessible tool for prostate monitoring in the rat model. Acknowledgments: This work was supported by European Investment Funds by FEDER/ COMPETE/POCI - Operational Competitiveness and Internationalization Program and National Funds by FCT - Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, under the projects Project RUNawayPCa (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016728 and PTDC/DTP-DES/6077/2014), UIDB/04033/2020, UIDB/ CVT/00772/2020 and UIDB/50006/2020 (LAQV)

Anatomy and imaging of rat prostate: practical monitoring in experimental cancer-induced protocols

The rat has been frequently used as a model to study several human diseases, including cancer. In many research protocols using cancer models, researchers find it difficult to perform several of the most commonly used techniques and to compare their results. Although the protocols for the study of carcinogenesis are based on the macroscopic and microscopic anatomy of organs, few studies focus on the use of imaging. The use of imaging modalities to monitor the development of cancer avoids the need for intermediate sacrifice to assess the status of induced lesions, thus reducing the number of animals used in experiments. Our work intends to provide a complete and systematic overview of rat prostate anatomy and imaging, facilitating the monitoring of prostate cancer development through different imaging modalities, such as ultrasonography, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).publishe

Measurement of Strange Quark Contributions to the Nucleon's Form Factors at Q^2=0.230 (GeV/c)^2

We report on a measurement of the parity-violating asymmetry in the scattering of longitudinally polarized electrons on unpolarized protons at a $Q^2$ of 0.230 (GeV/c)^2 and a scattering angle of \theta_e = 30^o - 40^o. Using a large acceptance fast PbF_2 calorimeter with a solid angle of \Delta\Omega = 0.62 sr the A4 experiment is the first parity violation experiment to count individual scattering events. The measured asymmetry is A_{phys} =(-5.44 +- 0.54_{stat} +- 0.27_{\rm sys}) 10^{-6}. The Standard Model expectation assuming no strangeness contributions to the vector form factors is $A_0=(-6.30 +- 0.43) 10^{-6}$. The difference is a direct measurement of the strangeness contribution to the vector form factors of the proton. The extracted value is G^s_E + 0.225 G^s_M = 0.039 +- 0.034 or F^s_1 + 0.130 F^s_2 = 0.032 +- 0.028.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Letters on Dec 11, 200

Wireless device with energy management for mlosed-loop deep brain stimulation (CLDBS)

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an effective and safe medical treatment that improves the lives of patients with a wide range of neurological and psychiatric diseases, and has been consolidated as a first-line tool in the last two decades. Closed-loop deep brain stimulation (CLDBS) pushes this tool further by automatically adjusting the stimulation parameters to the brain response in real time. The main contribution of this paper is a low-size/power-controlled, compact and complete CLDBS system with two simultaneous acquisition channels, two simultaneous neurostimulation channels and wireless communication. Each channel has a low-noise amplifier (LNA) buffer in differential configuration to eliminate the DC signal component of the input. Energy management is efficiently done by the control and communication unit. The battery supports almost 9 h with both the acquisition and stimulation circuits active. If only the stimulation circuit is used as an Open Loop DBS, the battery can hold sufficient voltage for 24 h of operation. The whole system is low-cost and portable and therefore it could be used as a wearable device.This work was partially supported by the FAPESP agency (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo) through the project with the reference 2019/05248-7. Professor João Paulo Carmo was supported by a PQ scholarship with the reference CNPq 304312/2020-7

Dual origins of dairy cattle farming - evidence from a comprehensive survey of European Y-chromosomal variation

BACKGROUND: Diversity patterns of livestock species are informative to the history of agriculture and indicate uniqueness of breeds as relevant for conservation. So far, most studies on cattle have focused on mitochondrial and autosomal DNA variation. Previous studies of Y-chromosomal variation, with limited breed panels, identified two Bos taurus (taurine) haplogroups (Y1 and Y2; both composed of several haplotypes) and one Bos indicus (indicine/zebu) haplogroup (Y3), as well as a strong phylogeographic structuring of paternal lineages. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Haplogroup data were collected for 2087 animals from 138 breeds. For 111 breeds, these were resolved further by genotyping microsatellites INRA189 (10 alleles) and BM861 (2 alleles). European cattle carry exclusively taurine haplotypes, with the zebu Y-chromosomes having appreciable frequencies in Southwest Asian populations. Y1 is predominant in northern and north-western Europe, but is also observed in several Iberian breeds, as well as in Southwest Asia. A single Y1 haplotype is predominant in north-central Europe and a single Y2 haplotype in central Europe. In contrast, we found both Y1 and Y2 haplotypes in Britain, the Nordic region and Russia, with the highest Y-chromosomal diversity seen in the Iberian Peninsula. CONCLUSIONS: We propose that the homogeneous Y1 and Y2 regions reflect founder effects associated with the development and expansion of two groups of dairy cattle, the pied or red breeds from the North Sea and Baltic coasts and the spotted, yellow or brown breeds from Switzerland, respectively. The present Y1-Y2 contrast in central Europe coincides with historic, linguistic, religious and cultural boundaries.Penedo, Lenstra mail