Avaliação dos parâmetros ambientais e fisiológicos para frangos de corte linhagem caipira em diferentes fases de criação na Amazônia Ocidental / Evaluation of environmental and physiological parameters for free-range broilers in different productive phases in the Western Amazon

Objetivou-se com este trabalho avaliar a influência do ambiente em diferentes períodos do dia sobre os parâmetros fisiológicos de frangos caipira da linhagem Label Rouge em diferentes fases de criação (inicial, crescimento e terminação) na Amazônia Ocidental. Foram utilizados 300 pintinhos da linhagem Caipira Label Rouge, distribuídos em vinte cinco boxes de 12 animais cada. Semanalmente foram coletados dados de temperatura de bulbo seco, temperatura de ponto de orvalho, temperatura de globo negro e umidade relativa no interior do galpão, em três pontos (início, meio e fim) e em diferentes horários, 09:00, 15:00 e 21:00 horas. A partir da coleta das variáveis climáticas foram calculados os índices de conforto térmico: índices de temperatura e umidade e o índice de temperatura de globo e umidade. Os parâmetros fisiológicos foram avaliados em cada fase de criação (inicial, crescimento e final), nas idades de 21, 42 e 63 dias, considerando as variáveis, temperatura cloacal, temperaturas superficiais (cabeça, pescoço, dorso, asa e pernas) e frequência respiratória. Os resultados dos índices bioclimáticos demonstraram que em todas fases de criação os animais se encontravam fora da faixa de conforto térmico de temperatura e umidade relativa, sendo os maiores índices (p<0,05) observados no período da tarde. Para os parâmetros fisiológicos, foi possível observar que houve incremento (p<0,05) em todas as temperaturas mensuradas, como também, na frequência respiratória (p<0,05) no período da tarde nas fases inicial e crescimento. Sendo assim, conclui-se que as altas temperaturas associadas a alta umidade no período da tarde aumentaram os índices bioclimáticos e o desconforto dos animais, alterando as temperaturas superficiais e frequência respiratória de frangos caipiras Label Rouge criados na Amazônia Ocidental. 

Comparison between python and matlab algorithms for the evaluation of the corrosion grade in guyed transmission towers using artificial neural networks and machine committees / Comparação entre algoritmos em python e matlab na avaliação do grau de corrosão em torres de transmissão estaiadas utilização comitês de máquina de redes neurais artificiais

Nesse artigo são descritos dois comitês de máquinas baseados em redes neurais artificiais (RNAs) criados para avaliação de corrosão em estais de torres de transmissão. Os dados utilizados para treinamento das redes neurais foram coletados experimentalmente e descritos em artigo previamente publicado. Aqui foram complementados pela coleta de dados referentes a resistividade do solo. Um dos comitês foi implementado em Python com utilização da biblioteca Keras Tensorflow e foi composto por 3 RNAs. O outro foi elaborado em MATLAB e consistiu em 8 RNAs. Nos diferentes comitês de máquinas foram utilizadas arquiteturas distintas, sendo a diferença mais notável nos números de neurônios e camadas escondidas utilizados em cada modelo. Ambos os comitês apresentaram resultados satisfatórios para classificação quanto ao grau de corrosão dos estais. Um foco especial foi dado para o caso onde graus de corrosão elevados ocorriam, sendo necessário garantir alto grau de precisão, evitando que fossem apontadas classes leves de corrosão quando na realidade o grau é elevado. O comitê desenvolvido em MATLAB apresentou número significativamente menor de neurônios, o que possibilita implementação mais rápida e maior velocidade no processamento dos dados. Além disso, a correlação obtida foi de 96.70% para o comitê elaborado em MATLAB e de 95.17% para o comitê elaborado em Python ao passo que o anterior havia sido de 80%.

A pragmatic, multicentre, randomised controlled trial comparing stapled haemorrhoidopexy to traditional excisional surgery for haemorrhoidal disease (eTHoS): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Background: Current interventions for haemorrhoidal disease include traditional haemorrhoidectomy (TH) and stapled haemorrhoidopexy (SH) surgery. However, uncertainty remains as to how they compare from a clinical, quality of life (QoL) and economic perspective. The study is therefore designed to determine whether SH is more effective and more cost-effective, compared with TH. Methods/Design: eTHoS (either Traditional Haemorrhoidectomy or Stapled Haemorrhoidopexy for Haemorrhoidal Disease) is a pragmatic, multicentre, randomised controlled trial. Currently, 29 secondary care centres are open to recruitment. Patients, aged 18 year or older, with circumferential haemorrhoids grade II to IV, are eligible to take part. The primary clinical and economic outcomes are QoL profile (area under the curve derived from the EuroQol Group’s 5 Dimension Health Status Questionnaire (EQ-5D) at all assessment points) and incremental cost per quality adjusted life year (QALY) based on the responses to the EQ-5D at 24 months. The secondary outcomes include a comparison of the SF-36 scores, pain and symptoms sub-domains, disease recurrence, complication rates and direct and indirect costs to the National Health Service (NHS). A sample size of n =338 per group has been calculated to provide 90% power to detect a difference in the mean area under the curve (AUC) of 0.25 standard deviations derived from EQ-5D score measurements, with a two-sided significance level of 5%. Allowing for non-response, 400 participants will be randomised per group. Randomisation will utilise a minimisation algorithm that incorporates centre, grade of haemorrhoidal disease, baseline EQ-5D score and gender. Blinding of participants and outcome assessors is not attempted. Discussion: This is one of the largest trials of its kind. In the United Kingdom alone, 29,000 operations for haemorrhoidal disease are done annually. The trial is therefore designed to give robust evidence on which clinicians and health service managers can base management decisions and, more importantly, patients can make informed choices. Trial registration: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN80061723 (assigned 8 March 2010

Reduced prefrontal gyrification in obsessive–compulsive disorder

Structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies reveal evidence for brain abnormalities in obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), for instance, reduction of gray matter volume in the prefrontal cortex. Disturbances of gyrification in the prefrontal cortex have been described several times in schizophrenia pointing to a neurodevelopmental etiology, while gyrification has not been studied so far in OCD patients. In 26 OCD patients and 38 healthy control subjects MR-imaging was performed. Prefrontal cortical folding (gyrification) was measured bilaterally by an automated version of the automated-gyrification index (A-GI), a ratio reflecting the extent of folding, from the slice containing the inner genu of the corpus callosum up to the frontal pole. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA, independent factor diagnosis, covariates age, duration of education) demonstrated that compared with control subjects, patients with OCD displayed a significantly reduced A-GI in the left hemisphere (p = 0.021) and a trend for a decreased A-GI in the right hemisphere (p = 0.076). Significant correlations between prefrontal lobe volume and A-GI were only observed in controls, but not in OCD patients. In conclusion, prefrontal hypogyrification in OCD patients may be a structural correlate of the impairment in executive function of this patient group and may point to a neurodevelopmental origin of this disease

Short-term effects of amelogenin gene splice products A+4 and A-4 implanted in the exposed rat molar pulp

In order to study the short-time effects of two bioactive low-molecular amelogenins A+4 and A-4, half-moon cavities were prepared in the mesial aspect of the first maxillary molars, and after pulp exposure, agarose beads alone (controls) or beads soaked in A+4 or A-4 (experimental) were implanted into the pulp. After 1, 3 or 7 days, the rats were killed and the teeth studied by immunohistochemistry. Cell proliferation was studied by PCNA labeling, positive at 3 days, but decreasing at day 7 for A+4, whilst constantly high between 3 and 7 days for A-4. The differentiation toward the osteo/odontoblast lineage shown by RP59 labeling was more apparent for A-4 compared with A+4. Osteopontin-positive cells were alike at days 3 and 7 for A-4. In contrast, for A+4, the weak labeling detected at day 3 became stronger at day 7. Dentin sialoprotein (DSP), an in vivo odontoblast marker, was not detectable until day 7 where a few cells became DSP positive after A-4 stimulation, but not for A+4. These results suggest that A +/- 4 promote the proliferation of some pulp cells. Some of them further differentiate into osteoblast-like progenitors, the effects being more precocious for A-4 (day 3) compared with A+4 (day 7). The present data suggest that A +/- 4 promote early recruitment of osteogenic progenitors, and evidence functional differences between A+4 and A-4

The GenoChip: A New Tool for Genetic Anthropology

The Genographic Project is an international effort aimed at charting human migratory history. The project is nonprofit and nonmedical, and, through its Legacy Fund, supports locally led efforts to preserve indigenous and traditional cultures. Although the first phase of the project was focused on uniparentally inherited markers on the Y-chromosome and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), the current phase focuses on markers from across the entire genome to obtain a more complete understanding of human genetic variation. Although many commercial arrays exist for genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping, they were designed for medical genetic studies and contain medically related markers that are inappropriate for global population genetic studies. GenoChip, the Genographic Project’s new genotyping array, was designed to resolve these issues and enable higher resolution research into outstanding questions in genetic anthropology. TheGenoChip includes ancestry informativemarkers obtained for over 450 human populations, an ancient human (Saqqaq), and two archaic hominins (Neanderthal and Denisovan) and was designed to identify all knownY-chromosome andmtDNAhaplogroups. The chip was carefully vetted to avoid inclusion ofmedically relevant markers. To demonstrate its capabilities, we compared the FST distributions of GenoChip SNPs to those of two commercial arrays. Although all arrays yielded similarly shaped (inverse J) FST distributions, the GenoChip autosomal and X-chromosomal distributions had the highestmean FST, attesting to its ability to discern subpopulations. The chip performances are illustrated in a principal component analysis for 14 worldwide populations. In summary, the GenoChip is a dedicated genotyping platform for genetic anthropology. With an unprecedented number of approximately 12,000 Y-chromosomal and approximately 3,300 mtDNA SNPs and over 130,000 autosomal and X-chromosomal SNPswithout any known health,medical, or phenotypic relevance, the GenoChip is a useful tool for genetic anthropology and population genetics

Exploring the Immunotoxicity of Carbon Nanotubes

Mass production of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and their applications in nanomedicine lead to the increased exposure risk of nanomaterials to human beings. Although reports on toxicity of nanomaterials are rapidly growing, there is still a lack of knowledge on the potential toxicity of such materials to immune systems. This article reviews some existing studies assessing carbon nanotubes’ toxicity to immune system and provides the potential mechanistic explanation