Deep water running: limits and possibilities for high performance

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to analyze the limits and possibilities of deep water running on training of performance runners. Besides, it has been discussed the submaximal acute, maximal acute and chronical responses, following physiological and biomechanical aspects between running on land and deep water running. Heart rate and oxygen uptake's maximal responses are lower in aquatic exercise than in running on land. Experimental evidences suggest the deep water running training for performance athletes, but these studies are limited in training program until ten weeks

Gré CP et al IJRD ISSUE 2, 2015 Downloaded from www.jrdindia.org -40 - Bleaching of a non-vital anterior tooth: inside/outside technique

Abstract : Discoloration of teeth, especially the anteriors, can result in considerably cosmetic impairment in person. Treatment options for discolored non-vital teeth are bleaching, crowns or veneers. However, this restorative crown or veneer approach has a significant drawback of being an invasive technique. This paper reports the inside/outside bleaching technique, and proposes it as an efficient and acceptable method for use in patients with an unaesthetic non-vital tooth

Genome-wide signatures of complex introgression and adaptive evolution in the big cats.

The great cats of the genus Panthera comprise a recent radiation whose evolutionary history is poorly understood. Their rapid diversification poses challenges to resolving their phylogeny while offering opportunities to investigate the historical dynamics of adaptive divergence. We report the sequence, de novo assembly, and annotation of the jaguar (Panthera onca) genome, a novel genome sequence for the leopard (Panthera pardus), and comparative analyses encompassing all living Panthera species. Demographic reconstructions indicated that all of these species have experienced variable episodes of population decline during the Pleistocene, ultimately leading to small effective sizes in present-day genomes. We observed pervasive genealogical discordance across Panthera genomes, caused by both incomplete lineage sorting and complex patterns of historical interspecific hybridization. We identified multiple signatures of species-specific positive selection, affecting genes involved in craniofacial and limb development, protein metabolism, hypoxia, reproduction, pigmentation, and sensory perception. There was remarkable concordance in pathways enriched in genomic segments implicated in interspecies introgression and in positive selection, suggesting that these processes were connected. We tested this hypothesis by developing exome capture probes targeting ~19,000 Panthera genes and applying them to 30 wild-caught jaguars. We found at least two genes (DOCK3 and COL4A5, both related to optic nerve development) bearing significant signatures of interspecies introgression and within-species positive selection. These findings indicate that post-speciation admixture has contributed genetic material that facilitated the adaptive evolution of big cat lineages

Medicinal animals used in ethnoveterinary practices of the 'Cariri Paraibano', NE Brazil

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Zootherapy is important in various socio-cultural environments, and innumerous examples of the use of animal derived remedies can currently be found in many urban, semi-urban and more remote localities in all parts of the world, particularly in developing countries. However, although a number of ethnobiological inventories concerning the use of medicinal animals in human health care have been compiled in Brazil in recent years, zootherapeutic practices in ethnoveterinary medicine (EVM) are poorly described and neglected in favor of human ethnomedicine. In this sense, the purpose of this study was to describe the local zootherapeutic practices in ethnoveterinary medicine of semi-arid of NE Brazil (Caatinga biome) and to contribute to future research about the validation of the effects and side effects of these animal products</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The information obtained through semi-structured interviews was complemented by free interviews and informal conversations. A total of 67 people were interviewed (53 men and 14 women) about the use and commercialization of medicinal animals. To determine the relative importance of each local known species, their use-values (UV) were calculated. Diversity of species utilized was compared, between localities, using rarefaction curves and diversity estimate (Chao2)</p> <p>Results and Conclusions</p> <p>A total of 44 animal species (37 vertebrates and 7 invertebrates), distributed among 6 taxonomic categories were found to be used to treat 30 different ailments in livestock and pets. The results of our surveys revealed a rich traditional knowledge of local residents about the use of animals in traditional veterinary medicine. Although it is gradually being discontinued, the perceived efficacy, economic and geographic accessibility were main reasons for popularity of zootherapy in studied areas.</p

Use of direct and iterative solvers for estimation of SNP effects in genome-wide selection

The aim of this study was to compare iterative and direct solvers for estimation of marker effects in genomic selection. One iterative and two direct methods were used: Gauss-Seidel with Residual Update, Cholesky Decomposition and Gentleman-Givens rotations. For resembling different scenarios with respect to number of markers and of genotyped animals, a simulated data set divided into 25 subsets was used. Number of markers ranged from 1,200 to 5,925 and number of animals ranged from 1,200 to 5,865. Methods were also applied to real data comprising 3081 individuals genotyped for 45181 SNPs. Results from simulated data showed that the iterative solver was substantially faster than direct methods for larger numbers of markers. Use of a direct solver may allow for computing (co)variances of SNP effects. When applied to real data, performance of the iterative method varied substantially, depending on the level of ill-conditioning of the coefficient matrix. From results with real data, Gentleman-Givens rotations would be the method of choice in this particular application as it provided an exact solution within a fairly reasonable time frame (less than two hours). It would indeed be the preferred method whenever computer resources allow its use

Antiproliferative effects of Tubi-bee propolis in glioblastoma cell lines

Propolis is a resin formed by a complex chemical composition of substances that bees collect from plants. Since ancient times, propolis has been used in folk medicine, due to its biological properties, that include antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antitumoral and immunomodulatory activities. Glioblastoma is the most common human brain tumor. Despite the improvements in GBM standard treatment, patients’ prognosis is still very poor. The aim of this work was to evaluate in vitro the Tubi-bee propolis effects on human glioblastoma (U251 and U343) and fibroblast (MRC-5) cell lines. Proliferation, clonogenic capacity and apoptosis were analyzed after treatment with 1 mg/mL and 2 mg/mL propolis concentrations for different time periods. Additionally, glioblastoma cell lines were submitted to treatment with propolis combined with temozolomide (TMZ). Data showed an antiproliferative effect of tubi-bee propolis against glioblastoma and fibroblast cell lines. Combination of propolis with TMZ had a synergic anti-proliferative effect. Moreover, propolis caused decrease in colony formation in glioblastoma cell lines. Propolis treatment had no effects on apoptosis, demonstrating a cytostatic action. Further investigations are needed to elucidate the molecular mechanism of the antitumor effect of propolis, and the study of its individual components may reveal specific molecules with antiproliferative capacity