Treadmill walking differently affects body composition and metabolic parameters of female rats from normal or small litters

This work assessed whether walking affects bodily development and metabolic parameters of female rats raised in small litters (three pups, group S) or control litters (nine pups, group C). After weaning, some of the rats had five sessions per week of a 30-min treadmill walking (CE and SE), while the others remained sedentary (CS and SS) until the age of 120 days. Exercise caused a reduction of body weight (CS/CE = 1.18), Lee index (CS/CE = 1.04), fasting blood glucose (CS/CE = 1.35), mesenteric (CS/CE = 1.23), and ovarian fat (CS/CE = 1.33) in CE, but only glucose was decreased in SE (SS/SE = 1.16). The diameter of adipocytes decreased to a half in the small-litter groups. Exercise increased subcutaneous (CS/CE = 0.88 and SS/SE = 0.71), but decreased retroperitoneal adipocytes (CS/CE = 1.2 and SS/SE = 1.3). Litter size reduction had little impact on females at the age of 120 days, but the light physical activity seemed insufficient to counteract all the effects of lactational overfeeding. On the other hand, pups from exercised mothers had a decrease in their biometric and glycemic indexes, demonstrating the transgenerational action of regular, although light, exercise

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal

The flora and vegetation of rocky outcrops in three municipalities in the northern region of Ceará, Brazil: phytosociological characterization

Veja material suplementar em <https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.5915233.v2O presente estudo teve como objetivo identificar a flora e a vegetação dos afloramentos rochosos isolados e de baixa altitude (lajedos), na vegetação de Caatinga Arbustiva Aberta, que se encontram nos municípios de Sobral, Groaíras e Santa Quitéria, no estado do Ceará, Brasil e propor uma classificação fitossociológica para estas comunidades xerófilas. Foram definidas cinco áreas de coleta de dados com elevada proporção de rochas expostas (> 80%) onde as excursões de campo decorreram em março de 2014 e 2015 (3º56’S e 40º23’W, 4º01’S e 40º05’W, 4º07’S e 40º08’W, 4º09’S e 40º09’W e 4º03’S e 40º00’W). No estudo da vegetação aplicou-se os métodos TWINSPAN (two-way indicator species analysis) e o clássico sigmatista de Braun-Blanquet. As áreas mínimas dos inventários fitossociológicos variaram de 8 a 16 m2. Foram coletadas as espécies vegetais que crescem em fissuras, fendas e ilhas de vegetação que se encontram em afloramentos rochosos. Foram registradas 88 espécies, distribuídas em 59 gêneros e 30 famílias botânicas. Fabaceae foi a família que se destacou em riqueza específica (20 spp.), seguida por Poaceae (dez spp.), Euphorbiaceae (sete spp.) e Convolvulaceae (seis spp.). Quanto ao endemismo foram registradas, em vegetação rupestre, 19 espécies endêmicas para o Brasil. Na análise fitossociológica da vegetação propôs-se estudar a comunidade de Pilosocereus gounellei (FA.C.Weber) Byles & Rowley e Encholirium spectabile Mart. ex Schult. & Schult.f. e a de Crateva tapia L. e Combretum leprosum Martinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Seasonal variation of Hepatozoon spp. (Apicomplexa, Hepatozoidae) parasitemia from Boa constrictor amarali (Serpentes, Boidae) and Hydrodynastes gigas (Serpentes, Colubridae)

The aim of this study was to evaluate the parasitemia variation of three Hepatozoon species in Brazilian snakes. This study was conducted between 2001 and 2003 and included Hepatozoon terzii from Boa constrictor amarali, and Hepatozoon migonei and Hepatozoon cyclagrasi from Hydrodynastes gigas. It was observed that the parasitemia tended to decrease in all three Hepatozoon species but the parasites were not eliminated. This data suggest that Hepatozoon infection may be similar to Toxoplasma gondii infection, in that it persists throughout host life

Subpopulations of mononuclear leukocytes associated with inhibition of Ehrlich ascites tumor growth by treatment with Bothrops jararaca venom

Snake venoms have been used as antineoplastic substances in several experimental models. We demonstrated in previous studies that Bothrops jararaca venom (BjV) induces inhibition of Ehrlich ascites tumor ( EAT) growth accompanied by an increase of mononuclear (MN) leukocytes in all groups inoculated with EAT and/or venom. The objective of the present study was to characterize the subpopulations of MN leukocytes involved in the inhibition of EAT growth by treatment with BjV. Swiss mice were inoculated with 1.0 x 10(3) EAT cells by the intraperitoneal route and treated with 0.4 mg/kg of BjV by the same route ( Group TV). Treatment was started 24 h after tumor cell inoculation and consisted of five intraperitoneal injections performed at 72 h intervals. After 2, 8 and 14 days, groups of animals were sacrificed and the number of B, TCD4 and TCD8 lymphocytes, macrophages and natural killer cells present in the peritoneal cavity was determined by flow cytometry. The control group consisted of animals inoculated with EAT and treated with 0.1 ml of saline under the same conditions as the experimental group ( Group T). Two additional control groups consisted of animals not inoculated with EAT and treated with saline or venom. Data were analyzed statistically by the Kruskal - Wallis nonparametric test for independent samples. on the 2nd and 8th day we observed a difference between groups T and TV ( group T > group TV) for all cell types, except natural killer cells, that only differed on the 2nd day. However, on the 14th day there was no difference in MN cells among groups. These data suggest that the inhibition of EAT is related to the toxic action of BjV on tumor cells and/or to the proteolytic effect of the venom on the mediators produced by the cells for growth modulation

Soroprevalência de anticorpos contra o antígeno CagA do Helicobacter pylori em pacientes com úlcera gástrica na região Norte do Brasil Seroprevalence of antibodies against the CagA antigen the Helicobacter pylori in patients with gastric ulcer in the North region of Brazil

O Helicobacter pylori é um agente patogênico largamente distribuído no mundo, estando envolvido no desenvolvimento de várias doenças gastrointestinais. Atualmente a infecção pela cepa virulenta (CagA+) do H. pylori é considerado um dos principais fatores etiológicos para o desenvolvimento de ulcerações gástricas. Baseado nessa informação, investigamos a soroprevalência das cepas virulentas entre os pacientes com úlcera gástrica da nossa região, utilizando testes sorológicos para detecção de anticorpos contra o H. pylori e a proteína CagA. Sendo observado que 82% (45/55) dos pacientes estavam infectados pela cepa virulenta, entre esses 89% (40/45) apresentaram grau de inflamação aumentado na mucosa gástrica, com denso infiltrado de leucócitos no tecido, o que provavelmente favoreceu a formação das ulcerações gástricas.<br>Helicobacter pylori is a pathogenic agent with a worldwide distribution and is involved in the development of many gastrointestinal diseases. Nowadays infection with the virulent strain CagA+ of H. pylori is considered one of the main etiological factors in the development of gastric ulcer. Based on this information, we investigated the seroprevalence of virulent strains among patients with gastric ulcer from one region, using serologic tests to detect antibodies against H. pylori and CagA protein. Infection by the virulent strain was found in 82% (40/55) of the patients, and among these, 89% (40/45) presented an increased degree of inflammation in the gastric mucosa, with a dense infiltration of leukocytes in the tissue, which probably favored the formation of gastric ulcer. We concluded that the presence of the virulent strain is related to the development of an increased inflammation in the gastric mucosa

Heterofucans from Dictyota menstrualis have anticoagulant activity

Fucan is a term used to denote a family of sulfated L-fucose-rich polysaccharides which are present in the extracellular matrix of brown seaweed and in the egg jelly coat of sea urchins. Plant fucans have several biological activities, including anticoagulant and antithrombotic, related to the structural and chemical composition of polysaccharides. We have extracted sulfated polysaccharides from the brown seaweed Dictyota menstrualis by proteolytic digestion, followed by separation into 5 fractions by sequential acetone precipitation. Gel electrophoresis using 0.05 M 1,3-diaminopropane-acetate buffer, pH 9.0, stained with 0.1% toluidine blue, showed the presence of sulfated polysaccharides in all fractions. The chemical analyses demonstrated that all fractions are composed mainly of fucose, xylose, galactose, uronic acid, and sulfate. The anticoagulant activity of these heterofucans was determined by activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) using citrate normal human plasma. Only the fucans F1.0v and F1.5v showed anticoagulant activity. To prolong the coagulation time to double the baseline value in the APTT, the required concentration of fucan F1.0v (20 µg/ml) was only 4.88-fold higher than that of the low molecular weight heparin Clexane® (4.1 µg/ml), whereas 80 µg/ml fucan 1.5 was needed to obtain the same effect. For both fucans this effect was abolished by desulfation. These polymers are composed of fucose, xylose, uronic acid, galactose, and sulfate at molar ratios of 1.0:0.8:0.7:0.8:0.4 and 1.0:0.3:0.4:1.5:1.3, respectively. This is the fist report indicating the presence of a heterofucan with higher anticoagulant activity from brown seaweed