A Surgery Table with a Mouth Prop for Rodents

Laboratory animal research represents a remarkable source of information. Rodents are often used as an  experimental model for studies in the medical field, showing several advantages. The access to the oral  cavity allows one to examine it and to perform surgical restorative procedures. The application of topical  substances on hard tissues and mucosa is also possible. Literature includes reports on mouth-opening systems  for animals, but they are not available on the market. Therefore, researchers must improvise methods  that allow access to the oral cavity, but which may compromise the experiment. The purpose of this technical  report is to introduce an inexpensive and easy-to-use surgery table containing a device for rodent  mouth opening, which facilitates access to the oral cavity, maintaining mouth-opening and spreading the  cheeks apart.

Seleção de genes endógenos para análise de qRT-PCR em sementes de café.

A técnica quantitativa de PCR em tempo real, qRT-PCR, permite analisar a expressão de genes alvo em diferentes condições experimentais. No entanto, a análise precisa dos resultados gerados pela qRT-PCR está diretamente relacionada ao gene normalizador utilizado, o qual deve apresentar expressão constitutiva semelhante para as diferentes amostras/tratamentos avaliados no experimento. Os genes normalizadores escolhidos para as análises em sementes podem diferir daqueles utilizados para as raízes e folhas. Este trabalho teve como objetivo a avaliação de genes normalizadores úteis ao estudo de expressão gênica em sementes. O experimento englobou sementes mantidas nos frutos, sementes desmuciladas mecanicamente ou por meio da fermentação. Essas sementes e frutos foram em seguida, secados à sombra ou em secador até atingirem os teores de água de 12% ou 35%, foram acondicionados em embalagens herméticas e mantidos em câmara fria (10ºC/ 40%UR) por um período de até 12 meses. Foram avaliados 11 genes candidatos a normalizadores, os quais foram escolhidos, previamente, em um estudo de microarranjos. As expressões e estabilidade destes genes foram avaliadas por meio dos softwares geNorm, NormFinder, Delta Ct e BestKeeper. Pela análise conjunta dos resultados obtidos a partir destes softwares, observou-se que a estabilidade de um gene normalizador é variável em função do fator experimental considerado. O gene da actina é indicado como normalizador nas análises de expressão gênica em sementes de café quando forem considerados todos os três fatores avaliados neste estudo, ou seja, processamento, secagem e armazenamento

Changes in the structure due to strong winds in forest areas in the Pantanal, Brazil.

The Pantanal climate presents marked seasonality and eventually strong winds occur, especially in the beginning of the rainy season, which may last from September or October until April. A phytosociological study was conducted to evaluate the effects of a strong wind on the composition and structure of two forest formations in Pantanal wetland, a semideciduous forest (19º 15’ 32’’S and 55º 45’ 23.7’’W) and a forested savanna - “cerradão” (19° 17’ 21’’S and 55º 45’ 8.9’’W), with trees with diameter at breast height (DBH) ? 5 cm. After the strong wind, a reduction of 6% of the basal area and volume in the semideciduous forest was observed, mainly due to the uprooting of Xylopia aromatica trees. In the forested savanna, the basal area and volume reduction was even higher; an estimated 10%, representing 69 uprooted trees per hectare, mainly of Copaifera martii trees. In both areas it was observed that the uprooted trees presented an average height and diameter bigger than the trees that remained intact. Usually, the trees that were uprooted presented higher wood density and the species that had broken branches had a lower density

Delayed luminescence in relation to the germination and vigour of coffee seeds: initial series with C. Arabica samples.

Ultra-weak delayed luminescence measurements on coffee seeds were run for samples submitted to different post-harvest treatments or in seed lots with different vigour levels obtained by accelerated aging, and both were induced to germinate afterwards. Parameters of hyperbolic decay fitting were correlated to the correspondent germination vigour, with a linear relation found for the initial value as well as for the decay velocity. These preliminary data point to further, broader validation for this non-invasive, non-destructive test for seed?s viability analyses

Radiological impact of soil biosolid amendment on maize grown in a Brazilian Ferralsol.

Sewage sludge has predominantly organic composition and can improve soil characteristics, such as fertility and erosion resistance. Therefore, its application as an amendment for agriculture is an adequate alternative for its final disposal. However, there is a lack of information concerning soil enrichment with radionuclides in long-term experiments in tropical areas. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine the impact of soil biosolid amendment on the concentration of 210Pb, 226Ra, 228Ra, U, Th, and other elements in maize grown in a Brazilian Ferralsol. The results obtained showed that radionuclide concentrations in maize grains were not significantly influenced by either the applied biosolid doses, or biosolid origin, or the interaction of these two factors