Hepatic Blood Flow in Hepatic Bilharzial Fibrosis Before and After Surgery

This review confirms that in hepatic bilharziaI fibrosis the hepatic blood flow (HBF) values obtained indirectly by the depuration constant of IlII rose bengal are within the limits of normality. The variations of the HBF before and after splenectomy and splenorenal shunt were also studied.S. Afr. Med. J., 48, 1312 (1974)

Bias in the prediction of genetic gain due to mass and half-sib selection in random mating populations

The prediction of gains from selection allows the comparison of breeding methods and selection strategies, although these estimates may be biased. The objective of this study was to investigate the extent of such bias in predicting genetic gain. For this, we simulated 10 cycles of a hypothetical breeding program that involved seven traits, three population classes, three experimental conditions and two breeding methods (mass and half-sib selection). Each combination of trait, population, heritability, method and cycle was repeated 10 times. The predicted gains were biased, even when the genetic parameters were estimated without error. Gain from selection in both genders is twice the gain from selection in a single gender only in the absence of dominance. The use of genotypic variance or broad sense heritability in the predictions represented an additional source of bias. Predictions based on additive variance and narrow sense heritability were equivalent, as were predictions based on genotypic variance and broad sense heritability. The predictions based on mass and family selection were suitable for comparing selection strategies, whereas those based on selection within progenies showed the largest bias and lower association with the realized gain

Application of amorphous carbon based materials as antireflective coatings on crystalline silicon solar cells

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)We report on the investigation of the potential application of different forms of amorphous carbon (a-C and a-C:H) as an antireflective coating for crystalline silicon solar cells. Polymeric-like carbon (PLC) and hydrogenated diamond-like carbon films were deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. Tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C) was deposited by the filtered cathodic vacuum arc technique. Those three different amorphous carbon structures were individually applied as single antireflective coatings on conventional (polished and texturized) p-n junction crystalline silicon solar cells. Due to their optical properties, good results were also obtained for double-layer antireflective coatings based on PLC or ta-C films combined with different materials. The results are compared with a conventional tin dioxide (SnO(2)) single-layer antireflective coating and zinc sulfide/magnesium fluoride (ZnS/MgF(2)) double-layer antireflective coatings. An increase of 23.7% in the short-circuit current density, J(sc), was obtained using PLC as an antireflective coating and 31.7% was achieved using a double-layer of PLC with a layer of magnesium fluoride (MgF(2)). An additional increase of 10.8% was obtained in texturized silicon, representing a total increase (texturization + double-layer) of about 40% in the short-circuit current density. The potential use of these materials are critically addressed considering their refractive index, optical bandgap, absorption coefficient, hardness, chemical inertness, and mechanical stability. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3622515]1104Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Brazilian financial research agency MCTConselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq

Astrocyte structural heterogeneity in the mouse hippocampus

Astrocytes are integral components of brain circuits, where they sense, process, and respond to surrounding activity, maintaining homeostasis and regulating synaptic transmission, the sum of which results in behavior modulation. These interactions are possible due to their complex morphology, composed of a tree-like structure of processes to cover defined territories ramifying in a mesh-like system of fine leaflets unresolved by conventional optic microscopy. While recent reports devoted more attention to leaflets and their dynamic interactions with synapses, our knowledge about the tree-like "backbone" structure in physiological conditions is incomplete. Recent transcriptomic studies described astrocyte molecular diversity, suggesting structural heterogeneity in regions such as the hippocampus, which is crucial for cognitive and emotional behaviors. In this study, we carried out the structural analysis of astrocytes across the hippocampal subfields of Cornu Ammonis area 1 (CA1) and dentate gyrus in the dorsoventral axis. We found that astrocytes display heterogeneity across the hippocampal subfields, which is conserved along the dorsoventral axis. We further found that astrocytes appear to contribute in an exocytosis-dependent manner to a signaling loop that maintains the backbone structure. These findings reveal astrocyte heterogeneity in the hippocampus, which appears to follow layer-specific cues and depend on the neuro-glial environment.Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), Grant/Award Numbers: UIDP/50026/2020,UIDB/50026/2020; IF grant, Grant/AwardNumber: IF/00328/2015; Bial Foundation,Grant/Award Number: 037/18; “la Caixa”Foundation, Grant/Award Number: LCF/PR/HR21/52410024; Portuguese Platform ofBioimaging, Grant/Award Number: PPBI-POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022122; GermanResearch Foundation, Grant/Award Numbers:HE6949/3, SPP1757 HE6949/1, SFB1089B03; European Union, Grant/Award Number:H2020-MSCA-ITN; Fonds WetenschappelijkOnderzoek, Grant/Award Number:G066715N; KU Leuven Internal Funding(C1 grant), Grant/Award Number:C14/20/071; European Research Council(ERC) Grant, Grant/Award Number: 28196

Exposure of neonatal rats to maternal cafeteria feeding during suckling alters hepatic gene expression and DNA methylation in the insulin signalling pathway

Nutrition in early life is a determinant of lifelong physiological and metabolic function. Diseases that are associated with ageing may, therefore, have their antecedents in maternal nutrition during pregnancy and lactation. Rat mothers were fed either a standard laboratory chow diet (C) or a cafeteria diet (O) based upon a varied panel of highly palatable human foods, during lactation. Their offspring were then weaned onto chow or cafeteria diet giving four groups of animals (CC, CO, OC, OO n=9-10). Livers were harvested 10 weeks post-weaning for assessment of gene and protein expression, and DNA methylation. Cafeteria feeding post-weaning impaired glucose tolerance and was associated with sex-specific altered mRNA expression of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma (PPARg) and components of the insulin-signalling pathway (Irs2, Akt1 and IrB). Exposure to the cafeteria diet during the suckling period modified the later response to the dietary challenge. Post-weaning cafeteria feeding only down-regulated IrB when associated with cafeteria feeding during suckling (group OO, interaction of diet in weaning and lactation P=0.041). Responses to cafeteria diet during both phases of the experiment varied between males and females. Global DNA methylation was altered in the liver following cafeteria feeding in the post-weaning period, in males but not females. Methylation of the IrB promoter was increased in group OC, but not OO (P=0.036). The findings of this study add to a growing evidence base that suggests tissue function across the lifespan a product of cumulative modifications to the epigenome and transcriptome, which may be both tissue and sex-specific