Preovulatory follicle dynamics in Toggenburg goats after treatment with intravaginal implants of progesterone for 6, 9 or 12 days.

Edição dos Abstracts do II International Symposium on animal Biology or Reproduction, São Paulo, nov. 2008

Sincronização de estro em cabras da raça Toggenburg após a utilização de protocolos hormonais de curta, média e longa duração.

Oestrous syncronization in Toggenburg after use of long, médium and short-term protocols

Observational constraints on low redshift evolution of dark energy: How consistent are different observations?

The dark energy component of the universe is often interpreted either in terms of a cosmological constant or as a scalar field. A generic feature of the scalar field models is that the equation of state parameter w= P/rho for the dark energy need not satisfy w=-1 and, in general, it can be a function of time. Using the Markov chain Monte Carlo method we perform a critical analysis of the cosmological parameter space, allowing for a varying w. We use constraints on w(z) from the observations of high redshift supernovae (SN), the WMAP observations of CMB anisotropies and abundance of rich clusters of galaxies. For models with a constant w, the LCDM model is allowed with a probability of about 6% by the SN observations while it is allowed with a probability of 98.9% by WMAP observations. The LCDM model is allowed even within the context of models with variable w: WMAP observations allow it with a probability of 99.1% whereas SN data allows it with 23% probability. The SN data, on its own, favors phantom like equation of state (w<-1) and high values for Omega_NR. It does not distinguish between constant w (with w<-1) models and those with varying w(z) in a statistically significant manner. The SN data allows a very wide range for variation of dark energy density, e.g., a variation by factor ten in the dark energy density between z=0 and z=1 is allowed at 95% confidence level. WMAP observations provide a better constraint and the corresponding allowed variation is less than a factor of three. Allowing for variation in w has an impact on the values for other cosmological parameters in that the allowed range often becomes larger. (Abridged)Comment: 21 pages, PRD format (Revtex 4), postscript figures. minor corrections to improve clarity; references, acknowledgement adde

Laser induced synthesis of nickel alloy (alumel) nanoparticles in liquids

Pulsed laser ablation in liquids (PLAL) has been growing as a powerful technique for the synthesis of multielement nanoparticles (NPs) such as metal alloys with complex composition. In consequence, there is a great necessity in expanding the current knowledge about alloy NPs formation during this method, aiming to control the chemical composition of produced NPs. In this work, a nanosecond Nd:YAG laser was used to synthesize NPs of a novel nickel (Ni) alloy, and a brief description regarding the influence of liquid media in size and stability of produced nanoparticles is presented. The results showed great stability in the colloids produced in isopropanol medium without using a surfactant, whereas this environment allowed the production of smaller nanoparticles.This work has been supported by FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia – Portugal) in the scope of the projects UID/EEA/04436/2013 and NORTE-01- 0145-FEDER-000018-HAMaBICo. It is also co-funded by National Funds through FCT - Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, Reference UID/CTM/50025/2013 and FEDER funds through the COMPETE 2020 Programme under the project number POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007688. Thank the CNPq (205791/2014-0) and CAPES for financial support

Power Spectra for Cold Dark Matter and its Variants

The bulk of recent cosmological research has focused on the adiabatic cold dark matter model and its simple extensions. Here we present an accurate fitting formula that describes the matter transfer functions of all common variants, including mixed dark matter models. The result is a function of wavenumber, time, and six cosmological parameters: the massive neutrino density, number of neutrino species degenerate in mass, baryon density, Hubble constant, cosmological constant, and spatial curvature. We show how observational constraints---e.g. the shape of the power spectrum, the abundance of clusters and damped Lyman-alpha systems, and the properties of the Lyman-alpha forest--- can be extended to a wide range of cosmologies, including variations in the neutrino and baryon fractions in both high-density and low-density universes.Comment: 20 pages, LaTeX, 4 figures. Submitted to ApJ. Electronic versions of the fitting formula, as well as simple codes to output cosmological quantities (e.g. sigma_8) as a function of parameters and illustrative animations of parameter dependence, are available at http://www.sns.ias.edu/~whu/transfer/transfer.htm

Constraining dark energy with Sunyaev-Zel'dovich cluster surveys

We discuss the prospects of constraining the properties of a dark energy component, with particular reference to a time varying equation of state, using future cluster surveys selected by their Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect. We compute the number of clusters expected for a given set of cosmological parameters and propogate the errors expected from a variety of surveys. In the short term they will constrain dark energy in conjunction with future observations of type Ia supernovae, but may in time do so in their own right.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, version accepted for publication in PR

SARCOMA DE KAPOSI - REVISÃO CLÍNICO-PATOLÓGICA

Introduction: Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is a systemic disease, whose neoplastic or reactive nature is controversial and its etiologic agent is human herpes virus type 8 (HHV-8). There are 4 clinical subtypes: classical, epidemic, endemic and iatrogenic.Material and methods: A retrospective review of clinical records and histological preparations of KS cases, diagnosed between January 2001 and December 2013 at the Dermatopathology Department of Hospital Egas Moniz and Centro de Dermatologia Médico-Cirúrgica de Lisboa was made and we assessed differences between the various types.Results: Ninety-one cases were diagnosed, 67.0% of classic KS, 30.8% of epidemic KS; 1.1% of endemic KS and 1.1% of iatrogenic KS. It was found that 85.7% of patients were male and 14.3% were female, and this dominance occurred in all variants. The average age of patients with epidemic KS was lower than the classic variant (37.3 vs 70.0 years, p&lt; 0.001). The lower limbs were the preferred location for all variants (74.2%). Histologically, in patients with classic KS, there was a predominance of the nodule stage (62.3%), while in epidemic KS, plaque was the most common stage (46.4 %) and this difference being almost statistically significant ( p = 0.057). No differences were observed in the various histological stages between classic and epidemic SK.Conclusions: The observed differences in epidemic KS seem to relate more with subtle changes inherent to early lesions rather than only differences of this variant , which is in agreement with the literature.Introdução: O Sarcoma de Kaposi (SK) é uma afecção sistémica, cuja natureza neoplásica ou reactiva é controversa, que parece ter como origem a célula endotelial linfática e tem como agente etiológico o vírus herpes humano tipo 8 (HHV8). Existem 4 subtipos clínicos: clássico, epidémico, endémico e iatrogénico.Objectivos, material e métodos: Revisão retrospectiva dos processos clínicos e preparações histológicas dos casos de SK diagnosticados entre Janeiro de 2001 e Dezembro de 2013, nos departamentos de Dermatopatologia do Hospital Egas Moniz e Centro de Dermatologia Médico-Cirúrgica de Lisboa e avaliar diferenças entre os vários tipos.Resultados: Incluiu-se um total de 91 doentes, dos quais 67,0% correspondiam a SK clássico; 30,8% a SK epidémico; 1,1% a SK endémico e 1,1% a SK iatrogénico. Verificou-se que 85,7% dos doentes eram do sexo masculino e 14,3% do sexo feminino, sendo que este predomínio ocorreu em todas as variantes. A média de idades dos doentes com SK epidémico foi inferior ao SK clássico (37,3 vs 70,0 anos, p&lt;0.001). Os membros inferiores foram a localização preferencial de todas as variantes (74,2%). Histologicamente, nos doentes com SK clássico, verificou-se um predomínio do estádio nódulo (62,3%), enquanto no SK epidémico o estádio mais comum foi placa (46,4%), sendo esta diferença quase estatisticamente significativa (p= 0,057). Não se observaram diferenças nos vários estádios histológicos nos diferentes subtipos clínicos.Conclusões: As diferenças observadas no SK epidémico parecem relacionar-se mais com alterações subtis, inerentes a lesões precoces, em vez de diferenças únicas desta variante, o que está de acordo com a literatura

Clinical implications

Funding: GC was funded by Fundaçao para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT; Portugal) through a PhD Scholarship (SFRH/BD/130210/2017). AJOM was funded by FCT (Portugal) through a Junior Research and Career Development Award from the Harvard Medical School e Portugal Program (HMSP-ICJ/0020/2011). GC and AJO-M were supported by grant PTDC/MED-NEU/31331/2017, and AJO-M by grant PTDC/MED-NEU/30302/2017, funded by national funds from FCT/MCTES and co-funded by FEDER, under the Partnership Agreement Lisboa 2020 - Programa Operacional Regional de Lisboa. The content of this study is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Fundaçao para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Harvard University or its affiliated academic health care centers. AJO-M was national coordinator for Portugal of a noninterventional study (EDMS-ERI-143085581, 4.0) to characterize a Treatment-Resistant Depression Cohort in Europe, sponsored by Janssen-Cilag, Ltd (2019e2020), is recipient of a grant from Schuhfried GmBH for norming and validation of cognitive tests, and is national coordinator for Portugal of trials of psilocybin therapy for treatment-resistant depression, sponsored by Compass Pathways, Ltd (EudraCT number 2017-003288-36 and 2020-001348- 25), and of esketamine for treatment-resistant depression, sponsored by Janssen-Cilag, Ltd (EudraCT NUMBER: 2019-002992-33). AP-L is a co-founder of Linus Health and TI Solutions AG; serves on the scientific advisory boards for Starlab Neuroscience, Neuroelectrics, Magstim Inc., Nexstim, Cognito, and MedRhythms; and is listed as an inventor on several issued and pending patents on the real-time integration of noninvasive brain stimulation with electroencephalography and magnetic resonance imaging. None of the aforementioned agencies had a role in the design and conduct of the study, in the collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data, in the preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript, nor in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. The remaining authors have declared that they have no potential conflicts of interest involving this work, including relevant financial activities outside the submitted work and any other relationships or activities that readers could perceive to have influenced, or that give the appearance of potentially influencing what is written.Background: When repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is used to treat medication refractory depression, the treatment pulse intensity is individualized according to motor threshold (MT). This measure is often acquired only on the first day of treatment, as per the protocol currently approved by Food and Drug Administration. Objective: Here, we aimed to assess daily MT variability across an rTMS treatment course and simulate the effects of different schedules of MT assessment on treatment intensity. Methods: We conducted a naturalistic retrospective study with 374 patients from a therapeutic rTMS program for depression that measures MT daily. Results: For each patient, in almost half the TMS sessions, MT varied on average more than 5% as compared to the baseline MT acquired in the first treatment day. Such variability was only minimally impacted by having different TMS technicians acquiring MT in different days. In a smaller cohort of healthy individuals, we confirmed that the motor hotspot localization method, a critical step for accurate MT assessment, was stable in different days, arguing that daily MT variability reflects physiological variability, rather than an artifact of measurement error. Finally, in simulations of the effect of one-time MT measurement, we found that half of sessions would have been 5% or more above or below target intensity, with almost 5% of sessions 25% above target intensity. The simulated effects of weekly MT measurements were significantly improved. Conclusions: In conclusion, MT varies significantly across days, not fully dependent on methods of MT acquisition. This finding may have important implications for therapeutic rTMS practice regarding safety and suggests that regular MT assessments, daily or at least weekly, would ameliorate the effect.publishersversionpublishe

Variability in motor threshold

Funding Information: GC was funded by Funda??o para a Ci?ncia e Tecnologia (FCT; Portugal) through a PhD Scholarship (SFRH/BD/130210/2017). AJO-M was funded by FCT (Portugal) through a Junior Research and Career Development Award from the Harvard Medical School ? Portugal Program (HMSP-ICJ/0020/2011). GC and AJO-M were supported by grant PTDC/MED-NEU/31331/2017, and AJO-M by grant PTDC/MED-NEU/30302/2017, funded by national funds from FCT/MCTES and co-funded by FEDER, under the Partnership Agreement Lisboa 2020 - Programa Operacional Regional de Lisboa. The content of this study is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Funda??o para a Ci?ncia e Tecnologia, Harvard University or its affiliated academic health care centers. Funding Information: GC was funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT; Portugal) through a PhD Scholarship ( SFRH/BD/130210/2017 ). AJO-M was funded by FCT (Portugal) through a Junior Research and Career Development Award from the Harvard Medical School – Portugal Program ( HMSP-ICJ/0020/2011 ). GC and AJO-M were supported by grant PTDC/MED-NEU/31331/2017, and AJO-M by grant PTDC/MED-NEU/30302/2017, funded by national funds from FCT/MCTES and co-funded by FEDER , under the Partnership Agreement Lisboa 2020 - Programa Operacional Regional de Lisboa. The content of this study is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Harvard University or its affiliated academic health care centers. Funding Information: AJO-M was national coordinator for Portugal of a non-interventional study (EDMS-ERI-143085581, 4.0) to characterize a Treatment-Resistant Depression Cohort in Europe, sponsored by Janssen-Cilag, Ltd (2019–2020), is recipient of a grant from Schuhfried GmBH for norming and validation of cognitive tests, and is national coordinator for Portugal of trials of psilocybin therapy for treatment-resistant depression, sponsored by Compass Pathways, Ltd (EudraCT number 2017-003288-36 and 2020-001348-25), and of esketamine for treatment-resistant depression, sponsored by Janssen-Cilag, Ltd (EudraCT NUMBER: 2019-002992-33). AP-L is a co-founder of Linus Health and TI Solutions AG; serves on the scientific advisory boards for Starlab Neuroscience, Magstim Inc., Radiant Hearts, and MedRhythms; and is listed as an inventor on several issued and pending patents on the real-time integration of noninvasive brain stimulation with electroencephalography and magnetic resonance imaging. None of the aforementioned agencies or companies had a role in the design and conduct of the study, in the collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data, in the preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript, nor in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. The remaining authors have declared that they have no potential conflicts of interest involving this work, including relevant financial activities outside the submitted work and any other relationships or activities that readers could perceive to have influenced, or that give the appearance of potentially influencing what is written.publishersversionpublishe

Effects of 2 or 5 consecutive exercise days on adipocyte area and lipid parameters in Wistar rats

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Exercise has been prescribed in the treatment and control of dyslipidemias and cholesterolemia, however, lipid responses to different training frequencies in hypercholesterolemic men have been inconsistent. We sought to verify if different frequencies of continuous moderate exercise (2 or 5 days/week, swimming) can, after 8 weeks, promote adaptations in adipocyte area and lipid parameters, as well as body weight and relative weight of tissues in normo and hypercholesterolemic adult male rats.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Normal cholesterol chow diet or cholesterol-rich diet (1% cholesterol plus 0.25% cholic acid) were freely given during 8 weeks to the rats divided in 6 experimentals groups: sedentary normal cholesterol chow diet (C); sedentary cholesterol-rich diet (H); 5× per week continuous training normal cholesterol chow diet (TC5) and cholesterol-rich diet (TH5); 2× per week continuos traning normal cholesterol chow diet (TC2) and cholesterol-rich diet (TH2).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>No changes were observed in lipid profile in normal cholesterol chow diet, but both 2 a 5 days/week exercise improved this profile in cholesterol-rich diet. Body weight gain was lower in exercised rats. Decrease in retroperitoneal and epididymal relative weights as well as reductions in adipocyte areas under all diets types were observed only in 5 days/week, while 2 days/week showed improvements mainly in cholesterol-rich diet rats.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results confirm the importance of exercise protocols to control dyslipidemias and obesity in rats. The effects of 5 days/week exercise were more pronounced compared with those of 2 consecutive days/week training.</p