A SOMATOTROFINA BOVINA (bST) E SUA RELAÇÃO COM O RECRUTAMENTO FOLICULAR OVARIANO DURANTE O CICLO ESTRAL DE VACAS

O objetivo do experimento foi testar os efeitos da somatotrofina bovina (BST) no recrutamento de folículos ovarianos, durante o ciclo estral de vacas. Foram utilizadas seis vacas não lactantes Bostrurus taurus antes do experimento, os animais foram submetidos a exames ginecológicos completos, estando o escore médio da condição corporal dos animais em 3,0. As vacas foram divididas ao acaso em dois grupos: G1 - três animais, tratados com somatotrofina bovina recombinante (BST) 500 mg, de liberação lenta com vitamina E (IM); G2 - três vacas controles, que receberam 10 ml (IM) de solução fisiológica estéril como placebo. Para sincronizar o estro base das vacas foram utilizados implantes de norgestomet de 3 mg, na face externa da orelha (SC). O implante permaneceu por 10 dias seguidos nos animais de ambos os grupos e na sua retirada, utilizou-se uma dose de 500 ì g de cloprostenol (IM). No 3º dia pós estro os animais foram tratados respectivamente com BST (G1) e solução fisiológica para os controles (G2). Diariamente, a partir do dia do estro base até o próximo estro, os ovários das vacas foram monitorados¨ ultrassonograficamente com vistas ao número de folículos recrutados em cada onda folicular, verificação do folículo dominante (FD) e sua evolução, bem como o diâmetro individual dos outros folículos. Para o monitoramento folicular ovariano, foi utilizado aparelho de ultrassonografia e transdutor linear de 5.0 megahertz. Foram detectados durante o ciclo estral em média 8,5 e 8,3 folículos maiores que 4,0 mm de diâmetro nos animais dos G1 e G2 respectivamente; em torno do 10º dia pós tratamento observou-se o maior número de folículos recrutados em ambos os grupos; houve cinco animais com 2 ondas foliculares e um com três, sendo o número de folículos recrutados em cada onda como segue (G1 e G2, respectivamente): 1ª onda 7,6 e 7,0; 2ª onda 8,3 e 8,0; dia da detecção do 1º FD 1,0 e 1,6 dias ; 2º FD 8,6 e 9,0 dias; duração da 1ª onda folicular 11,6 e 9,6 dias; da 2ª onda folicular 8,0 e 7,6 dias; diâmetro máximo do 1º FD 18,2 e 15,8 mm; do 2º FD 16,6 e 15,0 mm; diâmetro do corpo lúteo (CL) do estro base 30,7 e 24,3 mm; dia do diâmetro folicular máximo pós tratamento do FD da 1ª onda: 8,6º e 10,3º; do 2º FD 18,6º e 16,6º dia. Baseados nesses resultados concluiu-se que a aplicação isolada de BST no 3º dia do ciclo estral, não exerceu influência entre os grupos relativamente ao recrutamento folicular ovariano, à exceção da duração da fase luteal, a qual alongou-se significativamente (p0,05) entre os grupos. A administração do BST expressou uma tendência em maior número de folículos recrutados (p>0,05). The bovine somatotrophin in the estrus cycle and its relationships with the ovarian follicular recruitment in cows Abstract The aim of this research was to evaluate the effects of the bovine somatotropin (BST) on the ovarian follicular wave of estrus cycle in cows. Six nonlactating cows Bos taurus taurus, from which four Holstein Friesian, one Jersey and one Holstein-pingzgauer breed, were used. The cows were submitted to a genital examination prior to the experiment, the mean body score condition observed being 3.0. The animals were maintained on oat and azeven pasture, with corn silage and mineral suplementation ad libitum. The cows were ramdomly divided in two groups: G1 three animals treated with 500 mg BST in the third day post estrus; G2 - three control cows (10 ml physiologic solution). Norgestomet implants on the ear internal face and intramuscular PGF2 alpha were used to perform the estrus synchronization. The bovine ovaries were daily scanned by ultrasound, from the estrus day to the following estrus, in order to detect the follicular development in each follicular wave. During the estrus cycle 8.5 and 8.3 follicles bigger than 4.0 mm of diameter were detected in G1 and G2, respectively. The highest number of recruitment follicles occurred in both groups around the 10th day post treatment; five cows had two follicular waves and the other, one. The number of recruitment follicles in each wave for G1 and G2 group was respectively: 1st wave, 7.6 and 7.0; 2nd wave, 8.3 and 8.0; 1st dominant follicle (FD) detection 1.0 and 1.6 days; 2nd FD detection 8.6 and 9.0 days; 1st follicular wave length, 11.6 and 9.6 days; 2nd follicular wave, 8.0 and 7.6 days. The maximum diameter of the 1st FD was 18.2 and 15.8 mm; from the 2nd FD 16.6 and 15.0 mm; CL diameter from the estrus basis, 30.7 and 24.3 mm; at the day of the major follicular diameter post treatment of the 1st FD (1st wave) 8.6 and 10.3; from the 2nd wave, FD 18.6 and 16.6 day, respectively. In conclusion, the isolated administration of BST in the 3rd day of the estrus cycle did not influence the follicular recruitment between groups, except on the length of the luteal phase (p0.05) between groups. The BST effect appointed a tendency on the greater number of recruitment follicles (p>0,05)

Studies on the mineral nutrition of rice: XXIII. Evaluation of the nutritional status of cv. L-45

Rice plants were grown in complete and deficient nutrient solutions, with respect to macronutrients. Growth was affected by lack of N, P and Mg only. The concentration of the elements in dry matter, however, was affected by the treatments. Both leaf analyses and quick tissue tests showed to be adequate to show variations in mineral composition in response to the omission of either N, P on K from the substrate. Foliar nitrate reductase activity decreased when any element, except Ca (increase) was lacking.O arroz de sequeiro, cv. L-45, foi cultivado em solução nutritiva contendo todos os macro e micronutrientes e com omissão dos primeiros, um de cada vez. A falta dos elementos no substrato afetou o crescimento na seguinte ordem crescente: nitrogênio, fósforo e magnésio. Não se notou influência da omissão dos demais na produção de matéria seca, embora tivesse havido diminuição no teor do elemento na planta quando o mesmo foi fornecido em concentração menor na solução. Verificou-se através da diagnose foliar redução no teor de N, P e K quando os mesmos se achavam deficientes. Resultado análogo foi obtido ao se fazer teste rápido (spot teste) para nitrato, fosfato e potásio solúvel no tecido foliar. A atividade da redutase de nitrato foliar diminuiu como conseqüência de todos os tratamentos, exceto o menos Ca, ca so em que aumentou significativamente

The Fluorescence Detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Pierre Auger Observatory is a hybrid detector for ultra-high energy cosmic rays. It combines a surface array to measure secondary particles at ground level together with a fluorescence detector to measure the development of air showers in the atmosphere above the array. The fluorescence detector comprises 24 large telescopes specialized for measuring the nitrogen fluorescence caused by charged particles of cosmic ray air showers. In this paper we describe the components of the fluorescence detector including its optical system, the design of the camera, the electronics, and the systems for relative and absolute calibration. We also discuss the operation and the monitoring of the detector. Finally, we evaluate the detector performance and precision of shower reconstructions.Comment: 53 pages. Submitted to Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section

Anisotropy studies around the galactic centre at EeV energies with the Auger Observatory

Data from the Pierre Auger Observatory are analyzed to search for anisotropies near the direction of the Galactic Centre at EeV energies. The exposure of the surface array in this part of the sky is already significantly larger than that of the fore-runner experiments. Our results do not support previous findings of localized excesses in the AGASA and SUGAR data. We set an upper bound on a point-like flux of cosmic rays arriving from the Galactic Centre which excludes several scenarios predicting sources of EeV neutrons from Sagittarius $A$. Also the events detected simultaneously by the surface and fluorescence detectors (the `hybrid' data set), which have better pointing accuracy but are less numerous than those of the surface array alone, do not show any significant localized excess from this direction.Comment: Matches published versio

Update on the correlation of the highest energy cosmic rays with nearby extragalactic matter

Data collected by the Pierre Auger Observatory through 31 August 2007 showed evidence for anisotropy in the arrival directions of cosmic rays above the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuz'min energy threshold, \nobreak{$6\times 10^{19}$eV}. The anisotropy was measured by the fraction of arrival directions that are less than $3.1^\circ$ from the position of an active galactic nucleus within 75 Mpc (using the V\'eron-Cetty and V\'eron $12^{\rm th}$ catalog). An updated measurement of this fraction is reported here using the arrival directions of cosmic rays recorded above the same energy threshold through 31 December 2009. The number of arrival directions has increased from 27 to 69, allowing a more precise measurement. The correlating fraction is $(38^{+7}_{-6})$, compared with $21$ expected for isotropic cosmic rays. This is down from the early estimate of $(69^{+11}_{-13})$. The enlarged set of arrival directions is examined also in relation to other populations of nearby extragalactic objects: galaxies in the 2 Microns All Sky Survey and active galactic nuclei detected in hard X-rays by the Swift Burst Alert Telescope. A celestial region around the position of the radiogalaxy Cen A has the largest excess of arrival directions relative to isotropic expectations. The 2-point autocorrelation function is shown for the enlarged set of arrival directions and compared to the isotropic expectation.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physics on 31 August 201

Avaliação da incidência de antracnose, do desempenho e estado nutricional de variedades de mangueira, para cultivo orgânico, na região centro-norte do Estado de São Paulo.

A mudança do perfil do consumidor, aliada aos riscos da contaminação por agrotóxicos, tem levado à busca de alternativas ecologicamente apropriadas para produção de frutas. Os objetivos deste trabalho foram avaliar a incidência de antracnose, o desempenho e estado nutricional de variedades de mangueira conduzidas organicamente na região de Pindorama-SP. Foram utilizadas 17 variedades de mangueira. O experimento foi instalado em delineamento experimental em blocos completos ao acaso, com 17 tratamentos (variedades) e seis repetições. Foi avaliada a severidade de antracnose nas folhas, através de uma escala diagramática, atribuindo-se notas aos sintomas. Foram avaliados o crescimento e o desenvolvimento (altura da planta, perímetro do tronco e da copa) e o estado nutricional, mediante análise foliar, das diferentes variedades utilizadas. Através dos resultados obtidos, podem-se considerar como muito suscetíveis à antracnose as variedades Bourbon, Rocha e Rosa; e resistentes, as variedades IAC 111, Alfa, Beta e Parvin; as variedades de manga apresentaram o mesmo padrão de crescimento; as maiores alturas da planta corresponderam aos maiores diâmetros do tronco e da copa; a variedade Parvin apresentou o melhor desempenho dentre as variedades estudadas, com relação à resistência à antracnose, altura e diâmetro do caule e da copa, podendo ser recomendada ao cultivo orgânico. As variedades Omega e Alfa também apresentaram bom crescimento, podendo ser indicadas para esse cultivo, pelo menos nessa fase inicial; as variedades Surpresa e Rosa não apresentaram bom desempenho, no campo, em relação às demais, não devendo ser recomendadas para o cultivo orgânico, principalmente a variedade Rosa, bastante suscetível à antracnose. As concentrações de N, P e K foram elevadas na fase vegetativa das plantas, comparadas à baixa concentração de Ca; houve carência de Boro em todas as variedades estudadas. A manga Rosa, provavelmente, sofreu toxicidade ao excesso de manganês, ocasionando diminuição em seu desenvolvimento

Advanced functionality for radio analysis in the Offline software framework of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The advent of the Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) necessitates the development of a powerful framework for the analysis of radio measurements of cosmic ray air showers. As AERA performs "radio-hybrid" measurements of air shower radio emission in coincidence with the surface particle detectors and fluorescence telescopes of the Pierre Auger Observatory, the radio analysis functionality had to be incorporated in the existing hybrid analysis solutions for fluoresence and surface detector data. This goal has been achieved in a natural way by extending the existing Auger Offline software framework with radio functionality. In this article, we lay out the design, highlights and features of the radio extension implemented in the Auger Offline framework. Its functionality has achieved a high degree of sophistication and offers advanced features such as vectorial reconstruction of the electric field, advanced signal processing algorithms, a transparent and efficient handling of FFTs, a very detailed simulation of detector effects, and the read-in of multiple data formats including data from various radio simulation codes. The source code of this radio functionality can be made available to interested parties on request.Comment: accepted for publication in NIM A, 13 pages, minor corrections to author list and references in v

Evidence for a mixed mass composition at the `ankle' in the cosmic-ray spectrum

We report a first measurement for ultra-high energy cosmic rays of the correlation between the depth of shower maximum and the signal in the water Cherenkov stations of air-showers registered simultaneously by the fluorescence and the surface detectors of the Pierre Auger Observatory. Such a correlation measurement is a unique feature of a hybrid air-shower observatory with sensitivity to both the electromagnetic and muonic components. It allows an accurate determination of the spread of primary masses in the cosmic-ray flux. Up till now, constraints on the spread of primary masses have been dominated by systematic uncertainties. The present correlation measurement is not affected by systematics in the measurement of the depth of shower maximum or the signal in the water Cherenkov stations. The analysis relies on general characteristics of air showers and is thus robust also with respect to uncertainties in hadronic event generators. The observed correlation in the energy range around the `ankle' at $\lg(E/{\rm eV})=18.5-19.0$ differs significantly from expectations for pure primary cosmic-ray compositions. A light composition made up of proton and helium only is equally inconsistent with observations. The data are explained well by a mixed composition including nuclei with mass $A > 4$. Scenarios such as the proton dip model, with almost pure compositions, are thus disfavoured as the sole explanation of the ultrahigh-energy cosmic-ray flux at Earth.Comment: Published version. Added journal reference and DOI. Added Report Numbe

Search for First Harmonic Modulation in the Right Ascension Distribution of Cosmic Rays Detected at the Pierre Auger Observatory

We present the results of searches for dipolar-type anisotropies in different energy ranges above $2.5\times 10^{17}$ eV with the surface detector array of the Pierre Auger Observatory, reporting on both the phase and the amplitude measurements of the first harmonic modulation in the right-ascension distribution. Upper limits on the amplitudes are obtained, which provide the most stringent bounds at present, being below 2% at 99% $C.L.$ for EeV energies. We also compare our results to those of previous experiments as well as with some theoretical expectations.Comment: 28 pages, 11 figure

Search for a W' boson decaying to a bottom quark and a top quark in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

Results are presented from a search for a W' boson using a dataset corresponding to 5.0 inverse femtobarns of integrated luminosity collected during 2011 by the CMS experiment at the LHC in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV. The W' boson is modeled as a heavy W boson, but different scenarios for the couplings to fermions are considered, involving both left-handed and right-handed chiral projections of the fermions, as well as an arbitrary mixture of the two. The search is performed in the decay channel W' to t b, leading to a final state signature with a single lepton (e, mu), missing transverse energy, and jets, at least one of which is tagged as a b-jet. A W' boson that couples to fermions with the same coupling constant as the W, but to the right-handed rather than left-handed chiral projections, is excluded for masses below 1.85 TeV at the 95% confidence level. For the first time using LHC data, constraints on the W' gauge coupling for a set of left- and right-handed coupling combinations have been placed. These results represent a significant improvement over previously published limits.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters B. Replaced with version publishe