Matched case-control study evaluating the frequency of the main agents associated with neonatal diarrhea in piglets

A case-control study was carried out in litters of 1 to 7-day-old piglets to identify the main infectious agents involved with neonatal diarrhea in pigs. Fecal samples (n=276) from piglets were collected on pig farms in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, from May to September 2007. Litters with diarrhea were considered cases (n=129) and normal litters (n=147) controls. The samples were examined by latex agglutination test, PAGE, conventional isolating techniques, ELISA, PCR, and microscopic methods in order to detect rotavirus, bacterial pathogens (Escherichia coli, Clostridium perfringens type A and C, and Clostridium difficile), and parasites (Coccidian and Cryptosporidium spp.). Outbreaks of diarrhea were not observed during sampling. At least one agent was detected in fecal samples on 25 out of 28 farms (89.3%) and in 16 farms (57.1%) more than one agent was found. The main agents diagnosed were Coccidia (42.86%) and rotavirus (39.29%). The main agents identified in litters with diarrhea were Clostridium difficile (10.6%), Clostridium perfringens type A (8.8%) and rotavirus (7.5%); in control litters, Clostridium difficile (16.6%) and Coccidian (8.5%). Beta hemolytic Escherichia coli and Clostridium perfringens type C were not detected. When compared with controls, no agent was significantly associated with diarrhea in case litters. These findings stress the need for caution in the interpretation of laboratorial diagnosis of mild diarrhea in neonatal pigs, as the sole detection of an agent does not necessarily indicate that it is the cause of the problem.

Productive performance and milk protein fraction composition of dairy cows supplemented with sodium monensin

The objective of this work was to evaluate the levels of sodium monensin on lactating cows and their effects on productive performance and milk protein fraction composition. It was used 12 Holstein cows, distributed in four balanced 3 × 3 Latin squares, and fed three diets: one control without monensin, and two diets with monensin at the levels of 24 or 48 mg/kg DM added to the concentrate. Milk production was daily measured throughout the entire experimental period. The samples used for analysis of milk composition were collected on two alternated days from the two daily milking. Non-protein nitrogen, total nitrogen and non-casein nitrogen contents were directly evaluated in the milk, and casein, whey protein and true protein contents were indirectly determined. The use of monensin in the rations reduced dry matter and nutrient intake, especially when diet with 48 mg/kg of dry matter was given. The ration with 24 mg/kg of DM increased milk production, with or without correction, and also fat and lactose yield, and it improved productive efficiency. The levels of monensin in the ratios did not influence contents of milk crude protein, non-protein nitrogen, non-casein nitrogen, true protein, casein, casein/true protein ratio, whey protein, and of all those fractions expressed as percentage of crude protein. The utilization of monensin in the ratio at the dose of 24 mg/kg of DM influences positively the productive performance of lactating cows, and it does not influence the composition of milk protein fractions.

Características de produção e qualidade nutricional de genótipos de capim- colonião colhidos em três estádios de maturidade

Objetivou- se verificar a existência de variação genética entre cultivares de capim- colonião quanto ao efeito da maturidade sobre a composição química e a digestibilidade, e classificar os genótipos de acordo com características produtivas e de qualidade nutricional. Utilizou- se o delineamento de blocos ao acaso, com parcelas subdivididas e três repetições, considerando parcelas as datas de corte e subparcelas, os genótipos. A produção de MS diferiu entre os genótipos somente aos 90 dias de crescimento, mas a porcentagem de folhas, colmos e material morto variou tanto aos 60 como aos 90 dias de crescimento. Ao contrário do observado para as folhas, a composição química e a digestibilidade do colmo apresentou grande variabilidade entre os genótipos. O colmo apresentou concentrações mais elevadas de FDN, FDA e lignina e menores valores de PB em comparação às folhas. Apresentou ainda maior digestibilidade da MS aos 60 dias de crescimento e maior digestibilidade da FDN aos 30 e 60 dias de crescimento. No agrupamento dos cultivares, os genótipos PM39 e PM47 foram apontados como os mais promissores no programa de melhoramento, por apresentarem alta produtividade e alta qualidade nutricional. A maturidade pouco afeta a digestibilidade de folhas em comparação ao colmo. Quando a participação de colmo no total de massa seca aumenta, esse componente passa a ser o limitador da qualidade de plantas forrageiras. Portanto, programas de melhoramento devem considerar, além da relação folha:colmo, também a digestibilidade in vitro da FDN do colmo na seleção de genótipos.

Níveis de fósforo disponível e tamanho de partícula do fosfato bicálcico na dieta de poedeiras comerciais de 24 a 58 semanas de idade

Um experimento foi conduzido para verificar o efeito de níveis de fósforo e do tamanho de partícula do fosfato bicálcico na dieta de poedeiras comerciais na fase de produção. Utilizou-se um delineamento experimental inteiramente casualizado, em esquema fatorial 2 × 3 com dois tamanhos de partícula do fosfato (fino e granulado) e três níveis de fósforo disponível (0,28; 0,38 e 0,48%), totalizando seis tratamentos, cada um com cinco repetições de oito aves. As dietas experimentais foram isoproteicas, isocalóricas e isocálcicas. O consumo de ração, a produção de ovos, a massa de ovos, a conversão alimentar, a porcentagem de casca, a gravidade específica e os teores de cinzas, cálcio, fósforo e magnésio nos ossos não foram afetados pelas dietas. Dietas contendo fosfato bicálcico (fino ou granulado) e 0,28% de fósforo disponível atendem às exigências de fósforo de galinhas poedeiras semipesadas de 24 a 58 semanas de idade.

Effect of the kappa-casein gene polymorphism, breed and seasonality on physicochemical characteristics, composition and stability of bovine milk

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of genetic polymorphism of kappa-casein, breed and seasonality on the physicochemical characteristics, composition and stability of milk in commercial dairy herds. A total of 879 milk and blood samples were collected from 603 Holstein and 276 Girolando cows, obtained during rainy and dry seasons. Milk samples were analyzed to determine the physicochemical characteristics, composition and ethanol stability, while blood samples were subjected to polymerase chain reaction to identify the kappa-casein genotype. The frequencies of genotypes AA, AB and BB of k-casein were respectively, 66.83, 31.84 and 1.33% for Holstein, and 71.38, 27.90 and 0.72% for the Girolando cows, respectively. The A allele was more frequent than the B allele, both for Holstein (0.827 and 0.173) and Girolando cows (0.853 and 0.147), respectively. Cows of AB and BB genotypes showed a higher milk fat content compared to the AA genotype. There was an interaction between breed and seasonality on the concentration of milk urea with higher values for Holstein and Girolando cows in the rainy and dry season, respectively. The levels of lactose, total solids, crude protein, true protein, casein and the casein:true protein ratio were higher during the dry season, while during the rainy season, the somatic cell count and milk urea concentration were higher. There was no association between milk stability and k-casein genotypes, but Holstein cows showed higher milk stability than Girolando cows, and milk was more stable during the rainy season than during the dry season.

Suplementação nitrogenada com ureia comum ou encapsulada sobre parâmetros ruminais de novilhos alimentados com feno de baixa qualidade

Foi realizado um experimento de suplementação com novilhos fistulados no rúmen com o objetivo de verificar a utilização de ureia encapsulada como fonte de nitrogênio de liberação mais lenta e uniforme ao longo do tempo, bem como seu efeito sobre a degradabilidade da parede celular do feno. Os tratamentos foram: Feno + sal mineralizado (SM); Feno + suplemento proteico com ureia comum (SU); Feno + suplemento proteico com ureia encapsulada fórmula 1 (UE1); e Feno + suplemento proteico com ureia encapsulada fórmula 2 (UE2). O volumoso utilizado foi feno de Tifton (Cynodon dactylon L.) de baixa qualidade (PB: 4,62% e FDN: 83,46%). Foram realizadas medidas de pH e N-NH3 ruminais e parâmetros de degradação ruminal da FDN do volumoso. Verificou-se efeito (P<0,05) da suplementação nitrogenada sobre a concentração de nitrogênio amoniacal no rúmen; no entanto, a ureia encapsulada não foi diferente (P>0,05) da ureia comum. Os valores de pH e degradabilidade in situ não foram afetados pelos tratamentos (P>0,05), ao serem comparados os suplementados ou não suplementados com proteína degradável no rúmen e ao serem comparadas fontes de nitrogênio não proteico. A ureia encapsulada não demonstrou superioridade sobre a ureia comum, provavelmente pela baixa eficiência da sua proteção. A utilização de ureia encapsulada e a suplementação de proteína degradável não foram eficientes em aumentar a degradabilidade da parede celular do volumoso utilizado.

Morbidade hospitalar por causas externas no Município de São José dos Campos, Estado de São Paulo, Brasil

O objetivo dos estudo foi conhecer o perfil da morbidade das internações hospitalares por causas externas no Município de São José dos Campos, Estado de São Paulo, Brasil. Foram estudadas as internações pelo Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) por lesões decorrentes de causas externas no primeiro semestre de 2003, no Hospital Municipal. Este hospital é a principal referência para o atendimento ao trama e foi responsável por 92,3% das internações pelo SUS por causas externas no período estudado. Entre os 873 pacientes internados, as lesões decorrentes de acidentes de transporte foram resposáveis por 31,8% dos casos, as quedas por 26,7% e as causas indeterminadas por 19,5%. A razão de masculinidade foi de 3,1:1 e a faixa etária predominante de 20-29 anos, com 23,3% das internações. As lesões mais freqüentes foram as fraturas (49,8%) e o traumatismo intracraniano (13,5%). Entre as fraturas, predominaram as do fêmur e as da perna, que representaram, respectivamente, 10,8% e 10,1%. A maior taxa de internação por local de residência ocorreu na região Norte do Município, com 470,0 internações por 100.000 habitantes. O perfil da morbidade hospitalar encontrado confirmou os acidentes de transporte como importante causa de internação hospitalar no Município e contrariou a tendência geral das quedas como principal causa externa de internação hospitalar. A distribuição por sexo, idade e natureza da lesão foi semelhante aos dados encontrados na literatura. A taxa de internação por causas externas por região de residência contribuiu para o mapeamento da violência em São José dos Campos-SP

Prevalência do HPV em mulheres rastreadas para o câncer cervical

OBJETIVO: Analisar a prevalência da infecção genital por papilomavírus humano (HPV) de alto risco por faixa etária e fatores associados. MÉTODOS: Estudo transversal com amostra de 2.300 mulheres (15-65 anos) que buscaram rastreamento para o câncer cervical entre fevereiro de 2002 e março de 2003 em São Paulo e Campinas, estado de São Paulo. Aplicou-se questionário epidemiológico e realizou-se coleta cervical para citologia oncológica e teste de captura híbrida II. As análises estatísticas empregadas foram teste de qui-quadrado de Pearson e análise multivariada pelo método forward likelihood ratio. RESULTADOS: A prevalência total da infecção genital por HPV de alto risco foi de 17,8%, distribuída nas faixas etárias: 27,1% (<25 anos), 21,3% (25-34 anos), 12,1% (35-44 anos), 12,0% (45-54 anos) e de 13,9% (55-65 anos). Participantes com maior número de parceiros sexuais durante a vida apresentaram maior freqüência da infecção. Relacionamento estável, idade de 35 a 44 anos e ex-fumantes foram associados à proteção da infecção. A infecção genital por HPV de alto risco ocorreu em 14,3% das citologias normais, em 77,8% das lesões escamosas de alto grau e nos dois (100%) casos de carcinoma. CONCLUSÕES: A prevalência da infecção genital por HPV de alto risco na amostra estudada foi alta. Houve predomínio de casos abaixo dos 25 anos e tendência a um novo aumento após os 55 anos, com maior freqüência naqueles com maior número de parceiros sexuais durante a vida

Development of a DNA-dosimeter system for monitoring the effects of solar-ultraviolet radiation

Solar radiation sustains and affects all life forms on Earth. In recent years, the increase in environmental levels of solar-UV radiation due to depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer, as a result of anthropogenic emission of destructive chemicals, has highlighted serious issues of social concern. This becomes still more dramatic in tropical and subtropical regions, where the intensity of solar radiation is higher. To better understand the impact of the harmful effects of solar-UV radiation on the DNA molecule, we developed a reliable biological monitoring system based on the exposure of plasmid DNA to artificial UV lamps and sunlight. The determination and quanti. cation of different types of UV photoproducts were performed through the use of specific DNA repair enzymes and antibodies. As expected, a significant number of CPDs and 6-4PPs was observed when the DNA-dosimeter system was exposed to increasing doses of UVB radiation. Moreover, CPDs could also be clearly detected in plasmid DNA when this system was exposed to either UVA or directly to sunlight. Interestingly, although less abundant, 6-4PPs and oxidative DNA damage were also generated after exposure to both UVA and sunlight. These results confirm the genotoxic potential of sunlight, reveal that UVA may also produce CPDs and 6-4PPs directly in naked DNA and demonstrate the applicability of a DNA-dosimeter system for monitoring the biological effects of solar-UV radiation.

Quantum statistical correlations in thermal field theories: Boundary effective theory

We show that the one-loop effective action at finite temperature for a scalar field with quartic interaction has the same renormalized expression as at zero temperature if written in terms of a certain classical field phi(c), and if we trade free propagators at zero temperature for their finite-temperature counterparts. The result follows if we write the partition function as an integral over field eigenstates (boundary fields) of the density matrix element in the functional Schrodinger field representation, and perform a semiclassical expansion in two steps: first, we integrate around the saddle point for fixed boundary fields, which is the classical field phi(c), a functional of the boundary fields; then, we perform a saddle-point integration over the boundary fields, whose correlations characterize the thermal properties of the system. This procedure provides a dimensionally reduced effective theory for the thermal system. We calculate the two-point correlation as an example.

Pressure of massless hot scalar theory in the boundary effective theory framework

We use the boundary effective theory approach to thermal field theory in order to calculate the pressure of a system of massless scalar fields with quartic interaction. The method naturally separates the infrared physics, and is essentially nonperturbative. To lowest order, the main ingredient is the solution of the free Euler-Lagrange equation with nontrivial (time) boundary conditions. We derive a resummed pressure, which is in good agreement with recent calculations found in the literature, following a very direct and compact procedure.

Exercise training and caloric restriction prevent reduction in cardiac Ca(2+)-handling protein profile in obese rats

Previous studies show that exercise training and caloric restriction improve cardiac function in obesity. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying this effect on cardiac function remain unknown. Thus, we studied the effect of exercise training and/or caloric restriction on cardiac function and Ca(2+) handling protein expression in obese rats. To accomplish this goal, male rats fed with a high-fat and sucrose diet for 25 weeks were randomly assigned into 4 groups: high-fat and sucrose diet, high-fat and sucrose diet and exercise training, caloric restriction, and exercise training and caloric restriction. An additional lean group was studied. The study was conducted for 10 weeks. Cardiac function was evaluated by echocardiography and Ca(2+) handling protein expression by Western blotting. Our results showed that visceral fat mass, circulating leptin, epinephrine, and norepinephrine levels were higher in rats on the high-fat and sucrose diet compared with the lean rats. Cardiac nitrate levels, reduced/oxidized glutathione, left ventricular fractional shortening, and protein expression of phosphorylated Ser(2808)-ryanodine receptor and Thr(17-)phospholamban were lower in rats on the high-fat and sucrose diet compared with lean rats. Exercise training and/or caloric restriction prevented increases in visceral fat mass, circulating leptin, epinephrine, and norepinephrine levels and prevented reduction in cardiac nitrate levels and reduced: oxidized glutathione ratio. Exercise training and/or caloric restriction prevented reduction in left ventricular fractional shortening and in phosphorylation of the Ser(2808)-ryanodine receptor and Thr(17)-phospholamban. These findings show that exercise training and/or caloric restriction prevent cardiac dysfunction in high-fat and sucrose diet rats, which seems to be attributed to decreased circulating neurohormone levels. In addition, this nonpharmacological paradigm prevents a reduction in the Ser(2808)-ryanodine receptor and Thr(17-)phospholamban phosphorylation and redox status. (Hypertension. 2010;56:629-635.)

Flow Visualization in Arteriovenous Fistula and Aneurysm Using Computational Fluid Dynamics

The arteriovenous fistula (AVF) is characterized by enhanced blood flow and is the most widely used vascular access for chronic haemodialysis (Sivanesan et al., 1998). A large proportion of the AVF late failures are related to local haemodynamics (Sivanesan et al., 1999a). As in AVF, blood flow dynamics plays an important role in growth, rupture, and surgical treatment of aneurysm. Several techniques have been used to study the flow patterns in simplified models of vascular anastomose and aneurysm. In the present investigation, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is used to analyze the flow patterns in AVF and aneurysm through the velocity waveform obtained from experimental surgeries in dogs (Galego et al., 2000), as well as intra-operative blood flow recordings of patients with radiocephalic AVF ( Sivanesan et al., 1999b) and physiological pulses (Aires, 1991), respectively. The flow patterns in AVF for dog and patient surgeries data are qualitatively similar. Perturbation, recirculation and separation zones appeared during cardiac cycle, and these were intensified in the diastole phase for the AVF and aneurysm models. The values of wall shear stress presented in this investigation of AVF and aneurysm models oscillated in the range that can both cause damage to endothelial cells and develop atherosclerosis.

Experimental investigation of Vortex-Induced Vibration on rigid, smooth and inclined cylinders

This paper presents new experimental results of Vortex-Induced Vibration (VIV) on inclined cylinders. Models are mounted on a low damping air-bearing elastic base with one degree-of-freedom, constrained to oscillate only in the transverse direction to a free stream. The Reynolds number varied in the range 2000 less than or similar to Re less than or similar to 8000. New measurements on the dynamic response oscillations of inclined cylinders, due to VIV, are compared with previous experiments of a vertical cylinder. Models with circular and elliptical cross sections have been tested. The purpose of this work is to check the validity of the normal velocity correction of VIV studies of inclined structures. The results show that the reduced velocity range, in which the upper and lower branches of VIV occurs, is similar to the vertical cylinder case if the proper projected velocity is considered. Tests have been conducted to support this observation with inclinations up to 45 degrees. We have also observed that the amplitudes of oscillation of the inclined circular cylinder are comparable, but slightly lower than, to the amplitudes observed in the vertical cylinder experiments. Measured forces and added mass also show similar behaviour. However, for cases with an elliptical cylinder, the amplitudes of oscillation are considerably lower than those observed for a circular cylinder. This difference is explained by the higher added mass of the elliptical cylinder. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mitigation of Vortex-Induced Motion, (VIM) on a Monocolumn Platform: Forces and Movements

A great deal of works has been developed on the spar vortex-induced motion (VIM) issue. There are, however, very few published works concerning VIM of monocolumn platforms, partly due to the fact that the concept is fairly recent and the first unit was only installed last year. In this context, a meticulous study on VIM for this type of platform concept is presented here. Model test experiments were performed to check the influence of many factors on VIM, such as different headings, wave/current coexistence, different drafts, suppression elements, and the presence of risers. The results of the experiments presented here are motion amplitudes in both in-line and transverse directions, forces and added-mass coefficients, ratios of actual oscillation and natural periods, and motions in the XY plane. This is, therefore, a very extensive and important data set for comparisons and validations of theoretical and numerical models for VIM prediction. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4001440]