Survey of aflatoxin M1 in cheese from the North-east region of Sao Paulo, Brazil

In the present study, 24 samples of Minas Frescal cheese and 24 samples of Minas Padrao cheese produced in the North-east region of the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil, were analysed for aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) between March and August 2008. AFM1 was detected in 13 (27.1%) samples at concentrations ranging from 0.037 to 0.313 ng g-1. The mean concentrations of AFM1 in positive samples of Minas Frescal and Minas Padrao cheese were 0.142 +/- 0.118 and 0.118 +/- 0.054 ng g-1, respectively. It is concluded that the incidence of AFM1 in Minas cheese may contribute to an increase in the overall ingestion of aflatoxins in the diet, hence indicating the need for the adoption of a tolerance limit for AFM1 in cheese in Brazil.

Production of Bovine Hand-Made Cloned Embryos by Zygote-Oocyte Cytoplasmic Hemi-complementation

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the cytoplast type and activation process on development of cloned embryos. Bovine oocytes (MII) or zygotes at the one-cell stage (IVF) were manually bisected and segregated in MII or IVF hemi-cytoplasts or hemi-karyoplasts. Adult skin cells from a bovine female were used as nucleus donors (SC). Experimental groups were composed of IVF embryos; parthenogenetic embryos; handmade cloned (HMC) embryos; and reconstructed HMC embryos using IVF hemi-cytoplast + MII hemi-cytoplast + SC (G-I); IVF hemi-cytoplast + IVF hemi-cytoplast + SC (G-II); MII hemi-cytoplast + IVF hemi-karyoplast (G-III); and IVF hemi-cytoplast + IVF hemi-karyoplast (G-IV). Embryos from G-I to G-IV were allocated to subgroups as sperm-activated (SA) or were further chemically activated (SA + CA). Embryos from all groups and subgroups were in vitro cultured in the WOW system. Blastocyst development in subgroup G-I SA (28.2%) was similar to IVF (27.0%) and HMC (31.4%) controls, perhaps due to a to a more suitable activation process and/or better complementation of cytoplasmic reprogramming factors, with the other groups and subgroups having lower levels of development. No blastocyst development was observed when using IVF hemi-karyoplasts (G-III and G-IV), possibly due to the manipulation process during a sensitive biological period. In summary, the presence of cytoplasmic factors from MII hemi-oocytes and the sperm activation process from hemi-zygotes appear to be necessary for adequate in vitro development, as only the zygote-oocyte hemi-complementation was as efficient as controls for the generation of bovine cloned blastocysts.

Hormone release and behavior during suckling and milking in Gir, Gir x Holstein, and Holstein cows

There are several different milking management systems in Latin America, because Gir cattle are reputed to be easily stressed and not well adapted to machine-milking. This paper, therefore, provides an overview of hormone release and behavior during suckling and milking in Gir cows and their crossbred offspring. Several experiments were performed to study oxytocin release during exclusive suckling or exclusive hand- and machine-milking, oxytocin, and prolactin release during a mixed suckling-milking system and oxytocin release after weaning. Cortisol concentrations and behavior were also examined. Concentration of oxytocin, released during suckling, and both types of milking were high, but the maximum concentration measured during suckling was significantly greater than that observed during exclusive milking. In the mixed suckling-milking system, the greatest oxytocin and prolactin releases were measured during suckling. Cortisol concentrations measured before, during, and after milking demonstrated that Gir x Holstein and Holstein cows were not stressed. On the other hand, although Gir had greater concentrations of cortisol, the percentage of residual milk for Gir cows was less than for dairy cows exposed to different stressful situations. In general, Gir cows and their crossbred offspring adapted to machine-milking, although these breeds can react negatively to milkers. Gir, Gir x Holstein, and Holstein cows all had similar cortisol levels during and after milking.

Adding Value to the Meat of Spent Laying Hens Manufacturing Sausages with a Healthy Appeal

The aim of this study was to evaluate the viability of the use of spent laying hens` meat in the manufacturing of mortadella-type sausages with healthy appeal by using vegetable oil instead of animal fat. 120 Hy-line (R) layer hens were distributed in a completely randomized design into two treatments of six replicates with ten birds each. The treatments were birds from light Hy-line (R) W36 and semi-heavy Hy-line (R) Brown lines. Cold carcass, wing, breast and leg fillets yields were determined. Dry matter, protein, and lipid contents were determined in breast and leg fillets. The breast and legg fillets of three replicates per treatment were used to manufacture mortadella. After processing, sausages were evaluated for proximal composition, objective color, microbiological parameters, fatty acid profile and sensory acceptance. The meat of light and semi-heavy spent hens presented good yield and composition, allowing it to be used as raw material for the manufacture of processed products. Mortadellas were safe from microbiological point of view, and those made with semi-heavy hens fillets were redder and better accepted by consumers. Values for all sensory attributes were evaluated over score 5 (neither liked nor disliked). Both products presented high polyunsaturated fatty acid contents and good polyunsaturated to saturated fatty acid ratio. The excellent potential for the use of meat from spent layer hens of both varieties in the manufacturing of healthier mortadella-type sausage was demonstrated.

Vegetable Oils Deacidification by Solvent Extraction: Liquid-Liquid Equilibrium Data for Systems Containing Sunflower Seed Oil at 298.2 K

Liquid-liquid equilibrium experimental data for refined sunflower seed oil, artificially acidified with commercial oleic acid or commercial linoleic acid and a solvent (ethanol + water), were determined at 298.2 K. This set of experimental data and the experimental data from Cuevas et al.,(1) which were obtained from (283.2 to 333.2) K, for degummed sunflower seed oil-containing systems were correlated using NRTL and UNIQUAC models with temperature-dependent binary parameters. The deviation between experimental and calculated compositions presented average values of (1.13 and 1.41) % for NRTL and UNIQUAC equations, respectively, indicating that the models were able to correctly describe the behavior of compounds under different temperature and solvent hydration.

Paleointensity data from Early Cretaceous Ponta Grossa dikes (Brazil) using a multisample method

Definition of the long-term variation of the geomagnetic virtual dipole moment requires more reliable paleointensity results. Here, we applied a multisample protocol to the study of the 130.5 Ma Ponta Grossa basaltic dikes (southern Brazil) that carry a very stable dual-polarity magnetic component. The magnetic stability of the samples wits checked using thermomagnetic curves and by monitoring the magnetic Susceptibility evolution through the paleointensity experiments. Twelve sites containing the least alterable samples were chosen for the paleointensity measurements. Although these rocks failed stepwise double-heating experiments, they yielded coherent results in the multisample method for all sites but one. The coherent sites show low to moderate field intensities between 5.7 +/- 0.2 and 26.4 +/- 0.7 mu T (average 13.4 +/- 1.9 mu T). Virtual dipole moments for these sites range from 1.3 +/- 0.04 to 6.0 +/- 0.2 x 10(22) A m(2) (average 2.9 +/- 0.5 x 10(22) A m(2)). Our results agree with the tendency for low dipole moments during the Early Cretaceous, immediately prior to the Cretaceous Normal Superchron (CNS). The available paleointensity database shows a strong variability of the field between 80 and 160 Ma. There seems to be no firm evidence for a Mesozoic Dipole Low, but a long-term tendency does emerge from the data with the highest dipole moments Occurring at the middle of the CNS.

Temporal lobe epilepsy and social behavior: An animal model

Social behavior depends on the integrity of social brain circuitry. The temporal lobe is an important part of the social brain, and manifests morphological and functional alterations in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Rats with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), induced with pilocarpine, were subjected to a social discrimination test that has been used to investigate potential animal models of ASD, and the results were compared with those for the control group. Rats with TLE exhibited fewer social behaviors than controls. No differences were observed in nonsocial behavior between groups. The results suggest an important role for the temporal lobe in regulating social behaviors. This animal model might be used to explore some questions about ASD pathophysiology. (c) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Embryonic Development of Ampheres leucopheus and lporangaia pustulosa (Arachnida: Opiliones: Gonyleptidae)

The first studies concerning the embryonic development of harvestmen started in the late 19th century, and focused mostly on holarctic species, and only three species of the suborder Laniatores (the largest, among the four suborders considered presently) were studied. Moreover, the last studies on embryology of harvestmen were made during the late 1970s. This study focused on the embryonic development of Ampheres leucopheus (Gonyleptidae, Caelopyginae) and Iporangaia pustulosa (Gonyleptidae, Progonyleptoidellinae). The embryonic development was followed in the field, by taking daily photographs of different eggs during about 2 months. When laid, eggs of A. leucopheus and I pustulosa have approximately 1.13 and 1.30 mm in diameter, respectively, and the second is embedded in a large amount of mucus. The eggs grow, mainly due to water absorption at the beginning of the process, and they reach a diameter of about 1.35 and 1.59 mm, respectively, close to hatching. It took, respectively, 29-56 days and 35-66 days from egg laying to hatching. For the description of the embryonic development, we use photographs from the field, SEM micrographs, and histological analysis. This allowed us, for instance, to document the progression of structures and pigmentation directly from live embryos in the field, and to record microstructures, such as the presence of perforations in the cuticle of the embryo in the place where eyes are developing. Yet, contrary to what was expected in the literature, we record an egg tooth in one of the studied laniatoreans. J. Exp. Zool. (Mol. Dev. Evol) 314B:489-502, 2010. (C) 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Revision of Orthophytum (Bromeliaceae): the species with sessile inflorescences

Orthophytum is a bromeliad genus restricted to Brazil with records for the states of Paraiba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe, Bahia, Espirito Santo and Minas Gerais. The genus is usually divided in two informal groups based on the presence or absence of a peduncle. This paper presents a taxonomic revision of the 12 species in the group with sessile inflorescences and descriptions of the genus and species, nomenclatural and ecological notes, as well as illustrations are provided. The new species Orthophytum ulei is described. The conservation status for each species is evaluated using the World Conservation Union (IUCN) criteria.

Biosynthesis and characterization of biodegradable Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) from renewable sources

Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) was produced in fed-batch cultures of Ralstonia eutropha DSM 428 and Alcaligenes latus ATCC 29712 on a mineral medium with different carbon sources such as sucrose, sodium lactate, lactic acid, soybean oil and fatty acid. The bacteria converted the different carbon sources supplied into P3HB. The best results were obtained when lactate or soybean oil were supplied as the sole carbon source. The range of number average molar mass (Mn) for the polymers, analyzed by Gel Permeation Chromatography was 1.65 to 0.79 x 10(5) g mol(-1). FTIR spectroscopy revealed a characteristic absorbance associated with polyester structures. The crystallinity degree, determinate from X-ray diffractograms, was about 69% in all synthesized polymers. The thermal properties associated to semicrystalline polymers indicated a glass transition at 0.1 degrees C and a melting point at about 175 degrees C and enthalpy of 63-89 J g(-1). The (1)H-NMR and (13)C-NMR spectra of the polymers were in agreement with the calculated chemical shifts associated with P3HB structures.

Characterization, photoluminescence, thermally stimulated luminescence and electron spin resonance studies of Eu(3+) doped LaAlO(3) phosphor

Europium-doped lanthanum aluminate (LaAlO(3)) powder was prepared by using a combustion method. The crystallization, surface morphology, specific surface area and luminescence properties of the samples have been investigated. Photoluminescence studies of Eu doped LaAlO(3) showed orange-reddish emission due to Eu(3+) ions. LaAlO(3):Eu(3+) exhibits one thermally stimulated luminescence (TSL) peak around 400 degrees C. Room temperature electron spin resonance spectrum of irradiated phosphor appears to be a superposition of two centres. One of them (centre I) with principal g-value 2.017 is identified as an O(-) centre while centre II with an isotropic g-value 2.011 is assigned to an F(+) centre (singly ionized oxygen vacancy). An additional defect centre observed during thermal annealing around 300 degrees C grows with the annealing temperature. This centre (assigned to F(+) centre) originates from an F-centre (oxygen vacancy with two electrons) and the F-centre along with the associated F(+) centre appear to correlate with the observed TSL peak in LaAlO(3):Eu(3+) phosphor. The activation energy for this peak has been determined to be 1.54 eV from TSL data. (C) 2010 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Menezesite, the first natural heteropolyniobate, from Cajati, Sao Paulo, Brazil: Description and crystal structure

Menezesite, ideally Ba2MgZr4(BaNb12O42)center dot 12H(2)O, occurs as a vug mineral in the contact zone between dolomite carbonatite and ""jacupirangite"" (=a pyroxenite) at the Jacupiranga mine, in Cajati county, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, associated with dolomite, calcite, magnetite, clinohumite, phlogopite, ancylite-(Ce), strontianite, pyrite, and tochilinite. This is also the type locality for quintinite-2H. The mineral forms rhombododecahedra up to I mm, isolated or in aggregates. Menezesite is transparent and displays a vitreous luster; it is reddish brown with a white streak. It is non-fluorescent. Mohs hardness is about 4. Calculated density derived from the empirical formula is 4.181 g/cm(3). It is isotropic, 1.93(1) (white light); n(calc) = 2.034. Menezesite exhibits weak anomalous birefringence. The empirical formula is (Ba1.47K0.53Ca0.3,Ce0.17Nd0.10Na0.06La0.02)(Sigma 2.66)(Mg0.94Mn0.23Fe0.23Al0.03)(Sigma 1.43)(Zr2.75Ti0.96Th0.29)(Sigma 4.00)[(Ba0.72Th0.26U0.02)(Sigma 1.00)(Nb9.23Ti2.29Ta0.36Si0.12)Sigma O-12.00(42)]center dot 12H(2)O. The mineral is cubic, space group 10 (204), a = 13.017(1) angstrom, V = 2206(1) angstrom(3), Z = 2. Menezesite is isostructural with the synthetic compound Mg-7[MgW12O42](OH)(4)center dot 8H(2)O. The mineral was named in honor of Luiz Alberto Dias Menezes Filho (born 1950), mining engineer, mineral collector and merchant. Both the description and the name were approved by the CNMMN-IMA (Nomenclature Proposal 2005-023). Menezesite is the first natural heteropolyniobate. Heteropolyanions have been employed in a range of applications that include virus-binding inorganic drugs (including the AIDs virus), homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts, electro-optic and electrochromic materials, metal and protein binding, and as building blocks for nanostructuring of materials.

Constraining the age of the iporanga formation with SHRIMP U-Pb zircon: Implications for possible ediacaran glaciation in the Ribeira Belt, SE Brazil

The Ribeira belt in SE Brazil is a Neoproterozoic to Early Palaeozoic orogen, whose architecture and history is not yet fully understood. The depositional age of many of the sedimentary sequences in the Ribeira Belt remains unconstrained, and with debate concerning their depositional environment and tectonic setting. In this paper we present SHRIMP zircon U/Pb age constraints for one such problematic unit in the Ribeira Belt the lporanga Formation - and discuss the significance of this age with regards to the timing of Neoproterozoic glacial events in southeast Brazil. Using a felsic volcanic unit immediately under the lporanga Formation and granite cobbles from breccias in its basal parts a reconnaissance SHRIMP U/Pb zircon maximum depositional age of 580 Ma is assigned for the base of this unit. This age is marginally younger than the 625605 Ma ages for intrusions into the Lajeado and Ribeira subgroups, with which the lporanga Formation is in tectonic contact. This indicates that the Lajeado and Ribeira subgroups are not stratigraphically equivalent to the lporanga Formation, as thought previously by some workers. The maximum depositional age of 580 Ma also places a maximum time constraint on the tectonic juxtaposition of the lporanga Formation with other supracrustal units, and on the greenschist facies metamorphism and isoclinal folding that affected it. The potential glacial origin for the lporanga Formation, if correct, would place it in the late Ediacaran - provisionally equivalent to the Gaskiers glaciation. (c) 2007 International Association for Gondwana Research. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Denudation history of the Bocaina Plateau, Serra do Mar, southeastern Brazil: Relationships to Gondwana breakup and passive margin development

The Bocaina Plateau, which is situated on the eastern flank of the continental rift of southeastern Brazil, is the highest part of the Serra do Mar. Topographic relief in this area is suggested to be closely related to its complex tectono-magmatic evolution since the breakup of Western Gondwana and opening of the South Atlantic Ocean. Apatite fission track ages and track length distributions from 27 basement outcrops were determined to assess these hypotheses and reconstruct the denudation history of the Bocaina Plateau. The ages range between 303 +/- 32 and 46 +/- 5 Ma, and are significantly younger than the stratigraphic ages. Mean track lengths vary from 13.44 +/- 1.51 to 11.1 +/- 1.48 mu m, with standard deviations between 1.16 and 1.83 mu m. Contrasting ages within a single plateau and similar ages at different altitudes indicate a complex regional tectonothermal evolution. The thermal histories inferred from these data imply three periods of accelerated cooling related to the Early Cretaceous continental breakup, Early Cretaceous alkaline magmatism, and the Paleogene evolution of the continental rift of southeastern Brazil. The oldest fission track ages (>200 Ma) were obtained in the Serra do Mar region, suggesting that these areas were a long-lived source of sediments for the Parana, Bauru, and Santos basins. (C) 2010 International Association for Gondwana Research. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A non-parametric vessel detection method for complex vascular structures

Modern medical imaging techniques enable the acquisition of in vivo high resolution images of the vascular system. Most common methods for the detection of vessels in these images, such as multiscale Hessian-based operators and matched filters, rely on the assumption that at each voxel there is a single cylinder. Such an assumption is clearly violated at the multitude of branching points that are easily observed in all, but the Most focused vascular image studies. In this paper, we propose a novel method for detecting vessels in medical images that relaxes this single cylinder assumption. We directly exploit local neighborhood intensities and extract characteristics of the local intensity profile (in a spherical polar coordinate system) which we term as the polar neighborhood intensity profile. We present a new method to capture the common properties shared by polar neighborhood intensity profiles for all the types of vascular points belonging to the vascular system. The new method enables us to detect vessels even near complex extreme points, including branching points. Our method demonstrates improved performance over standard methods on both 2D synthetic images and 3D animal and clinical vascular images, particularly close to vessel branching regions. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.