Cryopreservation of bovine spermatozoa from the epididymal tail using conventional and automated methods

Cryopreservation of sperm is important to preserve the gerrnplasm from animals of genetic value, which can die unexpectedly. This study compares conventional and automated methods of cryopreservation of spermatozoa obtained from the epididymis of bulls post-mortem. Twenty-two epididymides were obtained from a commercial slaughterhouse. Spermatozoa were collected from the tail of the epididymis using the retrograde flow technique. Thus, the samples, which were diluted in 10 ml of extender without glycerol (Botubov (R) I, Botupharma, Botucatu, SP, Brazil), were evaluated on motility, sperm vigor, structural and functional (swelling hypoosmotic test) membrane integrity, mitochondrial activity, sperm viability and ADN fragmentation. The samples were divided into two aliquots and diluted in extender with glycerol (Botubov (R) II, Botupharma, Botucatu, SP, Brazil) at a concentration of 50x10(6) motile sperm/0.5 French straws. One sample was frozen by the conventional method (4 hours at 5 degrees C, in a refrigerator and 20 min in nitrogen vapor) and the other by the automated method (Cryogen (R) Dualflex, Neovet, Uberaba, MG, Brazil). The parameters were higher in all the tests of fresh sperm samples, with the exception of the swelling hypoosmotic test, which showed no significant difference when the results were compared with sperm frozen by the conventional method. The average motility of fresh spermatozoa was 74%, and conventional and automated averages were 29 and 25%, respectively. Therefore, although cryopreservation techniques reduce sperm quality parameters, the viability of the sperm is maintained, and these methods can be used to preserve sperm.

A novel automated alternating current biosusceptometry method to characterization of controlled-release magnetic floating tablets of metronidazole

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

A reference model as automated process for software adaptation at runtime

The development of self-adaptive software (SaS) has specific characteristics compared to traditional one, since it allows that changes to be incorporated at runtime. Automated processes have been used as a feasible solution to conduct the software adaptation at runtime. In parallel, reference model has been used to aggregate knowledge and architectural artifacts, since capture the systems essence of specific domains. However, there is currently no reference model based on reflection for the development of SaS. Thus, the main contribution of this paper is to present a reference model based on reflection for development of SaS that have a need to adapt at runtime. To present the applicability of this model, a case study was conducted and good perspective to efficiently contribute to the area of SaS has been obtained.

Icodextrin reduces insulin resistance in non-diabetic patients undergoing automated peritoneal dialysis: results of a randomized controlled trial (STARCH)

Insulin resistance is a common risk factor in chronic kidney disease patients contributing to the high cardiovascular burden, even in the absence of diabetes. Glucose-based peritoneal dialysis (PD) solutions are thought to intensify insulin resistance due to the continuous glucose absorption from the peritoneal cavity. The aim of our study was to analyse the effect of the substitution of glucose for icodextrin on insulin resistance in non-diabetic PD patients in a multicentric randomized clinical trial. This was a multicenter, open-label study with balanced randomization (1:1) and two parallel-groups. Inclusion criteria were non-diabetic adult patients on automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) for at least 3 months on therapy prior to randomization. Patients assigned to the intervention group were treated with 2L of icodextrin 7.5%, and the control group with glucose 2.5% during the long dwell and, at night in the cycler, with a prescription of standard glucose-based PD solution only in both groups. The primary end-point was the change in insulin resistance measured by homeostatic model assessment (HOMA) index at 90 days. Sixty patients were included in the intervention (n = 33) or the control (n = 27) groups. There was no difference between groups at baseline. After adjustment for pre-intervention HOMA index levels, the group treated with icodextrin had the lower post-intervention levels at 90 days in both intention to treat [1.49 (95% CI: 1.23-1.74) versus 1.89 (95% CI: 1.62-2.17)], (F = 4.643, P = 0.03, partial η(2) = 0.078); and the treated analysis [1.47 (95% CI: 1.01-1.84) versus 2.18 (95% CI: 1.81-2.55)], (F = 7.488, P = 0.01, partial η(2) = 0.195). The substitution of glucose for icodextrin for the long dwell improved insulin resistance measured by HOMA index in non-diabetic APD patients.

Automated peritoneal dialysis is associated with better survival rates compared to continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis: a propensity score matching analysis

The impact of peritoneal dialysis modality on patient survival and peritonitis rates is not fully understood, and no large-scale randomized clinical trial (RCT) is available. In the absence of a RCT, the use of an advanced matching procedure to reduce selection bias in large cohort studies may be the best approach. The aim of this study is to compare automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) and continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) according to peritonitis risk, technique failure and patient survival in a large nation-wide PD cohort. This is a prospective cohort study that included all incident PD patients with at least 90 days of PD recruited in the BRAZPD study. All patients who were treated exclusively with either APD or CAPD were matched for 15 different covariates using a propensity score calculated with the nearest neighbor method. Clinical outcomes analyzed were overall mortality, technique failure and time to first peritonitis. For all analysis we also adjusted the curves for the presence of competing risks with the Fine and Gray analysis. After the matching procedure, 2,890 patients were included in the analysis (1,445 in each group). Baseline characteristics were similar for all covariates including: age, diabetes, BMI, Center-experience, coronary artery disease, cancer, literacy, hypertension, race, previous HD, gender, pre-dialysis care, family income, peripheral artery disease and year of starting PD. Mortality rate was higher in CAPD patients (SHR1.44 CI95%1.21-1.71) compared to APD, but no difference was observed for technique failure (SHR0.83 CI95%0.69-1.02) nor for time till the first peritonitis episode (SHR0.96 CI95%0.93-1.11). In the first large PD cohort study with groups balanced for several covariates using propensity score matching, PD modality was not associated with differences in neither time to first peritonitis nor in technique failure. Nevertheless, patient survival was significantly better in APD patients.