Toxoplasma gondii infection in wild boars (Sus scrofa) bred in Brazil

Domestic pigs are considered to be important sources of Toxoplasma gondii infection for humans. Due to the increased consumption of wild boar meat in Brazil, this species may also be an important source of the parasite. The objective of the present study was to detect T. gondii infection in 306 blood samples collected from wild boars bred in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Samples were analyzed using the modified agglutination test (MAT), and 14 (4.5%) of them yielded positive results. Modern breeding techniques may have contributed to the low frequency of infection observed. Results indicated that wild boars were exposed to T. gondii and that the consumption of this kind of meat may represent a source of infection for humans. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Kidney-Induced Hypertension Depends on Superoxide Signaling in the Rostral Ventrolateral Medulla

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Ansiedade frente ao tratamento odontológico: prevalência e fatores predictores em brasileiros

Diante do impacto negativo que a ansiedade exerce sobre o atendimento odontológico, buscou-se conhecer sua prevalência e seus fatores predictores frente esse tratamento em brasileiros. Foi realizado um estudo de corte transversal, utilizando-se a escala de ansiedade de Corah para avaliar 3000 pacientes. Os resultados demonstram que 2 em cada 8 brasileiros avaliados apresentaram moderada ou severa ansiedade frente ao atendimento odontológico, verificando-se que a probabilidade de um paciente da população da qual a amostra foi extraída apresentar ansiedade é mais elevada se: for mulher (p = 0,007), da faixa etária superior a 20 anos (p = 0,006), se não possuir acesso a internet e/ou jornais (p = 0,016), se tiver baixa frequência de higiene oral (p = 0,001), se a visita dental for motivada por busca de tratamento curativo, por dor ou outro problema, ao invés de um check-up (p = 0,047), e experiência de odontalgia (p<0,001). O medo e a ansiedade a fatores odontológicos existem de fato na população brasileira e as conclusões do estudo sugerem que, além da falta de recursos econômicos, o descaso com a saúde bucal, o gênero e a idade podem aumentar o grau de ansiedade.

Pollination Biology of Jacaranda oxyphylla with an Emphasis on Staminode Function

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

The ACB technique: a biomagentic tool for monitoring gastrointestinal contraction directly from smooth muscle in dogs

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Allozyme differentiation of two populations of the genus Neoplecostomus Eigenmann & Eigenmann, 1888 (Teleostei, Loricariidae) from the upper Paraná River basin, Brazil

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Detection of hybrids and genetic introgression in wild stocks of two catfish species (Siluriformes: Pimelodidae): The impact of hatcheries in Brazil

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

Evolution of Substrate Preparation Behaviors for Cultivation of Symbiotic Fungus in Attine Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Exposure of young rats to high estrogen doses leads to degeneration of elongated spermatids

Single high doses of estrogen (35 mg/kg body weight) were administered to young rats aiming to exacerbate its effects on germ cell populations. The short-term (1 week) and medium-term (7 weeks) consequences of this estrogenic treatment (ET) on the testis were evaluated using light and electron microscopies, quantitative methods and TUNEL reaction. Short-term ET led to 50% atrophy of the testis, however, in the medium term the gonado-somatic index was recovered. No histopathological alterations were found at seminiferous epithelium except for short-term severe degeneration of elongated spermatids (EL) and low frequency of these cells in both time intervals. Two morphologically distinct patterns of degeneration were observed: (1) clusters of EL which were TUNEL-negative and exhibited bizarre appearance and nuclear fragmentation, (2) isolated apoptotic EL within the cytoplasm of Sertoli cells (SC). Both degenerative phenomena were more frequent in stages III - VIII of seminiferous cycle, whereas at stages I and II only coiling of flagellum was observed. One week after ET, small amounts of EL were detected in stages IX - XII, suggesting spermiation failure. Signs of functional SC damage such as an accumulation of myelin-like inclusions in their cytoplasm were observed in the short but not medium-term. However, the apoptotic rates still remained five times higher and the number of elongated spermatids was three-fold lower. Our data indicate that exposure to a high dose of estrogen around puberty has stage-specific effects on the testis and causes massive degeneration of elongated spermatids. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Taxocenose de aves em um remanescente da Floresta com Araucária no Sudeste do Paraná, Brasil

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Miscibility in a degenerate fermionic mixture induced by linear coupling

We consider a one-dimensional mean-field-hydrodynamic model of a two-component degenerate Fermi gas in an external trap, each component representing a spin state of the same atom. We demonstrate that the interconversion between them (linear coupling), imposed by a resonant electromagnetic wave, transforms the immiscible binary gas into a miscible state, if the coupling constant, kappa, exceeds a critical value, kappa(cr). The effect is predicted in a variational approximation, and confirmed by numerical solutions. Unlike the recently studied model of a binary Bose-Einsten condensate with the linear coupling, the components in the immiscible phase of the binary fermion mixture never fill two separated domains with a wall between them, but rather form antilocked (pi-phase-shifted) density waves. Another difference from the bosonic mixture is spontaneous breaking of symmetry between the two components in terms of the numbers of atoms in them, N(1) and N(2). The latter effect is characterized by the parameter nu equivalent to(N(1)-N(2))/(N(1)+N(2)) (only N(1)+N(2) is a conserved quantity), the onset of miscibility at kappa >=kappa(cr) meaning a transition to nu equivalent to 0. At kappa

Enrichment of a continuous culture of Saccharomyces cerevisiae with the yeast Issatchenkia orientalis in the production of ethanol at increasing temperatures

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

Corrosion of the component phases presents in high copper dental amalgams. Application of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and electrochemical noise analysis

The corrosion resistance of three of the constituent phases in high copper dental amalgams has been investigated by electrochemical methods in 0.9% NaCl solution. Polarization curves show corrosion potentials most positive for gamma(1)-Ag2Hg3, followed by Ag-Cu, and gamma-Ag3Sn in agreement with the order of corrosion resistance deduced from the corrosion currents. Complex plane impedance plots at the open circuit potential showed distorted semicircles with diffusional components at low frequency for Ag-Hg and Ag-Cu, while for gamma-Ag3Sn a layer of corrosion products is formed, partially or completely covering the surface of the electrode. Impedance and noise spectra have been compared in the frequency domain, and show good agreement. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Surface Passivation of Nanoporous TiO2 via Atomic Layer Deposition of ZrO2 for Solid-State Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell Applications

We report here the utilization of atomid layer deposition to passivate surface map states in mosoporous TiO2 nanoparticles for solid state dye sensitized solar cells based on 9,9'-spirobifluorene (spiro-OMeTAD). By depositing ZrO2 films with angstrom-level precision, coating the mesoporous TiO2 produces over a two-fold enhancement in short-circuit current density, as compared to a control device. Impedance spectroscopy measurements provide evidence that the ZrO2 coating reduces recombination lossed at the TiO2/spiro-OMeTAD interface and passivates localized surface states. Low-frequency negative capacitances, frequently observed in nanocomposite solar cells, have been associated with the surface-state mediated charge transfer from TiO2 to the spiro-OMeTAD.

Coloring ionic trapping states in WO3 and Nb2O5 electrochromic materials

Complex electro-optical analysis is a very useful approach to separate different kinetic processes that occur during ionic insertion reactions in electrochromic oxide materials. In this paper, we use this type of combined technique to investigate ionic and optical changes in different oxide host systems, i.e., in two oxide hosts, specifically WO3 and Nb2O5. A comparison of their electro-optical responses revealed the presence of an ionic trapping contribution to the kinetics of the coloring sites, which was named here as coloring ionic trapping state. As expected, this coloring trapping process is slower in Nb2O5 since the reduction potential of Nb2O5 is more negative (more energy is needed for a higher degree of coloration). A phenomenological solid-state model that encompasses homogeneous charge transfer and valence trapping was proposed to explain the coloring ionic trapping process. Basically the model is able to explain how ionic dynamics at low frequency region, i.e., the slower kinetic step, controls the coloring kinetics, i.e., how it is capable to regulate the coloring rates.Optical transient analyses demonstrated the possibility of the presence of more than one coloring ionic trap, indicating the complexity of the processes involved in coloration phenomenon in metal oxide host systems. (C) 2008 Published by Elsevier Ltd.