Assessment of luteal function in goats by ultrasonographic image attribute analysis

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Effect of age and number of parturitions on uterine and ovarian variables in owl monkeys

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

Long-Term Outcome and Prognostic Factors of Juvenile Dermatomyositis: A Multinational, Multicenter Study of 490 Patients

Objective. To investigate the long-term outcome and prognostic factors of juvenile dermatomyositis (DM) through a multinational, multicenter study.Methods. Patients consisted of inception cohorts seen between 1980 and 2004 in 27 centers in Europe and Latin America. Predictor variables were sex, continent, ethnicity, onset year, onset age, onset type, onset manifestations, course type, disease duration, and active disease duration. Outcomes were muscle strength/endurance, continued disease activity, cumulative damage, muscle damage, cutaneous damage, calcinosis, lipodystrophy, physical function, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL).Results. A total of 490 patients with a mean disease duration of 7.7 years were included. At the cross-sectional visit, 41.2-52.8% of patients, depending on the instrument used, had reduced muscle strength/endurance, but less than 10% had severe impairment. Persistently active disease was recorded in 41.2-60.5% of the patients, depending on the activity measure used. Sixty-nine percent of the patients had cumulative damage. The frequency of calcinosis and lipodystrophy was 23.6% and 9.7%, respectively. A total of 40.7% of the patients had decreased functional ability, but only 6.5% had major impairment. Only a small fraction had decreased HRQOL. A chronic course, either polycyclic or continuous, consistently predicted a poorer outcome. Mortality rate was 3.1%.Conclusion. This study confirms the marked improvement in functional outcome of juvenile DM when compared with earlier literature. However, many patients had continued disease activity and cumulative damage at followup. A chronic course was the strongest predictor of poor prognosis. These findings highlight the need for treatment strategies that enable a better control of disease activity over time and the reduction of nonreversible damage.

Anestesia epidural em cutias (Dasyprocta azarae) submetidas à ovariossalpingohisterectomia

In this research, the epidural anesthesia technique in nulliparous and non non-nulliparous submitted to ovarysalpingohysterectomy was studied. These are rodents belonging to the Missina Palmeira Zancaner municipal zoo of catanduva in São Paulo. The tranquilization was achieved using azaperone (4mg/kg) and meperidine (4mg/kg) followed by injection of cetamine (20mg/kg) and xylazine (0.4mg/kg), intramuscularly from the same syringe. Subsequently, lidocaine (5mg/kg) was injected into the lumbosacral space. The time of latency of the anesthesic association (4.0[plus or minus]1.51min), time of latency of epidural lidocaine (6.87[plus or minus]2.35min) and time of analgesia (115.0[plus or minus]12.49min) were analyzed, in addition to rectal temperature, which decreased 2.12[plus or minus]0.86[degree]C on average from the beginning of the anesthesia to the end of its effective time. All animals recovered satisfactorily without presenting signs of excitation or complications due to the epidural tecnique. It was concluded that the balanced anesthesia tecnique provided adequate analgesia during a time considered sufficient for several procedures, by means of low doses of xylazine and ketamine.

Some constraints on the modelling using the uranium isotopes 238U and 234U for dating groundwaters from Guarany aquifer, South America

Groundwaters from the Guarany aquifer located at the South American continent and sampled at four wells with described geological sections in São Paulo State, Brazil, were chemically and isotopically analysed with two aims: to evaluate the quality of this important hydrological resource and to investigate the possibility of using the natural uranium isotopes 234U and 238U as a chronological tool, since the 234U/238U activity ratio and dissolved U content data in groundwater systems have generated models for dating purposes.

Espécies de uso medicinal popular nativas e introduzidas cultivadas em cinco municípios do estado do amazonas

The objective if this work was a survey of medicinal plants plus commonly cultivated in quintais in Amazon State, Brazil. The work was carried out in five counties at the Solimões/Amazonas and Negro Rivers, by questionnaires, interviews and collections of botanical materials, using the literature to define the geographic origins. It was showed 105 species of medicinal plants, with average of 13 per house. The Amazonian plants, in general wood plants, meaning 10,9 percent of the total of species that was survey, with predominance of the American continent plants out of Amazonian (38,2 per cent). The major group was herbaceous or shrubs exotic plants, aromatics. In general, the peoples unknown the origin of the species of medicinal plants that use day after day.

U-Pb geochronology of the southern Brasília belt (SE-Brazil): Sedimentary provenance, Neoproterozoic orogeny and assembly of West Gondwana

The Brasília belt borders the western margin of the São Francisco Craton and records the history of ocean opening and closing related to the formation of West Gondwana. This study reports new U-Pb data from the southern sector of the belt in order to provide temporal limits for the deposition and ages of provenance of sediments accumulated in passive margin successions around the south and southwestern margins of the São Francisco Craton, and date the orogenic events leading to the amalgamation of West Gondwana. Ages of detrital zircons (by ID-TIMS and LA-MC-ICPMS) were obtained from metasedimentary units of the passive margin of the São Francisco Craton from the main tectonic domains of the belt: the internal allochthons (Araxá Group in the Áraxá and Passos Nappes), the external allochthons (Canastra Group, Serra da Boa Esperança Metasedimentary Sequence and Andrelândia Group) and the autochthonous or Cratonic Domain (Andrelândia Group). The patterns of provenance ages for these units are uniform and are characterised as follows: Archean- Paleoproterozoic ages (3.4-3.3, 3.1-2.7, and 2.5-2.4Ga); Paleoproterozoic ages attributed to the Transamazonian event (2.3-1.9Ga, with a peak at ca. 2.15Ga) and to the ca. 1.75Ga Espinhaço rifting of the São Francisco Craton; ages between 1.6 and 1.2Ga, with a peak at 1.3Ga, revealing an unexpected variety of Mesoproterozoic sources, still undetected in the São Francisco Craton; and ages between 0.9 and 1.0Ga related to the rifting event that led to the individualisation of the São Francisco paleo-continent and formation of its passive margins. An amphibolite intercalation in the Araxá Group yields a rutile age of ca. 0.9Ga and documents the occurrence of mafic magmatism coeval with sedimentation in the marginal basin. Detrital zircons from the autochthonous and parautochthonous Andrelândia Group, deposited on the southern margin of the São Francisco Craton, yielded a provenance pattern similar to that of the allochthonous units. This result implies that 1.6-1.2Ga source rocks must be present in the São Francisco Craton. They could be located either in the cratonic area, which is mostly covered by the Neoproterozoic epicontinental deposits of the Bambuí Group, or in the outer paleo-continental margin, buried under the allochthonous units of the Brasília belt. Crustal melting and generation of syntectonic crustal granites and migmatisation at ca. 630Ma mark the orogenic event that started with westward subduction of the São Francisco plate and ended with continental collision against the Paraná block (and Goiás terrane). Continuing collision led to the exhumation and cooling of the Araxá and Passos metamorphic nappes, as indicated by monazite ages of ca. 605Ma and mark the final stages of tectonometamorphic activity in the southern Brasília belt. Whilst continent-continent collision was proceeding on the western margin of the São Francisco Craton along the southern Brasília belt, eastward subduction in the East was generating the 634-599Ma Rio Negro magmatic arc which collided with the eastern São Francisco margin at 595-560Ma, much later than in the Brasília belt. Thus, the tectonic effects of the Ribeira belt reached the southernmost sector of the Brasília belt creating a zone of superposition. The thermal front of this event affected the proximal Andrelândia Group at ca. 588Ma, as indicated by monazite age. The participation of the Amazonian craton in the assembly of western Gondwana occurred at 545-500Ma in the Paraguay belt and ca. 500Ma in the Araguaia belt. This, together with the results presented in this work lead to the conclusion that the collision between the Paraná block and Goiás terrane with the São Francisco Craton along the Brasília belt preceded the accretion of the Amazonian craton by 50-100 million years. © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Hysteroscopic myomectomy in a submucous fibroid 3 mm from the serosa: A case report - Case report from the endoscopy service of Ginendo-RJ

This is a case report of a 39-year-old black woman, nulliparous, married who presented a heavy menstrual flow with clots and dysmenorrhea. Gynaecological examination of the uterus revealed RVF, mobility, no pain, slight enlargement, and right displacement. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the pelvis showed a 40 mm submucous fibroid with intramural component less than 50%, type 1, with a 3 mm distance from serosa. In an office hysteroscopy, it was noted a 40 mm submucous fibroid with an intramural component with less than 50%, type 1, classified in STEP-W submucous fibroids classification as a Score 6, Group II. The patient was submitted to partial hysteroscopic myomectomy, removing 60% of the fibroid volume in a 48.75-minute surgery. GnRH analogue was indicated for 3 months before another intervention. In the second evaluation MRI revealed a 22 mm-fibroid with intramural component more than 50%, type 2, with a 7 mm distance from serosa. Hysteroscopy found a 20 mm submucous fibroid, with intramural component more than 50%, type 2, Score 4, Group I on STEP-W classification. The patient was submitted to a second hysteroscopic myomectomy with complete removal and 10.5 minutes operating time, without complications. © 2006 Springer-Verlag.

Caracterização das falhas de transferência na porção norte da Bacia de Santos a partir da integração de dados geológicos e geofísicos

Structures transverse/sub-transverse to the shoreline have been identified and characterized on the precambrian basement outcrop on the continent adjacent to the northern Santos Basin. These structures were analyzed from images of digital elevation model SRTM 90m by extracting NW-SE lineaments that intersect the NE-SW foliation. The lineaments were selected, classified into 48 segments that extend toward offshore, and correlated with basin structures. In the basin 25 2D seismic sections, 12 well logs and data from potential methods were interpreted, identifying the key stratigraphic levels and the major structures. Structural maps of each horizon were generated. Six transfer faults (FTs) were recognized and named FT-1 to FT-6, whose extensions correspond to continental lineaments named FC1 to FC6. The FTs are related to the basin deformation and evolution. In seismic sections, these faults have lateral slip in flower structures, displacement inversions from normal at the top to reverse at the base, abrupt changes in thickness or even disappearance of the seismic reflectors. The structural map of the Basement and Top of the Rift shows control of some depocenters by faults and displacements in some areas. The maps of potential methods indicate that there are pronounced anomaly shifts in some areas, associated with FTs. Some seismic sections indicate reactivation of FTs when they intersect horizons from the basement until the most recent layers. The 3D integration of data facilitated the observation of the FT extensions in the continent discontinuity.

The role of membranous urethral afferent autonomic innervation in the continence mechanism after nerve sparing radical prostatectomy: a clinical and prospective study

Purpose: We evaluated the somatic and autonomic innervation of the pelvic floor and rhabdosphincter before and after nerve sparing radical retropubic prostatectomy using neurophysiological tests and correlated findings with clinical parameters and urinary continence. Materials and Methods: From February 2003 to October 2005, 46 patients with prostate cancer were enrolled in a controlled, prospective study. Patients were evaluated before and 6 months after nerve sparing radical retropubic prostatectomy using the UCLA-PCI urinary function domain and neurophysiological tests, including somatosensory evoked potential, and the pudendo-urethral, pudendo-anal and urethro-anal reflexes. Clinical parameters and urinary continence were correlated with afferent and efferent innervation of the membranous urethra and pelvic floor. We used strict criteria to define urinary continence as complete dryness with no leakage at all, not requiring any pads or diapers and with a UCLA-PCI score of 500. Patients with a sporadic drop of leakage, requiring up to 1 pad daily, were defined as having occasional urinary leakage. Results: Two patients were excluded from study due to urethral stricture postoperatively. We evaluated 44 patients within 6 months after surgery. The pudendo-anal and pudendo-urethral reflexes were unchanged postoperatively (p = 0.93 and 0.09, respectively), demonstrating that afferent and efferent pudendal innervation to this pelvic region was not affected by the surgery. Autonomic afferent denervation of the membranous urethral mucosa was found in 34 patients (77.3%), as demonstrated by a postoperative increase in the urethro-anal reflex sensory threshold and urethro-anal reflex latency (p <0.001 and 0.0007, respectively). Six of the 44 patients used pads. One patient with more severe leakage required 3 pads daily and 23 showed urinary leakage, including 5 who needed 1 pad per day and 18 who did not wear pads. Afferent autonomic denervation at the membranous urethral mucosa was found in 91.7% of patients with urinary leakage. Of 10 patients with preserved urethro-anal reflex latency 80% were continent. Conclusions: Sensory and motor pudendal innervation to this specific pelvic region did not change after nerve sparing radical retropubic prostatectomy. Significant autonomic afferent denervation of the membranous urethral mucosa was present in most patients postoperatively. Impaired membranous urethral sensitivity seemed to be associated with urinary incontinence, particularly in patients with occasional urinary leakage. Damage to the afferent autonomic innervation may have a role in the continence mechanism after nerve sparing radical retropubic prostatectomy.

Importance of xenarthrans in the eco-epidemiology of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis

Background. Several pathogens that cause important zoonotic diseases have been frequently associated with armadillos and other xenarthrans. This mammal group typically has evolved on the South American continent and many of its extant species are seriously threatened with extinction. Natural infection of armadillos with Paracoccidioides brasiliensis in hyperendemic areas has provided a valuable opportunity for understanding the role of this mammal in the eco-epidemiology of Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM), one of the most important systemic mycoses in Latin America. Findings. This study aimed to detect P. brasiliensis in different xenarthran species (Dasypus novemcinctus, Cabassous spp., Euphractus sexcinctus, Tamandua tetradactyla and Myrmecophaga tridactyla), by molecular and mycological approaches, in samples obtained by one of the following strategies: i) from road-killed animals (n = 6); ii) from naturally dead animals (n = 8); iii) from animals that died in captivity (n = 9); and iv) from living animals captured from the wild (n = 2). Specific P. brasiliensis DNA was detected in several organs among 7/20 nine-banded armadillos (D. novemcinctus) and in 2/2 anteaters (M. tridactyla). The fungus was also cultured in tissue samples from one of two armadillos captured from the wild. Conclusion. Members of the Xenarthra Order, especially armadillos, have some characteristics, including a weak cellular immune response and low body temperature, which make them suitable models for studying host-pathogen interaction. P. brasiliensis infection in wild animals, from PCM endemic areas, may be more common than initially postulated and reinforces the use of these animals as sentinels for the pathogen in the environment. © 2009 Bagagli et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

A literatura latino-americana e as alegorias nacionais de concierto Barroco

The problematical identity of Latin America is reflected on the recurrence of the theme in the literature created in this part of the continent. The images of Caliban and anthropophagy and the attribution of a Baroque meaning to the Latin American experience characterize an expressive part of such literature. By means of the character Amo, Carpentier's Concierto Barroco exemplifies the difficulties of the Creole elite in finding a nobleorigin for themselves in their ancestors' Europe, and in identifying themselves with it. The slave musician Filomeno and Amo naturalizes narrative, whereas Filomeno provocativelytransits between the hierarchies, turning the Baroque meaning of identity into an allegory. Jazz is a Creole, anthropophagic and Baroque product whose erased origin was replaced by the fabled narrative in the Spirituals that renewed modern music. It is important to emphasize that Carpentier created, by means of Filomeno, the unity of the American experience whose frontier is Mexico.

Alterações hidrogeomorfológicas devido à dinâmica de uso da terra na Bacia Hidrográfica do Ribeirão Santa Gertrudes (SP)

Agricultural and mining activities are directly related to changes in natural landscapes. From the perspective of anthropogenic geomorphology supported by general systems theory, this research has developed, in order to identify and analyze changes in the land use, mainly from agriculture and the exploitation of clay, and its implications in the hydro-geomorphological characteristics in the Santa Gertrudes Stream watershed (SP). This area is within the context of the Ceramic Pole Santa Gertrudes (SP), which besides its importance as a supplier of raw material, is characterized as the largest center of international reference in ceramic tiles on the American continent. For this purpose, we made land use and geomorphology maps of two scenarios, corresponding to the years 1962 and 2006, which allowed the identification of changes caused by human activities on the landforms of the area, such as the increase in area of parcels intended for mining activity, which went from 3.1% to occupy 19% of the catchment area of the respective period and that, among other changes, gave rise to new forms of relief as, for example, in levels of pit mining abrupt and smooth. The results indicate that the main features of representative of human changes in relief are represented for opening of large clay mining pits and agricultural activities, which intensified the denudation and sedimentation processes in the Santa Gertrudes Stream watershed.

Histomorfometria do corno uterino de gatas (Felis Catus) submetidas à ovariosalpingohisterectomia

Histomorphometric data were obtained from cats uterine horns: either nulliparous (n = 6), primiparous (n = 6), multiparous (n = 6) and treated with contraceptive (n = 6). The material was collected after surgery, fixed in paraformaldehyde and embedded in paraplast® resin to be sliced in a microtome. The obtained sections were stained with hematoxylin - eosin and measured under a light microscope: uterine wall total thickness (μm), endometrium total height, endometrial glands diameter and glandular epithelia height, total myometrium, internal and external myometrium and vascular layer thickness. It was concluded that: 1 - contraceptive use and number of pregnancies altered the uterine structure, 2 - one pregnancy does not appear to affect the uterine lining structures as occurs in multiparous cats, 3 - there was no variation on the evaluated structures between nulliparous and primiparous cats except for inner myometrium, 4 - the total myometrium hight and the endometrium hight showed similar variations except for the contraceptive treated cats group, 5 - the outer myometrium showed marked changes in the treated cats, 6 - the less marked morphological variations were for the endometrial glands diameter and glandular epithelium hight, 7 - the presence of dilated endometrial glands was found only in treated cats.

Crustal growth in the 3.4-2.7Ga São José de Campestre Massif, Borborema Province, NE Brazil

The Archean (3.45-2.70Ga) rocks of the São José do Campestre Massif (SJCM) in the Borborema Province (NE Brazil) make up a small area (~6000km2) and are composed of granitoids and metasupracrustal rocks that define a complex magmatic and deformational history. The massif provides the opportunity to study mantle- and crustal-derived magmas generated since the Palaeoarchean. The orthogneisses of the SJCM are composed of: (1) tonalite to granodiorite with diorite enclaves (Bom Jesus gneiss, 3412±8Ma; TDM Nd model ages from 4.1 to 3.5Ga and negative epsilon Nd values); (2) biotite and ferroan-diopside monzogranite (Presidente Juscelino complex, 3356±21Ma and 3251±44Ma; TDM model ages range from 4.1 to 3.4Ga and epsilon Nd values that are slightly positive to negative); (3) hornblende tonalite to granodiorite (Brejinho complex, 3333±77Ma and 3187±8Ma; dominantly positive epsilon Nd values and TDM ages from 3.6 to 3.2Ga); (4) biotite monzogranite (São Pedro do Potengi gneiss, 3120±22Ma; TDM =3.5Ga; negative epsilon Nd value); (5) ferroan-diopside-grossular anorthosite and metagabbro (Senador Elói de Souza complex, 3033±3Ma); and (6) quartz diorite to syenogranite (São José do Campestre complex; 2685±9Ma and 2655±4Ma; negative epsilon Nd values and TDM ages from 3.9 to 3.3Ga). The orthogneisses are subalkaline to faintly alkaline, magnesian to ferroan, M- and I-type granitoids that follow either the K-enrichment or the trondhjemite trends. Each group has a subset with REE characteristics similar to Archean TTG and another that is analogous to Phanerozoic granitoids. They have negative Ta-Nb and Ti anomalies and have trace element contents of granitoids from subduction zones. Geochemical and Nd isotope data suggest that subducted oceanic crust and a depleted and metasomatised mantle wedge both acted as the magma sources. We propose a convergent tectonic model in which hybridisation of the upper mantle occurs through interactions with adakitic or trondhjemitic melts and recycling of earlier crust. The results imply that both the subducted oceanic crust and the mantle wedge played major roles in continent formation throughout successive episodes of arc accretion in Palaeo- and Mesoarchean times. The Archean rocks of the SJCM shares some similarities with the Pilbara, Kaapvaal, West African, and São Francisco cratons. However, the most reliable comparisons with the SJCM are with the neighbouring basement of the Nigeria and Cameroon shields. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.