The Genome Sequence of Taurine Cattle: A Window to Ruminant Biology and Evolution

To understand the biology and evolution of ruminants, the cattle genome was sequenced to about sevenfold coverage. The cattle genome contains a minimum of 22,000 genes, with a core set of 14,345 orthologs shared among seven mammalian species of which 1217 are absent or undetected in noneutherian (marsupial or monotreme) genomes. Cattle-specific evolutionary breakpoint regions in chromosomes have a higher density of segmental duplications, enrichment of repetitive elements, and species-specific variations in genes associated with lactation and immune responsiveness. Genes involved in metabolism are generally highly conserved, although five metabolic genes are deleted or extensively diverged from their human orthologs. The cattle genome sequence thus provides a resource for understanding mammalian evolution and accelerating livestock genetic improvement for milk and meat production.

Lung ultrasound in acute respiratory distress syndrome and acute lung injury

Purpose of reviewLung ultrasound at the bedside can provide accurate information on lung status in critically ill patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome.Recent findingsLung ultrasound can replace bedside chest radiography and lung computed tomography for assessment of pleural effusion, pneumothorax, alveolar- interstitial syndrome, lung consolidation, pulmonary abscess and lung recruitment/de-recruitment. It can also accurately determine the type of lung morphology at the bedside (focal or diffuse aeration loss), and therefore it is useful for optimizing positive end-expiratory pressure. The learning curve is brief, so most intensive care physicians will be able to use it after a few weeks of training.SummaryLung ultrasound is noninvasive, easily repeatable and allows assessment of changes in lung aeration induced by the various therapies. It is among the most promising bedside techniques for monitoring patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Multiplane ultrasound approach to quantify pleural effusion at the bedside

To assess the accuracy of a multiplane ultrasound approach to measure pleural effusion volume (PEV), considering pleural effusion (PE) extension along the cephalocaudal axis and PE area.Prospective study performed on 58 critically ill patients with 102 PEs. Thoracic drainage was performed in 46 patients (59 PEs) and lung computed tomography (CT) in 24 patients (43 PEs). PE was assessed using bedside lung ultrasound. Adjacent paravertebral intercostal spaces were examined, and ultrasound PEV was calculated by multiplying the paravertebral PE length by its area, measured at half the distance between the apical and caudal limits of the PE.Ultrasound PEV was compared to either the volume of the drained PE (59 PE) or PEV assessed on lung CT (43 PE). In patients with lung CT, the accuracy of this new method was compared to the accuracy of previous methods proposed for PEV measurement. Ultrasound PEV was tightly correlated with drained PEV (r = 0.84, p < 0.001) and with CT PEV (r = 0.90, p < 0.001). The mean biases between ultrasound and actual volumes of PE were -33 ml when compared to drainage (limits of agreement -292 to +227 ml) and -53 ml when compared to CT (limits of agreement -303 to +198 ml). This new method was more accurate than previous methods to measure PEV.Using a multiplane approach increases the accuracy of lung ultrasound to measure the volume of large to small pleural effusions in critically ill patients.

Picos de pressão intra-ocular: comparação entre curva tensional diária, minicurva e medida da pressão intra-ocular às 6 horas

INTRODUÇÃO: A pressão intra-ocular (Po) é o fator de risco isolado mais importante para o desenvolvimento do glaucoma primário de ângulo aberto (GPAA). O controle da Po é o objetivo principal da terapia antiglaucomatosa até o momento. A curva tensional diária (CTD) é de grande importância para o diagnóstico e seguimento do glaucoma primário de ângulo aberto. Métodos simplificados como a minicurva têm sido utilizados em seu lugar por serem mais práticos. OBJETIVO: Comparar curva tensional diária, minicurva e medida isolada às 6 horas quanto à detecção de picos pressóricos e verificar a influência da variação postural na medida das 6 horas da manhã. MÉTODOS: Sessenta e quatro pacientes (126 olhos) com glaucoma primário de ângulo aberto ou suspeita de glaucoma foram submetidos à curva tensional diária. A minicurva considerou as medidas das 9, 12, 15 e 18 horas da mesma curva tensional diária. A medida das 6 horas foi realizada no escuro, com o paciente deitado, utilizando o tonômetro de Perkins. Logo após, foi feita nova medida, com o paciente sentado, usando o tonômetro de Goldmann. A Po média e a ocorrência de picos (Po > 21 mmHg) da curva tensional diária e minicurva foram comparados, assim como o horário de ocorrência dos picos. RESULTADOS: A Po média foi maior no glaucoma primário de ângulo aberto do que nos suspeitos tanto na minicurva como na curva tensional diária Quando comparadas, a curva tensional diária apresentou médias de Po maiores que a minicurva. A medida das 6 horas foi maior quando feita com o paciente deitado. A minicurva não detectou 60,42% dos picos nos pacientes com glaucoma primário de ângulo aberto e 88,24% dos picos nos suspeitos. CONCLUSÃO: 1. A curva tensional diária detectou mais picos pressóricos do que a minicurva; 2. A média de Po das 6 horas foi maior com o paciente deitado; 3. A Po das 6 horas com o paciente deitado foi maior do que a Po média da curva tensional diária e da minicurva.

Serum Iron Parameters and Acute Experimental EHV-1 Infection in Horses

Background Research in humans has demonstrated that high serum iron (sFe) concentration can predispose to infection, and many infections subsequently result in alterations of host sFe. A decrease in sFe concentration is an early and sensitive indicator of systemic inflammation caused by tissue necrosis, bacterial infections, or endotoxemia in horses. Serum iron parameters in acute equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) infection have not been evaluated previously. Objectives To document the sFe response to EHV-1 infection and to determine whether or not significant differences in sFe concentration exist between EHV-1 infected horses that develop neurologic disease and those that do not. Animals A total of 14 horses experimentally infected with EHV-1. Methods Data were collected as an ancillary data set during a blinded experimental EHV-1 infection. Horses were infected with the rAb4 strain of EHV-1. Temperature, neurologic score, packed cell volume (PCV), and sFe parameters (sFe concentration, % saturation, and total iron-binding capacity) were recorded daily for 2weeks. Data were evaluated using Wilcoxon signed rank tests and Wilcoxon rank sum tests with Bonferroni corrections. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance Serum iron concentration decreases significantly in a biphasic pattern after EHV-1 infection. There was no significant difference in sFe concentration in horses that developed neurologic disease and those that did not in these experimentally infected animals. Serum iron parameters may be useful in monitoring the clinical course of viral infections such as EHV-1.

Micropropagación de Pothomorphe umbellata (L.) Miq. vía organogénesis directa

The present research was aimed at standardizing the protocol of seed disinfection, seed germination and organogenesis via callus of Pothomorphe umbellata (L.) Miq.The germinated seeds were inoculated in different concentrations of BAP (benzylamine purine) and NAA (naphthalene acetic acid) in order to stimulate the callus induction. After 60 days of culture, the calluses with some shoots were taken to an organogenesis medium (GA3 0.1 mg.L -1, BAP 0.5 mg.L-1) during 40 days, to be transferred later to a development medium. Finally, the plantules were acclimatized, presenting a good index of survival.

Echocardiographic Doppler estimation of pulmonary artery pressure in critically ill patients with severe hypoxemia

BACKGROUND: In spontaneously breathing cardiac patients, pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) can be accurately estimated from the transthoracic Doppler study of pulmonary artery and tricuspid regurgitation blood flows. In critically ill patients on mechanical ventilation for acute lung injury, the interposition of gas between the probe and the heart renders the transthoracic approach problematic. This study was aimed at determining whether the transesophageal approach could offer an alternative. METHODS: Fifty-one consecutive sedated and ventilated patients with severe hypoxemia (arterial oxygen tension/fraction of inspired oxygen < 300) were prospectively studied. Mean PAP measured from the pulmonary artery catheter was compared with several indices characterizing pulmonary artery blood flow assessed using transesophageal echocardiography: preejection time, acceleration time, ejection duration, preejection time on ejection duration ratio, and acceleration time on ejection duration ratio. In a subgroup of 20 patients, systolic PAP measured from the pulmonary artery catheter immediately before withdrawal was compared with Doppler study of regurgitation tricuspid flow performed immediately after pulmonary artery catheter withdrawal using either the transthoracic or the transesophageal approach. RESULTS: Weak and clinically irrelevant correlations were found between mean PAP and indices of pulmonary artery flow. A statistically significant and clinically relevant correlation was found between systolic PAP and regurgitation tricuspid flow. In 3 patients (14%), pulmonary artery pressure could not be assessed echocardiographically. CONCLUSIONS: In hypoxemic patients on mechanical ventilation, mean PAP cannot be reliably estimated from indices characterizing pulmonary artery blood flow. Systolic PAP can be estimated from regurgitation tricuspid flow using either transthoracic or transesophageal approach. © 2008 American Society of Anesthesiologists, Inc.

Pico e flutuação da pressão intra-ocular: comparação entre curva tensional diária e teste de sobrecarga hídrica e comparação entre 2 testes de sobrecarga hídrica em horários diferentes

Pós-graduação em Bases Gerais da Cirurgia - FMB

Estudo hidrogeoquímico da porção meridional do sistema aquífero Bauru no estado de São Paulo

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

Potencial morfogenético e carotenóides em tecidos cultivados in vitro de Pothomorphe umbellata L

Pós-graduação em Agronomia (Horticultura) - FCA

Estrutura morfológica das formas futuras nas cantigas de Santa Maria

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Língua e sociedade nas páginas da imprensa negra paulista: um olhar sobre as formas de tratamento

O estudo das inter-relações entre língua e sociedade, a partir de um corpus jornalístico, é o foco primordial desse livro. Trata-se da investigação do sistema de formas de tratamento nos jornais da Imprensa Negra paulista - movimento realizado por negros e destinado a essa população no período posterior à abolição da escravatura no Brasil - e em O Combate - jornal de circulação mais ampla na cidade de São Paulo no início do século XX. As formas de tratamento representam um exemplo privilegiado da relação entre a escolha linguística e seu motivador social. Elas foram analisadas a partir da relação de alguns pontos de vista teóricos, a saber: o estudo do jornal como um hipergênero, proposta de Bonini (2003, 2004, 2006), com o intuito de se avaliar as características peculiares de cada um dos gêneros do jornal; a proposta de análise da situação do interlocutor no momento da enunciação de Soto (2001); a investigação das marcas de interatividade, proposta por Andrade (2008); e a semântica do poder e da solidariedade de Brown e Gilman (1972 [1960]). O estudo desse fenômeno linguístico revelou à necessidade dos negros do período de conquistarem um espaço na sociedade paulistana da época e, dessa forma, a Imprensa Negra representava um espaço de circulação de sua voz na sociedade.

Fire and the reproductive phenology of endangered Madagascar sclerophyllous tapia woodlands

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Comparative abundance and diversity of Dryininae (Hymenoptera, Dryinidae) in three savannah phytophysiognomies in southeastern Brazil, under three sampling methods

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

A new species of Pachycerianthus (cnidaria, Anthozoa, Ceriantharia) from Tropical Southwestern Atlantic

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)