New molecular variants of hypothalamus-pituitary-gonad axis genes and their association with early puberty phenotype in Bos taurus indicus (Nellore)

Endocrine system plays a major role in the control of reproductive functions which are regulated by the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonad axis and its interactions. FSH and LH receptor genes are expressed at the gonads and GnRH receptor gene is expressed at the anterior pituitary gland. Misense mutations of the FSH, LH or GnRH receptors, activating or inactivating their functions in mammals, are potentially useful to allow the understanding of the role of this group of gonadotropins in reproductive phenotypes as early puberty and birth interval length. In the present study, polymorphisms in bovine exon 11 and 3'UTR of LHR, exon 10 and 3'UTR of FSHR and GnRHR genes were characterized with some of them resulting in changes in the aminoacidic chain. These polymorphic sites were found in a Bos taurus indicus (Nellore) female population by means of PCR-SSCP and DNA sequencing. Association between nucleotidic/aminoacidic changes and early puberty were determined by Chi-square analysis. It was found association between FSHR 3'UTR polymorphisms at position 2181, 2248 and 2249 bp and early puberty phenotype (p < 0.05). The presence of these new molecular markers might be considered in further studies to validate its correlation with early puberty or other reproduction associated phenotypes in cattle breeds. (C) 2007 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Behavioral and neuroendocrine effects of the exposure to chronic restraint or variable stress in early adolescent rats

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

Acute and sustained effects of early administration of inhaled nitric oxide to children with acute respiratory distress syndrome

OBJECTIVE: To determine the acute and sustained effects of early inhaled nitric oxide on some oxygenation indexes and ventilator settings and to compare inhaled nitric oxide administration and conventional therapy on mortality rate, length of stay in intensive care, and duration of mechanical ventilation in children with acute respiratory distress syndrome. DESIGN: Observational study. SETTING: Pediatric intensive care unit at a university-affiliated hospital. PATIENTS: Children with acute respiratory distress syndrome, aged between 1 month and 12 yrs. INTERVENTIONS: Two groups were studied: an inhaled nitric oxide group (iNOG, n = 18) composed of patients prospectively enrolled from November 2000 to November 2002, and a conventional therapy group (CTG, n = 21) consisting of historical control patients admitted from August 1998 to August 2000. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Therapy with inhaled nitric oxide was introduced as early as 1.5 hrs after acute respiratory distress syndrome diagnosis with acute improvements in Pao(2)/Fio(2) ratio (83.7%) and oxygenation index (46.7%). Study groups were of similar ages, gender, primary diagnoses, pediatric risk of mortality score, and mean airway pressure. Pao(2)/Fio(2) ratio was lower (CTG, 116.9 +/- 34.5; iNOG, 62.5 +/- 12.8, p <.0001) and oxygenation index higher (CTG, 15.2 [range, 7.2-32.2]; iNOG, 24.3 [range, 16.3-70.4], p <.0001) in the iNOG. Prolonged treatment was associated with improved oxygenation, so that Fio(2) and peak inspiratory pressure could be quickly and significantly reduced. Mortality rate for inhaled nitric oxide-patients was lower (CTG, ten of 21, 47.6%; iNOG, three of 18, 16.6%, p <.001). There was no difference in intensive care stay (CTG, 10 days [range, 2-49]; iNOG, 12 [range, 6-26], p >.05) or duration of mechanical ventilation (TCG, 9 days [range, 2-47]; iNOG, 10 [range, 4-25], p >.05). CONCLUSIONS: Early treatment with inhaled nitric oxide causes acute and sustained improvement in oxygenation, with earlier reduction of ventilator settings, which might contribute to reduce the mortality rate in children with acute respiratory distress syndrome. Length of stay in intensive care and duration of mechanical ventilation are not changed. Prospective trials of inhaled nitric oxide early in the setting of acute lung injury in children are needed.

A new genus and two new species of Opilioacaridae (Acari: Parasitiformes) from Amazonia, Brazil with a key to world genera

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

B-mode Ultrasound and Doppler Mode for Early-stage Pregnancy Diagnosis in Shi-Tzu Bitches

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

Heydrichia (?) poignantii, sp nov (Sporolithaceae, Sporolithales, Rhodophyta), a 100 million year old fossil coralline red alga from north-eastern Brazil, and a new Hauterivian record of Sporolithon from Switzerland

Fossil specimens of Heydrichia (?) poignantii, sp. nov. (Sporolithaceae, Sporolithales, Rhodophyta), representing the first confirmation of the genus in the fossil record, were discovered in thin sections of Albian limestones from the Riachuelo Formation, Sergipe Basin, and in thin sections of Albian -Cenomanian limestones from the Ponta do Mel Formation, Potiguar Basin in north-eastern Brazil. A detailed morphological-anatomical account of the species is provided, and its placement in Heydrichia is discussed in relation to current classification proposals. Comparisons with the four other known species of the genus, all non-fossil, show that H. poignantii is the only known species of Heydrichia in which thalli are encrusting to sparsely warty to horizontally layered with overlapping lamellate branches that commonly appear variously curved or arched, and in which thalli have sporangial complexes that become buried in the thallus. The evolutionary history of Heydrichia remains uncertain, but available data suggest that the genus may have diverged from the sporolithacean genus Sporolithon, known as early as Hauterivian times (c. 129.4-132.9 +/- 1 Ma) from Spain (and newly reported here from Switzerland), or it may have arisen from a graticulacean alga such as Graticula, dating from mid-Silurian times (c. 427-435 Ma). Current data also suggest that Heydrichia is more likely to have arrived in Brazil from Central Atlantic waters than from higher latitude South Atlantic waters. This implies that currently living species in southern Africa probably arose later from ancestors further equatorward in the South Atlantic, although confirming studies are needed. All non-fossil species of Heydrichia are known only from the southern hemisphere.

Hydroxyapatite and a new fibrin sealant derived from snake venom as scaffold to treatment of cranial defects in rats

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

The sailboat island and the New Horizons trajectory

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