Scanning and transmission electron microscopy of the tegument of Paranaella luquei Kohn, Baptista-Farias & Cohen, 2000 (Microcotylidae, Monogenea), parasite of a Brazilian catfish, Hypostomus regani

The surface topography and ultrastructure of the tegument of Paranaella luquei Kohn, Baptista-Farias & Cohen, 2000, a microcotylid monogenean parasite from the gills of Hypostomus regani (Ihering, 1905) (Loricariidae) was studied by scanning (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). By SEM, it was observed that the tegument presents transversal ridges, forming folds in the ventral and dorsal surfaces and microvillous-like tegumental projections in the anterior and median regions of body. These projections were also observed by TEM. The tegument is made up of a syncytium delimited by apical and basal plasma membranes, containing inclusion bodies and mitochondria, connected to the nucleated region by means of cytoplasmatic processes. The tegumental cells present a well developed nucleus and cytoplasm containing inclusion bodies, similar to those found on the external layer, mitochondria, rough endoplasmatic reticulum and free ribossomes.

An integrative review of drug utilization by the elderly in primary health care

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To identify knowledge produced about drug utilization by the elderly in the primary health care context from 2006 to 2014. METHOD An integrative review of the PubMed, LILACS, BDENF, and SCOPUS databases, including qualitative research papers in Portuguese, English, and Spanish. It excluded papers with insufficient information regarding the methodological description. RESULTS Search found 633 papers that, after being subjected to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, made up a corpusof 76 publications, mostly in English and produced in the United States, England, and Brazil. Results were pooled in eight thematic categories showing the current trend of drug use in the elderly, notably the use of psychotropics, polypharmacy, the prevention of adverse events, and adoption of technologies to facilitate drug management by the elderly. Studies point out the risks posed to the elderly as a consequence of changes in metabolism and simultaneous use of several drugs. CONCLUSION There is strong concern about improving communications between professionals and the elderly in order to promote an exchange of information about therapy, and in this way prevent major health complications in this population.

Nitrogen fractions in the microbial biomass in soils of southern Brazil

The reaction of nitrogen compounds with ninhydrin can be used as an indicator of cytoplasmic materials released from microbial cells killed by fumigation. Total-N, ninhydrin-reactive-N (NR-N), ammonium-N (A-N), and α-amino-N in the microbial biomass of soils from the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, were determined, in 1996, in 0.5 mol L-1 K2SO4 extracts of fumigated and non-fumigated soils. Total-N varied from 20.3 to 104.4 mg kg-1 and the ninhydrin-reactive-N corresponded, in average, to 27% of this. The ninhydrin-reactive-N was made up of 67% ammonium-N and 33% aminoacids with the amino group at the α-carbon position. It was concluded that colorimetric analysis of NR-N and A-N may be used as a direct measure of microbial N in soil. This simple and rapid procedure is adequate for routine analyses.

Aplicação da equação de Poisson-Boltzmann ao cálculo de propriedades dependentes do pH em proteínas

The ability of biomolecules to catalyze chemical reactions is due chiefly to their sensitivity to variations of the pH in the surrounding environment. The reason for this is that they are made up of chemical groups whose ionization states are modulated by pH changes that are of the order of 0.4 units. The determination of the protonation states of such chemical groups as a function of conformation of the biomolecule and the pH of the environment can be useful in the elucidation of important biological processes from enzymatic catalysis to protein folding and molecular recognition. In the past 15 years, the theory of Poisson-Boltzmann has been successfully used to estimate the pKa of ionizable sites in proteins yielding results, which may differ by 0.1 unit from the experimental values. In this study, we review the theory of Poisson-Boltzmann under the perspective of its application to the calculation of pKa in proteins.

PERFIL DOS BOLSISTAS DE PRODUTIVIDADE EM PESQUISA NAS SUBÁREAS DA QUÍMICA DO CNPq

The profile analysis of CNPq Research Productivity Fellows (PQ) in the four subfields of chemistry and in their respective specialties highlighted particularities with regard to the indicators related to the judging criteria established by the Chemistry Advisory Committee. The curricula of all 727 PQ fellows with active grants in 15/03/2013 were analyzed spanning the past10 years (2003-2013). Out of all PQ-1 fellows, researchers in the subfield of Organic Chemistry had the highest median number of articles published per year. The subfield of Analytical Chemistry qualifies a higher number of postgraduate level students in comparison to other Chemistry subfields. Furthermore, this subfield had the highest average Hirsch index among PQ-1A and PQ-1B fellows. On the other hand, Inorganic Chemistry had the highest average number of patent applications per researcher, while Physical Chemistry had the specialties with the highest citation rates per paper and the highest average impact factors per journal. In all subfields, women made up a low proportion, especially at the highest levels of PQ fellowships. Although quantitative differences in scientific output were observed among the subfields, qualitative evaluation of science output was not carried out.

Temperature effect in potassium and nitrate ions in soil transport

When doing researches on solute dynamics in porous medium, the knowledge of medium characteristics and percolating liquids, as well as of external factors is very important. An important external factor is temperature and, in this sense, our purpose was determining potassium and nitrate transport parameters for different values of temperature, in miscible displacement experiments. Evaluated parameters were retardation factor (R), diffusion/dispersion coefficient (D) and dispersivity, at ambient temperature (25 up to 28 ºC), 40 ºC and 50 ºC. Salts used were potassium nitrate and potassium chlorate, prepared in a solution made up of 5 ppm nitrate and 2.000 ppm potassium, with Red-Yellow Latosol porous medium. Temperature exhibited a positive influence upon porous medium solution and upon dispersion coefficient.

Hamartoma cístico retrorretal

A 32-year-old woman was referred to our institution for a pelvic mass. She was asymptomatic and was found to have a mass on rectal examination. Magnetic resonance showed a large solid-cystic mass and the patient underwent complete surgical excision with pathologic findings suggesting retrorectal cyst-hamartoma. Tailgut cysts (or retrorectal cystic hamartomas) are rare congenital lesions settled in the retrorectal (presacral) space. They are made up of cysts lined by multiple types of epithelium, often predominantly mucin-secreting. The lesion requires complete surgical excision to prevent complications of recurrence, infection or carcinomatous degeneration.

Fifty years in the blink of an eye: a retrospective study of ocular and periocular lesions in domestic animals

A survey was undertaken aiming to obtain an overview of ocular and periocular lesions diagnosed in domestic mammals over a period of 50 years in a veterinary pathology diagnostic laboratory in the Central Region of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. In this lab, 33,075 histophatological exams had been performed over the period surveyed, of which 540 (1.6%) concerned ocular and periocular lesions. For various reasons ninety specimens were excluded from the study and the remaining 450 consisted of samples from dogs (53.5%), cattle (28.2%), cats (11.1%), horses (5.1%) sheep (1.3%), rabbits (0.4%), and pig (0.2%). The eyelids were the most prevalent (248/450) site of lesions in each of the species studied, followed by third eyelid (73/450), and conjunctiva (27/450). In dogs (241 samples) lesions in sebaceous glands (including Meibomian glands) were the most common findings (75/241), followed by melanocytic tumors (52/241) and nonspecific conjunctivitis (13/241). Squamous cell neoplasms, both benign and malignant, were relatively common. In cattle, anatomical sites affected by ocular and periocular lesions, in decreasing order of frequency, were eyelid, cornea and third eyelid. Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) alone accounted for 80.3% of all diagnoses, while all neoplastic lesions made up for 85.0% of the lesions diagnosed in cattle. Neoplasia accounted for most of the lesions diagnosed in cats (39/50 cases); all of these were malignant, and SCC, hemangiosarcoma and fibrosarcoma were the most common types diagnosed. In horses, 19 out of 23 submissions were neoplasms and most were sarcoid (8/23) and SCC (8/23). There were six submissions from sheep with unpigmented skin, all of which represented SCC of the eyelids (5) and third eyelid (1).

Speed Control of an Autonomous Mobile Robot: Comparison between a PID Control and a Control Using Fuzzy Logic

An Autonomous Mobile Robot battery driven, with two traction wheels and a steering wheel is being developed. This Robot central control is regulated by an IPC, which controls every function of security, steering, positioning localization and driving. Each traction wheel is operated by a DC motor with independent control system. This system is made up of a chopper, an encoder and a microcomputer. The IPC transmits the velocity values and acceleration ramp references to the PIC microcontrollers. As each traction wheel control is independent, it's possible to obtain different speed values for each wheel. This process facilities the direction and drive changes. Two different strategies for speed velocity control were implemented; one works with PID, and the other with fuzzy logic. There were no changes in circuits and feedback control, except for the PIC microcontroller software. Comparing the two different speed control strategies the results were equivalent. However, in relation to the development and implementation of these strategies, the difficulties were bigger to implement the PID control.

Development, structure and distribution of colleters in Mandevilla illustris and M. velutina (Apocynaceae)

Colleters of Mandevilla illustris and M. velutina are present on the cotyledons, shoot apices, mature leaves and on the nodal region, where they are interpetiolar and intrapetiolar. In M. velutina there are two colleters on the adaxial basal part of the leaf blade, and in M. illustris, this number varies. The differentiation of the colleters occurs in the early stages of leaf development. When colleters are mature, they consist of a long head on a short stalk. The central core of the colleter is made up of parenchymatous cells that may exhibit phenolic compounds and is surrounded by radially elongated epithelial cells. The foliar and intrapetiolar colleters can exhibit vascularization. The colleters produce a translucient sticky substance that reacts positively to polysaccharides and, before senescence, they produce lipophilic substances. The Mandevilla colleters data can give support to the taxonomy and phylogeny of the Apocynaceae.

Reproductive ability of pubertal male and female rats

Ten Fisher rats 50 to 55 days of age made up the pubertal group, and ten rats 90 to 95 days of age served as the controls. The testicular and epididymal weights and volumes of the pubertal males were lower than those of the controls (P<0.001). There was also a difference in relative epididymal weight (P<0.001). The sperm of pubertal males was morphologically abnormal in 58.2% of cases, as opposed to only 3.8% in the controls (P<0.001). The mean number of spermatozoa in the control group was 11.9 × 10(6)/ml and their viability was 99.6%, while these values could not be determined for pubertal rats. Serum testosterone was higher in the pubertal animals than in the controls (2.52 ± 1.46 vs 0.92 ± 0.34 nM, P<0.01). The ovaries of control females were heavier than those of pubertal females (P<0.001) but there was no difference in their relative weights. Serum estradiol was similar in both groups (75.5 ± 12.8 vs 81.8 ± 14.7 nM, P>0.05). At the beginning of gestation, the pubertal dams weighed less than the controls (P<0.001) but following uterectomy the body weights were equal. Pubertal dams delivered fewer pups than the controls (8.1 ± 2.5 vs 10.4 ± 1.3, P<0.05). There was no difference in the body weights of their offspring or in the weights of their placentas. The results suggest that, in contrast to their female counterparts, pubertal male rats are not fully mature and have not reached complete reproductive capacity at 50-55 days of age.

Low variation in ribosomal DNA and internal transcribed spacers of the symbiotic fungi of leaf-cutting ants (Attini: Formicidae)

Leaf-cutting ants of the genera Atta and Acromyrmex (tribe Attini) are symbiotic with basidiomycete fungi of the genus Leucoagaricus (tribe Leucocoprineae), which they cultivate on vegetable matter inside their nests. We determined the variation of the 28S, 18S, and 5.8S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) gene loci and the rapidly evolving internal transcribed spacers 1 and 2 (ITS1 and ITS2) of 15 sympatric and allopatric fungi associated with colonies of 11 species of leafcutter ants living up to 2,600 km apart in Brazil. We found that the fungal rDNA and ITS sequences from different species of ants were identical (or nearly identical) to each other, whereas 10 GenBank Leucoagaricus species showed higher ITS variation. Our findings suggest that Atta and Acromyrmex leafcutters living in geographic sites that are very distant from each other cultivate a single fungal species made up of closely related lineages of Leucoagaricus gongylophorus. We discuss the strikingly high similarity in the ITS1 and ITS2 regions of the Atta and Acromyrmex symbiotic L. gongylophorus studied by us, in contrast to the lower similarity displayed by their non-symbiotic counterparts. We suggest that the similarity of our L. gongylophorus isolates is an indication of the recent association of the fungus with these ants, and propose that both the intense lateral transmission of fungal material within leafcutter nests and the selection of more adapted fungal strains are involved in the homogenization of the symbiotic fungal stock.