The Crystal-t Algorithm: A New Approach To Calculate The Sle Of Lipidic Mixtures Presenting Solid Solutions.

Lipidic mixtures present a particular phase change profile highly affected by their unique crystalline structure. However, classical solid-liquid equilibrium (SLE) thermodynamic modeling approaches, which assume the solid phase to be a pure component, sometimes fail in the correct description of the phase behavior. In addition, their inability increases with the complexity of the system. To overcome some of these problems, this study describes a new procedure to depict the SLE of fatty binary mixtures presenting solid solutions, namely the Crystal-T algorithm. Considering the non-ideality of both liquid and solid phases, this algorithm is aimed at the determination of the temperature in which the first and last crystal of the mixture melts. The evaluation is focused on experimental data measured and reported in this work for systems composed of triacylglycerols and fatty alcohols. The liquidus and solidus lines of the SLE phase diagrams were described by using excess Gibbs energy based equations, and the group contribution UNIFAC model for the calculation of the activity coefficients of both liquid and solid phases. Very low deviations of theoretical and experimental data evidenced the strength of the algorithm, contributing to the enlargement of the scope of the SLE modeling.

Neural Mechanisms And Delayed Gastric Emptying Of Liquid Induced Through Acute Myocardial Infarction In Rats.

Background: In pathological situations, such as acute myocardial infarction, disorders of motility of the proximal gut can trigger symptoms like nausea and vomiting. Acute myocardial infarction delays gastric emptying (GE) of liquid in rats. Objective: Investigate the involvement of the vagus nerve, α 1-adrenoceptors, central nervous system GABAB receptors and also participation of paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus in GE and gastric compliance (GC) in infarcted rats. Methods: Wistar rats, N = 8-15 in each group, were divided as INF group and sham (SH) group and subdivided. The infarction was performed through ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery. GC was estimated with pressure-volume curves. Vagotomy was performed by sectioning the dorsal and ventral branches. To verify the action of GABAB receptors, baclofen was injected via icv (intracerebroventricular). Intravenous prazosin was used to produce chemical sympathectomy. The lesion in the PVN of the hypothalamus was performed using a 1mA/10s electrical current and GE was determined by measuring the percentage of gastric retention (% GR) of a saline meal. Results: No significant differences were observed regarding GC between groups; vagotomy significantly reduced % GR in INF group; icv treatment with baclofen significantly reduced %GR. GABAB receptors were not conclusively involved in delaying GE; intravenous treatment with prazosin significantly reduced GR% in INF group. PVN lesion abolished the effect of myocardial infarction on GE. Conclusion: Gastric emptying of liquids induced through acute myocardial infarction in rats showed the involvement of the vagus nerve, alpha1- adrenergic receptors and PVN.Fundamento: Distúrbios da motilidade do intestino proximal no infarto agudo do miocárdio podem desencadear sintomas digestivos como náuseas e vômitos. O infarto do miocárdio ocasiona retardo do esvaziamento gástrico (EG) de líquido em ratos. Objetivo: Investigar se existe a influência do nervo vago (VGX), adrenoreceptores α-1, receptores GABAB do sistema nervoso central e participação do núcleo paraventricular (NPV) do hipotálamo no esvaziamento gástrico (EG) e complacência gástrica (CG) em ratos infartados. Métodos: Ratos Wistar (n = 8-15) foram divididos em: grupo infarto (INF), sham (SH) e subdivididos. O infarto foi realizado por ligadura da artéria coronária descendente anterior. A complacência gástrica foi estimada com curvas pressão-volume. Realizada vagotomia por secção dos ramos dorsal e ventral. Para verificar a ação dos receptores GABAB foi injetado baclofeno por via intra ventrículo-cerebral. Simpatectomia química foi realizada com prazosina intravenosa (iv), e na lesão do núcleo paraventricular do hipotálamo foi utilizada corrente elétrica de 1mA/10s, com esvaziamento gástrico determinado por medição da retenção gástrica (% RG) de uma refeição salina. Resultados: Não houve diferença significativa na CG. A vagotomia (VGX) reduziu significativamente a %RG; no grupo INF, o tratamento intra ventrículo-cerebral (ivc) com baclofeno reduziu significativamente a % RG; não houve conclusivamente envolvimento dos receptores GABAB em retardar o EG; o tratamento intravenoso com prazosina reduziu significativamente a %RG no grupo INF. A lesão do NPV aboliu o efeito do infarto do miocárdio no EG. Conclusão: O nervo vago, receptores α-adrenérgicos e núcleo paraventricular estão envolvidos no retardo do esvaziamento gástrico no infarto agudo do miocárdio em ratos.

Uso de redes neurais artificiais na identificação de vocalização de suínos

Animal welfare has been an important research topic in animal production mainly in its ways of assessment. Vocalization is found to be an interesting tool for evaluating welfare as it provides data in a non-invasive way as well as it allows easy automation of process. The present research had as objective the implementation of an algorithm based on artificial neural network that had the potential of identifying vocalization related to welfare pattern indicatives. The research was done in two parts, the first was the development of the algorithm, and the second its validation with data from the field. Previous records allowed the development of the algorithm from behaviors observed in sows housed in farrowing cages. Matlab® software was used for implementing the network. It was selected a retropropagation gradient algorithm for training the network with the following stop criteria: maximum of 5,000 interactions or error quadratic addition smaller than 0.1. Validation was done with sows and piglets housed in commercial farm. Among the usual behaviors the ones that deserved enhancement were: the feed dispute at farrowing and the eventual risk of involuntary aggression between the piglets or between those and the sow. The algorithm was able to identify through the noise intensity the inherent risk situation of piglets welfare reduction.

Plasticidade neural: relações com o comportamento e abordagens experimentais

Behavioral adaptiveness to different situations as well as behavioral individuality result from the interrelations between environmental sitmuli and the responses of an organism.These kind of interrelationships also shape the neural circuits as well as characterize the plasticity and the neural individuality of the organism. Studies on neural plasticity may analyze changes in neural circuitry after environmental manipulations or changes in behavior after lesions in the nervous system. Issues on neural plasticity and recovery of function refer both to physiology and behavior as well as to the subjacent mechanisms related to morphology, biochemistry and genetics. They may be approached at the systemic, behavioral, cellular and molecular levels. This work intends to characterize these kinds of studies pointing to their relations with the analyis of behavior and learning.The analysis of how the environmental-organismic interrelationships affect the neural substrates of behavior is pointed as a very stimulating area for investigation.

Full threshold vs. Swedish interactive threshold algorithm (SITA) em pacientes glaucomatosos submetidos à perimetria computadorizada pela primeira vez

PURPOSE: To compare the Full Threshold (FT) and SITA Standard (SS) strategies in glaucomatous patients undergoing automated perimetry for the first time. METHODS: Thirty-one glaucomatous patients who had never undergone perimetry underwent automated perimetry (Humphrey, program 30-2) with both FT and SS on the same day, with an interval of at least 15 minutes. The order of the examination was randomized, and only one eye per patient was analyzed. Three analyses were performed: a) all the examinations, regardless of the order of application; b) only the first examinations; c) only the second examinations. In order to calculate the sensitivity of both strategies, the following criteria were used to define abnormality: glaucoma hemifield test (GHT) outside normal limits, pattern standard deviation (PSD) <5%, or a cluster of 3 adjacent points with p<5% at the pattern deviation probability plot. RESULTS: When the results of all examinations were analyzed regardless of the order in which they were performed, the number of depressed points with p<0.5% in the pattern deviation probability map was significantly greater with SS (p=0.037), and the sensitivities were 87.1% for SS and 77.4% for FT (p=0.506). When only the first examinations were compared, there were no statistically significant differences regarding the number of depressed points, but the sensitivity of SS (100%) was significantly greater than that obtained with FT (70.6%) (p=0.048). When only the second examinations were compared, there were no statistically significant differences regarding the number of depressed points, and the sensitivities of SS (76.5%) and FT (85.7%) (p=0.664). CONCLUSION: SS may have a higher sensitivity than FT in glaucomatous patients undergoing automated perimetry for the first time. However, this difference tends to disappear in subsequent examinations.