Flight initiation distances of nesting Piping Plovers (Charadrius melodus) in response to human disturbance

Birds frequently interact with people when they occur in coupled human-ecological or anthropogenic environments, which makes the protection of legally protected species a challenge. Flight initiation distances (FIDs) are often used to inform development of appropriate buffer distances required for human exclusion zones used to protect birds nesting in anthropogenic landscapes. Piping Plovers (Charadrius melodus) are protected by the Endangered Species Act in the United States and often nest in areas used by humans. Studies evaluating Piping Plover FIDs are limited and implementation of exclusion zones has been inconsistent across the species’ range. We measured Piping Plover response and FIDs to naturally occurring stimuli on public beaches at Lake McConaughy, Nebraska, USA. Piping Plover FIDs differed most by stimulus class (vehicle, human, dog, human with dog), Julian day, and hour of day. Piping Plover FIDs were greatest for dog and human with dog compared to humans and vehicles. For all types of stimuli, Piping Plover FIDs decreased over time during the nesting season and increased slightly during each day. In the majority of instances in which Piping Plovers left their nests, return times to the nest were relatively short (less than three minutes). These results suggest Piping Plovers become habituated to the presence of human-related stimuli over the course of a nesting season, but other explanations such as parental investment and risk allocation cannot be excluded. Additional research and improved guidance regarding the implementation of exclusion zones is needed so managers can implement effective protection programs in anthropogenic landscapes.

Auditory distraction eliminates retrieval induced forgetting: implications for the processing of unattended sound

The Retrieval-Induced Forgetting (RIF) paradigm includes three phases: (a) study/encoding of category exemplars, (b) practicing retrieval of a sub-set of those category exemplars, and (c) recall of all exemplars. At the final recall phase, recall of items that belong to the same categories as those items that undergo retrieval-practice, but that do not undergo retrieval-practice, is impaired. The received view is that this is because retrieval of target category-exemplars (e.g., ‘Tiger’ in the category Four-legged animal) requires inhibition of non-target category-exemplars (e.g., ‘Dog’ and ‘Lion’) that compete for retrieval. Here, we used the RIF paradigm to investigate whether ignoring auditory items during the retrieval-practice phase modulates the inhibitory process. In two experiments, RIF was present when retrieval-practice was conducted in quiet and when conducted in the presence of spoken words that belonged to a category other than that of the items that were targets for retrieval-practice. In contrast, RIF was abolished when words that either were identical to the retrieval-practice words or were only semantically related to the retrieval-practice words were presented as background speech. The results suggest that the act of ignoring speech can reduce inhibition of the non-practiced category-exemplars, thereby eliminating RIF, but only when the spoken words are competitors for retrieval (i.e., belong to the same semantic category as the to-be-retrieved items).

Occupational airborne contamination in South Brazil: 2. Oxidative stress detected in the blood of workers of incineration of hospital residues

One of the most useful methods for elimination of solid residues of health services (SRHS) is incineration. However, it also provokes the emission of several hazardous air pollutants such as heavy metals, furans and dioxins, which produce reactive oxygen species and oxidative stress. The present study, which is parallel to an accompanied paper (Avila Jr. et al., this issue), investigated several enzymatic and non-enzymatic biomarkers of oxidative stress in the blood (contents of vitamin E, lipoperoxidation = TBARS, reduced glutathione = GSH, oxidized glutathione = GSSG, and activities of glutathione S-transferase = GST, glutathione reductase = GR, glutathione peroxidase = GPx, catalase = CAT and superoxide dismutase = SOD), in three different groups (n = 20 each) exposed to airborne contamination associated with incineration of SRHS: workers directly (ca. 100 m from the incinerator) and indirectly exposed (residents living ca. 5 km the incineration site), and controls (non-exposed subjects). TBARS and GSSG levels were increased whilst GSH, TG and alpha-tocopherol contents were decreased in workers and residents compared to controls. Increased GST and CAT activities and decreased GPx activities were detected in exposed subjects compared to controls, while GR did not show any difference among the groups. In conclusion, subjects directly or indirectly exposed to SRHS are facing an oxidative insult and health risk regarding fly ashes contamination from SRHS incineration.

Besökshundens påverkan på arbetssituationen inom den särskilda omsorgen

This essay is about dogs that visit is used, whitin care of elderly. The dogs found caretakers once a week and one hour at a time. The focus has been placed on the dogs that go to the municipality's special accommodation and the research was done in a medium-sized municipality in Sweden. The focus of the narrowing of the work was done to the work situation for care staff to assess the impact of the visits the dogs presence. It was distributed questionnaires answered by care staff in which it concluded their visit to the dog's presence felt and how it impacted the situation. There has been much previous research done on how dogs affect the elderly in care. This has been done to see if the care staff perceive the same thing, and in turn experience any possible help of visiting dogs. What emerged in this study is that most are in favor of visits dog and they're older. The majority of respondents agreed that their work situation has become neither better nor worse then visit the dogs started to meet caretakers. This may be due to visit the dog is not enough time on site at each visit. Even the fact that care staff are not practicing with the caretakers memory to get them to remain in the state of mind that research shows that the older gets in. These can have an impact on how care staff perceive a possible means in visits of the dog.

Influência do hipoestrogenismo por ooforectomia na adaptação antioxidante em ratas wistar exercitadas regularmente

Post-menopause is a period of women s life cycle that is characterized by estrogen depletion and therefore increasing cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative disorders, urogenital atrophy, osteoporosis, hot flushes and sexual discomfort incidences. Estrogen is a hormone with comfirmed antioxidant action and its depletion is related to oxidative stress instalation and damaging various important biomolecules. Regular physical activity has been identified as a factor involved in reducing women s post-menopausal complications in addition to improving antioxidant defense by reducing the oxidative damage and consequently improving life s quality in this part of the population. This study aims to evaluate the influence of hypoestrogenism in antioxidant adaptation due to regular exercise, by determining reduced glutathione (GSH) and Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances (SRAT) concentrations and antioxidant enzymes glutathione peroxidase (GPx), Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) and Catalase (CAT) activities in blood, brain and liver of rats. To achieve this goal we used 50 Wistar rats, weighing 180-250g which were divided into two groups, control - GC (25) and ooforectomized - GO (25). Each group was subdivided into five subgroups: Not-trained - S (5), Not-trained Acute Exercise - SEA (5), regular exercise 30 days - E30 (5), regular exercise 60 days - E60 (5) and regular exercise 90 days - E90 (5). Each of the three subgroups exercised regularly was subjected to acute exercise on the eve and the day of sacrifice to collect biological samples of blood, liver and brain and subsequent determination of SRAT concentration, GSH content and antioxidant enzymes GPx, SOD and CAT activities. The results indicated that the sedentary animals acutely exercised presented oxidative stress and regular physical activity led to antioxidant adaptation. In ooforectomized group the antioxidant adaptation seen in control animals showed to be impaired. Unlike the results from blood and liver, in brain there was a shield against oxidative damage originated by the exercise and that hypoestrogenism led to a loss of this natural antioxidant potential. Therefore, hypoestrogenism interferes negatively in antioxidant adaptation due to regular exercise

Pancreas transplantation prevents cellular oxidative stress in kidneys of alloxan-induced diabetic rats

Purpose. Oxidative stress is one of the most important mechanisms to explain genesis of the complications in the chronic progression of diabetes. In this investigation we studied the effects of pancreas transplantation (PT) on the imbalance caused by excessive production of free oxygen radicals by antioxidant defenses of rats with serious chronic hyperglycemia induced by alloxan.Methods. Ninety inbred male Lewis rats were randomly distributed into three groups: NC-30 nondiabetic controls; DC-30 diabetic controls without any treatment; PT-30 diabetic rats undergoing syngeneic PT from normal donor Lewis rats. Each experimental group was then split into three subgroups of 10 animals for sacrifice after 1, 3, or 6 months. Clinical and laboratory parameters from all rats as well as lipid hydroperoxide (LPO) concentrations and renal tissue enzyme activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) were recorded for all rats.Results. Successful PT corrected clinical and laboratory alterations in diabetic rats with sustained normoglycemia throughout the study. A significant increase in LPO concentration and a marked reduction in SOD and CAT enzyme activity were observed in DC rats; there was no significant variation in renal tissue GSH-Px in this group. However, alterations in DC rats were completely restored from 1st month after PT; all evaluated enzyme levels did not significantly differ (P < .01) from those in NC controls.Conclusion. Successful PT controlled cellular oxidative stress in diabetic kidneys, which may prevent chronic lesions.

Rabies neutralizing antibody detection by indirect immunperoxidase serum neutralization assay performed on chicken embryo related cell line

The aim of this study was to evaluate the indirect immunoperoxidase virus neutralization (IPVN) and mouse neutralization test (MNT) to detect antibodies against rabies virus from vaccinated dogs and cattle. The IPVN was set up for the ability to measure 0.5 International Units/ml (IU) of antibody required by the World Health Organization and the Office International des Epizooties as the minimum response for proof of rabies immunization. IPVN was developed and standardized in chicken embryo related (CER) cell line when 141 dog and 110 cattle sera were applied by serial five-fold dilutions (1:5, 1:25, 1:125) as well as the positive and negative reference controls, all added in four adjacent wells, of 96-well microplates. A 50 µl amount of CVS32 strain dilution containing 50-200 TCID50/ml was mixed to each serum dilution, and after 90 min 50 µl of 3 x 10(5) cells/mlcell suspension added to each well. After five days of incubation, the monolayers were fixed and the IPVN test performed. The correlation coefficient between the MNT and IPVN performed in CER cells was r = 0.9949 for dog sera (n = 100) and r = 0.9307 for cattle sera (n = 99), as well as good specificity (94.7%), sensitivity (87.5%), and agreement (96.6%) were also obtained. IPVN technique can adequately identify vaccinated and unvaccinated animals, even from low-responding vaccinated animals, with the advantage of low cost and faster then MNT standard test.

Effects of Rhizophora mangle on Experimental Colitis Induced by TNBS in Rats

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

Short Report: Heterogeneity of Leishmania infantum chagasi Kinetoplast DNA in Teresina (Brazil)

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

Caracterização da população de ectoparasitos em cães de núcleos de expansão urbana de Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brasil

No presente trabalho caracterizou-se a população de ectoparasitos em cães de núcleo de expansão urbana de Juiz de Fora, MG. As coletas foram realizadas de julho a setembro de 2003, examinando-se 101 cães SRD (sem raça definida). Os ectoparasitos foram coletados através de inspeção visual e tátil dos animais e acondicionados em frascos com etanol 70°GL e identificados sob estereoscopia. Espécimes foram clarificados e montados para análise em microscopia fotônica. Dentre os sifonápteros, Ctenocephalides felis foi mais prevalente (64,35%) com intensidade média de 6,12 ± 5,37 sifonápteros/cão, seguido por Rhopalopsyllus lutzi (3,96%), híbrida C. felis X C. canis (1,98%), Tunga penetrans (1,98%). Aúnica espécie de fitiráptero encontrada foi Trichodectes canis (7,92%) com 1,3 ± 0,51 fitiráptero/cão. Dentre os ixodídeos, Rhipicephalus sanguineus foi a espécie mais prevalente (49,50%) com intensidade média de 6,44 ± 10,2 ixodídeos/ cão, seguido por Amblyomma cajennense (3,96%), Boophilus microplus (2,97%), A. ovale (1%) e A. aureolatum (1%). As ninfas de ixodídeos foram separadas em ninfas de Amblyomminae (58,41%) com 10,11 ± 10,09 ninfas/cão e ninfas Rhipicephalinae (24,75%) com 2,64 ± 3,25 ninfas/cão. em 3,96 % dos cães foram encontradas larvas de ixodídeo.

Cardiac trauma confirmed by cardiac markers in dogs: two case reports

Relatam-se dois casos de miocardite em cães. A avaliação radiográfica mostrou pneumotórax e padrão alveolar no lobo diafragmático pulmonar em um cão e arritmia em ambos os cães. As análises das proteínas cardíacas altamente sensíveis, como a CK-MB e a troponina I cardíaca, associadas ao histórico clínico e aos achados eletrocardiográficos, indicaram, com acurácia, a extensão da injúria miocárdica secundária ao trauma.

Conjunctival impression cytology in dogs

Objective Ocular conjunctivas of healthy dogs were studied by conjunctival impression cytology for evaluation of feasibility, protocol standardization, and normal cytologic pattern recognition of this technique.Animals studied Twenty healthy, adult, cross-breed dogs.Procedures Samples of the bulbar conjunctiva were collected after instillation of topical anesthetic drops at the ocular surface. Impression cytology was performed by applying asymmetric strips of Millipore filter on the superior temporal bulbar conjunctiva near the limbus. The filter strip was gently pressed against the conjunctiva for 5 s and removed with a peeling motion. Samples were immediately fixed in 95% ethyl alcohol, stained with periodic acid-Schiff and hematoxylin, and mounted on slides cover-slipped using synthetic resin. The slides were examined by light microscopy.Results Microscopic examination of the impressions revealed superficial, intermediate and basal epithelial cells arranged in sheets. Keratinized epithelial cells, goblet cells and leukocytes, as well as cellular debris and mucus were observed.Conclusions Feasibility of impression cytology for sampling the bulbar conjunctiva of the dog and the standardization the the proposed protocol was shown. The results allowed the recognition the the normal cytologic pattern of healthy conjunctivas in dogs.

MICROFIBRILS - NEGLECTED COMPONENTS OF PRESSURE-BEARING TENDONS

Some tendons wrap around joints and receive compressive forces besides transferring the tension forces from muscle to bone. These tendons develop a fibrocartilaginous structure which enables them to withstand pressure. This article describes the existence and distribution of microfibrils (or preelastic fibers) in the pressure-bearing tendons of rabbits and dogs by the application of histochemical assays and transmission electron microscopy. Rabbit and dog tendons possess no mature elastic fibers. The rabbit tendon exhibits some response to Weigert's method prior to oxidation which indicates the existence of the so-called elaunin fibers, especially in the pressure zone. Oxidation with peracetic acid or oxone discloses intricate aspects of the oxytalan fiber distribution in both tension and pressure zones of the dog and rabbit tendons. Bundles of 12 nm microfibrils were demonstrated in the rabbit tendon by electron microscopy after fixation in the presence of tannic acid. The existence of preelastic fibers in the pressure-bearing tendons has been neglected and they are assumed to have importance in the microarchitecture of the tissue and in the ability of the tendon to support tension and compression forces.

Concentração plasmática de diclofenaco sódico em cães, submetidos à fonoforese

The aim of this study was to evaluate the plasma concentration of diclofenac sodium (DS) in dogs submitted to diclofenaco phonophoresis and to evaluate if phonophoresis induces greater absorption of this drug in dogs. Five dogs were used in eight different groups at different times: One group received oral administration of 40mg of DS per dog and seven groups received topical application of emulgel DS. The topical application area was 20cm(2). A continuous ultrasound frequency of 1MHz and intensity of 0.4W cm(-2) was used. Blood collections were performed before the treatment (T0), and 1h (T1) and 4h (T2) after ultrasound application for all groups. DS concentrations in plasma were measured by high performance liquid choramatohraphy (HPLC). There was significant increase of DS plasma concentration only at T1 in the oral administration group. It was not possible to detect any concentration of DS in the plasma of dogs after topical application of DS, even after DS phonophoresis. The facilitation of transdermal penetration by ultrasound has not been verified under the protocol specified in this research.

Rabies in southeast Brazil: a change in the epidemiological pattern

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