Involvement of the insular cortex in the consolidation and expression of contextual fear conditioning

The insular cortex (IC) has been reported to be involved in the modulation of memory and autonomic and defensive responses. However, there is conflicting evidence about the role of the IC in fear conditioning. To explore the IC involvement in both behavioral and autonomic responses induced by contextual fear conditioning, we evaluated the effects of the reversible inhibition of the IC neurotransmission through bilateral microinjections of the non-selective synapse blocker CoCl2 (1 mm) 10 min before or immediately after the conditioning session or 10 min before re-exposure to the aversive context. In the conditioning session, rats were exposed to a footshock chamber (context) and footshocks were used as the unconditioned stimulus. Forty-eight hours later, the animals were re-exposed to the aversive context for 10 min, but no shock was given. Behavioral (freezing) as well as cardiovascular (arterial pressure and heart rate increases) responses induced by re-exposure to the aversive context were analysed. It was observed that the local IC neurotransmission inhibition attenuated freezing and the mean arterial pressure and heart rate increase of the groups that received the CoCl2 either immediately after conditioning or 10 min before re-exposure to the aversive context, but not when the CoCl2 was injected before the conditioning session. These findings suggest the involvement of the IC in the consolidation and expression of contextual aversive memory. However, the IC does not seem to be essential for the acquisition of memory associated with aversive context. © 2013 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Impacto da desnutrição fetal/neonatal e do exercício durante a recuperação nutricional sobre lipídios teciduais e homeostase glicêmica de ratos

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Dieta hiperlipídica e exercício físico: conseqüências sobre o metabolismo e a peroxidação lipídica - estudo em modelo animal

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Água e o manejo ambiental como fatores de risco para saúde humana e saúde animal em propriedades rurais

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Gestão da cadeia de suprimentos e o mapeamento de processos críticos: um estudo de caso em uma Escola Técnica Estadual produtora de produtos de origem animal

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Estudo geoquímico de solos em áreas degradadas no município de Sobral (CE) com vistas à sua recuperação

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Os segredos que a natureza encerra: uso de conceitos e modelos da física para investigar questões do mundo animal

Physics governs all working patterns of the universe and could not be otherwise in a biological environment. Living things depend directly on laws and physical models to compose their body structure, allow its survival in certain environments, communication between individuals and groups and also to establish a complex sensorial system that allows interaction with the environment that surrounds them. With the advancement of science and technology, new ideas are required, and thus, many researchers began to turn their attention to those systems found in nature, as these systems often present practical solutions and with maximum efficiency. This imitation of biological systems, applied in creating innovative technological resources, is called Biomimetics. To study the biological systems based on physical concepts is essential the creation of models. These allow the distinction of the effects of the issue really essential and may be ignored side effects that do not have an effective participation in the phenomenon being analyzed. In this Work Completion of course will be studied the phenomenon of countercurrent heat exchangers, present in various situations of nature, focusing on their participation in the legs of birds, also the balance of certain birds that are supported on one leg and possible inspiration of these phenomena in the fields of engineering. Also included are videos that allow better understanding of the studied subjects

Feeding frequency, but not dietary water content, affects voluntary physical activity in young lean adult female cats

The objective of this study was to investigate whether increased dietary water content and feeding frequency increased voluntary physical activity of young, lean adult female cats. A replicated 4 x 4 Latin square design with a 2 x 2 factorial treatment arrangement (feeding frequency and water content) was used. The 4 treatments consisted of 1 meal daily dry pet food without added water (1D; 12% moisture as is), 1 meal daily dry pet food with added water (1W; 70% total water content), 4 meals daily dry pet food without added water (4D; 12% moisture as is), and 4 meals daily dry pet food with added water (4W; 70% total water content). Eight healthy adult, lean, intact, young, female domestic shorthair cats were used in this experiment. Voluntary physical activity was evaluated using Actical activity monitors placed on collars and worn around the cats'necks for the last 7 d of each experimental period of 14 d. Food anticipatory activity (FAA) was calculated based on 2 h prior to feeding periods and expressed as a percentage of total daily voluntary physical activity. Increased feeding frequency (4 vs. 1 meal daily) resulted in greater average daily activity (P = 0.0147), activity during the light period (P = 0.0023), and light: dark activity ratio (P = 0.0002). In contrast, physical activity during the dark period was not altered by feeding frequency (P > 0.05). Cats fed 4 meals daily had increased afternoon FAA (P = 0.0029) compared with cats fed once daily. Dietary water content did not affect any measure of voluntary physical activity. Increased feeding frequency is an effective strategy to increase the voluntary physical activity of cats. Thus, it may assist in the prevention and management of obesity.

Corrositex®, BCOP and HET-CAM as alternative methods to animal experimentation

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

Efeitos do exercício intenso e do condicionamento aeróbio associado a suplementação com cromo ou carnitina sobre a microbiota fecal de potras

Pós-graduação em Microbiologia Agropecuária - FCAV

Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase Inhibition Attenuates Physical Stress-Induced Lung Hyper-Responsiveness and Oxidative Stress in Animals with Lung Inflammation

Mechanisms involved in stress-induced asthmatic alterations have been poorly characterised. We assessed whether inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) inhibition modulates the stress-amplified lung parenchyma responsiveness, oxidative stress and extracellular matrix remodelling that was previously increased by chronic lung inflammation. Guinea pigs were subjected to 7 exposures to ovalbumin (1-5 mg/ml) or saline (OVA and SAL groups) over 4 weeks. To induce behavioural stress, animals were subjected to a forced swimming protocol (5 times/week, over 2 weeks; SAL-Stress and OVA-Stress groups) 24 h after the 4th inhalation. 1400W (iNOS-specific inhibitor) was administered intraperitoneally in the last 4 days of the protocol (SAL-1400W, OVA-1400W, SAL-Stress+1400W and OVA-Stress+1400W groups). Seventy-two hours after the last inhalation, animals were anaesthetised and exsanguinated, and adrenal glands were removed. Lung tissue resistance and elastance were evaluated by oscillatory mechanics and submitted for histopathological evaluation. Stressed animals had higher adrenal weights compared to non-stressed groups, which were reduced by 1400W treatment. Behavioural stress in sensitised animals amplified the resistance and elastance responses after antigen challenge, numbers of eosinophils and iNOS+ cells, actin content and 8-iso-PGF2 alpha density in the distal lung compared to the OVA group. 1400W treatment in ovalbumin-exposed and stressed animals reduced lung mechanics, iNOS+ cell numbers and 8-iso-PGF2a density compared to sensitised and stressed animals that received vehicle treatment. We concluded that stress amplifies the distal lung constriction, eosinophilic inflammation, iNOS expression, actin content and oxidative stress previously induced by chronic lung inflammation. iNOS-derived NO contributes to stress-augmented lung tissue functional alterations in this animal model and is at least partially due to activation of the oxidative stress pathway. copyright (C) 2012S. Karger AG, Basel

Physical training prevents body weight gain but does not modify adipose tissue gene expression

The relationship of body weight (BW) with white adipose tissue (WAT) mass and WAT gene expression pattern was investigated in mice submitted to physical training (PT). Adult male C57BL/6 mice were submitted to two 1.5-h daily swimming sessions (T, N = 18), 5 days/week for 4 weeks or maintained sedentary (S, N = 15). Citrate synthase activity increased significantly in the T group (P < 0.05). S mice had a substantial weight gain compared to T mice (4.06 ± 0.43 vs 0.38 ± 0.28 g, P < 0.01). WAT mass, adipocyte size, and the weights of gastrocnemius and soleus muscles, lung, kidney, and adrenal gland were not different. Liver and heart were larger and the spleen was smaller in T compared to S mice (P < 0.05). Food intake was higher in T than S mice (4.7 ± 0.2 vs 4.0 ± 0.3 g/animal, P < 0.05) but oxygen consumption at rest did not differ between groups. T animals showed higher serum leptin concentration compared to S animals (6.37 ± 0.5 vs 3.11 ± 0.12 ng/mL). WAT gene expression pattern obtained by transcription factor adipocyte determination and differentiation-dependent factor 1, fatty acid synthase, malic enzyme, hormone-sensitive lipase, adipocyte lipid binding protein, leptin, and adiponectin did not differ significantly between groups. Collectively, our results showed that PT prevents BW gain and maintains WAT mass due to an increase in food intake and unchanged resting metabolic rate. These responses are closely related to unchanged WAT gene expression patterns.

Adaptations of the aging animal to exercise: role of daily supplementation with melatonin

The pineal gland, through melatonin, seems to be of fundamental importance in determining the metabolic adaptations of adipose and muscle tissues to physical training. Evidence shows that pinealectomized animals fail to develop adaptive metabolic changes in response to aerobic exercise and therefore do not exhibit the same performance as control-trained animals. The known prominent reduction in melatonin synthesis in aging animals led us to investigate the metabolic adaptations to physical training in aged animals with and without daily melatonin replacement. Male Wistar rats were assigned to four groups: sedentary control (SC), trained control (TC), sedentary treated with melatonin (SM), and trained treated with melatonin (TM). Melatonin supplementation lasted 16 wk, and the animals were subjected to exercise during the last 8 wk of the experiment. After euthanasia, samples of liver, muscle, and adipose tissues were collected for analysis. Trained animals treated with melatonin presented better results in the following parameters: glucose tolerance, physical capacity, citrate synthase activity, hepatic and muscular glycogen content, body weight, protein expression of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), and protein kinase activated by adenosine monophosphate (AMPK) in the liver, as well as the protein expression of the glucose transporter type 4 (GLUT4) and AMPK in the muscle. In conclusion, these results demonstrate that melatonin supplementation in aging animals is of great importance for the required metabolic adaptations induced by aerobic exercise. Adequate levels of circulating melatonin are, therefore, necessary to improve energetic metabolism efficiency, reducing body weight and increasing insulin sensitivity.

The Effect of Preservative Interventions on the Chemical- Physical and Structural Characteristics of Panel Painting

This work studies the impact of two traditional Romanian treatments, Red Petroleum and Propolis, in terms of real efficiency and consequence on the wooden artifacts. The application of these solutions is still a widely adopted and popular technique in preservative conservation but the impact of these solutions is not well known. It is important to know the effect of treatments on chemical-physical and structural characteristics of the artifacts, not only for understanding the influence on present conditions but also for foreseeing the future behavior. These treatments with Romanian traditional products are compared with a commercial antifungal product, Biotin R, which is utilized as reference to control the effectiveness of Red Petroleum and Propolis. Red Petroleum and Propolis are not active against mould while Biotin R is very active. Mould attack is mostly concentrated in the painted layer, where the tempera, containing glue and egg, enhance nutrition availability for moulds. Biotin R, even if is not a real insecticide but a fungicide, was the most active product against insect attack of the three products, followed by Red Petroleum, Propolis and untreated reference. As for colour, it did not change so much after the application of Red Petroleum and Biotin R and the colour difference was almost not perceptible. On the contrary, Propolis affected the colour a lot. During the exposure at different RH, the colour changes significantly at 100% RH at equilibrium and this is mainly due to the mould attack. Red Petroleum penetrates deeply into wood, while Propolis does not penetrate and remains only on the surface. However, Red Petroleum does not interact chemically with wood substance and it is easy volatilized in oven-dry condition. On the contrary Propolis interacts chemically with wood substance and hardly volatilized, even in oven-dry condition and consequently Propolis remains where it penetrated, mostly on the surface. Treatment by immersion has impact on wood physical parameters while treatment by brushing does not have significant impact. Especially Red Petroleum has an apparent impact on moisture content (MC) due to the penetration of solution, while Propolis does not penetrate so much and remains only on surface therefore Propolis does not have so much impact as Red Petroleum. However, if the weight of the solution penetrated in wood is eliminated, there is not significant difference in MC between treated and untreated samples. Considering physical parameters, dimensional stability is an important parameter. The variation of wood moisture content causes shrinkages/swelling of the wood that polychrome layer can only partially follow. The dimension of wooden supports varied under different moisture conditioning; the painted layer cannot completely follow this deformation, and consequently a degradation and deterioration caused by detachment, occurs. That detachment affects the polychrome stratification of the panel painting and eventually the connections between the different layer compositions of the panel painting.

Analog Signal Acquisition and Conditioning for Near-Field Capacitive Communication and Active Combined EEG-EIT Monitoring

The work of the present thesis is focused on the implementation of microelectronic voltage sensing devices, with the purpose of transmitting and extracting analog information between devices of different nature at short distances or upon contact. Initally, chip-to-chip communication has been studied, and circuitry for 3D capacitive coupling has been implemented. Such circuits allow the communication between dies fabricated in different technologies. Due to their novelty, they are not standardized and currently not supported by standard CAD tools. In order to overcome such burden, a novel approach for the characterization of such communicating links has been proposed. This results in shorter design times and increased accuracy. Communication between an integrated circuit (IC) and a probe card has been extensively studied as well. Today wafer probing is a costly test procedure with many drawbacks, which could be overcome by a different communication approach such as capacitive coupling. For this reason wireless wafer probing has been investigated as an alternative approach to standard on-contact wafer probing. Interfaces between integrated circuits and biological systems have also been investigated. Active electrodes for simultaneous electroencephalography (EEG) and electrical impedance tomography (EIT) have been implemented for the first time in a 0.35 um process. Number of wires has been minimized by sharing the analog outputs and supply on a single wire, thus implementing electrodes that require only 4 wires for their operation. Minimization of wires reduces the cable weight and thus limits the patient's discomfort. The physical channel for communication between an IC and a biological medium is represented by the electrode itself. As this is a very crucial point for biopotential acquisitions, large efforts have been carried in order to investigate the different electrode technologies and geometries and an electromagnetic model is presented in order to characterize the properties of the electrode to skin interface.