Efeito de bicarbonato de sódio, feno e bagaço "in natura" sobre a digestibilidade e o desempenho de zebuínos em crescimento alimentados com bagaço de cana auto-hidrolisado

O bagaço de cana-de-açúcar "in natura" (BIN) associado ou não ao bicarbonato de sódio foi testado como substituto do feno de gramínea como fonte de fibra longa para rações de ruminantes balanceadas com altas proporções de bagaço auto-hidrolisado (BAH). A ração básica (I) continha 54% BAH; 10% milho grão; 25% farelo de algodão; 8% feno de gramínea; 0,9% calcáreo; 0,5% uréia; e 1,5% premix mineral, base seca. As rações II e III continham BIN e BIN mais bicarbonato de sódio (1,1%, base seca) respectivamente em substituição ao feno de gramínea da ração I. Foram usados bovinos Nelore machos não castrados e fêmeas (18 de cada sexo) em crescimento com médias iniciais de peso vivo e idade de 199 kg e 11 meses. O delineamento estatístico usado foi um fatorial com 3 rações e dois sexos, com dois animais por parcela. O período de adaptação foi de 15 dias e o experimental de 87 dias. Os dados para GPV (kg/dia); ingestão de MS (% PV); conversão alimentar (kg MS/Kg GPV); e pH fecal foram de: 0,909; 2,79; 7,41; e 6,46 para a ração I; 0,867; 2,65; 7,24; e 6,57 para a ração II; e 1,019; 2,88; 7,03 e 6,73 para a ração III. A ração III foi superior rações I e II para ganho de peso (P < 0,05), e apresentou um pH fecal maior do que o da ração I (P < 0,05). Os machos foram superiores às fêmeas em ganho de peso (1,044 vs 0,820; P < 0,01) e conversão alimentar (6,7vs7,7kg MS/Kg GPV; P < 0,01). Foi observada uma correlação negativa signi ficativa (P < 0,05) entre conversão alimentar e pH fecal (r =-0,50). Os elevados níveis de consumo (2,8% PV), o baixo pH do BAH (2,9 a 3,4), e a aparente baixa atividade de ruminação observados sugerem que o pH, a nível de rume e de trato digestivo inferior, é um fator limitante em dietas com altas proporções de BAH.

Auto-ecologia de Hypsiboas albopunctatus (Anura, Hylidae) em área de Cerrado no sudeste do Brasil

Neste estudo, descrevemos aspectos da biologia reprodutiva de H. albopunctatus. Coletamos os dados no município de Uberlândia (MG), Brasil. Eventos comportamentais foram observados focalmente. Determinamos o padrão de distribuição espacial dos girinos. Comparamos a abundância de girinos em lagos e brejos, correlacionando-a com profundidade, quantidade de substrato vegetal e número de artrópodes através de uma Análise de Componentes Principais. Testamos a palatabilidade de ovos e girinos para duas espécies de teleósteos. A atividade de vocalização ocorria em praticamente todos os meses do ano. Os machos eram menores que as fêmeas e tinham um espinho em cada prepolex. O amplexo foi alternado entre os tipos axilar e timpânico. As desovas (média de 769 ovos) foram postas à superfície da água em uma monocamada. Girinos recentes eram pretos, porém tornavam-se acobreados ao longo do desenvolvimento. Diferentemente dos girinos, os ovos foram impalatáveis para os teleósteos testados. Os girinos eram mais abundantes nos brejos e se distribuíam de forma agregada no ambiente. Somente nos lagos houve correlação positiva entre a abundância de girinos e profundidade, número de artrópodes e quantidade de substrato vegetal. A reprodução da espécie quase continua ao longo do ano é um comportamento raro entre anuros do sudeste do Brasil. A abundância maior de girinos nos brejos pode ser devido à ausência de teleósteos predadores. A impalatabilidade dos ovos e o uso de micro-hábitat de refúgio pelos girinos provavelmente são os mecanismos que possibilitam a coocorrência de H. albopunctatus com teleósteos.

Calibration of CES functions for real-world multisectoral modeling

We show how to calibrate CES production and utility functions when indirect taxation affecting inputs and consumption is present. These calibrated functions can then be used in computable general equilibrium models. Taxation modifies the standard calibration procedures since any taxed good has two associated prices and a choice of reference value units has to be made. We also provide an example of computer code to solve the calibration of CES utilities under two alternate normalizations. To our knowledge, this paper fills a methodological gap in the CGE literature.

Dynamic calibration of our sense of time.

An accurate sense of time contributes to functions ranging from the perception and anticipation of sensory events to the production of coordinated movements. However, accumulating evidence demonstrates that time perception is subject to strong illusory distortion. In two experiments, we investigated whether the subjective speed of temporal perception is dependent on our visual environment. By presenting human observers with speed-altered movies of a crowded street scene, we modulated performance on subsequent production of "20s" elapsed intervals. Our results indicate that one's visual environment significantly contributes to calibrating our sense of time, independently of any modulation of arousal. This plasticity generates an assay for the integrity of our sense of time and its rehabilitation in clinical pathologies.

Understanding the low-temperature limitations to forest growth through calibration of a forest dynamics model with tree-ring data

The sensitivity of altitudinal and latitudinal tree-line ecotones to climate change, particularly that of temperature, has received much attention. To improve our understanding of the factors affecting tree-line position, we used the spatially explicit dynamic forest model TreeMig. Although well-suited because of its landscape dynamics functions, TreeMig features a parabolic temperature growth response curve, which has recently been questioned. and the species parameters are not specifically calibrated for cold temperatures. Our main goals were to improve the theoretical basis of the temperature growth response curve in the model and develop a method for deriving that curve's parameters from tree-ring data. We replaced the parabola with an asymptotic curve, calibrated for the main species at the subalpine (Swiss Alps: Pinus cembra, Larix decidua, Picea abies) and boreal (Fennoscandia: Pinus sylvestris, Betula pubescens, P. abies) tree-lines. After fitting new parameters, the growth curve matched observed tree-ring widths better. For the subalpine species, the minimum degree-day sum allowing, growth (kDDMin) was lowered by around 100 degree-days; in the case of Larix, the maximum potential ring-width was increased to 5.19 mm. At the boreal tree-line, the kDDMin for P. sylvestris was lowered by 210 degree-days and its maximum ring-width increased to 2.943 mm; for Betula (new in the model) kDDMin was set to 325 degree-days and the maximum ring-width to 2.51 mm; the values from the only boreal sample site for Picea were similar to the subalpine ones, so the same parameters were used. However, adjusting the growth response alone did not improve the model's output concerning species' distributions and their relative importance at tree-line. Minimum winter temperature (MinWiT, mean of the coldest winter month), which controls seedling establishment in TreeMig, proved more important for determining distribution. Picea, P. sylvestris and Betula did not previously have minimum winter temperature limits, so these values were set to the 95th percentile of each species' coldest MinWiT site (respectively -7, -11, -13). In a case study for the Alps, the original and newly calibrated versions of TreeMig were compared with biomass data from the National Forest Inventor), (NFI). Both models gave similar, reasonably realistic results. In conclusion, this method of deriving temperature responses from tree-rings works well. However, regeneration and its underlying factors seem more important for controlling species' distributions than previously thought. More research on regeneration ecology, especially at the upper limit of forests. is needed to improve predictions of tree-line responses to climate change further.

Les hépatopathies auto-immunes et leurs traitements [Auto-immune liver diseases and their treatment]

There are three main types of auto-immune liver disease, auto-immune hepatitis, primary biliary cirrhosis and primary sclerosing cholangitis. In the case of auto-immune hepatitis, prednisone therapy, with or without azathioprine, can improve quality of life and halt progression to cirrhosis. If there is no response or if the therapy is poorly tolerated, mycophenolate mofetil or cyclosporin should be considered. Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), at a dosage of 13 to 15 mg/kg/day slows the progression of fibrosis in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis. Pruritus may be treated with cholestyramine, rifampicin or opiate antagonists. Ursodeoxycholic acid at a dosage of 20 to 30 mg/kg/day will slow the evolution of fibrosis.

Calibration of surface contamination monitors for the detection of iodine incorporation in the thyroid gland.

In Switzerland, individuals exposed to the risk of activity intake are required to perform regular monitoring. Monitoring consists in a screening measurement and is meant to be performed using commonly available laboratory instruments. More particularly, iodine intake is measured using a surface contamination monitor. The goal of the present paper is to report the calibration method developed for thyroid screening instruments. It consists of measuring the instrument response to a known activity located in the thyroid gland of a standard neck phantom. One issue of this procedure remains that the iodine radioisotopes have a short half-life. Therefore, the adequacy and limitations to simulate the short-lived radionuclides with so-called mock radionuclides of longer half-life were also evaluated. In light of the results, it has been decided to use only the appropriate iodine sources to perform the calibration.

Eladeb : un outil d'auto-évaluation des besoins

Eladeb est un instrument d'auto-évaluation des difficultés psychosociales et des besoins d'aide de patients psychiatriques. Basé sur une procédure de tri de cartes figuratives, l'outil se démarque des questionnaires et entretiens structurés présents dans l'évaluation psychométrique clinique, en proposant une activité ludique qui laisse aussi un large espace de dialogue pour l'expression qualitative des difficultés et des besoins. Les expériences conduites sur le terrain montrent qu'il est bien accepté par les patients et les professionnels. Après une brève présentation de l'instrument, cet article expose une vignette clinique ainsi que le témoignage de son utilisation dans le cadre d'une fonda~ion spécialisée dans le suivi de patients psychiatriques.

Role of defensins and cathelicidin LL37 in auto-immune and auto-inflammatory diseases.

Defensins and cathelicidins are anti-microbial peptides (AMPs) that act as natural antibiotics and are part of the innate immune defence in many species. We consider human defensins and LL37, the only human member of the cathelicidin family. In particular, we refer to the human alpha-defensins called human neutrophil peptides (HNP1 through 4), which are produced by neutrophils, HD5 and HD6, mainly expressed in Paneth cells of intestine, the human beta-defensins HBD1, HBD2 and HBD3, synthesized by epithelial cells and LL37, which is located in granulocytes, but is also produced by epithelial cells of the skin, lungs, and gut. In the last years, the study of AMPs activity and regulation has allowed to understand the important role of these peptides not only in the innate defence mechanisms against bacteria, viruses, fungi, but also in the regulation of immune cell activation and migration. Complementary studies have disclosed a role for AMPs in modulating many physiological processes that involve non-immune cells, such as activation of wound healing, angiogenesis, cartilage remodeling. Due to the pleiotropic tasks of these peptides, many of them are now being discovered to contribute to immune pathology of chronic diseases that affect skin, gut, joints; this is supported by many examples of immune-mediated pathologies in which their expression is disregulated. In this article we review the current literature that suggests a role for human defensins and LL37 in pathogenic mechanisms of several chronic diseases that are considered of auto-immune or auto-inflammatory origin.

Phylogeny of subtribe Gentianinae (Gentianaceae): biogeographic inferences despite limitations in temporal calibration points

The subtribe Gentianinae comprises ca. 425 species, most of them within the well-studied genus Gentiana and mainly distributed over the Eurasian continent. Phylogenetic relationships between Gentiana and its closest relatives, the climbing gentians (Crawfurdia, Tripterospermum) and the new genus Metagentiana, remain unclear. All three genera were recently found to be polyphyletic, possibly because of poor sampling of Tripterospermum and Crawfurdia. Highest diversity of Gentianinae occurs in the western Himalaya, but the absence of uncontroversial fossil evidence limits our understanding of its biogeography. In the present study, we generated ITS and atpB-rbcL sequences for 19 species of Tripterospermum, 9 of Crawfurdia and 11 of Metagentiana, together representing about 60 percent of the species diversity of these genera. Our results show that only Metagentiana is polyphyletic and divided into three monophyletic entities. No unambiguous synapomorphies were associated with the three Metagentiana entities. Different combinations of three approximate calibration points were used to generate three divergence time estimation scenarios. Although dating hypotheses were mostly inconsistent, they concurred in associating radiation of Gentiana to an orogenic phase of the Himalaya between 15 and 10 million years ago. Our study illustrates the conceptual difficulties in addressing the time frame of diversification in a group lacking sufficient fossil number and quality.

Schistosoma mansoni infection modulates the immune response against allergic and auto-immune diseases

Chronic Schistosoma mansoni infection leads to a type 2-immune response with increased production of interleukin (IL-10). Evidence indicates chronic exposure to S. mansoni down regulates the type 1 immune response and prevents the onset of Th1-mediated diseases such as multiple sclerosis, diabetes mellitus and Cronh's disease. Furthermore, our own studies have revealed that chronic exposure to S. mansoni also down regulates atopic disease, Th2-mediated diseases. Our studies show an inverse association between the skin prick test reactivity and infection with S. mansoni and show the severity of asthma is reduced in subjects living in an endemic area of S. mansoni. Moreover, we hypothesize the mechanisms involved in the modulation of inflammatory response in atopic individuals, is likely dependent on IL-10 production, an anti-inflammatory cytokine elevated during helminth infections. Patients with asthma and helminth infections produced less IL-5 than patients with asthma without helminth infections, and this down regulation could, in part, be mediated by IL-10. In conclusion, helminthic infections, through induction of regulatory mechanisms, such as IL-10 production, are able to modulate the inflammatory immune response involved in the pathology of auto-immune and allergic disease.

Epilepsies d'origine auto-immune [Autoimmune epilepsies]

There is increasing recognition of an autoimmune origin of pharmacoresistant epileptic disorders. Besides the paraneoplastic limbic encephalopathies (LE), reports of syndromes of non-paraneoplastic LE are increasingly reported in the last 5-10 years. Three antibodies are now relatively well described: Voltagegated potassium channels (VGKC), Glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) and N-methyl-D-apartate receptor-(NMDA) antibodies. We review clinical syndromes, associated imaging and laboratory findings. While most reports arise from adult populations, children and adolescents are also concerned as evidenced by increasing observations. Early recognition is mandatory, since early immunomodulatory treatment appears to be related to significant better outcome.