Comparison of exfoliative pap stain and AgNOR counts of the tongue in smokers and nonsmokers

Objective To compare exfoliative cytology from the oral mucosa of smokers and nonsmokers, with emphasis on proliferative activity. Methods Exfoliative cytology specimens were obtained from clinical normal mucosa from the lateral border of the tongue in 30 nonsmokers and 30 smokers ranging in age from 40 to 70 years of age, who were seen at the Heart Institute's Patient Center and the Smoking Cessation Program of the University Hospital, University of São Paulo Medical School (InCor-HCFMUSP). The cytologic specimens were evaluated by Papanicolaou staining and AgNOR quantification in order to evaluate the presence of cytological alterations suggestive of inflammation, dysplasia, keratinization, and proliferative activity of epithelial cells. Results Only Papanicolaou Class I and Class II smears were observed. Inflammatory alterations were found in 90% of smokers and in 87% of nonsmokers. The number of AgNORs/nucleus differed significantly between smokers and nonsmokers (3.372 ± 0.375 versus 2.732 ± 0.236). Conclusions Within the limitations of this research, the results indicate higher proliferative activity in smoking patients compared to nonsmoking patients, even in the absence of clinical lesions. © The Author(s) 2008.

Influence of preventive dental treatment on mutans streptococci counts in patients undergoing head and neck radiotherapy

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of chlorhexidine gluconate, sodium fluoride and sodium iodine on mutans streptococci counts in saliva of irradiated patients. Forty-five patients were separated into three experimental groups and received chlorhexidine (0.12%), sodium fluoride (0.5%) or sodium iodine (2%), which were used daily during radiotherapy and for 6 months after the conclusion of the treatment. In addition, a fourth group, composed by 15 additional oncologic patients, who did not receive the mouthwash or initial dental treatment, constituted the control group. Clinical evaluations were performed in the first visit to dental clinic, after initial dental treatment, immediately before radiotherapy, after radiotherapy and 30, 60, 90 days and 6 months after the conclusion of radiotherapy. After clinical examinations, samples of saliva were inoculated on SB20 selective agar and incubated under anaerobiosis, at 37oC for 48 h. Total mutans streptococci counts were also evaluated by using real-time PCR, through TaqMan system, with specific primers and probes for S. mutans and S. sobrinus. All preventive protocols were able to reduce significantly mutans streptococci counts, but chlorhexidine gluconate was the most effective, and induced a significant amelioration of radiotherapy side effects, such as mucositis and candidosis. These results highlights the importance of the initial dental treatment for patients who will be subjected to radiotherapy for head and neck cancer treatment.

Frugivory by phyllostomid bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) in a restored area in Southeast Brazil

We studied the potential contribution of frugivorous bats to the reestablishment of vegetational diversity in a restored area. We analysed the diets of the bat species and the differences between them in the consumption of fruits of autochtonous and allochthonous species. Planted (autochtonous) species were the basis of diets, especially Solanum mauritianum and Cecropia pachystachya, whereas for allochthonous species we found that Piperaceae to be of particular importance. Carollia perspicillata was the main seed disperser for allochthonous species, and potentially the most important bat in the promotion of vegetation diversity in the study area. Our results suggest that frugivorous bats are especially important in the reestablishment of vegetation in disturbed areas, and that restorarion efforts should focus on the planting of different zoochorous species that would guarantee a high year-round fruit production, thereby facilitating natural plant reestablishment by frugivorous bats in regenerating areas. © 2010 Elsevier Masson SAS.

Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) from Guarulhos, state of São Paulo, Brazil

The present study provides a record of the bat fauna captured in Guarulhos, state of São Paulo, Brazil, between February and November 2011. The capture sessions were carried out using mist nets set on trails, around and above streams and lakes, near built areas and around livestock. After a total effort of 26,208 m2.h, we recorded 17 bat species belonging to Phyllostomidae (13 species), Vespertilionidae (3) and Molossidae (1). Sturnira lilium (73 captures), Artibeus fimbriatus (69), and A. lituratus (59) were the most abundant species, corresponding to 57.8% of all captures. Some information about shelters was also commented. This paper is the first to report Molossops neglectus for Guarulhos. © 2012 Check List and Authors.

Morphological Variation of Primary Reproductive Structures in Males of Five Families of Neotropical Bats

Bats present unique features among mammals with respect to reproduction, and although neotropical bats do not have a hibernation period, many of their reproductive characteristics vary seasonally and interspecifically. Thus, this work aimed to examine the reproductive structures of 18 species belonging to five families of Brazilian bats. The gross anatomy of the testes varied little; however, the epididymis of Emballonuridae and Vespertilionidae showed exceptional structures with a large elongation of the caudal region. We observed a wide variation in the positioning of the testes: Phyllostomidae and Noctilionidae presented external testes; Emballonuridae and Molossidae presented migratory testes that may be in intra-abdominal or external positions; and Vespertilionidae displayed scrotal testes. In the histological evaluation, we observed a different pattern in vespertilionid species, with testicular regression and sperm retention/storage in the cauda epididymis in the five species analyzed. Similar testicular regression was observed in Molossops temminckii; however, sperm retention/storage was not observed in this species. These data suggest that although the species analyzed are tropical species that do not present a prolonged period of torpor (hibernation), they still maintain a period of seminiferous tubule regression and sperm storage very similar to that observed in hibernating bats. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Use of space by frugivorous bats (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) in a restored Atlantic forest fragment in Brazil

We studied patterns in the use of space for foraging and roosting by two frugivorous bat species in a five-year-old restored Atlantic forest located in a fragmented landscape in southeastern Brazil. Ten individuals of Carollia perspicillata and eleven individuals of Artibeus lituratus were monitored through radio-telemetry in five sampling sessions. Each session lasted 3-8. days for each individual, with an average of 25.4 ± 10 locations for each C. perspicillata individual and 19 ± 4.4 for each A. lituratus individual. We described an average range of 124.4. ha and an average commuting distance of 1158.8. m for A. lituratus and an average range and commuting distance of 32. ha and 489. m, respectively, for C. perspicillata. We demonstrated a consistent pattern in habitat use and movements for both studied species, where they strictly used forests (restored or not) for day roosting, roosting in the foliage of trees located only in secondary forest remnants and restored areas, while restored areas were their main feeding habitat. We demonstrate that newly restored forests can be readily incorporated as foraging and roosting habitats by these species, and that C. perspicillata alters its roosting behavior in relation to preferred food availability. These results, when combined with data on the diet of the studied species, show consistent evidence of the potential that bats have to improve species diversity of anthropogenic plantings with their own natural seed dispersal. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

Predation-risk effects of predator identity on the foraging behaviors of frugivorous bats

Predators directly and indirectly affect the density and the behavior of prey. These effects may potentially cascade down to lower trophic levels. In this study, we tested the effects of predator calls (playbacks of bird vocalizations: Tyto alba, Speotyto cunicularia, and Vanellus chilensis), predator visual stimuli (stuffed birds) and interactions of visual and auditory cues, on the behavior of frugivore phyllostomid bats in the field. In addition, we tested if the effects of predation risk cascade down to other trophic levels by measuring rates of seed dispersal of the tree Muntingia calabura. Using video recording, we found that bats significantly decreased the foraging frequency on trees when a visual cue of T. alba was present. However, no stimuli of potential predatory birds, including vocalization of T. alba, affected bat foraging frequency. There was a change in bat behavior during 7 min, but then their frequency of activity gradually increased. Consequently, the presence of T. alba decreased by up to ten times the rate of seed removal. These results indicate that risk sensitivity of frugivorous phyllostomid bats depends on predator identity and presence. Among the predators used in this study, only T. alba is an effective bat predator in the Neotropics. Sound stimuli of T. alba seem not to be a cue of predation risk, possibly because their vocalizations are used only for intraspecific communication. This study emphasizes the importance of evaluating different predator stimuli on the behavior of vertebrates, as well as the effects of these stimuli on trait-mediated trophic cascades. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) in urban fragments of Maringá, Paraná, Brazil

Bat assemblages in two urban fragments of Maringá city, north of the state of Paraná, southern Brazil, were inventoried. These fragments, Parque do Ingá (48 ha) and Parque Florestal dos Pioneiros (59 ha), are located in a subtropical region covered by semideciduous Atlantic forest. Bats were sampled with mist-nets from August 2006 to July 2007, over 24 nights (12 hours a night), adding up to a total of 30,240 h.m2 of net effort. A total of 839 individuals were captured belonging to 10 species and four families. Artibeus lituratus was the most abundant species (66% of the sample). The observed richness represents 22% of the bat species recorded for the state, 24% of the bat species occurring in the seasonal semideciduous forest of Paraná, 26% of the species previously recorded in urban environments in Brazil, and 83.4% of the estimated richness by Jackknife 1 (n= 12 species). Studies that provide data on richness and abundance of bat species in urban fragments are becoming increasingly important, but are still poorly available in Brazil. This habitat is especially interesting because anthropogenic pressure can be harmful to bat assemblages, reducing their diversity. © 2013 Check List and Authors.

Recommendations for monitoring avian populations with point counts: a case study in southeastern Brazil

No hemisfério norte, o censo de aves é fundamental para gerar informações que auxiliam na compreensão de tendências populacionais. Tais censos, devido à marcada sazonalidade deste hemisfério, são realizados durante dois momentos distintos: na estação reprodutiva (aves residentes) e no inverno (quando as aves migratórias deixam determinadas regiões). Na região neotropical, porém, dependendo da localidade, as aves podem se reproduzir durante qualquer ou vários períodos do ano; podem ou não migrar, e aquelas que o fazem podem apresentar um padrão assincrônico. Em contraste com o hemisfério norte, tendências populacionais são desconhecidas, bem como o impacto das taxas rápidas de urbanização e desmatamento, que também são pouco monitoradas. Para melhor entender padrões temporais de riqueza e abundância de aves, e avaliar como um censo similar pode ser implementado na América tropical, foram utilizados pontos de escuta ao longo de 12 meses em uma localidade no Estado de São Paulo, sudeste do Brasil. Os censos ocorreram duas vezes por dia (manhãs/tardes) em uma floresta semidecidual ao longo de transecções com 10 pontos (20 pontos por dia) distantes 200 m entre si e com raio de detecção limitado em 100 m. Ambas as riquezas e abundâncias de aves foram maiores durante as manhãs, mas as curvas de acumulação sugerem que os censos vespertinos com maior esforço amostral podem fornecer resultados similares aos censos matutinos. Riqueza e abundância das aves não variam de acordo com estações (i.e., sem padrão aparente entre reprodução e migração), enquanto espécies exclusivas foram encontradas todos os meses e relativamente poucas espécies (20%) foram registradas em todos os meses do ano. Durante este ano, 84% de todas as aves florestais da área estudada foram registradas. Sugerimos que a metodologia de pontos de escuta pode ser utilizada à semelhança dos censos do hemisfério norte. Recomendamos ainda que o esforço amostral em transecções deva incluir ao menos 20 pontos, e que o início da contagem das aves deva ser sazonal, utilizando o período de migração das espécies austrais (e os seis meses seguintes) para coordenar pontos de escuta. Por último, sugerimos que os censos no Brasil e até mesmo na América Latina podem ajudar no entendimento de tendências populacionais, mas também demandam maior esforço do que o observado em latitudes temperadas, devido à maior riqueza de espécies e diferenças nas dinâmicas de reprodução e migração. Por meio do uso de censos de aves coordenados poderá ser desenvolvida uma técnica para os trópicos que irá gerar informações que permitam acompanhar tendências populacionais, com benefícios para a conservação das aves, similarmente aos censos realizados em países do hemisfério norte.

Bacteriophage- induced reduction in Salmonella Enteritidis counts in the crop of broiler chickens undergoing preslaughter feed withdrawal

Salmonella food poisoning is a public health problem. Feed withdrawal from broiler chickens before slaughter can favor the multiplication of Salmonella in the cecum and crop of contaminated animals and subsequently lead to contamination of carcasses in the processing plant. In the present study, a cocktail of lytic bacteriophages isolated from sewage water was orally administered to 45-d-old broiler chickens 1 h after they received an oral dose of 107 cfu/mL Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serotype Enteritidis. Immediately after phage administration and 30 min, 1, 3, 6, and 12 h thereafter, groups of chicken were killed. Ceca and crops were analyzed for the presence of Salmonella. At 3 h posttreatment, there were 103 cfu/g and 101 cfu/g of cecal and crop suspension, respectively. At 6 h after treatment, the number of Salmonella was 103 cfu/g in the cecal suspension, but below the detection limit in the crops. our results suggest that bacteriophage therapy may be able to reduce the contamination of chicken carcasses by reducing the preslaughter load of Salmonella in the birds.

Serological investigation of rabies virus neutralizing antibodies in bats captured in the eastern Brazilian Amazon

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

Frugivory and the effects of ingestion by bats on the seed germination of three pioneering plants

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Patterns of rDNA and telomeric sequences diversification: contribution to repetitive DNA organization in Phyllostomidae bats

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

High paracellular nutrient absorption in intact bats is associated with high paracellular permeability in perfused intestinal segments

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