Evaluation of Oral Antiseptic Rinsing before Sputum Collection To Reduce Contamination of Mycobacterial Cultures

To assess whether rinsing with oral antiseptics before sputum collection would reduce contamination of mycobacterial cultures, 120 patients with suspected tuberculosis were randomly assigned to rinse with chlorhexidine or cetylpyridinium mouthwash before collection. The culture contamination rate was significantly lower after rinsing with chlorhexidine before collection, especially for cultures grown in MGIT medium.

Impacts of Animal Traffic on the Brazilian Amazon Parrots (Amazona species) Collection of the Quinzinho de Barros Municipal Zoological Park, Brazil, 1986-2007

Eleven species of Amazon parrots (genus Amazona) are known to occur in Brazil, and nest poaching and illegal traffic pose serious conservation threats to these species. When the illegal owners realize these animals are incompatible with their expectations and lifestyle, or when the police arrests traders and owners, these trafficked animals are often considered unfit for release and sent to local zoos and captive breeders. A retrospective survey of animal and necropsy records from 1986 to 2007 was used to evaluate the impacts of animal traffic on the population composition and mortality patterns of Amazon parrots at the Quinzinho de Barros Municipal Zoological Park, Sorocaba, Brazil. Data were obtained for 374 Amazon parrots of ten Brazilian species, and there was evidence that the studied population could be split into two major groups: a majority belonging to the Amazona aestiva species and a minority belonging to the remaining species. In comparison, the animals of the first group were more frequently admitted from traffic-related origins (98 vs. 75%), had a shorter lifespan (median 301 days vs. 848 days) and a higher mortality within the first year postadmission (54 vs. 37%), were less likely to receive expensive treatments, and were more frequently housed off-exhibit. On an average, parrots were found to have a short postadmission lifespan (median 356 days), with 92.5% of the birds dying within their first five years in captivity. The paper discusses the difficult dilemmas these incoming traffic-related animals pose to zoo management and official anti-traffic policies. Zoo Biol 29:600-614, 2010. (C) 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Collection and evaluation of semen from the three-toed sloth (Bradypus tridactylus)

Sloths (Bradypus sp.) are extremely sensitive animals that suffer with the destruction and fragmentation of forests. They present a low population growth rate and need to be further studied for the preservation of the specie. Thus, the aim of this study was to establish an efficient semen collection protocol as well as characterize sperm concentration, motility and morphology in order to contribute with information about the reproductive traits of this specie, which has never been described in the literature before. For that, nine Bradypus tridactylus males were captured during the wet season and six during the dry season, in Manaus (AM), located in the north region of Brazil, semen was collected by electroejaculation with shocks given in sequences of progressive intensities (minimum 20 mA and maximum 60 mA). All animals ejaculated small volumes of semen and in some of them, the volume ejaculated was not enough for a complete spermiogram. Physical characteristics observed on the collections of the wet season were different from those seen in the specimen collected in the dry season. Motility an vigor was very low and did not show forward progression, only oscillatory movement. After Spermac stain, spermatozoa presented a wide variety of defects; however, the differences in morphology were not significant between seasons. The morphology assessed by scanning electron microscopy shows that the head in both groups could be elongated, short or could have a base narrower than the apex and the midpiece narrowed abruptly, forming a nip in its transition to the tail. Although further studies are necessary to verify our preliminary findings concerning seasonal variation in sperm quality, these results demonstrate that semen can be safely collected from sloths by electroejaculation and provide the first reports of semen characteristics in this species. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Functional annotation of a full-length mouse cDNA collection

The RIKEN Mouse Gene Encyclopaedia Project, a systematic approach to determining the full coding potential of the mouse genome, involves collection and sequencing of full-length complementary DNAs and physical mapping of the corresponding genes to the mouse genome. We organized an international functional annotation meeting (FANTOM) to annotate the first 21,076 cDNAs to be analysed in this project. Here we describe the first RIKEN clone collection, which is one of the largest described for any organism. Analysis of these cDNAs extends known gene families and identifies new ones.

Effect of changing data collection parameters on statistical motor unit number estimates

The effect of number of samples and selection of data for analysis on the calculation of surface motor unit potential (SMUP) size in the statistical method of motor unit number estimates (MUNE) was determined in 10 normal subjects and 10 with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We recorded 500 sequential compound muscle action potentials (CMAPs) at three different stable stimulus intensities (10–50% of maximal CMAP). Estimated mean SMUP sizes were calculated using Poisson statistical assumptions from the variance of 500 sequential CMAP obtained at each stimulus intensity. The results with the 500 data points were compared with smaller subsets from the same data set. The results using a range of 50–80% of the 500 data points were compared with the full 500. The effect of restricting analysis to data between 5–20% of the CMAP and to standard deviation limits was also assessed. No differences in mean SMUP size were found with stimulus intensity or use of different ranges of data. Consistency was improved with a greater sample number. Data within 5% of CMAP size gave both increased consistency and reduced mean SMUP size in many subjects, but excluded valid responses present at that stimulus intensity. These changes were more prominent in ALS patients in whom the presence of isolated SMUP responses was a striking difference from normal subjects. Noise, spurious data, and large SMUP limited the Poisson assumptions. When these factors are considered, consistent statistical MUNE can be calculated from a continuous sequence of data points. A 2 to 2.5 SD or 10% window are reasonable methods of limiting data for analysis. Muscle Nerve 27: 320–331, 2003

Contribution towards a reflection about methodological strategies in design education and the function of drawing in design

This work presents a reflection on Design education and specifically on the role of Drawing in this area. As a subject, Design has expanded its field of action expanding into new areas such as Experience Design or Service Design. It became necessary for the designer to have more than an education based on technological knowledge or know-how. Many authors like Meredith Davis, Don Norman or Jamie Hobson point out the urgency to review the curricula of Design courses because nowadays “… design is more than appearance, design is about interaction, about strategy and about services. Designers change social behavior” (Norman 2011). When shifting from a product-centered design to a person-centered design (in a structure, a service or in a relationship) what should the function of drawing in a design course be? What should its curriculum be? Our work methodology will be to confront today’s perspectives on design theory and practice in an attempt to add to the discussion on the methodological strategies in design teaching in the contemporary context.

Bias dependent photocurrent collection in p-i-n a-Si : EVSiC : H heterojunction

A series of large area single layers and heterojunction cells in the assembly glass/ZnO:Al/p (SixC1-x:H)/i (Si:H)/n (SixC1-x:H)/Al (0

Bias-dependent photocurrent collection in p-i-n a-Si : H/SiC : H heterojunction

A series of large area single layers and glass/ZnO:AVp(SixC1-x:H)/i(Si:H)/n(SixC1-x:H)/AI (0 < x < 1) heterojunction cells were produced by plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PE-CVD) at low temperature. Junction properties, carrier transport and photogeneration are investigated from dark and illuminated current-voltage (J-V) and capacitance-voltage (C-V) characteristics. For the heterojunction cells atypical J-V characteristics under different illumination conditions are observed leading to poor fill factors. High series resistances around 106 Q are also measured. These experimental results were used as a basis for the numerical simulation of the energy band diagram, and the electrical field distribution of the structures. Further comparison with the sensor performance gave satisfactory agreement. Results show that the conduction band offset is the most limiting parameter for the optimal collection of the photogenerated carriers. As the optical gap increases and the conductivity of the doped layers decreases, the transport mechanism changes from a drift to a diffusion-limited process.

Adaptive tool for automatic data collection of real electricity markets

The study of electricity markets operation has been gaining an increasing importance in last years, as result of the new challenges that the electricity markets restructuring produced. This restructuring increased the competitiveness of the market, but with it its complexity. The growing complexity and unpredictability of the market’s evolution consequently increases the decision making difficulty. Therefore, the intervenient entities are forced to rethink their behaviour and market strategies. Currently, lots of information concerning electricity markets is available. These data, concerning innumerous regards of electricity markets operation, is accessible free of charge, and it is essential for understanding and suitably modelling electricity markets. This paper proposes a tool which is able to handle, store and dynamically update data. The development of the proposed tool is expected to be of great importance to improve the comprehension of electricity markets and the interactions among the involved entities.