Dois critérios de seleção na pré- desmama em bovinos da raça Gir. 2. Efeito na classificação dos animais

A utilização de dois critérios de seleção na pré-desmama, ganho médio diário do nascimento à desmama (GMD) e dias para ganhar 160 kg do nascimento à desmama (D160), foi estudada, analisando-se informações de 16.592 animais, provenientes do controle de desenvolvimento ponderal da Associação Brasileira dos Criadores de Zebu, nascidos no período de 1978 a 1994. Foram incluídos no modelo o efeito fixo de grupo de contemporâneos e os efeitos aleatórios genético aditivo de animal e materno, de ambiente permanente materno e o erro. A covariância entre os efeitos direto e materno foi considerada igual a zero. As estimativas dos componentes de variância e herdabilidade foram obtidas pelo método da máxima verossimilhança restrita e os valores genéticos preditos (VGs), por modelos animais uni-característica. As estimativas de herdabilidade foram: 0,12; 0,05; 0,10 e 0,05 para GMD (efeito direto), GMD (efeito materno), D160 (efeito direto) e D160 (efeito materno), respectivamente. Foram estimadas a correlação genética entre GMD e D160 (efeito direto e materno) e a correlação de classificação (Spearman) entre os valores genéticos para as categorias de touros, vacas e bezerros. As estimativas de correlação genética entre GMD e D160 foram 0,86 e 0,88, para o efeito direto e materno, respectivamente. As estimativas de correlação de ;rank;, também foram altas, entretanto, nenhuma foi igual a um, resultando em alterações na classificação dos animais. A relação entre as médias aritmética (A) e harmônica (H) e o desvio-padrão (S) do GMD ajustado para efeitos ambientais e maternos (GMDc) foi verificada utilizando-se um modelo restrito, sem intercepto, mediante as regressões linear e quadrática do S do GMDc sobre a diferença entre a média aritmética e média harmônica (A-H). Os resultados evidenciaram que, semelhantemente a H, o critério D160 apresentou a propriedade de discriminar touros com progênie mais uniforme.

Extraocular muscle fixation to porous polyethylene orbital implants using 2-octyl-cyanoacrylate

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Administration of beta(2)-adrenergic agonists during the peri-implantation period does not improve implantation or pregnancy rates in intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles

Purpose: the objective of the present investigation was to determine implantation and pregnancy rates in patients undergoing ICSI and treated with beta(2)-adrenergic agonists, considering the uterine-relaxing action of these agents.Methods: A total of 225 women undergoing ICSI at the Center for Human Reproduction, Sinha Junqueira Maternity Foundation, entered the study. Patient participation in each group was random, by drawing lots, using a randomization table previously elaborated for the study (2:2:1). The group I (90 women) received 10 mg of terbutaline daily for 15 days starting on the day of oocyte retrieval; group II (90 women) received 20 mg of ritodrine daily during the same period of time as group I; group III (45 patients) received no treatment and was used as control. The evaluation was interrupted in 3 patients of group I and in 30 patients of group II because of a high incidence of side effects.Results: Pregnancy, implantation, and miscarriage rates were not significantly different (p>0.05) between the three groups: 29.88%, 13.25%, and 26.9% for group I; 33.33%, 17.5%, and 10.0% for group II; 28.88%, 15.07%, and 15.38% for group III, respectively.Conclusions: the results of this study do not support the routine use of beta(2)-adrenergic agonists during the peri-implantation period in assisted reproductive technology cycles.

Imunoexpressão do c-erbB-2 nas lesões epiteliais proliferativas intraductais da mama de mulheres

OBJETIVOS: Alterações genéticas são relacionadas à gênese e progressão do câncer. Neoplasias de vários órgãos expressam o oncogene c-erbB-2. Nas proliferações intraductais da mama tem sido avaliado como fator de risco para o desenvolvimento de câncer. Foram avaliadas a imunoexpressão do c-erbB-2 em lesões epiteliais proliferativas intraductais e as possíveis correlações com características anatomopatológicas do carcinoma ductal in situ (CDIS). MÉTODOS: Foi utilizado material de arquivo, amostras teciduais fixadas em formalina e incluídas em blocos de parafina de 88 mulheres. Destas, 51 com CDIS e 37 com hiperplasia ductal sem atipias (HDT). A idade variou de 35 a 76 anos. Revisados todos os casos, verificou-se: o grau nuclear, a presença de necrose, o subtipo histológico predominante e sua extensão. Obteve-se material suficiente para o estudo imunohistoquímico do c-erbB-2 de 84 sujeitos do estudo. RESULTADOS: Não foi observada a expressão do oncogene nas hiperplasias sem atipias e nos tecidos adjacentes a todas amostras teciduais. A expressão do c-erbB-2 foi verificada em nove (19,1%) dos CDIS (p= 0,0001). A imunoexpressão não se relacionou à extensão das lesões. A imunoexpressão do c-erbB-2 no CDIS correlacionou-se com subtipo histológico (p=0,019), com a presença de necrose (p=0,0066), com o grau nuclear (p=0,0084) e com a Classificação de Van Nuys (p=0,039). CONCLUSÕES: A expressão do c-erbB-2 foi estatisticamente significante nas lesões proliferativas de risco (CDIS) e correlacionou-se com características histopatológicas: alto grau nuclear, presença de necrose, subtipo comedo. Não houve expressão nas hiperplasias sem atipias e tecidos adjacentes.

Analysis of Bothrops jararacussu venomous gland transcriptome focusing on structural and functional aspects: I - gene expression profile of highly expressed phospholipases A(2)

Snake venom glands are a rich source of bioactive molecules such as peptides, proteins and enzymes that show important pharmacological activity leading to in local and systemic effects as pain, edema, bleeding and muscle necrosis. Most studies on pharmacologically active peptides and proteins from snake venoms have been concerned with isolation and structure elucidation through methods of classical biochemistry. As an attempt to examine the transcripts expressed in the venom gland of Bothrops jararacussu and to unveil the toxicological and pharmacological potential of its products at the molecular level, we generated 549 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from a directional cDNA library. Sequences obtained from single-pass sequencing of randomly selected cDNA clones could be identified by similarities searches on existing databases, resulting in 197 sequences with significant similarity to phospholipase A(2) (PLA(2)), of which 83.2% were Lys49-PLA(2) homologs (BOJU-1), 0.1% were basic Asp49-PLA(2)s (BOJU-II) and 0.6% were acidic Asp49-PLA(2)s (BOJU-III). Adjoining this very abundant class of proteins we found 88 transcripts codifying for putative sequences of metalloproteases, which after clustering and assembling resulted in three full-length sequences: BOJUMET-I, BOJUMET-II and BOJUMET-III; as well as 25 transcripts related to C-type lectin like protein including a full-length cDNA of a putative galactose binding C-type lectin and a cluster of eight serine-proteases transcripts including a full-length cDNA of a putative serine protease. Among the full-length sequenced clones we identified a nerve growth factor (Bj-NGF) with 92% identity with a human NGF (NGHUBM) and an acidic phospholipase A2 (BthA-I-PLA(2)) displaying 85-93% identity with other snake venom toxins. Genetic distance among PLA(2)s from Bothrops species were evaluated by phylogenetic analysis. Furthermore, analysis of full-length putative Lys49-PLA(2) through molecular modeling showed conserved structural domains, allowing the characterization of those proteins as group II PLA(2)s. The constructed cDNA library provides molecular clones harboring sequences that can be used to probe directly the genetic material from gland venom of other snake species. Expression of complete cDNAs or their modified derivatives will be useful for elucidation of the structure-function relationships of these toxins and peptides of biotechnological interest. (C) 2004 Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.

V(2)O(5)/TiO(2) catalytic xerogels raman and EPR studies

Raman spectroscopy and Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) studies were performed on a series of V(2)O(5)/TiO(2) catalysts prepared by a modified sol-gel method in order to identify the vanadium species. Two species of surface vanadium were identified by Raman measurements, monomeric vanadyls and polymeric vanadates. Monomeric vanadyls are characterized by a narrow Raman band at 1030 cm(-1) and polymeric vanadates by two broad bands in the region from 900 to 960 cm(-1) and 770 to 850 cm(-1). The Raman spectra do not exhibit characteristic peaks of crystalline V(2)O(5). These results are in agreement with those of X-ray Diffractometry (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) previously reported (C.B. Rodella et al., J. Sol-Gel Sci. Techn., submitted). At least three families of V(4+) ions were identified by EPR investigations. The analysis of the EPR spectra suggests that isolated V(4+) ions are located in sites with octahedral symmetry substituting for Ti(4+) ions in the rutile structure. Magnetically interacting V(4+) ions are also present as pairs or clusters giving rise to a broad and structureless EPR line. At higher concentration of V(2)O(5), a partial oxidation of V(4+) to V(5+) is apparent from the EPR results.

Insights into metal ion binding in phospholipases A(2): ultra high-resolution crystal structures of an acidic phospholipase A(2) in the Ca2+ free and bound states

The electrophile Ca2+ is an essential multifunctional co-factor in the phospholipase A(2) mediated hydrolysis of phospholipids. Crystal structures of an acidic phospholipase A(2) from the venom of Bothrops jararacussu have been determined both in the Ca2+ free and bound states at 0.97 and 1.60 angstrom resolutions, respectively. In the Ca2+ bound state, the Ca2+ ion is penta-coordinated by a distorted pyramidal cage of oxygen and nitrogen atoms that is significantly different to that observed in structures of other Group I/II phospholipases A(2). In the absence of Ca2+, a water molecule occupies the position of the Ca2+ ion and the side chain of Asp49 and the calcium-binding loop adopts a different conformation. (c) 2005 Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.

On the N=2 superstring BRST operator

We show that the BRST charge for the N = 2 superstring system can be written as Q = e(-R)(phi dz/2 pi ib gamma(+)gamma(-))e(R), when b and gamma(+/-) are super-reparametrizations ghosts. This provides a trivial proof of the nilpotence of this operator. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.

Behavioral and biological correlates of medicine use in type 2 diabetic patients attended by Brazilian public healthcare system

A relação entre atividade física e consumo de medicamentos não é clara. Assim, o objetivo do estudo foi investigar a relação entre nível de atividade física e uso de medicamentosem diabéticos tipo 2 atendidos pelo Sistema Único de Saúde. A amostra foi composta por 121 diabéticos do tipo 2 de ambos os sexos atendidos pelos sistema público de saúde. Gordura corporal (antropometria e bioimpedância elétrica), atividade física (Questionário de Baecke) e uso de medicamentos (15 dias prévios a avaliação) foram avaliados. Houve relação entre uso de medicamentos e sexo (r = 0.18; p = 0.045), índice de massa corporal (r = 0.22; p = 0.012), circunferência de cintura (r = 0.19; p = 0.029), percentual de gordura (r = 0.21; p = 0.016), idade (r = 0.23; p = 0.009) e atividade física (r = -0.22; p = 0.012). A regressão linear incluiu no modelo apenas idade (β = 0.718; p = 0.057), IMC BMI (β = 0.057; p = 0.022) e atividade física (β = -0.176; p = 0.044) no modelo multivariado. Conclui-se que a prática de atividade física diminui uso de medicamentos independente da idade e obesidade.

Diagnóstico de criptosporidiose em amostras fecais de bezerros por imunofluorescência direta e microscopia de contraste de fase

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

Lipoperoxidation and cyclooxygenases 1 and 2 inhibitory compounds from Iryanthera juruensis

Plants from Iryanthera genus have been traditionally used as food supplements by South American Indians. The MeOH extract of leaves of Iryanthera juruensis, one of the plants endemic to the Amazon region and consumed in Brazil, and the hexane extract from its seeds inhibited lipid peroxidation (LPO) and cyclooxygenase (COX-1 and -2)) enzymes in in vitro assays. Further analyses of these extracts yielded 5-deoxyflavones (1-5) from the leaf extract and sargachromenol (6), sargaquinoic acid (7), a novel juruenolic acid (8), omega-arylalkanoic acids (9a-c), and the lignan guaiacin (10) from the seed extract. Compounds 3-5 inhibited LPO by 86%, 77%, and 88% at 10 ppm, respectively, and compounds 6 and 9a-c showed inhibition at 76% and 78% at 100 ppm, respectively. However, compounds 7 and 8 were inactive and lignan 10 exhibited LPO inhibitory activity by 99% at 100 ppm compared to commercial antioxidants butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), and vitamin E. The flavones 1-5 also inhibited COX-1 and -2 enzymes by 50-65% at 100 ppm. Compound 6 showed high but nonselective inhibition of COX-1 and COX-2 enzymes, when compared to aspirin and Celebrex, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). Compounds 7 and 10 inhibited COX-1 by 60% and 65% and COX-2 by 37% and 18%, respectively, whereas compounds 8 and 9a-c showed little or no activity against these enzymes.

Avaliação da vinhaça líquida em substituição à água na terminação de bovinos em confinamento 2. Parâmetros etológicos e perfil metabólico

Fifteen animals from Canchim group and fifteen from Nelore were observed in the following treatments: water (A), molasses soluble + magnesium oxide (V) and molasses soluble + magnesium oxide + sodium bicarbonate (V+B). They were observed during continuous 24 hours every 30 days up to 90 days periods. During the weighting, every 28 days blood samples were collected to determine metabolic outline. Treatments did not affect (P>.05) animal behaviour on metabolic and the obtained mean values were within the normal range. They were, respectively for Canchim and Nelore: Feeding 270 and 223 minutes; Rumination 374 and 356 minutes; Idleness 745 and 863 minutes; Glicose 86 and 88 mg/dl; Urea 10 and 23 mg/dl: Uric acid 1,3 and 1,2 mg/dl; Total protein 7,0 and 6,8 g/dl; Albumin 3,1 and 3,1 g/dl; Creatinin 1,5 and 1,6 mg/dl; Sodium 140 and 142 meq/dl; Potassium 4,2 and 4,3 meq/1 and Calcium 10,0 and 9,8 mg/dl. It was concluded that molasses soluble as a substitute of water has not changed the ethologic parameters neither metabolic outline of both genetic group when in finishing feedlot.

Crystal structure of bis(acetylacetonato)-bis(3-methylpyridine)-nickel(II) dihydrate, Ni(C6H7N)(2)(C5H7O2)(2)center dot 2H(2)O

C22H32N2NiO6, triclinic, P (1) over bar (no. 2), a = 8.335(1) angstrom, b = 9.314(1) angstrom, c = 17.045(2) angstrom, alpha = 88.45(1)degrees, beta = 82.12(1)degrees, gamma = 70.296(9)degrees, V = 1233.7 angstrom(3), Z = 2, R-gt(F) = 0.050, wR(ref)(F-2) = 0.177, T = 293 K.

Synthesis, crystal structure and theoretical studies of aryltellurenyl tetramethylthiourea(tmtu) iodine complexes: Ph-Te(tmtu)I (1) and beta-naphtyl-Te(tmtu)I (2)

(1) C11H17IN2STe, Mr = 463.83, P2(1)/n, a 7.6582(8), b = 13.8008(9), c = 15.026(3) angstrom, beta = 96.233(12)degrees, Z = 4, R-1 = 0.0318. (2) C15H19IN2STe, Mr = 513.88, P2(1)/n, a = 8.434(5), b = 11.697(5), c = 18.472(5) angstrom, beta = 98.556(5)degrees, Z = 4, R-1 = 0.0236. The synthesis of the aryltellurenyl N,N',-tetramethylthiourea (tmtu) iodide has been performed by ligand exchange with potassium iodide and the corresponding aryltellurenyl(tmtu) bromide. In both structures the tellurium atom is primarily three-coordinated, being bonded to a carbon atom of the organic ring and, in directions nearly perpendicular to the Te-C bond, to one tmtu sulfur atom and one iodine. In addition there are Te...secondary bonds, joining the molecules in centrosymmetric dimers, which in turn are joined through C-H...1 and C-H... S interactions, in (1) and (2), respectively.