Mapping QTLs on chicken chromosome 1 for performance and carcass traits in a broiler x layer cross

With the objective of mapping quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for performance and carcass traits, an F-2 chicken population was developed by crossing broiler and layer lines. A total of 2063 F-2 chicks in 21 full-sib families were reared as broilers and slaughtered at 42 days of age. Seventeen performance and carcass traits were measured. Parental (F-0) and F-1 individuals were genotyped with 80 microsatellites from chicken chromosome 1 to select informative markers. Thirty-three informative markers were used for selective genotyping of F-2 individuals with extreme phenotypes for body weight at 42 days of age (BW42). Based on the regions identified by selective genotyping, seven full-sib families (649 F-2 chicks) were genotyped with 26 markers. Quantitative trait loci affecting body weight, feed intake, carcass weight, drums and thighs weight and abdominal fat weight were mapped to regions already identified in other populations. Quantitative trait loci for weights of gizzard, liver, lungs, heart and feet, as well as length of intestine, not previously described in the literature were mapped on chromosome 1. This F-2 population can be used to identify novel QTLs and constitutes a new resource for studies of genes related to growth and carcass traits in poultry.

Diferentes resposta de cutivares de soja e potássio

Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) is known to have a high ability as a potassium extractor, and different cultivars show different potassium requirements. An experiment was run to study the potassium nutrition of soybean as related to plant characteristics. Six soybean cultivars (FT-2, Bossier, IAC-11, IAC-17, IAC-18 and IAC-19) were grown in 6 kg pots filled with the topsoil of a Dark Red Latosol (sandy loam), either with and without K fertilization. The plants were harvested 70 days after emergence. Soybean response to potassium was not related to growth habit or group of maturation. There was a different response to K. The cultivars IAC-18 and FT-2 were less tolerant to K deficiency. Potassium deficiency in the leaves was not related to top dry matter production. With K fertilization soybean plants showed small root volume and higher ratio canopy/root. With high K in soil, all of the cultivars showed higher nodulation.

Isolation and characterization of Wharton's jelly-derived multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells obtained from bovine umbilical cord and maintained in a defined serum-free three-dimensional system

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

Structural characteristics of the superior venae cavae wall at the intrapericardium segment in adults and aging individuals

The authors admit that the conjunctive-muscular constitution of the walls of the superior venae cavae throughout the length of the intrapericardium segment and the debouchement in the right atrium, associated with the presence of a myocardium sheath can be made up of a functional device of sphincter form able to act on the control of the blood flow to the interior of the arterial chamber as well as stopping blood flow during the arterial systole. The fixation of the venous wall to the deep chamber of the serous pericardium, contributes to growth in resistance during the elevation of venous pressure, making possible the preservation of integrity of the superior venae cavae. The expansion of fasciculi of nodal fibers in the right wall of the superior venae cavae permits that the unlocked impulse in the S-A node also reaches the vascular wall contributing to the shortening and diminution in caliber of the vein.

Morphological aspects of the mid-palatal suture in the human foetus: A light and scanning electron microscopy study

Morphological features of the mid-palatal suture were studied in human foetuses from 4 to 9 months of intra-uterine life. The foetuses were divided into three age groups, GI (16-23 weeks), GII (24-31 weeks) and GIII (32-39 weeks). The mid-palatal suture in GI foetuses is rectilineal in form with a wide space between the palatal processes of the maxilla. The suture has a sinuous nature in GII and GIII foetuses due to growth of the bone processes crossing the mid-line. A wide zone of cellular proliferation observed in GI narrows in GII and GIII foetuses. The imbricating nature of the suture in GII and GIII is caused by bone growth adjacent to the mid-palatal suture. Sharpey's fibres, emerging from the bone processes, run to the median region of the mid-palatal suture and are observed from GI foetuses onwards. The collagen fibres of the mid-palatal suture are orientated transversely under the oral epithelium and exhibit a regular meshwork with a predominance of sagittal fibres in the median region of the suture. These fibres are orientated transversely and obliquely at the junction with the nasal septum.

Alterações morfoanatômicas em plantas de Lithraea molleoides (Vell.) Engl. submetidas ao alagamento

Flooding effects in Lithraea molleoides plants were studied. Young plants were kept under drained and flooded soil over a period of 35 days. For growth and development analyses, the length and diameter of stem and main root and the dry weight of roots, stem, and leaves were measured. For anatomical studies, sections of fresh and fixed roots, stem bases and leaves were made using standard procedures in vegetal anatomy. The stress reduced the dry weight increment of plants without causing the death of roots or the abscission of leaves. In the stem base, flooding induced the hypertrophy of lenticels and the increase of intercellular space and reduction lower starch contents, in the cortex. Plants flooded displayed greater percentage of cortical intercellular space in the secondary roots and lower investment in secretory structure formation in the stem base. It can be suggested that flooding reduced the recourses allocation to growth. These recourses could be used in morphological alterations, such as hypertrophied lenticels and increase of intercellular spaces, that could contribute to plants survival during stress period, probably, due maintenance of aerobic respiration.

Capacidade de carga real (ccr) da caverna de santana, parque estadual turístico do alto ribeira (Petar) - sp, e indicações para o seu manejo turístico

The tourist use of Santana cave provides a row of environmental damages, compromising partially the pristine conditions. Among the measures adopted to avoid this situation, this issue presents a contribution for the physical limits to tourist visitation and the indications for speleotouristic management. It was used the Cifuentes Carrying Capacity method and some basic principles of Visitors Impact Management Framework - VIM. The results show a Real Carrying Capacity (CCR) about 120 visits daily on the cave. The discussions raise a few hypotheses about the alteration in the method used and the temporal frequency between visitors groups, suggesting a provisional CCR of 117 and 135 visitors daily, respectively, during the week and in the weekends and holidays. The conclusions appoint the necessity of a conceptual revision in the Carrying Capacity methods, mainly about its adaptation for tourist management in caves. In the case studied, it is suggested the immediate beginning of environmental monitoring of the cave, to verify the plausibility from proposed visitation limits and the possible contributions for to mitigate the environmental impacts from speleotourism.

Search for a resonance decaying into WZ boson Pairs in pp̄ collisions

We present the first search for an electrically charged resonance W′ decaying to a WZ boson pair using 4.1fb-1 of integrated luminosity collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron pp̄ collider. The WZ pairs are reconstructed through their decays into three charged leptons (≤=e, μ). A total of 9 data events is observed in good agreement with the background prediction. We set 95% C.L. limits on the W′WZ coupling and on the W′ production cross section multiplied by the branching fractions. We also exclude W′ masses between 188 and 520 GeV within a simple extension of the standard model and set the most restrictive limits to date on low-scale technicolor models. © 2010 The American Physical Society.

Latin America and the Caribbean and the European Union: striving for a renewed partnership

Includes bibliography

Política fiscal e dívida pública: Uma abordagem teórica a partir de keynes e abba lerner

The fiscal policies of national governments are an important instrument of economic policy, as they contribute directly or indirectly to growth and economic development. Since Keynes, the utilization of active fiscal policy is unavoidable during periods of crisis, especially a policy of public investment spending aimed at reducing macroeconomic uncertainty. In the same way, Abba Lerner and functional finances indicate the use of fiscal policy in favor of macroeconomic stability, and not according to a single objective of seeking equilibrium in the public accounts. However, at the present time, the debate on fiscal policy is not sufficient to guarantee public sector financial equilibrium. The article picks up on the contributions of Keynes and Abba Lerner regarding the importance of the public budget in economic activity, and discusses the present scenario for fiscal policy.

Review of selected areas of research on the Caribbean subregion in the 2000s: identifying the main gaps

Includes bibliography

Globalization and liberalization: the impact on developing countries

Includes bibliography

Finiteness of hermitian levels of some algebras

We characterize the hermitian levels of quaternion and octonion algebras and of an 8-dimensional algebra D over the ground field F, constructed using a weak version of the Cayley-Dickson double process. It is shown that all values of the hermitian levels of quaternion algebras with the hat-involution also occur as hermitian levels of D. We give some limits to the levels of the algebra D over some ground field. © Soc. Paran. de Mat.

Social dimensions of macroeconomic policy: report of the Executive Committee on Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations

Introduction The social agenda is long-term in nature, in the sense that poverty alleviation along with a better distribution of income, wealth and opportunities are long-term goals. A sound macroeconomic policy, on the other hand, has to do largely with the consistent management of short-term policy instruments pursuing a sustainable and predictable pace for aggregate economic variables and major prices (wages, inflation, interest rates and exchange rates). In spite of the different arena and rationale in which they play, there are strong links between the two. First and most obvious, macroeconomic adjustment and structural reform are more likely to be sustainable when they are equitable. Second, social intervention —i.e., policies, programmes and reforms aimed at improving social performance in the long run—, needs stable funding which is not always available in view of macroeconomic constraints. Third, macroeconomic instability —especially episodes of recession or hyperinflation— increases poverty and inequality, while restoring macroeconomic equilibrium does not restore previous social balances. Finally, there is no unique macroeconomic policy mix to tackle a given situation, and the policy options may not be neutral from a social standpoint. Monetary, fiscal and exchange rate policies, together with structural reform, have major consequences for the social wellbeing of societies, not only in terms of protection against shocks and crises but also in terms of equity. Many, if not all, of the necessary social policies are of a domestic nature. This report thus concentrates on domestic strategies aimed at maximizing the linkages between consistent macroeconomic policies and social progress. Pursuing them, however, depends to a considerable extent on the international enabling environment in which the global financial system, the unsettled debt crisis and increasing ODA flows play a significant role. Countries operate in a world economy where market players everywhere immediately scrutinize domestic monetary, financial or fiscal policy decisions and the performance of exchange rate regimes of individual countries. Under these conditions, the room for manoeuvre of policymakers has become considerably constrained. Consequently, it is becoming increasingly complex to incorporate the social dimensions into such policy decisions, to the extent that external analysts consider that authorities are sacrificing sound macroeconomic policies. The main message of the report is that the expediency of short-term economic efficiency as embedded in much of the advice on macroeconomic stability needs to be tempered by long-term development objectives. The report starts with a short historical background which describes the ascendancy of macroeconomic policies over social development policies (chapter I). It continues with an evaluation of the relation between macroeconomic consistency and social effort (chapter II), and the importance of sustainable and stable growth for social progress (chapter III). The report then turns to the need for an equity-enhancing growth strategy (chapter IV) and an analysis of the priorities of social policies in an integrated approach to growth (chapter V). The final chapter adds some final institutional remarks.

Association of IGF1 and KDM5A polymorphisms with performance, fatness and carcass traits in chickens

Two functional and positional candidate genes were selected in a region of chicken chromosome 1 (GGA1), based on their biological roles, and also where several quantitative trait loci (QTL) have been mapped and associated with performance, fatness and carcass traits in chickens. The insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) gene has been associated with several physiological functions related to growth. The lysine (K)-specific demethylase 5A (KDM5A) gene participates in the epigenetic regulation of genes involved with the cell cycle. Our objective was to find associations of selected single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in these genes with performance, fatness and carcass traits in 165 F2 chickens from a resource population. In the IGF1 gene, 17 SNPs were detected, and in the KDM5A gene, nine SNPs were detected. IGF1 SNP c. 47673G > A was associated with body weight and haematocrit percentage, and also with feed intake and percentages of abdominal fat and gizzard genotype × sex interactions. KDM5A SNP c. 34208C > T genotype × sex interaction affected body weight, feed intake, percentages of abdominal fat (p = 0. 0001), carcass, gizzard and haematocrit. A strong association of the diplotype × sex interaction (p < 0. 0001) with abdominal fat was observed, and also associations with body weight, feed intake, percentages of carcass, drums and thighs, gizzard and haematocrit. Our findings suggest that the KDM5A gene might play an important role in the abdominal fat deposition in chickens. The IGF1 and KDM5A genes are strong candidates to explain the QTL mapped in this region of GGA1. © 2012 Institute of Plant Genetics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poznan.