Correlations among carcass traits taken by ultrasound and after slaughter in Mediterranean (Bubalus bubalis) young bulls

The objective of this work was to estimate the correlations among measurements taken in vivo with ultrasound equipment with some carcass traits measured after slaughter. Twenty eight Mediterranean bulls, with average shrunk body weight of 330 kg and 14 months of age, were fed by 120 days with high concentrate diets. The shrunk body weight, the ribeye area (REAU), the back fat thickness (FTU) over the Longissimus dorsi muscle between 12(a) and 13(a) ribs and rump fat (EGP8U), were measured at 28 days intervals. Real-time ultrasound equipment Piemedical Scanner 200 VET, with 18 cm linear array transducer was utilized. After the slaughter, the hot carcass weight (PCQ) and the kidney, pelvic and inguinal fat (GRPI) were weighted and the dressing percentage (DP) calculated. After 24 hours of cooling the ribeye area (REAC), backfat thickness (FTC) and rump fat (EGP8C) were measured. Both the REAC, FTC and EGP8C were underestimated by ultrasound measurements. The Pearson correlation coefficients for ribeye area, backfat thickness and rump fat measured in the carcass and with ultrasound, were 0.96, 0.99 and 0.91, respectively. The coefficient between DP and REAU was 0.47; 0.45 between DP and REAC, 0.56 between DP and FTU and 0.58 between DP and FTC. DP presented a 0.59 correlation coefficient with EGP8U. The Spearman correlation was estimated between REAU and REAC, FTU and FTC, EGP8U and EGP8C, and the values were 0.96, 0.99 and 0.91,respectively. The ultrasound measures could be used to estimate carcass traits in buffaloes with good accuracy.

Uterine evaluation and gestation diagnosis in owl monkey (Aotus azarai infulatus) using the B mode ultrasound

Background Gynecological and obstetrical ultrasonography has become an indispensable tool in the routine management, health evaluation and research on captive non-human primates.Methods Ultrasound was used to evaluate the uterus and estimate the gestation of owl monkeys. Twelve couples were selected, where five were primiparous and seven multiparous females from the National Primate Center reproductive colony, Ananindeua-PA, Brazil. The procedures were carried out using the GE (R) Logiq 100 MP, equipped with a 7.5 MHz linear probe.Results the females showed a simple uterus, of elongated shape, regular outline and homogeneous echogenic texture. In the uterine measurements craniocaudal diameter, dorsoventral diameter and uterine volume (UV), significant differences were identified (P < 0.05) between ultrasound examinations of primiparous and multiparous females. The UV showed a positive correlation with the number of births. The gestational sac and the embryonic echo were visible between 28 and 38 days after mating. Between 48 and 68 days after mating, embryonic death was identified in all the gestations.Conclusions the chemical (use of tranquilizers) and husbandry factors (capture stress) may be related to the prenatal death. The establishing methods of conditioning the female to the ultrasonographic exam may offer a solution to this problem.

A study of the hydrolysis pathway in oxalic acid catalyzed reacting TMOS-water mixtures under ultrasound stimulation

The hydrolysis of TMOS in oxalic acid catalyzed reacting TMOS-water mixtures, under ultrasound stimulation, was studied by fitting a simplified dissolution and reaction modeling for samples, the hydrolysis rate of which had been measured in a previous work. The reaction pathway represented in a ternary diagram shows a heterogeneous step for the reaction which gradually progresses until complete homogenization of the system. Besides the water dissolved due to the homogenizing effect of the alcohol, ultrasound maintains a virtual and additional dissolution of water located at the interface between the TMOS and water during the heterogeneous step of the reaction. The mean radius of the heterogeneity represented by water dispersed in TMOS was evaluated as around 150 Angstrom. The oxalic acid concentration accordingly increases the hydrolysis rate constant but its fundamental role on the solubility of water in TMOS could not unequivocally be established.

A kinetic study of the effect of ultrasound power on the sonohydrolysis of tetraethyl orthosilicate

A kinetic study of the ultrasound-stimulated and acid-catalyzed sonohydrolysis of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) in solventless TEOS-water heterogeneous mixtures was carried out by means of a calorimetric method as a function of the ultrasound power. The hydrolysis reaction starts in acidulated heterogeneous water-TEOS mixtures after an induction period under ultrasonic stimulation. The ultrasound power seems to play a role on the dynamical coupling of the system originating a continuum upward shifting of the base line during the induction period of sonication. The rate in which the base line is upward shifted diminishes with the power. The best coupling between the ultrasound and the reactant heterogeneous mixtures for this experimental setup was found to occur at 50 W, for which the gelation time was found to be a minimum. The kinetics of the heterogeneous TEOS sonohydrolysis was studied on the basis of a dissolution and reaction modeling. The heterogeneous reaction pathway as deduced from the kinetic study was drawn in a ternary diagram as a function of the ultrasound power. (C) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of continuous and pulsed therapeutic ultrasound in the appearance of local recurrence of mammary cancer in rats

Purpose: Ultrasound (US) therapy is an elect rot hermotherapeutic modality that uses US energy to provoke physical and chemical alterations. US therapy has been widely used in physical therapy. However in clinical practice, it is contra-indicated in cancer patients due to the possibility of exacerbating tumor growth.Methods: Sixty-eight female Sprague-Dawley rats bred in UNIFAE vivarium were studied. At 50 days of age, 7, 12-dimetylbenz(a)anthracene (7, 12-DMBA) was administered to 35 rats by gastric gavage to induce mammary cancer After 90 days the mammary glands of the rats belonging to the group with mammary cancer induction and stimulated by US were removed. Animals received either continuous or pulsed US. US waves were generated at a frequency of 1 MHz during 10 days, with an intensity dose of 0.5 W in the continuous group, and 0.9 W (duty cycle: 20%) in the pulsed group.Results: Among the rats treated with continuous US, 44.4% developed local recurrence, while among the rats treated with pulsed US, 22.2% had local tumor recurrence (p < 0.05). No evidence of distant metastases was shown in any of the rats studied.Conclusion: The use ofcontinuous and pulsed therapeutic US promoted the development of local recurrence of mammary cancer in female Sprague-Dawley rats in the postoperative period.

Agreement between direct, oscillometric and Doppler ultrasound blood pressures using three different cuff positions in anesthetized dogs

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

Conventional and Doppler ultrasound for the differentiation of benign and malignant canine mammary tumours

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

Immunohistochemical characterisation of probable intravascular haematopoiesis in the vasa rectae of the renal medulla in acute tubular necrosis

Immunohistochemistry was applied to identify the nature of the nucleated cells that accumulate in the vasa rectae of the corticomedullary junction in acute tubular necrosis. In all 6 cases studied, there were intravascular cells that reacted with monoclonal antibodies to erythroblast, macrophages, myeloid cells, T and B lymphocytes and rare megakaryocytes. The findings are consistent with the occurrence of intravascular haematopoiesis in the renal medulia in acute tubular necrosis.

Effects of HCl on the ultrasound catalyzed TEOS hydrolysis as determined by a calorimetric study

The acid catalyzed and ultrasound stimulated hydrolysis of solventless tetraethoxysilane-water mixtures was studied at 39°C as a function of HCl added to the mixtures (log[HCl]-1 ranged from 0.8 to 2.0), The reaction was carried out in a specially designed device, in which a steady state heat flow is maintained, while sonication is taking place, if no reaction is expected to occur. The exothermal hydrolysis reaction causes an increasing temperature (ΔTt) as a function of the reaction time, t. The isothermal hydrolysis rate constant, k, has been evaluated from the experimental ΔTt versus t data, after corrections for the increasing temperature effects, by using a method resulting from our theoretical modeling based on a dissolution and reaction mechanism. The hydrolysis rate constant fits closely a k α [H+] law as expected for this kind of hydrogen-ion catalyzed reaction.

Calibration of therapeutic ultrasound equipment

Temporal and spatial acoustic intensity (SATA) of therapeutic ultrasound (US) equipment should be monitored periodically. In order to evaluate the conditions of US equipment in use in the city of Piracicaba-Sao Paulo, Brazil, 31 machines - representing all Brazilian manufacturers - were analysed under continuous and pulsed conditions at a frequency of 1 MHz. Data about temporal and spatial acoustic intensity were collected and the use of equipment was surveyed. Intensities of 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 0.8, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 Wcm -2, indicated on the equipment panel were analysed using a previously calibrated digital radiation pressure scale, model UPM-DT-1 (Ohmic Instruments Co). The acoustic intensity (I) results were expressed as superior and inferior quartile ranges for transducers with metal surfaces of 9 cm 2 and an effective radiation area (ERA) Of 4 cm 2. The results under continuous conditions were: I 0.1 = -20.0% and -96%. I 0.2 = -3.1% and -83.7%. I 0.5 = -35.0% and -86.5%. I 0.8 = -37.5% and -71.0%. I 2.5 = -49.0% and -69.5%. I 3.0 = -58.1% and -77.6%. For pulsed conditions, intensities were: I 0.1 = -40.0% and -86.2%. I 1.0 = -50.0% and -86.5%. I 1.5 = -62.5% and -82.5%. I 2.0 = -62.5% and -81.6%. I 2.5 = -64.7% and -88.8%. I 3.0 = -87.1% and -94.8%. In reply to the questionnaire drawn up to check the conditions of use of equipment, all users reported the use of hydrosoluble gel as a coupling medium and none had carried out previous calibrations. Most users used intensities in the range of 0.4. to 1.0 Wcm -2 and used machines for 300 to 400 minutes per week. The majority of machines had been bought during the previous seven years and weekly use ranged from less than 100 minutes to 700 minutes (11 hours 40 minutes). Findings confirm previous observations of discrepancy between the intensity indicated on the equipment panel and that emitted by the transducer and highlight the necessity for periodic evaluations of US equipment.

Structural changes induced by ultrasound during aging of the boehmite phase

Structural changes induced by ultrasound during the aging of the aluminum monohydroxide (boehmite) were studied by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and nitrogen adsorption. The BET surface area and the pore volume of the ultrasound stimulated hydroxide (HU) are about 40% less than those of the non-stimulated one (HS). The mean pore size practically does not change, while the mean crystallite size (L) is about 25% greater in the HU system. The increase of L alone is not enough to account for the surface area diminution, suggesting that the sonication also induces compaction by elimination of some porosity. The sonication of the precursor hydroxide does not seem to play an apparent role in the structural properties of the resulting calcinated γ-alumina. © 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.