MACROSOMIA, OBESITY, MACROCEPHALY AND OCULAR ABNORMALITIES (MOMO SYNDROME) IN 2 UNRELATED PATIENTS - DELINEATION OF A NEWLY RECOGNIZED OVERGROWTH SYNDROME

We describe 2 unrelated patients, a boy and a girl, with an overgrowth syndrome and the following common characteristics: macrocrania, obesity, ocular abnormalities (retinal coloboma and nystagmus), downward slant of palpebral fissures, mental retardation, and delayed bone maturation. Both cases are of sporadic occurrence with no consanguinity between the parents. We suggest that this syndrome is due to a new autosomal dominant mutation and propose to designate it with the acronym of ''MOMO syndrome'' (Macrosomia, Obesity, Macrocrania, Ocular anomalities).

Effect of grazing system on fetal development in Nellore cattle

Intensive grazing systems for beef females, based on abundant availability of high quality forages and supplementary concentrates, may affect fetal development. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of grazing system on length of gestation, fetal development, and characteristics of the calf at birth. Twenty-four pregnant (bred to Nellore bulls) Nellore females were allocated into two groups. The control group (G1) grazed Brachiaria decumbens (signal grass) in a traditional (extensive) grazing system and the second group (G2) were managed on Panicum maximumcv. Tanzania 1 (Tanzania grass) in an intensive grazing system. Fetal development was evaluated by ultrasonography on days 31, 45, 59, 94, 122, 220, and 255 of gestation. The diameter of the amniotic and allantoic cavities, crown-rump length, circumference, and diameter of the head and ocular orbit were determined. At birth, calves were weighed and height, length, thoracic circumference, and ocular orbit and bi-parietal diameters were measured. There were no differences (P > 0.05) in fetal development. The G1 cows had a longer gestation period (4.5 days; P < 0.05) and their calves had greater (P < 0.05) weight, height, length, and thoracic circumference at birth. In conclusion, Nellore females raised under intensive pasture management conditions, had significantly shorter gestation and smaller calves at birth than those raised under extensive pasture management conditions. Therefore, adoption of new management practices (e.g. intensive pasture management), should take into consideration animal behavior and productivity. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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.

Ocular alterations in dogs naturally infected by Leishmania (Leishmania) chagasi

Ocular conditions, anti-Leishmania antibodies and total protein of the aqueous humor were studied in dogs naturally infected by Leishmania ( Leishmania) chagasi. Fifty dogs were analyzed and assigned into two groups of 25 animals each. All animals were submitted to routine ophthalmic exam. Results showed that 76% of the affected animals presented ocular signs, being uveitis the predominant. The mean of total protein in the aqueous humor of animals with uveitis was higher ( P < 0.05) when compared to the mean of animals with other ocular signs or no clinical sign. The anti- Leishmania chagasi antibody values in plasma were superior to those found in the aqueous humor (P < 0.05).

Ocular Reconstruction After Zygomatic Complex Fracture With Retention of a Foreign Body

Facial injuries with the retention of foreign bodies inside the tissues, both in soft and hard ones, can cause major functional and aesthetic damage. Among the different etiological agents, cutting tools, fragments of a firearm, the splinter of wood, steel, or iron, launched by misuse, or even caused by defects in equipment, are the main cause of these injuries. The aim of this study was to discuss the peculiarity of the multidisciplinary approach in caring of a 33-year-old man, victim of an accident at work, by the rupture of an emery disc and consequent penetration of the fragments in violation of the tissues in the orbital and zygomatic region of the left side, with perforation of the eyeball and orbital-zygomatic fracture. Urgent treatment consisted of debridement of wounds, bleeding control, removal of foreign bodies, fracture reduction with rigid internal fixation, and suture, performed by the oral and maxillofacial surgical team. Reconstruction of orbital tissues by the ophthalmology team consisted of suture of the injuries. About 1 month after the trauma, phthisis bulbi was noted, and the patient underwent a new procedure under general anesthesia for eye evisceration and installation of an alloplastic prosthesis associated with the homogenous sclera. Facial harmony was restored, especially in aesthetics and function of the zygomatic-orbital complex.

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)