Caracterização molecular de estafilococos isolados de vacas com mastite subclínica e ordenhadores

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

Are light traps baited with kairomones effective in the capture of Lutzomyia longipalpis and Lutzomyia intermedia? An evaluation of synthetic human odor as an attractant for phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Dermatophyte-host relationship of a murine model of experimental invasive dermatophytosis

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

Dynamics of inter-modality re-weighting during human postural control

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Relationship between green management and environmental training in companies located in Brazil: A theoretical framework and case studies

The main objective of this study is to understand the relationship between green management and environmental training in Brazilian companies, underscoring how this relationship takes place and its most important factors. For such, 9 case studies were conducted at large ISO 14001 certified companies, leaders in their market segments. Several interviews were conducted for each case, documents were collected and visits were made for direct observation. The main contributions and results of this study were: (a) a proposal for a theoretical framework relating the evolutionary stages of green management and the characteristics of environmental training; (b) it was ascertained, as per the proposed theoretical framework, that organizational culture and teamwork, top management support and more technical green management practices are the factors that seem to connect and convert environmental training into more proactive green management, especially for companies in the proactive green management stage; (c) the identification of the co-evolution between the companies' stage of green management and their environmental training level, which is the identified relationship mechanism between environmental training and green management. In other words, the higher the level of adoption of activities recommended for green management, the more evolved the green management practiced at the companies tends to be; and (d) identification that the proposed theoretical framework tends to be useful, mainly because it can explain the relationship between green management and environmental training at the company in the proactive stage. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The limits of human development and the use of energy and natural resources

The development of nations is an unquestionable requirement. A lot of challenges concerning health, education and economy are present. A discussion on these development models has occupied the minds of decision makers in recent years. When energy supply and demand is considered, the situation becomes critical and the crucial question is: how to improve the quality of life of developing countries based on available models of development that are related to the life style of developed countries, for which the necessary use and waste of energy are present? How much energy is essential to humanity for not so as to endangering the survival conditions of future generations? the human development index (HDI) establishes the relationship among energy use, economic growth and social growth. Here it can be seen that 75% of the world population has a significant energy consumption potential. This is a strong reason to consider that the sustainable development concepts on energy policies are strategic to the future of the planet. This paper deals with the importance of seeking alternative development models for human development balance, natural resources conservation and environment through rational energy use concepts. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Alterações do ciclo sono-vigília moduladas por Dopamina e suas consequências Mnemônicas

Neuroscience is on a rise of discoveries. Its wide interdisciplinary approach facilitates a more complex understanding of the brain, covering various areas in depth. However, many phenomena that fascinate human kind are far from being fully elucidated, such as the formation of memories and sleep. In this study we investigated the role of the dopaminergic system in the process of memory consolidation and modulation of the phases of sleep-wake cycle. We used two groups of animals: wildtype mice and hiperdopaminergic mice, heterozygous for the gene encoding the dopamine transporter protein. We observed in wild-type mice that the partial blockade of the D2 dopamine receptor by the drug haloperidol caused deficits in memory consolidation for object recognition, as well as a significant reduction in the duration of rapid eye movement sleep (REM). We also found a mnemonic deficit without pharmacological intervention in hiperdopaminergic animals; this deficit was reversed with haloperidol. The results suggest that dopamine plays a key role in memory consolidation for object recognition. The data also support a functional relationship between the dopaminergic system and the modulation of REM sleep

Motivações para adoção: uma perspectiva da Psicologia Evolucionista

Parental investment increases the offspring s survival, though it decreases the opportunities for the parents to invest in a future progeny. In a broad sense, this investment is directed to one s own descendant, but in some cases, such as in adoption, resources are directed to non-relatives even in the absence of fitness benefits. Once there are many factors involved in adoption, this study investigated adopters candidates, aiming to analyze aspects considered by them for adopting, based on the Evolutionary Psychology s perspective. We analyzed the judicial proceedings´ files people who had been inlisted for adoption at the 2ª Childhood and Adolescence Law Court, Natal-RN. The adopter s motivations were classified into biological or social reasons. A relationship between adopters´ age and kind of motivation was found: requirements of young people were related to biological reasons while requirements of the old ones were related to social reasons. Fertility, mainly female requirer´s fertility, underlie this relationship, considering that women fertility is strongly influenced by age. The reasons to adopt were also related to the age of the desired child, once that people who wanted children older than 25 months alleged social reasons while those that wanted younger babies alleged biological reasons. There are lots of motives to adopt a child, but the phenomenon of adoption is broadly acknowledged by society as an act of love and the adoptive parents are often regarded as kind and generous people. It was observed, instead, that the reasons to adopt comes from the adopters themselves, related to the fulfillment of personal needs, such as increasing the family, carrying out mother/father role or having a company or someone to care form them in elderly age

Morphological and molecular characterization of an equine isolate of Pythium insidiosum and comparison with the first human isolate from the same geographic region

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

Hand injuries in a human caused by a South American porcupine (ourico-cacheiro)

Human injuries caused by South American porcupines (in Portuguese, ourico-cacheiro) are rare. This study reports severe hand injuries provoked by the body spines of the animal in a human and discusses the circumstances involved in the accident, with emphasis on environmental factors.

Vulvar carcinoma in young patients and its relationship with genital warts

We report the occurrence of aggressive vulvar carcinoma associated with condyloma acuminata in three patients: under 33 years old. Discussion of the role of the human papilloma virus (HPV) in the development of vulvar cancer is also presented. Three patients with condyloma associated with aggressive vulvar squamous cell carcinoma, in situ (1 case) and invasive (2 cases), documented by biopsy and/or vulvectomy are presented. In situ hybridization (ISH) was used to characterize the subtypes of HPV. One patient with erythematous systemic lupus developed in situ carcinoma after 5 years. The other two cases also developed aggressive multicentric, invasive squamous cell carcinoma after 10 years of diagnosis of condyloma. In all cases HPV cytological abnormalities were seen throughout the pathological examination. HPV 16 and 18 were present in cells of invasive squamous cell carcinoma in cases 2 and 3. HPV 6 and 11 were detected only in the condyloma area in case 2. HPV 30 was seen only in the condyloma area in case 3. This report emphasizes the need for biopsies of all unusually persistent or treatment-resistant condylomas, particularly in young and/or immunoisuppressed patients.

Relationship between DNA damage and sperm head birefringence

Birefringence or double refraction is the decomposition of a ray of light into two rays when it passes through an anisotropic material such as quartz. Sperm cells have been demonstrated to be optically anisotropic. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the pattern of human sperm head birefringence (SHBF) and DNA damage. A total of 26 patients with normal semen were included. DNA damage (fragmentation and denaturation) was evaluated in the sperm head in the context of birefringence, both total (SHBF-T) and partial (SHBF-P), by terminal deoxyribonucleotidyl transferase (TdT)-mediated dUDP nick-end labelling assay and acridine orange fluorescence, respectively. Positive DNA fragmentation in spermatozoa with SHBF-T (205/1053; 19.5%) was significantly higher (P < 0.0001) than in spermatozoa that presented SHBF-P (60/820; 7.3%). However, the percentage of denatured DNA in spermatozoa with SHBF-T (824/1256; 65.6%) was not significantly different from the ones with SHBF-P (666/1009; 66.0%). In conclusion, the data support a positive relationship between spermatozoa with total SHBF in their head and increased DNA fragmentation. (C) 2011, Reproductive Healthcare Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparison between human and armadillo Paracoccidioides brasiliensis isolates by random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis

Sixty-three Paracoccidioides brasiliensis isolates obtained from three nine-banded armadillos (Dasypus novem-cinctus), one Amazonian armadillo's and 19 clinical isolates were compared by random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis with the primer OPG-19. The isolates were divided into three major clusters, I, II and III. Coincidences between human and armadillo isolates were observed in clusters I and II. Cluster III consisted only of armadillos' isolates. The results suggested that (I) humans may acquire P. brasiliensis infection by contact with armadillo's environment, (II) there may be P. brasiliensis genotypes peculiar to the animal, and (III) individual armadillos may be infected with P brasiliensis cells with different genotypes.

No relationship between subchronic fluoride intake and DNA damage in Wistar rats

Fluoride has been widely used in dentistry because it is an effective caries prophylactic agent. However, excess fluoride may represent a hazard to human health, especially by causing injury on the genetic apparatus. Genotoxicity tests form an important part of cancer research and risk assessment of potential carcinogens. In the current study, the potential DNA damage associated with exposure to fluoride was assessed by the single cell gel ( comet) assay in peripheral blood, oral mucosa and brain cells in vivo. Male Wistar rats were exposed to sodium fluoride (NaF) at a 0, 7 and 100 ppm dose for drinking water during 6 weeks. The results pointed out that NaF did not contribute to the DNA damage in all cellular types evaluated as depicted by the mean tail moment and tail intensity. These findings are clinically important since they represent an important contribution to the correct evaluation of the potential health risk associated with dental agents exposure. Copyright (C) 2004 S. Karger AG, Basel.