Ultrastructural features of the lining epithelium of the vas deferens of Agouti paca

The epididymal epithelium of Agouti paca, a wild South American rodent, was basically formed by principal and basal cells. Principal cells were closely related to processes of adsorptive endocytosis, phasefluid endocytosis and also secretion originating from their cytoplasmic ultrastructural features. Principal cells were also characterized by the presence of vesicles of several shapes, sizes and internalized content occurring in smaller pits, pale small vesicles next to the apical brush border of microvillus, as well as coated vesicles, smooth surface vesicles and great vesicles. Multivesicular bodies, endosomes and lysosomes were mainly observed in supranuclear position. Moreover, presence of an apocrine secretory process was demonstrated by the occurrence of apical cytoplasmic expansions projecting into the vas deferens luminal compartment. Basal flattened cells without luminal surface contact occurred next to the basement membrane of the ductus, and did no exhibit special ultrastructural features.

Missing association between telomerase activity and clinicopathological features in patients with early stage carcinoma of the cervix

Objectives: This study was undertaken to evaluate the association between the telomerase activity in the tumor and clinicopathological findings in patients with stage IB-IIA (FIGO) carcinoma of the cervix. Methods: Thirty-eight patients with carcinoma of the cervix submitted to radical hysterectomy were prospectively from January 1998 to November 2001. Samples from the tumor were taken and analyzed by the telomerase PCR-TRAP-ELISA kit. Clinicopathological characteristics such as age, stage, tumor size, grade of differentiation, lymphatic vascular space invasion (LVSI), parametrial involvement and status of pelvic lymph nodes were also recorded. Results: Patient's mean age was 49.3 ± 1.99 years (29-76 years). The clinical stage (FIGO) was IB in 35 patients (92.1%) and IIA in 3 patients (7.9%). The histological classification identified squamous cell carcinoma in 33 patients (86.8%) and adenocarcinoma in 5 patients (13.2%). There was no association between age, clinical stage, histological classification, tumor size, grade of differentiation and presence of LVSI with tumoral telomerase activity. The telomerase activity was not associated with the presence of vaginal involvement (P = 0.349), parametrium involvement (P = 0.916), pelvic lymph node metastasis (P = 0.988) or tumoral recurrence (P = 0.328) in patients with carcinoma of the cervix. Conclusions: Telomerase activity in the tumor is not associated with clinicopathological findings or tumor recurrence in patients with early stage cervical carcinoma. © 2006 Springer-Verlag.

Level of insight and clinical features of obsessive-compulsive disorder with and without body dysmorphic disorder

Introduction: Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have several similarities and are included among the obsessive-compulsive spectrum of disorders. However, the content of preoccupations and level of insight of BDD patients differ from OCD patients. Objective: To compare the level of insight regarding obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) and other clinical features in OCD patients with and without comorbid BDD. Methods: We evaluated 103 OCD patients (n=25, comorbid BDD), according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition criteria using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale, the University of Sao Paulo Sensory Phenomena Scale, the Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories, and the Brown Assessment of Beliefs Scale. Resylts: The study groups differed significantly on several clinical features, including level of insight. A worse level of insight regarding OCS was independently associated with the presence of comorbid BDD. Lower educational level, more psychiatric comorbidities, presence of somatic and hoarding obsessions, and presence of intrusive images were associated with BDD comorbidity, even after adjusting for possible confounders. Conclusion: The presence of BDD in OCD patients is associated with poorer insight into obsessional beliefs and higher morbidity, reflected by lower educational levels and higher number of psychiatric comorbid disorders in general.

Waveguide features in self-patternable amine functionalized organic-inorganic hybrids

We report the use of organic-inorganic sol-gel derived poly(oxyehylene)/ siloxane hybrid doped with methacrylic acid modified zirconium (IV) n-propoxide for the fabrication of low cost waveguides trough direct UV laser writing. The organic-inorganic hybrids were processed as monoliths with size and shape control. The effective guiding region was identified and the number of modes was estimated via mode field analyses. A grating was successfully superimposed on the channel and the respective reflection spectrum was measured, enabling the determination of the guiding region dimension, the calculation of the effective refractive index of the guided mode. © 2007 IEEE.

Anatomical study on domestical fowl (Gallus domesticus) reproductive system

Lately, researchers have taken into consideration studies on birds since they represent an excellent nutritional source. There are several classical descriptions of the male reproductive tract, always aiming at establishing a correlation with shape, testicular size, age and sexual maturity. This study analyzed 50 male Gallus domesticus, 1 to 64 weeks old. The birds were collected with 10 days and then weekly until 24 weeks, following 37, 48, 59 and 64 weeks, and sacrificed by cervical displacement. It was observed the sintopies of testis with the other organs. Further, it was done the testicular measurement and then the statistical analysis by following the model of testis weight variation due to the animal age. Our results showed that the maximum weight of the right and left testes occurred with 167 and 210 days, respectively, what made us infer this species sexual maturity in this period.

Anatomy of Echinodorus (Alismataceae) scapes from northeastern Brazil as applied to taxonomy

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Clinical and histologic features of botryoid odontogenic cyst: A case report

Introduction. The lateral periodontal cyst, as the name implies, occurs on a lateral periodontal location and is of developmental origin, arising from cystic degeneration of clear cells of the dental lamina. A botryoid odontogenic cyst is considered to be a rare multilocular variant of a lateral periodontal cyst. Case presentation. We report the clinical and histopathologic features of a rare case of botryoid odontogenic cyst found in an edentulous area corresponding to the right lower canine of a 64-year-old African-American woman. A multilocular radiolucency was observed, and surgical removal of the lesion revealed a nodule of rubber-like consistency measuring about 1.5 cm in diameter. Cross-sectioning of the nodule showed that it consisted of various cystic compartments. Histologically, various voluminous periodic acid-Schiff-negative clear cells randomly distributed throughout the cystic epithelium were observed, as well as cell layers showing thickenings generally formed by oval, sometimes entangled plaques. The capsule consisted of fibrous connective tissue and showed rare and discrete foci of a perivascular mononuclear inflammatory infiltrate and reactive bone-tissue fragments. The final diagnosis was botryoid odontogenic cyst. Conclusion: We provide data that allow the reader to establish the differences between botryoid odontogenic cyst, glandular odontogenic cyst, and lateral periodontal cyst, helping with the differential diagnosis. The reader will have the opportunity to review botryoid odontogenic cyst clinical and histopathologic features, including treatment. © 2010 Farina et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Determination of copper at wide range concentrations using instrumental features of high-resolution continuum source flame atomic absorption spectrometry

This work describes a method to determine Cu at wide range concentrations in a single run without need of further dilutions employing high-resolution continuum source flame atomic absorption spectrometry. Different atomic lines for Cu at 324. 754 nm, 327. 396 nm, 222. 570 nm, 249. 215 nm and 224. 426 nm were evaluated and main figures of merit established. Absorbance measurements at 324. 754 nm, 249. 215 nm and 224. 426 nm allows the determination of Cu in the 0. 07-5. 0 mg L -1, 5. 0-100 mg L -1 and 100-800 mg L -1 concentration intervals respectively with linear correlation coefficients better than 0. 998. Limits of detection were 21 μg L -1, 310 μg L -1 and 1400 μg L -1 for 324. 754 nm, 249. 215 nm and 224. 426 nm, respectively and relative standard deviations (n = 12) were ≤ 2. 7%. The proposed method was applied to water samples spiked with Cu and the results were in agreement at a 95% of confidence level (paired t-test) with those obtained by line-source flame atomic absorption spectrometry.

Mucocele of the glands of Blandin-Nuhn-clinical, pathological, and therapeutical aspects

Purpose: This study aims to review anatomical, clinical, and pathological concepts as well as to discuss the most adequate therapeutic approach to the mucoceles of the glands of Blandin-Nuhn. Discussion: The glands of Blandin-Nuhn are localized in the ventral part of the tongue, next to the apex in the lingual median plane. Development of a mucocele in this site is rarely seen; besides, as the glands of Blandin-Nuhn are not encapsulated and are directly overlapped to the muscle tissues, their manipulation tends to be different from the other oral mucoceles. Conclusion: As Blandin-Nuhn mucoceles are uncommon and their clinical appearance could be similar to other lesions, it is important that health professionals know their clinical and histopathological features to avoid having them misdiagnosed. © 2010 Springer-Verlag.

Measuring and analyzing color and texture information in anatomical leaf cross sections: An approach using computer vision to aid plant species identification

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

What is the importance of selecting features for non-technical losses identification?

Although non-technical losses automatic identification has been massively studied, the problem of selecting the most representative features in order to boost the identification accuracy has not attracted much attention in this context. In this paper, we focus on this problem applying a novel feature selection algorithm based on Particle Swarm Optimization and Optimum-Path Forest. The results demonstrated that this method can improve the classification accuracy of possible frauds up to 49% in some datasets composed by industrial and commercial profiles. © 2011 IEEE.

Prevalence and microscopic features of enamel pearls from permanent human molars

Enamel pearls are ectopic structures observed mainly on the roots of permanent teeth and could be related to periodontal diseases. Aim: To evaluate the prevalence of enamel pearls in extracted human molars and characterize their structures using light and scanning electron microscopy. Methods: The study comprised 2,201 extracted human permanent molars. The teeth were analyzed and classified according to morphological features. The presence, location and shape of enamel pearls were investigated. Fifteen human molars with enamel pearls were embedded in acrylic resin and observed by light microscopy. Results: Seventy-one enamel pearls were identified on third molar root. Microscopically, most pearls were composed of prismatic irregular enamel and normal dentin. The dentinoenamel junction presented an irregular course. The number of dentinal tubules was normal and they presented curvature to continue within the root dentin of the carrier tooth. Dentinal tubules below the enamel pearls were closer to each other. Conclusions: Scanning electron microscopic analysis revealed that the enamel pearls were similar to coronal enamel.

Comparative embryology and taxonomic considerations in Eriocaulaceae (Poales)

The genus concept within Eriocaulaceae is widely discussed because it is mainly based on a small number of floral characteristics of unknown functional and evolutionary significance. The aim of the present work is to comparatively study the embryology of representatives of most genera of Eriocaulaceae to identify relevant features that might aid in circumscribing them. In Eriocaulaceae, the uniformity of the embryological characteristics makes it difficult to interpret the existing relationships among the genera. Some embryological characteristics, especially those related to the number of microsporangia, are shown to be unstable and restricted to Paepalanthoideae. The unique pollen morphology may be related to mechanical processes to accommodate the increase in volume after early formation of the pollen wall and may indicate a relationship to an inaperturate ancestor. The placentation, formerly stated to be axile, is more likely to be central due to protusions of the locular base. The shape of the proximal region of the megagametophyte may be responsible for the formation of the antipodal cyst. The seed coat structure is uniform in origin and is a consistent taxonomic characteristic of the family. A review of Eriocaulaceae is necessary, in which additional morphological and anatomical characteristics should be considered and combined. © 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Detection of classical 17p11.2 deletions, an atypical deletion and RAI1 alterations in patients with features suggestive of Smith-Magenis syndrome

Smith-Magenis syndrome (SMS) is a complex disorder whose clinical features include mild to severe intellectual disability with speech delay, growth failure, brachycephaly, flat midface, short broad hands, and behavioral problems. SMS is typically caused by a large deletion on 17p11.2 that encompasses multiple genes including the retinoic acid induced 1, RAI1, gene or a mutation in the RAI1 gene. Here we have evaluated 30 patients with suspected SMS and identified SMS-associated classical 17p11.2 deletions in six patients, an atypical deletion of ∼139 kb that partially deletes the RAI1 gene in one patient, and RAI1 gene nonsynonymous alterations of unknown significance in two unrelated patients. The RAI1 mutant proteins showed no significant alterations in molecular weight, subcellular localization and transcriptional activity. Clinical features of patients with or without 17p11.2 deletions and mutations involving the RAI1 gene were compared to identify phenotypes that may be useful in diagnosing patients with SMS. © 2012 Macmillan Publishers Limited All rights reserved.

Radicular anatomy of twelve representatives of the Catasetinae subtribe (Orchidaceae: Cymbidieae)

Considering that the root structure of the Brazilian genera belonging to the Catasetinae subtribe is poorly known, we describe the roots of twelve representatives from this subtribe. For anatomical analysis, the roots were fixed in FAA 50, preserved in ethanol 70% and sectioned at its medium region using razor blades. The sections were stained with 0.05% astra blue and safranin and mounted in glycerin. For the identification of starch we used Lugol ́s solution; for lignin, floroglucin chloridric; for lipids, Sudan III, and for flavanoids, potassium hydroxide. The relevant aspects were registered using a digital camera joined with an Olympus microspope (BX51 model). The structural similarities of all roots support the placement of the subtribe Catasetinae into the monophyletic tribe Cymbidieae. Some root features are restricted to one or two taxa and can be useful in the systematics of the subtribe. For example, the occurrence of flavonoidic crystals characterizes the genera Catasetum and Cychnodes, and the number of the velamen layers and the shape of the epivelamen cells are useful to confirm the taxonomic position of Clowesia amazonica. The presence of velamen and flavonoidic crystals was interpreted as an adaptation to the epiphytic habit.