Role of thioredoxin-binding protein 2 in cardiac oxidative stress and energy metabolism of rats supplemented with vitamin D

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Cardiovascular effects of chronically increasing angiotensin II type 2 receptor expression in the nucleus of the solitary tract

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

Influence of late N-acetylcysteine administration on cardiac remodeling in long-term follow-up postinfarction rats

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

Differences in physiological traits associated with water balance among rodents, and their relationship to tolerance of habitat fragmentation

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

A substituição do meio TCM pelo meio BARC, suplementado com SFB, BSA ou PVA, para maturação de oócitos bovinos in vitro, não incrementa a subsequente produção de blastocistos

This study was carried out to assess the influence of bovine embryo culture medium Beltsville Agriculture Research Center (BARC), supplemented with FCS, BSA or PVA, on the in vitro oocyte maturation, evidenced by cleavage rate and blastocysts production at different developmental stages. Three experiments were performed, as follows: exp.1: addition of FCS to BARC medium at concentrations of 0, 5 and 10%; exp. 2: addition of BSA to BARC medium at concentrations of 0, 4 and 8 mg/ml; exp. 3: addition of PVA to BARC medium at concentrations of 0, 0.5 and 1.0 mg/ml. TCM 199 supplemented with bicarbonate, pyruvate, gentamicin sulfate, FSH, LH and FCS was used as control group. Oocytes obtained from cow ovaries at slaughterhouse were selected in PBS, and then matured in BARC medium supplemented with FSH, LH and gentamicin sulfate, according to the experimental design. Percoll gradient was used for sperm selection and TALP medium for IVF. In vitro embryo culture was in SOF-m medium; a humidified atmosphere with 5% CO2, in air, at 38.7oC was used for all steps. The number of oocytes reaching blastocyst, expanded blastocyst, and hatched blastocyt stages was recorded, respectively at 72 and 168 h post-insemination. ANOVA and Bonferroni t test were used to determine differences among groups. Differences of P<0.05 were taken as significant. Higher percentage (P<0.05) of cleaved oocytes was observed in group TCM + FCS than for the other groups matured in BARC supplemented with FCS or BSA, regardless the concentration used. However, the cleavage rate was similar between groups BARC plus PVA with 1 mg/ml (85.7%) and TCM + FCS (90.8%). Significant difference was found among groups for the production of blastocysts, with the control group yielding a higher number of blastocysts (results ranging from 47.4 to 51.4%, in comparison with groups using BARC + FCS (4.1 to 19.7%), BSA (1.4 to 5.6%) and PVA (5.7 to 10.6%). In conclusion, BARC medium supplemented with different macromolecules did not promote a beneficial effect on in vitro oocyte maturation, resulting in lower rate of cleavage and blastocyst production when compared with TCM + FCS medium.

Produção de progesterona pelas células luteínicas esteroidogênicas bovina cultivadas e co-cultivadas in vitro

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Macromineral requirements in male and female Saanen goats

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

Altura do pasto e suplementação na recria de tourinhos e efeitos sobre a terminação

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

Osmotic potentials on water uptake and germination of Guazuma ulmifolia Lam. (Sterculiaceae) seeds

Osmotic potentials on water uptake and germination of Guazuma Ulmifolia Lam. (Sterculiaceae) seeds. This work was carried out in the Germination Lab. of the Department of Botany, Institute of Biosciences, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Botucatu, São Paulo State, Brazil. The aims of this work were to determine the water uptake curve and to evaluate the germination of Guazuma ulmifolia seeds subjected to different water potentials. For the water uptake curve, seven replicates of 50 pre-scarified seeds were placed onto paper moistened with 15 mL PEG 6000 solution under the potentials 0 (control), -0.3 and -0.6 MPa at 25o C in the darkness. For the germination assay, four replicates of 50 seeds were subjected to the same above-described conditions; however, one lot of seeds was modified when there was variation in the refractometric index, whereas the remaining ones were kept in the same solutions until the end of the experiment. All three phases of water uptake were detected under 0 and -0.3 MPa; however, phase II was prolonged under -0.6 MPa and germination was not observed. For 0 and -0.3 MPa, the adopted statistical models consisted of asymptotic (phases I and II) and exponential (phase III) functions, y = a*[1 - b*exp (-c*t) + exp (-d + e*(t - t0)]. For -0.6MPa, only the asymptotic function y = a* [1 - b* exp (-c*t)] was used since there was no evidence of germination. The germination final percentage and speed index were lower under -0.3 MPa, mainly when solutions were not replaced; besides, germination was not detected under -0.6 MPa, with or without solution replacement.

Diâmetro folicular e taxa de prenhez em protocolo de sincronização com GnRH ou Benzoato de Estradiol no dia 0 em vacas de corte

This work aimed to evaluate the pregnancy rate and follicular diameter using EB or GnRH on the insertion of progesterone implant (D0) in lactating beef cows. Two groups were tested in two experiments. In Exp. 1 were used 61 Nelore cows divided into two groups: G-BE (n = 32) and G-GnRH (n = 29), on D0 was inserted P4 implant (CIDR ) and applied 2 mL of BE (G-BE) or 2.5 mL GnRH (G-GnRH). In D9 was performed ultrasonography (U.S.) to measure the diameter of the dominant follicle (DF) present in the ovary and the implant was removed, with concomitant administration of 2.5 mL of PGF2a and estradiol cypionate (ECP ) followed by calves removal. After 48 hours all the cows were inseminated and the calves returned. In Exp. 2 50 cows were used following the same protocol described above, but the pregnancy was assessed without performing ovarian US. There was no difference (p>0.05) in pregnancy rate between treatments, BE (55%) or GnRH (41%), but the follicular diameter was significantly higher (p<0.05) in pregnant cows treated with EB (10.7 mm vs. 8.5 mm) and in cows treated with GnRH there was no difference (p>0.05) between pregnant and no pregnant cows (11.6 mm vs. 10.2 mm). We concluded the use of GnRH on D0 did not improve the pregnancy rate in lactating beef cows and follicular diameter was greater (p <0.05) in pregnant cows compared to non-pregnant only in G-BE.

Tamanho de parcelas experimentais e seleção simultânea de caracteres em progênies de Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Are the preference and selection patterns of hermit crabs for gastropod shells species- or site-specific?

Experimental analyses of hermit crabs and their preferences for shells are essential to understand the intrinsic relationship of the crabs` dependence on shells, and may be useful to explain their shell use pattern in nature. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of crab species and site on the pattern of shell use, selection, and preference in the south-western Atlantic hermit crabs Pagurus brevidactylus and Pagurus criniticornis, comparing sympatric and allopatric populations. Differently from the traditional approach to evaluate shell preference by simply determining the shell selection pattern (i.e., the number of shells of each type selected), preference was defined (according to [Liszka, D., Underwood, AJ., 1990. An experimental design to determine preferences for gastropod shells by a hermit-crab. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol., 137(1), 47-62]) by the comparison of the number of crabs changing for a particular shell type when three options were given (Cerithium atratum, Morula nodulosa, and Tegula viridula) with the number of crabs changing for this same type when only this type was offered. The effect of crab species was tested at Cabelo Gordo Beach, where P. brevidacrylus was found occupying shells of C. atratum, M. nodulosa, and T viridula in similar frequencies, whereas P. criniticornis occupied predominantly shells of C atratum. In laboratory experiments the selection patterns of the two hermit-crab species for these three gastropods were different, with P criniticornis selecting mainly shells of C atratum, and R brevidactylus selecting more shells of M. nodulosa. The shell preference was also dependent on crab species, with P. criniticornis showing a clear preference for shells of C atratum, whereas P. brevidactylus did not show a preference for any of the tested shells. The effect of site was tested for the two species comparing data from Cabelo Gordo to Preta (P brevidactylus) and Araca beaches (P. criniticornis). The pattern of shell use, selection, and preference was demonstrated to be dependent on site only for P. brevidactylus. The results also showed that the shell use pattern of P criniticornis can be explained by its preference at both sites, whereas for P. brevidactylus it occurred only at Cabelo Gordo, where the absence of preference was correlated with the similar use of the three gastropod species studied. Finally, the results showed that the shell selection pattern cannot be considered as a measure of shell preference, since it overestimates crab selectivity. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

EMERGENT CONDITIONAL RELATIONS IN A GO/NO-GO PROCEDURE: FIGURE-GROUND AND STIMULUS-POSITION COMPOUND RELATIONS

Past research has demonstrated emergent conditional relations using a go/no-go procedure with pairs of figures displayed side-by-side on a computer screen. The present Study sought to extend applications Of this procedure. In Experiment, 1, we evaluated whether emergent conditional relations Could be demonstrated when two-component stimuli were displayed in figure-ground relationships-abstract figures displayed on backgrounds of different colors. Five normal)), capable adults participated. During training, each two-component stimulus Was presented successively. Responses emitted in the presence of some Stimulus pairs (A1B1, A2B2, A3B3, B1C1, B2C2 and B3C3) were reinforced, whereas responses emitted in the presence of other pairs (A1B2, A1B3, A2B1, A2B3, A3B1, A3B2, B1C2, B1C3, B2C1, B2C3, B3C1 and B3C2) were not. During tests, new configurations (AC and CA) were presented, thus emulating structurally the matching-to-sample tests employed in typical equivalence Studies. All participants showed emergent relations consistent with stimulus equivalence during testing. In Experiment 2, we systematically replicated the procedures with Stimulus compounds consisting Of four figures (A1, A2, C1 and C2) and two locations (left - B1 and right - 132). A,11 6 normally capable adults exhibited emergent stimulus-stimulus relations. Together, these experiments show that the go/no-go procedure is a potentially useful alternative for Studying emergent. conditional relations when matching-to-sample is procedurally cumbersome or impossible to use.