Adipose tissue metabolism in pregnancy: the lipolytic effect of human placental lactogen

In vitro adipose tissue lipolysis was investigated in pregnant and non-pregnant women. Basal and hormone-stimulated rates of lipolysis were significantly higher in the pregnant group. Human placental lactogen (HPL) was shown to be lipolytic on adipose tissue from both pregnant and non-pregnant women; the response being more marked in the pregnant group. We postulate that HPL is responsible for this increased lipolytic sensitivity in pregnancy, the result of which is the elevation in levels of plasma free fatty acids in the third trimester.

The effect of cleft lip on adults' responses to faces: cross-species findings

Cleft lip and palate is the most common of the congenital conditions affecting the face and cranial bones and is associated with a raised risk of difficulties in infant-caregiver interaction; the reasons for such difficulties are not fully understood. Here, we report two experiments designed to explore how adults respond to infant faces with and without cleft lip, using behavioural measures of attractiveness appraisal (‘liking’) and willingness to work to view or remove the images (‘wanting’). We found that infants with cleft lip were rated as less attractive and were viewed for shorter durations than healthy infants, an effect that was particularly apparent where the cleft lip was severe. Women rated the infant faces as more attractive than men did, but there were no differences in men and women's viewing times of these faces. In a second experiment, we found that the presence of a cleft lip in domestic animals affected adults' ‘liking’ and ‘wanting’ responses in a comparable way to that seen for human infants. Adults' responses were also remarkably similar for images of infants and animals with cleft lip, although no gender difference in attractiveness ratings or viewing times emerged for animals. We suggest that the presence of a cleft lip can substantially change the way in which adults respond to human and animal faces. Furthermore, women may respond in different ways to men when asked to appraise infant attractiveness, despite the fact that men and women ‘want’ to view images of infants for similar durations.

Field studies on the effect of built forms on urban wind environments

Airflow through urban environments is one of the most important factors affecting human health, outdoor and indoor thermal comfort, air quality and the energy performance of buildings. This paper presents a study on the effects of wind induced airflows through urban built form using statistical analysis. The data employed in the analysis are from the year-long simultaneous field measurements conducted at the University of Reading campus in the United Kingdom. In this study, the association between typical architectural forms and the wind environment are investigated; such forms include: a street canyon, a semi-closure, a courtyard form and a relatively open space in a low-rise building complex. Measured data captures wind speed and wind direction at six representative locations and statistical analysis identifies key factors describing the effects of built form on the resulting airflows. Factor analysis of the measured data identified meteorological and architectural layout factors as key factors. The derivation of these factors and their variation with the studied built forms are presented in detail.

Detection and attribution of human influence on regional precipitation

Understanding how human influence on climate is affecting precipitation around the world is immensely important for defining mitigation policies, and for adaptation planning. Yet despite increasing evidence for the influence of climate change on global patterns of precipitation, and expectations that significant changes in regional precipitation should have already occurred as a result of human influence on climate, compelling evidence of anthropogenic fingerprints on regional precipitation is obscured by observational and modelling uncertainties and is likely to remain so using current methods for years to come. This is in spite of substantial ongoing improvements in models, new reanalyses and a satellite record that spans over thirty years. If we are to quantify how human-induced climate change is affecting the regional water cycle, we need to consider novel ways of identifying the effects of natural and anthropogenic influences on precipitation that take full advantage of our physical expectations.

Effect of blood contamination on the shear bond strength at resin/dentin interface in primary teeth

Purpose: To assess in vitro the shear bond strength at the resin/dentin interface in primary teeth after contamination with fresh human blood. Methods: 75 crowns of primary molars were embedded in acrylic resin and mechanically ground to expose a flat dentin surface. The specimens were randomly assigned to five groups (n=15), according to the surface treatment. Group I (control) had no blood contamination. The other groups were blood-contaminated and subjected to different post-contamination protocols: in Group 2, the surfaces were rinsed with water; in Group 3, the surfaces were air-dried; in Group 4, the surfaces were rinsed and air-dried; and in Group 5, no post-contamination treatment was done. In all groups, a 3-mm dentin bonding site was demarcated, Single Bond adhesive system was applied and resin composite cylinders were bonded. After 24 hours in distilled water, shear bond strength was tested at a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/minute. Results: Means (in MPa) were: Group 1: 7.1 (+/- 4.2); Group 2: 4.0 (+/- 1.8); Group 3: 0.9 (+/- 0.7); Group 4: 3.9 (+/- 2.2) and Group 5: 1.3 (+/- 1.5). Data were analyzed statistically by the Kruskal-Wallis test at 5% significance level. Groups 2 and 4 were similar to each other (P > 0.05) and both ware similar to Group 1 (P > 0.05). These groups (2, 3 and 4) had statistically significantly higher bond strengths than Groups 3 and 5 (P < 0.05). Blood contamination negatively affected the shear bond strength to primary tooth dentin. Among the blood-contaminated groups, water-rinsed specimens had higher bond strengths than those that were exclusively air-dried or not submitted to any post-contamination protocol before adhesive application.

Modulatory effect of fatty acids on fungicidal activity, respiratory burst and TNF-alpha and IL-6 production in J774 murine macrophages

The reported effects of different families of fatty acids (FA; SFA, MUFA, n-3 and n-6 PUFA) on human health and the importance of macrophage respiratory burst and cytokine release to immune defence led us to examine the influence of palmitic acid (PA), oleic acid (OA), linoleic acid, arachidonic acid, EPA and DHA on macrophage function. We determined fungicidal activity, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and cytokine production after the treatment of J774 cells with non-toxic concentrations of the FA. PA had a late and discrete stimulating effect on ROS production, which may be associated with the reduced fungicidal activity of the cells after treatment with this FA. OA presented a sustained stimulatory effect on ROS production and increased fungicidal activity of the cells, suggesting that enrichment of diets with OA may be beneficial for pathogen elimination. The effects of PUFA on ROS production were time-and dose-dependently regulated, with no evident differences between n-3 and n-6 PUFA. It was worth noting that most changes induced after stimulation of the cells with lipopolysaccharide were suppressed by the FA. The present results suggest that supplementation of the diet with specific FA, not classes of FA, might enable an improvement in host defence mechanisms or a reduction in adverse immunological reactions.

The effect of angiotensin II on intracellular pH is mediated by AT(1) receptor translocation

The effect of ANG II on intracellular pH (pH(i)) recovery rate and AT(1) receptor translocation was investigated in transfected MDCK cells. The pHi recovery rate was evaluated by fluorescence microscopy using the fluorescent probe BCECF-AM. The human angiotensin II receptor isoform 1 (hAT(1)) translocation was analyzed by immunofluorescence and confocal microscope. Our data show that transfected cells in control situation have a pHi recovery rate of 0.219 +/- 0.017 pH U/min (n = 11). This value was similar to nontransfected cells [0.211 +/- 0.009 pH U/min (n = 12)]. Both values were significantly increased with ANG II (10(-9) M) but not with ANG II (10(-6) M). Losartan (10(-7) M) and dimethyl-BAPTA-AM (10(-7) M) decreased significantly the stimulatory effect of ANG II (10(-9) M) and induced an increase in Na+/H+ exchanger 1 (NHE-1) activity with ANG II (10(-6) M). Immunofluorescence studies indicated that in control situation, the hAT(1) receptor was predominantly expressed in cytosol. However, it was translocated to plasma membrane with ANG II (10(-9) M) and internalized with ANG II (10(-6) M). Losartan (10(-7) M) induced hAT(1) translocation to plasma membrane in all studied groups. Dimethyl-BAPTA-AM (10(-7) M) did not change the effect of ANG II (10(-9) M) on the hAT(1) receptor distribution but induced its accumulation at plasma membrane in cells treated with ANG II (10(-6) M). With ionomycin (10(-6) M), the receptor was accumulated in cytosol. The results indicate that, in MDCK cells, the effect of ANG II on NHE-1 activity is associated with ligand binding to AT(1) receptor and intracellular signaling events related to AT(1) translocation.

New evidence of the causal effect of family size on child quality in a developing country

This paper presents new evidence of the causal effect of family size on child quality in a developing-country context. We estimate the impact of family size on child labor and educational outcomes among Brazilian children and young adults by exploring the exogenous variation of family size driven by the presence of twins in the family. Using the Brazilian Census data for 1991, we nd that the exogenous increase in family size is positively related to labor force participation for boys and girls and to household chores for young women. We also and negative e ects on educational outcomes for boys and girls and negative impacts on human capital formation for young female adults. Moreover, we obtain suggestive evidence that credit and time constraints faced by poor families may explain the findings.

The effect of phosphoethanolamine intake on mortality and macrophage activity in mice with solid ehrlich tumors

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Influence of human dentine on the antibacterial activity of self-etching adhesive systems against cariogenic bacteria

Objectives: The incorporation of antibacterial agents into adhesive systems has been proposed to eliminate residual bacteria from dentine. This study used the agar diffusion method to evaluate the antibacterial activity of Clearfil Protect Bond (CPB), Clearfil SE Bond (CSEB), Clearfil Tri-S Bond (C3SB) and Xeno-III (XIII) self-etching adhesive systems, with or without light-activation, against cariogenic bacteria, and to assess the influence of human dentine on the antibacterial activity of these materials.Methods: An aliquot of 10 mu l per material (and individual components) were pipetted onto paper and dentine discs distributed in Petri dishes containing bacterial culture in BHI agar. Positive control was 0.2% chlorhexidine digluconate (CHX).Results: After incubation, the adhesive components of CPB and CSEB, liquid A of XIII and C3SB did not present antibacterial activity when applied to paper discs. The non-light-activated CPB primer + adhesive promoted the greatest inhibition of Streptococcus mutans (p < 0.05), whereas with light-activation, there was no significant difference between primer + adhesive and primer alone. For Lactobacillus acidophilus, CPB primer presented the greatest antibacterial activity in both light-activation conditions (p < 0.05). Regarding the dentine discs, only CHX promoted an inhibitory effect, though less intense than on paper discs (p < 0.05). CHX presented greater antibacterial activity against S. mutans than against L. acidophilus (p < 0.05).Conclusions: Light-activation significantly reduced the antibacterial activity of the self-etching adhesive systems; MDPB incorporation contributed to the effect of adhesive systems against cariogenic bacteria; the components eluted from the adhesive systems were not capable to diffuse through 400 mu m-thick dentine disc to exert their antibacterial activity against cariogenic bacteria. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of temporary cements on the shear bond strength of luting cements

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate, by shear bond strength (SBS) testing, the influence of different types of temporary cements on the final cementation using conventional and self-etching resin-based luting cements. Material and Methods: Forty human teeth divided in two halves were assigned to 8 groups (n=10): I and V (no temporary cementation); II and VI: Ca(OH)(2)-based cement; III and VII: zinc oxide (ZO)based cement; IV and VIII: ZO-eugenol (ZOE)-based cement. Final cementation was done with RelyX ARC cement (groups I to IV) and RelyX Unicem cement (groups V to VIII). Data were analyzed statistically by ANOVA and Tukey's test at 5% significance level. Results: Means were (MPa): I - 3.80 (+/- 1.481); II - 5.24 (+/- 2.297); III - 6.98 (+/- 1.885); IV - 6.54 (+/- 1.459); V - 5.22 (+/- 2.465); VI - 4.48 (+/- 1.705); VII - 6.29 (+/- 2.280); VIII - 2.47 (+/- 2.076). Comparison of the groups that had the same temporary cementation (Groups II and VI; III and VII; IV and VIII) showed statistically significant difference (p<0.001) only between Groups IV and VIII, in which ZOE-based cements were used. The use of either Ca(OH) 2 based (Groups II and VI) or ZO-based (Groups III and VII) cements showed no statistically significant difference (p>0.05) for the different luting cements (RelyX (TM) ARC and RelyX (TM) Unicem). The groups that had no temporary cementation (Groups I and V) did not differ significantly from each other either (p>0.05). Conclusion: When temporary cementation was done with ZO- or ZOE-based cements and final cementation was done with RelyX ARC, there was an increase in the SBS compared to the control. In the groups cemented with RelyX Unicem, however, the use of a ZOE-based temporary cement affected negatively the SBS of the luting agent used for final cementation.

The effect of hunger level on predation dynamics in the spider Nesticodes rufipes: a functional response study

It is well known that a predator has the potential to regulate a prey population only if the predator responds to increases in prey density and inflicts greater mortality rates. Predators may cause such density-dependent mortality depending on the nature of the functional and numerical responses. As spiders are usually faced with a shortage of prey, the killing behavior of the spider Nesticodes rufipes at varying densities of Musca domestica was examined here through laboratory functional response experiments where spiders were deprived of food for 5 (well-fed) or 20 days (hungry). An additional laboratory experiment was also carried out to assess handling time of spiders. The number of prey killed by spiders over 24- and 168-h periods of predator-prey interaction was recorded. Logistic regression analyses revealed the type II functional response for both well-fed and hungry spiders. We found that the lower predation of hungry spiders during the first hours of experimentation was offset later by an increase in predation ( explained by estimated handling times), resulting in similarity of functional response curves for well-fed and hungry spiders. It was also observed that the higher number of prey killed by well-fed spiders over a 24- h period of spider-prey interaction probably occurred due to their greater weights than hungry spiders. We concluded that hungry spiders may be more voracious than well-fed spiders only over longer time periods, since hungry spiders may spend more time handling their first prey items than well-fed spiders.

Effect of architectural angularity on refugia selection by the brown spider, Loxosceles gaucho

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Effect of soccer training on the running speed and the blood lactate concentration at the lactate minimum test

Tegtbur et al. [23] devised a new method able to estimate the intensity at maximal lactate steady state termed lactate minimum test. According to Billat et al. [7], no studies have yet been published on the affect of training on highest blood lactate concentration that can be maintained over time without continual blood lactate accumulation. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to verify the effect of soccer training on the running speed and the blood lactate concentration (BLC) at the lactate minimum test (Lac(min)). Thirteen Brazilian male professional soccer players, all members of the same team playing at National level, volunteered for this study. Measurements were carried out before (pre) and after (post) eight weeks of soccer training. The Lac(min) test was adapted to the procedures reported by Tegtbur et al. [23]. The running speed at the Lac(min) test was taken when the gradient of the line was zero. Differences in running speed and blood lactate concentration at the Lac(min) test before (pre) and after (post) the training program were evaluated by Student's paired t-test. The training program increased the running speed at the Lac(min) test (14.94 +/- 0.21 vs. 15.44 +/- 0.42* km(.)h(-1)) and the blood lactate concentration (5.11 +/- 2.31 vs. 6.93 +/- 1.33* mmol(.)L(-1)). The enhance in the blood lactate concentration may be explained by an increase in the lactate/H+ transport capacity of human skeletal muscle verified by other authors.

The effect of ionic strength on the structural organization of dioctadecyldimethylammonium bromide in aqueous solution

High-curvature and stabilized vesicles of dioctadecyldimethylammonium bromide (DODABr) can be formed spontaneously in aqueous electrolytic solution. It is shown by cryo-transmission electron microscopy that 5.0 mM DODABr molecules associate in water at a temperature above its gel-to-liquid-crystalline phase transition temperature (T(m)approximate to45 degreesC) in a variety of complex bilayer structures. However, in the presence of NaCl the preferred structures formed are unilamellar and bilamellar vesicles with high curvature and the dispersion is polydisperse in size and geometry, but the main vesicle population contains spherical, flattened and smoothed structures. It is, however, less polydisperse than the corresponding salt-free dispersion, and the size polydispersity and the vesicle curvature radius tend to decrease with NaCl concentration. Long cylindrical bilamellar vesicles, with a very thin water layer separating the bilayers are also formed in the presence of 10 mM NaCl. The effect of the ionic strength on T-m, obtained by differential scanning calorimetry, is shown to depend on the nature of the counterion: Br- decreases, whereas Cl- increases Tm of DODABr, indicating different affinity of these counterions for the vesicle surfaces.