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Copyright of Arquivo Brasileiro de Medicina Veterinaria e Zootecnia is the property of Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Escola de Veterinaria and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of a bacterial inoculant and chemical additives on nutrient composition, in vitro degradation, total loss, aerobic stability, microbiological quality, and fermentative profile of sugarcane silage. Treatments were distributed to forty-eight mini-silos in a 2 × 4 factorial arrangement: two levels of microbial inoculant (INO, 0 or 4 g/t of fresh sugarcane and three chemical additives (CHE, CaO, NaCl and urea at 10 g/kg on as-is basis). The association of INO and urea had the highest values of dry matter (DM) and neutral detergent fiber in vitro degradation. Treatments with inoculant and chemical additives reduced the gas loss (g/kg as-is basis). The association of INO and CHE increased the amounts of lactic acid bacteria. The association of INO and CHE resulted in a synergetic effect to decrease ethanol production and to increase lactic acid production. Inoculant and CHE showed a positive synergetic effect on total losses, dry matter recovery, microbiological profile, and production of ethanol and lactic acid. Treatments containing urea had greater DM in vitro degradation and aerobic stability compared with the other chemical additives. The association of INO and CHE positively affected the chemical composition, in vitro degradation, total losses, aerobic stability, microbiological and fermentative profile of sugarcane silage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Arquivo Brasileiro de Medicina Veterinaria e Zootecnia is the property of Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Escola de Veterinaria and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Introduction: The auditory brainstem response is an electrophysiological examination that records the electrical activity of the auditory system. This potential may be influenced by several factors, including polarity, filter, stimulus intensity and stimulation rate. Given the possibility of changes in the stimulation rate causing deformations in wave morphologies, including changes in latency and amplitude, studying the effect of the use of different stimulation rates becomes essential. Objective: To compare the responses of auditory brainstem response with click stimuli at different stimulation rates. Material and methods: The cross-sectional observational analytical study was conducted with 15 participants of both sexes and normal hearing thresholds. Auditory brainstem response potential was performed at four different stimulation rates (21.1, 26.7, 27.7 stimuli per second and at a rate determined from a mathematical calculation using the grid frequency recording in the time of examination). Results: The Wilcoxon test showed that the rate of 21.1 stimuli per second presented the highest amplitudes of waves I, III and V when compared to the other rates. The rate of 26.7 stimuli per second, when compared to the rate of 27.7, showed higher amplitude for wave V, but when compared to the adjusted rates, it showed lower amplitude for wave III. Adjusted rates, when compared to the rate of 27.7 stimuli per second, showed higher amplitudes of waves III and V. Conclusions: The study demonstrated that increased stimulation rate interferes with wave latencies and amplitudes, with worsening morphology of the waves I, III and V in auditory brainstem response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim To evaluate the absence of IL-22 on the progression of periapical lesions in wild-type ( WT) and IL-22 knockout ( IL-22 KO) mice. Methodology The evaluation of the oral microbial profile of mice was performed by Checkerboard DNA- DNA hybridization from saliva samples. Periapical lesions were induced in manbibular first molars by pulpal exposure and evaluated after 7, 21 and 42 days ( n = 15). Haematoxylin-eosin-stained sections were analysed under conventional and fluorescence microscopy to evaluate the tissue features and size of periapical lesions and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase histoenzymology ( TRAP), Brown & Brenn staining and immunohistochemistry. The scores of the number of bacterial cells present in the oral cavity were analysed by the Mann-Whitney test, and the results and comparisons for periapical lesion size and number of osteoclasts were subjected to one-way anova and Bonferroni's post-test (α = 0.05). Results Significant differences were observed for bacterial load between the groups of animals for 6 bacterial species ( P < 0.05), with five species found in higher levels in the WT group, and one in the IL-22 KO group. WT mice had significantly larger periapical lesions ( P < 0.05) between 7 and 42 days and between 21 and 42 days, with an increase in the mean size and number of osteoclasts. IL-22 KO mice had an increase in periapical lesion size and number of osteoclasts between 7 and 21 days ( P < 0.05). No differences were found between bacteria localization in the root canal system between the experimental groups. Small variations related to the location of immunostaining were found between the groups. Conclusion This study revealed differences in the composition of oral microbiota between mice that may be taken into account in the susceptibility to infections and development of periapical lesions. The absence of IL-22 in mice resulted in smaller periapical lesions with fewer osteoclasts at the final experimental period, suggesting the participation of IL-22 in the host immune and inflammatory response to a periradicular infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phospholipases A2 (PLA2) are enzymes that trigger the degradation cascade of the arachidonic acid, leading to the formation of pro-inflammatory eicosanoids. The selective inhibition of PLA2s is crucial in the search for a more efficient anti-inflammatory drug with fewer side effects than the drugs currently used. Hence, we studied the influences caused by two pyrazolonic inhibitors: dipyrone (DIP) and 1-phenyl-3-methyl-5-pyrazolone (PMP) on the kinetic behavior of PLA2 from Crotalus adamanteus venom. Molecular modeling results, by DFT and MM approaches, showed that DIP is strongly associated to the active site of PLA2 through three hydrogen bonds, whereas PMP is associated to the enzyme just through hydrophobic interactions. In addition, only PMP presents an intramolecular hydrogen bond that make difficult the formation of more efficient interactions with PLA2. These results help in the understanding of the experimental observations. Experimentally, the results showed that PLA2 from C. adamanteus present a typical Michaelian behavior. In addition, the calculated kinetic parameters showed that, in the presence of DIP or PMP, the maximum enzymatic velocity (VMAX) value was kept constant, whereas the Michaelis constant (KM) values increased and the inhibition constant (KI) decreased, indicating competitive inhibition. These results show that the phenyl-pyrazolonic structures might help in the development and design of new drugs able to selectively inhibit PLA2. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2008 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microsatellites or simple sequence repeats (SSRs) are one of the most suitable markers for genome analysis as they have great potential to aid breeders to develop new improved sugarcane varieties. The development of SSR derived from expressed sequence tags (EST) opens new opportunities for genetic investigations at a functional level. In the present work, the polymorphism obtained with a subset of 51 EST–SSRs derived fromsucest was compared with those generated by 50 genomic SSRs (gSSR) in terms of number of alleles, polymorphism information content, discrimination power and their ability to establish genetic relationships among 18 sugarcane clones including three Saccharum species ( S. officinarum, S. barberi, S. sinense). The majority of EST–SSRs loci had four to six alleles in contrast to the seven to nine observed for the gSSRs loci. Approximately, 35% of the gSSRs had PIC values around 0.90 in contrast to 15% of the EST–SSRs. However, the mean discrimination power of the two types of SSR did not differ significantly as much as the average genetic similarity (GS) based on Dice coefficient. The correlation between GS of the two types of SSRs was high ( r = 0.71/P = 0.99) and significant. Although differences were observed between dendrograms obtained with each SSR type, both were in good agreement with pedigree information. The S. officinarum clone IJ76-314 was grouped apart from the other clones evaluated. The results here demonstrate that EST–SSRs can be successfully used for genetic relationship analysis, extending the knowledge of genetic diversity of sugarcane to a functional level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A value of the decay constant for spontaneous fission of 238U, lf, determined by particle-track detector techniques, is presented. The main source of systematic error in fission-track measurements of lf, the so called “neutron dosimetry', has been avoided. Instead of calibrating the neutron source and the usual mica detector through tracks of 235U fission induced by thermal neutrons, spontaneous-fission tracks and alpha-particle tracks of 238U and 242Pu were used. A value of lf = (8.66±0.38).10-17 y-1 has been obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different species respond differently to severe injury, such as limb loss. In species that regenerate, limb loss is met with complete restoration of the limbs' form and function, whereas in mammals the amputated limb's stump heals and scars. In in vitro studies, electrical stimulation (EStim) has been shown to promote cell migration, and osteo- and chondrogenesis. In in vivo studies, after limb amputation, EStim causes significant new bone, cartilage and vessel growth. Here, in a rat model, the stumps of amputated rat limbs were exposed to EStim, and we measured extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition, macrophage distribution, cell proliferation and gene expression changes at early (3 and 7 days) and later stages (28 days). We found that EStim caused differences in ECM deposition, with less condensed collagen fibrils, and modified macrophage response by changing M1 to M2 macrophage ratio. The number of proliferating cells was increased in EStim treated stumps 7 days after amputation, and transcriptome data strongly supported our histological findings, with activated gene pathways known to play key roles in embryonic development and regeneration. In conclusion, our findings support the hypothesis that EStim shifts injury response from healing/scarring towards regeneration. A better understanding of if and how EStim controls these changes, could lead to strategies that replace scarring with regeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]