Diffusion of Photoexcited Holes in a Viscous Electron Fluid.

The diffusion of photogenerated holes is studied in a high-mobility mesoscopic GaAs channel where electrons exhibit hydrodynamic properties. It is shown that the injection of holes into such an electron system leads to the formation of a hydrodynamic three-component mixture consisting of electrons and photogenerated heavy and light holes. The obtained results are analyzed within the framework of ambipolar diffusion, which reveals characteristics of a viscous flow. Both hole types exhibit similar hydrodynamic characteristics. In such a way the diffusion lengths, ambipolar diffusion coefficient, and the effective viscosity of the electron-hole system are determined.

Effect of capsaicin on the feed intake and immunoglobin concentration of sows, and performance of piglets.

Capsaicin is a recognized alkaloid that can be used as a flavoring and palatability agent. These effects can increase feed intake in lactating sows during farrowing, especially under thermal stress conditions, and provide antioxidant and immunostimulant activities. The objective of this work was to find out the effects of a capsaicin-based product on the feed intake of sows, immunomodulation, and repercussions on litter performance and the control of piglet diarrhea conditions. A total of 132 pregnant sows and lactating sows and their respective litters were divided into 66 sows each and submitted to one of two possible treatments: a capsaicin-free diet (control group) or capsaicin per meal/day. Capsaicin was mixed with gestation and lactation diets in the proportion of 98.6 g of feed and 1.4 g of capsaicin/kg feed, with the dose administered "on top" of 100 g per treatment day on the first feeding. The sows were treated between 90 days of gestation and 21 days of lactation. Backfat thickness, feed intake during farrowing, colostrum production, IgG colostrum concentration, sow reproductive performance, piglet performance, and diarrhea were evaluated. Compared to the sows in the control group, those that received capsaicin had higher feed intake (+ 0.69 kg/day during lactation, P = 0.008), higher levels of IgG in colostrum (185.75 versus 153.80 mg/mL, P = 0.04), an 11.2% higher litter weight gain, with individual piglet weight gains greater than 5.24% (P = 0.045), and an effective reduction in the frequency of piglet diarrhea on the 10th and 17th days of age (P = 0.013 and P = 0.001, respectively). Capsaicin is an additive with potential effects on the sow's performance, with positive influences on the health and growth of suckling piglets.

Soybean whole-plant ensiled with chitosan and lactic acid bacteria: Microorganism counts, fermentative profile, and total losses.

Chitosan is a biopolymer derived from chitin deacetylation, present in the exoskeleton of crustaceans and insects. Chitosan has been evaluated as rumen modulator and silage additive due to its antimicrobial properties. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of both chitosan and a bacterial additive on microbiological quality, chemical composition, nutrient in vitro degradation, fermentative profile, and total losses of whole-soybean plant silage (SS) harvested at R6 stage. Four treatments in a factorial arrangement were randomly assigned to 40 experimental minisilos as no additives (CON), 8 g/t fresh forage of microbial inoculant (INO; Kera SIL, Kera Nutrição Animal, Bento Gonçalves, Brazil); 5 g/kg of fresh forage chitosan (CHI); and CHI + INO. Microbial inoculant was composed of Lactobacillus plantarum (4.0 × 1010 cfu/g) and Propionibacterium acidipropionici (2.6 × 1010 cfu/g). The CHI and INO alone increased counts of lactic bacteria and anaerobic bacteria and decreased counts of mold and yeast in SS. The CHI or INO alone increased in vitro degradation of dry matter, crude protein, and neutral detergent fiber, and decreased nonfiber carbohydrate content of SS. Chitosan increased NH3-N and lactate concentrations and decreased ethanol concentration in SS. The CHI increased dry matter recovery from SS; INO increased silage aerobic stability. The combination of CHI+INO showed the lowest value of gas losses. In general, the combination of CHI and INO had small positive effects on gas losses of SS; however, both CHI or INO alone improved nutrient in vitro degradation and decreased mold and yeast in SS. Chitosan or INO utilization improves SS quality.

Probing gigahertz coherent acoustic phonons in TiO2 mesoporous thin films.

Ultrahigh-frequency acoustic-phonon resonators usually require atomically flat interfaces to avoid phonon scattering and dephasing, leading to expensive fabrication processes, such as molecular beam epitaxy. Mesoporous thin films are based on inexpensive wet chemical fabrication techniques that lead to relatively flat interfaces regardless the presence of nanopores. Here, we report mesoporous titanium dioxide-based acoustic resonators with resonances up to 90 GHz, and quality factors from 3 to 7. Numerical simulations show a good agreement with the picosecond ultrasonics experiments. We also numerically study the effect of changes in the speed of sound on the performance of the resonator. This change could be induced by liquid infiltration into the mesopores. Our findings constitute the first step towards the engineering of building blocks based on mesoporous thin films for reconfigurable optoacoustic sensors.

Immunization against gonadotropin-releasing factor (GnRF) in market gilts: Effect on growth and carcass parameters, and impact of immunization timing.

Reproductive cycling in fattening gilts can be associated with undesirable effects, such as estrus-related aggressive behavior, reduced feed intake and, in production systems where gilts are co-housed with entire males, unwanted pregnancy. Immunization against Gonadotrophin Releasing Factor (IM) can temporarily suppress ovarian activity, including related negative consequences on animal welfare and productivity. Feed intake has been shown to be higher after IM, resulting in both increased growth and increased carcass fat. A series of studies was conducted to confirm these effects on production and look at their dynamics over time. Three trials were performed to a similar design, each involving 240 gilts divided into 4 experimental groups at 12 weeks of age. One group remained untreated while the others had the two dose, IM course completed 8, 6 or 4 weeks before harvest, which was on a single day at 24, 25 or 26 weeks of age depending on the study. Feed intake was measured daily and bodyweight weekly, allowing growth parameters to be calculated on a weekly basis and for specific longer periods. Carcass weight, backfat depth and lean meat percentage were recorded at harvest. No effects were observed before the second application of the immunological product (V2) and completion of the IM course. Starting in the second week after V2 all IM groups showed a marked and consistent increase in Average Daily Feed Intake (ADFI), typically peaking at over 120% of the control group 3 to 4 weeks after V2 and then slowly declining, but still remaining elevated at 8 weeks. Weekly Average Daily Gain (ADG) showed a similar pattern but with a faster decline, resulting in the initially favorable impact on feed efficiency becoming less favorable as the V2 to harvest interval (V2H) progressed. Carcass weights were higher in IM gilts and backfat depths were greater, with the effects increasing with increasing V2H. Correspondingly, carcass lean meat percentage tended to decrease, although the higher carcass weights meant that the absolute weight of lean meat remained similar or higher. Carcass yield was generally unaffected by IM, but some between-group differences were statistically significant, and it is possible that different factors predominated at different times after V2, creating a complex relationship with V2H duration. The optimum IM protocol will depend on local conditions and production objectives but, as a generalization and assuming ad libitum feeding, a shorter V2H will favor efficient growth, while a longer duration will maximize carcass changes, such as increased fat coverage. It is suggested that the growth performance changes seen after IM in gilts might be viewed as a process of adjustment to a heavier and fatter target body type.

Serum metabolomic fingerprints of lambs fed chitosan and its association with performance and meat quality traits.

Chitosan (CHI) is a natural biopolymer with antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and digestive modulatory effects, which can be used in the ruminant diet to replace antibiotics. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of CHI on lamb growth traits, nutrients digestibility, muscle and fatty deposition, meat fatty acid (FA) profile, meat quality traits and serum metabolome. Thirty 30-month-old male lambs, half Suffolk and half Dorper, with an average BW of 21.65 ± 0.86 kg, were fed in a feedlot system for a total of 70 days. The lambs were separated into two groups according to the diet: the control (CON) group which received the basal diet and the CHI group which received the basal diet with the addition of CHI as 2 g/kg of DM in the diet. Lambs supplemented with CHI had a greater (P < 0.05) final BW, DM intake, final body metabolic weight (P < 0.05) and lower residual feed intake than the CON group. Animals fed CHI had a greater (P < 0.05) starch digestibility at 14 and 28 days, average daily gain at 14, 42 and 56 days, greater feed efficiency at 28 days and feed conversation at 14 and 42 days in feedlot. Most of the carcass traits were not affected (P > 0.05) by the treatment; however, the CHI supplementation improved (P < 0.05) dressing and longissimus muscle area. The treatments had no effect (P > 0.05) on the meat colour and other quality measurements. Meat from the CHI-fed lambs had a greater concentration (P < 0.05) of oleic-cis-9 acid, linoleic acid, linolenic-trans-6 acid, arachidonic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid. According to the variable importance in projection score, the most important metabolites to differentiate between the CON and the CHI group were hippurate, acetate, hypoxanthine, arginine, malonate, creatine, choline, myo-inositol, 2-oxoglutarate, alanine, glycerol, carnosine, histidine, glutamate and 3-hydroxyisobutyrate. Similarly, fold change (FC) analysis highlighted succinate (FC = 1.53), arginine (FC = 1.51), hippurate (FC = 0.68), myo-inositol (FC = 1.48), hypoxanthine (FC = 1.45), acetate (FC = 0.73) and malonate (FC = 1.35) as metabolites significantly different between groups. In conclusion, the present data showed that CHI changes the muscle metabolism improving muscle mass deposition, the lamb's performance and carcass dressing. In addition, CHI led to an alteration in the FA metabolism, changes in the meat FA profile and improvements in meat quality.

Melanin-concentrating hormone projections to areas involved in somatomotor responses.

The lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) participates in the integration of sensory information and somatomotor responses associated with hunger and thirst. Although the LHA is neurochemically heterogeneous, a particularly high number of cells express melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH), which has been reported to play a role in energy homeostasis. Treatment with MCH increases food intake, and MCH mRNA is overexpressed in leptin-deficient (ob/ob) mice. Mice lacking both MCH and leptin present reduced body fat, mainly due to increased resting energy expenditure and locomotor activity. Dense MCH innervation of the cerebral motor cortex (MCx) and the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus (PPT), both related to motor function, has been reported. Therefore, we postulated that a specific group of MCH neurons project to these areas. To investigate our hypothesis, we injected retrograde tracers into the MCx and the PPT of rats, combined with immunohistochemistry. We found that 25% of the LHA neurons projecting to the PPT were immunoreactive for MCH, and that 75% of the LHA neurons projecting to the MCx also contained MCH. Few MCH neurons were found to send collaterals to both areas. We also found that 15% of the incerto-hypothalamic neurons projecting to the PPT expressed MCH immunoreactivity. Those neurons preferentially innervated the rostral PPT. In addition, we observed that the MCH neurons express glutamic acid decarboxylase mRNA, a gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) synthesizing enzyme. We postulate that MCH/GABA neurons are involved in the inhibitory modulation of the innervated areas, decreasing motor activity in states of negative energy balance.

Endocervical glandular cell abnormalities in conventional cervical smears: evaluation of the performance of cytomorphological criteria and HPV testing in predicting neoplasia.

OBJECTIVE: To analyse the correlation between cytomorphological criteria in smears with atypical glandular cells (AGC) or adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS) and human papillomavirus (HPV) reflex test results with different neoplastic histological diagnoses, particularly to distinguish between glandular and squamous neoplasia. METHODS: A series of 155 women with glandular abnormalities in their conventional cervical smears was included: 106 with AGC, 35 with AGC associated with high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) and 14 with AIS. Two reviewers evaluated 35 cytomorphological criteria and hybrid capture II (HCII) was performed in all cases. Colposcopy was carried out in all cases and biopsy in 126/155. For statistical purposes, predictive values and odds ratio (OR) were calculated, followed by chi-square automatic interaction detection. RESULTS: Histology detected 56 cases of squamous and 17 of glandular intraepithelial or invasive neoplasia. Predictive values of the papillary groups and feathering criteria for glandular neoplasia were, respectively, 80.0% and 73.3%. Feathering was the criterion with the highest OR for distinguishing glandular from squamous neoplasia and also for distinguishing between glandular and non-neoplastic diagnosis. Rosettes and pseudostratified strips did not perform as well. Multivariant Classification and Regression Trees analysis identified feathering as the best criterion for distinguishing between glandular, squamous and non-neoplastic diagnoses regardless of HPV status. CONCLUSIONS: Feathering was the best criterion for predicting glandular neoplasia.

Peripheral effects induced in BALB/c mice infected with DENV by the intracerebral route.

The lack of an immunocompetent animal model for dengue mimicking the disease in humans is a limitation for advances in this field. Inoculation by intracerebral route of neuroadapted dengue strains in mice is normally lethal and provides a straightforward readout parameter for vaccine testing. However, systemic effects of infection and the immune response elicited in this model remain poorly described. In the present work, BALB/c mice infected by the intracerebral route with neuroadapted DENV2 exhibited several evidences of systemic involvement. DENV-inoculated mice presented virus infective particles in the brain followed by viremia, especially in late stages of infection. Infection induced cellular and humoral responses, with presence of activated T cells in spleen and blood, lymphocyte infiltration and tissue damages in brain and liver, and an increase in serum levels of some pro-inflammatory cytokines. Data highlighted an interplay between the central nervous system commitment and peripheral effects under this experimental condition.

Aqueous extract of Chrysobalanus icaco leaves, in lower doses, prevent fat gain in obese high-fat fed mice.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Due to the rise in obesity, the necessity for resources and treatments that could reduce the morbidity and mortality associated to this pandemia has emerged. The development of new anti-obesity drugs through herbal sources has been increasing in the past decades which are being used not only as medicine but also as food supplements. Previous studies with the aqueous extract of Chrysobalanus icaco L (AECI) have demonstrated activity on lowering blood glucose levels and body weight. AIM OF THE STUDY: Investigate C. icaco effects in overall adiposity and glycemic homeostasis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: C57BL/6J mice were randomly assigned to standard chow (SC) or high-fat diet (HFD) and treated with AECI in 0.35mg/mL or 0.7mg/mL concentrations ad libitum. Food intake, feed efficiency, metabolic efficiency, body, fat pads and gastrocnemius weight, adiposity index, serum lipids, fecal lipid excretion, locomotor activity in the open field test and insulin and glucose tolerance tests were analyzed and compared. The major components of the extract were demonstrated through HPLC and its antioxidant activity analyzed through DPPH and lipid peroxidation. RESULTS: The AECI in the 0.35mg/mL concentration did not affect food intake or body weight. However, it promoted lower adipose tissue gain, TG levels, and fecal lipid excretion, increased locomotor activity and lean mass weight, and normalized insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance. Moreover, AECI showed the presence of myricetin 3-O-glucuronide, rutin, quercitrin and myricitrin and demonstrated high-antioxidant activity. CONCLUSIONS: AECI in lower concentrations can prevent fat storage or enhance fat utilization through the increase of locomotor activity. Also, this reinforces its ability to maintain glucose homeostasis through the normalization of insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance despite the high-fat diet intake. These activities could be associated to the extract's polyphenol content.

Adenoma of bladder in siblings with renal dysplasia.

A huge tumor filled the lumen of the urinary bladder in a ten-year-old boy. The tumor had polypoid and papillary components with a variety of glandular structures. Some glands were surrounded by a primitive stroma reminiscent of renal dysplasia, a new finding in adenoma (or mixed hamartoma) of the urinary bladder. A couple of months later a large tumor filling the urinary bladder and with the same microscopic features was diagnosed in his fourteen-year-old brother.

Effect of fundoplication on the gastric emptying of liquids.

To evaluate the effect of fundoplication on the gastric emptying (GE) of liquids, the authors studied 96 male Wistar rats divided into three main groups: group E (early postoperative), formed by 32 rats that received physiological saline as a test meal and whose gastric emptying was evaluated 8 days after surgery; group L (late postoperative), which received the same test meal but was evaluated 29 days after surgery; and group G (glucose), which received 5% glucose in water and was studied 8 days after surgery. Each group was subdivided in two subgroups of 16 animals: in one (atropine), the animals received intravenous (I.V.) atropine sulfate (0.3 mg/100 mg rat weight) 60 minutes before GE test; the other subgroup (controls) received I.V. physiological saline. In both subgroups 8 animals had been submitted to fundoplication and 8 to sham operation. Every test meal, containing 6 mg% red phenol, was infused by gravity through a metallic catheter. Gastric retention was determined by measuring the concentration of the marker in the liquid recovered from the stomach 10 minutes after infusion. In the animals of group E, fundoplication increased the gastric emptying of physiological saline, both in the control and the atropine subgroups. In the L group, gastric retention values were similar in fundoplication and sham-operated rats, suggesting an adaptation of the stomach to the fundoplication. In the G group, fundoplication enhanced GE among the control animals, but not among those receiving I.V. atropine sulfate. These results support the importance of gastric emptying studies in every patient to be submitted to fundoplication.

Epignathus: report of a case with successful outcome.

Epignathus is an extremely rare form of teratoma that arises from the palate or pharynx in the region of the basisphenoid (Rathke's pouch). This condition is associated with a high mortality rate caused by severe airway obstruction in the neonatal period, thus requiring prenatal planning and prompt surgical treatment after birth. The authors describe a case of a giant epignathus that was successfully resected followed by an uneventful recovery.

Oral diseases and socio-economic status (SES).

OBJECTIVE: To determine the association between social, economic and behavioural risk factors and national prevalences of: oral cancer, dental caries (12-year-olds) and destructive periodontal disease (35-44-year-olds). DATA SOURCES: Sources for the social and economic parameters were the UN Development Program; the behavioural risk factors' source was the World Health Organization, the UN Food and Agricultural Organization and the World Atlas of History. Oral diseases data came from UICC Globocan and the World Health Organization databases. DATA EXTRACTION: Data were extracted by hand from official publications. DATA SYNTHESIS: Data were synthesized and analyzed in sequence using SPSS, Pearson's correlation coefficient and multiple regression analyses. CONCLUSIONS: There is a discernable association between the three oral diseases and the variables selected, which varies in strength, being strongest for chronic destructive periodontitis and weakest for oral cancer. Dental caries lies in between. The degree to which variables account for differences in the three oral diseases between the countries studied is striking, being insignificant for oral cancer incidence, modest for oral cancer mortality, stronger for dental caries and strongest for destructive periodontal disease. Removing variables with strong co-linearity with the Human Development Index has little effect on the regression coefficients.

Oral health knowledge, attitudes and preventive practices of third grade school children.

PURPOSE: The aim of study was to investigate the oral health knowledge, attitudes and preventive practices of third grade school children in Harris County. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, oral health knowledge, attitudes, and preventive practices of the children were investigated by means of a self-administered, bilingual questionnaire. Three calibrated examiners collected data on dental caries, periodontitis, and fluorosis of 1,031 school children. RESULTS: Most children reported "fairly adequate" oral hygiene habits (58%) and oral health knowledge (48%), and "adequate" dietary patterns (59%). Children with inadequate oral health knowledge were twice as likely to have caries than children with adequate knowledge (OR = 2.05, 95% CI = 1.29, 3.28). The mean combined DMFT/dft scores of children with inadequate knowledge were significantly higher than the mean for children with adequate knowledge (t = 2.6, P = 0.009). CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate a need to improve oral health knowledge and preventive practices among the study population. Because of the cross-sectional nature of the study, it is not possible to illustrate a cause-effect relationship between oral health education and prevalence of caries.

Immunocytochemical study of tissue parasitism of dog adrenal glands in experimental Chagas' disease.

In human beings, the central vein of the adrenal glands has been considered by some authors to be one of the preferential sites of Trypanosoma cruzi settling in the chronic form of Chagas' disease. This appears to be due to the local corticoid-rich environment that may protect the parasite against the immunological defences of the host. An immunocytochemical study of the adrenal glands of 15 dogs was carried out for the detection of tissue parasitism in the acute and chronic phases of experimental T. cruzi infection. No amastigote nests or isolated amastigotes were detected in the adrenal parenchyma or adrenal central vein of the animals studied. Minimal nonspecific inflammatory changes were found in some glands of both infected and noninfected animals. The present results show that the adrenal glands of the dog are not injured and do not constitute a site of escape or reservoir of parasites in experimental Chagas' disease.

[Intrahepatic cholangiodysplasia in 2 brothers. Concept of the entity]. / Colangiodisplasia intrahepática em dois irmãos. Conceituação da entidade.

The histopathologic aspects of the intrahepatic dysplasic bile ducts (cholangiodysplasia) found in two brothers, one of them asymptomatic, are discussed. This entity is characterized by interlobular bile ducts proliferation and portal fibrosis, without cholestasis but with chronic active cholangitis. The differential diagnosis and the probable genesis of the cholangiodysplasias are discussed.

[Psychiatric disorders related to alcohol and associated to general medical clinical diagnoses and/or surgical interventions in patients admitted to a general hospital]. / Distúrbios psiquiátricos relacionados ao álcool associados a diagnósticos de clínica médica e/ou intervenções cirúrgicas, atendidos num hospital geral.

Through an epidemiological examination, the authors searched for co-morbidities and for psychiatric diagnoses related to alcohol. So, patients attended in a Psychiatric ward at an Emergency Service from 1988 to 1991 were investigated. The aim was to identify clinical diseases and another incidents that assault this population. The diagnoses examined were the ones related to alcohol, according to CID-9 (291; 303; 305.0) and the ones associated that do not belong to psychiatry 1835 cases were observed with diagnoses related to alcohol and among them 487 (26.5%) were concerning to the groups 291-303-305.0, which were associated to another psychiatric diagnoses. The larger frequency occurred in the groups 340-349 (Another central nervous system disorders) and 800-859 (Lesions and traumatic complications) with 80 (16.4%) patients, respectively. Through data observation by year, authors found that among the diagnoses related to alcohol (with clinical diagnoses associated), the 303 (Alcohol dependence syndrome) was the one that had the larger number of patients with 326 (67%) cases, followed by the 291 (Alcohol psychoses) with 117 (24%) cases and the 305.0 (Alcohol) with 44 cases (9%). In the period, the psychiatric diagnoses 303 and 291 appeared more frequently associated to the group of clinical diagnoses 340-349, with 55 (11.2%) and 12 (2.4%) cases respectively and the 305.0 had the group 800-859 with 10 (2%) cases as the more frequent.

[Application of Johari's window in an interaction]. / Aplicação da Janela de Johari em uma interação.

The present study proposes to verify the viability of Johari's window in a two-people meeting. Methodologically, the study comprised the following stages: comprehension of the theoretical model of Johari's window, establishment of criteria for the accomplishment of an interview following the reference; accomplishment of an interview with a client that do not know the reference; analysis and interpretation of the results through Johari's window. The results allowed the authors to analyse the interviewer and interviewee behaviour during the interview. They also verified the amount that it is unknown about the other, through what he/she allows to be revealed and analysed the way that a person uses to reveal his/her own personality. The window makes it easier to visualize the manner that people reveal themselves.

[A sample of scientific production in southeastern Brazil from 1987-1991]. / Uma amostra da produção científica da região sudeste do Brasil no período de 1987-1991.

The study's goal was to investigate the scientific production in Brazil's southeast region during 1987 to 1991 period. To do thal, letters were sent to 15 nursing schools that we had the address or through personal contact with someone from the institutions, asking a list of their scientific production during the period above stated. In order to be included in the study, the article had to meet some criteria that were established as important for a quantitative evaluation and classification. After that, qualitative classification was done by the article's tile using nine categories. The total of publications found were 2237 articles from which, 1585 were from nursing schools in the state of São Paulo, 222 from hospitals in the city of São Paulo, 296 from Federal University of Minas Gerais' School of Nursing and 134 from nursing schools in Rio de Janeiro.