One-stage surgical case management of a two-year-old Arabian horse affected by male-pseudo hermaphroditism

A two-year-old Arabian horse presented for abnormal external genitalia and dangerous stallion-like behavior was diagnosed with disorder of sexual development (DSD), also known as intersex/hermaphroditism. Standing 1-stage surgical procedure performed under sedation, and local anesthesia to concurrently eliminate stallion-like behavior, risk of neoplastic transformation of intraabdominal gonads, and to replace ambiguous external genital with a functional, and cosmetically more acceptable anatomy. Step-1) Laparoscopic abdominal exploration and gonadectomy; Step-2) Rudimentary penis resection and perineal urethrostomy. The horse tolerated surgery well (combined surgery time 185 min) with no complications. At macroscopic examination of the gonads, they resembled hypoplastic testis-like tissues. Microscopic examination confirmed presence of seminiferous tubules, Leydig and Sertoli/granulosa cells. Cytogenetic evaluation revealed a 64,XX karyotype, SRY-negative. The stallion-like behavior subsided within days post-operatively. Long-term follow-up revealed the genitoplasty site healed without urine scalding or urethral stricture. The owner satisfaction was excellent and the horse could be used post-surgery as an athlete.

Applied winter biology: threats, conservation and management of biological resources during winter in cold climate regions

Winter at high latitudes is characterized by low temperatures, dampened light levels and short photoperiods which shape ecological and evolutionary outcomes from cells to populations to ecosystems. Advances in our understanding of winter biological processes (spanning physiology, behaviour and ecology) highlight that biodiversity threats (e.g. climate change driven shifts in reproductive windows) may interact with winter conditions, leading to greater ecological impacts. As such, conservation and management strategies that consider winter processes and their consequences on biological mechanisms may lead to greater resilience of high altitude and latitude ecosystems. Here, we use well-established threat and action taxonomies produced by the International Union of Conservation of Nature-Conservation Measures Partnership (IUCN-CMP) to synthesize current threats to biota that emerge during, or as the result of, winter processes then discuss targeted management approaches for winter-based conservation. We demonstrate the importance of considering winter when identifying threats to biodiversity and deciding on appropriate management strategies across species and ecosystems. We confirm our expectation that threats are prevalent during the winter and are especially important considering the physiologically challenging conditions that winter presents. Moreover, our findings emphasize that climate change and winter-related constraints on organisms will intersect with other stressors to potentially magnify threats and further complicate management. Though conservation and management practices are less commonly considered during the winter season, we identified several potential or already realized applications relevant to winter that could be beneficial. Many of the examples are quite recent, suggesting a potential turning point for applied winter biology. This growing body of literature is promising but we submit that more research is needed to identify and address threats to wintering biota for targeted and proactive conservation. We suggest that management decisions consider the importance of winter and incorporate winter specific strategies for holistic and mechanistic conservation and resource management.

Metabolomic Profiles Differentiate Scleroderma-PAH From Idiopathic PAH and Correspond With Worsened Functional Capacity

BACKGROUND

The prognosis and therapeutic responses are worse for pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with systemic sclerosis (SSc-PAH) compared with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH). This discrepancy could be driven by divergence in underlying metabolic determinants of disease.

RESEARCH QUESTION

Are circulating bioactive metabolites differentially altered in SSc-PAH vs IPAH, and can this alteration explain clinical disparity between these PAH subgroups?

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS

Plasma biosamples from 400 patients with SSc-PAH and 1,082 patients with IPAH were included in the study. Another cohort of 100 patients with scleroderma with no PH and 44 patients with scleroderma with PH was included for external validation. More than 700 bioactive lipid metabolites, representing a range of vasoactive and immune-inflammatory pathways, were assayed in plasma samples from independent discovery and validation cohorts using liquid chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry-based approaches. Regression analyses were used to identify metabolites that exhibited differential levels between SSc-PAH and IPAH and associated with disease severity.

RESULTS

From hundreds of circulating bioactive lipid molecules, five metabolites were found to distinguish between SSc-PAH and IPAH, as well as associate with markers of disease severity. Relative to IPAH, patients with SSc-PAH carried increased levels of fatty acid metabolites, including lignoceric acid and nervonic acid, as well as eicosanoids/oxylipins and sex hormone metabolites.

INTERPRETATION

Patients with SSc-PAH are characterized by an unfavorable bioactive metabolic profile that may explain the poor and limited response to therapy. These data provide important metabolic insights into the molecular heterogeneity underlying differences between subgroups of PAH.

Patient Selection for Balloon Pulmonary Angioplasty: Six year results from a high volume PTE surgical center

Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is the result of incompletely resolved pulmonary emboli (PE) that lead to chronic right heart failure. The two mechanical treatment options are pulmonary thromboendarterectomy (PTE) and balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA). There are no formal criteria for BPA patient selection and treatment decisions vary according to a center's experience with BPA and PTE. We performed a retrospective review of consecutive patients treated with PTE and BPA at UCSD from March 2015 to 2021. Clinical and hemodynamic data were collected. Patients were categorized according to the rationale for BPA. One hundred fifty three patients underwent 643 BPA sessions, and 1104 patients underwent PTE. Patients selected for PTE had worse baseline hemodynamics with mean pulmonary artery pressure 41.1 ± 11.7 versus 34.6 ± 11.2 mmHg, p < 0.001. 59% of patients selected for BPA had surgically inaccessible disease, 21% had residual CTEPH after PTE, 10% had a discordance between disease burden and symptoms/hemodynamics, 7% had comorbidities that prevented PTE and 3% refused PTE surgery. 28% of patients who underwent PTE had exclusively level III or IV disease based on surgical specimen. There were no BPA procedure‐related mortalities and minor pulmonary vascular complication rates during BPA were 9.2%. The most common reason for BPA selection was surgically inaccessible disease followed by residual CTEPH after PTE. Almost one third of patients who underwent PTE had exclusively distal disease by surgical criteria and might have been directed to BPA at a less experienced surgical center.

Seasonal variation of behavior and brain size in a freshwater fish

Teleost fishes occupy a range of ecosystem, and habitat types subject to large seasonal fluctuations. Temperate fishes, in particular, survive large seasonal shifts in temperature, light availability, and access to certain habitats. Mobile species such as lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) can behaviorally respond to seasonal variation by shifting their habitat deeper and further offshore in response to warmer surface water temperatures during the summer. During cooler seasons, the use of more structurally complex nearshore zones by lake trout could increase cognitive demands and potentially result in a larger relative brain size during those periods. Yet, there is limited understanding of how such behavioral responses to a seasonally shifting environment might shape, or be shaped by, the nervous system.Here, we quantified variation in relative brain size and the size of five externally visible brain regions in lake trout, across six consecutive seasons in two different lakes. Acoustic telemetry data from one of our study lakes were collected during the study period from a different subset of individuals and used to infer relationships between brain size and seasonal behaviors (habitat use and movement rate).Our results indicated that lake trout relative brain size was larger in the fall and winter compared with the spring and summer in both lakes. Larger brains coincided with increased use of nearshore habitats and increased horizontal movement rates in the fall and winter based on acoustic telemetry. The telencephalon followed the same pattern as whole brain size, while the other brain regions (cerebellum, optic tectum, olfactory bulbs, and hypothalamus) were only smaller in the spring.These findings provide evidence that flexibility in brain size could underpin shifts in behavior, which could potentially subserve functions associated with differential habitat use during cold and warm seasons and allow fish to succeed in seasonally variable environments.

Aerobic exercise training prevents skeletal myopathy by myomiRs regulation in heart failure

Introduction

Heart failure (HF) is the endpoint of systemic arterial hypertension. Exercise intolerance is a common symptom, partly due, to changes in the skeletal muscle mass (SM) and fiber type profile. Otherwise, aerobic exercise training (ET) has been used as an important non-pharmacological therapy in HF. MyomiRs are a muscle-specific class of miRNAs, which regulate genes that inhibiting the expression of proteins in pathological and physiological conditions controlling phenotypic changes in the SM, however little is known about these changes in ET-induced HF

Purpose

To elucidate the molecular mechanisms of ET involved in the metabolic alterations of SM in HF rats of hypertensive etiology.

Methods

The study was approved by the animal ethics committee (USP-No. 2020/01). 20 male rats, spontaneously hypertensive (SHR), and 10 Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY), SHR controls, nine-months-old, were divided into three groups: sedentary WKY (WKY-S), sedentary SHR (SHR-S), and trained (SHR-T). The ET consisted of swimming sessions with 60 minutes, 1x/day, 5x/week, for 10 weeks, with 5% of body overload. After ET protocol, blood pressure (BP), cardiac morphology and function (Echocardiography), exercise tolerance test, maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 peak), mitochondrial oxygen consumption (Oroboros), immunohistochemistry of the SM, expression of miRNAs (RT-qPCR) were evaluated. Statistical analyzes were performed by one-way ANOVA followed by the Tukey test. The results were expressed as mean ± standard error.

Results

ET reduced blood pressure levels and cardiac dysfunction in SHR-T compared to SHR-S. The SHR-S group covered smaller distance in the exercise tolerance test (255±22 meters) compared to the WKY-S (419±19 meters, p&lt;0.0001), however ET reestablished the exercise tolerance (SHR-T: 365±20 meters; SHR-S: p&lt;0.001 and WKY-S: p&gt;0.05). The HF induced changes in type I and II fibers composition (I: 73±0.6% and II: 24±0.9%), VO2 peak (50±1.5 mL kg–1 min–1), mitochondrial oxygen consumption (State 3: 3.0±0.2 nmol O2 min–1 mg protein–1) and myomiRs expression (miRNA-208b: 65±4%, -499: 73±5%, -1: 153±10%) in the soleus muscle of SHR-S compared to WKY-S (I: 94±0.6%, II: 6±0.6%, p&lt;0.001; VO2 peak: 59±2.3 mL kg–1 min–1, p&lt;0.01; State 3: 4.0±0.2 nmol O2 min–1 mg protein–1, p&lt;0.05; miRNAs: p&lt;0.01). ET minimized changes in metabolic profile by counteract the muscle fiber type switching, and the oxygen consumption impairment, and myomiRs expression dysregulation (I: 90±0.5%, II: 9±0.6%, SHR-S p&lt;0.01; VO2 peak: 79±2.4 mL kg–1 min–1, SHR-S: p&lt;0.0001; State 3: 5.45±0.32 nmol O2 min–1 mg protein–1, SHR-S: p&lt;0.0001; miRNA-208b: 91±5%, -499: 106±8%, -1: 100±9%; SHR-S: p&lt;0.01).

Conclusions

ET reestablished structural and metabolic changes in SM, resulting from the progression of HF, through the regulation of myomiRs, improving exercise tolerance.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding sources: Public Institution(s). Main funding source(s): The Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES): Academic Excellence Program (Proex).

Immune-mediated diseases and thromboembolic events: a modified Delphi panel

INTRODUCTION

A multidisciplinary panel of physicians was convened to gain understanding of the relationship between thromboembolic events (TEs) and immune-mediated diseases (IMDs). The primary objective of the panel was to assess areas of consensus on the IMD most prone to TE as well as modifiable and unmodifiable factors that might exacerbate or mitigate the risk of TEs.

METHODS

Thirteen nationally recognized physicians were selected based on their contributions to guidelines, publications and patient care. The modified Delphi panel consisted of four rounds of engagement: (1) a semi-structured interview, (2) an expert panel questionnaire, (3) an in-person panel discussion, and (4) a consensus statement survey.

RESULTS

Ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease were identified as two of four IMDs with the highest TE risk. Consensus was reached on several non-modifiable and modifiable characteristics of high-risk. Approaches to reduce TE incidence were identified such as altering treatment, requiring the monitoring of patients for TEs and modifying patient behaviors. Janus kinase inhibitors and corticosteroids were identified as therapies that required further evaluation given their potential TE risk.

DISCUSSION

The panel reached a consensus that several IMDs are at an elevated risk of TEs. Physicians are unable to control most patient level risk factors but can control the therapies being used. Consequently, physicians should consider the specific IMD, be aware of TE risk factors, and take into account risk factors in selecting the therapies to optimally manage their conditions and to reduce the risk of TEs in this population.

Nine Maxims for the Ecology of Cold-Climate Winters

Frozen winters define life at high latitudes and altitudes. However, recent, rapid changes in winter conditions have highlighted our relatively poor understanding of ecosystem function in winter relative to other seasons. Winter ecological processes can affect reproduction, growth, survival, and fitness, whereas processes that occur during other seasons, such as summer production, mediate how organisms fare in winter. As interest grows in winter ecology, there is a need to clearly provide a thought-provoking framework for defining winter and the pathways through which it affects organisms. In the present article, we present nine maxims (concise expressions of a fundamentally held principle or truth) for winter ecology, drawing from the perspectives of scientists with diverse expertise. We describe winter as being frozen, cold, dark, snowy, less productive, variable, and deadly. Therefore, the implications of winter impacts on wildlife are striking for resource managers and conservation practitioners. Our final, overarching maxim, “winter is changing,” is a call to action to address the need for immediate study of the ecological implications of rapidly changing winters.

Successful Concomitant Pulmonary Thromboendarterectomy and Heart Transplant

Heart transplantation remains the gold standard of therapy for patients with end-stage heart failure. Submassive pulmonary embolism in a patient with heart failure is generally considered a contraindication to immediate heart transplantation, given the risk of right heart failure posttransplant. Generally patients must wait for extended periods of time to recover from pulmonary embolism therapies before being listed for transplant. We report a case of successful concomitant pulmonary thromboendarterectomy and heart transplantation.

Ingestive behaviour and performance of feedlot lambs fed saccharine sorghum and corn silages

This study evaluated the ingestive behaviour and performance of feedlot lambs fed saccharine sorghum and corn silages. Ten animals were randomly selected from a group of 32 uncastrated male Suffolk lambs. The four treatments consisted of diets with 50% of silage made from forage sorghum (BD 1615), two varieties of saccharine sorghum (BRS 506 and BRS 511), and corn (BRS 2223). Ingestive behaviour was observed by a scan sampling method using seven strategically positioned video cameras so as not to interfere with the usual animal behaviour. The animals were observed for three 48-hour periods at 15-day intervals, with a total of 144 hours of observation. Video recordings were then examined to identify the time spent in ruminating, eating, drinking water and idling. Times spent feeding or drinking water were not significantly affected by the treatments. Animals fed forage sorghum silage had higher neutral detergent fibre (NDF) intake (0.41 kg of NDF), thus spent more time ruminating (342 min/day). Rumination time was similar for the BD 1615 and BRS 506 silages and was 85 min/day greater than for the BRS 511 and BRS 2223 silages, which were similar. Average daily gain was greater for BRS 2223 (275 g/day) than for BRS 506 and BRS 511 silages, which were similar (196 g/day). Ingestive behaviour for BRS 511 was similar to that observed for BRS 2223. Ingestive behaviour for BRS 506 was similar to that observed for BD 1615. Average daily gain was related to intake and ruminating efficiency. Keywords: eating, idling, roughage, rumination, sheep (Ovis aires)

Effects of pasture type and level of concentrate supplementation on quality and fatty acid profile of lamb meat

Objectives of this study were to evaluate effects of grazing tropical forage species and level of supplementation with grain on characteristics of lamb meat. Ninety-day-old lambs (n = 36) (22.54 ± 2.72 kg) were randomly assigned to a 2 x 3 factorial arrangement of pasture types (Aruana and Marandu) and levels of concentrate supplementation (0%, 1.5% and 3% of bodyweight). Water retention capacity, shear force, weight loss after cooking, pH, colour, and intramuscular lipid content of the meat were evaluated. A panel of 145 consumers evaluated the appearance, flavour, fat flavour, odour, and softness of the meat and provided an overall assessment. Supplementation at 3% of bodyweight reduced the luminosity of the meat. The appearance of meat from lambs that grazed Aruana grass was deemed preferable to that of meat from lambs that grazed Marandu grass. Total branched-chain fatty acids (BCFAs) were increased when grazing Marandu grass compared to Aruana grass. Lambs supplemented with concentrate had reduced BCFA/kg of meat and its content of both monounsaturated (MUFA) and polyunsaturated (PUFA) fatty acids were increased. Supplementation with concentrate at 1.5% and 3.0% of bodyweight increased n-6 PUFAs by 16.8% and 90.0%, decreased n-3 PUFAs by 49.7% and 35.9%, and thus increased the n-6/n-3 ratio by 135.0% and 183.8%, respectively. Lambs that were finished on grass without supplementation had a more healthful fatty acid profile and received better scores for flavour and global appreciation. To improve the quality of fatty acids in the meat, the pasture system is recommended. Keywords: Brachiaria brizantha, lipid content, Longissimus thoracis et lumborum, Panicum maximum, sheep feeding

Mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum and innate immune dysfunction in mood disorders: Do Mitochondria-Associated Membranes (MAMs) play a role?

Mood disorders like major depression and bipolar disorder (BD) are among the most prevalent forms of mental illness. Current knowledge of the neurobiology and pathophysiology of these disorders is still modest and clear biological markers are still missing. Thus, a better understanding of the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms to identify potential therapeutic targets is a prerequisite for the design of new drugs as well as to develop biomarkers that help in a more accurate and earlier diagnosis. Multiple pieces of evidence including genetic and neuro-imaging studies suggest that mood disorders are associated with abnormalities in endoplasmic-reticulum (ER)-related stress responses, mitochondrial function and calcium signalling. Furthermore, deregulation of the innate immune response has been described in patients diagnosed with mood disorders, including depression and BD. These disease-related events are associated with functions localized to a subdomain of the ER, known as Mitochondria-Associated Membranes (MAMs), which are lipid rafts-like domains that connect mitochondria and ER, both physically and biochemically. This review will outline the current understanding of the role of mitochondria and ER dysfunction under pathological brain conditions, particularly in major depressive disorder (MDD) and BD, that support the hypothesis that MAMs can act in these mood disorders as the link connecting ER-related stress response and mitochondrial impairment, as well as a mechanisms behind sterile inflammation arising from deregulation of innate immune responses. The role of MAMs in the pathophysiology of these pathologies and its potential relevance as a potential therapeutic target will be discussed.

Continuous ozonation of urban wastewater: Removal of antibiotics, antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli and antibiotic resistance genes and phytotoxicity

This work evaluated the removal of a mixture of eight antibiotics (i.e. ampicillin (AMP), azithromycin (AZM), erythromycin (ERY), clarithromycin (CLA), ofloxacin (OFL), sulfamethoxazole (SMX), trimethoprim (TMP) and tetracycline (TC)) from urban wastewater, by ozonation operated in continuous mode at different hydraulic retention times (HRTs) (i.e. 10, 20, 40 and 60 min) and specific ozone doses (i.e. 0.125, 0.25, 0.50 and 0.75 gO₃ gDOC^{- 1}). As expected, the efficiency of ozonation was highly ozone dose- and contact time-dependent. The removal of the parent compounds of the selected antibiotics to levels below their detection limits was achieved with HRT of 40 min and specific ozone dose of 0.125 gO₃ gDOC^{- 1}. The effect of ozonation was also investigated at a microbiological and genomic level, by studying the efficiency of the process with respect to the inactivation of Escherichia coli and antibiotic-resistant E. coli, as well as to the reduction of the abundance of selected antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). The inactivation of total cultivable E. coli was achieved under the experimental conditions of HRT 40 min and 0.25 gO₃ gDOC^-1, at which all antibiotic compounds were already degraded. The regrowth examinations revealed that higher ozone concentrations were required for the permanent inactivation of E. coli below the Limit of Quantification (<LOQ = 0.01 CFU mL^{- 1}). Also, the abundance of the examined ARGs (intl1, aadA1, dfrA1, qacEΔ1 and sul1) was found to decrease with increasing HRT and ozone dose. Despite the fact that the mildest operating parameters were able to eliminate the parent compounds of the tested antibiotics in wastewater effluents, it was clearly demonstrated in this study that higher ozone doses were required in order to confer permanent damage and/or death and prevent potential post-treatment re-growth of both total bacteria and ARB, and to reduce the abundance of ARGs below the LOQ. Interestingly, the mineralization of wastewater, in terms of Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) removal, was found to be significantly low even when the higher ozone doses were applied, leading to an increased phytotoxicity towards various plant species. The findings of this study clearly underline the importance of properly optimising the ozonation process (e.g. specific ozone dose and contact time) taking into consideration both the bacterial species and associated ARGs, as well as the wastewater physicochemical properties (e.g. DOC), in order to mitigate the spread of ARB&ARGs, as well as to reduce the potential phytotoxicity.

Identification and characterization of yeasts from bovine rumen for potential use as probiotics

AIMS

The aim was to isolate, identify and characterize yeasts present in rumen fluid and to select strains showing potential as probiotics.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Rumen fluid was sampled from 4 herds of dairy and beef cattle and 77 yeast isolates were identified. Initial screening was based on the capacity to maintain viability in a medium with different ruminal conditions. A second screening in fresh rumen fluid to assess the growth of inoculated yeasts and evaluate in vitro neutral detergent fibre digestibility (NDF-D), pH and acid accumulation was conducted. The yeast population ranged from 3·84 to 6·76 log₁₀ CFU per ml. The main species of yeast found were Pichia kudriavzevii, Candida rugosa, C. pararugosa, C. ethanolica and Magnusiomyces capitatus. Strains CCMA 933 (C. rugosa) and CCMA 970 (C. pararugosa) showed greater ability to survive in ruminal fluid and stimulated the production of acids. Isolate CCMA 967 (C. ethanolica) survived and improved the NDF-D.

CONCLUSION

Pichia kudriavzevii was the dominant yeast found in the cattle herds. Strains CCMA 933, CCMA 970 and CCMA 967 showed properties that could be useful as potential probiotics for cattle.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

This study was the first to select yeasts from the rumen fluid, with the potential to be used as probiotic, based on the ruminal conditions.

Titration of pulmonary arterial hypertension therapeutics: Experience-based recommendations

The availability of new medications has improved exercise capacity, enhanced quality of life, and extended time to clinical worsening in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). For many of these medications, careful individualized dose titration is required to maximize therapeutic effectiveness while minimizing side effects. In addition, specific routes of administration, including intravenous (IV), subcutaneous (SC), and inhaled administration may present additional challenges for patients and healthcare providers. These challenges include the possibility of catheter-related infections (IV), infusion site pain (SC), and adherence to frequent dosing schedules (inhaled). Temporary discontinuations may require re-titration and, in some cases, may even be life threatening. Here, based on our clinical experience, we provide our recommendations for dose titration schemes for PAH medications that require individualized dosing in adult patients, including agents acting on the endothelin-1 pathway (bosentan and ambrisentan), the prostacyclin pathway (epoprostenol, treprostinil, and selexipag), and the nitric oxide pathway (tadalafil and the soluble guanylate cyclase stimulator riociguat). A case study that illustrates the application of best practices for PAH medication dose titration in a real-world setting is presented. Good two-way communication between specialty pharmacies and other healthcare providers promotes optimal medication usage and patient health. Experience has shown that slow, cautious up-titration is generally associated with better long-term outcomes. In all cases, patient education, frequent monitoring and careful management of side effects, and treatment adherence are critical.

Effect of ensiling time on fermentation profile and ruminal in vitro starch digestibility in rehydrated corn with or without varied concentrations of wet brewers grains

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of rehydrating and ensiling dry ground corn (DGC) with varying concentrations of wet brewers grain (WBG) on fermentation profile and ruminal in vitro starch digestibility (ivSD; 7-h incubations on dried and 4-mm ground samples). Samples of DGC and WBG were weighed separately and mixed into 100% WBG (WBG); mixture of DGC and WBG targeting 60 (RC60), 65 (RC65), or 70% (RC70) of dry matter (DM); and DGC rehydrated with distilled water targeting for 70% of DM (REH). Samples were ensiled in vacuum-sealed bags and allowed to ferment for 0, 1, 3, 7, 14, and 28 d. The experiment consisted of 30 treatments (5 mixtures of DGC and WGB × 6 ensiling time points) and 120 mini-silos (4 silos per treatment). All samples were analyzed for fermentation profile and water-soluble carbohydrates. Except for WBG, samples from 0 and 28 d were analyzed for ivSD. Content of DM was greater for REH (70.0%), followed by RC70 (69.2%), RC65 (63.9%), RC60 (58.4%), and WBG (17.5%) on d 0, with a slight decrease (1 to 2 percentage units) observed for all treatments until 28 d. Measurements of pH were highest for REH (6.19) and lowest for WBG (4.68) on 0 d, but all other treatments were lower than WBG on 14 and 28 d (3.83 vs. 4.14, on average). Except for WBG, all treatments had a gradual increase in lactic acid concentration from 0 to 28 d. In contrast, butyric acid gradually increased from 0 (0.25%) to 28 d (2.16% of DM) in WBG but not the other treatments. Fermentation patterns were related to water-soluble carbohydrates concentration, which was greater for all treatments except WBG from 0 (1.41% on average vs. 0.38% of DM, respectively) to 28 d (0.37% on average vs. 0.19% of DM, respectively). Except for RC60, greater ivSD was observed for all treatments on 28 than 0 d, but magnitude of the difference was greater for REH and RC70 (14.5 percentage units on average). Rehydration and ensiling of DGC with WBG resulted in adequate fermentation and enhanced starch digestibility.

Cardiac AT(1) receptor-dependent and IGF1 receptor-independent signaling is activated by a single bout of resistance exercise

AT(1) receptor (AT1R) blockade prevents physiological cardiac hypertrophy induced by resistance training. Also, our group showed that a single bout of resistance exercise (RE) activates the AKT/mTOR which was also inhibited by AT1R blocker. Here, we investigated whether IGF1-receptor (IGF1-R) and MAPKs were also activated after a single bout of RE. Wistar rats were divided into Sedentary (Sed), Sedentary treated with losartan (Sed+LOS), Exercise (EX), and Exercise treated with losartan (EX+LOS). Cardiac tissue was obtained 5 and 30 min after 4 sets of 12 repetitions of squat exercise (80 % 1RM). We demonstrated that a single bout of RE did not induce IGF1-R tyrosine phosphorylation. ERK1/2 and P38 phosphorylation levels were elevated in the EX 5min and EX 30min groups however, only ERK1/2 was inhibited by losartan treatment (AT1R blocker). Next, we showed that beta-arrestin-2 expression increased 28 % in trained animals compared to sedentary group. Altogether, our results demonstrate that AT1R, but not IGF1-R, may exert the hypertrophic cardiac stimulus RE-induced. Also, activation of AKT/mTOR and ERK1/2 pathways may occur through the beta-arrestin-dependent pathway.

A PCR-based diagnostic assay for detecting DNA of the olive fruit fly, Bactrocera oleae, in the gut of soil-living arthropods

Bactrocera oleae (Rossi) (Diptera: Tephritidae) is considered the most devastating pest of the olive tree worldwide. In an effort to develop management and biological control strategies against this pest, new molecular tools are urgently needed. In this study, we present the design of B. oleae-specific primers based on mitochondrial DNA sequences of cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene. Two pairs of B. oleae-specific primers were successfully designed and named as SBo1-F/SBo1-R and SBo2-F/SBo1-R, being able to amplify 108 and 214 bp COI fragments, respectively. The specificity of designed primers was tested by amplifying DNA from phylogenetically related (i.e. Diptera order) and other non-pest insects living in olive groves from the Mediterranean region. When using these primers on a PCR-based diagnostic assay, B. oleae DNA was detected in the gut content of a soil-living insect, Pterostichus globosus (Fabricius) (Coleoptera: Carabidae). The detection of B. oleae DNA in the guts of arthropods was further optimized by adding bovine serum albumin enhancer to the PCR reaction, in order to get a fast, reproducible and sensitive tool for detecting B. oleae remains in the guts of soil-living arthropods. This molecular tool could be useful for understanding pest-predator relationships and establishing future biological control strategies for this pest.

Características da silagem de resíduo úmido de fécula de mandioca adicionada de níveis de ureia

Este trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar a composição do resíduo úmido de fécula de mandioca (RUFM) ensilado com diferentes níveis de ureia, verificando possíveis alterações na fermentação e em seu valor nutricional, e características microbiológicas e fermentativas. O delineamento experimental adotado foi o inteiramente casualizado em esquema de parcelas subdivididas 4x2, com os quatro níveis de inclusão de ureia no resíduo úmido de fécula de mandioca (0; 5; 10; 15 e 20 g/kg na matéria natural) alocados nas parcelas, e as posições de amostragem no silo (superficial e intermediária) alocadas nas subparcelas. O RUFM foi ensilado em silos circulares aéreos de concreto, com capacidade para aproximadamente 1000 kg. A ureia foi adicionada ao RUFM em camadas intercaladas no momento da ensilagem, e o material permaneceu ensilado por um período de 45 dias. Decorrido o período de fermentação, os silos foram abertos e foram realizadas as amostragens para a determinação da temperatura, pH, nitrogênio total, nitrogênio amoniacal, matéria seca, matéria mineral, matéria orgânica, proteína bruta, fibra em detergente neutro (FDN), fibra em detergente ácido (FDA), celulose, hemicelulose e lignina, e da população de fungos e leveduras, bactérias ácido-láticas e Clostridium. A adição de ureia até o nível de 20 g/kg na matéria natural para a ensilagem do resíduo úmido de fécula de mandioca com aproximadamente 18 % de MS aumenta o pH, N total, N-NH3, proteína bruta, FDN e FDA da silagem. Porém, esta mesma adição, reduz as populações de bactérias ácido láticas, fungos, leveduras e a população total de microorganismos sem alterar o conteúdo de matéria seca, a hemicelulose, celulose e lignina.

Alterações no feno de campim tifton 85 armazenado à campo ou galpão coberto

Avaliou-se as variações de composição química e ocorrência de fungos no feno de Tifton 85 armazenado à campo ou em galpão por 30 dias. O delineamento experimental foi inteiramente casualizado em parcelas subdivididas no tempo, com dois sistemas de armazenamento e quatro períodos de avaliação. Verificou-se que, dentro de um curto período de tempo (30 dias), houve redução da PB e aumento da PIDA com baixa ocorrência de fungos Aspergillus, Rizophus e Cladosporium e alta ocorrência de Geotrichium, Phoma, Penicillium e Diploccocum.

β-Lapachone activity in synergy with conventional antimicrobials against methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains

The aim of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of lapachol, α-lapachone, β-lapachone and six antimicrobials (ampicillin, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, cefoxitin, gentamicin, ciprofloxacin and meropenem) against twelve strains of Staphylococcus aureus from which resistance phenotypes were previously determined by the disk diffusion method. Five S. aureus strains (LFBM 01, LFBM 26, LFBM 28, LFBM 31 and LFBM 33) showed resistance to all antimicrobial agents tested and were selected for the study of the interaction between β-lapachone and antimicrobial agents, busing checkerboard method. The criteria used to evaluate the synergistic activity were defined by the Fractional Inhibitory Concentration Index (FICI). Among the naphthoquinones, β-lapachone was the most effective against S. aureus strains. FICI values ranged from 0.07 to 0.5, suggesting a synergistic interaction against multidrug resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strains. An additive effect was observed with the combination β-lapachone/ciprofloxacin against the LFBM 33 strain. The combination of β-lapachone with cefoxitin showed no added benefit against LFBM 31 and LFBM 33 strains. This study demonstrated that, in general, β-lapachone combined with beta lactams antimicrobials, fluoroquinolones and carbapenems acts synergistically inhibiting MRSA strains.

Silver nanotoxicity using a light-emitting biosensor Pseudomonas putida isolated from a wastewater treatment plant

The effect of silver ions, nano- and micro-particles on a luminescent biosensor bacterium Pseudomonas putida originally isolated from activated sludge was assessed. The bacterium carrying a stable chromosomal copy of the lux operon (luxCDABE) was able to detect toxicity of ionic and particulate silver over short term incubations ranging from 30 to 240 min. The IC(50) values obtained at different time intervals showed that highest toxicity (lowest IC(50)) was obtained after 90 min incubation for all toxicants and this is considered the optimum incubation for testing. The data show that ionic silver is the most toxic followed by nanosilver particles with microsilver particles being least toxic. Release of nanomaterials is likely to have an effect on the activated sludge process as indicated by the study using a common sludge bacterium involved in biodegradation of organic wastes.