Efeito da suplementação de suínos em terminação com diferentes associações entre minerais sobre o desempenho, as características de carcaça e a viabilidade econômica / Effect of supplementation of finishing swines with different associations between minerals on performance, carcass characteristics and economic viability

Objetivou-se, com este estudo, verificar a influência da suplementação com diferentes associações entre minerais orgânicos sobre o desempenho e as características de carcaça, bem como avaliar sua viabilidade econômica, para suínos em terminação. Foram utilizados 88 machos castrados, divididos entre quatro tratamentos: controle com dieta basal e suplementação com CrFe, MgSe e CrFeMgSe, durante os 28 dias que antecederam o abate. O delineamento experimental foi em blocos ao acaso, com parcela experimental representada por dois animais. Os animais suplementados com CrFeMgSe apresentaram piores índices de peso final, ganho de peso diário e consumo durante todo o período, com consequente redução no peso de carcaça, menor profundidade de lombo, área de olho-de-lombo e menor quantidade de carne magra na carcaça. Houve um aumento no custo da dieta para os grupos CrFe, MgSe e CrFeMgSe, respectivamente. O uso de cromo mais ferro e magnésio mais selênio, associados dois a dois, não altera os parâmetros de desempenho e as características de carcaça. A associação dos quatro minerais, no entanto, promove piora nessas características e aumenta o custo da dieta.(AU)

This study aimed to verify the influence of supplementation with different associations between organic minerals on performance, carcass characteristics and economic viability for finishing swine. 88 castrated males were divided in four treatments: control with basal diet and supplementation with CrFe, MgSe and CrFeMgSe during the 28 days prior to slaughter. The experimental design was randomized blocks with an experimental plot represented by two animals. The animals supplemented with CrFeMgSe had worse final weight, daily weight gain and consumption throughout the period, with consequent reduction in carcass weight, lower loin depth, loin eye area and amount of lean meat. There was an increase in the effective operational cost of diet with CrFe, MgSe and CrFeMgSe groups, respectively. The use of chromium plus iron and magnesium plus selenium, associated two by two, did not alter the performance parameters and carcass. However, the four minerals association promote a worsening in these characteristics and increase the cost of production.(AU)

Landscape structure in the Pirapó, Paranapanema 3 and 4 Hydrographic Unit, in the state of Paraná, Brazil / Estrutura da paisagem na Unidade Hidrográfica Pirapó, Paranapanema 3 e 4, no estado do Paraná, Brasil

The aim of this study is to characterize the Pirapó, Paranapanema 3 and 4 Hydrographic Unit, emphasizing its physical attributes and processes of use and occupation, responsible for the structure of the current landscape and the state of its water resources. The recognition of the landscape’s spatial structure in the hydrographic unit and its drainage basins was obtained by integrated analysis of the main elements that compose it: geology, landforms (hypsometric and slope), soils, climate and land use. Analysis revealed that within each drainage basin several variations in the spatial structure of the landscape occur which produce an internal compartmentalization. Each compartment is defined by its own geo-ecological structure, physiognomic standards and dynamics, reflected in its potentialities and vulnerabilities and in the conditions of water resources in the wake of occupation and use over time.

Resumo O objetivo deste trabalho é caracterizar a Unidade Hidrográfica do Pirapó, Paranapanema 3 e 4, ressaltando os seus atributos físicos e os processos de uso e ocupação, responsáveis pela estrutura da paisagem atual e pelo estado dos seus recursos hídricos. O reconhecimento da estrutura espacial da paisagem na unidade hidrográfica e nas suas bacias foi obtido por meio da análise integrada dos principais elementos que a compõe: geologia, relevo, solos, clima e uso da terra. A análise mostrou que no interior de cada bacia hidrográfica ocorrem variações na estrutura espacial da paisagem que produzem uma compartimentação interna. Cada compartimento se define por uma estrutura geoecológica, padrões fisionômicos e dinâmicos próprios o que se reflete nas suas potencialidades e vulnerabilidades e nas condições dos seus recursos hídricos, em face das formas de ocupação e uso ao longo do tempo.

Landscape structure in the Pirapó, Paranapanema 3 and 4 Hydrographic Unit, in the state of Paraná, Brazil

The aim of this study is to characterize the Pirapó, Paranapanema 3 and 4 Hydrographic Unit, emphasizing its physical attributes and processes of use and occupation, responsible for the structure of the current landscape and the state of its water resources. The recognition of the landscapes spatial structure in the hydrographic unit and its drainage basins was obtained by integrated analysis of the main elements that compose it: geology, landforms (hypsometric and slope), soils, climate and land use. Analysis revealed that within each drainage basin several variations in the spatial structure of the landscape occur which produce an internal compartmentalization. Each compartment is defined by its own geo-ecological structure, physiognomic standards and dynamics, reflected in its potentialities and vulnerabilities and in the conditions of water resources in the wake of occupation and use over time.

Resumo O objetivo deste trabalho é caracterizar a Unidade Hidrográfica do Pirapó, Paranapanema 3 e 4, ressaltando os seus atributos físicos e os processos de uso e ocupação, responsáveis pela estrutura da paisagem atual e pelo estado dos seus recursos hídricos. O reconhecimento da estrutura espacial da paisagem na unidade hidrográfica e nas suas bacias foi obtido por meio da análise integrada dos principais elementos que a compõe: geologia, relevo, solos, clima e uso da terra. A análise mostrou que no interior de cada bacia hidrográfica ocorrem variações na estrutura espacial da paisagem que produzem uma compartimentação interna. Cada compartimento se define por uma estrutura geoecológica, padrões fisionômicos e dinâmicos próprios o que se reflete nas suas potencialidades e vulnerabilidades e nas condições dos seus recursos hídricos, em face das formas de ocupação e uso ao longo do tempo.

Effect of aerobic training on EEG alpha asymmetry and depressive symptoms in the elderly: a 1-year follow-up study

The effect of physical exercise on the treatment of depressive elderly adults has not been investigated thus far in terms of changes in cortical hemispheric activity. The objective of the present study was to identify changes in depressive symptoms, quality of life, and cortical asymmetry produced by aerobic activity. Elderly subjects with a diagnosis of major depressive disorder (DSM-IV) were included. Twenty patients (70 percent females, 71 ± 3 years) were divided into an exercise group (pharmacological treatment plus aerobic training) and a control group (undergoing pharmacological treatment) in a quasi-experimental design. Pharmacological treatment was maintained stable throughout the study (antidepressants and anxiolytics). Subjects were evaluated by depression scales (Beck Depression Inventory, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale) and the Short Form Health Survey-36, and electroencephalographic measurements (frontal and parietal alpha asymmetry) before and after 1 year of treatment. After 1 year, the control group showed a decrease in cortical activity on the right hemisphere (increase of alpha power), which was not observed in the exercise group. The exercise group showed a significant decrease of depressive symptoms, which was not observed in the control group. This result was also accompanied by improved treatment response and remission rate after 1 year of aerobic exercise associated with treatment. This study provides support for the effect of aerobic training on alpha activity and on depressive symptoms in elderly patients. Exercise facilitates the treatment of depressive elderly adults, leading to clinical and physical improvement and protecting against a decrease in cortical activity.

Prevalence and clinical aspects of respiratory syncytial virus A and B groups in children seen at Hospital de Clínicas of Uberlândia, MG, Brazil

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is well recognized as the most important pathogen causing acute respiratory disease in infants and young children, mainly in the form of bronchiolitis and pneumonia. Two major antigenic groups, A and B, have been identified; however, there is disagreement about the severity of the diseases caused by these two types. This study investigated a possible association between RSV groups and severity of disease. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction was used to characterize 128 RSV nasopharyngeal specimens from children less than five years old experiencing acute respiratory disease. A total of 82 of 128 samples (64.1 percent) could be typed, and, of these, 78 percent were group A, and 22 percent were group B. Severity was measured by clinical evaluation associated with demographic factors: for RSV A-infected patients, 53.1 percent were hospitalized, whereas for RSV B patients, 27.8 percent were hospitalized (p = 0.07). Around 35.0 percent of the patients presented risk factors for severity (e.g., prematurity). For those without risk factors, the hospitalization occurred in 47.6 percent of patients infected with RSV A and in 18.2 percent infected with RSV B. There was a trend for RSV B infections to be milder than those of RSV A. Even though RSV A-infected patients, including cases without underlying condition and prematurity, were more likely to require hospitalization than those infected by RSV B, the disease severity could not to be attributed to the RSV groups.

A calcineurin inhibitory protein overexpressed in Down's syndrome interacts with the product of a ubiquitously expressed transcript

The Down's syndrome candidate region 1 (DSCR1) protein, encoded by a gene located in the human chromosome 21, interacts with calcineurin and is overexpressed in Down's syndrome patients. As an approach to clarifying a putative function for this protein, in the present study we used the yeast two-hybrid system to identify DSCR1 partners. The two-hybrid system is a method that allows the identification of protein-protein interactions through reconstitution of the activity of the yeast GAL 4 transcriptional activator. The gene DSCR1 fused to the GAL 4 binding domain (BD) was used to screen a human fetal brain cDNA library cloned in fusion with the GAL 4 activation domain (AD). Three positive clones were found and sequence analysis revealed that all the plasmids coded for the ubiquitously expressed transcript (UXT). UXT, which is encoded in human Xp11, is a 157-amino acid protein present in both cytosol and nucleus of the cells. This positive interaction of DSCR1 and UXT was confirmed in vivo by mating the yeast strain AH109 (MATa)expressing AD-UXT with the strain Y187 (MATalfa) expressing BD-DSCR1, and in vitro by co-immunoprecipitation experiments. These results may help elucidate a new function for DSCR1 and its participation in Down's syndrome pathogenesis.

Trypanosoma cruzi prevalence and clinical forms in blood donor candidates in Brazil

The prevalence and clinical forms of Trypanosoma cruzi were evaluated among blood donor candidates attended at a general hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from January 1997 to April 1999. The investigation was done by means of the indirect hemagglutination test and was confirmed via ELISA. Data were collected from clinical examinations, conventional electrocardiogram, chest radiography and echocar-diography. The results showed that despite Trypanosoma cruzi prevalence of 1.17 percent (128 patients), mainly in males aged 40 years or over, 70.8 percent of these patients, mainly males aged 19 to 39 years, demonstrated abnormalities that allowed the diagnosis of cardiopathy and/or esophagopathy. This once again corroborates the importance of Trypanosoma cruzi infection in urban centers.