An evaluation of the accuracy and precision of methane prediction equations for beef cattle fed high-forage and high-grain diets.

The study determined the performance of equations to predict enteric methane (CH4) from beef cattle fed forage- and grain-based diets. Many equations are available to predict CH4 from beef cattle and the predictions vary substantially among equations. The aims were to (1) construct a database of CH4 emissions for beef cattle from published literature, and (2) identify the most precise and accurate extant CH4 prediction models for beef cattle fed diets varying in forage content. The database was comprised of treatment means of CH4 production from in vivo beef studies published from 2000 to 2015. Criteria to include data in the database were as follows: animal description, intakes, diet composition and CH4 production. In all, 54 published equations that predict CH4 production from diet composition were evaluated. Precision and accuracy of the equations were evaluated using the concordance correlation coefficient (r c ), root mean square prediction error (RMSPE), model efficiency and analysis of errors. Equations were ranked using a combined index of the various statistical assessments based on principal component analysis. The final database contained 53 studies and 207 treatment means that were divided into two data sets: diets containing ⩾400 g/kg dry matter (DM) forage (n=116) and diets containing ⩽200 g/kg DM forage (n=42). Diets containing between ⩽400 and ⩾200 g/kg DM forage were not included in the analysis because of their limited numbers (n=6). Outliers, treatment means where feed was fed restrictively and diets with CH4 mitigation additives were omitted (n=43). Using the high-forage dataset the best-fit equations were the International Panel on Climate Change Tier 2 method, 3 equations for steers that considered gross energy intake (GEI) and body weight and an equation that considered dry matter intake and starch:neutral detergent fiber with r c ranging from 0.60 to 0.73 and RMSPE from 35.6 to 45.9 g/day. For the high-grain diets, the 5 best-fit equations considered intakes of metabolisable energy, cellulose, hemicellulose and fat, or for steers GEI and body weight, with r c ranging from 0.35 to 0.52 and RMSPE from 47.4 to 62.9 g/day. Ranking of extant CH4 prediction equations for their accuracy and precision differed with forage content of the diet. When used for cattle fed high-grain diets, extant CH4 prediction models were generally imprecise and lacked accuracy.

Expression, functionality, and localization of apurinic/apyrimidinic endonucleases in replicative and non-replicative forms of Trypanosoma cruzi.

Trypanosoma cruzi is the etiological agent of Chagas disease. The parasite has to overcome oxidative damage by ROS/RNS all along its life cycle to survive and to establish a chronic infection. We propose that T. cruzi is able to survive, among other mechanisms of detoxification, by repair of its damaged DNA through activation of the DNA base excision repair (BER) pathway. BER is highly conserved in eukaryotes with apurinic/apirimidinic endonucleases (APEs) playing a fundamental role. Previous results showed that T. cruzi exposed to hydrogen peroxide and peroxinitrite significantly decreases its viability when co-incubated with methoxyamine, an AP endonuclease inhibitor. In this work the localization, expression and functionality of two T. cruzi APEs (TcAP1, Homo sapiens APE1 orthologous and TcAP2, orthologous to Homo sapiens APE2 and to Schizosaccaromyces pombe Apn2p) were determined. These enzymes are present and active in the two replicative parasite forms (epimastigotes and amastigotes) as well as in the non-replicative, infective trypomastigotes. TcAP1 and TcAP2 are located in the nucleus of epimastigotes and their expression is constitutive. Epimastigote AP endonucleases as well as recombinant TcAP1 and TcAP2 are inhibited by methoxyamine. Overexpression of TcAP1 increases epimastigotes viability when they are exposed to acute ROS/RNS attack. This protective effect is more evident when parasites are submitted to persistent ROS/RNS exposition, mimicking nature conditions. Our results confirm that the BER pathway is involved in T. cruzi resistance to DNA oxidative damage and points to the participation of DNA AP endonucleases in parasite survival.

La experiencia de abuso en las madres: ¿es un predictor de abuso sexual de sus hijos? / A history of abuse in mothers is a predictor of sexual abuse in children?

Introducción: La madre de un niño que ha sufrido abuso sexual tiene un rol complejo tanto en el fenómeno del abuso del hijo como en la reparación psicológica posterior. Con el propósito de establecer la relación entre experiencias de abuso sexual infantil a través de las generaciones, se exploraron aspectos de las historias de madres que pueden estar asociados a la ocurrencia de abuso sexual de los hijos. Método: Se administró una encuesta a dos grupos de madres: uno cuyos hijos fueron abusados y otro con hijos no abusados. Resultados: Las madres de niños abusados sexualmente presentan más reportes de abuso sexual en la infancia, en comparación con el otro grupo. Conclusiones: Existe relación entre el abuso sexual de un hijo y el relato materno de experiencias abusivas en la infancia. Se requiere mayor investigación para explorar factores involucrados en esta relación y si éstos se asocian a capacidades parentales.