Heat stress response in slick vs normal-haired Criollo Limonero heifers in a tropical environment.

To assess the effect of hair type on the heat stress response, 20 Criollo Limonero heifers with slick (n = 11) or normal hair (n = 9) were studied. Under a high temperature-humidity index (THI) environment, heat stress response was assessed through physiological variables that included respiration rate (RR), heart rate (HR), ruminal frequency (RMF), rectal temperature (RT), saliva pH (SPH), and lymphocyte count (LC) in the morning (5:00 AM, 27.4 °C, 64% relative humidity, THI = 77) and afternoon (1:00 PM, 34.5 °C, 70% relative humidity, THI = 88). A case-control study using a split plot design was used. Data were analyzed using ANOVA (PROC MIXED SAS 2010) and a statistical model comprising the fixed effects of hair length, sampling hour, interaction of hair length by sampling hour, and the random effect of animal nested within hair type on physiological variables associated with heat stress response. Sampling hour influenced (P < 0.0001) RR, RT, and (P < 0.003) SPH. Hair length influenced RR (P < 0.01) and RT (P < 0.04) and tended to influence LC (P < 0.07). The interaction of sampling hour by hair influenced RR (P < 0.04), RT (P < 0.0002), and both SPH and LC (P < 0.05). During afternoon hours, slick-haired heifers had lower values for RR (81 ± 4.2 vs 102 ± 4.7 bpm; P < 0.01), RT (39.5 ± 0.1 vs 40.3 ± 0.1 C°; P < 0.002), and LC (60 ± 3.2 vs 72.3 ± 3.6; P < 0.09) than normal-haired heifers. In normal-haired heifers, SPH increased during afternoon compared to morning-hours (8.66 ± 0.1 vs 9.11 ± 0.1; P < 0.04). It was concluded that slick-coated heifers exhibited an enhanced capability to cope with heat stress compared to normal-haired heifers likely due to an enhanced capacity for heat dissipation.

SOROEPIDEMIOLOGIA DE Toxoplasma gondii E Neospora caninum EM UMA POPULAÇÃO CANINA HOSPITALAR NO SUL DE MINAS GERAIS, BRASIL / SEROEPIDEMIOLOGY OF Toxoplasma gondii AND Neospora caninum IN CANINE HOSPITAL POPULATION IN SOUTHERN MINAS GERAIS, BRAZIL

 Toxoplasma gondii (Apicomplexa: Sarcocystidae) é um protozoário que causa a toxoplasmose, zoonose cosmopolita de grande relevância em saúde pública. Embora a toxoplasmose canina possa provocar distúrbios neurológicos, a infecção nessa espécie tem como relevância epidemiológica o fato dos cães atuarem como animais sentinela para o risco de infecção da população humana. Neospora caninum, protozoário apicomplexa (Sarcocystidae), é responsável pela neosporose, doença parasitária cosmopolita que pode provocar distúrbios neuromusculares graves em cães, porém, se destaca por ser, atualmente, uma das principais causas de aborto e natimortalidade em bovinos, sem evidências de potencial zoonótico, até o momento. Este estudo observacional seccional teve como objetivo determinar a frequência de cães infectados por T. gondii e N. caninum, e associar o status sorológico a algumas variáveis epidemiológicas. Amostras de soros foram coletadas de 158 cães, de ambos os sexos, raças e idades variadas, ate

SOROEPIDEMIOLOGIA DE Toxoplasma gondii E Neospora caninum EM UMA POPULAÇÃO CANINA HOSPITALAR NO SUL DE MINAS GERAIS, BRASIL / SEROEPIDEMIOLOGY OF Toxoplasma gondii AND Neospora caninum IN CANINE HOSPITAL POPULATION IN SOUTHERN MINAS GERAIS, BRAZIL

 Toxoplasma gondii (Apicomplexa: Sarcocystidae) é um protozoário que causa a toxoplasmose, zoonose cosmopolita de grande relevância em saúde pública. Embora a toxoplasmose canina possa provocar distúrbios neurológicos, a infecção nessa espécie tem como relevância epidemiológica o fato dos cães atuarem como animais sentinela para o risco de infecção da população humana. Neospora caninum, protozoário apicomplexa (Sarcocystidae), é responsável pela neosporose, doença parasitária cosmopolita que pode provocar distúrbios neuromusculares graves em cães, porém, se destaca por ser, atualmente, uma das principais causas de aborto e natimortalidade em bovinos, sem evidências de potencial zoonótico, até o momento. Este estudo observacional seccional teve como objetivo determinar a frequência de cães infectados por T. gondii e N. caninum, e associar o status sorológico a algumas variáveis epidemiológicas. Amostras de soros foram coletadas de 158 cães, de ambos os sexos, raças e idades variadas, ate

Functional analysis of a TGA factor-binding site located in the promoter region controlling salicylic acid-induced NIMIN-1 expression in Arabidopsis.

TGA factors play a key role in plant defense by binding to the promoter region of defense genes, inducing expression. Salicylic acid (SA) induces the expression of the gene encoding NIMIN-1, which interacts with NPR1/NIM1, a key regulator of systemic acquired resistance. We investigated whether the TGA2-binding motif TGACG located upstream of the NIMIN-1 gene is necessary for SA induction of NIMIN-1 expression. A mutated version of the NIMIN-1 promoter was created by site-directed mutagenesis. We generated T-DNA constructs in which native NIMIN-1 and mutated promoters were fused to green fluorescent protein and beta-glucuronidase reporters. We produced transgenic Arabidopsis plants and observed NIMIN-1 promoter-driven green fluorescent protein expression in the roots, petiole and leaves. Constructs were agroinfiltrated into the leaves for transient quantitative assays of gene expression. Using quantitative real-time RT-PCR, we characterized the normal gene response to SA and compared it to the response of the mutant version of the NIMIN-1 promoter. Both the native NIMIN-1 construct and an endogenous copy of NIMIN-1 were induced by SA. However, the mutated promoter construct was much less sensitive to SA than the native NIMIN-1 promoter, indicating that this TGA2-binding motif is directly involved in the modulation of SA-induced NIMIN-1 expression in Arabidopsis.

[Family planning in Brazil]. / Planejamento familiar no Brasil.

PIP: In 1970, 41.6% of the Brazilian population was represented by children aged 0-14, and by 21.3% of women in fertile age; the birth rate was 36.9/1000. Without an appropriate national program of family planning, Brazil will have in the year 2000, 218.8 million inhabitants. The need for family planning services in Brazil is evident, even more so since abortion is forbidden, unless for therapeutic reasons. A national family planning program should include a complete range of maternal and child services, and screening for high-risk women; in other words, family planning should be thought of and used as preventive medicine. Family planning is not so much a right as a duty of the couple. The Catholic church, largely prevalent in Brazil, approves of family planning when practiced with the means allowed by the church itself.^ieng