Storage of Calophyllum brasiliense Cambess. seeds / Armazenamento de sementes de Calophyllum brasiliense Cambess

Abstract Calophyllum brasiliense is a species native to Brazil and has potential for use in the timber industry, in the reforestation of degraded areas, besides having medicinal properties. Its propagation is mainly by seeds which, depending on their recalcitrant characteristics, leads to difficulty in conservation, due to changes in its physiological potential during storage. Aiming to contribute to the expansion of its cultivation, rational use and conservation, the objective of this study was to investigate the behavior of C. brasiliense seeds during storage. Different packings (paper, aluminum and polyethylene) and environmental conditions (room temperature and cold chamber) were quarterly tested over 12 months, by evaluating germination viability and vigor. Based on the results, it was concluded that packaging in polyethylene and freezer storage provided the best conditions for the conservation of seeds, keeping them viable for a period of nine months.

Resumo Calophyllum brasiliense é uma espécie nativa do Brasil e está na lista de espécies recomendadas para o reflorestamento de áreas degradadas, além de possuir propriedades medicinais e madeireiras. Sua propagação se dá principalmente via sementes, as quais, em função das suas características recalcitrantes, apresentam dificuldade de conservação, devido a alterações no seu potencial fisiológico ao longo do armazenamento. Visando contribuir com a ampliação de seu cultivo, uso racional e conservação, objetivou-se investigar o comportamento das sementes de C. brasiliense durante 12 meses de armazenamento. Testou-se diferentes embalagens (papel, alumínio e polietileno) e condições ambientais (câmara fria e temperatura ambiente), avaliando-se trimestralmente a germinação, viabilidade e vigor. Com base nos resultados obtidos conclui-se que o acondicionamento em embalagem de polietileno e o armazenamento em câmara fria proporcionou a melhor condição para a conservação das sementes, mantendo essas viáveis por um período de nove meses.

Storage of Calophyllum brasiliense Cambess. seeds.

Calophyllum brasiliense is a species native to Brazil and has potential for use in the timber industry, in the reforestation of degraded areas, besides having medicinal properties. Its propagation is mainly by seeds which, depending on their recalcitrant characteristics, leads to difficulty in conservation, due to changes in its physiological potential during storage. Aiming to contribute to the expansion of its cultivation, rational use and conservation, the objective of this study was to investigate the behavior of C. brasiliense seeds during storage. Different packings (paper, aluminum and polyethylene) and environmental conditions (room temperature and cold chamber) were quarterly tested over 12 months, by evaluating germination viability and vigor. Based on the results, it was concluded that packaging in polyethylene and freezer storage provided the best conditions for the conservation of seeds, keeping them viable for a period of nine months.

Myocardial ischaemia in neonates with perinatal asphyxia. Electrocardiographic, echocardiographic and enzymatic correlations.

In asphyxiated neonates, hypoxia is often responsible for myocardial ischaemia. To evaluate cardiac involvement in neonates with respiratory distress, ECG and echocardiographic recordings were performed, and cardiac enzymes determined. These data were related to clinical presentation and patient outcome. Three groups of neonates were studied: 22 healthy newborn infants (group I) with 5 min Apgar scores > 9 and pH > 7.3; 15 neonates with moderate respiratory distress (group II) which had Apgar scores ranging between 7 and 9, and pH between 7.2 and 7.3; and 13 neonates with severe asphyxia, Apgar scores < 7, and pH < 7.2 (group III). The ECGs were evaluated according to the 4-grade classification proposed by Jedeikin et al. [8]. On the echocardiograms, fractional shortening and aortic flow curve parameters were taken into account. Serum creatine kinase (CK), creatine kinase-MB isoenzyme (CK-MB) and lactate dehydrogenase were determined. All of groups I and II survived, but 5 out of 13 in group III died within the 1st week. Grade 3 or 4 ECG changes were observed only in group III patients, while all group II and 3 patients of group I showed grade 2 ECG changes. Fractional shortening, peak aortic velocity and mean acceleration were significantly reduced in group III, whereas the only abnormality found in group II was a reduced fractional shortening. CK, CK-MB, CK-MB/CK ratio and lactate dehydrogenase were all increased in group III, while in group II only CK-MB and the CK-MB/CK ratio were abnormal. Severely asphyxiated newborn infants reflect relevant ischaemic electrocardiographic changes, depressed left ventricular function and marked cardiac enzyme increase. These alterations are far less pronounced in neonates with mild respiratory distress.

Cryptosporidium sp. in children suffering from acute diarrhea at Uberlândia City, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

This study's objective was to search for Cryptosporidium sp. in diarrheic feces from children aged zero to 12 years and cared for at medical units within Universidade Federal de Uberlândia or at a private practice in Uberlândia, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, from September 1992 to August 1993. Three fecal samples preserved in 10% formalin, were collected from 94 children. Oocyst concentration was performed through Ritchie's (modified) method and staining of fecal smears for each sample (total of 1128 slides) was done by the "Safranin/Methylene Blue" and the "Kinyoun (modified)" techniques. The Hoffmann, Pons & Janer method was also employed to look for other enteroparasites. From 94 children, 4.26% excreted fecal Cryptosporidium oocysts. The infection seemed to vary according to age: 5.08% of patients aged zero to two years old; 33.33% of those aging eight to ten years (P > 0.05). Cryptosporidium appeared in November, December and March, during the rainy season. 20.21% of the children harbored at least one enteroparasite different from Cryptosporidium, mainly Giardia intestinalis (12.77%). From Cryptosporidium infected patients, two had only this kind, another harbored Giardia intestinalis; the last one hosted Strongyloides stercoralis.

Efficient production of a ring derivative of chromosome III by the mating-type switching mechanism in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The mating-type switches in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae occur by unidirectional transposition of replicas of unexpressed genetic information, residing at HML or HMR, into the mating-type locus (MAT). The source loci, HML and HMR, remain unchanged. Interestingly, when the HM cassettes are expressed, as in marl strains, the HML and HMR cassettes can also efficiently switch, apparently by obtaining genetic information from either of the other two cassettes (Klar et al., Cell 25:517-524, 1981). We have isolated a novel chromosome III rearrangement in heterothallic (marl ho) strains, which is also produced efficiently in marl HO cells, presumably the consequence of a recombination event between HML and HMR. The fusion results in the loss of sequences which are located distal to HML and to HMR and produces a ring derivative of chromosome III. Cells containing such a ring chromosome are viable as haploids; apparently, no essential loci are located distal to the HM loci. The fusion cassette behaves as a standard HM locus with respect to both regulation by the MAR/SIR control and its role in switching MAT.