Seasonal changes in ionoregulatory variables of the glass eel Anguilla anguilla following estuarine entry: comparison with resident elvers

In the present study, glass eels Anguilla anguilla in the Minho River estuary (41·5° N, 8·5° W) decreased in size (standard length, L _S and mass, M ) from the beginning (autumn) to the end of the sampling season (summer). On the other hand elvers increased in L _S and M from spring to summer and were significantly larger than glass eels in paired comparisons. Branchial Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase and vacuolar (V-type) proton ATPase ( in vitro activities), two important ion transporting pumps, did not show significant seasonal changes in either glass eels or elvers although in glass eels Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase (activity) expression was significantly higher than in elvers. In a single month comparison Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase branchial mRNA expression was also higher in glass eels as was the protein level expression of both Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase and NKCC (Na⁺:K⁺:2Cl⁻ co-transporter). Immunofluorescence microscopy indicated apical CFTR Cl⁻ channel labelling in Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase positive chloride cell in glass eels which was absent in elvers. Whole body sodium concentration and percentage water did not show significant seasonal differences in either glass eels or elvers although there were significant differences between these two groups during some months.     

Spiral bacterium associated with gastric, ileal and caecal mucosa of mice.

A spiral shaped bacterium was seen in smears and histological sections (stained by carbolfuchsin) of gastric, ileal and caecal mucosa as well as in stool smears from mice. A significant correlation between the presence of the spiral bacterium and the occurrence of gastritis was observed but the ileal and caecal mucosa seemed unaffected. The bacterium was Gram negative and grew on BHM and Skirrow's medium, under microaerophilic conditions, at 37 degrees C. Its major biochemical characteristics included positive catalase and oxidase reactions and a rapidly positive urease test. There were 2 or 3 spiral turns per cell and a tuft of up to 12 sheathed flagella on each pointed end. Entwined, braided periplasmic fibrils covered the surface of the cell. This spiral bacterium seemed to be part of the normal intestinal flora but was associated with gastritis.     

Distribution of parasympathetic motoneurones in the oculomotor complex innervating the ciliary ganglion in the marmoset (Callithrix jacchus)

Parasympathetic motoneurones in the oculomotor complex which innervate the ciliary ganglion were identified using the horseradish peroxidase (HRP) retrograde axonal tracer technique. The ciliary ganglion was located behind the eye by a lateral orbital approach and injected with HRP pellets mounted on the tips of microelectrodes. Most of the labelled cells were distributed throughout the whole Edinger-Westphal nucleus (EW). Outside the EW, only a small number of labelled cells were found, and most of these were located in the median zone ventral to the EW. There was no evidence of a division of the EW into rostral and posterior subnuclei, nor for separate cell populations in the EW and the anterior median nucleus (AM), respectively. At rostral levels labelled cells were confined to the EW with no overlap into the AM. In contrast to most previous studies no labelled cells were found in the AM. The possible physiological functions of the EW and the ventral components of the EW are discussed.     

Isolation and characterisation of cell wall polymers from the heavily lignified tissues of olive (Olea europaea) seed hull

Cell wall material (CWM) was prepared from olive seed hull, which is heavily lignified and very tough. The material was cryomilled and delignified with chlorite/acetic acid for 9 h to give the holocellulose. Polymers were solubilised from the holocellulose by sequential extraction with cyclohexane-trans-1,2-diamine-NNN'N'-tetra-acetate (CDTA, Na salt), DMSO, 0.5, 1 and 4 KOH and 4 KOH + borate to leave the -cellulose residue. The suspension of -cellulose on neutralisation released a small amount of pectic material virtually free of xylan to give '-cellulose. The polymers from the various extracts were fractionated by graded precipitation with ethanol prior to anion-exchange chromatography, and selected fractions were subjected to methylation analysis. During delignification, glucuronoxylans with relatively low degrees of polymerisation (DP) and xylan-pectic polysaccharide complexes linked to degraded lignin were solubilised. A proportion of the xylan-pectic polysaccharide complexes were solubilised by 0.5 KOH. The major hemicellulosic polysaccharides of the olive seed hulls are glucuronoxylans, which occur as highly branched short chains, with DP of 30–60; or slightly branched chains with DP of 90–110. Partial acid hydrolysis of the major acidic xylan, gel-filtration chromatography and methylation analysis allowed us to propose a tentative structure for the major glucuronoxylan in which one residue of GlcpA occurs in each 14 continuously linked Xylp residues in a regular structure.     

Effect of low-level laser therapy on abdominal adipocytes before lipoplasty procedures

Low-level laser therapy is a new subspecialty for the medical application of lasers that provides therapeutic rather than surgical outcomes for many medical indications. Recently, low-level laser therapy was reported to "liquefy" or release stored fat in adipocytes by the opening of specialized yet not identified cell membrane-associated pores after a brief treatment. Currently, low-level laser therapy is a U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved technology for improving pain alleviation. To explore these data further, a series of in vitro studies on human preadipocytes and institutional animal care and use committee-approved protocols in a porcine Yucatan model and an institutional review board-approved clinical study were performed. Using a 635-nm low-level laser of 1.0 J/cm supplied to the authors by the vendor, these studies were designed to determine whether alteration in adipocyte structure or function was modulated after low-level laser therapy. Cultured human preadipocytes after 60 minutes of laser therapy did not change appearance compared with nonirradiated control cells. In the porcine model, low-level laser therapy (30 minutes) was compared with traditional lipoplasty (suction-assisted lipoplasty) and ultrasound-assisted lipoplasty. From histologic and scanning electron microscopic evaluations of the lipoaspirates, no differences were observed between low-level laser therapy-derived and suction-assisted lipoplasty-derived specimens. Using exposure times of 0, 15, 30, and 60 minutes in the presence or absence of superwet wetting solution and in the absence of lipoplasty, total energy values of 0.9 mW were delivered to tissue samples at three increasing depths from each experimental site. No histologic tissue changes or specifically in adipocyte structure were observed at any depth with the longest low-level laser therapy (60 minutes with superwet fluid). Three subjects undergoing large-volume lipoplasty were exposed to superwet wetting fluid infiltration 14 minutes before and 12 minutes after, according to vendor instructions. Tissue samples from infiltrated areas were collected before suction-assisted lipoplasty and lipoaspirates from suction-assisted lipoplasty. No consistent observations of adipocyte disruptions were observed in the histologic or scanning electron microscopy photographs. These data do not support the belief that low-level laser therapy treatment before lipoplasty procedures disrupts tissue adipocyte structure.     

Association of human leukocyte antigen DQ1 and dengue fever in a white Southern Brazilian population

Dengue is an infectious disease of viral etiology transmitted by the mosquitoes Aedes aegypti, A. albopictus, and A. scutellaris. It can develop either as a benign form or as a severe hemorrhagic form. Previous work showed an association of the hemorrhagic form with human leukocyte antigens (HLA), suggesting a role of genetic factors in disease susceptibility. Nevertheless, data on HLA association with the classical form of the disease is scarce in literature. Sixty-four patients and 667 normal individuals, living in the state of Parana, Southern Brazil, were used as test and control group, respectively. The patients developed the disease during a virus 1 dengue outbreak either in Maringa city in 1995 (47) or in Paranavai city in 1999 (17). The diagnostic was confirmed through serology and/or viral culture. HLA class I and II typing was performed by the classical microlynfocitotoxicity test using monoclonal antisera and fluorobeads. Qui-square statistical analysis confirmed a positive association with HLA-DQ1 (76.6% vs 57.7%; p = 0.005243; pc = 0.026215). HLA-DR1 also presented an increased frequency in the test group, not statistically significant after p correction though (32.8% vs 15.9%; p = 0.005729; pc = 0.080206). In conclusion, genetic factors may play a role on the susceptibility to the classical dengue, virus 1, in the Brazilian population. Further independent studies should be performed in the Brazilian population to confirm these preliminary data.     

Black piedra among the Zoró Indians from Amazônia (Brazil)

A total of 130 Zoró Indians from the Brazilian Amazon were observed as part of an epidemiological survey. Black piedra was found in 74 (56.9%) individuals. Infection rates between the sexes were not significantly different. The age group least infected comprised the children, 0–10 years of age. The authors comment on the epidemiology of the infection among the Zoró.     

Biostratigraphy and paleoceanographical significance of the Neogene planktonic foraminifera from the Pelotas Basin, southernmost Brazil

Analysis of the planktonic foraminifers recovered from 1-SCS-2 drill-hole, Florianópolis platform (Pelotas Basin, southern Brazilian Atlantic Margin), allowed recognition of the Catapsydrax dissimilis, Catapsydrax stainforthi, Globorotalia fohsi robusta, Globorotalia mayeri, Globorotalia margaritae evoluta and Globigerinoides trilobus fistulosus Miocene and Pliocene zones and four important hiatuses. Correlation with well 1-SCS-3B and other zonal schemes, as well as recognition of early diagenesis instead of a reworking process, allowed confident age assignment. The Miocene foraminifers constitute a tropical/sub-tropical assemblage, whereas in the Pliocene, the presence of scarce species associated to subantarctic water masses suggests that the Malvinas Current reaches the area but it was not a controlling factor in the paleoenvironmental conditions.     

Effects of fungus inoculation and salt stress on physiology and biochemistry of in vitro grapevines: Emphasis on sugar composition changes by FT-IR analyses

The impacts of salt stress and inoculation in in vitro grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) growth, nutrient accumulation, osmoregulation, photosynthesis and membrane integrity were evaluated. One month exposure to 100 mM NaCl as well as to inoculation with Phaeomoniella chlamydospora reduced relative growth rate (RGR) and induced senescence in grapevine plants, shown by: (1) decrease of Ψ_π without osmoregulation, (2) decrease of chlorophyll content and fluorescence, (3) loss of membrane integrity and (4) nutritional disorders. To assess putative changes in structural and/or non-structural carbohydrates induced by these two stress conditions, alcohol insoluble residues from the roots, stems and leaves were also characterised by FT-IR and GC with respect to the sugar composition. The referred organs were distinguished based on: (1) higher proportion of uronic acid residues in leaves which diagnose the presence of pectic polysaccharides (wavenumbers 1100, 1150 and 1018 cm^?1 in FT-IR spectra), (2) higher proportion of xylose and glucose on stems and FT-IR spectra diagnostic of xylose-rich polysaccharides (1041 cm^?1) and cellulose (1060 cm^?1), (3) higher proportion of glucose residues, xylose and arabinose on roots and a FT-IR spectra characteristic of xylose-rich polysaccharides (1041 cm^?1). The main alterations induced by salt stress and inoculation were more visible in leaves, where the content of uronic acid decreased showing that changes in cell wall composition occurred, mostly at the pectic fraction. Besides, an accumulation of insoluble glucose was found, and FT-IR spectra showed that this glucose-based material was starch (maximum absorption at 998 cm^?1), accumulated as a non-specific response to salt stress and P. chlamydospora inoculation.