Use of new recombinant proteins for ovarian stimulation in ruminants.

Currently, gonadotropin products (follicle stimulating hormone, FSH, and luteinizing hormone, LH) used in animal reproduction are produced by extraction and purification from abattoir-derived pituitary glands. This method, relying on animal-derived materials, carries the potential risk of hormone contamination and pathogen transmission. Additionally, chorionic gonadotropins are extracted from the blood of pregnant mares (equine chorionic gonadotropin; eCG) or the urine of pregnant women (human chorionic gonadotropin; hCG).

The Volume-Time Curve by Three-Dimensional Echocardiography in Chagas Cardiomyopathy: Insights into the Mechanism of Hemodynamic Adaptations.

Background: Three-dimensional echocardiography (3D ECHO) allows the generation of a volume-time curve representative of changes in the left ventricular (LV) volume throughout the entire cardiac cycle.

Objective: This study aims to demonstrate the hemodynamic adaptations present in Chagas cardiomyopathy (CC) by means of the volume and flow measurements obtained by the volume-time curve by 3D ECHO.

Methods: Twenty patients with CC and 15 healthy subjects were prospectively enrolled in a cross-sectional design study.

COVID-19 epidemic curve in Brazil: a sum of multiple epidemics, whose inequality and population density in the states are correlated with growth rate and daily acceleration. An ecological study.

Background: The epidemic curve has been obtained based on the 7-day moving average of the events. Although it facilitates the visualization of discrete variables, it does not allow the calculation of the absolute variation rate. Recently, we demonstrated that the polynomial interpolation method can be used to accurately calculate the daily acceleration of cases and deaths due to COVID-19.

Covid-19 growth rate analysis: application of a low-complexity tool for understanding and comparing epidemic curves.

Introduction: The acceleration of new cases is important for the characterization and comparison of epidemic curves. The objective of this study was to quantify the acceleration of daily confirmed cases and death curves using the polynomial interpolation method.

Methods: Covid-19 epidemic curves from Brazil, Germany, the United States, and Russia were obtained.

The Infertility of Repeat-Breeder Cows During Summer Is Associated with Decreased Mitochondrial DNA and Increased Expression of Mitochondrial and Apoptotic Genes in Oocytes.

Oocyte quality is known to be a major cause of infertility in repeat-breeder (RB) and heat-stressed dairy cows. However, the mechanisms by which RB oocytes become less capable of supporting embryo development remain largely unknown. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate whether the decreased oocyte competence of RB cows (RBs) during summer is associated with an altered gene expression profile and a decrease in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number.

Tonic pupil in leprosy.

Pupil abnormalities in leprosy usually result from chronic iritis with loss of stroma, iris miosis, a sluggish reaction to light, and poor dilation in response to anticholinergic mydriatics. We report two patients with long-standing lepromatous leprosy who developed tonic pupils characterized by mydriasis, absence of reaction to light and hypersensitivity to weak cholinergic solution. Examination revealed iritis and iris atrophy.

Mitochondrial localization of non-histone protein HMGB1 during human endothelial cell-Toxoplasma gondii infection.

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular pathogen, replicating only within a specialized membrane-bounded cytoplasmic vacuole, the parasitophorous vacuole (PV), which interacts with host cell mitochondria. High mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), a known nuclear transcription factor, also may be involved in pathological conditions, whose function is to signal tissue damage. Using confocal microscopy, we have investigated the localization of HMGB1 and the mitochondria performance during interaction between human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) and Toxoplasma.

Immunolocalization of an osteopontin-like protein in dense granules of Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites and its association with the parasitophorous vacuole.

Toxoplasma gondii is an apicomplexan parasite infecting a broad host range, including humans. The parasite invades host cell by active penetration with the participation of its secretory organelles proteins during this process. Until now, only a limited number of secretory proteins have been discovered, and the effectors molecules involved in parasite invasion and survival are not well understood.