Phylogeography, Historical Population Demography, and Climatic Modeling of Two Bird Species Uncover Past Connections Between Amazonia and the Atlantic Forest.

We combined mitochondrial DNA sequence data and paleoclimatic distribution models to document phylogeographic patterns and investigate the historical demography of two manakins, and , as well as to explore connections between Amazonia and the Atlantic Forest. ND2 sequences of (75 individuals, 24 sites) and (196, 77) were used in Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood analyses. We estimated mitochondrial nucleotide diversity, employed statistical tests to detect deviations from neutral evolution and constant population sizes, and used species distribution modeling to infer the location of suitable climate for both species under present-day conditions, the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), and the Last Interglacial Maximum (LIG).

Positive roadside edge effects on artificial nest survival in a lowland Atlantic Forest.

Road construction is considered to be one of the primary causes of forest fragmentation, and little is known about how roads affect bird reproductive success. The objective of this study was to assess the survival rate of artificial nests along an edge associated with a highway and in the interior of a tabuleiro forest. The study was performed at the Sooretama Biological Reserve, on the margins of federal highway BR-101, between September and October 2015.

Amphibians of Santa Teresa, Brazil: the hotspot further evaluated.

A checklist of the amphibians of Santa Teresa municipality, in southeastern Brazil is presented based on fieldwork, examination of specimens in collections, and a literature review. This new amphibian list of Santa Teresa includes 108 species, of which 106 (~98%) belong to Anura and two (~2%) to Gymnophiona. Hylidae was the most represented family with 47 species (43%).

ATLANTIC BIRDS: a data set of bird species from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.

South America holds 30% of the world's avifauna, with the Atlantic Forest representing one of the richest regions of the Neotropics. Here we have compiled a data set on Brazilian Atlantic Forest bird occurrence (150,423) and abundance samples (N = 832 bird species; 33,119 bird individuals) using multiple methods, including qualitative surveys, mist nets, point counts, and line transects). We used four main sources of data: museum collections, on-line databases, literature sources, and unpublished reports.

Effects of inorganics on the degradation of micropollutants with vacuum UV (VUV) advanced oxidation.

This research focused on the effects of inorganic water constituents on the efficiency of vacuum UV (VUV) for the degradation of micropollutants in surface water supplies. Atrazine was used as a model miropollutant, and bicarbonate, sulphate, and nitrate were used as the most common inorganic constituents in the water matrix. First, the absorbance of radiation at 254 and 185 nm was measured in the presence of different ions.

Optic nerve sheath meningioma detected by single- photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography somatostatin receptor scintigraphy: a case report.

Background: Optic nerve sheath meningiomas account for only 2% of orbital lesions and 42% of optic nerve tumors. Diagnosis remains difficult because histologic confirmation carries a high risk of visual loss. Therefore, a less invasive and specific diagnostic method for differentiating optic nerve sheath meningiomas from other optic nerve lesions is needed to overcome the limitations of computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, and make the best individualized treatment decision.

Novel Collimated Beam Setup to Study the Kinetics of VUV-Induced Reactions.

Vacuum UV (VUV) process is an incipient advanced oxidation process, which can be used for water treatment. This process relies on the formation of hydroxyl radicals through the VUV-induced photolysis of water. In particular, the use of ozone-generating mercury vapor lamps, which emit 10% of the radiation at 185 nm and 90% at 254 nm, is showing very promising results for the degradation of micropollutants.

Photocatalytic metamaterials: TiO2 inverse opals.

The study of the photocatalytic activity of TiO(2) inverse opals showed that these structures behave as metamaterials: their properties arise principally from the 3D periodic structure of the material and marginally from porosity, reflectivity and scattering.

Investigation of a problem with external quality assurance samples for faecal occult blood.

Background: It is vital that laboratories participate in External Quality Assurance (EQA) programmes, but results from such schemes do not necessarily help ensure assays are 'in control'. We describe a series of experiments undertaken to explore apparent poor performance in an occult blood EQA scheme that manifested as a series of false-negatives. As a consequence of our laboratory misclassifying some EQA samples, we decided to design a simple sensitivity study that would reaffirm confidence in our testing procedures.

Apoptosis and telomeres shortening related to HIV-1 induced oxidative stress in an astrocytoma cell line.

Background: Oxidative stress plays a key role in the neuropathogenesis of Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1 (HIV-1) infection causing apoptosis of astroglia cells and neurons. Recent data have shown that oxidative stress is also responsible for the acceleration of human fibroblast telomere shortening in vitro. In the present study we analyzed the potential relations occurring between free radicals formation and telomere length during HIV-1 mediated astroglial death.

Limited value of testing for intrinsic factor antibodies with negative gastric parietal cell antibodies in pernicious anaemia.

Background: The appropriate testing strategy for diagnosing pernicious anaemia using gastric parietal cell (GPC) and/or intrinsic factor antibodies (IFA) is controversial. Intrinsic factor antibodies are found in only about 70% of cases. Indirect immunofluorescence screening for gastric parietal cell antibodies is more sensitive, labour intensive, and less specific.

Enhanced anandamide degradation is associated with neuronal apoptosis induced by the HIV-1 coat glycoprotein gp120 in the rat neocortex.

Human immunodeficiency virus type-1 coat glycoprotein gp120 causes delayed apoptosis in rat brain neocortex. Here, we investigated the possible role of the endocannabinoid system in this process. It is shown that gp120 causes a time-dependent increase in the activity and immunoreactivity of the anandamide (AEA)-hydrolyzing enzyme fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH), paralleled by increased activity of the AEA membrane transporter and decreased endogenous levels of AEA.

Involvement of a glutamergic mechanism in gamma-dendrotoxin-induced hippocampal neuronal cell loss in the rat.

The epileptogenic and neurodegenerative effects of gamma-dendrotoxin, from Dendroaspis angusticeps, a specific blocker of a non-inactivating, voltage-sensitive K+ channel, were studied after focal injection into one dorsal hippocampus in rats pretreated with CGP040116, a N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, and in rats bearing a monolateral surgical lesion of the Schaffer collaterals whose terminals originate from CA3 pyramids and release glutamate in the CA1 hippocampal area. Administration of 35 pmol gamma-dendrotoxin elicited in all of the treated animals (n=8) bilateral EEG discharges and damage to the hippocampal formation. Quantitation of the damage revealed significant bilateral neuronal cell loss in the CA1, CA3 and CA4 pyramidal cell layers.

Inducible nitric oxide synthase is involved in the mechanisms of cocaine enhanced neuronal apoptosis induced by HIV-1 gp120 in the neocortex of rat.

Cocaine, often abused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected patients, has been suggested to worsen the HIV associated dementia via unknown mechanisms. Here we report that subchronic treatment with a dose of cocaine (30 mg/kg i.p.

Abnormal expression of neuronal nitric oxide synthase triggers limbic seizures and hippocampal damage in rat.

Administration of tacrine (5 mg/kg ip), an anticholinesterase agent, in rats pretreated (24 h beforehand) with lithium chloride (LiCl; 12 mEq/kg ip) provides a useful experimental model to study limbic seizures and delayed hippocampal damage. Here we report Western blotting evidence demonstrating that in rat LiCl and tacrine enhance the expression of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS), but not eNOS, enzyme protein in the hippocampus during the preconvulsive period and this triggers seizures and hippocampal damage. In fact, systemic administration of 7-nitro indazole (7-NI; 50 mg/kg given ip 30 min before tacrine), a selective inhibitor of nNOS, prevented the expression of motor and electrocortical (ECoG) seizures and abolished neuronal cell death in the hippocampus.

Intrahippocampal injection of paraquat produces apoptotic cell death which is prevented by the lazaroid U74389G, in rats.

Injection of paraquat, a redox-cycling compound, into the rat hippocampus produces limbic seizures and hippocampal damage. Here we report that a proportion of the neuronal cell death caused by the herbicide occurs via an apoptotic mechanism which appears to be mediated by oxygen free radicals. Adult male Wistar rats (n=12) received a single dose of paraquat (25 nmol/0.

Sound-evoked electrocortical desynchronization is inhibited by N omega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester microinfused into the inferior colliculi in rats.

In previous experiments we have shown that systemic or intracerebroventricular administration of N omega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), an inhibitor of nitric oxide (NO) synthase, is able to significantly reduce sound-evoked electrocortical (ECoG) desynchronization in rats. The present experiments were aimed at identifying the site(s) of the brain through which these effects are mediated. L-NAME (200 and 300 nmol), oxyhaemoglobin (200 and 300 nmol), a NO-trapping agent, and methylene blue (100 and 150 nmol), an inhibitor of guanylate cyclase and NO synthase, given bilaterally into the inferior colliculi, but not in other relay stations of the acoustic pathway, prevented the reduction in ECoG amplitude induced by sound stimulation in rats.

Inhibition by N omega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester of the electrocortical arousal response in rats.

In rats chronically implanted with cannulae into one lateral cerebral ventricle and recording electrodes onto the fronto-parietal cortex, the effects of systemic or intraventricular administration of the nitric oxide (NO) synthesis inhibitor, N omega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), on electrocortical (ECoG) arousal response evoked by sound stimulation were studied. In control animals, a single acoustic stimulation (80 dB for 15 s) produced a significant decrease in ECoG total voltage power lasting approximately 25 s. No tolerance developed after repeating the same sound stimulation at 15, 30, 60 min and 24 h intervals.

[Role of sophisticated radiological technics in the diagnosis of lacrimal fistulas].

Lacrimal fistulae are rare and not well known by radiologists. Four cases are illustrated, two congenital (a skin-canaliculous and a canaliculous-palpebral fistula) and two acquired (a rare case of sac-orbital fistula and a canaliculous-palpebral fistula arisen during dacryography). Fistulae are to be distinguished from pedunculated lacrimal diverticulous of which an interesting and rare case is presented.

Ultrastructural changes of the hypertrophic epithelial cells in the thymus of splenectomized chickens.

Three weeks following the splenectomy of young chickens an increased number of the hypertrophic epithelial cells, which presented various signs of secretory activity, could be observed in the thymus. After splenectomy, these cells usually present a single, large-sized intracytoplasmic vesicle or vacuole lined with microvilli. The lumen of such vesicles is always full of granulated and membranous material.

[Improvement of the conditions of rat liver preservation by concomitant perfusion of the liver and kidney].

One of the factors limiting the duration of rat liver storage is the excessive accumulation of catabolites in the perfusion medium. In view of obtaining of an efficient depuration the authors have introduced a new circuit allowing for the concomittant perfusion of the liver and of the kidneys. The excretion effort of the kidneys is assessed by the estimation of urea nitrogen in the perfusion medium and in the urine collected over the entire duration of the experiment.

Improvement of perfusion flow in the isolated rat liver under the influence of streptase. Autohistoradiographic aspects of 125I-labelled fibrinogen deposition.

The dynamics of the fibrinoplastic process were studied in rat isolated liver, perfused in normothermia with a synthetical medium. For the autohistoradiographical study, 125I-labelled fibrinogen was added to the perfusing medium. The historadiograms obtained suggest that the main link in the rise of trans-hepatic vascular resistance is thickening of the fibrin muff of the sinusoids.