Publications by authors named "Juliana Ferraz"

Males of the bat Eptesicus furinalis show at least one process of testicular regression, in which the testes regress and temporarily interrupt the production of sperm, during its annual reproductive cycle. As the process of spermatogenesis is under hormonal control, mainly of pituitary and androgen hormones, our aim was to analyze the morphological variations and the hormonal control of the testes of E. furinalis during the four phases of its reproductive cycle.

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Molossus molossus is an insectivorous molossid bat that is important in the control of nocturnal insects. It is the nominal and the most representative species of the family. However, there are few studies about its reproduction.

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Despite the high number of species and wide geographic dispersion, reproductive accessory glands (RAGs) of bats have traditionally received little attention in the literature, with some species not even having a basic description of their composition and structure. Thus, this study aimed to analyze and compare the composition, anatomy, and histology of male RAGs of bat species belonging to three of the largest (cosmopolitan) bat families: Vespertilionidae (Histiotus velatus), Molossidae (Molossus rufus), and Emballonuridae (Peropteryx leucoptera), in order to understand the variations in the bat RAGs. The results showed that the RAGs of H.

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Mormoopidae is an exclusive Neotropical family of bats, distributed from southern Mexico to northeastern Brazil. Possibly due to its endemic distribution and very low occurrence (rarity), descriptions of their reproductive accessory glands (RAGs) are still lacking. Thus, this study aims to characterize the male RAGs of Pteronotus gymnonotus (Mormoopidae: Chiroptera).

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Responsible for post-testicular maturation, concentration, protection and sperm storage, the epididymis is an organ that can be easily subdivided into three segments: caput, corpus and cauda. Each epididymal region displays different morphology and functions within the sperm maturation process. Despite the great importance of this organ, studies on its morphology and hormonal control in bats remain scarce.

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Stenotrophomonas maltophilia has emerged as an important opportunistic pathogen in the last decade. Increased resistance to sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim (SMX/TMP) has been reported in S. maltophilia strains in the past few years, leading to few therapeutic options.

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Bats are mammals that play a fundamental role in the regulation of the ecosystems by, for example, controlling the insect populations. Therefore, insectivorous species, such as Molossusmolossus, have become the target of great scientific interest. Despite the different studies that exist on the species, there is still no consensus regarding its reproduction.

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Despite the several differences in ingredients, processes and nutritional values, dairy foods as yogurts, fermented milks and milk beverages are widely accepted worldwide, and although they have their sensory profiling normally covered by descriptive analyses, the temporal perception involved during the consumption are rarely considered. In this sense, the present work aimed to assess the dynamic sensory profile of three categories of fermented dairy products using different temporal methodologies: Temporal Dominance of Sensations (TDS), Progressive Profiling (PP), Temporal CATA (TCATA), and compare the results obtained. The findings showed that the different sensory characteristics among the products are basically related to their commercial identity.

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Yogurts, fermented milk beverages, and fermented milks have great similarity and are widely accepted by Brazilian population, but the factors that influence their choice and consumption are unknown. In this sense, the present study aimed to identify the main aspects involved in consumers' perception of 3 different products, comparing the findings by using the 2 fast qualitative methods, word association and projective mapping, and a standard method, focus group. The tasks were performed by different participants through graphic stimuli (word association and projective mapping) and focus interviews (focus group).

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Product characterization has been a primary concern for the food industry, and methodologies based on consumers' perceptions have become popular and widely used by industries to replace classical methods. Although there are several studies on other methods, the potential of reference-based one such as Pivot Profile is still little explored. Therefore, the aims of this study were to characterize Greek yogurt samples according to consumers' perceptions using three different methodologies: Pivot Profile (PP), Check-all-that-apply (CATA), and Projective Mapping (PM), and to assess which method is easier for consumers to describe products.

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Rapid sensory profiling methods have gained space in the sensory evaluation field. Techniques using direct analysis of the terms generated by consumers are considered easy to perform, without specific training requirements, thus improving knowledge about consumer perceptions on various products. This study aimed to determine the sensory profile of different commercial samples of chocolate ice cream, labeled as conventional and light or diet, using the "comment analysis" and "pivot profile" methods, based on consumers' perceptions.

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Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the in vitro susceptibility of MDR gram-negatives bacteria to old drugs such as polymyxin B, minocycline and fosfomycin and new drugs such as tigecycline.

Methods: One hundred and fifty-three isolates from 4 Brazilian hospitals were evaluated. Forty-seven Acinetobacter baumannii resistant to carbapenens harboring adeB, blaOxA23, blaOxA51, blaOxA143 and blaIMP genes, 48 Stenotrophomonas maltophilia including isolates resistant to levofloxacin and/or trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole harboring sul-1, sul-2 and qnrMR and 8 Serratia marcescens and 50 Klebsiella pneumoniae resistant to carbapenens harboring blaKPC-2 were tested to determine their minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) by microdilution to the following drugs: minocycline, ampicillin-sulbactam, tigecycline, and polymyxin B and by agar dilution to fosfomycin according with breakpoint criteria of CLSI and EUCAST (fosfomycin).

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Stenotrophomonas maltophilia contains a novel chromosomally-encoded qnr gene named Smqnr that contributes to low intrinsic resistance to quinolone. We described Smqnr in 13 clinical isolates of S. maltophilia from two Brazilian hospitals, over a 2-year period.

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Sporotrichosis is a subcutaneous mycosis with a high prevalence in Brasil. It is caused by the dimorphic fungus Sporothrix schenckii, and may lead to different clinical presentations. The disseminated cutaneous form is uncommon and corresponds to 4 percent of the total number of cases.

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The effect of different overrun levels on the sensory acceptance and survival of probiotic bacteria in ice cream was investigated. Vanilla ice creams supplemented with Lactobacillus acidophilus were processed with overruns of 45%, 60%, and 90%. Viable probiotic bacterial counts and sensory acceptance were assessed.

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Echinostomiasis is a food-borne intestinal, snail-mediated parasitosis caused principally by ingestion of snails infected with digenean trematodes of the Echinostoma genus. The treatment and control of trematodiasis is usually done by administration of praziquantel (PZQ). In this study, we evaluated the effect on Echinostoma paraensei of different doses of praziquantel through analysis of morphological parameters using light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and confocal scanning laser microscopy along with parasitological data.

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