Publications by authors named "Mariana P de Melo"

Unlabelled: Understanding veterinary anatomy is an essential skill for the study of veterinary medicine as well as for diagnostic imaging and therapy. Dissection facilities are increasingly limited in some schools and its alternatives have often focussed on using two-dimensional images. However, the study of veterinary anatomy is mainly concerned with identifying structures and spatial relationships between them within a 3D space, and the use of 2D teaching approaches does not provide accurate information.

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Purpose: The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to assess the effects of annual maintenance over a 7-year period on the peri-implant health of patients rehabilitated with overdentures using clinical and radiographic parameters.

Materials And Methods: In order to be considered for inclusion in the study, patients had to have been rehabilitated with overdentures that had at least two implants placed in the mandible and four implants in the maxilla. Patients were divided into two groups: group 1 comprised individuals who had undergone annual maintenance over the previous 7 years, and group 2 comprised those who had not attended any dental appointment over the previous 7 years.

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Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate the putative effects of a low-protein diet on the three-dimensional structure of hepatocytes and determine whether this scenario could be reversed by restoring the adequate levels of protein to the diet.

Methods: Using design-based stereology, the total number and volume of hepatocytes were estimated in the liver of mice in healthy and altered (by protein malnutrition) conditions and after protein renutrition.

Results: This study demonstrated a 65% decrease in the liver volume (3302 mm for the control for undernourished versus 1141 mm for the undernourished group) accompanied by a 46% reduction in the hepatocyte volume (8223 μm for the control for undernourished versus 4475 μm for the undernourished group) and a 90% increase in the total number of binucleate hepatocytes (1 549 393 for the control for undernourished versus 2 941 353 for the undernourished group).

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Ileocolonic aganglionosis (ICA) is the congenital and hereditary absence of neurons that constitute the enteric nervous system and has been described in various species including humans - Hirschsprung's disease - and horses - overo lethal white syndrome (OLWS). Hirschsprung's disease affects circa 1 in 5,000 live births. At best, this disease means an inability to absorb nutrients from food (humans).

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Recently, superior cervical ganglionectomy has been performed to investigate a variety of scientific topics from regulation of intraocular pressure to suppression of lingual tumour growth. Despite these recent advances in our understanding of the functional mechanisms underlying superior cervical ganglion (SCG) growth and development after surgical ablation, there still exists a need for information concerning the quantitative nature of the relationships between the removed SCG and its remaining contralateral ganglion and between the remaining SCG and its modified innervation territory. To this end, using design-based stereological methods, we have investigated the structural changes induced by unilateral ganglionectomy in sheep at three distinct timepoints (2, 7 and 12 weeks) after surgery.

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The superior cervical ganglion (SCG) in mammals varies in structure according to developmental age, body size, gender, lateral asymmetry, the size and nuclear content of neurons and the complexity and synaptic coverage of their dendritic trees. In small and medium-sized mammals, neuron number and size increase from birth to adulthood and, in phylogenetic studies, vary with body size. However, recent studies on larger animals suggest that body weight does not, in general, accurately predict neuron number.

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Protein deficiency is one of the biggest public health problems in the world, accounting for about 30-40% of hospital admissions in developing countries. Nutritional deficiencies lead to alterations in the peripheral nervous system and in the digestive system. Most studies have focused on the effects of protein-deficient diets on the enteric neurons, but not on sympathetic ganglia, which supply extrinsic sympathetic input to the digestive system.

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In this study the main question investigated was the number and size of both binucleate and mononucleate superior cervical ganglion (SCG) neurons and, whether post-natal development would affect these parameters. Twenty left SCGs from 20 male pacas were used. Four different ages were investigated, that is newborn (4 days), young (45 days), adult (2 years), and aged animals (7 years).

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Post-natal development comprises both maturation (from newborn to adult) and ageing (from adult to senility) and, during this phase, several adaptive mechanisms occur in sympathetic ganglia, albeit they are not fully understood. Therefore, the present study aimed at detecting whether post-natal development would exert any effect on the size and number of a guinea pig's superior cervical ganglion (SCG) neurons. Twenty right SCGs from male subjects were used at four ages, i.

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Stellate ganglion (SG) represents the main sympathetic input to the heart. This study aimed at investigating physical exercise-related changes in the quantitative aspects of SG neurons in treadmill-exercised Wistar rats. By applying state-of-the-art design-based stereology, the SG volume, total number of SG neurons, mean perikaryal volume of SG neurons, and the total volume of neurons in the whole SG have been examined.

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