and Gene Expression in Kidneys and Their Involvement in Calcium and Phosphate Metabolism in Laying Hens.

Ca and P homeostasis across the egg-laying cycle is a complex process involving absorption in the small intestine, reabsorption/excretion in the kidneys, and eggshell gland secretion. Diets with inadequate calcium and phosphorus can interfere with their absorption and digestibility, resulting in eggshell quality losses and reduced productive life, affecting egg production and welfare. A better understanding of gene expression profiles in the kidneys of laying hens during the late egg-laying period could clarify the renal role in mineral metabolism at this late stage.

Phytate-phosphorus and phytase on performance, bone characteristics, tissue and serum mineral concentration on broilers.

Male broiler chickens (384), Cobb 500, were housed in metabolic cages to assess the efficacy of phytase in diets with low and high phytate-phosphorus on the performance, bone physical characteristics, tissue and serum mineral deposits. Birds were distributed in four treatments with a 2 x 2 factorial arrangement in a completely randomized block design. Experimental diets based on maize-soybean meal were T1 - diet low phytate-phosphorus; T2 - diet low phytate-phosphorus and phytase (500 FTU/kg); T3 - diet high phytate-phosphorus; T4 - diet high phytate-phosphorus and phytase (500 FTU/kg).

Cut yield and meat quality of brown eggshell laying hens housed in an alternative system and submitted to different feeding volumes.

The aim was to evaluate the effect of different feeding volumes on the cut yield and meat quality of brown eggshell laying hens strain Embrapa 051 (E051) during the laying cycle, reared in an alternative system and slaughtered at 73 weeks, with reference to the lineage Lohmann Brown (LB). 600 hens E051 and 200 hens LB were used in an entirely randomized experimental design totalizing 5 replicates with 40 birds each. The treatments were: Control (LB fed with 100% of their dietary requirements), E051 fed with 93% of the control diet, E051 fed with 100% of the control diet, and E051 fed with 107% of the control diet.

Upregulated genes in articular cartilage may help to counteract femoral head separation in broilers with 21 days of age.

Femoral head necrosis (FHN) is one of the most common conditions in fast growing broilers, being characterized by separation of articular cartilage from epiphysis and classified as femoral head separation (FHS) or FHS with laceration (FHSL) depending on severity. Although molecular mechanisms involved with this disorder have been observed, its etiology is still unclear. Therefore, the expression of 15 candidate genes, chosen based on previous transcriptomic studies, was evaluated in the articular cartilage (AC) of normal and FHS-affected broilers at 21 days of age.

Multiple types of human papillomavirus in cervical samples in women in Campo Grande, MS, Brazil.

We analyzed 87 cervical samples from Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, with a PGMY/GP+ nested PCR system. Positive samples were typed using E7 type-specific primer pairs for HPV 6/11, 16, 18, 45 and 66. Eighteen samples (22%) were infected with HPV6/11, 18 samples (22%) with HPV66, 13 samples (15.