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The application of sewage sludge in soils can bring benefits to agricultural productivity, however, the risks arising from this application must be measured and carefully evaluated. Persistent organics compounds and drugs can be present in the sewage sludge and if applied to the soil, they can cause severe risks to the soil biota and contamination of groundwater. This work determined 174 persistent organic compounds and drugs in sludge samples from a wastewater treatment plant using chromatographic methods. The drugs ciprofloxacin, enrofloxacin and diclofenac were quantified, and values varied according to sampling period. For persistent organic compounds, cresols were the most abundant compounds in sewage sludge. With the analyses made of both the elutriate and the filtrate, it was possible to verify the potential for soil retention or leaching that each compound can present with the application of sewage sludge in the agriculture.

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OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the maternal-fetal outcomes of CAB-induced pregnancies in patients with prolactinoma in a large cohort. METHODS: The prevalence of tumor growth, miscarriage, preterm, low birth weight, congenital malformations and impairment in neuropsychological development in children among women treated with CAB were assessed in a Brazilian multicentre retrospective observational study, RESULTS: We included 194 women with a mean age of 31 (17-45) years, 43.6% presenting microadenomas and 56.4% macroadenomas, at prolactinoma diagnosis. In 233 pregnancies, CAB was withdrawn in 89%, after pregnancy confirmation. Symptoms related to tumor growth occurred in 25 cases, more frequently in macroadenomas. The overall miscarriage rate was 11%, although higher in the subgroup of patients with CAB maintainance after pregnancy confirmation (38% vs. 7.5%). Amongst the live-birth deliveries, preterm occurred in 12%, low birth weight in 6% and congenital malformations in 4.3%. Neuropsychological development impairment was reported in 7% of cases. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings confirm previous results of safety in maternal and fetal outcomes in CAB-induced pregnancies; nevertheless, CAB maintenance after pregnancy confirmation was associated with higher miscarriage rate; result that must be further confirmed.

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Sheehan's syndrome (SHS) is a rare condition related to the risk of osteoporosis and evaluation of bone texture imaging features on panoramic radiographs would be suitable for this condition, which was the aim of the present study. Fractal dimension, lacunarity, and trabecular morphologic aspects were significantly altered in these patients. INTRODUCTION: SHS is an important public health problem particularly in developing countries. It is characterized as postpartum hypopituitarism secondary to obstetric complications-related ischemic pituitary necrosis that shows significant systemic metabolic repercussions. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate bone texture parameters in digital panoramic radiographs of patients with SHS. METHODS: A case-control study was conducted with 30 SHS patients from an Endocrinology and Diabetology Service of reference in Brazil, and 30 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. A custom computer program measured fractal dimension, lacunarity, and some morphologic features in the following mandibular regions of interest (50 × 50 pixels): below the mental foramen (F1), between the first and second molars (M1), and at the center of the mandibular ramus (R1). RESULTS: The fractal analysis showed a statistically significant difference between the studied groups in all regions of interest. The fractal dimension in F1 (p = 0.016), M1 (p = 0.043), and R1 (p = 0.028) was significantly lower in SHS group, as well as lacunarity in R1 (p = 0.008). Additionally, several morphologic features were statistically significant in the SHS group (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Therefore, individuals with SHS showed altered imaging texture parameters on panoramic radiographs, which reflect a smaller spatial organization of the bone trabeculae and, possibly, a state of reduced mineral bone density.

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BACKGROUND: Sheehan's syndrome (SS) is one of the leading causes of hypopituitarism in developing countries. It occurs after postpartum necrosis of the pituitary gland, and it is considered a significant public health problem. This paper, apparently unpublished, aimed to perform an analysis on oral aspects in patients with SS. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was performed with 23 women diagnosed with SS at the Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes (Walter Cantidio University Hospital, Fortaleza, Brazil). RESULTS: Data on sociodemographic, dental and salivary flow aspects were collected through a clinical approach and a panoramic radiograph request. The mean age was 64 ± 11.5 years old, with the sample consisting mainly of married women (56.5%), socioeconomic class C2 or D / E (78.2%) and years of education up to 8 years (69.5%). The presence of horizontal bone loss (p<0.001) and bilateral pneumatization of the maxillary sinus (p=0.015) were significant data. The mean number of absent teeth considering all subjects was 23.17±9.7, being statistically significant (p<0.001). In relation to age, the mean number of missing teeth was higher in individuals over 65 years old (p=0.048). Reduced salivary flow was observed in 78.3% of the patients. In a bivariate analysis, considering the outcome variables missing teeth and reduced salivary flow, it was observed that economic class (p<0.001), family income (0.037) and maxillary sinus pneumatization (0.032) were statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: In brief, patients with SS showed severe teeth loss, reduced salivary flow, and low educational status. This study addressed important aspects regarding oral findings in SS and highlighted the importance of researches in oral medicine.

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Breeding programs currently use statistical analysis to assist in the identification of superior genotypes at various stages of a cultivar's development. Differently from these analyses, the computational intelligence approach has been little explored in genetic improvement of cotton. Thus, this study was carried out with the objective of presenting the use of artificial neural networks as auxiliary tools in the improvement of the cotton to improve fiber quality. To demonstrate the applicability of this approach, this research was carried out using the evaluation data of 40 genotypes. In order to classify the genotypes for fiber quality, the artificial neural networks were trained with replicate data of 20 genotypes of cotton evaluated in the harvests of 2013/14 and 2014/15, regarding fiber length, uniformity of length, fiber strength, micronaire index, elongation, short fiber index, maturity index, reflectance degree, and fiber quality index. This quality index was estimated by means of a weighted average on the determined score (1 to 5) of each characteristic of the HVI evaluated, according to its industry standards. The artificial neural networks presented a high capacity of correct classification of the 20 selected genotypes based on the fiber quality index, so that when using fiber length associated with the short fiber index, fiber maturation, and micronaire index, the artificial neural networks presented better results than using only fiber length and previous associations. It was also observed that to submit data of means of new genotypes to the neural networks trained with data of repetition, provides better results of classification of the genotypes. When observing the results obtained in the present study, it was verified that the artificial neural networks present great potential to be used in the different stages of a genetic improvement program of the cotton, aiming at the improvement of the fiber quality of the future cultivars.

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Pododermatitis, also known as "bumblefoot", is an inflammatory lesion of the footpad. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of genetic strain and sex on the incidence of footpad lesions in broilers. The experiment was carried out at São Paulo State University, using 480 broilers distributed in a completely randomized experimental design in a 2X2 factorial arrangement (2 strains X2 sexes), with four replicates of 30 broilers each, totaling 16 experimental units. Feed intake, weight gain, feed conversion ratio, and livability were evaluated at 21, 35 and 42 days of age; production efficiency factor was determined at the end of the rearing period. On day 42, the footpads of 100 broilers were grossly examined and assigned a lesion score in a 1-3 scale (Almeida Paz & Martins, 2014). Three samples per score within treatment were collected for microscopic evaluation. Analysis of variance was applied and performance parameter means were compared by Tukey's test. Footpad lesion incidence was analyzed by the c2 test using SAS (version8.2). Ross(r) broilers presented higher feed intake during all evaluated periods, and higher weight gain only in the period 1 to 21 days compared with Cobb(r) broilers. On the other hand, Cobb(r) presented better feed conversion ratio in the periods of 1 to 35 and 1 to 42 days. The incidence of foot pad lesions was statistically different (p < 0.05) between strains and sexes, but there were no interactions between these factors. The lesion scores assigned were compatible with the histopathological results, showing that the higher the score, the more severe were the dermal and epidermal lesions.(AU)

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Pododermatitis, also known as "bumblefoot", is an inflammatory lesion of the footpad. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of genetic strain and sex on the incidence of footpad lesions in broilers. The experiment was carried out at São Paulo State University, using 480 broilers distributed in a completely randomized experimental design in a 2X2 factorial arrangement (2 strains X2 sexes), with four replicates of 30 broilers each, totaling 16 experimental units. Feed intake, weight gain, feed conversion ratio, and livability were evaluated at 21, 35 and 42 days of age; production efficiency factor was determined at the end of the rearing period. On day 42, the footpads of 100 broilers were grossly examined and assigned a lesion score in a 1-3 scale (Almeida Paz & Martins, 2014). Three samples per score within treatment were collected for microscopic evaluation. Analysis of variance was applied and performance parameter means were compared by Tukey's test. Footpad lesion incidence was analyzed by the c2 test using SAS (version8.2). Ross(r) broilers presented higher feed intake during all evaluated periods, and higher weight gain only in the period 1 to 21 days compared with Cobb(r) broilers. On the other hand, Cobb(r) presented better feed conversion ratio in the periods of 1 to 35 and 1 to 42 days. The incidence of foot pad lesions was statistically different (p < 0.05) between strains and sexes, but there were no interactions between these factors. The lesion scores assigned were compatible with the histopathological results, showing that the higher the score, the more severe were the dermal and epidermal lesions.

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The objective of this study was evaluated the villus integrity of commercial turkeys submitted to coccidiosis prevention methods and challenged with Eimeria field oocysts, using scanning electron microscopy. Sixty BUT 9 female commercial turkeys were distributed in a completely randomized block design split with two treatments: T1- control diet without vaccinations against coccidiosis and anticoccidial drug, and T2- vaccinated against coccidiosis (commercial vaccine). On d 21 of life, all birds of all treatments were challenged with a mixed-species containing E. meleagrimitis and E. galopavonis, via crop intubation with 1 mL of ~20,000 sporulated oocysts/bird. The size of the inoculum was determined in previous experiments. At 27 and 70 days of age, five birds per treatment were randomly removed to evaluate the intestinal integrity. Duodenum, jejunum and ileum segments were collected and processed according to routine scanning electron microscope. The enteric mucosa integrity of the commercial turkeys subjected to coccidiosis vaccination was reduced when compared to the birds of the control treatment. There was no difference in the performance results, therefore these results cannot be attributed to the vaccination as well as to the ineffectiveness against the challenge that was administered.

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The objective of this study was evaluated the villus integrity of commercial turkeys submitted to coccidiosis prevention methods and challenged with Eimeria field oocysts, using scanning electron microscopy. Sixty BUT 9 female commercial turkeys were distributed in a completely randomized block design split with two treatments: T1- control diet without vaccinations against coccidiosis and anticoccidial drug, and T2- vaccinated against coccidiosis (commercial vaccine). On d 21 of life, all birds of all treatments were challenged with a mixed-species containing E. meleagrimitis and E. galopavonis, via crop intubation with 1 mL of ~20,000 sporulated oocysts/bird. The size of the inoculum was determined in previous experiments. At 27 and 70 days of age, five birds per treatment were randomly removed to evaluate the intestinal integrity. Duodenum, jejunum and ileum segments were collected and processed according to routine scanning electron microscope. The enteric mucosa integrity of the commercial turkeys subjected to coccidiosis vaccination was reduced when compared to the birds of the control treatment. There was no difference in the performance results, therefore these results cannot be attributed to the vaccination as well as to the ineffectiveness against the challenge that was administered.(AU)

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This study aimed at evaluating the intestinal integrity, using light and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the performance of broiler chickens fed additives alternative to antimicrobials. A total of 1080 male chicks were distributed according to a completely randomized experimental design, with six treatments with six replicates of 30 birds each. The following treatments were evaluated: basal diet (control), basal diet supplemented with an antimicrobial, basal diet supplemented with a probiotic, basal diet supplemented with a prebiotic, basal diet with a symbiotic, and basal diet supplemented with organic acids. Weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion ratio and livability were recorded when broiler chickens were 10, 21, 35, and 42 days old. On day 42, 72 birds were individually weighed and sacrificed. In order to evaluate the morphometrics of the different intestinal wall layers, segments of the small intestine and the cecum were collected from two birds per replicate, and intestinal integrity (SEM) was evaluated in the same segments of two birds per treatment. During the starter period (1-21 days old), birds fed the alternative additives presented similar weight gain as those fed the antimicrobial product, but were not different from control birds. Feed conversion ratio of birds fed alternative additives was better than that of the control birds from one to 10 days of age, but not during the remaining rearing period, and was similar to the birds receiving the antimicrobial. The morphometric parameters of the different intestinal wall layers was not influenced by the treatments. During the total rearing period, the evaluated alternative additives did not improve intestinal integrity or broiler performance.

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