Muscular atrophy is a progressive degeneration characterized by muscular proteolysis, loss of mass and decrease in fiber area. Tendon rupture induces muscular atrophy due to an intrinsic functional connection. Local inhibition of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) by Nω-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) accelerates tendon histological recovery and induces functional improvement. Here we evaluate the effects of such local nitrergic inhibition on the pattern of soleus muscle regeneration after tenotomy. Adult male Wistar rats (240 to 280 g) were divided into four experimental groups: control (n=4), tenotomized (n=6), vehicle (n=6), and L-NAME (n=6). Muscular atrophy was induced by calcaneal tendon rupture in rats. Changes in muscle wet weight and total protein levels were determined by the Bradford method, and muscle fiber area and central core lesion (CCL) occurrence were evaluated by histochemical assays. Compared to tenotomized (69.3±22%) and vehicle groups (68.1%±17%), L-NAME treatment induced an increase in total protein level (108.3±21%) after 21 days post-injury. A reduction in fiber areas was observed in tenotomized (56.3±1.3%) and vehicle groups (53.9±3.9%). However, L-NAME treatment caused an increase in this parameter (69.3±1.6%). Such events were preceded by a remarkable reduction in the number of fibers with CCL in L-NAME-treated animals (12±2%), but not in tenotomized (21±2.5%) and vehicle groups (19.6±2.8%). Altogether, our data reveal that inhibition of tendon NOS contributed to the attenuation of atrophy and acceleration of muscle regeneration.

Ayapana triplinervis (Asteraceae) é uma erva medicinal da Amazônia conhecida como "Japana branca" e "Japana roxa" utilizada como tônico, digestivo, antidiarréico dentre outros. Objetivou-se caracterizar neste estudo a morfoanatomia caulinar e foliar de A. triplinervis, para corroborar se esta espécie apresenta morfotipos, além de fornecer dados para sua identificação. Amostras foram coletadas no Horto de Plantas Medicinais da Universidade Federal Rural da Amazônia e Embrapa Amazônia Oriental, analisadas morfologicamente e segundo técnicas usuais em anatomia vegetal. O caule é cilíndrico branco ou roxo, com epiderme unisseriada persistente e endoderme com bainha amilífera e estrias de Caspary. As folhas são simples, opostas, triplinervadas, com base atenuada ou decorrente. Possuem estômatos anomocíticos, cera em placas ou granular, glândulas peroladas, mesofilo dorsiventral com feixes colaterais e ductos secretores. A. triplinervis apresentou caracteres morfoanatômicos diferentes entre os tipos branca e roxa, o que possibilita a distinção dos dois morfotipos.

Ayapanatriplinervis (Asteraceae), also known as "Japana branca" and "Japana roxa" in Brazil, is a medicinal herb from the Amazon used as tonic, digestive, antidiarrheal, among others. This study aimed to characterize the morphoanatomy of the aerial vegetative axis of A. triplinervis to corroborate that this species has morphotypes, in order to provide data for their identification. Samples were collected in the Garden of Medicinal Plants of the Federal Rural University of Amazônia and Embrapa Amazônia Oriental, and they were analyzed morphologically and by the standardtechniques of plant anatomy. The stem is cylindrical, white or purple, with uniseriate epidermis, trichomes and endoderm with starch sheath and Casparian strips. The leaves are simple, opposite, with attenuate or arising basis; they have anomocytic stomata, epicuticular wax plates or granules, pearl glands, dorsiventral mesophyll with collateral vascular bundles and secretory ducts. Ayapana triplinervis showed different morphoanatomical features betweenthe white and purple types, which enablesthe distinction between the two morphotypes.

The aim of this study was to compare three different selective enrichment broths: Rappaport-Vassiliadis (RV), selenite cystine (SC) and Muller-Kauffmann tetrathionate (MKT) for Salmonella Dublin isolation from faecal samples of calf experimentally infected. The bacteriological procedure involved pre-enrichment stages in Hajna-GN broth (only for the samples inoculated in RV broth), selective enrichment, culture in modified brilliant green agar (BGA), presumptive biochemistry tests (using triple-sugar-iron agar and lysine-agar) and slide agglutination test with poli-O and poli-H Salmonella antiserum. The effects of enrichment temperatures using RV broth were also evaluated (37ºC and 42ºC). SC broth was significantly more efficient in the isolation of Salmonella Dublin (P<0,05), whereas RV broth incubated at 42ºC had a lower efficiency in the microbiological isolation.

Foi realizado um levantamento florístico das espécies de Papilionoideae (Leguminosae) ocorrentes nos campos ferruginosos do Parque Estadual do Itacolomi (PEI), situado nos municípios de Ouro Preto e Mariana, estado de Minas Gerais. As coletas foram feitas no período de março de 2001 a maio de 2002. Foram identificadas 20 espécies de Papilionoideae, pertencentes a 13 gêneros. Os gêneros mais representativos em número de espécies foram Desmodium (4), Crotalaria (3), Machaerium e Stylosanthes, com duas espécies cada. Os demais gêneros foram representados por apenas uma espécie cada. No estudo fenológico das espécies, foram constatadas correlações entre fatores climáticos (temperatura e precipitação) e a perda de folhas, brotação, floração e frutificação.

A floristic survey of Papilionoideae species was carried out in "campos ferruginosos" of Itacolomy State Park (PEI), situated between Ouro Preto and Mariana cities, Minas Gerais. The collections was made from March, 2001 to May, 2002. Twenty species of 13 genera of Papilionoideae were identified. The genera that had more representative number of species were Desmodium (4), Crotalaria (3), Machaerium (2) and Stylosanthes (2). The others had only one specie each. In the phenological study of the species, correlations between environmental parameters (temperature and rainfall) and the leaf fall, leaf flushing, flowering and the fruiting were verified.